The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 8
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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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Episode 8
Scales Across the Opened Sky
“Cough! Cough! I can’t see anything! My skin is cooking!”
Leo staggered backward, coughing violently.
Steam enveloped everything. The heat radiating from the scorching stones as they met the cold water transcended imagination.
In the thick mist, Kang Jun’s eyes gleamed.
From the roiling pit, he heard the fibers of the Redwood loosening their grip.
“Now, let’s bend it in earnest.”
Kang Jun pushed through the vapor toward the iron stake driven into the pit’s edge. Even with double wooden gloves, the intense heat pricked at his fingertips.
He pulled one end of the four-inch-thick squared timber from the water—steamed and supple—and secured it to the stake. Then he wound a thick rope twice around the opposite end and bound it fast.
“Leo! Stop coughing and come grab the rope! When I give the command, throw your weight toward that Oak post and pull!”
“Oh, Jesus! My whole suit’s getting soaked!”
Grumbling, Leo rushed over and seized the rope behind Kang Jun.
“Now—pull!!!!”
With Kang Jun’s shout, every muscle in his body contracted.
[Passive Skill: Craftsman’s Grip Strength (Lv.1) maximized!]
His forearms swelled to bursting, veins rising like cords. But it wasn’t just raw pulling.
He read the wood’s limit—the threshold beyond which its grain would snap—using the Voice of Materials skill, maintaining perfect tension to keep it from breaking.
Creeeeak—crack! Groan!
The ten-centimeter-thick timber, which seemed it could never bend, slowly began to curve into a semicircle.
The wood’s fibers, saturated with extreme heat and moisture, compressed and stretched in intricate patterns, accepting their new form.
“More! Lean back with your hips! We have to lock the angle before the wood cools!”
“Aaaagh! My back! And here I thought I was a company president—not a laborer!”
Leo shrieked as he threw his weight backward.
Before the bent wood could spring back, Kang Jun tied off the rope’s end to the pre-positioned Oak post with a figure-eight knot, locking it in place.
The rope pulled taut. And bound by its tension, the massive Redwood curved in a perfect crescent.
Completed with nothing but water and fire, human strength and leverage—no hydraulic press, no steam chamber.
The first support beam of the main arch roof revealed itself.
“Jesus… Hallelujah… What the hell did I just witness?”
As the steam cleared, Leo caught sight of the arched support fixed in midair, and he dropped the rope where he stood, collapsing to the ground and sketching a cross over his chest.
What had seemed impossible was now reality before his eyes.
“Hah…”
Tears gathered at the corners of Arthur’s eyes as he sat in the rocking chair on the front deck. Through the cloudiness of cataracts, the faint shape of the arch came into focus.
The old carpenter understood the significance of this rare sight better than anyone.
The deep Redwood surrendering to the forces of water and fire, bending into curves with a resonant cry—not the scream of wood being broken, but the breathing of something given new life.
“This young man from the East—is he truly some god of architecture…”
Arthur murmured the words with trembling lips.
Kang Jun laughed quietly as he wiped sweat and charcoal dust from his forehead with his gloved hands. But there was no time to rest.
The Voice of Materials was warning him that the temperature of the timbers in the pit was cooling.
Without delay, Kang Jun thrust tongs into the pit, fished out the second timber, and looped the rope around it.
“Don’t be amazed, Leo. This is just one rib.”
Kang Jun cracked his neck side to side, the vertebrae popping.
“To support the entire collapsed roof, I have to curve eighteen more of these. No time to rest! Come on, get up.”
“What! Don’t you see the blisters on my palms, Kang Jun?!”
Complaining though he was, Leo grasped the rope again as if entranced.
And so nineteen massive supports formed the framework.
* * *
Exactly six days had passed.
The sun on the seventh day—the deadline he had set—was now descending beyond the western horizon of Pasadena.
For the past week, Arthur’s estate had been a battleground, a display of manual labor pushed to its absolute limit. Kang Jun had worked around the clock.
It took two full days just to curve all nineteen Redwoods into arches of identical curvature.
Once the arches had dried, he hoisted them onto the second-story roof using only rope and pulleys.
After that, erecting and joining them in parallel rows sixty centimeters apart created a spectacle like assembling the ribs of some great whale.
And then the final challenge.
Just as Kang Jun had promised, not a single metal nail had been used in this roof construction.
As evening fell.
Covered in dust and sawdust, Kang Jun descended the ladder to the first-floor deck.
His hands were a mess—calluses split and worn—but his eyes shone brighter than they ever had.
“It’s done.”
Kang Jun unbuckled his tool belt and tossed it to the ground as he spoke.
In the yard, Leo stood transfixed, his gaze fixed on the roof above, and his jaw fell open.
“Mr. Kang… it’s truly magnificent. Even if we took the roof of the Milan Cathedral and placed it here, I don’t think it would be more beautiful than this!”
Arthur, who had been sitting in his chair, sprang to his feet. His hand trembled as it gripped his cane.
“It’s all finished? You covered that entire vast roof without a single nail? How in the world did you secure the covering?”
Kang Jun approached silently and took Arthur’s weathered hand in his.
“You’ll understand better if you feel it yourself. Come here and see.”
Kang Jun led Arthur to the center of the yard, then placed two wooden components into the old man’s hands.
Arthur’s rough fingers began to carefully trace the surface of the pieces—thin wooden tiles, roughly twenty centimeters wide and thirty centimeters long.
“This… it’s not redwood. It’s hard, and the grain is remarkably dense.”
“That’s right. They’re oak scraps left over from repairing the old roof debris and columns that were blown away. I cut away only the rotten parts and sawed the heartwood into thin planks. I hand-carved twelve hundred of these tiles.”
“Twelve hundred… all by hand?”
Setting aside Arthur’s astonishment, Kang Jun began explaining the construction method matter-of-factly.
“The principle is simple. First, nineteen redwood beams arranged in an arched form served as the roof’s framework. Then I added the outer skin.”
Kang Jun guided Arthur’s hand to feel the edge of one of the wooden tiles.
“Over the arched ribs, I laid a waterproof sheet, then covered it with these wooden tiles—just like a traditional Neowa Roof.”
“A Neowa Roof? You mean layered like tiles? But without nails, a strong wind would blow them all away!”
Arthur’s fingertips traced along the side of the wooden plank and suddenly stopped.
On one side of the plank, an elongated, pointed tongue jutted out, and on the opposite side, a precisely fitted groove had been carved to receive it.
“Good heavens…! You used this interlocking joint—the kind used only for laying floorboards—on the roof tiles?”
“Yes.”
Kang Jun gently pressed the two tiles together in Arthur’s hands.
Click—!
The interlocking edges of the two wooden tiles fit perfectly and locked firmly into place, with not a single gap between them.
“All twelve hundred tiles have grooves and tongues carved into both sides. Starting from the bottom of the roof, I fitted them together, interlocking as I worked my way up.”
Kang Jun’s gaze turned toward the completed roof.
The arched mansion roof, bathed in the red glow of sunset. Twelve hundred layers of wood grain gleamed like the scales of a dragon, stacked one upon another.
“Rainwater will flow naturally along the scales. Even strong winds won’t break the tension of the interlocking joints. And with no metal fasteners, there’s no risk of rust.”
As Kang Jun finished his explanation, Arthur’s legs gave way, and he sank to the ground. Cradling the two interlocked wooden tiles against his chest, the old man began to weep.
“…Mary, can you hear me? This carpenter has brought these wood pieces—these treasured memories—back to life….”
Leo also applauded, his eyes glistening with tears.
That was when it happened.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A series of system chimes struck Kang Jun’s mind like hammer blows, and golden text began cascading across his vision.
[Main Quest: ‘Create a Unique Roof’ PERFECTLY CLEARED!!]
[Hidden Condition: Use not a single metal binding agent – 100% achieved!]
[Early Completion: Construction finished in 7 days, half the allotted time limit of 14 days.]
[The Great God of Architecture offers you a standing ovation for your technical mastery and creativity!]
[You gain an enormous amount of Experience Points!]
[Level Up! Level Up!]
[Your Agent Level rises sharply from Lv.2 to Lv.4!]
[Hidden Attribute Reward granted!]
Flash!
Blue light enveloped Kang Jun’s body. The muscle density throughout his frame grew denser, his aging joints smoothing out like new. Then a reward window materialized before him.
[Special Reward: You have acquired the skill ‘Pulse of the Earth (Lv.1)’!]
▶Effect: When you press your bare feet or place your hands upon soil or bedrock,
you can perceive within a radius of 20 meters the moisture saturation of the ground, the density of geological layers, the risk of collapse, and the location of sinkholes or underground water veins.
The foundation of construction begins with understanding the earth beneath your feet. Range increases with level advancement.
Kang Jun glanced down at the ground beneath him, startled.
‘Pulse of the Earth?’
He crouched down and pressed his palm against the dirt of the courtyard.
Whoosh—
In an instant, his vision transformed. Beyond what had been merely the surface, the geological structure twenty meters below projected itself like an X-ray—semi-transparent and crystalline.
The density of the soil, the location of bedrock, the flow of underground water veins tangled like a spider’s web—all transmitted directly into Kang Jun’s mind.
‘Insane… this is completely broken. I can run a full geological survey with my bare hands.’
Kang Jun was on the verge of letting out a triumphant cry when—
Pat.
Something cold struck his cheek.
“Huh?”
Kang Jun lifted his head. The red sunset was fading over Pasadena’s sky. Somewhere in the distance, dark clouds had begun to mass.
The wind’s direction shifted abruptly. The cool evening breeze transformed into a moisture-laden gust that swept across the estate’s courtyard.
Pat. Tap-tap. Whoooosh!
A downpour like buckets of water suddenly began to fall.
“What the—where’s all this rain coming from all of a sudden?”
Kang Jun hurried to shelter beneath the eaves, shouting. Leo’s face had drained of color as he bounded onto the deck.
His blue eyes, wide with terror, searched the sky.
“M-Mister Kang! This isn’t a downpour!”
“If it’s not a downpour, what is it? Get the old man inside the house, quickly!”
“No, no! Oh, Jesus Christ! It wasn’t even in the forecast…. When it looks like this, there’s only one explanation!”
Leo’s voice tore through the rain and wind.
“It’s an Atmospheric River Phenomenon! Ocean moisture has rolled in and is dumping rain like bombs! At this rate, Pasadena could be underwater before midnight!”
Crash!!!!
The moment Leo finished speaking, thunder shook the ground beneath them.
Torrential rain poured down.
Wind-driven sheets of water obliterated the view.
Kang Jun lifted his head to look at the arched roof he had just completed.
Twelve hundred wooden tiles interlocked by tongue and groove alone. Could they truly withstand California’s violent downpours and howling gales?
“No problem. The more this house gets shaken, the stronger it becomes.”
Genius Day Laborer in America: Episode 8
Author
Kalman
Publisher
Titan
Planning / Editing / Production
Lee Sung-guk
Cover Design
Studio Inus
UCI
G720:N+A036-20260819030.0008
ⓒ2026, Kalman
This e-book is protected under the copyright laws of the Republic of Korea.
No part of this work may be reproduced, adapted, or modified in any form without the express permission of the author and publisher.
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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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