Chapter 3

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Translator: Ace

Chapter: 3

Chapter Title: Golem's Endless Hunt

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In his previous life, Ian's time playing Chronicle Terranium had been roughly a year.

That was quite a long stretch for a single-player RPG, but his packed work schedule meant his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actual playtime barely topped a little over 100 hours.

He knew a fair bit about the game, but he wasn't some veteran who'd mastered every nook and cranny.

Unlike the hardcore players who'd racked up thousands of hours and devoured every bit of content, Ian hadn't touched everything—and alchemy was one of those untouched areas.

He had enough game knowledge to give solid advice to others, but alchemy? Not so much.

So naturally, Ian was puzzled.

Why were his golem's monster kills showing up as notifications for him?

'No way... is my creation being treated like my summon?'

As far as Ian knew, monster kill notifications only popped up for summons—which meant Ddol Ddoli was being recognized as his summon.

'This is gonna bug me.'

Ian scratched his head in annoyance as the relentless monster kill alerts from Ddol Ddoli kept pouring in.

He'd gone out of his way to take vacation time and release it into the wild, but these constant updates were impossible to ignore.

'Argh, what the hell. It's not like I'm stalking an ex's SNS.'

'Well, well.'

Ian let out a hollow chuckle.

Look at this—leveled up already.

And strength went up?

Did levels boost strength specifically?

'Ooh, a hobgoblin—that's tougher.'

'...'

Ian nearly burst out laughing at the alert that popped up in just one second.

How do you take down a hobgoblin the instant you spot it?

'Did I accidentally create a monster?'

He had put some serious effort into it.

The cash sunk into making just one Ddol Ddoli could've fed a poor commoner for life.

Hmm, sturdier this time.

'Levels probably give random stat boosts.'

The nonstop kill alerts were annoying at first, but they were starting to get entertaining.

'Feels just like playing an idle game.'

Thinking about it, what was the difference? Idle games were all about watching little graphics auto-farm anyway—no real control from you.

'This is actually a sweet deal.'

It was all about a mindset shift.

'Work's already boring—now I can treat it like having an idle game auto-running on my phone during shifts.'

Ian decided to roll with it. If you can't avoid it, enjoy it, right? These alerts weren't going away, so better to embrace them and have some fun.

'Thanks, Ddol Ddoli! You're making my salaried slacker life even sweeter!'

Right then, a shout rang out.

"Damn it! You call this work? You gonna half-ass it like that?!"

"S-Sorry!"

It was Chief Supervisor Anton, as expected.

Ian knew from experience that Anton's bellowing kicked off right around 6 p.m., quitting time for the bureaucrats.

'Oh, time to clock out.'

As always, Ian tidied his papers faster than anyone and bolted like a streak of light.

"I'm heading out. Have a good one."

The other junior officials watched his retreating back with envy, but none dared follow suit.

They just smacked their lips and stared down stacks of paperwork, pens in hand.

Ian raced home, scarfed down dinner, and headed straight to his lab. The messy, unclean interior hadn't been touched, but he barely noticed. There was something he still hadn't checked.

'Alchemy leveled up.'

Days had passed since the level-up, and he still hadn't looked.

Seeing this densely packed info window always cracked him up.

'All that hard work paid off.'

Comparing it to the pathetic old one with nothing in it brought a swell of emotion.

Back in the beginning, he'd struggled just to make the lowest-grade recovery potion, failing left and right thanks to the low success rate.

But he stuck with it, succeeded eventually, and got totally hooked on alchemy.

That was three years ago. Now Ian could craft over a hundred different items as a full-fledged alchemist.

'Hmm, hit level 7 and became a Skilled Alchemist.'

From his experience, levels 1-3 were Apprentice Alchemist, 4-6 were Regular Alchemist.

Jumping to level 7 and hitting Skilled meant stages advanced every three levels, probably.

'Insane. That golem gave a ton of XP. Still got 1,400 left after leveling.'

The Feeling hit him again, making his body tremble.

Despite churning out potions nonstop, proficiency had stalled— this was pure joy.

'Should I just mass-produce golems? Grinding those would level me fast.'

As Ian scanned the changes, one new addition made his eyes widen.

Life Synthesis - Lv.1 ■□□□□

'Life Synthesis! Finally unlocked!'

If alchemy had a crowning glory, it was creating artificial life.

Ian had dreamed of this—and now it was here!

"Ooh, Golem Advanced!"

Ian clenched his fist.

'That's more like it. Time for high-tier tech!'

This was why he couldn't quit alchemy. Dopamine surging through every vein!

'But what's Soul Research?'

The description didn't fully click, but he had a rough idea.

'Handles souls—like a necromancer? They mess with souls too.'

Artificial life was still life. You couldn't just whip it up.

You'd need a soul, right?

Soul Research was probably for that.

The level-up added over ten new projects, but narrowing to what grabbed him left seven.

"What to tackle first?"

Blissful dilemma.

How could he not be happy?

Not a lack of options—too many tempting ones!

'Park golems for now. Soul tech first.'

Need to clear soul tech to unlock higher stuff.

Can't make artificial life without soul handling, right?

Fairies or homunculi, whatever.

He kicked off with Soul Understanding—seemed easiest.

Luckily, it didn't demand much, and Ian wrapped it up in a day.

"Nice."

Ian felt his senses shift.

Like his nose had gone superhuman—new scents he'd never noticed before.

At first he thought his nose was just sensitive, but nope: mana sensitivity boost.

'Sweet. Makes engraving magic circles on my creations way easier.'

Plus a new skill awakened.

Alchemy was just that good.

Fun and rewarding—best of both worlds!

Ddol Ddoli lumbered up the mountain with heavy thuds. The sun had set, the sky was pitch black, and the air bitingly cold—but none of that fazed it. Golems didn't care about darkness or weather.

Ddol Ddoli had just one thought.

'I... survive. Survive... see Master. To do that... get strong.'

That was the first command from its father and master, Ian. It had to obey.

No doubt whatsoever. Ian, its creator, father, and master, was its everything.

He commanded it. So it did. That was all.

'I don't die. I survive no matter what. I grow stronger endlessly.'

Thud! Thud!

And so Ddol Ddoli roamed the mountains. It didn't know how long—just kept going.

No real sense of time or dates.

It simply sought. Anything that could harm it. Anything that could make it stronger.

But no matter where it looked, no more enemies.

'Weak monsters... gone now. I killed them all.'

Ddol Ddoli instinctively knew: no more 'goblins' here.

Just rabbits, squirrels, wolves—small, insignificant things.

Harmless. No need to attack.

Meaning no point staying.

'No enemies here. No enemies... can't get strong. Ddol Ddoli... move elsewhere.'

Thud! Thud!

Ddol Ddoli turned and trudged on. It knew the terrain inside out from endless wandering. Didn't know where new foes waited, but knew how to leave this place.

It escaped the steep paths. New surroundings greeted it. Ddol Ddoli thought on, face blank.

'Ddol Ddoli... gets strong. Endlessly strong. Then see Master.'

Something ahead. Big. But smaller than itself.

Didn't know what it was. But one thing clear: hostility.

'Enemy... found.'

Whirr!

Its gem eyes glowed red.

"Grraaah!"

The monster roared. Ddol Ddoli charged. Thud-thud, swung its fist full force. The monster's solid head burst like a watermelon.

Enemy down. Ddol Ddoli moved on. Forever fixed on one thought.

'Ddol Ddoli... gets strong. Endlessly strong. Then see Master.'