Became a Mechromancer - Chapter 63

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

Chapter 63.
All Together
Korea Advanced Technology High School.
Commonly known as KATHS.
Upon enrollment, students have their genetic records registered.
By second year, eighty percent of the student body undergoes full cerebral digitization—an elite institution indeed.
The genetic record served as a seed for future offspring and as a body regeneration archive for when ‘reincarnation’ succeeded.
Of course….
‘Transferring consciousness into a clone remains impossible for now.’
Technology advances, so perhaps one day it will become feasible….
But setting that aside.
Lim Doo-ho graduated from there?
Were his parents in their right minds?
Or was there some circumstance preventing him from undergoing full cerebral digitization?
A financial issue, perhaps?
Or a family with genuinely natural inclinations?
As these speculations swirled through my mind, I stopped myself.
“Enough.”
I cut off the endless stream of questions.
‘Why am I even concerned with his family’s circumstances? That’s unlike me.’
Still, having graduated from this place somehow meant Lim Doo-ho must be quite exceptional.
If so, today’s extraordinary conduct and his credentials both made sense.
Flick.
As I swiped the document with my fingertip, Lim Doo-ho’s school grades appeared.
My head nodded involuntarily.
Second from the bottom of the entire school ranking.
“Now that’s normal.”
The students here were fully digitized beings with computational abilities rivaling AI itself. That’s why I had been shocked when Lim Doo-ho, a natural human, won the grand prize at the skills competition.
I scrolled down further.
“…Seventy-fourth out of eighty, then.”
I could vividly imagine how desperately Lim Doo-ho must have studied to raise his grades that much. As I continued scrolling, my brow furrowed.
His ranking had improved again?
Page after page, my fingers accelerated as I reviewed the records.
Finally, I issued a command to the AI.
“Compile all of Lim Doo-ho’s rankings into a single graph.”
-Please specify the academic year.
“From first year through graduation. All of it.”
Whirr.
The loading completed, and a graph materialized in the air before me.
Good heavens….
She shot up from her seat.
The line that began in first year of high school had never once declined.
It traced an upward curve, steadily climbing.
Early third year.
Finally, second place in the entire school.
Lim Doo-ho’s ranking would climb no further.
The graph was no longer ascending—it had become a flat line.
Stagnation, they called it, yet she couldn’t even fathom how fiercely the countless full-brain children pursuing him must have struggled.
And then….
The curve suddenly spikes upward.
At the same moment, Yu So-young pressed her forehead.
Her full-brain neural system sparked wildly.
And for good reason.
The number recorded at the end of the graph was.
『TOP 1』
…He had trampled all the full-brain entities beneath him.
“He climbed over every single one of them?”
She immediately pulled up Lim Doo-ho’s graduation photo and stared at it.
His face looked somehow melancholic.
Sigh….
How did such a monster come to exist.
“And he ended up buried in some Hunter Management Bureau ‘Machine Upcycling’ department?”
* * *
The next morning.
Sunlight streamed pleasantly into the Reboot Center.
Thanks to the constantly operating air purification system, the interior remained pristine.
Mmm, ahhhh~.
The barista drawing espresso from the coffee machine—or rather, Park Gyu-tae—looked happier than ever before.
He handed the freshly extracted coffee to Na Manager.
“Thank you~.”
Both their faces radiated contentment.
Once the two of them filled the last cup for Doo-ho and approached the workbench with their coffees in hand.
Doo-ho picked up the shield.
The shield was a cold-attribute item that the Changtian Clan had recently brought in for repairs.
The last of nine remaining.
Doo-ho closed his eyes for a moment.
He recalled the image of Jang Moon-seo the craftsman restoring the weapon to its perfect state.
Drawing his concentration to its peak, he opened his eyes.
Whoosh.
Nanobots flowed from his fingertips, instantly devouring the shield.
The rhythm his master had maintained while forging.
The concentration of mana transmitted through the hammer.
I recalled all of it, channeling mana into the nanobots.
Infused with mana, the nanobots struck the shield’s surface relentlessly.
Crack!
A deafening boom that reverberated throughout the Reboot Center.
I didn’t stop.
I recovered the mana, then pushed it back in—a rhythmic cycle.
Crack! Crack!
Following the steady rhythm, the impact sounds erupted in all directions.
Before long, the shield’s surface, suspended in mid-air, began vibrating violently.
The luminescence that had vanished.
Traced lines, recalling the brilliant memories of the past.
Soon after, the mana circuits I had inscribed were revived.
Whoooosh….
As the dazzling radiance faded, the shield reclaimed its former glory—the most formidable version of itself.
Though the marks of time remained, the power dwelling within it was thicker than anything new.
Ham Manager and Park Deputy, watching from behind, found their jaws dropping open.
Despite witnessing this countless times before, the chill running down their spines was unavoidable.
And for good reason.
According to Na Manager, only Jang Moon-seo was capable of accomplishing this.
And Lim Doo-ho was the second!
Of course, the nanobots remained invisible to their eyes, but this much was certain.
‘His skill has improved again.’
‘He’s faster than yesterday.’
Not only Android restoration and repair.
But now high-tier items as well.
Ham Manager gazed warmly at my back.
When I first arrived, there wasn’t a trace of vitality about me….
‘Now I shine with such fervor.’
Park Deputy swallowed his gratitude silently.
Thanks to me, his Android repair skills had improved too.
Lim Deputy….
‘Please stay with us for a long, long time!’
Did Park Deputy’s final wish reach me?
I stood up, trembling slightly.
Ugh.
“I suddenly feel chilled.”
Click.
He placed the shield into a custom box emblazoned with the Changtian Clan logo and turned away.
Park Deputy approached quickly.
“Lim Deputy, good work. Have some coffee.”
“Thank you.”
As Doo-ho accepted the coffee, Manager Ham addressed him.
“Those Changtian bastards are beyond redemption. Why did they have to touch a perfectly good item and make this mess?”
“I’m just happy to receive the incentive.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
Watching Manager Ham’s embarrassed expression, Doo-ho broke into a gentle smile.
Two hundred million won per repair, totaling one billion eight hundred million.
‘If my incentive is two percent….’
-That’s thirty-six million coins, ribbit.
Bom-i, clinging to his back, had already recited the numbers upon hearing Doo-ho’s thoughts.
-More like three thousand or so.
‘…Hey, Isto.’
-Yes?
‘Never mind.’
-Huh?
As Doo-ho simply moved past it, Bom-i stirred up a commotion.
-That iron-head seems low-intelligence, ribbit.
-What, what are you saying, you sword! A Super Intelligence that captures human emotion well naturally acts like me!
Unable to bear it any longer, Hawkeye delivered a sharp retort.
This shameless iron-head!
-Mechromancer, that’s all lies. Please punish him severely!
Those bickering entities.
Doo-ho thought of them as Super Intelligence in a different sense.
‘Among Earth’s AIs, could any possess consciousness like they do?’
On the other hand, his own Super Intelligences seemed to possess souls.
Perhaps.
‘That might be the condition for Super Intelligence.’
Soon returning to reality, Doo-ho looked at the two men before him.
‘I’ll be receiving a substantial incentive this time too.’
Colleagues who faced each other daily and sweated together.
He made a cheerful proposal.
“How about Korean beef for the year-end dinner? I’ll treat for the first round.”
“Absolutely, I’m in!”
At Park Deputy’s enthusiastic approval, Manager Ham also chimed in gracefully.
“Then should I treat everyone to karaoke?”
“Come on. You’re a manager in name, so why karaoke?”
As Park Deputy teased him, Manager Ham shrugged his shoulders.
“What good is rank? I’m stuck getting pocket money from my wife like a mouse. Park Deputy, you’re single—you good for a second round?”
Ugh….
Park Deputy groaned while staring down at his implant arm.
“Once the installment payments come out, I’m in the same boat.”
Then he declared boldly.
Ah, forget it!
“Second round it is! Next month’s me can worry about next month’s bills!”
The three of them burst into cheerful laughter at his declaration.
Park Deputy spoke with genuine delight.
Heh.
“You know what? I’m actually grateful our department doesn’t have any full-brain types. Those guys will never know the real joy of chewing meat.”
“What are you talking about? Full-brain types dive into ‘Taste Shops’ for their company dinners.”
Manager Ham corrected Park Deputy while sipping his coffee.
“Taste Shop?”
Park Deputy asked, and Manager Ham nodded.
“Yeah. It’s a virtual restaurant that maximizes brain stimulation to perfectly recreate actual flavors.”
“But is it really the same as actual taste?”
“Actually, I went through a dive port not long ago.”
“You did?”
Manager Ham smacked his lips and added.
“Like they say—it’s pure bliss. The problem is, once that taste gets carved into your brain, you can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Isn’t that addiction?”
“Oh! There’s this hot flavor right now called Pang-Pang.”
“What kind of flavor is that?”
“It’s like an artistic explosion in your mouth, you know? The way it bursts and lingers with this incredible aftertaste—it’s mind-blowing.”
“Really?”
“And it’s cheap. Just one coin.”
When Park Deputy furrowed his brow in confusion, Manager Ham rubbed his belly and laughed bitterly.
“But there’s a fatal drawback.”
“What is it?”
“It only tricks the brain, so hybrids like us get hungry when we return to reality.”
“Then wouldn’t it be a hundred times better if we all gathered together and tore into real beef!”
At Park Deputy’s casual mention of “all together,” Lim Doo-ho’s mind drifted for just a moment.
He recalled his lunch period from his third year of high school.
.
.
.
A classroom where every student except him was a full-brain type.
When lunch period came, as if by agreement, they all dove into the virtual world simultaneously.
An eerie silence, as if death itself had descended.
In that suffocating silence.
Click. Click.
Lim Doo-ho sat alone, eating the lunch box his Mother had packed for him with her own hands.
A moment when being natural felt lonely and abnormal.
.
.
.
When Lim Doo-ho shook his head to brush away the brief recollection.
Na Manager stood examining the shield Lim Doo-ho had prepared, though it was unclear when he had arrived.
Unbelievable.
To have worked such a treasure as a contract employee for six years.
Recalling the Machine Upcycling Department members who had already disbanded and vanished, the absurdity struck him anew.
‘I need to nurture him properly from now on.’
When he turned his head, his eyes met those of Director Ham.
“Oh, Manager.”
As everyone startled, Na Manager asked matter-of-factly.
“Deputy Lim, have you decided on a mentor?”
“Yes. I chose Dr. Yu So-young.”
Park Deputy was the most surprised.
‘…Could it be because of me?’
Na Manager also furrowed his brow.
“Director Kim mentioned Representative Choi Tae-jin, didn’t he?”
At that question, Lim Doo-ho glanced at Park Deputy and shrugged.
“He said something urgent came up at the company and left, then resigned from the mentor position right away.”
“He suddenly resigned?”
Everyone’s jaws dropped at the unexpected news.
Seizing the moment, Lim Doo-ho smoothly changed the subject.
“Oh! I also received something from the administrator there.”
Manipulating his smart watch, a silver welfare card materialized as a hologram in the air.
“It seems they gave it to me because I was an award recipient.”
Lim Doo-ho’s adequately vague explanation.
Director Ham’s eyes widened as he examined the hologram closely.
Silver tier?!
“I believe one of the benefits includes full coverage for family travel?”
“But it’s limited to domestic destinations.”
Aw.
“Domestic definitely means Jeju Island!”
Director Ham and Park Deputy recommended in unison.
Then, Na Manager, who had been silent, chuckled and chimed in.
“That’s exactly the place to maximize the card’s benefits.”
“Where are we going?”
“West Sea Artificial Island.”
An unexpected destination tumbled from Na Manager’s lips.
“CHIKO Island—built jointly by Korea and China.”
As Na Manager added that the name came from both nations’ initials, Park Deputy tilted his head in confusion.
“Isn’t CHIKO Island overseas?”
“That’s nonsense. CHIKO Island is neutral territory, so welfare cards work everywhere. Just make sure you bring your passport, though.”
Na Manager’s voice grew noticeably more serious as he offered this advice.
Just in case….
“Don’t buy any illegal items.”
“…Illegal items?”
Lim Doo-ho’s eyes widened.
It was an abrupt warning that had nothing to do with family travel plans.
The section chief beside him chimed in.
“There’s quite a bit of merchandise that came through dark channels in the underground night market there. But most of it’s counterfeit, so absolutely don’t buy anything.”
Then the section chief glanced at Na Manager and snickered.
But sir.
“That item you got scammed on was a virility enhancer, wasn’t it…?”
“Stop gossiping and get back to work!”
Na Manager’s roar sent laughter rippling through the Reboot Center.
When Lim Doo-ho returned to his seat and sat down.
Ding!
Park Deputy projected a hologram image onto Lim Doo-ho’s desk.
“Look at this. CHIKO Island is no joke.”
A spectacular waterpark vista unfolded before them.
Most impressive was the colossal bathhouse constructed from desalinated seawater.
As Lim Doo-ho began imagining joyful moments there with his family.
Sir!
-I’ll find every profitable item in that night market for you!
Isto’s words brimmed with determination.
Lim Doo-ho’s lips twisted wryly.
I Became a Mechromancer
Author |
Geon-gang 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 authorization.
UCI｜
G720:N+A277-20260210015.0063

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