Became a Mechromancer - Chapter 58
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 58.
Mentor (3)
While my mentor laughed heartily, I remained serious.
Then, I heard Isto’s voice in my mind.
Lim Doo-ho!
-I just scanned through the Competition Association website, and there’s no such mandatory clause.
As expected….
-Thank you, Isto.
-Loyal Isto! I did what needed to be done. Ding-a-ling~.
Hmm….
I was becoming addicted to that brat’s mischievous nature.
I smiled faintly and waited for Dr. Yu So-young’s response.
But….
-Does the doctor know?
Dr. Yu So-young let out a short sigh before speaking.
“There’s no regulation requiring you to choose a mentor.”
I nodded, and she continued.
However….
“Everyone naturally has a mentor. Technical support and connections are crucial, after all.”
Jang Moon-seo shrugged.
“Why is that so obvious?”
Dr. Yu So-young shot back immediately.
“You were called a genius and did everything alone. Ordinary people can’t do that.”
She turned her head and spoke seriously.
Lim Doo-ho.
“Don’t take the mentor selection lightly.”
“Ah, yes.”
-I wasn’t taking it lightly.
The truth was….
I planned to mass-produce the auxiliary device after the competition and have my father manage its operations.
But rumors about Choi Tae-jin kept nagging at me as a potential mentor choice.
-He absorbs his mentees’ technologies, they say?
Professor Han Ji-hyuk worked in a similar field, so I was even more hesitant.
-That’s why I wanted to avoid it.
Unaware of my thoughts, she added her reasoning.
“Global Competition participants are future connections before they’re competitors. The more influential a mentor is, the more people pay attention to that mentor’s mentee.”
My eyes widened suddenly.
Ah!
-So Choi Tae-jin was recommended to me because he has the highest recognition.
She sensed that Lim Doo-ho had grasped something, and added only this much.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the right answer. I’m just pointing it out so that Lim Doo-ho carefully considers and makes his own choice.”
“Thank you for the wise words!”
Lim Doo-ho bowed respectfully.
She waved her hand dismissively.
“As they say, like calls to like—Lim Doo-ho, you seem to have that rebellious spirit just like your mentor.”
“What?”
Jang Moon-seo raised one eyebrow, then lowered it and tapped Lim Doo-ho’s shoulder.
“Doo-ho.”
“Yes, Master.”
Jang Moon-seo’s finger pointed to the auxiliary device on the workbench.
“When you made that auxiliary device, did you have a mentor?”
Well…
“I didn’t.”
But then again.
I did receive help from my master.
‘The design pod at the Garage played a significant role.’
Jang Moon-seo looked at Yu So-young and smirked.
“So there you have it?”
Yu So-young shook her head side to side.
Tsk.
“This is why geniuses are so…”
“I’m, I’m not a genius though?”
Lim Doo-ho hastily denied it.
But Yu So-young asked.
“How many times have you attempted that mithril before?”
“Uh, this is my first time today.”
Her lips twisted. She turned her head to the side and spoke to Seol Ye-na.
“Look at this self-proclaimed genius niece of mine. Pay attention. These are the kind of infuriating true geniuses.”
“When did I ever call myself a genius?!”
“You said my natural talent was terrifying—that I descended solo through the Abyss to the 9th floor?”
Seol Ye-na’s face flushed red as she didn’t know what to do.
“That, that was something I said when I was with you, Aunt. And besides, if Ghost hadn’t erased two floors, it would actually have been the 11th floor.”
A pang.
If Lim Doo-ho had frozen for a moment at the mention of Ghost, Jang Moon-seo expressed admiration instead.
“To descend that far alone is quite impressive.”
Jang Moon-seo’s sincere praise.
Ye-na’s lips twitched upward. But Yu So-young let out a deep sigh.
“That’s the problem. Despite receiving scout offers pouring in from major clans, she says she hates being tied down to any one place.”
“…Hmm.”
“Thanks to that, my sister calls me every night crying and worrying herself sick.”
At that, Seol Ye-na pouted her lips.
“Mom called again?”
“She reaches out constantly. So here’s what I’m thinking—wouldn’t you consider joining a guild?”
In response to Yu So-young’s question, Seol Ye-na swept her curious gaze across the Workshop’s interior.
“If I join, they’ll demand I form parties, fight over item distribution, and backstab each other. I absolutely hate that kind of thing.”
“Why don’t you just write novels instead?”
Seol Ye-na’s gaze shifted to Lim Doo-ho and Jang Moon-seo.
“But… boss. The production team members are Awakened too, aren’t they?”
“That’s true.”
“When do you two enter the Abyss?”
As Lim Doo-ho hesitated to answer, Jang Moon-seo smiled and replied instead.
He chuckled.
“Why would we go in? Our job is wrestling with fire right here.”
The moment Jang Moon-seo finished speaking, a hologram screen materialized in the air.
Curious, I looked up.
Huh?
Wow~.
That brat So-young!
Jang Moon-seo’s bewildered shout came last.
Inside the hologram photo, a muscular middle-aged man wielding a massive hammer laughed alongside his colleagues.
Yu So-young spoke.
“Ye-na, don’t get ahead of yourself. Director Jang here once climbed all the way to the 69th floor of the Abyss.”
S-sixty-nine floors?!!!
Both Lim Doo-ho and Seol Ye-na’s mouths fell open simultaneously.
Lim Doo-ho stared at the photo as if mesmerized.
Beside the younger Jang Moon-seo stood the heads of the Five Great Hunter Families that everyone knew.
Among them, the one who stood out most was Chairman Han Hyun-chul.
Even in a photograph, his charisma was exceptional.
“Doctor Yu, why are you showing the kids unnecessary things?!”
As he expressed his displeasure, Yu So-young turned off the hologram.
“I’ve already come to terms with losing my father, but you still haven’t?”
For a moment, Jang Moon-seo gazed at the professor with a melancholic expression before answering.
“It’s all in the past… right. Besides, I only followed along cleaning up after those people.”
Yu So-young snorted.
“You crushed a 60th-floor boss’s skull with a hammer just by ‘cleaning up’?”
Gasp!
Oh my!
Stop it already, you brat!
Jang Moon-seo convulsed as if his dark history had been exposed, while the two others stared in shock.
Professor Yu smiled.
“So, Ye-na. Don’t go on about talent just because you cleared the ninth floor. Understood?”
“Yes!”
Seol Ye-na answered spiritedly, her eyes sparkling as she turned to look at me.
“How many floors have you cleared, Doo-ho?”
I offered only an awkward smile.
‘If I mention the floors, it’ll inevitably overlap with Ghost, and that’ll be awkward.’
Just then, Jang Moon-seo interjected.
“For production-type Awakeners, as long as they craft items well, that’s all that matters. Heh heh.”
“That’s true enough.”
Seol Ye-na nodded in agreement, then suddenly thrust her face toward me.
“But if you’re ever scared to go in alone, just say so.”
“…Pardon?”
“I can guide you through the first floor at least.”
An unexpected offer from Seol Ye-na.
Yu So-young jumped in, flustered.
“What are you saying? Lim Doo-ho needs to prepare for the Global Competition.”
“The first floor is fine.”
“There you go again!”
While my aunt and cousin bickered.
My mind had become a battlefield with the Super Intelligence entities flooding in.
Ooooh!
-Master Doo-ho! That cat pretending to be all innocent needs to be caught!
-Right. The master becomes the hearth! Ribbit!
-Macro Manser. This is really….
Ugh, so annoying!
‘Hawkeye, stop spouting nonsense!’
Only Hawkeye, who’d mistimed his comment, got scolded.
-Why? Just me…?
* * *
After Professor Yu and Seol Ye-na left the Workshop, silence descended.
Well, this is something.
“Making another sword would be better.”
So saying, I patted my own shoulder with my hand.
Then….
Tap tap. Press press.
I began gently massaging Jang Moon-seo’s broad shoulders.
Ah, that’s the spot.
“…This feels wonderful.”
“Glad to help.”
The two of them looked like grandson and grandfather.
After finishing the massage.
Clap!
Jang Moon-seo clapped his hands as if to clear the air.
“Well then. Let’s sort that out now.”
Lim Doo-ho looked up.
“The mithril I refined, sir?”
“Do you have somewhere else to use it?”
“Ah, no sir.”
Surely not.
‘Is Master trying to force a purchase?’
If that were the case, I’d want to politely decline….
Jang Moon-seo spoke matter-of-factly.
“I’ll sell that mithril you refined for you.”
“Right now?”
“That won’t be possible immediately.”
Hmm….
Lost in thought for a moment, he continued.
“Even if it takes some time, I need to sell it to someone who’ll pay its true worth. If you’re in a hurry….”
“I’m not in a hurry at all!”
Chuckle.
“You seem quite pleased about this.”
Lim Doo-ho scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
-That’s not even my character, is it?
‘….’
In any case.
I was simply grateful that Master had offered a suggestion right when I was uncertain about where to sell it.
As Lim Doo-ho caught his breath, Jang Moon-seo added.
However.
“The mithril you refined would fetch around 400 million at most if put on the market.”
“Pardon?”
Lim Doo-ho reflexively asked back.
“Isn’t that quite a lot?”
Whoosh.
My gaze turned back to the mithril.
The traces left on the stone after extracting the mithril were painfully clear.
Lim Doo-ho pulled one corner of his mouth.
‘Compared to Master’s, it’s pathetically meager.’
I wanted to extract the remaining mithril from that stone.
Unfortunately, there was still no way to extract it from a stone that had already been refined once.
Three pieces of Mithril remained in the Garage.
‘I should try refining Mithril every time I level up from now on.’
Oh!
-That sounds like a very good idea!
‘I think so too.’
It would let me gauge the gap between myself and my master Jang Moon-seo on my own.
That’s when Jang Moon-seo spoke.
“So whenever you have the chance, let’s dispose of it at that price even if it takes time.”
Lim Doo-ho agreed.
There was no immediate need for a large sum of money anyway.
Numbers aligned in my head.
The money that came from Mithril was.
1.2 billion.
And if it sells for 400 million.
A total of 1.6 billion.
My legs suddenly felt weak.
‘Was making money this easy?’
But then.
Honestly, should I really be accepting this?
The 1.2 billion wasn’t even from my own effort….
“Your expression doesn’t look good.”
“It’s just that I felt Master might have given me too much.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“That heart of yours is enough.”
Ah….
Jang Moon-seo smiled warmly.
My nose suddenly tingled.
And I became certain.
‘One mentor is all I need for my entire life… and that’s Master.’
As I composed myself and turned around, Bom-i, who had been perched on my shoulder, spoke.
-Master.
“You were still on my shoulder?”
-More than that, that stove maiden from earlier.
“…stop it, will you?”
-No. When that stove maiden looked at you, mana gathered in her eyes.
“Why would that be?”
Hawkeye, who had been listening from the Garage, interjected as if summarizing.
-If what Bom-i says is true, she used a skill on you, Mechromancer.
“On me?”
—…Yes, that’s correct.
Wow….
Chills ran down my spine.
Lim Doo-ho stared at the Workshop door with his mouth half-open.
* * *
Two women walked out of the Workshop toward the parking garage.
Suddenly, a man with a delivery box strapped to his back came sprinting toward them, shouting.
“Stay right there!”
But Yu So-young had already stepped forward.
The delivery man’s eyes widened.
Oh no! In that instant.
Crack! Whoosh.
Seol Ye-na reached out and spun Dr. Yu So-young, lifting her into the air.
The delivery man barely scraped past beneath her and gave a thumbs up.
“Nice move, miss!”
Softly.
Yu So-young landed on the ground.
She immediately scanned her entire body as if checking for damage.
Rough,
and rude.
“This is exactly why I hate Yeouido.”
“You looked happy when we went into the Workshop earlier, though?”
“Did I?”
Seol Ye-na nodded.
Yu So-young hesitated for a moment, then asked her niece.
“Did you mean what you said earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
“About being a guide on the first floor.”
“Yes.”
A clear answer.
This was the same niece who had flatly rejected party invitations from well-known hunters.
Yet she was offering to guide a complete novice like Lim Doo-ho.
Yu So-young narrowed her eyes with suspicion.
“What’s the reason for that?”
Seol Ye-na stood with her hands clasped behind her back, gazing up at the sky.
The pale winter light scattered thinly across it.
She spoke.
“Just a feeling. My intuition is good.”
“Intuition?”
Yu So-young let out a hollow laugh, as if she found it absurd, and asked again.
“You know your aunt is a scientist, right?”
“Did you forget that my sub-skill is ‘Seer’?”
Hehe. Haha.
More like friends bickering than niece and aunt.
Yu So-young asked a question.
“So, Lim Doo-ho, what do you think about this Global Competition?”
“You already know I can’t see things like that, don’t you?”
“Just checking. Is it really just a hunch?”
Seol Ye-na lifted her head again, gazing at the sky.
Her gaze stretched long, as if chasing something very distant.
Soon, a quiet voice flowed out.
“…I saw him soaring upward.”
Yu So-young, wearing an expression of incomprehension, responded with a joking tone.
“Not falling down?”
“I wish that were the case.”
“Anyone hearing this would think you’re an unscrupulous aunt.”
Seol Ye-na’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Since President Jang reached the 69th floor, wouldn’t his disciple Lim Doo-ho be capable of it too?”
“Lim Doo-ho?”
“Yes. For some reason… it feels like he could.”
“Well, imagination is free, after all.”
Seol Ye-na wore a faint smile as she added silently to herself.
Aunt, actually.
I don’t know which floor of the Abyss it was.
‘I saw Lim Doo-ho snatch me up and soar to that incredible height.’
That scene shimmered before her eyes.
Became a Mecromancer
Author |
Keongang 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 cannot be reproduced or transmitted without permission.
UCI |
G720:N+A277-20260210015.0058
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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