Chapter 85
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Father of Steel (4)
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It may have looked like a robot, but it was a golem, so there was no ejection seat.
Instead, something crawled out from within the smoking wreckage.
It was incredibly small compared to the original ten-meter golem.
“Kiruk!”
If Gono hadn't fiercely charged and captured it, I might have missed it.
“Kkeeeek!”
A sorrowful scream echoed from beyond the pile of rubble.
It was a metallic shriek, just a bit clearer than a dark elf's cry.
In any case, it meant the voice was just as grating.
With the lizardmen, Akasha, and my other summoned creatures lined up behind me,
I walked toward the golem's wreckage myself.
“Kiruk, kiruk!”
“Kkeeee!”
The sounds of a strangely gleeful Gono and an unfamiliar scream grew closer.
And when I finally passed Odolph and climbed onto the golem's remains,
“...Wow.”
I could see the 'Father of Steel' struggling with Gono behind the pile of rubble.
The reason for my involuntary exclamation was,
"He looks exactly like the Golem Master from MonMonMak."
because he was a dead ringer for the monster from the game.
His body, with only the important parts covered by a rag, was much larger than a goblin's.
His jet-black skin, so dark it looked carbonized, and the totem mask on his face were enough to be intimidating.
However.
He was too skinny.
It was as if several toothpicks had been stuck together to form his shape.
“Kkeee!”
He was acting just as he looked.
Even with Gono restraining both of his hands with just one, all he did was scream and flail.
A stick insect caught by a fire ant.
That was the perfect description for the being called the 'Father of Steel'.
"Good work, Gono."
“Kikerek!”
I patted the back of his head, and Gono's mouth stretched into a wide grin.
After praising his efforts, I looked down at the Golem Master sprawled on the ground.
Hmm, analysis first, I suppose.
"Sage, ana—"
The moment I was about to order the Sage beside me to analyze him,
"Kkeee, h-human! Spare me!"
“?”
Korean burst from the black stick insect plastered to the ground.
***
A short while later.
Right after returning Gono and all my other summons to their beads.
Finally, with just the two of us left, the Golem Master spoke.
"H-human. Thank you for sparing me."
I sat perched on a rock, silently watching him as he sat collapsed on the ground.
"I haven't spared you."
"K-kke. Y-you're not sparing me?!"
This was, in fact, the reason I hadn't finished him off immediately.
Until now, the only monster I'd had a proper conversation with was Odolph.
And even Odolph could only manage 'Groooowl' before I put Gandolph's hat on him.
Finding a monster I could talk to was fascinating, and since the battle was over anyway, I decided to learn more.
"How are you able to talk to me?"
At my question, the Golem Master suddenly tapped something around his neck.
"Th-this."
Looking closely, I saw something like a small bell hanging from his long neck.
"Is it magic?"
"Different! This is the pinnacle of magitech engineering. Specialized for human language! It translates automatically!"
Magitech is still just engineering mixed with magic, though.
But I didn't feel like arguing about it.
I had a feeling that if I pushed the point any further, this guy would forget his predicament and get indignant.
In any case, the important thing was.
'This guy is no ordinary Golem Master.'
The slightly cringey title, 'Father of Steel'.
Plus, I'd already guessed he was a named monster from the moment he appeared with that extraordinary armored golem.
I just never expected him to be this mad-scientist type.
"Are all these golems your creations?"
"Yes. Human, too cruel. All my creations—poof—you blew them up."
"Couldn't be helped. It was the dungeon's mission."
"..."
At my words, the Father of Steel drooped his head, looking sullen.
Then, he cautiously looked up at me and asked,
"Human, you kill me?"
"I'll have to. I can't clear the mission otherwise. And if I can't clear the mission, I can't get out of the dungeon."
The moment he acted as the 'hidden boss,' his fate was sealed.
"Human, if you can leave dungeon, you not kill me?"
Hmm?
Oh, this. I'm getting a strong feeling.
Back in the early days of MonMonMak, when I wasn't such a hardcore player,
It was that same sense of elation I felt whenever I discovered a new Easter egg.
"If I could get the rewards and still leave the dungeon, I suppose there'd be no need to kill you, would there?"
So I tossed the words out casually with a deliberately thoughtful expression.
The skinny bamboo stick clasped his hands together and nodded.
"There is, human! There is such a way!"
The corners of my mouth crept up.
This is why I like clueless mad scientists.
"What is it?"
He shot to his feet.
The Golem Master rose with incredible energy.
It was a rather dynamic movement, but since his body was that of a stick insect, none of that dynamism was conveyed.
"Follow, human!"
With those words, the Golem Master turned and headed for a door on one side of the hangar.
As I followed the fluttering scrap of cloth—I couldn't tell if it was a skirt or something else—
I soon found myself in a different location, no longer in the hangar.
"Where are we...?"
Like the hangar, this place was also a kind of sealed room, made entirely of metal.
In the center, however, was a cavity filled with numerous gears moving in a regular pattern.
At the heart of that opening stood a single pillar, supporting something that emitted a brilliant light.
Clank, clunk.
The gears meshed, and the loud mechanical noise assaulted my ears.
[The Sage has determined that this is the engine room of the "Floating Ship".]
It seemed to be a hidden area within the dungeon.
At this rate, it's like the hidden boss is guiding me to the hidden stage.
The surprises didn't end there.
"Human, wait!"
The Golem Master suddenly threw himself into the opening with the moving gears.
He walked precariously along the gears toward the center of the opening,
heading for the small pillar.
And upon reaching the pillar, our Golem Master,
Snatch!
swiftly snatched the sphere of light resting on top.
Holding it carefully, he hopped and skipped his way back toward me.
"...Sage. Is it okay for him to just snatch it like that?"
[The Sage reports it cannot be certain. An analysis of the sphere is required to know for sure.]
While I was having this conversation with the Sage, the Golem Master arrived in front of me.
He then held out the potato-sized orb of light in his hand.
"Human, your world has nothing like this!"
the black stick insect proclaimed triumphantly.
I took it from him.
Except for its smooth, metallic material, it looked exactly like a baseball.
It even had engraved lines similar to a baseball's seams, from which a vivid blue light flowed endlessly.
'It certainly looks like an incredibly valuable item at a glance.'
"Human, gave you best thing here. I go now!"
With that, the Golem Master turned around.
Catching the fleeing stick insect would be easy anyway, so for now, I just waited for the Sage's analysis window.
And then.
[The Sage has completed its analysis of the item in your hand.]
The Sage, who had been staring intently at the item from my side, suddenly jolted.
[Notification. This is a power source of highly condensed magical energy. Its uses will be limitless!]
"Oho, just as I thought."
I nodded in satisfaction.
Good, this is a huge gain. Just as I had that thought and turned to catch the Golem Master,
[Congratulations, Challenger 1. You have successfully cleared the hidden mission 'Father of Steel'.]
A voice suddenly echoed throughout the ship.
[You have cleared via an abnormal route. To issue the reward, the successful result will be forcibly changed to the original route.]
The original route?
Let's see. What was the original objective of the hidden mission? It was to defeat the Father of Steel, that stick insect Golem Master who was currently making his casual escape over there.
He gave me the power core to avoid that route.
'But if the result is being forcibly changed to the original route, that means...'
“Kkeee?”
The Father of Steel, who was just about to leave the engine room, suddenly froze.
And then.
“K-kkeeeee!”
With a scream, in an instant,
he scattered into pieces and vanished into ash.
The Golem Master's ashes piled up gently on the floor.
Tuk.
The wooden mask he had been wearing on his face dropped onto the pile.
It was so much like an in-game unit disintegrating that I didn't even have time to react properly.
"...Looks like even he didn't expect the dungeon to work this way."
The Sage, having witnessed the stick insect's end, whirred in agreement.
...Jeez, why did he have to hand me what was essentially the dungeon's heart?
[Congratulations, Challenger 1. You have perfectly cleared the dungeon "Steel Floating Ship". As a reward for succeeding in the hidden mission, you will be awarded 15 free distribution stat points.]
Fifteen points.
The original reward for the Steel Floating Ship was 3 free distribution stat points, so this was a whopping five times that.
On top of that, I was holding an incredible material that could be used to create at least an A-rank item.
"Is this really a tutorial dungeon? The rewards are insane."
Woooong—
A resonant hum echoed from behind me.
I turned to see a shimmering blue rift leading outside.
Perhaps because of the perfect clear, unlike with the previous chicks, I wasn't being forcibly teleported.
Of course, separate from that,
Kukukukung!
the floating ship, having suddenly lost its power source, began to tilt with a deafening roar.
It was just the dungeon disappearing due to a perfect clear, but it felt as if the floating ship itself was plummeting from the sky to the ground.
Whirr!
The Sage urged me on. It was telling me to get out before the dungeon collapsed.
"Wait a minute, Sage."
I smiled and pointed toward the entrance of the engine room.
To the exact spot where our poor stick insect had turned to dust and vanished.
"No matter how rushed we are, we have to grab what we can."
The gently piled dust of the Golem Master and the wooden mask.
Buried within was a glowing magic stone.
He was my stick insect, generous to the very end.
***
"Uh... Hunter Kim Hanul. You've worked hard."
When I stepped out through the rift, I saw a familiar face.
It was the public official who had checked the expedition members before we entered the dungeon.
His name was Kim Seongtae, I think.
In any case, him waiting here was unexpected.
"Oh, you didn't go home? You've been here the whole time?"
Usually, the officials managing these 'tutorial dungeons' just check the members in, casually monitor the clear progress, and then head home.
Kim Seongtae gave a vague smile and nodded.
"Ah, yes. Hahaha... Well, given who entered the dungeon. An order came down from headquarters."
"An order?"
"Yes, an order to just wait nearby since nine times out of ten, any dungeon Hunter Kim Hanul enters gets blown up. It's basically an order for overtime. Haha..."
So it was an overtime order.
Still, he must have held out some hope.
Ordinarily, the Steel Floating Ship was a tutorial dungeon where nothing special was supposed to happen.
He must have desperately hoped and prayed that I would just quietly collect my stats and come out.
After all, a perfect clear meant he'd be buried under a mountain of work, starting with the report to headquarters.
"Hahaha... I'm glad I waited."
Of course, life rarely goes as planned.
Giiiiing!
Suddenly, a tremendous roar erupted from behind us.
I turned around.
Against the backdrop of the full moon over the sea, the floating ship was plummeting downward, turning to dust as it fell.
"Congratulations on the perfect clear, Hunter Kim Hanul."
Kim Seongtae, his overtime now confirmed, smiled with a look of resignation.