Chapter 51
Chapter 51
As soon as I returned to the workshop, I collapsed like a corpse.
How long had I slept?
When I opened my eyes, the familiar gray ceiling came into view.
With a foggy head, I retraced the past few days.
It had started simply.
Right after creating Picker, he was shot down, and in retaliation I dealt with Viper and Hammer.
But that small spark escalated into a full-scale war between Karambit and Pig, and eventually spiraled into the catastrophe known as the aberration Armus.
For a butterfly effect triggered by a single drone, the scale had grown absurdly large.
Cold sweat ran down my back, but in the end I had survived.
That was enough.
After sitting up, I waved my hand through the air and scanned the [Storage] inventory.
The first things that caught my eye were the firearms looted from Mapo Police Station.
Glossary - Owner of a Workshop …
There were quite a lot of them, but none were in perfect condition.
Naturally.
Most of the functional guns and ammunition had already been handed over to Yun Seong-jun’s group.
It wasn’t like I could use them all myself, and if I wanted to properly employ subcontractors, I had to arm them to some degree.
They’ll probably assume the Bomber isn’t interested in farming the police station.
I had already sucked up the experience points through [Disassembly] at the scene.
As for the broken equipment I brought back, I could just repair it later and sell it in Thunder’s shop.
This is what real creative economics looks like.
Most of the storage space, however, was filled with mutant corpses.
Some were ones I had personally butchered.
But most had been swept up by Porter when the hole opened in the basement of the Garden Hotel.
“Very thorough collecting. Good work, Porter.”
—The storage is heavy… and completely full. I am deeply satisfied.
At my praise, Porter hummed mechanically in satisfaction.
A pervert who feels pleasure from the weight of resources piled in storage.
Seeing that, Picker spun his lens impatiently and interrupted.
[Boss! I’m the one who set the table! That guy just showed up to eat!]
“Yeah, yeah. You did well too.”
I placated the two who looked ready to start an arena match and returned to examining the list.
The teeth of the [Contaminated Wild Dogs] were neatly sorted, but tendons and ligaments seemed harder to extract.
Chunks of leg muscle had been ripped off along with them.
It was a bit crude, but still—
I had obtained all these resources without lifting a finger.
Automated hunting.
This thing was incredible.
As long as no one discovered it, there was no more perfect farming system.
If I ever found a remote mutant habitat untouched by humans, I could release the drones there and let them run like an idle game.
And finally.
The most satisfying sight appeared.
29 × F-Rank Cores
7 × E-Rank Cores
1 × D-Rank Core
1 × C-Rank Core
Brilliant crystals of condensed energy.
Just looking at them filled my stomach.
Now I wouldn’t have to live like a miser, turning off lights to conserve power or draining my own stamina for emergency charging.
Just as I was about to close the storage window—
Ding.
A new system message flickered in the air.
[Required resources confirmed.]
[Would you like to upgrade the Workshop to Lv.2?]
Before pressing the upgrade button, the list of required resources appeared.
Core Power: 1 × D-Rank Core
Auxiliary Power: 5 × E-Rank Cores
High-Purity Iron Ore: 10 tons
Reinforced Concrete: 50 tons
“Wow… that’s brutal.”
My mouth fell open.
I had just thought my core supply was plentiful, but it was about to disappear instantly.
Still, I had plenty of F-Rank cores.
The real problem was the 10 tons of iron ore and 50 tons of concrete.
In the past, those amounts would have been unimaginable.
But now things were different.
I had a reliable hauler.
With Porter, dismantling a few ruined buildings would be enough.
If I sent him far away to sweep up materials without leaving traces, it wouldn’t even take a full day.
Probably half a day.
Since I had the resources, there was no reason to delay the upgrade.
With anticipation, I opened the [Preview] tab.
What exactly would change at Lv.2?
2 → 4
“Oh.”
Two more slots.
Picker for reconnaissance, Porter for transport and tanking.
That meant I could create attack-specialized or mission-specific summons as well.
But unlike my enthusiasm, the two beside me reacted coldly.
—Boss… are we not enough? You’re already thinking about new ones?
—…My heart feels heavy.
Picker spun his lens suspiciously, while Porter expressed quiet discomfort.
They looked like firstborn and second-born children sulking at the news of a new sibling.
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Relax. You two are the originals. The newcomers will be assigned under your command.”
—S-subordinates? Oh! They’ll be under me? In that case, I welcome them!
—…Then perhaps I can share some of the workload with the youngest.
Simple creatures.
Their moods recovered instantly.
Ignoring them, I looked at the next item.
Workshop physical area expanded ×3
Areas can be divided by function
(Examples: living quarters, drone hangar, laboratory, material storage)
This was exactly what I needed.
Right now, the workshop was basically a giant studio apartment.
Repairing drones next to the bed.
Stacks of mutant corpses beside the dining table.
Not exactly hygienic.
I desperately needed a drone hangar and a warehouse for smelly materials.
And if I added a proper [Living Quarters], my quality of life would skyrocket.
“Want your own rooms?”
—A room? Nah. It’s more fun staying near you, Boss.
—…The master’s side is the heaviest place for my heart.
—That’s not how that phrase works, you bear.
Either way, they both seemed determined to stay near me.
Feeling strangely touched, I scrolled down.
1 ton → 5 tons
Expected.
With a material warehouse added, storage pressure would finally ease.
The main storage would probably be used for cores and corpses.
Scan Range Expansion
: Detect lifeforms and mana signatures within 500m.
Basic Defense System
: Automated interception turrets installable and linkable.
“Finally!”
I clenched my fist.
A radar capable of monitoring the area around the workshop without deploying Picker.
And automatic interception turrets—pure high-risk, high-return defense.
All that suffering collecting gun parts and studying their structures had paid off.
Even better, if ammunition was stored in the storage system, the turrets would retrieve it automatically.
Though hopefully I never have to use it.
Because that would mean the workshop was under attack.
And finally—
The most important feature shone at the bottom.
Establish production lines capable of continuously manufacturing items registered in blueprints.
Mass production.
This was the true peak of my Workshop Owner class.
And the most powerful weapon I had for surviving this ruined world.
“No need to think twice.”
Without hesitation, I pressed [Start Upgrade].
[Upgrade initiated.]
[For safety, all lifeforms must move outside the workshop.]
[3… 2… 1…]
“Wait, outside?”
Wooooong—!
The entire workshop began shaking like an earthquake.
Startled, I grabbed Picker and Porter and ran outside through the shutter.
Boom! KWAANG!
A massive rumble erupted behind me.
When I turned around, the entrance had sealed shut.
Inside, it sounded as if the building was collapsing—or gigantic machines were interlocking and turning.
The ground sank slightly as the workshop expanded deeper underground.
Then a cold system message appeared in the air.
[Upgrade in progress…]
[Time required: 24 hours]
[All workshop functions temporarily suspended.]
“…Huh.”
I stared blankly at the closed shutter.
Only then did I realize.
After surviving a war, I had wanted to rest.
Instead, the upgrade had kicked me out of my house for a full day.
—Bo… Boss. Where do we sleep now?
Picker asked pitifully.
We had effectively become homeless despite owning a luxury bunker.
“Twenty-four hours… we’ll manage.”
There was plenty of work to do anyway.
A bleak waste hill where the wind howled.
Before, I would have been tense, expecting mutants to jump out at any moment while scavenging rusty pipes.
But now Porter stood beside me.
A reliable powerhouse capable of wiping out an entire mutant pack instantly.
“Grrr…”
Right on cue.
A pack of [Contaminated Wild Dogs] crawled out from the scrap piles, their red eyes glowing.
It reminded me of the day I was expelled from the shelter.
“Hah.”
But now they looked almost cute.
—Boss! Those filthy dogs dare block our path! Shall I freeze them?
“The workshop power’s offline. Don’t push it.”
—Just a little spray is fine with my own battery!
Sssss—
Picker opened his cooling nozzle dramatically.
It wasn’t a grand technique like [Frost Storm], but it was enough to cover the ground in a thin layer of ice.
The charging wild dogs slipped and slowed down.
And that brief opening was more than enough for my heavy hauler.
BOOOOM!
—Move. You are light.
Porter charged forward on his tracks.
Like a dump truck knocking down bowling pins.
The two dogs at the front were slammed by Porter’s [Ram] and flung away before they could even scream.
BAM!
The remaining two were skewered by steel harpoons fired from Porter’s back and pinned to the ground.
Total time required: three seconds.
“Clean.”
I watched the entire scene with my hands still in my pockets.
I remembered the day I crawled away with a broken leg after being expelled from the Mapo Shelter.
So much had changed since then.
I approached the dead dogs and expertly extracted their poison glands.
Then I gathered scattered scrap metal and wires from the surroundings.
[Manufacture]
Woooo—
Particles of light gathered.
Two [Mutant Acid Batteries]² were produced instantly.
“Oh, that’s definitely easier.”
Before, producing even one battery would have exhausted me.
But thanks to the adjustments from [Work Protocol Lv.3], the consumption of bio-energy had clearly decreased.
I went ahead and made two more batteries.
Only then did my body begin to feel a little sluggish.
About half my stamina had drained.
Using the batteries and surrounding materials, I quickly produced four [Honeybee] drones.
I had left the others in the workshop, so I needed reconnaissance units immediately.
“Picker, connect them.”
—Oho! Understood! Hey you guys! Formation! Why aren’t you aligning properly?!
Picker excitedly commanded the Honeybee squadron as they flew into the sky.
“Now… let’s build a place to sleep.”
I found a flat spot.
Before, I would have ripped car doors off and made crude metal boxes.
But I didn’t have to live like that anymore.
“Porter. Dig over there. Narrow entrance, wide interior.”
—Roger. Excavation work. A very heavy mission. I like it.
Porter hummed as he began pushing aside piles of debris.
Concrete fragments and twisted rebar were cleared easily under his strength.
Even doing manual labor, Porter’s engine sounded oddly cheerful.
Moving heavy objects seemed to be a reward for him.
Soon a cozy space large enough for three people to lie down appeared.
“Porter. Step aside.”
I camouflaged the surroundings and installed a perfectly sized [Mobile Bunker] inside.
A fairly convincing secret hideout was completed.
Picker buzzed in the sky on patrol.
Porter silently reinforced the entrance below.
“…Not bad.”
When I lived in the shelter, dragging around my suitcase, every day had been exhausting.
I feared tomorrow.
I worried what kind of humiliation awaited me when I woke up.
But now it was different.
Things I created with my own hands protected me.
And followed me.
With this strange but reliable family, spending twenty-four hours outdoors felt more like camping than homelessness.
As night fell over the waste hill, darkness settled in.
All day I wandered through the scrap piles filling gaps in the lower branches of my tech tree.
As a result, small proficiencies like [Basic Mechanical Engineering] and [Electrical Circuit Understanding] increased quite a bit.
“Whew.”
I entered the temporary bunker Porter had dug and turned on the lamp.
It was cozy—but there was no time to rest.
I had no intention of wasting the 24 hours while the workshop upgraded.
“Porter, open the storage.”
—Roger. Opening.
Even with the main workshop shut down, Porter’s Spatial Tethering ability allowed access to the [Storage] system.
That alone was a huge advantage.
I pulled out the spoils stored earlier.
Damaged equipment collected during the Mapo Police Station battle and the Mapo Boulevard fight.
Bent K-2 rifles.
K-3 machine guns with broken stocks.
Bullet-riddled body armor.
Sold as scrap, they were worthless.
But in my hands, things were different.
The bent barrels straightened instantly.
Broken parts were restored.
Thanks to the increased level of [Work Protocol] and my complete understanding of their structure, the repair speed was incomparable to before.
Soon five rifles and three body armors gleamed like new.
“Good. Time to make some money.”
I turned on my [U-Link] and accessed Union Market.
After checking market prices, I boldly set the prices.
[Refurbished K-2 Rifle]
[5.56mm Refurbished Ammunition Box (500 rounds)]
[Repaired Military Body Armor]
The strategy was simple: thin margins, high volume.
My production cost was practically zero.
10–20% cheaper than others, but with superior quality.
There was no way people wouldn’t buy.
[Sale registration completed.]
Watching the listings update, I smiled with satisfaction.
“At this price with this quality? These should sell within a minute.”
But—
“…Huh?”
Ten minutes passed.
Thirty minutes passed.
Soon an entire hour had gone by.
Ding.
The occasional notification was only for trivial things—jerky sets or small amounts of ammunition.
The expensive items like the K-2 rifles and body armor remained stubbornly marked as [For Sale].
“What the hell? Did the server crash?”
I refreshed the page several times.
The result was the same.
The price wasn’t high.
Quality?
Undeniably top-tier refurbished goods.
And I had posted plenty of advertisements on the Survivor Forum.
“No one’s buying? Seriously?”
What on earth was going on?