Rummaging Through the Junk (2)
The Life Cube chain quest was one of the mandatory stages on the path to raising an S-rank magic engineer.
On top of that, countless heroes associated with the keyword "life" benefited from the quest as well.
Which is to say, I had repeated this tedious chore dozens of times.
And with every repetition, the finished Life Cube grew more and more familiar to my eyes.
Then, at some point, a thought occurred to me.
Why don't I just build it myself?
Somehow it felt like it should be possible even without the quest.
So I studied. I memorized.
Every single arrangement of the thousand-odd smaller cubes.
Of course, memorizing the blueprint didn't magically turn it into a finished product.
I had to assemble it piece by piece, with my own hands.
I fumbled badly at first, but just as with raising S-rank heroes, once I started completing one cube, then two, the knack came to me.
And by now, unless a quest was absolutely essential to a hero's growth, I simply skipped it and took only the cube.
Exactly like right now.
I headed to the Training Center first and picked out a Mana Cultivation Room.
There was no need to go all the way to a Special Meditation Room.
Go Hyeon-woo's Core needed growth more than anything, so he was pouring every point he had into that, but for me, spending them elsewhere was the better use.
A Mana Cultivation Room was a sealed space of barely a few square meters — practically a solitary cell. The only difference was that mana flooded the entire room.
Sitting down in its center, I took out the cube blueprint.
Making any meaningful change to the cube required a Magic Engineering skill of at least a certain rank.
Fall short of the minimum condition, and no matter how hard you worked the cube, it was all wasted effort.
And the minimum condition to alter a massive 10x10x10 blueprint was A-rank or above.
Even within Dragon Slayer Academy, the number of people holding A-rank Magic Engineering probably amounted to one or two faculty members at most.
The Magic Engineering Club president would be hovering around the bottom end of B, I figured.
That was why one of the chain quests involved inviting outside master craftsmen.
The skill I had copied in Magic Engineering Workshop 4 was also B-rank — likewise short of the requirement.
If it doesn't work, I'll make it work.
Before starting, I examined the cube blueprint in meticulous detail.
The point was to plan out in advance how I would bring it to completion.
After a long while of turning it this way and that, comparing it against the finished product in my memory, I'd developed a decent feel for it.
Shall we begin?
Amplification — Magic Engineering rank increased (B → S)
Duration: 00:00:59
Cooldown: 00:59:58
Two tiers up via Amplification — S-rank.
That cleared the minimum condition.
My hands gripping the cube began to glow a vivid blue.
All ten fingers moved like a spider, scuttling across the cube's every surface at astonishing speed.
Chwararararak!
Rotate the cube, fold it, unfold it, pull out one small cube after another, attach it elsewhere, slot it in, and spin it again.
The enormous puzzle was clicking into place, bit by tiny bit —
— and the moment the minute was up, I let go.
The Amplification duration had expired mid-work, and the rank had reverted to normal.
F-rank Amplification lasted one minute, with a one-hour cooldown.
Which meant I could touch the cube for one minute out of every hour.
So what did I do while waiting?
You can never have too much mana.
Meditating and polishing my Core took care of the downtime.
The more my rank rose and my mana pool grew, the wider the range of magic I could cast. There was nothing to lose by investing every spare moment.
I set the cube aside with care and focused my mind.
An hour of meditation, a minute of tinkering with the cube, meditation again — repeating the cycle in a state of pure flow, until a whole day had slipped past and dawn broke.
When I lifted the cube to inspect it, a faint green light was bleeding out from one corner — barely there, but unmistakable.
The energy of life.
Proof that the cube was steadily taking shape.
Only one corner of it, though.
It still needed more time invested, and at this rate, I figured completion would take three days at least.
A bit tight if I want to finish by Friday.
There was a very high chance that that event would happen on Friday of the first week.
I had to have the work done by then if I wanted to squeeze out every last drop of profit.
But that was that, and this was this.
School first.
I hauled myself out of my seat.
If I dawdled any longer, I'd be late.
At the student cafeteria I ordered a piece of toast and a coffee, carrying one in each hand.
Walking toward the classroom while eating, I sensed someone behind me closing in fast.
Yet their footsteps were almost inaudible — I didn't need to look to know exactly who it was.
"Shin Byung-cheol."
"Yowch—! You scared the life outta me!"
Shin Byung-cheol, who had been trying to sneak up on me, jumped a mile instead. He fell into step beside me, grumbling.
"Seriously. Do you have eyes in the back of your head or what?"
"Something like that."
"C-come on. Aren't people supposed to knowingly play along? At least give me a reaction?"
"What reaction? I'm holding food."
If I spilled this coffee, that'd be on you, wouldn't it?
I was mid-bite of toast too, so I wished he'd just hold his tongue.
But despite my curt responses, Shin Byung-cheol kept clinging to my side, determined to make conversation.
"Where're Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in? You walking alone?"
"He pulled an all-nighter at the Training Center. She's wherever she usually is."
Go Hyeon-woo would be heading to school from the Training Center too; we'd apparently just missed each other by a few minutes. He'd probably be in the classroom already.
Shin Byung-cheol asked, "How'd the conquest exam go? Yesterday was so hectic I couldn't even catch you afterward."
"You saw my name on the leaderboard, didn't you."
"Well, about that — I was busy checking the top ranks. Heheh."
Meaning he'd been so busy looking at the upper echelons he'd had no spare attention for my score.
Honestly, I felt the same way, so no hard feelings. I hadn't expected anything from Shin Byung-cheol in the first place, assuming he'd be buried somewhere in the middle-to-lower pack, and hadn't bothered checking.
I still wasn't particularly curious. But his face was radiating confidence, and he clearly wanted me to ask about his score, so I played along.
"So how many points?"
"Hmhm, prepare to be amazed. This great one scored a whopping 530 points and scraped over the 50% cutoff, that's what."
"You? How?"
Truthfully, it was a bit of a surprise. I'd expected low 400s at best, but maybe the Fixed Zone leveling had helped him hold his own.
When I raised an eyebrow, Shin Byung-cheol's expression grew even more smug, and he spoke in the tone of a man dispensing wisdom.
"Life is all about tricks, my boy. Tricks are what matter."
"Wow. Truly impressive, sir."
"Right, right. And your score?"
"683."
Shin Byung-cheol's face turned humble again in a hurry.
"……Weren't you a caster?"
"I am."
"No, hold on — Song Cheon-hye got 571 and Hong Yeon-hwa got 640. How on earth did you hit 683?"
I returned his own words to him.
"Life is all about tricks, my boy."
I'd expected Go Hyeon-woo to arrive at the classroom before me, but apparently I'd beaten him there.
Instead, Seo Ye-in — unexpectedly — was already sitting there.
"……."
She looked at me and gave a little fluttery wave.
Dropping into the seat beside her, I asked, "You're here early today?"
"Woke up early."
"How come?"
"……."
In lieu of an answer, she rustled around and produced a small paper bag, opened it, and showed me the inside.
Bite-sized dinosaur-shaped cookies.
They must have come out of the oven recently — a faint warmth and a nutty, buttery smell drifted over with them.
So she'd gotten up early to bake cookies.
Come to think of it, we had made a promise on the train.
— Sorry. The cookies were delicious.
— I'll make you some more.
— ……Really?
— Yeah.
That open-ended promise had already been kept.
Truly, one must live by giving. Share a strawberry cream cake, and homemade cookies come back to you.
I picked one up and tried it. The taste seemed slightly improved from last time — still lightly sweet and plain, as ever.
She'd apparently changed strategy: black sesame instead of chocolate chips. Honestly, this beat that ambiguous 65% cacao.
Seo Ye-in was watching me intently, so I paid her a compliment packed with a very high proportion of sincerity.
"Mm, it's good. Nice and nutty. And the little dinosaurs are adorable."
"……?"
Seo Ye-in tilted her head slightly. She held that pose for a moment, then asked me:
"……Dinosaurs?"
"Aren't they dinosaurs?"
"……."
Seo Ye-in's eyes narrowed slightly.
What, then? If these aren't dinosaurs, what the heck are they?
When I reached into the paper bag to grab one and check, she quietly pulled it back.
"What, what is it?"
"……They're teddy bears."
Those were teddy bears???
A moment of pure confusion — but I forced my heart to calm down. I could not afford to look flustered any further. If I did, homemade cookies would be forever beyond my reach.
"That explains it. Looking at them, I did wonder for a second whether they were bears or dinosaurs. Must've been because I was holding them upside down."
"……."
"I'll have one more. They're just that good."
Seo Ye-in still looked dubious, but she opened the paper bag she'd pulled toward herself again.
I picked out a cookie and stole a careful look at it before popping it in my mouth.
"Now that I look properly, it is a teddy bear. My mistake."
What part of this is a teddy bear?
My mouth and my inner thoughts were in complete opposition. Still, the taste left nothing to complain about, so my hand kept drifting back to the paper bag.
As Seo Ye-in and I alternated cookie for cookie, Go Hyeon-woo arrived at school as well.
"Brother Kim, Miss Seo. Good morning to you both."
"What's this look like?"
Seo Ye-in abruptly held out one of the bear-ish cookies to Go Hyeon-woo and asked. He accepted it with evident delight.
"Oh! A most appetizing morsel. Why, it's as if a lizard were alive and breathing before me."
"……."
Oh no.
I let out a silent groan. Seo Ye-in's brow twitched, but Go Hyeon-woo, failing to catch the subtle shift, settled casually into the seat beside me.
Now was the time to change the subject, and fast.
"How was it?"
His impressions of training his internal energy in the Special Meditation Room.
Go Hyeon-woo's admiration spilled out without reserve.
"It was a singular experience, truly unlike anything before. I never dreamed my internal energy would accumulate so swiftly."
"It costs a pretty penny, though?"
"Five hundred points, not regretted in the slightest. If anything, it felt like a windfall beyond what my own effort deserved."
When he'd first heard the explanation about the replay feature, he'd been put off by the idea of others scrutinizing his techniques — but apparently he'd come around to seeing the value in it.
Polishing a core in the Special Meditation Room was roughly equivalent to endlessly downing mid-to-high-grade elixirs, after all.
"With a little more effort, I believe I may cross another wall. As you advised, Brother Kim, I intend to practically live in the Special Meditation Room for the time being."
"Good. Focus only on that place for now. I'll get you a Season Pass as soon as I can."
"My thanks."
Go Hyeon-woo bowed with formal courtesy.
While this heartwarming scene unfolded in one corner, the classroom as a whole was a veritable marketplace.
Shin Byung-cheol's gang, at the center of the commotion, were handing out business cards and advertising: Dragon Slayer Academy Errand Service.
"We'll get you anything you need!"
"New-semester special discount now in effect!"
Song Cheon-hye watched them with deep disapproval, but since no rules had technically been broken, she couldn't step in. She looked like a hawk waiting for them to slip up.
Han So-mi, for her part, just sat there smiling sweetly, thinking who knows what.
But this marketplace chaos was, unexpectedly, put to rest in a single stroke.
Screeeeech—
The moment the door opened, the noisy classroom went silent as if doused in cold water.
Lee Sudok stood in the doorway, silently glaring across the room.
He hadn't even told anyone to sit down, yet every student filed neatly back to their seats.
Only then did Lee Sudok step inside and take his place in front of the lectern.
A melody chiming through the stillness announced the start of class.