Chapter 70
Chapter 70
The real-time data transmitted by the 100 Honeybee drones circling above the workshop gradually assembled into a precise map of the entire Mapo District.
Among the many signals, one stood out.
Red dots slowly advancing from the edges of the map.
“They’re moving faster than expected.”
The search operation was progressing from the outer edges of the three waste hills toward their centers.
Like a sonar system driving fish into a net.
“At this speed… the survey will finish in three days at most.”
Picker, who had returned to the workshop, spoke while commanding the Honeybee squadron.
“Three days…”
Their intentions were obvious.
After the waste hills—the most likely hiding locations—the next targets would be the nearby villa districts.
They had correctly guessed that I was hiding underground.
If we fought now, my chances of victory were still high.
But something felt uneasy.
Karambit had hidden tricks.
Pig had done the same.
The people searching now had also survived ten years in the ruined world.
It would be wise to test every step before crossing the bridge.
I turned my gaze toward Porter, quietly charging in the corner of the workshop.
The reason why the Rampaging Heart had manifested such an absurd ability—Spatial Storage—remained unknown.
It was a shame I had not possessed the Mana Resonance Lens at that time.
If I had gathered data then, I might have compared the mana patterns and found the answer.
Still—
If I granted an extradimensional item, even if it didn’t reproduce the same phenomenon, it might at least generate a subspace pocket.
I called Picker, who was charging in the unit management bay.
“Picker.”
“Yes, Boss! You called?”
“Do you remember saying you wanted an upgrade last time?”
“…W–what?!”
Picker’s lens aperture tightened instantly.
The cooling fan inside his chassis began whirring loudly.
His internal processors were probably running at full capacity imagining something wonderful.
“You mean…! Finally for me?!”
“Yes. I’m thinking of installing a subspace storage on you.”
Before I even finished speaking, Picker performed a midair flip.
“Yahoo! Amazing! Finally this body gets one too!”
“Don’t get too excited. It means you’ll have more work—airborne supply operations.”
“I can handle that! Just imagining filling my stomach with missiles and bombs and dropping them on enemies—hehehe!”
He was already dreaming of becoming a bomber aircraft.
“Well, if you want to be a bomber, you need space first. Search for subspace-related items.”
“Roger! Search initiated!”
Blue light projected from Picker’s lens as a search window appeared in midair.
Keywords:
Subspace
Inventory
Spatial Expansion
The results were disappointing.
Search Results: 0
“Boss… nothing in the Union Market.”
“That makes sense. Rare items are usually traded directly through Pandora. Search there too.”
The Survivor Forum – Pandora board was filled with red text posts.
[Looking for a subspace bag. Will pay upfront.]
[Buying spatial expansion artifact for two C-grade cores.]
[Size doesn’t matter. Buying any spatial-type item.]
“No sellers. Only buyers.”
The last poster looked like a merchant.
The reason for the scarcity was obvious.
In a brutal world like this—
Everyone wanted to carry their entire fortune safely.
Everyone wanted lighter equipment and higher mobility.
Any Awakened would dream of owning a subspace item.
“Buy some information. I want to know why supply is so low.”
Thanks to Picker’s constant activity, my Survivor Forum AP reserves were already large.
They were still increasing.
“Boss, confirmed. Subspace items can only be obtained from Dead Zones. 100%. Impossible to craft, impossible to replicate.”
Impossible to craft?
I wondered whether that rule applied to my workshop.
“Also, high-level Awakened and major guild executives buy them up immediately and circulate them privately. Some people carry three or four themselves. A perfect example of the rich getting richer.”
The conclusion was simple.
Even with money, you couldn’t buy one.
To obtain one, you either risked your life entering a Dead Zone—
or killed someone who had one and took it.
“A Dead Zone…”
I was curious what those places were like.
“Boss. Why not ask that crazy woman?”
“Hmm. Cha Yumin might be able to get one.”
She already possessed a Military Awakening Accelerator MK-2.
An A-Grade Awakened like her might have several subspace items.
“Understood! Sending a message immediately!”
Meanwhile — Gangnam
The nightscape of Gangnam was dazzling.
Not because electricity still flowed—
but because flames and explosions constantly illuminated the darkness.
On the rooftop railing of a department store sat a woman overlooking the chaos.
Cha Yumin.
Instead of a sofa, the corpse of a still-warm B-Grade beast-type mutant served as her seat.
“Hmm…”
She elegantly smoked a long pipe.
Sweet, bitter smoke masked the smell of blood.
Then her U-Link vibrated.
[Thunder: Can you obtain a subspace item? I’ll pay whatever reward you want.]
“Oh my… look who it is.”
She smiled slowly.
The Thunder she spoke with in private messages and the one stirring chaos on the forum felt like two completely different people.
Which meant the forum persona was deliberate.
She liked that.
It meant he was the same kind of person as her.
“So our proud Thunder oppa is finally asking me for a favor?”
Until now, Thunder had always held the superior position.
He sold the items.
He set the price.
He even decided whether he would sell at all.
Cha Yumin had always found that irritating.
But the overwhelming quality of his goods forced her to accept it.
“Now that I think about it… it’s annoying.”
Why should an A-Grade Awakened like her bow her head?
But now—
The balance of power had shifted slightly.
“A subspace item…”
It was difficult to obtain.
But not impossible.
She knew several Dead Zone locations.
And there were a few Awakened who owed her favors.
She could easily extract something from them.
“I don’t like asking favors… better to get it myself.”
The problem was the price.
There was only one type of reward she wanted.
Swords.
Clang—
She touched her waist.
A broken sword hilt dropped to the floor.
That had been the sixth sword broken while killing the B-Grade mutant earlier.
“They’re so fragile.”
Most weapons available on the market could not withstand her reaction speed and strength.
Only the crude weapons she bought from Thunder satisfied her.
And even those rarely survived long.
“This time I’ll take a proper bite out of him.”
Her fingers moved quickly as she typed.
[SurvivalIsMyHobby: Oppa, you’re finally asking me for help? I actually know a place where I might find one~]
[SurvivalIsMyHobby: I’ll probably break about five swords killing the monster though. Can you send ten swords above D-Grade? C-Grade would be better. I’m curious how good Thunder oppa’s C-Grade weapons are.]
[SurvivalIsMyHobby: Oh, and paint them hot pink if possible. If not, I won’t go. Hmph.]
Message sent.
Ding—
The reply came immediately.
[Thunder: Understood. I’ll prepare them. Just make sure you bring the item.]
Cha Yumin’s eyes widened.
No hesitation.
He even agreed to the hot pink paint request.
“I just threw that out there… interesting.”
She stood up and brushed dust from her coat.
“Seems you’re in a hurry, oppa.”
The deal was made.
Now she had to earn her reward.
“Let’s go shopping.”
She kicked off the rooftop railing and leapt into the darkness.
Her destination—
A gateway to hell in the heart of Gangnam.
Her favorite hunting ground.
Dead Zone: COEX.
Thirty Minutes Later — Workshop
Ding!
A notification broke the workshop’s silence.
I picked up the U-Link.
It was Cha Yumin.
[SurvivalIsMyHobby: Got one. Send the swords quickly. It’s an exchange, remember?]
She attached a photo.
A gigantic mutant corpse lay crushed beyond recognition.
Beside it—
A dirt-covered subspace pouch.
And of course—
Her legs appeared in the frame.
Her face was deliberately cut out.
A classic half-camera composition.
If her identity became known, raiders would stop taking the bait she used to lure them.
Maintaining mystery was essential.
“That was fast. Only two hours.”
She really was impressive.
I glanced toward the workbench.
Ten swords lay neatly arranged.
Eight D-Grade.
Two C-Grade.
All finished an hour earlier.
This time I had not deliberately lowered their quality.
Instead, I crafted them carefully while gaining experience toward Work Protocol Level 4.
The only issue left—
Painting them hot pink.
Design was not my strong point.
“Picker. Any ideas?”
“If you just paint them plainly, she’ll probably complain. That woman has very particular taste.”
“Then think of something. I’m hopeless at this.”
“Why not try different styles? There are ten swords anyway!”
Picker was right.
If I sent ten different designs, she would probably like at least one.
I paused the military supply production line.
Hiss—
Some swords were painted in rough graffiti styles.
Some had clean logos.
Others were boldly coated in fluorescent pink across the entire blade.
Soon all ten swords were wearing different shades of pink.
“….”
Looking at them, something felt strange.
I had never seen painted weapons before.
Normally, wasting resources on decoration was absurd.
“Maybe they look too advanced.”
But a full war between Steel Legion and Guro Foundry was inevitable anyway.
Once I deployed the drone army, my technological advantage would become obvious.
“It might be better to reveal some of it now.”
Rumors already claimed the Bomb Maker had a powerful organization behind him.
This would reinforce those rumors.
Thirty Minutes Later — Gangnam
Rain fell on the streets.
Cha Yumin stood beneath the roof of an unmanned trading station.
She slowly drew one of the swords.
Shiiing—
The blade slid out with a pleasant metallic sound.
Brilliant hot pink steel filled her vision.
“This is insane.”
She laughed softly.
Not because of the color.
But because of the balance the moment she held it.
And the chilling sharpness at the blade’s edge.
This was C-Grade.
Perhaps even better.
And he had produced ten masterpieces like this in just one hour.
She drew the rest one by one.
Graffiti.
Logos.
Gradients.
It felt as though he had said:
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I made everything.”
“Pfft.”
She burst into laughter.
Behind his blunt tone—
there was a strangely meticulous and even adorable side.
And beyond that—
a production speed and craftsmanship that defied common sense.
She sheathed the most flamboyant graffiti-painted sword at her waist.
A confident smile formed on her lips.
“…I knew it.”