Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 46
Only Noblemtl
Matan (2)
Circuit magic is a method of performing magic using only the magical circuits engraved on magical tools, without runes. Since it is possible to draw lines, some people leave them on their bodies like tattoos.
Runes were not the only thing in magic. Mystery was a realm of the incomprehensible, and the horizons yet to be explored were far wider than those that had been revealed.
The same goes for the most used runes. The parts outside of what the magic scholars had figured out had to be filled in by the user’s imagination, intuition, or sense.
So, even if the same rune was drawn, its performance and effect differed depending on who drew it and what they were thinking while engraving it.
‘It’s difficult, but fun.’
Alan closed the book. The last sunlight of the day was streaming into the warehouse that served as his living quarters and workshop.
‘I bought a circuit magic book, but since it’s not a familiar method, let’s try it with runes first.’
There were several reasons for wanting to create and use Matan.
The maze and cave were covered in fog, so you had to face them to engage in combat, and the narrow passageways made it okay to just throw rune cards around.
But the further down you go, the less useful it becomes. Beneath the cave is a wild land, and the creator of the labyrinth has implemented primitive fields, forests, and valleys.
No one knew how it was made. Even the sun and moon rise and change between day and night.
Anyway, since the field of vision has widened significantly, the engagement distance has also increased significantly. If you were hunting only the monsters in the labyrinth, it would be okay, but if the opponent was a person, it went without saying.
‘This is too small. It’s hard to store much horsepower because of its surface area and volume.’
The bullets used in the gun were too small. They were difficult to handle unless a great wizard directly enchanted them in real time.
Allen rolled the rifle bullet between his fingers and placed it roughly in the drawer. The next thing he took out was a small cylindrical bullet, a grenade.
The grenade shell gleamed under the light of the stand. With this size and width, Alan could try something. He could draw runes, or insert a magic stone that had been modified to have a higher reactivity.
After thinking it over, Alan used the contact information of the factory he found in Samramansang to order the goods. The grenade shells were quickly delivered to Alan’s workshop.
‘I don’t need to make something like this. The manufactured goods are so good.’
Next it was time to tackle the launch.
‘It’s too heavy if you put gunpowder in it.’
Five grenades containing gunpowder weigh over 1kg. As you descend through the labyrinth, you will not only encounter one or two battles, so the weight of the grenades alone will easily exceed several dozen kilograms.
It is said that expeditions going deep into the depths are accompanied by supply ships or have Ooparts with spatial magic applied, but for Alan, it was a distant story.
‘If we replace gunpowder for flight and explosion with runes, we can reduce the weight by half.’
Alan wrote on a piece of paper.
[Compression], [Explosion], [Repulsion]···.
‘Let’s take out [Compression] and put in [Spiral] and [Acceleration] instead.’
All you had to do was draw [Explosion] and [Repulsion] at the starting point, and [Spiral] and [Acceleration] where the rift is.
As Alan moved his pen, the paper became pitch black. The rough sketch of the grenade launcher was densely filled with annotations.
‘The launcher looks a bit weird, but let’s finish it and fix it. Next is the magic bullet.’
There were many runes to use on the projectile shells.
‘[Flame], [Shock], [Freeze], [Explosion], [Penetration]···.’
It was difficult to decide what to engrave. It was natural that if you prepare a variety of matan with different characteristics, you can deal with any situation.
‘The method of carving is also a problem, rather than the type of rune.’
The task that Alan had to worry about was the process of engraving runes on the grenade and transforming it into a magic bullet.
How to combine runes.
How many and how large can you engrave?
Runes were like hieroglyphs, and circuit magic was like the root. Runes created mysteries based on the identity of form and behavior, and circuit magic created mysteries based on the shape of the root.
Runes are easy to use, but the more distorted the shape of the letters is, the less effective they are.
Circuit magic is difficult to engrave, but if you draw the lines properly, even on curved surfaces like cylinders or boxes, it works as intended.
Alan built prototypes of each method. He couldn’t just blast away in the workshop, so he needed a place to practice. Outdoors, if possible.
*
There is a shooting range on the outskirts of Maze City. You can play a game of scoring points against stationary targets or hunt animals that run around freely.
Since real wild animal hunting was basically illegal, all the animals running around the forest in the shooting range were golems with holoskins applied.
Holoskins could be used to disguise themselves, like Zion, who was encountered in the workshop, or for entertainment purposes, like in a shooting range.
The driverless taxi carrying the passengers stopped in the shooting range’s large parking lot. Before getting out, Alan asked the AI.
“Can you wait here?”
[Customer, of course you can. However, there will be an additional charge, so please check the screen on your seat.]
Alan accepted the hourly rate, even though it was inflated. The city was so big that it took half a day just to get here. He had to find a way to get back.
“I don’t know when I’ll come if you call me… So please wait.”
[Thank you, customer!]
Why did the AI’s voice suddenly become cheerful?
‘It must be good for the company to make money even if there is no operation. Or did the soul stone awaken an artificial spirit or soul?’
Alan forced himself to continue studying even after he got outside. He shook his head and crossed the large parking lot to the shooting range.
Gunpowder-using gunshots were often heard. Unlike magic, it had a pleasant taste and a unique smell, so many people preferred it.
There was a bird that had just been shot and fell. The golem’s characteristically rough body was revealed, as if its holoskin had been damaged.
Outside the shooting range, there was a store, and customers could be seen sitting on chairs against the glass windows and eating instant food.
Alan put his hand on his stomach. He realized that he had skipped breakfast because he was so excited. Research required energy, and his brain needed sugar to work.
“Welcome.”
The orc man, presumably the owner, greeted them. Alan responded and headed toward the counter where food was on display.
As Alan was pondering what to eat, he heard the door being roughly opened. It was as if someone had kicked it open.
‘You have no manners.’
It was actually rude.
“Everyone get down!”
Several armed men entered the store and threatened customers.
‘robbery?’
Are you saying that they committed robbery at a shooting range instead of somewhere else? As it is, there are many people with weapons in Maze City, so you should have assumed that they would be at a shooting range.
The store owner, with a grave expression, lowered his hand under the counter, perhaps thinking something similar to Allen’s. The customers also smoothed their waists or reached for the guns leaning against the table.
Beep!
A loud noise rang out at the same time. The owner and guests clutched their heads and rolled on the floor.
The cause was a box held by a man believed to be the leader of the robbers. It appeared to be a hacking device that caused a brief malfunction in Magicware.
‘You’ve got all that stuff, and all you’re doing is robbing a store? You might as well go to a bank… Is that going to be difficult?’
Come to think of it, banks were dangerous. Purists might be there as security guards, the security devices might be fierce, or the response team might be quick to respond.
‘Is this something that only applies to brain expansion devices? Or do I have magic resistance?’
As Alan was pondering, his eyes met with those of a robber who was watching the store.
“What are you doing? Get down if you don’t want to die!”
He was a friendlier robber than I thought, judging by the fact that he chose to talk to me rather than shoot me. Or maybe he just ignored me because of the appearance of the grenade launcher Allen was holding.
Alan, who had activated the shield generator, attempted to talk.
“Can’t you just leave?”
“There’s a crazy guy here. The shield is unexpected, but why is he holding scrap metal?”
“This is a dangerous object. It is dangerous for you to come near it.”
“Hehehe. Did you hear? Broken junk is dangerous.”
The robbers and their colleagues all laughed. The grenade launcher Alan was holding looked like a part taken from the broken shooting range golem.
“I’ll just go and collect scrap metal. It’s annoying.”
The robber’s patience ended there. He aimed the muzzle of his assault rifle at the shield and scratched it. He thought it would break someday.
Of course, the shield’s power was Allen’s Manaheart, so it wasn’t easy. If you really wanted to break it, you needed a heavy blow rather than small attacks.
“This kid will… until the end.”
A robber carrying a Mana Sword approached. Then he disappeared.
Liar!
There was a sound of the air being torn apart. It was so loud that even those suffering from the pain covered their ears with their hands.
There was silence. After a moment, the glass of the shattered door fell down with a thud.
Beyond that, the door of the van the robbers had come in had fallen to the ground. The man who had been approaching Alan was pinned there.
The robber looked like a crumpled piece of scrap metal. Thanks to the prosthetic eyeballs that were bulging out and dangling, it was possible to see where his head and upper body were.
“Thanks to MagicWear, I’m fine.”
The robbers turned their heads in the direction of the voice. Alan was loading a new bullet with a numb look in his eyes.
Alan shrugged his shoulders as he watched the robbers with expressions like, ‘Is that okay?’
“Isn’t it enough to stay alive? This time, it’s a guy with a slightly lower output. I didn’t know you’d experiment with people instead of golems.”
Every time the grenade launcher moved, lightning struck. And every time, one of the robbers disappeared.
When police arrived later, they saw the robbers crammed into a black van and hesitated for a moment whether to call a tow truck or an ambulance.
Then I noticed a man standing in front of a van, his hands moving busily, and I approached him. I looked over his shoulder and saw that he was writing something, and even if I read just a little bit, it was full of words that gave me a headache.
“Ahem. We received a report and are now on the scene.”
“···.”
Even though I intentionally coughed, the other person remained silent. As before, he was absorbed in his work. The police could hear him mumbling.
“Is it because the magic supply was reduced? Even so, the firepower is different from the calculated one. Since it’s a cylinder, the runes might be a bit distorted. ······. I think the circuit here was drawn wrong, but the effect is slightly different.”
A fellow police officer who couldn’t stand to watch grabbed the young man’s shoulder and gave him strength. Only then did the young man turn his head.
“Let me ask you something···.”
There was a hint of coldness in his emotionless eyes. The moment the police officer stopped talking due to the sudden chill, Alan asked.
“What’s going on?”
“We received a report and went out. We’ll give you more details…”
“I’m just a guest. Please discuss the details with the owner who is watching over there.”
Alan pointed to the orc man cleaning up the broken glass and spoke bluntly. After shaking off the police, Alan returned to focusing on his creation.
The metaphysical sight of the robbers stuffed in the van gave me a good idea.
‘A healthy robber and a broken robber are ultimately the same person. So if the final result of drawing a circuit resembles a rune, is it circuit magic or rune?’
When viewed up close, it appears as a collection of circuits, but when viewed from a distance, it appears as runes. Like ASCII art.
Alan nodded in satisfaction and tried to turn back, but was grabbed by the arm by a police officer who ran over.
“No, you are the person involved.”
“no.”
“The surveillance camera check is complete.”
“I’m busy···.”
“···It will only take a moment. If you cooperate with the investigation, it will be over quickly.”
A police officer glanced at the police car. It was a silent signal asking whether he should ride all the way to the station or end it here.
Alan complied with the investigation.
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