Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Owner of a Workshop in a Ruined World (26)
Whooooosh—!
A torrential downpour fell as if it would swallow the world.
–Boss! Two o’clock direction, fifteen meters ahead! Two Giant Rats identified!
Picker’s warning rang in my ears.
I didn’t stop running.
Maintaining my pace, I pulled the [High-Tension Bio Sling] from my waist and hooked a steel ball from my pocket onto the leather band.
Lower right.
A red dot blinked on the HUD Picker projected.
The rain obscured visibility, but that didn’t matter.
My eyes weren’t looking into the darkness ahead.
They were in the sky.
Snap!
The rubber-band twang was swallowed by the rain.
But the impact sound was unmistakable.
Thud! Crack!
A brief death squeal echoed from the darkness as one red dot vanished.
The remaining rat lifted its head in confusion.
Snap!
The second steel ball pierced its forehead cleanly.
I didn’t even need to slow down.
In the past, these mutants would have forced me to sneak around or risk my life fighting them.
Now they were nothing more than obstacles I passed by.
–Nice shot! Boss, your aim improves every day!
“Quiet. Hard to hear with the rain.”
–Tsk. Even when I praise you…
Ignoring Picker’s grumbling, I increased my speed.
The terrain was already mapped in my mind.
Mutant positions were shared in real time.
And the rain erased both scent and footprints.
There couldn’t be a more perfect return route.
What I expected might take five hours…
But when I reached the disguised entrance of the workshop, only two hours had passed.
Hiss—
The heavy blast door opened.
Instead of damp air, the workshop’s dry, comfortable atmosphere greeted me.
Only then did the tension leave my body.
My muscles screamed.
“Whew…”
I tossed aside my wet coat and collapsed into a chair.
Fatigue washed over me, but something needed checking.
I pulled the [U-Link] from its waterproof pouch.
Did the registration go through properly?
My fingerprint unlocked the screen.
A notification appeared.
[Notification: Item registration inspection complete.]
[Registration time: 23:43]
[Inspection completed: 00:05]
“…Twenty minutes?”
My eyes narrowed.
Only twenty minutes had passed since I deposited the item.
The sale registration had already been processed.
[Item on Sale: Worn Military Machete (E+)]
[Price: 150 UP]
[Status: Awaiting Buyer]
Too fast.
I replayed the footage recorded by Honeybee Drone No. 3, which I had hidden near the exchange depot.
“Picker. Did anyone approach the depot after I left? Any vehicles?”
–Nope. Nothing but rain. Not even an ant passed by.
The depot in the video remained sealed.
No people.
No trucks.
Then how was my item inspected?
Two possibilities.
First, the unmanned depot itself had a super-advanced appraisal system.
But that seemed impossible.
Maybe for factory products.
But evaluating the subtle aura or balance of items crafted by Awakened?
Machines couldn’t do that perfectly.
Second possibility.
The machine scanned the item, but a human judged it remotely.
High-resolution scanners or mana detection sensors transmitted the data to headquarters where appraisers reviewed it.
Given the mention of a physical inspection system, that seemed likely.
“Remote inspection… fine.”
But that wasn’t the real problem.
Even if the inspection used data, the item itself was physical.
The machete I deposited was still sitting in the exchange depot locker out in the rain.
If someone bought it…
How would delivery work?
Just then my phone vibrated.
Buzz—
[Buyer has completed payment.]
[Payment deposited to Union virtual account.]
[Amount: 150 UP (135 UP after 10% commission)]
Already?
Someone recognized quality that quickly?
But I didn’t have time to celebrate.
I checked Honeybee’s live feed.
“Picker! Check the depot! Did someone arrive?”
–Uh… Boss? There’s nobody here.
The depot still stood alone in the rain.
No delivery drone had arrived either.
Yet 135 UP had already been credited.
The app showed Transaction Complete.
“How the hell did that happen?”
The item was still there.
But the sale was finished.
Union Tech.
Just how were they moving their logistics?
The next morning.
I took a large bite from a leg of Smoked Knife-Beak Chicken while staring at the screen again.
But my gaze wasn’t fixed on the depot itself.
It was fixed on the massive object mounted on its roof.
[12.7mm Gatling Turret]
The heavy barrels slowly rotated as they scanned the surroundings.
Cold metal.
Intimidating presence.
Engineering perfection.
“I really want one of those…”
Imagine that standing guard at my workshop entrance.
Even while I slept or worked, it would tirelessly monitor and intercept mutants.
In the morning, I’d just collect useful materials from the corpses it left behind.
And its uses weren’t limited to defense.
If miniaturized and mounted on drones…
My drone fleet would become a flying artillery battery.
The problem is the technology.
Right now my only ranged weapon was the High-Tension Bio Sling.
Essentially a slingshot.
I need blueprints for gunpowder weapons.
Once I obtained them, I could add Automated Turrets or Combat Drones to the workshop’s production list.
Just then—
–Wow! Boss! Look at that majestic thing!
Picker had drifted over and was staring at the turret on screen.
–Install that on me! I’ll rain explosives from the sky like a bomber! Everyone die! Pew pew!
He wiggled midair like he was shadowboxing.
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Wake up. Your motors can’t even lift that thing.”
–Come on, just upgrade me a bit!
“What about recoil? Ever heard of Newton’s Third Law?”
I tossed the chicken bone into a container.
“Fire a machine gun like that in the air and you’ll fly backward into a wall. You won’t be a bomber—you’ll be a rocket.”
Picker froze.
He seemed to run a quick calculation.
Then replied sheepishly.
–Ah… didn’t think about that. Boss, you’re a genius! Even considering recoil control!
“Obviously.”
–I’m just a stupid drone that only thinks about destruction! I’ll follow you forever! Loyalty!
His exaggerated praise made my shoulders lift proudly.
Not a bad feeling.
“Now that I’ve sold something, let’s try buying.”
I looked toward the pile of spoils in the workshop corner.
Six K2 rifles left behind by Pig’s guards were neatly arranged.
I could disassemble them to study firearm structure.
But that would be wasteful.
A functional rifle sold for about 2,000 UP on the Black Market.
Two cores’ worth.
Destroying such valuable weapons just to learn their structure was wasteful.
Better to save them as backup firepower or turret components later.
For study, broken junk is enough.
Since the turret used a Gatling gun, finding a machine-gun-type weapon would be better.
I opened U-Link and accessed the Black Market app.
Setting the category to Weapons – Damaged, I began searching.
After scrolling a few times, I found exactly what I wanted.
[MP5 Submachine Gun (Non-Functional)]
–Probably rusted from heavy rain exposure. Frequent jams.
For parts use only.
–300 UP
“Perfect.”
[Available Points: 312 UP]
Thunder’s original points plus the machete sale covered it perfectly.
Before pressing the purchase button, I turned to Picker.
There was one crucial preparation left.
“Picker. Wake the others. Deployment begins.”
–Roger that! Swarm launch ready!
At Picker’s signal, the Honeybee drones resting on the workbench lifted into the air.
Three original units.
Plus seven more I built recently.
Ten total.
I wanted more, but the key component—the Mutated Acid Battery—had run out.
To produce more, I’d need to hunt more Contaminated Wild Dogs.
Still, ten drones were enough for reconnaissance.
The swarm buzzed out of the workshop.
Moments later the main monitor split into ten feeds.
Depot entrance.
Roof.
Nearby road.
Sewer entrance.
Rooftops.
The bunker area near Mapo Shelter appeared like a full CCTV control center.
“Incredible.”
Sharing vision from ten drones simultaneously.
Controlling each flight path.
Maintaining a perfect surveillance net.
My brain couldn’t handle that.
But Picker performed the multitasking while humming digital beeps.
After awakening Drone Command Authority, the former reconnaissance drone now acted like a true commander.
–Hehe, Boss! Praise makes my motors dance! I won’t miss even a single ant!
“Good. I trust you.”
Now the experiment could begin.
I looked at the phone again.
The time was exactly 9:00 AM.
“Let’s test a hypothesis.”
Yesterday, it took exactly twenty minutes from item registration to payment.
Since I was a production-type Awakened…
“If inspection takes about ten minutes, that means transport time is ten minutes one way.”
But when purchasing, inspection is skipped.
The item is already verified.
“Which means… ten minutes.”
I swallowed nervously and pressed Confirm Purchase.
[Payment Complete: 300 UP deducted.]
[Delivery has begun.]
Picker and I stared at the ten split screens.
Five minutes.
The depot area remained silent.
Only trash blown by wind moved.
Eight minutes.
Still nothing.
No trucks.
No motorcycles.
If a physical transport vehicle were coming, we would at least hear engines or see dust.
“Picker. Check vibration sensors. Maybe underground—like subway tunnels or something digging.”
–Zero vibrations detected! Surface and underground up to ten meters are completely stable!
Not on the ground.
Not in the air.
Not underground.
Then how?
Nine minutes thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds left.
What if it just drops from the sky?
Buzz—
My phone vibrated.
Exactly ten minutes after purchase.
A message appeared.
[Notification: Item has arrived.]
“…What?”
The depot designated by the app was near Mapo Shelter.
“Picker. Replay the footage from ten minutes ago. 0.1× speed.”
–Roger! High-speed camera analysis mode!
The footage slowed.
Raindrops were visible in perfect detail.
But nothing approached the depot.
Nothing.
“That’s impossible. Nothing arrived.”
No people.
No machines.
Not even underground vibrations.
Physics said that any object with mass required energy and left traces.
That was the law of the universe.
–Boss… this is scary.
Picker trembled behind my shoulder.
–Maybe it’s ghost delivery! The Union Tech boss is secretly a necromancer! Skeleton soldiers delivering packages with invisibility cloaks!
“Stop writing fantasy.”
Eliminate the impossible.
Whatever remains—no matter how absurd—must be the truth.
Truck?
No.
Drone?
No.
Tunnel?
No.
Then only one explanation remained.
“…Right. Awakened abilities.”
I murmured.
This world had shattered common sense ten years ago.
People who breathe fire.
Bodies harder than steel.
Why must logistics rely on trucks?
“Spatial abilities.”
Teleportation.
Warp gates.
The highest tier abilities imaginable.
They must be powering Union Tech’s logistics.
–Spatial… movement? That really exists?
“I don’t know. But it’s the only explanation.”
My own ability, Workshop, was already absurd.
If I could create a grenade in one second…
Someone else could move cargo from Seoul to Busan in one second.
Union Tech…
They’re far more powerful than I imagined.
Capital strong enough to employ spatial Awakened as delivery workers.
Or perhaps the spatial user was the leader.
“Picker. Recall the Honeybees.”
–Already? Aren’t we checking what’s inside?
“No need. It’s obviously the MP5.”
I stood up and grabbed my coat.
“Let’s retrieve the item. And take better footage of that turret.”
There was no reason to fear greatness.
If anything, it was an opportunity.
A former scavenger like me finally had something worth studying.