Chapter 14
Chapter 14
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: I'm Sorry, I Can't Go
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry, I can't go.
“Hngggguuuuugh...!!”
It was a morning blessed with warm sunlight, a sensation I’d never felt before in my life. The blackout curtains that had kept the window completely hidden were now drawn aside, bathing the mattress in a gentle warmth.
The usual headache I got upon waking was gone, and my fully rested body had woken up early on its own, without an alarm.
“No way... I actually woke up in the morning...?”
Mecha-Doggo, Suri, and Minium, sprawled out on the floor, lifted their heads to glance at me as I shot up from the mattress, then lowered their heads and flopped back down.
“This... I have to post about this...!”
The wall clock, which had stopped ages ago, was stuck at 7:18 PM. Obviously, that wasn't the actual, ridiculous time.
“Mecha-Doggo! What time is it?!”
—Beep!
Numbers appeared on its small screen.
“E-early bird...!!”
The early bird. A term for someone who wakes up early, a characteristic of the human specimens capable of catching the worm.
I scurried over to the computer, pressed the power button on the tower, and clambered onto the high chair where even my toes couldn't reach the floor.
“My desk...”
The tragic remains of the massacred cookies-and-cream ice cream pouches, once piled like a mountain beside me, were gone. So was the giant cardboard display from thirteen bags of Doritos Battle Mix. Even the dust that occasionally irritated my wrist had vanished. To put it in a single phrase....
“It's clean...?!”
Since my feet didn't touch the floor when I sat on the high gaming chair, I grabbed the corner of the desk and spun the chair hard to look behind me.
The lethargy of the golems, who were sprawled on the floor as if a war had swept through, was the result of a major cleaning session during the night.
“Guys... you cleaned...!!”
—Clank....
The sound of Minium's mechanical joints seemed a little more listless than usual. Since Minium was probably the only one with proper hands, it must have moved the most during the cleaning.
“You did great, guys! Is there anything you want to eat?!”
I hopped off the chair, hugged Mecha-Doggo, Minium, and Suri, and cuddled them. Honestly, it wasn't *that* dirty, but the fact that they cleaned up for me was so touching and made me grateful.
Having trash scattered on the floor is average for someone living alone, right? It wasn't *that* messy, you know?
—Clank..!
Minium, nestled in my arms, stretched out an arm and pointed toward the entryway.
“Huh? What? What is it?”
A square delivery box was propped against the shoe rack by the front door. Don't tell me... did they order something again...?
“Ugh..! What is this!”
It was also incredibly heavy. I felt like I'd felt something like this before... if something this heavy was inside such a small box, then....
“Hamazon...? What on earth did you order...?”
There was something written in English below, but I couldn't read it at all. I used to know it, but I forgot after becoming this body. I'm not an idiot. But seriously, I had no idea what it said.
—Riiip.
I tore the tape sealing the box and checked the contents. Inside was, just as I expected...
“It's metal...? What is this? Is it rare metal?”
Minium, watching from the side, shook its head. It seemed it wasn't rare metal. Mecha-Doggo came closer and showed me the detailed order receipt, but the resolution was so low I couldn't see it well.
In the end, I had to poke and press Mecha-Doggo's face with my finger to check the order total. It came out to about 210,000 won.
“Ti-6Al-4V, 5 kilograms... Is this... some kind of product name...?”
Looking closer, it seemed to be the name of a titanium alloy. Titanium was famous for being a light yet strong metal, right?
Seeing Minium jumping up and down beside me, it seemed they ordered it for Minium. But since only I can perform the synthesis, they must have all been waiting for me to wake up.
“Hmm..! Alright! Minium fought well and cleaned diligently! I'll synthesize this titanium for you!”
—Clank!!
Minium did a moonwalk, looking twice as happy as usual. It spun around me in an instant before returning to its original spot.
“Ehehe, you're happy, right?! Come here!”
I grabbed the box and flipped it over, setting it down on the floor with a *thud*. Beside it stood Minium, ready to take a step forward.
A magic stone, titanium, a hairdryer, and 11 beer cans! What an incredible lineup of materials. With ingredients like these, it would be a problem if it didn't become a nation-level power.
“Minium! Synthesize with this lump of metal!”
—Fwoosh!!
In an instant, the 5kg titanium ingot, imbued with a blue magical light, floated into the air and turned malleable, before shooting rapidly toward Minium's stationary body.
The malleable titanium enveloped Minium's entire body, and three seconds later, with a flash of light, the transformation was complete...
“Hyeheng!! So cool!!!”
Minium was now clad in shiny, silver armor. No, wait, isn't the aluminum proportion less than one percent now? If titanium is the main component, shouldn't it be 'Tanium'...?
But that didn't roll off the tongue right. Minium suited it better...
—Clank!!
“It's the best!! Amazing!!!”
It had grown to the point where it now reached just below my shoulder when standing. How could it be this cool? At this rate, it was practically a nation-level power for real.
“Whoa..! Minium, do that thing! The flying thing!!”
Minium has a hairdryer, and perhaps due to the magic stone's influence, its wind power became incredibly strong. It was powerful enough to let it float about a meter off the ground, but now with an extra 5kg of metal, I wasn't sure if it would work.
—Whirrrrr....
Booster wings emerged from Minium's back and shot wind toward the floor, but unfortunately, it didn't lift off. It made sense, given the additional 5kg of metal.
Originally, Minium was made of a few aluminum cans and a plastic-cased hairdryer, so it could float using the enhanced wind power from the magic stone-affected hairdryer.
“Hmm... what kind of thing blows really strong wind?”
First, what things produce wind? There's the fan we don't use now that it's gotten cold. But honestly, for its weight, its airflow is weaker than the hairdryer's, right?
And....
“An air conditioner...?”
Air conditioners are cool, but their wind isn't particularly strong. But if I made a golem out of an air conditioner, wouldn't that be a total jackpot? If it becomes a golem, there's no electricity bill, and its power would get even stronger, right??
Of course, there was the drawback of needing to add a magic stone, but I could just get one somehow.
“Ummm..! Mecha-Doggo, is there anything that's easy to get and has super strong wind??”
Mecha-Doggo might look the dumbest, but it was actually equipped with an advanced AI search function, which was convenient for questions like this. After hearing my question, it started searching the internet, a loading circle spinning on its face.
“An air compressor? What's that?”
Mecha-Doggo displayed a wiki page, but the resolution was too low to see clearly. In the end, I sat back down at the computer I'd left on and looked up air compressors in more detail.
“It compresses air... Ohh, I see...!”
It seemed some large machine compressed air intensely and sprayed it out of a small hole with super high power. But there was no way I could afford an amazing machine like that, right??
Mecha-Doggo, which I had placed on the desk, heard me and started searching again, looking for something in my price range.
“The household ones are cheaper than I thought??”
But, well, I found out from looking online that these things are apparently super heavy. Plus, there were too many miscellaneous parts. I was thinking of buying it to help in combat, but this was a bit much.
As I was wondering if there was a better idea, Suri poked the chair from the side.
“Huh? What is it, Suri??”
—Kiii.
Suri tapped the magic stone embedded in the center of its chest. A magic stone....
“I see! So if I just synthesize more magic stones, it'll get stronger?!”
Suri nodded in affirmation. Come to think of it, Minium's current wind power was the result of the magic stone's enhancement. If I swapped it out for a better magic stone with more mana, the wind would get stronger too.
“Okay! Great! Let's look for a magic stone then!”
Looking at the low-end magic stones online, all I saw were prices that would bankrupt me instantly if I bought one.
The goblin magic stone I added to Suri last time only cost about as much as a fried chicken. But the ones you could buy from specialized sellers started at a minimum of 500,000 won, and could go up to several million.
But the scarier part was that these multi-million won stones were considered low-end.
The magic stone in Suri's chest came from the sword Han Do-hee gave me. A rare metal body with a magic stone of that quality... wouldn't that be an incredibly expensive weapon?
When I asked her last time, she said it was a sword she used before her current one and gave it to me because she wasn't using it... It seemed much more expensive than I thought.
“Ugh... I'm sorry, Minium. We don't have any money.”
Minium shook its head as if to say it was okay, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed. At this point, there was no choice but to get one myself.
“By the way, Suri, how did you get the magic stone you gave Minium?”
Suri spread its wings to form a triangle shape. It seemed like it caught a monster that had gone feral in the mountains. Just as I thought, it must have caught a monster that escaped from a gate that opened somewhere in the mountains and got the magic stone.
Normally, Hunters from the Hunter Management Association are supposed to regularly clean the mountains to protect the trails, but 'regularly' is just a word. They always postpone it until a civilian has an accident on a trail, and only then do they dispatch to catch the monsters.
Even though Hunters are superhumans and the mountains aren't that big, it's still too much to search the entire area with just a few people. And just because you're a Hunter doesn't mean you're good at running and jumping.
Without detection skills, it's hard to identify monsters... blah blah blah. That's what they said at the public hearing last time.
Looking at it another way, for Suri, who can freely roam the mountains, this could be the best place for farming magic stones...!
“Suri! We should... Ah.”
Then that means I have to go hiking, doesn't it?
“Sorry, let's just wait until Mecha-Doggo earns some money.”
Sorry for being this kind of princess.
[ChaerinMama] Spotted a giant albino eagle on the mountain behind Awakening Bro's house in real time.
Not sure if it's a monster from an open-type gate or a real albino eagle, so I took a picture first.
Isn't that the summon that was on the front page last time? <w:t>
[ChaerinMama] Holy crap, is it that one?
[PyeonDog] Looking at the pic, there's blood on its wings, seems legit.
That's a bald eagle. <w:t>
[Anonymous] They said it's a summon, you idiot.
[Amchongsu] I'm saying it's shaped like a bald eagle, ffs.
[Amchongsu] (U mad bro?)
[Anonymous] (cries...)
So f-ing cool, what is that, omg, the person raising that must be a total pro;; <w:t>
[emino] Camila Torres vs the person raising that thing.
[Life Is Ruined] Can't beat Maxy yet ㅠ