episode_0076

“Linda, make me an omelette. I’m hungry.”

[Order confirmed. Cooking 2. Omelette. I will make it.]

“This time, don’t pour eggs into the wrong pot and flail around in the air!”

[Unrecognized command.]

“Hey!”

As Linda rushed out of the room,

Amidst Keirn’s shouting,

“Yerina came and went…?”

I was deeply troubled.

Damn it.

And it’s seriously damn it.

If you ask me if I’ve ever been damn it before, that’s not true.

But this time, it’s a whole different level of damn it.

If I had been stepped on by Jill or Yulia, I could have accepted it.

I could have said that the difficulty of running away had increased a bit.

But if it’s Yerina who caught me, the story changes.

Yerina is the type to chase me to the ends of the earth, to the ends of hell.

She always keeps a close eye on me with her fake tail and surveillance.

She searches for my traces with investigative techniques that ordinary people can’t even imagine.

She recognizes my faint scent and follows me.

Every time I replay the 12th round, a new method pops up.

She’s like an onion with an endless charm that keeps revealing more as you peel.

“Is she also being watched here?”

Feeling a sudden chill, I quickly checked outside the window.

It’s pitch black outside, with no one in sight.

But I can’t relax.

When I came here earlier,

I remembered the informant I met in the alley.

Could that informant be one of Yerina’s lackeys?

“Ah…”

When a person is scared, a thousand suspicions arise.

I close the curtains and turn away.

It’s already spilled milk.

Yerina coming here is a thing of the past, not the future.

What’s important is now.

I have to leave minimal traces in the City of Taeyeop.

“That woman. She may try to hide her identity by wearing tacky clothes, but she can’t hide her arrogance. Living on the Northern Continent, I couldn’t not recognize her face. The Frost Lord of Pallana was unmistakable.”

“…”

Keirn bites down on a nail after taking out a poem from the drawer.

His attempt to turn the conversation towards the possibility of another woman besides Yerina was thwarted.

“Are you trying to appease the Frost Lord’s grudge?”

“I’ll leave it at that.”

“Looks like it’s a complicated situation. I told the Frost Lord that I’ve never seen such a man before, and he backed off without a fight. But if that man comes looking for you, let me know.”

“It’s better not to contact him.”

“Haha. No need to be so harsh. In the midst of wavering sanity, what luxury would he have to seek revenge. Unless you’re a heinous criminal like a serial killer.”

“That’s not the case…”

It’s fortunate that Keirn is clueless.

He’s just waiting to die now, so there’s no point in trying to impress the Frost Lord.

Keirn won’t covet wealth or status.

“Well, forget it. Since you woke me up, I should repay the favor. I’ll take on a request after making a Madogu and adjusting Linda.”

“Are you waiting for something?”

“Me? Wait? Ha… that’s ridiculous. Suicide is a sin, so I’ll have to live with it. I’d rather just die in my sleep. Oh, don’t worry. Even if I die, I’ll make sure to repay the favor.”

“…”

Something doesn’t seem right.

Keirn has lost his entire family, and he’s given up on making Madogu.

At first glance, he seems to have no regrets in life.

So there’s no reason for him to feel grateful for curing his dementia.

No reason to repay the favor.

Is there some reason he needs to regain his clarity of mind?

“Understood. The request will be for a Madogu. Here’s the blueprint…”

But that’s not my concern.

Once I make a Madogu, I won’t have to see Keirn again.

I don’t want to delay any longer, so I take out the folded blueprint from my pocket and hand it to Keirn.

My drawing skills may be poor.

But if it’s a blueprint I’ve seen before, I can reproduce it without difficulty.

“This…?! Is this a magic device that intervenes in space and time?”

As Keirn carefully examines the blueprint, his eyes widen.

As expected of a genius technician, he quickly guesses what kind of Madogu it is just by looking at the blueprint.

As Keirn expected, that is a Madogu essential for piercing holes in space and time.

It’s necessary to defeat the final boss in the other world.

Originally, in the climax of the story, various wizards and magic engineers barely create a magical device.

It’s one of the essential items needed to challenge the final boss.

So, it’s a technology far ahead of its time.

Kern, at this point, correctly identifies a technology that doesn’t even exist yet.

Despite receiving a fatal nerf called dementia, it’s a genius talent that is as impressive as it should be.

But Kern, who should be babbling in a corner due to dementia.

If awakened through an Easter egg?

“By creating the final item in advance, you can save a lot of time.”

By gathering the knowledge and power of people worldwide! Touching stories like that can all be skipped.

Originally designed for users running speedruns, but…

Unfortunately, the game failed before anyone could run a speedrun.

Instead, I ended up using that speedrun effectively.

“This seems impossible to maneuver. My magic related to time may not be that strong, but just by looking at the blueprint, I can tell. It’s a defective product.”

“I understand. Still, please make it according to the blueprint without any modifications.”

“Well… if you want it that way, then I’ll do it. It’s strange.”

With a puzzled look, Kern examines the blueprint once again.

As Kern said.

This is a blueprint that is normally impossible to maneuver.

At least for now.

To maneuver that magical device, one more part needs to be collected…

It should be obtainable later when I go to the Saint Francis Fortress.

Even if it’s not for the parts, it’s a place I have to visit eventually, so I can stop by later.

“I can easily get the other materials… but it might be difficult to source the maeseok to use as the core. It needs to be high purity and quite large.”

“In that case, I will procure it for you.”

I thought I would be stuck there.

Luckily, there is a Black Star Dungeon near the Leaf City, so I can get the maeseok from there.

The dungeon core there is quite large and beautiful.

Perfect to use as the core of the magical device.

As long as certain conditions are met, the performance of the magical device remains unchanged.

So, there’s no need to bother with the tedious task of refining it; I can just leave it to any blacksmith here.

Tonight, I will enter the dungeon and obtain the maeseok.

If I entrust the refining to them early tomorrow morning, the finished maeseok will be ready by tomorrow evening.

I should be able to deliver the maeseok that has been refined by tomorrow.

“Then, we just need to proceed with the production without the core. It will take about a day. You must bring the maeseok within that time. If it’s delayed for more than a week, I might get angry again. I waited about a week the last time I came to my senses, so it might be even shorter this time.”

“That’s enough.”

Last time it was a week.

How many days will it be this time?

It seems like there are only a few days left until Kern comes to his senses.

I also entrusted the request to him.

With that, I bid farewell to Kern and leave the room.

“…”

As I leave the room and pass through the corridor.

I see Linda walking towards me with an empty plate in her hands.

An expressionless and soulless leaf doll.

No matter how many times I see it, the level of completion is truly astonishing.

If you don’t look closely, you might mistake it for a person.

In fact, even if you look closely, if you keep your mouth shut, it looks like a person.

“I have completed the omelette.”

“Hey, you! Another empty plate! Where did you spill the eggs this time!”

Ignoring Kern’s angry scolding.

We left Kern’s house.

“Am I free now? Is that it? Can I go? If I go, you won’t chase after me, right? Right? Right?”

“…”

Throughout the journey to the next destination.

There is a constant chatter from the side.

If you’re curious, you could try running away.

Whether it’s because the makeshift boat is sticking out, the nun, despite looking displeased, briskly catches up with her short legs following my steps.

“No. There’s still something I need your help with. Just one more favor.”

“Again?!”

The nun, shoulders slumped in despair, makes a desperate expression.

It’s a sharp reaction as if she suddenly has a desire to torment me.

“If I wake up that demented old man, I’ll let you go! You can’t do this! You have to let me go now! It’s a breach of contract!”

“Just one more time, and it’s really over.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

Truly. Really.

These two words no longer work on the three main heroines.

I’ve lied more than once after writing those two words.

Fortunately, the novice nun is easy to deceive.

Of course, even after this incident is over, I can’t guarantee that I will set this guy free.

Because a shaman is such a valuable human resource…

I can even do as I please.

A shaman who is a monster and has no human rights?

They hold significant value.

“So, what’s the plan this time? Let’s finish it quickly.”

“Look over there. Can you see that door?”

“Is that… a dungeon?”

After escaping the city and walking for a while, they arrive at a mountain path.

A massive stone gate is embedded in a steep cliff.

Just like any other dungeon, it is located in a truly unexpected place.

And in front of the dungeon, there are numerous signs, fences, and barbed wire.

Signs with grim messages like ‘Black Star Dungeon’, ‘Turn back’, ‘No entry’, ‘Death at your own risk’, are written alongside terrifying images.

It’s a familiar sight.

They roughly cut through the barbed wire with a sword, break the fence, and move forward.

“Can you curse this dungeon?”

“Cursing a dungeon?”

The novice nun tilts her head in confusion.

It’s probably a concept she’s not familiar with, cursing a dungeon.

I haven’t tried it myself either.

Just like cursing the entire train, could it be possible to curse the entire dungeon and debuff it?

That’s where the idea originated.

Of course, if this method is abused, it could be used to curse the dungeon and strengthen the monsters…

“That can’t be possible!”

“Let’s give it a try.”

Unless someone has lost their mind, they wouldn’t do such a thing.