Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 51
Only Noblemtl
Magic training method (1)
Alan leaned his head against the glass window. The view from the suspended monorail had a different flavor. When seen up close, these people looked worn out by life, but when seen from afar, they looked like a natural cityscape.
‘It’s a tragedy when seen up close, a comedy when seen from afar.’
People have different thoughts, and unless you are closely related, you cannot know their inner thoughts. How could Alan know the thoughts of the elf walking down the street?
As the elf disappeared from sight, such feelings also faded. The monorail, which passed between buildings like a roller coaster and ran on the road, did not know the word traffic jam.
Like everyone else, Alan got off at the station and went down the stairs. Some of them headed to the building that received new explorers, while a few headed to Breaker’s headquarters.
Alan walked through the park behind the headquarters. There were no people, but no signs of animals or sounds. Not even the slightest sound of birds.
When I looked up at the flying shadows, I saw a line of bird-like surveillance golems flying.
Always the same scenery. No, a lifeless scenery.
Alan’s expression was as withered as those around him, but his steps quickened as he headed toward the building next to the park.
As he stood in front of the building where no one was coming or going, a surveillance camera snaked out and scanned every nook and cranny of Alan.
[Entry approval]
Leaving behind the dull mechanical sounds, I searched for old memories and headed to the reception room on the first floor.
Alan opened the door to the living room and paused for a moment. The dark-skinned man he had met during Breaker’s lessons was sitting on the sofa, absorbed in something.
Magical energy swirled between his opposing palms. It was strangely faint.
‘What was the name···.’
As Alan wondered, his left eye reacted and stared at the man. After a moment, a green frame surrounded the man, and words that only Alan could see appeared beside him.
Name: Omar
Race: ???
characteristic : ???, ???
Question marks were evidence of malfunction or ignorance. Alan usually blinked at such times. After repeating it a few times, the correct information was output.
Name: Omar
Race: Human
Characteristics: Wizard, Melee
Only then did the memory become clear. He was a wizard who used his magic staff like a blunt weapon. He broke more automatons by hitting them than by magic.
I don’t know why he was doing that here, but he was concentrating so I didn’t really say anything. He was also engrossed in his research and it was annoying when someone interrupted him.
Alan walked slowly to the table against the wall and reached for the bread and cookies in the basket. He remembered that it was a gourmet dish and tasted very good.
“Wow!”
Alan turned around at the sudden noise. Omar, sitting on the sofa, was looking at him with a playful expression.
“Surprised?······No?”
“Why are you surprised that I’m yelling? I was concentrating so I didn’t talk to you on purpose.”
“Oh, really? I was practicing a magic to hide my presence, but it seems like it was a total failure. What should I do next time? Do you have any good suggestions?”
“What’s your opinion?”
“You only use physical strengthening magic, so you’re really bad at this kind of thing. You don’t have to know that either.”
Before silence fell upon the parlor again, the door opened and a half-orc with a relatively gentle appearance came in.
François nodded slightly at Alan, then frowned at Omar.
“Why are you here? There must be a reason I couldn’t find it no matter how hard I looked.”
“I worked without sleeping, so tell them I’m not here. People need to get some rest. Not just me, but my other friends too. I don’t know about machines like you.”
“Do whatever you want.”
François’s eyes turned blue. It meant that he had stopped trying to send a message.
Alan said, looking at the two sitting next to each other.
“Now that I look at it, both François and Omar have gray hair. Did they match Chairman Marshall’s hair color?”
Omar blinked and smiled faintly. One corner of his mouth was raised, so it looked like a sneer. On the contrary, his gangster-like face suited that smile.
“You could interpret it that way… Simply put, it’s a unit tradition. It’s not always like this, and when there’s a mission, it changes to a different color for a while.”
“Avoid unnecessary words.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
Omar was back to focusing on building up his mana structure. It was a spectacular sight, and I wanted to examine it in more detail, but Alan had work to do.
“Why did you want to meet me?”
“As you might have guessed, it’s because of the magic training method. Transmitting information… I keep forgetting that you haven’t expanded your brain.”
“It’s not surprising that there are so many people who get the procedure, so it’s understandable that there are misconceptions. In fact, I’m a special case.”
“You know that well.”
Before Alan could say anything, François took the terminal out of his pocket. After tapping it a few times, he handed it over to Alan to look at.
There were several magical training methods written down. There was also a performance evaluation of magical control and brain enhancement that Alan had requested.
After thinking about it for a moment, Alan chose the magic training method of ‘upper’ magic control and ‘lower’ brain strengthening.
To be honest, I was confident in my brain. So, I thought I could make equipment that would allow me to go down the labyrinth alone without brain expansion surgery.
François nodded slightly as he confirmed the training method that Alan had pointed out.
“He was a man who served in the military and then retired.”
“You’re a peculiar person. While in a combat unit, you devote yourself to a training method that doesn’t have the function of increasing magical powers…”
“···.”
François looked at me with a tired look. His eyes told me that I had nothing to say when I made the same request.
This time, before Alan could say anything, François added.
“This person has a reason for that. He didn’t have any mana hearts, so he put in artificial mana hearts. So he focused on controlling it rather than accumulating magical power. Is this okay?”
“This is exactly what I wanted. But you just retired.”
“What do you mean?”
“Agents who retire from the media either work as informants or covertly···.”
“Stop. You’ve watched too many movies.”
“The movie is···.”
“Let’s stop talking about that.”
His ability to interrupt was superb.
In fact, it wasn’t a movie that Alan wanted to see. It was just that Vito, who escaped from the Novak Clinic and went with him for a while, had a taste for spy movies.
“I know what you’re trying to say, but killing is too cruel. We keep secrets by locking our brains with taboos and brainwashing. If you reveal secrets without permission….”
François opened his hands near his temples, as if a bomb was about to explode.
“I’ll tell you my name. They might ask for tuition, but I trust you’ll take care of that.”
“Thank you for giving me a leg up. I really didn’t know you would help me this much.”
Alan wasn’t expecting much. It was just a dangerous battle and he did his bit.
I knew that it was a promise that Kiki made to save face, to save face. Anyway, my expectations were low, so I was very happy. I also felt like I owed her something.
“Isn’t it a basic rule to respond to danger together?”
“These days, there are a lot of idiots who can’t even do the basics. In that sense, you’re great. Of course, it’s also worth it for my pride.”
Long after Alan had left, Omar, sitting at François’ table, asked with his mouth agape.
“Why did you call me? Is it really for the magic training method? Or is it to raise me and make me your successor? That won’t work either since the policy has changed.”
Francois explained the situation at the time, including the appearance of the black magician who was the collector’s slave, and the monsters that appeared in droves due to the intentional overflow. He also said that thanks to Alan, they were able to get through the overflow without any casualties.
One of Omar’s eyebrows twitched.
“Is that really the reason you introduced me? I could have just ignored it, but you’re really amazing.”
“One of the goals of the training is for the participants to return safely. If I had not completed the mission properly, my pride would have been damaged.”
“Oh, really?”
“Even if you laugh at me, it won’t change my mind.”
“I didn’t mean to pick a fight, so let’s stop here. You’re a total corpse if you don’t have any pride. But why didn’t you tell me?”
“what?”
“That old man was crazy. You didn’t know?”
“When? I need to contact you sooner rather than later···.”
“It’s late. Look over there.”
Omar, who had tried to dissuade François, pointed to the clock on the wall. It was 2:00 p.m. Five hours had passed since Alan had left.
“If you look at the time, they should have already arrived and figured out the situation. Aren’t they swearing?”
“hmm···.”
*
Alan entered the tall, massive apartment. A musty, damp smell assaulted his nose from the entrance, so he quickly put on the mask around his neck.
People who were worn out by life were seen here and there. Their clothes were shabby, their faces were haggard. Some people had artificial skin that was falling off and hanging off.
The apartment was a chicken coop, cramming citizens in for cheap prices. That was why Alan was staying in the warehouse.
The rich did not live in places like this, but in the affluent neighborhoods. A single, splendid mansion was larger than an apartment complex where thousands of people lived. There were no tall buildings nearby, so the sunlight came in much better.
Alan got off the elevator and pushed the lizardman lying in front of him, drunk on something, against the wall. His body was rubbed and his already worn-out clothes were covered in dust and dirt, but it was better than just getting stepped on. There were actually a few shoe prints.
As he moved forward, avoiding the people sitting in the hallway, Alan turned his head at the sharp gaze. The people he thought were on drugs were observing him with blurry eyes as he passed by.
‘To see if it’s food or not? Should I have brought a leopard?’
Their thinking was obvious. Alan met their gazes, ready to activate the shield generator at any moment.
Whether it was because of the indifferent gaze or the good equipment, people who made eye contact quickly turned their heads away.
Alan walked slowly and stopped at the end of the hallway.
‘No. 3630’
It meant the last unit on the 36th floor. This apartment building had 50 floors, so theoretically there were 1,500 units in one building.
Alan looked at the slightly open door and rang the doorbell. Even if the door was open, it was extremely rude to just open it and go in.
I pressed it several times but there was no response. Just when I thought he had gone out, I heard a groaning sound from inside.
“Ughh …
It sounded like the groans of an injured person, so Alan quickly opened the door and went in.
The interior was similar to a one-room apartment without any walls, and in the center was a white-haired old man in a wheelchair. His back was turned so I couldn’t see his face.
“I came in because I heard a strange noise. Are you okay? ······, I came here on Breaker’s introduction.”
“Ughh …
The groan was heard again. Alan walked up to the old man and examined his face. Drool was dripping from his open mouth.
Alan, faced with an unexpected situation, felt a chill as he considered contacting François.
The cause was an old man. He was looking at Allen with his mouth wide open and only his eyes rolling. The white hair that had been there was nowhere to be found, and all that was left was the ferocity of a beast.
The old man’s arm grabbed the wheelchair wheel. He turned the wheel hard, and the wheelchair moved backwards at a rapid pace. The direction of movement suddenly changed to a right angle and went straight into a small room.
‘Did I just drift?’
There was a reason why the door was open but the residents were not coming in.
A moment later, something flashed in the darkness that had descended upon the small room. It was the muzzle of a shotgun.
“What are you? Judging from your attire, you don’t look like one of the trash people who live here.”
“On the breaker···.”
“What are you going to do by killing that senile old man?”
“Have you been watching too many movies?”
“Shit.”
The old man frowned as he gave it back exactly as he had heard from François. Alan looked at the muzzle of the gun and continued speaking calmly.
“I came here upon the introduction of François, a member of Breaker.”
“I don’t know about the other kids, but he’s okay. Just sit down for a moment.”
There was no furniture like a sofa, perhaps because the old man was using a wheelchair. The only place he could sit was the bed, but it would have been rude to use that.
Alan, who had been standing there blankly, was scolded when he tried to help an old man prepare drinks.
“Do you think I’m disabled because I’m in a wheelchair? When an adult speaks, listen to me.”
Alan waited quietly and scanned the room. Seeing teeth marks on the plastic part of the desk clock, he wondered if he could drink the drink he was about to receive.
‘How did you bite it and cut it off like biting clay? That’s amazing.’
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────