The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 151

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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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Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 151

Episode 151: Killing Machine (2)

That didn’t mean he immediately challenged the Machine Empire stage.

He planned to investigate the remaining stages first, then decide slowly.

‘If I want to climb the Tower as safely as possible, this is the right way.’

Moreover, each stage had different Quests as well as different monsters that appeared.

Perhaps there might be a stage where he could receive an EX grade with Auto Looting.

No matter how sweet the rewards from the Machine Empire were, they couldn’t compare to an EX grade.

Thanks to focusing on investigation all day, Mincheol was able to reach a conclusion.

‘Let’s go to the Machine Empire.’

As a result of his investigation, this time he couldn’t see a way to receive an EX grade with Auto Looting.

Whether it was clearing all monsters in the field, or finding special locations that appeared randomly.

There were no Quests where Auto Looting could be advantageous.

‘In that case, the Machine Empire with better item drops would be better.’

Above all, the existence of alloys that could craft Unique grade items was too attractive.

‘Then it’s definitely the Machine Empire.’

Mincheol praised himself for making the best choice.

Of course, it was also because the rewards were sweet enough to justify taking some risks.

‘Then shall I investigate the stage?’

Mincheol sat down at his laptop and rolled up both sleeves.

* * *

Afterwards, Mincheol spent the entire day investigating the Machine Empire.

He learned that it was a world with virtually no mana, but he couldn’t let his guard down.

The Machine Empire was called hell and was a place even Awakened from large guilds avoided.

From precautions to types of monsters that appeared, to necessary items.

After inputting all information into his head, he put on his equipment.

“Let’s go, Kkwak.”

“Kkwak.”

“Whitey, you too.”

Whoosh.

Having finished preparations, Mincheol spoke toward the air.

“I will challenge the 31st Floor.”

【You can select a stage on the 31st Floor.】

【Swamp, Endless Labyrinth, Red Forest, Industrial District.】

【Please choose one of the four.】

“I choose the Industrial District.”

【Entering the 31st Floor Industrial District.】

Shortly after, Mincheol arrived at a place filled with the smell of oil.

Whirrrr.

Large conveyor belts and automated machines were moving everywhere, assembling unidentifiable objects.

‘It feels like I’m standing in a real factory, not the Tower.’

Then, small drones like gnats swarmed in like a swarm of bees, picked up objects, and disappeared.

To think such small drones could carry machines that must weigh hundreds of kilograms.

“The Tower is still the Tower…”

“Kkwak.”

It was when Mincheol was muttering with a dazed expression.

【You have entered the 31st Floor Industrial District.】

【Destroy all security robots and stop the factory’s operation.】

A message appeared before his eyes.

To clear the 31st Floor, he had to satisfy two conditions.

Destroy all security robots and stop the factory’s operation.

Since Auto Looting couldn’t solve this, Mincheol had to move directly.

“I should find the control room first, right?”

Just as he made that judgment and was about to move.

Clang- Clang-

Something appeared with a sound like a pickaxe striking the ground.

A segmented body like a centipede.

Awl-like legs attached to the left and right sides of its torso.

Thanks to its distinctive appearance, he could immediately identify it.

Spikewalker.

Legs that easily penetrated even metal equipment.

A long body that moved freely.

A metal shell that deflected any physical attack.

Its nickname was the Grim Reaper of the Industrial District.

Clank, clank.

The Spikewalker raised its torso and looked down at Mincheol.

The lens on its head glowed eerily.

* * *

“Huff! Gasp! Huff!”

One of Korea’s three major large guilds.

Kim Eun-ae, called a promising member of Gakdeungjeong, was now running with the resolve to die.

Clang clang clang clang-

It was because of the Spikewalker chasing her.

Befitting a robot called the Grim Reaper of the Industrial District, the intimidating aura the Spikewalker was emitting was extraordinary.

“Damn, damn, damn.”

She continuously spat out curses.

Originally, she had no intention of challenging the Industrial District.

Although she had great pride in her abilities, she had no intention of taking unnecessary risks.

But recent events had greatly changed the situation.

“Butcher! What kind of suffering is this because of that bastard!”

She had been defeated by an unaffiliated Awakened called the Butcher in the event battle.

Although the Butcher was enjoying fame, he was still just an unaffiliated Awakened.

A promising member of a large guild defeated by an unaffiliated Awakened?

It was the perfect incident to become the public’s laughingstock.

Due to this incident, Gakdeungjeong suffered countless mockeries both online and offline.

At the same time, Kim Eun-ae’s position became precarious.

Naturally, support also decreased.

While competing promising members were rising up, only she was stuck in place.

At this rate, she would be overtaken even by her juniors.

Eventually, she had no choice but to make a decisive move.

To prove her worth once again.

So what she chose was the Industrial District.

She thought that if she could clear this place that even promising members of large guilds avoided, she could return to her original position.

“Huff! Gasp!”

When she first entered the 31st Floor, she was full of confidence.

Although the 31st Floor was said to be dangerous, she believed she could clear it sufficiently.

She was not only a promising member of Gakdeungjeong, but also had learned numerous magic-type skills, which were the weakness of the Machine Empire.

But when she first fought a security robot, she realized something was strange.

Woof- Woof-

Watchdog.

The most basic security robot that appears in the Industrial District.

Kim Eun-ae confidently used her skill.

But contrary to her expectations, the Watchdog wasn’t easily destroyed.

Clang! Clang!

She could only destroy all the Watchdogs after literally pouring out her skills.

Whirr-

What appeared next was a humanoid security robot called Iron Doll.

A monster known to be the second strongest in the Industrial District after Watchdog.

This time too, Kim Eun-ae could barely destroy the Iron Doll after pouring out all sorts of skills.

Still, she thought it was okay up to this point.

While the monsters were powerful, she didn’t think it was enough to be called hell.

She thought she could somehow clear the 31st Floor at this level.

That was until she encountered the Spikewalker.

Thud thud thud thud!

The Spikewalker moved its dozen legs frantically as it chased after her.

“Stop chasing me!”

Kim Eun-ae hurled a fireball toward the Spikewalker.

Boom-

The fireball exploded as soon as it hit the Spikewalker.

Whirr-

But the Spikewalker came through the explosion as if nothing happened.

“Just die already!”

Kim Eun-ae activated her skills in succession.

Explosions covered the Spikewalker one after another.

Thump thump thump-

But the Spikewalker chased after her as if nothing happened.

“I thought Machine Empire monsters were weak to magic!”

This was Kim Eun-ae’s misconception.

Being weak to magic didn’t mean their durability was also weak.

“Ahhh! This is driving me crazy!”

Kim Eun-ae let out a scream-like cry and began fleeing again.

* * *

Whirr-

The Spikewalker tried to strike down its spike-like legs toward Mincheol.

At that moment-

【Activating ‘Carve Out’.】

Mincheol activated Carve Out toward the thin frame connecting the legs to the body.

The frame was cut away and two legs fell to the ground.

Thud- Thud-

Perhaps because it was an unexpected situation.

The Spikewalker’s movement stopped for a moment.

In that time, Mincheol activated Carve Out repeatedly and tore off all the legs.

Crash-

The Spikewalker’s massive body fell to the ground.

Whir- Whirr-

Even so, the Spikewalker writhed and tried to attack Mincheol.

“Wow, that’s kind of disgusting.”

Was an emotionless killing machine this unpleasant?

Muttering that, Mincheol took out an axe from his inventory.

Grunbarunkadon.

Mincheol struck down Tooshin’s axe toward the Spikewalker.

【Activating skill ‘Weight Control’.】

The suddenly enlarged hand axe split the Spikewalker’s head in one blow.

The steel exterior shattered and all the internal components were crushed.

It was truly tremendous power. Mincheol looked at Grunbarunkadon with a satisfied face.

Drip-

Then, a nosebleed flowed down from his nose.

He had overused his life force again.

“It’s tricky to control.”

Still, it seemed like he could get the hang of it after a few more tries.

“I’ll get better with practice.”

Mincheol began wandering around the factory with his hand axe.

He didn’t look like someone roaming a dangerous place at all.

* * *

Mincheol leisurely broke through the 31st Floor.

Security robots attacked intermittently, but they weren’t much of a threat.

Clang- Clang-

Watchdogs, said to be the most commonly seen in Machine Empire stages, came rushing in droves.

Mincheol silenced the Watchdogs by removing their heads with Carve Out.

Whoom-

For Iron Dolls, the humanoid security robots, he removed their legs with Auto Looting, then struck their heads with his axe.

“Is it okay for it to be this easy?”

At this point, even Mincheol was puzzled.

Kkwaekkwi was dozing off on top of Mincheol’s head.

“By the way, where is the Control Room?”

According to his prior research, the factory’s structure changed each time, so he had to search on foot.

“Hm?”

After wandering around for a while, Mincheol discovered a room leading underground.

“Here it is!”

His honed instincts told him. This was the Control Room.

“Kkwak! I think I found it!”

“Kkwak?”

Kkwaekkwi suddenly lifted its head from dozing.

Mincheol excitedly went down underground.

The stairs leading underground were very deep.

Only after going down for quite a while could Mincheol reach the basement.

“How do I open the door… Oh, it’s already broken.”

Mincheol opened the door and went inside.

The interior was filled with large machines.

All the machines were complexly connected with wires.

They moved and operated constantly. Some machines even writhed.

It felt like entering the inside of organs made of machines.

“This seems like the Control Room.”

Mincheol examined the buttons attached to the machines here and there.

“That’s strange. They said I just need to pull a lever. I don’t see one?”

It was when Mincheol was racking his brains.

-Oh! Ooh!

Suddenly a voice came from the machine.

“What, what is it?”

“Kkwaak!”

Both Mincheol and Kkwaekkwi were startled. They both stared at the monitor.

-Ooooh! Ooooooooh!

The monitor continued spitting out incomprehensible exclamations.

-A living being! An intelligent being! We can communicate! How long has it been! Exactly 12 years, 76 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes, and 11 seconds!

Mincheol hadn’t misheard. A human voice was clearly flowing from the monitor.

“…Who are you.”

Wariness filled Mincheol’s voice.

He couldn’t let his guard down just because they could communicate.

The robots of the Machine Empire were all mad with bloodlust.

-Me? Me? I’m an Electronic Spirit created as Iskra No. 3-10-27. So nice to meet you. Really, really nice to meet you. You don’t know how happy I am. Actually, maybe you do know, but I spoke too carelessly. I’m really sorry. So please don’t leave. Talk to me more. Ask me more questions!

The monitor began chattering nonstop. It talked so much that it was painful to the ears.

‘Wait, I think I’ve heard of this somewhere.’

Suddenly, Mincheol recalled something he’d found while researching the Machine Empire.

-Kkwak, look at this. Apparently, AIs that can communicate sometimes appear in the Industrial District.

-Not only do they know they’re trapped in the Tower, but they remember everyone they’ve met.

-But there are very few sightings, so it’s probably just a rumor. And they don’t appear every time either.

Mincheol asked with curiosity.

“Do you know that you’re trapped in the Tower?”

-Of course I know! It’s driving me absolutely crazy. My memory doesn’t reset. I remember everything. I don’t know how much time I’ve spent trapped in this room. Yes, ask me questions like that. Ask me more questions!

One word from him brought back ten words in return.

It was extremely noisy, but Mincheol endured it.

He had many things he was curious about.

“Then do you know how the Machine Empire was destroyed?”

The part that had bothered him most in his conversation with Ursongbarsong.

He hoped this guy might know.

-Uh… um…

The spirit’s words suddenly stopped.

-Um… uh… uhuh…

“Don’t tell me you don’t know?”

-Well… I… that… I have no memories of the past. I only have memories from after becoming a Tower resident.

Mincheol let out a deep sigh of disappointment.

The Electronic Spirit cried out desperately.

-I, I can answer everything about what happened after that! So please don’t be disappointed. Don’t leave me behind! No, you can leave! I won’t try to stop you! So just talk with me a little longer!

The Electronic Spirit’s attitude was so desperate it was almost tragic.

“Just how long have you been here?”

-Calculated in your Earth time, exactly 2,141 years, 301 days, 27 hours, 21 minutes, and 11 seconds!

A number beyond imagination came out.

Being left alone for that long would drive anyone insane.

Even if it was an artificially created being.

“Why are you different? All the other residents have their memories reset.”

-I don’t know either. I don’t know much about the Tower in detail. But if I had to guess, the system maintaining the Tower can’t properly implement an existence like me. Because to implement me, I’d have to appear to all Awakened climbing the Tower. Copying and deploying an AI of my level like that isn’t easy. So I think they’re just leaving me alone for now.

It was actually so noisy that he stopped listening halfway through.

Looking around, Mincheol suddenly noticed a red crystal embedded in the wall.

Calling it a crystal was misleading – it was closer to a complex device.

“What’s that?”

-Ah, that’s me. My essence as an Electronic Spirit is contained in there.

“If that breaks, do you die too?”

-Several Awakened have tried it before. Sometimes I even asked them to. But even when it breaks, it gets restored. It seems impossible to create multiple copies of me, but restoration is possible. Interesting, right? Fun, right? Ask me more questions.

“Then if I rip that out, I could take you to Earth?”

-That’s impossible.

The Electronic Spirit said firmly.

-It would violate the Tower’s laws. In the Tower, you can only put items designated by the system into your inventory. And I’m not an item recognized by the Tower. So even if you rip out my main body, you can’t take it to Earth…

【Acquiring all ‘Electronic Spirit Cores’ within a 1.2km radius.】

【Acquired 1 ‘Electronic Spirit Core’.】

The red core disappeared.

Along with it, the Electronic Spirit’s voice vanished.

Mincheol took the core out of his inventory and plugged it back into its original spot.

-Huh?

Then the Electronic Spirit’s voice was heard again.

-Huh huh huh?

The Electronic Spirit shouted as if it couldn’t believe it.

-Huh huh huh huh huh?

Unlike the shocked Electronic Spirit, Mincheol wore an intrigued expression.

It seemed like he had obtained a Strong Artificial Intelligence.

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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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