Chapter 32
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Reason for Being Busy
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“Castaway. That weapon...”
Elisicia asked, eyeing my newly restored Thunder Bolt.
There was no reason to hide it, so I proudly explained the new function that had been added.
“It's a feature called [Product Repair] that was just added a little while ago. It seems to repair broken or worn-out items.”
“Did you use that to fix the 4-channel weapons?”
“Yeah. I still need to check if they're fully repaired, though.”
Without hesitation, I raised the handle of the Thunder Bolt and twisted it sideways.
Pfssshk!
A tiny spark jumped from the head of the Thunder Bolt.
It looked like the battery had been charged during the repair process as well, but the important thing was that it was perfectly fixed.
Charging 7,170 points.
Product repair completed.
'This thing was supposed to crank out Lightning Stage 5 on the surface but be hollow inside, right?'
Even though I'd been scammed, the Thunder Bolt was one of the weapons people had recommended.
Seeing it fully revived by my [Product Repair] filled me with an indescribable sense of reliability.
'Plus, there's another Thunder Bolt.'
I went ahead and pulled out the other one to repair it as well.
The second Thunder Bolt was more damaged, so the repair cost went up.
But it wasn't an issue, so I fixed it anyway, bringing it back to like-new condition.
“Castaway. Does that fix anything?”
“It fixed 4-channel weapons, so probably.”
“Then could you fix my staff too?”
Staff?
Rubyel did have a staff as tall as she was in her hand.
“Was that staff broken?”
“Precisely, one circuit is busted. The auto-detection shield doesn't work.”
“So the shield spell won't activate.”
“Yeah. It used to block blind attacks on its own.”
It sounded like some kind of remote auto-defense.
I nodded, figuring it was probably exactly that.
“Sure. I'll give it a try.”
I took the staff from Rubyel and activated [Product Repair].
Item inserted.
Repairable components confirmed.
Repair cost: 12,174 points.
“...”
I blinked a few times at the repair cost and asked Rubyel again.
“Rubyel. You said only one circuit was broken, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“The repair cost is pretty steep.”
Curious at the mention of the cost, Rubyel asked how much.
“How much is it?”
“12,000 points.”
“12,000 points? Why so expensive?”
I wondered why repairing the staff cost so much.
What came to mind was that the staff wasn't 'science' but 'magic'.
'4-channel weapons at least fall under science. Modern tech is advanced science.'
In other words, there was basic knowledge of science.
But the staff was in the realm of magic, so maybe that's why the price was set like that.
'Anyway, it's surprising that it can be repaired at all.'
If my guess was wrong, it might just be an insanely expensive staff.
“Is this staff expensive?”
“Expensive? Probably, yeah? It was used by the previous Crimson Tower Master grandpa.”
Crimson Tower Master?
I recalled that Rubyel's gallery nickname was 'Crimson Tower Master'.
“Are you the Crimson Tower Master now, Rubyel?”
“I was his successor, at least. The old man died on the surface, so I didn't properly inherit it.”
It seemed the previous Crimson Tower Master had died, leaving Rubyel to become the tower master on her own.
If this staff had been used by the previous tower master, it made sense that it would cost a lot.
'That's why it's so pricey.'
Anyway, expensive or not, it needed repairing, so I decided to spend the 12,000 points.
“Repair it.”
Charging 12,174 points.
Product repair completed.
I pulled out the repaired staff.
It had traces of age before, but now it gleamed like it was brand new.
“Whoa. Can I test it?”
“Of course.”
Rubyel took the staff immediately and closed her eyes, concentrating as if checking it.
“Amazing. Mana resonance feels way smoother than before.”
“That must've been broken too.”
“I didn't notice at first because of that. Did the old man abuse it?”
Either way, Rubyel was pretty happy with the like-new staff.
I figured her combat power had gone up a bit with it, so I was satisfied.
'Instead of stopping here, maybe I should fix everyone else's gear.'
We planned to head to the beastkin village and then seriously dive into the labyrinth.
It would be good to repair gear now and give everyone time to get used to it.
“Hero. I'll fix your gear too. Aila and Liness as well.”
“Mine too? Won't that cost a lot of points?”
“I'm earning points right now, so don't worry.”
If needed, I could upload expensive liquor to 4-channel.
So far it'd been 10-50k won stuff, but if points were tight, I'd go for hundreds of thousands won bottles.
'The 4-channel folks would love it.'
Plus, fixing the Hero Party's gear took priority over slowly earning points in real-time.
“I feel bad just getting repairs, so I'll give you the 4-channel weapons I bought.”
“The 4-channel weapons?”
“Yeah. They're useless to me anyway.”
I hadn't asked for payment for repairs, but 4-channel weapons were different.
They were useless to her anyway, as she'd said.
'Better if I keep them or repair and distribute them.'
With that thought, I nodded readily.
“Sure. I'd be grateful.”
“Here they are.”
Elisicia pulled out the 4-channel weapons she'd bought from her subspace bracelet.
Checking them, I saw she'd bought four in total.
'One's the chainsaw sword I saw before.'
The chainsaw sword, resembling an electric saw.
The rest looked like weapons: two of them.
'One's just a sword hilt, the other's a long, huge hammer.'
The last one looked like a mechanical arm worn over the whole arm.
Not knowing what any of them were exactly, I decided to consult 4-channel's Quick Fix Doctor.
Opponent has accepted 1:1 chat.
Why call again?
I took photos of the three weapons excluding the chainsaw sword and showed them to Quick Fix Doctor.
Tell me what these weapons are.
No way you bought these from the exchange?
The Hero bought them, not me.
These aren't cheap. She must have points to spare.
Points?
Are they expensive?
First, the hilt-only one is Light Saber Co.'s standard 'Plasma Blade'. It fixes superheated plasma into a blade shape.
Quick Fix Doctor explained very kindly.
Sounds like a strong weapon just from the name.
Grazes a person's torso, and they're done. Organs overcook.
...
It seemed way stronger than I'd imagined.
But Quick Fix Doctor also told me the Plasma Blade's drawback.
Downside: battery in the hilt limits runtime to 4-5 minutes.
Next, he explained the second weapon, the long, huge hammer.
Hammer is Brake Co.'s 'Resonance Hammer'. Injects vibration waves on impact to collapse internals.
Deadly to people too?
Bare body hit? Pretty much dead. Plenty of defenses here, though.
It sounded like other channels lacked defenses against it.
Which made the chainsaw sword seem almost normal by comparison.
Last one... Killog Co.'s combat power arm 'Fist of Destruction'. Meant to be paired with both arms and exoskeleton, but sold separately for points.
Was it originally a set?
Works detached. Anyway, Fist of Destruction indirectly links nerves to fingers and arm for natural control.
Performance?
Lifts 3 tons, pile bunker-level single strikes. But needs dedicated weapons equipped.
'Dedicated weapons?'
Said the mech arm is a set, and it has dedicated weapons too?
Killog Co. specialty. Gear stacks for perfection.
“...”
Not exactly set items or anything.
Broken anyway, but don't wear the power arm. Giant's Fist lacks exoskeleton—shoulder pops out.
Ah, got it. I won't.
I'm out.
Come to think of it, Quick Fix Doctor had seemed really busy lately.
You seem busy lately. What's up?
Found the energy powering magic items. Gotta research it.
Really?
Will let you know if there's progress.
1:1 chat ended.
Quick Fix Doctor ended the chat with that.
I pondered the energy powering magic items for a moment before asking Rubyel.
“Rubyel. What powers magic items?”
“Usually inject user's mana or absorb ambient mana. Why?”
“Someone from another channel is researching magic items. Got curious.”
“Another channel? 4-channel?”
Rubyel's expression soured slightly at the mention of 4-channel.
“Yeah, 4-channel.”
“Their weapons all broke, so now they're researching magic items?”
“...The guy who gave me Rover is researching it.”
Mentioning Rover brightened Rubyel's face again.
She was riding it even now, so she must have built some fondness for Quick Fix Doctor.
“Oh, really? Tell him to ask if he has questions.”
I doubted Quick Fix Doctor, who didn't know magic, would understand Rubyel.
But since he'd apparently found mana, it might help, so I nodded.
“Sure. I'll pass it on next time I contact him.”
“Next time? Now?”
“He seems super busy right now.”
Busy researching mana, so it felt awkward to ping him again.
Besides, approaching from a 4-channel tech angle might uncover something new.
'Personally, I'd love a breakthrough.'
If possible, something to save other worlds too.