Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 58
Only Noblemtl
Green Blood (1)
The center of a warehouse was filled with the remains of magic engineering equipment and automata. It was assumed to be someone’s workshop, but in the corner, there were barbells and dumbbells, exercise equipment that didn’t seem to fit in.
There stood a large body like a bodybuilder, and the long grooves on its skin and the occasional blue light passing under its skin were evidence that its body was made of magicware.
His face was that of an old man with white hair, not matching his taut body. He shouted at someone lying down.
“Faster. Faster. Just a little bit more. This is the end. This is the end!”
“Ugh···.”
Sweat dripped down Alan’s forehead as he finished his bench press. His arms hung limply, swaying like threads.
“I need to work out harder. Do you see this? It’s a 20kg barbell without even a plate on it.”
“···.”
Alan was too exhausted to speak. He stared at the ceiling for a while to catch his breath, then asked Taylor, who was putting away the exercise equipment.
“Will it work?”
“You must have always been weak because of your excessive magical powers. But you still have to do it.”
Taylor’s artificial eyes were filled with determination. These days, magic wear is so sophisticated that it can express one’s psychological state. In other words, it can also pretend to be calm in any situation.
“Are you having strange thoughts again?”
“I didn’t do it···.”
“Oh my!”
“Magical engineering isn’t that weird.”
“Whenever you get a chance… It’s still effective. At first, I had a hard time doing it even 5 times, but I’ve already done 10. Keep that in mind. A labyrinth explorer needs to have at least one option. Just because you’re weak, the monsters won’t just sway you and fight you!”
It was a perfect fit. Alan had a chance to reflect on himself, having neglected his exercise routine under the pretext of being sick.
Basic physical training began with the intention of training the body to endure the damage caused by magical power. The stories about the monsters in the labyrinth were merely a side benefit.
Anyway, as I moved my muscles the way Taylor taught me, I started to sleep better and my body felt a little lighter when I woke up in the morning.
After taking a shower, Alan sat down at the table across from Taylor.
“How are you feeling?”
“Someone must have oiled it so well that it moves very smoothly. It’s still far from its prime, but it’s probably about 2 to 2.5 inches deep.”
“I had no choice but to buy magicware with a limited budget. I’ll save up money through exploration and replace it with a higher line to become more powerful.”
“I never imagined that I would undergo a full body makeover in my later years… I would be happy if my body became stronger.”
“Of course, from now on, we will settle everything one by one.”
“The sea I longed for.”
Taylor readily agreed. The amount of money he owed to Alan was already incalculable, and he had no intention of shamelessly continuing to take advantage of him.
It is a world where you can buy your life with money, but in such a society, a person’s sincerity is more precious than anything else.
Since my dementia was cured, I didn’t have to forget that warmth. The bad news that the brain expansion device had affected my brain waves disappeared this time with the massive replacement of Magic Wear.
Alan, trying to calm his rumbling stomach, mentioned his work at the factory.
“What are you going to do about Greenblood?”
“I wonder when you’ll bring that up. The labyrinth is already a dangerous place, but if something like that comes along, it’ll be really tough. If they just happened to follow you, then it’s fine, but if it was intentional, would you be able to sleep soundly?”
Even though he had recovered, his harsh speech remained the same. It seemed that he had become aggressive not because he was in pain, but because it was his default state.
“You’re busy just thinking about the front, so you’re saying you should clean up the back? So when should we start?”
“Calm down. It’s good to be hot, but we need to figure out what the other person’s intentions are. If they’re really after us, we need to be more careful with our revenge. Okay, let’s get up since we have somewhere to go.”
“Where is it?”
“Wouldn’t it be more exciting to go without knowing? Think of everything you experience from now on as a lesson.”
*
A narrow two-lane road, buildings built so close together that you can’t tell how they were built, streets filled with shadows even during the day, people staggering around intoxicated by something.
It was a much more unsafe area than the area where Breaker’s company was located. The sound of gunfire coming from someone at that moment added to the credibility.
“Where is this place?”
Maze City is still a sprawling megalopolis. There are still many places that the administrative power cannot properly occupy.
Taylor bent the scrap metal and threw it into the alley without answering. At the same time, the sound of footsteps quickly faded away.
“Dongbang Town. To be exact, Dongbang 1st Town. It was planned as a place for foreign workers to live, but as you can see, it’s in ruins now.”
“Is it because of the lack of law enforcement?”
“There are too many reasons, such as the proliferation of gangs and the increasing number of poor people, so it’s complicated to explain. But isn’t that right? Those bastards who can’t stand to kill the police when they see them are quiet when it comes to infrastructure like water and sewage systems. Yeah, they can’t hold back on shit either. They’re really funny.”
“But why is it called the Eastern Continent? It’s to the west across the sea from the Soldos Federation.”
Taylor paused for a moment and stared at Alan’s face. With an expression of great curiosity.
“Even if dozens of idiots cling to you, you still slap them in the face. Don’t you know anything about common sense? I feel once again that you have extremely biased knowledge.”
Alan just nodded. He had no interest in anything other than magic engineering, so there was no reason to look into it.
“Originally, they were called the West and the East on one continent. But when you cross the ocean, there’s another continent. But the names stuck, so they keep calling them that. Come to think of it, most of them don’t even know where their own capital is, so it’s not that strange.”
“That’s interesting.”
“It’s funny. You can tell just by looking at her that she’s bored. Runes, stars, or whatever, they’re all bad, right? If you ever get a girlfriend, make sure to send her a message in runes.”
As Alan shrugged, the two entered the shabby apartment. They roughly pushed aside the trash blocking their path and walked down the dark hallway.
There were many lakes, but it was a place with extremely few people. Taylor’s footsteps stopped in front of a rusty door. When he knocked at a steady beat, he heard someone’s voice from inside.
“I don’t have any money to give you. Get out!”
“Can I just place an order and have it delivered like a snake jumping over a wall?”
“What the hell are you talking about? If you don’t want to get hit, get out!”
Taylor frowned at the aggressive language and walked away from the door.
“You said it was class?”
“Um… Wait a minute.”
Taylor groaned and knocked on the door harder than before. If he had just used a little more force, it might have broken.
“Chulsoo! It’s me, Taylor! It’s been five years, but you haven’t forgotten already, have you?”
Alan asked, looking at the still silent door.
“Who is Cheolsu?”
“Divers of all kinds. Surely you don’t know what a diver is?”
“Your job is to dig up valuable information from a sea of false knowledge, or to break through firewalls and steal things. Oh, are you an informant?”
“I caught you once when you tampered with the Breaker firewall. Instead of forgiving you, I worked you hard, but since you’re not responding to the password, I guess you moved.”
“You said you exploited me? Then you’ll pretend not to know.”
“That could be possible···.”
Taylor was surprisingly easy to accept. I thought he would back off when I saw his usual behavior, but the fact that he didn’t was a sign that he had a lot on his mind.
“No, but I forgave the guy who was going to jail···.”
“Then should we go find another source of information?”
“It’s the best value for money, but it’s a shame. My personal number data has also disappeared, so there’s nothing I can do.”
As Alan was leaving the apartment, he moved to the side to avoid someone coming in through the entrance, but the person followed him and blocked his way.
“What are you doing?”
Taylor, who was standing next to him, couldn’t just sit still. He grabbed the man by the collar with one hand and pushed him against the wall. The man groaned and threw both his hands up in the air.
“Wait, wait! Alan!”
Taylor’s fist paused for a moment as the familiar name came out, and Alan stared at the man.
Name: Utah
Race: Suin
Features: Rabbit ears, help!
I thought it was someone, but it turned out to be an explorer who had been seriously injured by the knight’s sawtooth sword. When I handed him over to the medical team, I felt that my efforts had not been in vain when I saw that he was alive and well.
“You’re alive. That’s fortunate.”
“I should be the one thanking you. I, sir. It’s time for you to let me go… I’m having trouble breathing….”
Utah let out a deep sigh of relief as his feet touched the floor. He then slowly started to move away from Taylor, but was grabbed by the back of his neck again.
“If you have something to say, say it like this.”
“You can just leave him alone. He’s not dangerous.”
Taylor followed suit. The expression “not dangerous” also meant that it could not cause any harm in any way.
“Are you a bodyguard?”
“No. We decided to continue hanging out together.”
“Where? Ah, the labyrinth. You’re still exploring. I envy you.”
“What about Utah?”
Instead of answering, he pushed his crumpled shirt aside and showed his shoulder. The scar from that day was still vivid.
“As you know, I went through a lot. So I was scared and my family was against it, so I quit.”
“I understand.”
Perhaps the wisest of the three present was Utah. A brief moment of discomfort passed, and Utah lifted his lips slightly.
“What’s going on here? If you’re looking for a house, I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“I came here because they said there was a diver, but the reaction was different because he moved. It was nice to meet you, and I hope to see you in the future···.”
“Wait, wait. A diver? My family happens to be a diver. Should I introduce you to them? They learned from their grandfather, so they’re good at it.”
“grandfather?”
Taylor, reacting to the word, looked closely at Utah’s face. Looking closely, it seemed strangely familiar.
“Are you by any chance Cheolsu’s family? Their faces look alike.”
“That’s right. I hear that a lot. My grandfather left his studio to his twin sister and returned home.”
“But as far as I know, Cheolsu is a snake person···.”
“You know that much. My father is a snake-man, and my mother is a rabbit. My sister takes after my father, and I take after my mother.”
Arriving at the rusty door again, Utah turned around.
“Did you use the password ‘Gu-Ren-I-Ga-M-Eul’? If you did, I would have pretended not to know it because it was an old password.”
Utah didn’t even need to say a password. He placed his palm on the door and put his eye on the front door lens, and it opened on its own.
The inside was completely different from the outside. Unlike the hallway that was a garbage dump, it was filled with modern furniture, reminiscent of a new house.
“Hey! I knocked and told you to come in···.”
A half-black-and-half-blonde woman sitting on the sofa growled, then shut her mouth when she saw Alan and Taylor. She also took off her noise-canceling headphones.
“It was a man’s voice earlier.”
“It must have been tampered with.”
“I guess I’ve lost my touch after resting for so long.”
Utah left the two talking and approached his sister to explain the situation.
“The person who saved the idiot’s life? He’s younger than I thought.”
The woman came forward and introduced herself formally.
“It’s Kiri. Do you know why I did that earlier?”
“This is Alan.”
“I’m Taylor. But I know that Cheolsu’s granddaughter’s name is Seolgi···.”
“Please call me Kiri. There is no one here named Seolgi.”
She winked at him and asked what was wrong, and Taylor said there was a dispute and she wanted information about Greenblood.
“You ignorant people? I know the location and the appearance of the hideout, so please take it.”
Taylor and Kiri’s eyes lit up simultaneously as they exchanged information.
“I’ll dive in and find out the rest of the information. Oh, and this time it’s a free service.”
Kiri went into one of the rooms, and the two sat on the sofa and looked over the information. The light from Taylor’s eyes drew images on the table.
“It’s in an old industrial area, and the hideout is a renovated warehouse.”
“If we plant bombs here and here, it will collapse easily.”
“···?”
As Taylor stared, Alan understood that he was being asked to answer further.
“It’s good to melt it down all at once with a large amount of firepower, but to be efficient, you have to make the building collapse under its own weight. If you just blow away a few of the central pillars, the concrete and steel itself will become their graveyard…”
“Wait a minute. You’re blind to things you’re not interested in. But why do you know so much?”
“I tried to run it in the past, but had to put it off due to a lack of materials.”
Alan said he was thinking of the Novak Clinic, but Taylor took it differently.
“Are you interested in fire and destruction? You’ll be in big trouble if you do that in Maze City.”
“It’s a gang building anyway.”
“Okay. Just be satisfied with that. Okay? You’re making a promise to me.”
The conversation strangely went off on tangents.
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