Became a Mechromancer - Chapter 43

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 43.
2nd Floor (3)
Whoooosh!!
The wind lashed against Doo-ho’s ear.
Trees blurred past in rapid succession.
Hawkeye was sprinting across the branches with Doo-ho cradled in one arm.
The Swamp was already treacherous, and vines crawled upward from the ground.
Vines erupted behind Hawkeye’s retreating form, but they only cleaved through empty air.
‘…What is this speed.’
Doo-ho swallowed hard.
There was no hesitation in Hawkeye’s movements.
“You can put me down now….”
-Not yet.
A terse, decisive reply.
The pace didn’t slacken—it only intensified.
Hawkeye, who had surveyed the 2nd Floor’s layout from Isto’s shoulders beforehand.
‘I never expected the Quest mechanism to respond like this.’
Even she hadn’t anticipated the 2nd Floor would reveal its hostility in such a manner.
It was beyond her control, yet regret surged nonetheless.
Before entering the Abyss.
I should have collected a Save Point.
If I had….
‘I could have gone to the destination alone and summoned Macromanser to the Save Point….’
Self-recrimination was fleeting.
Whoosh, whoosh—.
Dozens of vines erupted sequentially from ahead.
Shwee—!
Light condensed in Hawkeye’s left hand and discharged instantly.
No aiming, no calculation—pure reckless firepower.
Kaboom!!
Yet dozens of vines burst apart, spraying green sap in all directions.
The intense mana expenditure caused her speed to falter momentarily.
Crunch. Crunch.
Hawkeye popped a mana stone into her mouth, chewed and swallowed it, then surged forward again.
All of this.
‘Is my responsibility for being inefficient!’
Then, Isto’s voice rang out.
-Tall one, when you see two massive trees, slip between them!
-Got it.
Crack!
I swatted away the vines surging toward me with my bow, weaving between the towering trees.
Whirrrrr—!
An unsettling grinding sound emanated from my chest.
Doo-ho shouted.
Stop!
“You’re exceeding your threshold right now!”
Hawkeye’s speed dropped sharply as I responded.
-If something happens to Mechromancer… my world ends as well.
So it doesn’t matter, I said, shaking off the stubborn vines clinging to me as I sprinted toward my destination.
Doo-ho bit his lip hard.
I should have…
‘…been more careful.’
It seemed I’d somehow triggered Hawkeye’s panic button.
The moment Hawkeye pulled out another magic stone and swallowed it, a voice bloomed from the Archive.
「Humanity is dangerous…」
The scope trembled faintly.
The voice continued.
「That’s why logical and efficient robots should control the world.」「Is that so?」「Of course! But Hawkeye, why do you act so inefficiently?」
I am now…
-different from back then.
Doo-ho cast a puzzled glance at Hawkeye’s murmur.
‘Is she experiencing a ghost loop from overexertion?’
Just as Doo-ho entertained this reasonable suspicion, Isto’s voice reached us.
-Dense tree section ending!
And soon.
Hawkeye leaped from the branches and landed hard on the ground below.
Solid stone floor.
Isto emerged from the Garage and cried out.
Ta-daaaa~!
-Destination reached! Navigation complete!
Before the words finished, vines crawled across the stone floor in a swarming mass.
-These weeds are getting cocky!
Isto seized the vines and unleashed scorching heat.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
One tendril, momentarily hesitant, suddenly lashed toward Doo-ho.
In an instant.
Hawkeye reflexively wrapped around Doo-ho.
‘This time, I’ll protect him.’
As the vine’s sharp tip pierced toward my back, Doo-ho reached out his hand.
Whirrrrr—!
Silver nanobots poured forth, altering the vine’s trajectory.
But that alone was not enough.
How dare you!!!
-A mere weed daring to target Doo-ho! Unforgivable!
Crackle, crackle….
Isto, blazing crimson-hot, coiled around the vine and incinerated it.
Sizzle, screech!
The vine, bound by overwhelming force, severed itself and retreated.
Hawkeye stared blankly at Doo-ho and Isto.
I was certain. I thought I had protected them….
-Was I the one being protected?
In that moment, a familiar voice brushed through the Archive’s raw data.
My Hawkeye.
「You’ve made companions now. How wonderful.」
No reproach.
No command.
A warm, bright voice I heard for the first time.
The voice of my former master, lost long ago by my own mistake.
And yet, Hawkeye….
「Could you erase me from your Archive now?」
Why would you ask that?
「Touching a dead child won’t bring them back. You’re only wasting memory efficiency.」
…Efficiency, even at the end.
No, that must be an excuse.
Hawkeye slowly raised my head.
If my master wishes it…
No, this is what I desire as well.
-…I will erase it.
I spoke my former master’s name.
-H. Fastropf….
The world’s system began forcibly extracting Hawkeye’s memories.
My scope tightened and loosened repeatedly, as if caught in lag.
My former master’s smile too.
The voice that once burned with anger.
Even that final, fading form bleeding out.
All burst like bubbles from the Archive and vanished.
The Archive, growing sparse and hollow.
As if filling that void, Doo-ho’s face reflected beyond my scope.
Ah!
“Don’t push yourself!”
Who…?
Ah.
I see.
-My good new master.
“What… what are you talking about?”
Doo-ho, oblivious to the situation, grumbled while observing Hawkeye.
In that instant.
Crack, crack-crack!
Hawkeye, having regained normalcy, slashed the vines crawling across the floor with steel arrows.
-These vines are quite unsettling.
“You… are you alright?!”
-I was always normal… ugh?!
Isto interjected and shoved a magic stone into Hawkeye’s mouth.
-Elongated one has many hands!
-What, what are you saying! Iron-headed fool.
A brief silence.
One change became apparent: the further back they retreated, the less frequent the vines’ assault became.
Doo-ho’s gaze fixed upon the Stone Stairs descending below the edge of the stone floor.
‘To find the root… I’ll need to go down.’
I unfold the minimap and sense for presences.
No magical beasts detected near the entrance.
As Doo-ho headed toward the stairs.
-From here on, it’s my turn!
Tap, tap.
Isto strode forward with confident pride.
.
.
.
Descending the dim Stone Stairs.
Instead of the damp Swamp’s stench, the cool scent unique to ancient bedrock seeps deep into my lungs.
Isto’s LED eyes brightened, illuminating the stairs and walls within the darkness.
He lifted his head.
-Ohhh!
Doo-ho and Hawkeye simultaneously shifted their gaze upward.
The ceiling was filled with massive roots tangled like wrinkled bedrock.
Doo-ho’s mouth fell open.
Wow…
“The map’s description wasn’t false after all.”
-I shall verify whether that is the main body.
Before Hawkeye could finish speaking, she drew back her bowstring.
A shaft of light, noticeably thicker than usual, slowly took form.
Whoosh!
The arrow shot forth and pierced into the root that formed the ceiling, or so it seemed…
‘She’s going to punch through something that thick?’
In that instant, the space between the roots tore open as if split by a blade.
Through the gap, external light seeped in like a razor-thin edge.
And then.
The reaction I’d been waiting for arrived.
Grooooan…
The ceiling rumbled low.
The root had merely twisted slightly, yet the tremor dislodged stone dust from the ceiling, which rained down like precipitation.
Moments later.
Beneath the darkness, the soft patter of settling stone dust echoed belatedly through the space.

‘The space below is quite deep.’
The three of us looked up at the ceiling again.
Doo-ho asked.
“This looks like the main body of the Binding Flower, doesn’t it?”
-It’s crying about the pain, so it’s definitely the real deal!
* * *
Moments later.
The three emerged from the Garage.
Rest was necessary, and since Hawkeye had overextended herself, inspection took priority.
Time doesn’t flow when the three of us are in the Garage.
It would be foolish not to utilize such a useful ability.
“Could there be a more foolish course of action?”
-That’s right. That lanky efficiency junkie is less efficient than this!
-What’s the iron-headed fool going on about!
At words that could be either insult or praise, Hawkeye bristled.
In any case.
After deliberating on how to deal with that massive root, Doo-ho’s group decided to descend the stairs.
The reason being.
‘If the root is here, it must be drawing nutrients from somewhere in this place.’
Isto illuminated his LED eyes.
The darkened staircase became visible.
The three descended the spiral stairs that hugged the wall.
At the center, the root of overwhelming proportions still occupied its place.
As I descended, I observed the changes in the root.
My vision was impeded.
Of course.
The blind spots where Isto’s light doesn’t reach are shrouded in darkness.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye, standing behind, was naturally scanning the surroundings.
“Can you see well?”
-My scope has night vision functionality.
Oh!
Isto spun around abruptly and shone his LED light directly into Hawkeye’s face.
-Quite impressive!
-Ahhhhh! My eyes! My eyes…!
Hawkeye, struck head-on by the intense light, deactivated the night vision function.
-You did that on purpose!
-What are you saying, you sword? I’m not that clever, am I?
Doo-ho couldn’t help but chuckle at their bickering.
‘Hawkeye has returned to normal.’
The spiral staircase’s gradient was gentler than expected, but its circumference was anything but ordinary.
It took a full thirty minutes just to complete one circuit.
‘The perimeter alone must be at least five kilometers?’
Shortly after.
My gaze fixed on a single point.
A section where the roots branched into multiple paths. Fine rootlets clustered densely around that area.
‘And I can distinctly sense mana here.’
As I approached.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!
The fine rootlets surged forward.
Their reaction was faster than the vines I’d faced on the surface.
Looking at just this much.
‘The hypothesis I formed in the Garage was correct.’
I recalled the conversation we’d had earlier.
Infinite supply through potions was impossible.
Gigantism from deformation?
That too required a constant supply of nutrients.
The conclusion was singular.
There had to be a place receiving an infinite supply of mana from somewhere.
Moreover, such a critical location would naturally have fierce defenses.
Most decisively.
“You both sense the mana, right?”
Both nodded.
I issued my command.
Isto!
“Sever the roots at the point where that mana is leaking out with a burst release.”
No living organism—plant or animal—can regenerate cells damaged by fire.
Isto’s LED eyes gleamed.
Oh!
-Finally, a chance to demonstrate just how much my durability has improved!
“Hawkeye, prepare to defend against the rootlets.”
-Understood.
Doo-ho shielded his body with nanobots as a precaution.
Whoooosh—!
Isto’s body blazed crimson, radiating tremendous heat.
-Let’s showtime!
Tap, tap.
Isto advanced with measured steps.
Shuaaaa!!
Dozens of rootlets transformed into whips, lashing at Isto.
-Pathetic.
Isto snatched the incoming rootlets from the air.
Sizzzzzzle—!!
The surging heat incinerated the rootlets in an instant, reducing them to ash.
The burning rootlets writhed in chaos.
Isto reached the main body.
The glowing red creature’s hand began scorching the thick root.
Sizzzzzzle!!
The root’s surface blackened and frothed.
Crack! Screeeech!
The charred sections fractured.
Rumble, rumble.
The ground trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
From the severed root’s cross-section, new tissue surged forth, attempting regeneration even as it burned away.
But.
Isto’s heat was overwhelming.
Regeneration and withering repeated endlessly.
Ooong~.
-This weed refuses to surrender.
Crunch crunch. Crunch!
Isto, having consumed several mana stones, turned toward Doo-ho.
-Step back from here. Now.
The moment Doo-ho and Hawkeye retreated!
Isto transformed into brilliant blue.
Whoooooosh!!
Intense heat radiated with such ferocity that even the stone stairs began to glow.
Crack! Splinter!
Thick roots burst from within, burning deep into the flesh.
Screeeech!!
The vibrations from the roots intensified further.
Then.
All the smaller roots around erupted explosively.
A final, desperate thrashing—unmistakable.
The rootlets surged forward in a chaotic torrent toward Doo-ho and Hawkeye.
Clang! Snap!
Steel arrows slashed through the advancing rootlets like a blade cutting through silk.
-I can see the end now.
Severed root fragments scattered through the air.
A glance.
From Isto, burrowed deep within the roots, blazed a brilliant white light.
Doo-ho cried out.
“Are you alright?!”
-….
“Isto!”
-No… problem. I’m… Isto!
With those words.
Whoooooosh!!!
The stairwell walls glowed crimson, as if they might melt and flow away at any moment.
Hawkeye, witnessing this, muttered under their breath.
-What kind of monster is this….
Boom!!!!!
At last, the final connection severed.
Thud.
The rootlets ceased their movement.
The smaller roots that had been hurtling toward Hawkeye collapsed and fell.

[Main Quest Achieved!]
Reward: Furious Charge (Active Skill)
Crackle—.
The roots began to wither.
The central root convulsed violently once, and the desiccated husks cascaded downward in a torrent.
Doo-ho clenched his fists.
“We, we did it!”
—Kyiyoyoot!
And shortly after.
The moment Isto arrived, having cooled down, I checked the reward window first.
Oh!
—Now I can charge ahead recklessly with my sword!
Not to be outdone, Hawkeye chimed in as well.
—An exciting skill indeed.
Hmm…
Isto could say that, certainly.
But Hawkeye, who had charged forward in a tempestuous rush even while overheating…
‘…was quite anxious.’
That was when it happened.
[You have gained experience.]
[You have gained experience.]
[You have gained experien…]
[You have gained experien…]
[You have gained…]
[You have…]
[…]
..
.
Wait, why?
We only defeated one?
An avalanche of experience points bombarded Doo-ho’s ears.
Became a Macromanser
Author |
Geon Kang E
Published |
February 25, 2026
Publisher |
Talesyx
Website |
https://talesyx.com
Email｜
[email protected]
ⓒ Keongang E, 2026
This publication is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced or duplicated without permission.
UCI｜
G720:N+A277-20260210015.0043

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————