Even if I Make It Roughly, Ex-rank Items Continue to Accumulate - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Even Hastily Made Ones Keep Stacking Up as EX-Rank (118)

 

City Guardian

 

[You have successfully restored the multiple framework of the ‘Mana Charging Golem’ to its original state!]

 

[You have granted elasticity and regenerative properties to the existing design. The completion quality is shocking!]

 

“Is it done?”

 

Lee Si-hyeok, who had been concentrating on his work while wearing safety goggles, raised his arms in satisfaction.

 

The repair of the ‘multiple framework’ that he had proceeded with after the power core.

 

He had ground down the corroded parts of the framework with a saw and reconstructed them with a coating mixed with his self-developed stone iron.

 

Finely ground sawdust was scattered all over the garden weeds. While sweeping it up with the cleaning tools he had brought, he conceived the next step.

 

‘Now it’s time for the ‘Command Soul Formula’ that handles the brain.’

 

However, before that.

 

There was one more thing to add to the multiple framework.

 

If what he had done until now was the process of making the golem’s skin, that is, the body itself sturdy and flexible, this time he planned to strengthen its defense in a completely different way.

 

He moved locations and rummaged through the backpack he had left near the pond. The gentle lighting coming down from the cave ceiling created pale blue waves on the water surface.

 

“Where did I put it… Ah, here it is.”

 

A small leather pouch from inside his inner pocket.

 

Taking it out, he returned to the front of the work table.

 

When he opened the pouch, inside were five test tubes about the size of his palm.

 

It was the ‘Polar Mana Dissolution Liquid’ he had collected from the geyser heading to the lake before coming down to the deep sea.

 

It was an unfamiliar liquid that Lee Si-hyeok was handling for the first time, but he knew roughly what properties it had. Because he had heard it directly from the Pasuin earlier.

 

―That thing. As soon as it touched, it reacted with mana and the body started melting.

 

The moment it touched skin, it reacted with human mana, causing explosive inflammatory reactions throughout the body that decomposed even the mana circuits in the entire body…

 

It could also be seen as a kind of toxic substance.

 

It had quite dangerous properties.

 

If other engineers had discovered this dissolution liquid, they would have definitely used it extensively in weapons. Just like the danger felt at first sight, it would be an incredible trump card in combat situations.

 

However, Lee Si-hyeok thought a little differently.

 

‘Isn’t there any other way to utilize it besides weapons?’

 

Embedding toxic substances in weapons to use as hidden cards.

 

It would certainly demonstrate dramatic power. Monsters without intelligence would be helplessly caught, and even if the opponent was human, it would be difficult to avoid.

 

But…

 

Wasn’t it too one-dimensional?

 

In fact, this was closer to ‘exploitation’ rather than utilization.

 

It was just taking a new substance and using it as is, with no additional ideas incorporated at all.

 

Lee Si-hyeok, who had been looking at the test tube while lost in thought, organized the inspirations he had thought of earlier once more.

 

‘…Think about reversing the properties themselves.’

 

The property of the dissolution liquid that melted mana the moment it came into contact with it.

 

If you think about this differently, the dissolution liquid could be seen not as a simple toxic substance, but as having ‘mana-decomposing properties.’ Although those properties did cause terrible results…

 

‘That’s just from a human perspective.’

 

Rather, if you only looked at the point of mana decomposition, it was at a level that no other substance could match.

 

There were several substances in the world with properties similar to the dissolution liquid, but the reason they hadn’t come to prominence was precisely because of their insufficient performance.

 

Lee Si-hyeok focused on that aspect.

 

What if he utilized this for ‘defense’ instead of offense?

 

Instead of shooting it at an opponent, what if he completely decomposed the mana mixed in the opponent’s attacks?

 

What would happen then?

 

‘Probably. The attack itself would be nullified.’

 

Whether it was Awakened, monsters, or even artifacts.

 

Everyone fought using the mana they possessed and unleashed attacks utilizing it, so mana was inevitably mixed into the attack process.

 

Even such attacks would have their mana immediately decomposed upon contact with the melting solution.

 

In other words, the power contained in the attack would completely disappear.

 

This was exactly the idea Lee Si-hyeok had come up with.

 

As his thoughts became organized step by step, a message soon appeared before his eyes.

 

[You have conceived a new design.]

 

[The existing design method will be reborn anew.]

 

[‘Multiple Framework’ design → new! ‘Mana Nullification Framework’]

 

[An increase in defense of approximately 87 times or more is expected. (Success rate 63.1%)]

 

‘A success rate of 63.1%…’

 

It was lower than expected. Probably the 『Eyes that Pierce the Essence』 had compiled and organized the current situation, but even considering that, it was a low success rate.

 

It seemed even more so because he was pioneering a completely new path.

 

As could be seen from the defense increase rate, it was truly an absurd method. It would block almost all mana attacks, and honestly, even Lee Si-hyeok himself felt uncertain.

 

Would this really work? That kind of feeling.

 

“Well, I’ll know once I try.”

 

That didn’t mean he lacked confidence though.

 

He had no intention of hesitating. Lee Si-hyeok put on his work gloves again and took out all the test tubes from his pouch, placing them on the table.

 

A total of 5 test tubes.

 

He neatly inserted the liquids swirling in the transparent glass bottles into the test tube rack.

 

Then he opened the leftmost test tube first and carefully transferred it to the anti-magic stone container… that is, the mana blocking container that he had requested from Hyeon Eul-cheong.

 

One, two, three, four, five.

 

Since they were all the same melting solution, there was no need to take out different containers. To minimize exposure time to air, he transferred them consecutively from the second test tube to the last one.

 

Then he waited for a moment with his arms crossed.

 

[『Eyes that Pierce the Essence』 suggests.]

 

[Please wait briefly until the liquid separates.]

 

It was to separate unnecessary impurities.

 

Even though it might look like a single liquid on the surface, looking inside revealed various components mixed together.

 

It could be seen as extracting only the core components from among them. Like when you put water and oil in one cup, and after time passes, the oil floats to the top.

 

During that time, he waited while inspecting other parts of the golem once more, and after a while, he noticed green liquids floating to the top of the container.

 

[Separation complete.]

 

[Heat the extracted solution with low heat for 1-2 minutes.]

 

Clatter.

 

He carefully opened the container using tweezers.

 

Since it wasn’t a simple container but special glass with anti-magic properties, carelessly touching it would be dangerous.

 

After that, he scooped out only the green liquid from the upper part and transferred it separately. It was time to heat it gently as the message suggested.

 

‘However… just boiling it with regular fire seems a bit…’

 

Boiling it with mana heat would be the most effective method.

 

Fortunately, Lee Si-hyeok had a mana burner that operated at special frequencies, so he slowly heated the extracted liquid on top of it.

 

Unlike regular fire, even the minute mana molecules were gradually heated up.

 

As a result, the runaway molecular structure was partially stabilized.

 

Lee Si-hyeok, who was observing with his ‘Eyes that Pierce the Essence’, raised the corners of his mouth in a grin. The danger had disappeared, leaving only the mana decomposition properties he needed.

 

Now all he had to do was dilute this and carve it into the golem’s framework.

 

Hiss.

 

He turned off the mana burner and immediately began the dilution process.

 

He poured neutral mana water into a cylinder at the exact ratio, then dropped a few drops of the fusion liquid he had just stabilized.

 

Then he put a long stirring rod into the liquid and turned it exactly seven times…

 

“Success.”

 

He had successfully expanded the small amount of fusion liquid into multiple bottles.

 

The liquid that had been dark green had now become light green.

 

Now for the final stage.

 

All he had to do was carve grooves in the golem’s framework he had fixed earlier with a mana cutter, put the liquid inside, and let it harden – this wasn’t too difficult.

 

Scrape, scrape…

 

He carved thin, long grooves throughout the entire golem.

 

After carefully checking to make sure no parts were missing, he used an application brush to spread the liquid thinly over the carved grooves.

 

When he brought a Cold Ice Stone close to make it harden faster, the surface immediately solidified.

 

Tap, tap. It was the moment he lightly tapped the surface of the golem covered in light green.

 

—Flash.

 

[You have completed the framework of the ‘Mana Charging Golem’!]

 

[You have made remarkable modifications from the existing framework to a non-mana framework!]

 

[One who overcame low success rates! This is an astounding success!]

 

At the message that appeared covering the golem, Lee Si-hyeok smiled contentedly.

 

It had been quite a long process. But now that he had succeeded, he couldn’t be more satisfied. He stretched pleasantly and closed the windows that had appeared.

 

‘There’s still one part left though.’

 

Compared to the power core and framework, it would be incomparably easier.

 

The Command Soul Formula.

 

Fixing the brain part that commands the golem’s actions – even if he made more modifications here, it would definitely be much easier than before.

 

Combat judgment, priorities, reaction speed. Research papers on such algorithms had existed quite a bit even before the Gate era, and it was also a field that Lee Si-hyeok had delved into deeply.

 

He immediately continued with the work.

 

Disassembling the golem’s head section.

 

Carefully reading through the existing control formula, reverse-tracking what kind of combat tendencies it had from those patterns.

 

Based on that, he newly programmed a more efficient judgment algorithm into the mana circuit. If it originally only handled combat judgment, now it could grasp situations more comprehensively and respond accordingly.

 

After finishing the organization of all those complex circuits, message windows appeared in a stream once again.

 

[All repairs have been completed! In addition, modifications that will drastically differ from the original performance have been added!]

 

[1. Command Soul Formula Reconstruction

 

· Combat Judgment increased by 217%

 

· Algorithm Efficiency greatly improved

 

· 43 new Overheating Cooling Circuits constructed….]

 

….

 

Windows appearing endlessly as if summarizing all the results.

 

Even though he already knew all the content, Si-hyeok silently watched.

 

Then, when it reached the end, his eyes widened greatly.

 

[With the perfect restoration of the Command Soul Formula, the ‘Mana Charging Golem’ awakens from its slumber.]

 

[Accordingly, the golem recovers its lost self!]

 

[The hidden identity of the golem is revealed!]

 

[‘Mana Charging Golem’ → 〈■■ ■■■〉]

 

[….]

 

[All information is disclosed. The name of 〈■■ ■■■〉 is revealed.]

 

[〈City Guardian〉 – Legacy Artifact / Anti-Mana Type Golem

 

A guardian golem that alone protected a city in the deep sea where everyone had disappeared. It once set out with hunters to chase countless prey.

 

However, in a city that had become empty at some point, it waited for them until just before breaking down and eventually fell asleep.]

 

[Ownership of 〈City Guardian〉 has been transferred to you!]

 

“City Guardian…?”

 

Earlier, he was sure he had seen the words 〈City of Hunters〉 while noticing the existence of a shortcut. Was that perhaps the name of the Hidden Stage?

 

But to think it was the guardian that protected that city.

 

While he had some idea about it, it was still quite surprising.

 

Swallowing his bewilderment inwardly, he examined the golem that had started operating….

 

Flash!

 

“…?!”

 

Suddenly the golem’s eyes snapped open.

 

Then, it spoke in a heavy voice.

 

“You. Are you my master.”

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