Chapter 27

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 27

Chapter Title: The Third Homunculus

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On the first day of his two-week vacation, Ian woke up early in the pre-dawn hours, well before his workday would even begin, and headed straight to his lab.

He roughly kicked aside the clutter of numerous test subjects littering the lab interior, plopped down at his desk, and pulled up the creation project.

It was the exact same interface as when he'd created Lara before, but not entirely identical. A lot had changed since then.

He had more materials and experience now, plus a higher Alchemy level and proficiency. But above all, the biggest difference was that he could now create a higher-grade homunculus.

He'd wrapped up the research on 'Medium Homunculus'—which boosted the homunculus's capacity and material limits—just last night.

He'd pulled an all-nighter to finish it, but with excitement and anticipation buzzing in his head, he hadn't felt a hint of fatigue.

'Finally, I can make a homunculus the size of a person.'

It was truly thrilling.

Why had Lara turned out so small?

It was because of the capacity limits—he'd had no choice but to make her a small homunculus.

With small homunculi, the material input limits were ridiculously low, so he couldn't even use the high-quality stuff he'd splurged on.

And that wasn't all.

The moment he tried adding even a little more, it spat out warnings like "Cannot input materials exceeding the limit!" He had no choice but to compromise with himself.

'Thanks to that, I won over the elves, at least.'

Still, there had been plenty of regrets when making Lara.

But no more.

The days of shedding bloody tears over capacity shortages and settling for subpar materials were over.

He would pour in materials without restraint and craft a magnificent body worthy of a legendary soul!

With that resolve, Ian stared blankly at the empty blueprint.

The first step: exterior design.

Unlike golems with fixed frames, homunculi had no preset molds—they depended entirely on the alchemist's choices.

That meant he had to be extremely careful with the initial design, but for some reason, Ian's hand moved swiftly and decisively as he gripped the fountain pen.

He already had a rough idea in mind.

'Last time I made a little girl, so this time, let's go with a cool, handsome guy.'

If Ddol Ddoli was a tanky brute and Lara a support, he wanted the third homunculus to be a sleek warrior class.

Ian sketched the base outline in a flash. It was a standard male figure for now.

But as the pen danced, the drawing refined itself.

Height around 185cm. A lean, agile build overall.

Yet the body needed to be solid. The key was compact muscles that gave a tight, substantial feel.

After sketching the body, it was time for the face.

The hardest part.

'The face has to be handsome, of course.'

But handsomeness came in varieties.

Ian wanted his third creation to have a rugged, masculine appeal rather than something pretty and delicate.

He poured his effort into the face. His drawing skills weren't great, but humans had trial and error on their side.

Erase and redraw, erase and redraw. After countless iterations, he finally captured the look he wanted.

"Looking sharp?"

Ian crossed his arms and nodded. Quite satisfied.

Bold lines gave it masculine charm, and the solid build inspired awe.

Sure, an artist might call it amateurish, but the system would smooth it out anyway.

'This is the one.'

He taped the sketch to the wall for reference and replicated it exactly on the system blueprint.

He hit proceed without hesitation, ignoring the warning.

And so, the full homunculus creation began.

Before crafting the homunculus body, Ian tackled other research first.

With his rising Alchemy level, he'd unlocked sub-research in the Life Fusion field, which he planned to use for the materials making up this homunculus's body.

Information flooded his mind. The ensuing rush of pleasure made Ian shudder. This euphoric reward at the end of research was irreplaceable.

New knowledge swirled chaotically in his head—all about Life Fusion.

Ian now knew how to fuse different lifeforms.

Which catalysts to use, how much mana to infuse, how to control the flow.

Things he'd never tried before suddenly felt doable on the spot.

'So that's what Life Fusion is.'

Now Ian understood the difference between an alchemist's 'Life Fusion' and a mage's 'Chimera Creation.'

It was stability.

Chimera creation ignored stability and compatibility, making chimeras inherently unstable.

Even the best ones turned monstrous and berserk due to mismatched bodies.

And hilariously, they usually died young anyway.

If one lasted ten years, it was considered long-lived.

Alchemy's Life Fusion was the polar opposite.

It didn't boast raw power or efficiency, but it excelled in stability.

The goals differed from the start. Chimeras were war machines; Life Fusion aimed for perfect beings.

...or so the newfound knowledge explained.

Ian mulled it over and clicked his tongue.

Alchemy was already a money pit, and now it felt like the game devs were blatantly warning him it'd cost even more.

'Low ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠efficiency...? Basically screaming to grind resources.'

Whatever. It didn't matter.

He could see their intent plain as day, and it irked him a bit, but he had no intention of quitting.

'Fine, I'll burn the cash.'

Nothing he wouldn't do for the fun.

The new skill: Life Fusion.

He'd done the research purely to unlock this.

'It says "body parts," so partial synthesis should work too, right?'

Time for a test.

[Target 1: Goblin Heart]

[Target 2: Ratman Heart]

Disposable stuff for the test.

A cheap, cost-effective catalyst.

Slime Cores were bargain buys from the Alchemist Guild.

The hourglass spun wildly.

Well?

"Ooh, nice naming."

Something promising had come out.

Grotesque heart aside.

"Whoa, damn, that's busted good?"

Ian was shocked first by the Magic grade.

Common + Common = Magic? Insane!

And the effects? Major boost against tricky Corruption status, plus innate Poison Resistance.

This deserved more than Magic grade.

'Talk about a straight upgrade over chimera crafting.'

He stashed the Plague Thief Heart for later.

Not top-tier, but too good to toss—a solid value material for another homunculus.

'Test success. Let's ramp it up.'

[Target 1: Ogre Heart]

[Target 2: Twin-Headed Troll Blood]

Way higher quality this time.

Ogre heart and Twin-Headed Troll blood. Rare stuff Ian had gritted his teeth to use.

Hard to even glimpse in Alchemist or Mercenary Guilds, barely shows up on black markets.

Moonlight Condensate. Hero-grade catalyst for high-end synthesis—leagues above Slime Core in price.

"Please turn out awesome!"

The result wasn't a heart but a round, orb-like core.

"Ooh!"

Ian jumped up in excitement.

'Busted good?'

He'd hoped for Legendary, but that was greedy.

Hero-grade? More than satisfying.

"Let's go!"

Now, finish the pending sub-research.

Day 13 of vacation. Two days until return. Ian had poured every moment into the homunculus and reached the final stage.

'Ugh, that was brutal.'

Base skeleton from the Legendary 'Purified Demon Bone' from the devil hunt. Heart: 'Tyrant's Core' from Life Fusion.

The soul for that body: a Legendary-grade Noble-quality soul.

The result matched Lara's: stunning compatibility.

'This has to be a jackpot.'

No subpar materials from soul to body. Success was guaranteed.

"Here we go!"

The percentage crawled.

Excruciatingly slow.

It took a full week to hit 100%.

Even after vacation ended, another five days post-return.

Racing home after work, Ian shook his head ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recalling that endless wait.

'I basically bet my life on this. If it fails, I'm done.'

Bzzt!

"...?"

Ian blinked.

'Error?'

Why?

"Huh?"

Purification Curse?

'No way.'

Ian's face paled. Why was that triggering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now!

Whoosh!

Flames erupted. Pure white fire consumed the flesh, erasing skin. Ian scrambled up, but over half the body was already ash.

"Ah..."

In disbelief, Ian collapsed on the spot.

'For real?'

No, a dream maybe.

Pinched himself. Hurt.

Not a dream.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.'

As Ian cursed inwardly, something unexpected happened.

Crack! Crunch!

Bones twisted. Expanded, contracted, repeating. Then it began absorbing the remnants.

Ian could only rub his eyes at the bizarre sight.

'W-What's happening?'

The finished product.

Ian could only gape.

The bones-only frame rose.

Creeeak.

Creeeak.

-Ahh.

It moved. Leaned close, jaw clacking. A resonant voice boomed from the hollow skull's mouth.

-Are you the one who made me?