Steel Royard
Steel Royard.
The largest of the seven masterpieces crafted by the Magic King, and a steel golem.
Tina was classified as a tanker among the seven dolls, but she was closer to a balanced tanker.
In contrast, Royard was a doll in the 'pure tank' position, with every stat poured into tanking.
As the frontline anchor who had to manage all aggro and absorb every attack, it was only natural that he ended up with the biggest build and heaviest frame among the dolls.
And deep down, Royard was dissatisfied with that.
No, the massive size itself was fine.
He even took some pride in his role as the party's shield, and he knew full well that a hulking frame was essential for any tanker.
But.
Couldn't a big body still look cool?!
Royard's appearance was the textbook image that came to mind when you heard 'steel golem.'
A bulky, crude body. The head-like part was just blank except for two eyes—utterly featureless.
And the physique? Made from the magical metal Kolkanian, it boasted top-tier defense, but the color was downright hideous.
A dull gray that was neither black nor silver. Exactly like a sewer rat.
To top it off, the body's finish was all bumpy and rough. And the reason? Utterly ridiculous.
'Damn, this thing's tough as hell. A pain to work with! Screw it, I'll smash it flat. As long as it performs, who cares...'
Royard wanted to burst into tears hearing Dretsch had half-assed it because it was too hard to shape.
Of course, without proper vocal organs, all he could manage was a 'grrruuuung. Gruuuung' rumble.
It was infuriating.
All the other dolls were beautiful, stylish, and powerful. So why was he the odd one out?
With the massive war against the pretender looming, he couldn't voice his complaints, so he swallowed them. But that didn't make it any less unfair.
That's why, when Dretsch 'upgraded' him by wrecking his body, Royard was secretly thrilled.
His moment had finally come!
A chance to escape this ugly shell!
Royard began conveying his ideal form to his new master.
“A low baritone voice would be perfect.”
“The joints could be smoother for better combat.”
“But above all, horns and a red body!” it emphasizes again.
“Wait, soul stones can express their will like that?”
“If they desire it strongly enough, they can communicate with their master or other retainers even in soul stone form. Master.”
“...Is this that big a deal for you?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm. I'll give it a shot, but don't blame me if it doesn't turn out right.”
Vrrrrm.
Expressing gratitude to its new master.
Honestly, Carpe had zero confidence, but the thing was so desperate he figured he'd at least try.
Carpe pulled up the design blueprint again to tweak the appearance.
“Ah, now that I look closely...”
Plain? Bland?
Not even empty flattery could call it cool. Royard's complaints suddenly made sense.
“Heir. Here's the magic pencil for rune engraving.”
Elise handed Carpe the tool.
“Magic solution's here too. Let me know if you want a specific color.”
“Thanks. Not sure it'll work out, though. First time doing anything like this.”
“I'll support you as much as I can, so give it your best! Might as well make it stronger and cooler than the original, right?”
“True. Hey, if I nail this, could it go beyond epic grade?”
“Not impossible. Though topping a design from Dretsch himself would be tough...”
“Let's do it.”
The moment Carpe grabbed the magic pencil and brought it to the blueprint—
Scritch.
“Whoa?!”
His hand danced across the page.
The rough outline in Carpe's mind flowed straight onto the design.
Obviously, it wasn't some hidden artistic genius—it was the game's system assist kicking in.
“Nice! This is doable!”
“That's the spirit, Master!”
Seeing solid results from his own hand fired Carpe up. He dove into revising the blueprint with gusto.
Scritch scritch.
“Here like this... Huh? Beef up the shoulders? Won't that be too much? What? That's what makes it cool?”
Scritch.
“Okay, bulk this up too... Eh, screw it—scale everything up! Bigger means stronger, right? What! Add a shield to the left hand too!”
Satisfied with your judgment.
—...What the hell are you doing?
“Oh, you're back?”
While Carpe wrestled with the blueprint, Cheonma returned after uploading the video.
—Said you were checking the workshop. What's this, art class?
“Yeah, about that. Customer request.”
—Customer? What're you—
“What's this? Who're you calling a stray ghost?”
—...And why's this punk picking fights outta nowhere?
Carpe explained the whole story to Cheonma.
—...This relic's a riot. So you're drawing your heart out for it? You any good at art?
“First time, but it's coming out pretty decent. Guess I had hidden talent after all, lol.”
—System correction, not talent. Fine, lemme see... Whoa!
Cheonma peeked at Carpe's blueprint and jolted in surprise.
—This is it! The X-Com Red Comet!
“Huh? GundX Red Comet? What's that? Never heard of it.”
—You don't know it but drew it spot-on? Kinda rough, but that's definitely it...
“I just drew what was requested. Wait, you into this stuff, hyung?”
—...Better to show you. Follow me.
Cheonma led the group to his room.
Expanded massively from the upgrade, it had gained a study last time—now, something new.
A massive display case.
Filled to the brim with plastic models!
Intense reaction. On the verge of passing out.
“Whoa, what's all this? Hyung, plastic models a hobby?”
—Yeah. First time showing anyone, but I've been at it since your age. All hand-assembled by me.
In awe of the Meister's emergence.
“Didn't peg you for it. Cool hobby.”
—Obviously. Giant mechs are man's romance. So the fourth relic wants this? Knows its stuff!
“What a stray ghost!”
—...
After touring Cheonma's room, the group returned to the workshop.
With Cheonma joining the near-finished work, the blueprint wrapped up in no time.
—Hey, hey. While we're at it, slap jet boosters on the back. Peak cool factor.
Stunned by the brilliant idea!
Royard's favor rises sharply.
—Stretch the legs, thicken the ankle armor... Yes! Perfect!
Shaking at the genius inspiration.
“This is kinda fun. Anything else to tweak?”
The two guys and one golem soul clicked perfectly, finishing the blueprint in a flash.
Elise took it, smiled, and dropped the bomb.
“Rejected. Impossible.”
“Why!”
—What the hell?! After all that work!
Voicing its discontent.
“Guys, calm down and think. Fine, whatever—but a height of 25.6 meters? You serious?”
—But the original design—
“No bipedal doll that size exists! Even the toughest metal couldn't handle the weight. Knees would shatter. And we couldn't source materials for something that huge anyway.”
—...Can't magic fix that?
“Magic isn't a miracle fix-all. Impossible is impossible.”
—Urgh.
“Aw, we worked so hard...”
Downcast.
The expert's verdict shut everyone up.
Elise was usually sweet, but ironclad on magic engineering. Carpe went back to revisions.
The result? Royard's new body shrank to 4 meters.
Elise scrutinized the updated blueprint, then spoke hesitantly.
“This could work, but... do you really need wings on the back? Can't output enough thrust for flight anyway.”
—No! That's the romance! Flight's secondary!
“And these horns feel pointless too...”
“Kill me instead. No horns, then death!”
“Sigh. I'll cost it out based on this. Might need extra materials for the fluff.”
“Hyung, thinking about it, I'll probably hunt the mats myself. Maybe dial back the cool factor...”
—No!!!
“No!!!”
“Did you just speak out loud?!”
“Heir, this design's feasible. But the material list is...”
As Elise finished analyzing, alerts scrolled before Carpe's eyes.
A list of materials for Royard's new body.
“...Way too many.”
—Hm. Doesn't look impossible at a glance. A few snags, though. Brace yourself.
“Huh? For what?”
—Clashing with the top 10 guilds.
“Outta nowhere?”
—Some drop only in their turf.
And those were treated as treasures even by the top guilds—no way they'd hand them over easy.
Cheonma smirked after scanning the full list.
—Perfect timing. Second job change done, snagged the Magic Tower base. No more tiptoeing—time to go loud.
Rankers? Top 10 guilds?
Meaningless now.
No player could stop Carpe anymore, Cheonma was certain.
And that very night.
RaSe IpVen buzzed with the usual hot topics.
The usual idle chatter.
Then, one post shattered the vibe.
The 10-Star Player's Lucky Draw