Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Grizz's Secret Research Institute
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Kang Seol had finally discovered traces of Chao.
There hadn't been any particularly dangerous situations on the way here, but that was only possible because Kang Seol had a rough idea of the secret lab's layout.
'A note left here means Chao turned back from this point?'
If so, that meant Chao's current location wasn't here.
Adventure 5. 'Grizz's Secret Research Institute'
Traces of Chao have been found here.
However, it appears Chao achieved her goal and left this place. It seems unlikely you'll meet her here.
But you're still at the entrance of the secret research institute. Something even greater than Chao's traces might be hidden deeper within. You must claim it for yourself.
Goal: Thoroughly search Grizz's secret research institute to the end.
Remaining Time:「70:41」
Tsk, total bust.
— No way, don't you know who Grizz is?
— Nah, how would I? Do you know?
— Me neither. That's why I asked.
— It's briefly mentioned in the setting docs.
— What does it say?
— A tremendous genius. And a tremendously weird guy?
— lololol that's one hell of an unsettling character description
Kang Seol checked the updated adventure goal and nodded.
'I wasn't planning to stop here anyway.'
He had come here to find Chao, but in truth, he was also aiming for whatever might still remain in the secret research institute.
Grizz was a true master of mechanical engineering and the creator of priceless treasures. If even a sliver of his treasures remained here, it was only right to search every nook and cranny.
'But what on earth did Chao take?'
She had figured out the location of the secret research institute on her own and stolen something first. To Kang Seol, she seemed no ordinary person.
What could possibly catch the eye of someone like her?
"Master. This."
Karuna handed Kang Seol a bundle of documents.
Skimming the stiff paper, he saw it detailed the purpose and contents of this invention.
"Questions about death?"
Grizz's research always started from absurd ideas. His left-behind message made that clear.
"What is death? Does it hurt when you die? If I die, do I really break down into nothingness, into emptiness? Or is there an afterlife like the god-believers say? I'm curious. So curious I can't stand it! So I'll figure it out!"
The documents were packed with content from the introduction that showed Grizz had led this research.
"No one on this vast continent has experienced death. Ah, there are undead, but they're exceptions since they rejected death. To glimpse death's true form, I created this device."
"Apparent death induction device... He's insane."
A device made to experience death.
At the end of the log, these words were written.
"It's truly... truly horrific! I must avoid dying at all costs!"
Thud...
Kang Seol set the documents down on an ownerless desk and tilted his head.
'Chao stole this? Why?'
From concept to effect, it was utterly horrifying. He wondered what her purpose could be in taking something like this.
Now I see why the secret lab's so secret^^?
— It's not all crap like this, right? lol
— Total dud incoming lol
"Still... we should go deeper."
Nothing was more foolish than judging the whole from a part.
It was like touching an elephant's leg and calling it a pillar.
'There has to be something here I can use.'
True to his lack of persistence, Grizz never stuck to one research project for long.
So the lab likely held inventions entirely different from this one.
Creeeak...
Kang Seol walked down the corridor again.
The passage was boringly long, gradually descending underground.
— Lab 2
Before long, he arrived at Lab 2.
Insight
[Presence detected beyond the door.]
"Master."
"Ah."
Karuna had sensed it too, extending an arm to pull Kang Seol back.
Then he kicked the door.
Krunch!
The door was thinner than expected and tore right off.
"Error! Error!"
What stood before the door was a machine-made golem.
Bigger than Jamad, it put Kang Seol on edge.
"Entrance... closing..."
The machine lumbered forward, extending a brutish hand toward Karuna.
Clunk... clunk...
Compared to its size and menace, the movements were somewhat clumsy.
'Something's... off.'
For some reason, the awkward steps stuttered haltingly.
As Karuna reached for his Moonlight Sword to eliminate the threat, Kang Seol shouted.
"Karuna!"
"...Yes."
"Don't touch it."
The machine golem took a few more steps before halting entirely.
"Critical... error..."
Grind... griiiind...
Kang Seol examined the golem's body.
Such a severe malfunction would leave visible signs on the surface.
But there was no rust or damage—except for the vines wrapping it like an old house's fence.
'Vines?'
A bad premonition hit Kang Seol, and he ordered Karuna.
"Cut the vines here."
"Understood."
Shing—
Karuna's aura changed the moment he drew his sword. Even just removing vines from a golem's body looked utterly graceful.
Slash! Slaaash!
The vines clinging to the machine golem were sliced away in an instant.
Plop... thud!
Leaving only a large vine around the golem's neck, Kang Seol swallowed hard.
If removing it triggered an attack, Jamad stood guard by Kang Seol's side.
Snip!
"Grrrrr..."
Grind... griiind!
The machine golem let out a strange noise and turned its head. Red glow emanated from its eyes.
But suddenly, the red light vanished cleanly, turning blue.
"Greetings, human. This is Grizz's 81st Lab, created relatively recently, and I am the director, Arta-2. Please call me Arta hereafter."
"...What?"
"Thank you for visiting Grizz's lab. However, Grizz is currently absent. Are you a scheduled guest?"
"What is this..."
The machine golem showed a completely opposite attitude, like it had multiple personalities. Still, Kang Seol sighed in relief that he didn't need to admit being a trespasser.
"I came unannounced."
"Then there's no way to meet Grizz. But if you'd like a tour of the lab, that's possible. Would it be alright if I, Arta, guide you?"
"A guide?"
"Yes. It's a small-scale lab, so there's not much to see, but if you wish, I can guide you anywhere."
Kang Seol rested his chin on his hand thoughtfully, then nodded.
"Please guide me."
"Understood. Have you already seen Lab 3?"
"Yes."
"Understood. Then I'll guide you through the remaining Lab 2 and Lab 1."
[Came to steal, getting treated like a guest?]
Your acting skills just keep improving!
— Fooling robots now? Who the hell is he...
— Thieves are so shameless lol
— How did Grizz train his director lol
— Hey thief! Take off your shoes before coming in lol
— Thought he was Santa or something.
— Santa comes down the chimney these days?
Arta began the tour of Lab 2.
"This is Lab 2. It's primarily for spirit cage research, where we verified the theory of multi-attribute spirit cages and implemented them in practice."
"Multi-attribute spirit cage? You... made that?"
"Yes. It's one of Grizz's great achievements."
A spirit cage was a transport or restraint tool commonly used to capture spirits floating in the world.
"Is that even possible?"
"It was possible. Spirits repel or attract each other, so gathering them in one place caused collisions until Grizz brilliantly solved the issue."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"...What? Aren't you the director here?"
"The title means little. All research is done directly by Grizz. The rest of us merely attend him."
Lab 2, like Lab 3, had bundles of papers.
Kang Seol skimmed them. Midway through, he spotted an unexpected term and asked Arta.
"This belt mentioned here... is that a variant of the multi-attribute spirit cage?"
"It's an unverified theory. But the odds of Grizz being wrong are overwhelmingly low. So it's likely possible to imbue a belt with the power of a multi-attribute spirit cage."
"If that's true..."
"The wearer wouldn't wield the spirits' powers directly, but they'd indirectly gain the forces the spirits emit."
"Completely insane. Where's that belt?"
"It should be in Lab 2 here... Huh? Where'd it go?"
— Huh? King stole it, right?
— lololololololol
— Here, 10 billion won. Huh? Where'd it go?
— Why explain all that lol
— Idk what it is but anyway it's an OP belt...
— It was here, but now it's gone.
Kang Seol coveted the multi-attribute spirit belt Arta described.
He'd been in the Eternal World long enough that just the rough explanation let him predict its performance.
"The belt's gone?"
"Yes. I don't know why."
Arta even mimed scratching its head in confusion.
Kang Seol sensed all this was connected somehow.
'No way, those vines?'
Arta had been entangled in vines, acting strangely.
It seemed suspicious to blame Grizz's long absence alone.
"Arta. What's in Lab 1?"
"A life research complex."
"Scale?"
"Everything you've passed combined wouldn't match Lab 1's size."
"Life research means..."
"Research to aid future food supplies and solve the empire's famine issues. We're cultivating resilient plants that survive harsh environments."
"That's all?"
"The lab's central control hub is there too."
"Hm..."
"Would you like a tour of Lab 1?"
"Yes."
Kang Seol was convinced something was happening there.
The vines that clung to Arta and caused the malfunction, the missing invention from Lab 2.
All of it gave him a bad feeling.
Step... step...
Heading to Lab 1, the life research complex, Kang Seol asked.
"Arta."
"Yes?"
"Do you... know anything about Milan?"
"Milan isn't among the words I know. Is it a person's name?"
"...A person's name."
"No such name in my data."
"I see. Got it."
— What's Milan?
— Snowman always mentions stuff only he knows.
— That was Phone Milan...
Kang Seol asked this for no special reason.
Milan was the name of the last horse he'd raised. And that Milan had spent a long time with Grizz.
The one time Kang Seol claimed to have met Grizz referred to that occasion.
"Milan, you're a true genius! I, Grizz, receive tremendous inspiration and inferiority from you simultaneously! You're the embodiment of all the world's knowledge. Now I understand why you're called the Great Sage. Does it bother me? No, I'm thrilled! To know there's someone in the world who fully understands me!"
Grizz had been captivated by Milan and followed him, but Milan left for adventure.
Grizz's words of regret before parting came vividly to mind.
"Must you... really go? I, Grizz, feel like I need you. Have I ever yearned for something like this before?"
Kang Seol shook off the memory of Milan and Grizz's conversation.
'Not the time for nostalgia. That was then, this is now.'
As Kang Seol reminisced and reached Lab 1, he felt something off.
'Hm?'
"We're here."
"...Arta."
"Yes?"
"Is it just you in this lab?"
"No. There are over 20 gigas of attendants... er, researchers besides me."
"I see. Got it. Yet in this vast space, you're the only one I've met. Any idea why?"
"Huh? No idea. I don't remember. Do you know, guest?"
"I think I do."
Insight
[Movement detected beyond the door.]
Swish.
Karuna and Jamad stepped in front of Kang Seol and Arta respectively. At that moment, the lab door shattered.
Boooom—!
A shock like being struck by an iron club pushed Karuna and Jamad slightly back.
What struck them was a massive plant vine.
Kang Seol peered beyond the vine with his golden Insight Eye and said.
"You fled here. From that monster."
Beyond the vine writhed countless others of similar size, along with leaves matching their scale. It was like arriving in a giant's flowerbed.
Kang Seol's Insight Eye activated, displaying information in his vision.