Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 20



Only Noblemtl

Maintenance (1)

When you think of a bookstore, what kind of atmosphere comes to mind?

Alan thought of calm and learning. The sight of bookshelves full of books, with their distinctive smell of paper, and people with intelligent eyes concentrating on topics of interest.

But the bookstore that Alan visited today was a bit different. The bookshelves were covered in iron, giving off a metallic smell, and golems placed everywhere watched the customers with cold eyes.

Alan, who visited the corner related to the star character, also received a sharp gaze on the back of his head.

As expected, I turned my head slightly and saw a golem standing near the wall looking in my direction.

‘It can’t be helped.’

This was not a bookstore that sold ordinary books. It was a bookstore that sold truly valuable books, such as vision books related to magic and books on magical engineering.

If I was lucky, I thought I would have a chance to read the books that were placed as samples, but that was out of the question. The bookshelf itself was sealed tightly so that I couldn’t read it while standing.

These days, artificial eyes are so good that even if you turn the pages of a book quickly, the images are converted into images and stored in auxiliary memory, so this was a natural measure.

Alan didn’t want to stay in a place like this for too long, so he pressed the staff call button in the star corner.

After about 10 seconds, an employee appeared riding a gray disc. He gave off a chilling aura that was too cold for an ordinary employee.

Still, the basics of response were there.

“Why did you call me?”

“I want to buy the Catan Star Script Introduction.”

“Oh, that’s a steady seller. The great Catan, the decipherer of the star script, has passed away, but his book has been revised many times and still holds its ground. I remember giving up on it because it was too difficult.”

Although his initial momentum was cold, his tone of explanation was filled with passion.

The employee who unlocked the device opened the metal cover and took out the book that Alan had mentioned. Instead of handing it over right away, he spoke to it.

“Is there another book you’re looking for?”

“No. I would like to pay now.”

“Then I’ll pay you right away… You didn’t get brain expansion surgery, did you? If you have a card, would you please give it to me?”

As Alan handed over his explorer’s ID, the clerk’s blue eyes focused on a small crystal with a glowing gleam in it.

After a while, the clerk smiled faintly and handed me my ID and the book at the same time.

“Your payment has been completed. We look forward to your next visit.”

With the employee gone, Alan simply flipped through the cover.

My hands were shaking slightly, perhaps because it was my first time buying a 500,000 coin book, or perhaps because I was excited about quenching my thirst.

After checking the phrase, “Books that are made incorrectly can be exchanged at the bookstore where you purchased them,” I put the books in my bag on my back.

If we unfolded it here now, there was a very high probability that the next schedule would be disrupted.

‘I’ll just have to hold out until I get to my dorm, so I don’t want to get too absorbed in my book and have to close the door. Um, brain expansion surgery, you know…’

Alan left the bookstore, thinking about ‘brain expansion’. It was uncomfortable, but not unbearable.

Moreover, even if you really wanted to get it done, there was a high probability that the surgeon would refuse because of the thing that took over your left eye.

It’s a task that touches the already sensitive brain, so if you have to avoid the optic nerves that surround the brain, the difficulty will go through the roof.

Alan rode the monorail that ran between buildings like a roller coaster. As soon as he sat down, his hand went to his bag, but he held it back desperately and looked out at the scenery.

The gray forest stretched out endlessly. Wherever you went, all you could see was buildings, people, buildings, and people.

There used to be satellite cities here, but they were swallowed up by the ever-expanding Maze City and are now downgraded to districts.

Even though it had grown so large that it was embarrassing to call it a city, it was full of people wherever you went.

It was a natural phenomenon, as there was an endless treasure trove of resources called the Labyrinth, and derivative industries were sprouting up like mushrooms.

When a small green appeared in his pupils, which had been filled with gray, Alan got off the monorail.

About ten minutes’ walk from the station, a huge botanical garden greeted Alan.

The botanical garden called ‘Western Sky’ was not open to the general public. It was one of the pharmaceutical factories that Alan had wanted to visit.

As he entered, a moderately moist and warm air greeted Alan. Alan, who was examining all sorts of plants, raised his head toward the ceiling.

‘It wasn’t glass.’

The transparent plate that allowed sunlight to pass through was not glass, but a leaf hanging from a large tree. The bark and the wood inside were also transparent, so the movement of sap could be seen as it was.

The plate-like blades of grass growing under the trees held water droplets, reflecting their surroundings like a mirror.

As Alan was quietly looking into the water droplets, he saw a butterfly landing on his shoulder.

I was about to turn my head, wondering at the butterfly that didn’t fly away.

cook!

Something like a toothpick lightly pricked my cheek.

“Idiot. Idiot.”

“Who are you?”

“Fairy, fairy.”

At Alan’s question, a butterfly fluttered up. A girl smaller than the palm of his hand was holding a small fork.

“This is off-limits to civilians. Get out now.”

“I am a customer. I would like to see the boss.”

“Then, if you play hide-and-seek with me···.”

As the fairy spoke, a small drop of water fell on her head.

Just that made the fairy’s shoulders droop, her hair soaking wet.

“Voyeurism! Pervert! Grandma!”

As the water droplets fell in greater numbers in response, Fairy was startled and clung to Alan’s chest.

“Don’t play. That’s bad. Go straight!”

Alan followed Fairy’s words, smiling cheerfully as if he had never cried before. Later, he sat on her head and pulled her hair like a giant golem pilot.

In the area reached by the fairy’s control, there was only one thick tree standing tall enough to be used as a small hut.

“The witch will come out now. Luckily there are no guests.”

The fairy said so and disappeared into thin air.

“upstart.”

And then the voice was heard.

As Alan tried to find the source of the sound, the tree opened and a soft-spoken woman in a white one-piece emerged.

The material of the clothes was not fabric or synthetic fiber, but white flower petals.

The woman opened her closed eyes and raised her head, her black, silky hair swaying.

“A guest has arrived.”

“Are you Alaune? Or a Dryad?”

At Alan’s question, the woman’s eyebrows rose slightly, and her gentle expression instantly turned sharp.

“I am a Flower Spirit. I am a cousin of the Alaune and Dryads that you just mentioned. My name is Yohwa. As you can see, I am the master of this place.”

“I’m Alan, the labyrinth explorer. Excuse me.”

“I will accept your apology. You came here because you need my medicine, which even the herbalism of elves and druids cannot reach?”

Alan nodded. The confident words of the fairy were very fitting, for a flower fairy could be said to be the plant itself.

When the demon clapped his hands, the vines brought the wooden box forward. The demon took a syringe out of it.

“The injection works faster than oral medication. Just put it in your arm. Is it easy to use?”

Alan shook his head. Looking at the needle, he remembered his red and swollen arm from charging his mana battery.

“This is not a medicine to be used in the labyrinth. I am a bit weak, so I came here to find a suitable medicine.”

“Oh, you see? The kids who were exploring were mistaken because they only found stimulants in my garden. Then let me touch them for a moment.”

At first, the vines wrapped around Alan’s wrist, but after a while, the demon himself came over and touched it. It was a strange touch.

Additionally, unidentified mosses crawled across the skin, and cylindrical plants covered the body.

After some time, the demon, who had gone somewhere else for a while, brought back a small seed like a sesame seed.

“Don’t be surprised.”

The seed burrowed into Alan’s skin as soon as it touched it, and in an instant, a red flower bloomed. And before Alan could say anything, it withered. The dried petals fell to pieces.

“hmm···.”

“Isn’t that amazing? How is your body?”

This was the first time in my life that I felt like this. I jumped up and down in place, but there was no pain. At this level, I could pull a cart without any problems.

“Instead of eating magic, it’s a flower that infuses nutrients.”

“It’s definitely effective. There are no side effects, right?”

“You didn’t even search about my garden?”

The 4.5 star rating from visitors’ reviews found on Samramansang was not for show. It was actually closer to a 5 star rating, except for those who gave it a low star rating because of its high price.

Alan recalled the balance in his account and asked the question with determination.

“How much does it cost?”

“3 million coins for one flower. I’ll just say that I serviced it.”

“···.”

It was an amount that left me speechless. Most of the money I had earned while camping in the labyrinth for over ten days was demanded.

The fairy made a sour expression as Alan was speechless.

“You’ll be hurt if you look at me like that. It’s a flower that was originally made to target the elderly who were wealthy but had lost their health, so it’s natural to set the price at that level. It’s not like I’m deceiving people by claiming that the effect doesn’t exist and inflating the price.”

“That is irrefutable.”

“Just stick the seeds on your skin like before. It’s easy to use, right?”

“Wait a minute. It’s a flower that absorbs a lot of magic power, and you use it on sick elderly people?”

“Because those people can get their magic power in other ways.”

Well, if you had money, there was nothing you couldn’t do. In a situation where you could replace your entire body except for the brain, magic power was nothing.

“What is the name of the flower?”

“We haven’t decided on an official name yet because we’ve only been developing it for a short time. We need to decide on one before we release it, but it’s difficult.”

At that moment, a thought crossed Alan’s mind, so he deliberately scratched the demon’s pride.

“Isn’t it true that the clinical trial is completely over? I’m disappointed because there are rumors that this is a pharmaceutical company that does business based on faith. Did you manipulate the ratings? Since you’re rich, you can easily find part-time jobs like reviewing.”

“What do you think of me! The clinical trial was over a while ago. But a guest with poor health came, so I took this opportunity to…”

“No, it must have been because of excessive magical power.”

It was a reasonable inference. After touching himself a few times, Novak realized that he had excessive magical powers.

Even the magic engineer knew, so there was no way a magician who had been treating the human body for decades wouldn’t know. And on top of that, he brought the perfect medicine without even asking about the symptoms.

The fairy looked at Alan with a stinging look. The young man who had been criticizing her had a blank expression on his face, just like when they first met.

Although hypermania was common compared to the legendary arrhythmia, it was only a relative comparison.

Since one person out of six million is born with hyper-magic powers, there could be about five or six people in Maze City.

Or, it could be a matter of probability, and Alan could be alone.

The fairy knew that fact very well, so it was a shame to send it away like that.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch in my dictionary. So I will only charge you the original price of 300,000 coins. If you don’t like it, look elsewhere.”

“How long?”

“One year.”

“3 years···.”

“2 years!”

The fairy cut off his words.

“Instead, on the day you come to buy seeds, you must help me with my research, and you must not tell anyone else about this or give away the flowers.”

“great.”

Labyrinth explorers are beings who overcome adversity with limited resources. Medicine was extremely important on their journey.

So, it was much better to maintain a good relationship with the demons rather than being obsessed with immediate profits.

“Now that we’re on the subject, come this way.”

“···.”

As he paused for a moment at the old memories, a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

“You were acting like an old man earlier, but now you’re acting like a kid who doesn’t want to go to the dentist. Just sit here.”

Vines sprouted from the ground and transformed into chairs for sitting. Guests also came into the garden, and some sat on vine chairs, perhaps having made a similar arrangement to Alan.

Alan relaxed and opened the book he had bought at the bookstore.

“Take this.”

“···?”

“It’s already evening. It’s time to close.”

It seemed like I had just started reading, but just as the fairy had said, the sky became dark.

“If you inhale smog and get sick, it will be difficult to gather information.”

“thank you.”

Alan got up from his chair, accepting a gas mask that only covered his nose and mouth. The vines that had been attached like sensors fell off on their own.

“The filter is made from plants that are good for your body, so use it. And do you know that even good medicine can become poisonous if overused? Use the seeds once every ten days, and visit once a month.”

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

Before Alan could fully exit the botanical gardens, his face was reflected in the glass automatic doors.

With the mask on, his scholarly impression, which had been faint and weak, became a little more solid.

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