A Tactical Weapon Born of Earth

Exactly twenty-four hours had passed since Jeon Jaewoo shoveled random soil off the ground and tossed it into Heaven's Box.

"...What the hell?"

Stepping through the front door after running a quick errand, Jaewoo froze in his tracks, genuinely wondering if he had walked into someone else's apartment. Standing in the middle of his cramped living room was something entirely alien.

For a split second, his heart vaulted into his throat, mistaking the silhouette for an intruder. But as his racing pulse steadied and his vision adjusted, he took a closer look. It wasn't a person at all.

Is that... a robot?

Standing before him was a humanoid machine that looked as if it had stepped right out of a high-budget sci-fi blockbuster. Its height and build mirrored those of an average adult male, its metallic plating contoured with razor-sharp precision. Where on earth had something like this come from?

Clack, clack, clack.

The rhythmic, staccato sound of mechanical keystrokes tapped against his eardrums. A glowing azure interface materialized in midair between them.

Jaewoo stared, his jaw slackening.

"W-Who are you? No, wait... what are you?"

Clack, clack, clack.

The rapid keystrokes clicked again, and the luminous text shifted seamlessly.

Creator? Creation? What kind of insane ghost story is this...?

Then, a realization struck him like a splash of cold water. Jaewoo snapped his head toward the corner of the room where he had left Heaven's Box. The lid, which had locked shut automatically after he shoveled in the dirt yesterday, now stood wide open. His gaze darted back and forth between the empty relic and the silent machine.

"Don't tell me... you crawled out of there?"

The puzzle pieces began falling into place. Right. I dumped dirt into the container created by my newly awakened trait. But why had plain topsoil turned into a hyper-futuristic machine? Then again, if this entity was fundamentally categorized as a golem, being shaped from earth wasn't entirely inaccurate.

Clack, clack, clack.

Eager to know what he was dealing with, Jaewoo didn't hesitate for a second. Focusing his intent, he called up the construct's status display.

Jaewoo's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

Two S-grade traits... and two Transcendent-grade traits?!

Among the ranks an awakened hunter could achieve, Transcendent sat at the undisputed pinnacle, far outstripping the theoretical ceiling of S-rank. Yet here stood a creation boasting not one, but two of them. In gaming terms, he had casually pulled an incomprehensibly overpowered mythical asset out of thin air.

The name Myeolgeop sounded foreboding, its meaning obscure, but the accompanying description was even more terrifying. A strategic weapon from the wars of the gods? Wielder advised to exercise extreme caution? Looking at the trait roster, that warning felt entirely justified. Even without knowing the classified specs of overseas super-hunters, Jaewoo was certain this loadout could comfortably rival the strongest figures on the planet.

The only slight curiosity was the compact quantity of traits. Veteran S-rank hunters typically possessed one primary crown trait supplemented by dozens of subordinate abilities, whereas Myeolgeop had only four. Still, the sheer density of their quality rendered that concern laughable.

Dismissing the window, Jaewoo turned back to the golem.

"Alright, I get the basics. But what exactly are your capabilities?"

Creating functional golems through mana manipulation and specialized traits had become relatively common in modern society, and their applications varied wildly depending on their configuration. Judging by the status window, this one was clearly engineered for violence.

"No, I mean your core specialization. What are you best at?"

A satisfied smirk broke across Jaewoo's face. As expected. A pure combat unit.

Even so, he didn't assume Myeolgeop possessed earth-shattering power right out of the gate. Regardless of grandiose lore about ancient god-wars and Transcendent traits, the golem had only just been manufactured. In hunter terminology, it had world-class talent, but was functionally an unblooded novice lacking real battlefield experience. Traits were blueprints of potential; they had to be tempered through trial and growth, and a construct would be no exception.

Still, his chest hummed with exhilarating anticipation. Creating a golem armed with such monstrous parameters out of a single handful of ordinary dirt meant Heaven's Box was leagues beyond an ordinary Transcendent production trait. It was an outright anomaly.

An utterly loyal vanguard who obeys without question. Not bad at all.

A flicker of movement on the television screen caught Jaewoo's attention. A special broadcast was airing, reporting the latest updates from the awakened world.

Mana ruins. Extradimensional vaults that began materializing decades ago, accessible exclusively to awakened hunters capable of channeling mana. In truth, calling them "ruins" was a misnomer; they were celestial treasure troves. The mineral deposits and primordial relics discovered inside dwarfed Earth's terrestrial resources to such an extent that conventional fossil fuels and precious metals felt insignificant by comparison.

No one knew what high-dimensional entity oversaw this monthly allotment, but every nation on Earth waged desperate geopolitical wars to claim ownership. Because according to the cosmic administrative rules governing the System, binding rights over a ruin belonged permanently to whoever cleared it first.

No Ancient-grade ruins this month, huh?

Twenty-three Legendary ruins, roughly five hundred Rare ones, and thousands of standard Common ones. Normally, at least one Ancient ruin appeared each month, but this cycle had omitted them entirely. With over two hundred nations competing across the globe, twenty-three Legendary-grade prizes meant competition would be cutthroat. The South Korean government and domestic corporate guilds would undoubtedly mobilize every strike force at their disposal.

It was a high-stakes sprint combining cutthroat diplomacy with the spectacle of an Olympic tournament. When a country secured a disproportionate haul of high-tier ruins, national pride soared; when a campaign crashed in defeat, the public sank into despair. Worse, unlike sporting events, ruin conquests directly dictated national wealth, energy independence, and the daily welfare of citizens.

Jaewoo glanced from the broadcast back to the golem.

"Do you see the ruins mentioned on that screen?"

Jaewoo had no idea what "Cheongsin" meant, but he pressed on regardless.

"Could you clear one of those?"

"Then pick one, slip inside, and scout it out. Just don't get destroyed. Exercise caution."

Jaewoo's goal was simply to test the machine's baseline limits. Understanding its operational range would allow him to map out future hunter activities safely. He harbored zero expectations that a single newly created golem could conquer a ruin solo.

"Sure. You're autho—"

Whoosh!

The air warped with an abrupt, violent vacuum. Before Jaewoo could finish his sentence, Myeolgeop vanished on the spot. Moving at a velocity utterly undetectable to the naked eye, the machine demonstrated speed that left no doubt regarding its combat lineage.

Following his awakening, Jaewoo had felt subtle internal shifts, but nothing physically dramatic. Because Heaven's Box was an auxiliary production trait, his body hadn't undergone the radical biological enhancement typical of frontline combatants. Not that it matters. This trait alone is a winning lottery ticket. All he had to do was steadily cultivate his abilities and watch astronomical wealth roll in.

His assumptions, however, were blown to pieces barely an hour later.

"...What?"

Jaewoo froze, staring at the anchor in utter disbelief. The announcement was barely an hour old, and the highest-tier ruin of the entire monthly pool had already fallen? That was impossible. Ruins were immense subterranean labyrinthine ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dimensions teeming with primordial apex monsters. Conquering one demanded vanguard reconnaissance, intelligence synthesis, and heavily armed raid squads moving methodically over days. Even the lowest Common-grade dungeons took a full day to pacify.

Wait. Could it be...?

Right on cue, the ambient air rippled, and Myeolgeop reappeared in the living room without a scratch.

Clack, clack, clack.

Jaewoo stood struck dumb. Moments later, media outlets across the country erupted into total chaos, spewing out headlines at a breakneck pace.

Online community boards caught fire within seconds.

Unless one was a total fool, the truth was unmistakable. This silent machine standing in his cheap living room had single-handedly broken into a Legendary-grade ruin, eradicated its horrors, and returned home in less than an hour.

Swallowing dryly, Jaewoo brought up his personal status log.

There it was, etched in indisputable digital light. The system had registered the conquest directly under his name, subtracting one count ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from his permanent allotment.

Jeon Jaewoo stood rooted to the floor, staring blankly at the screen as a single thought echoed in his mind.

Is this really my life now?