episode_0098

The few magic stones and [Yeouicheol] pieces he had thrown into the furnace easily melted and became soft under the heat of the five-colored flames he had lit. However, there was one minor problem. The materials were separated like water and oil, repelling each other.

“… … .”

Even though he was subdued, a bad boy is still a bad boy. The aftertaste was quite strong.

Although they couldn’t get along well, [Yeo-ui-cheol] acted like a child who was dissatisfied with the pairing the teacher had given him. Sometimes, he would scratch the blackboard or make noises like rusty hinges creaking, and they would engage in a war of nerves inside the furnace. Even the mana of the troubled magic stone would not yield to it, and the way he would growl and toss around was not to his liking.

“Hmm.”

Sihyuk, who had been watching it silently for a while, reached out his hand.

Have you ever tried to stop stray cats fighting over territory? It’s easier than you think. Just stomp your foot or pick up a rock and throw it, and they’ll either get startled and run away or freeze in place.

Hurrah!

The fight inside the brazier was the same. Following his outstretched hand, the flames that bloomed inside the brazier gradually grew in size and heat according to his will, forcibly crushing the rampaging troublemakers.

The materials were caught in a furnace with no way to escape, and were forced to come together, unable to even think of resisting the intervention of an absolute power.

Gulp, gurgle, the sound of water draining out from the bathtub as the magic stone and [Yeouicheol] helplessly swallowed each other, swallowing each other again and again until they were finally completed as one mass.

“… That’s right.”

The finished crystal was light yellow and diamond-shaped. When Shihyuk took it out of the furnace and placed it on a shelf, it began to ripple vividly and then immediately took its original shape.

The surface was so smooth that it was almost as if you could hear the sound of it squeaking, and it was so elastic that it looked like lemon pudding on a plate.

When he experimentally pinched and pulled the edge of the crystal, the appropriate tension and the squishy stretch reminded him of melted cheese or bubble gum. No, considering the sticky, soft, and savory texture that touched his fingers, and the way it returned to its original state when he gently pulled it away, it seemed closer to jelly, rubber, or silicone.

Once. Sihyuk muttered as he picked up the hammer and swung it with all his might towards the crystal.

When comparing his brute strength, which could even crush iron, with the elasticity and resilience of the crystals we had seen before, it seemed as if the outcome was already decided. Either he would absorb the impact and bounce back smoothly, or he would fail and crumble.

One prediction was wrong.

Kaaang! Suddenly, there was a sound of metal clashing with the crystal, and it hardened and resisted Shihyuk’s strength, even sending sparks flying. Before he could strike, his arm shot up as much as it had, and the recoil made his elbow go cold, and his palm, which had been holding the hammer, was torn and bled a little.

“Good.”

Even though the pain was so intense that he could have cried out, clutching his arm and rolling on the floor, he managed to laugh softly.

The crystal in Shihyuk’s eyes trembled in shock for a while, but soon, as if nothing had happened, it returned to its original state of shaking and swaying even with a gust of wind.

It ripples like a water balloon, but feels infinitely soft and smooth like touching a baby’s belly, stretches better than a rubber band, is chewy like chewing buckwheat noodles, and when impacted beyond a certain level, becomes harder than steel. It’s a fickle, boiling porridge-like creature that’s hard to control.

Regardless, the test continued. This time, Shihyuk filled the hammer with enough mana to make the tip of the hammer stand out in a grayish hue, and struck the crystal with the same force he had used before.

Then, the lemon-colored diamond-shaped object suddenly shrank like a plastic bag on fire, shrinking from the size of a small refrigerator to the size of a cube steak. Then, soon after, it began to rise greatly like yeast-fermented bread dough being baked in an oven.

Shihyuk nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the crystal that had grown larger than its original size, eventually becoming so large that he had to look up at it.

“This should be enough.”

Satisfied, he poked its side with the tip of his hammer, using just the right amount of mana and strength. The thing that had been wagging its tail like an angry cat’s tail snapped back to its original state with a sound like air escaping from a balloon.

I did it. The texture, elasticity, hardness, and shrinkage and expansion after absorbing mana are all as intended. [Synthetic material] created as desired, how could a blacksmith not be happy with the result? Now, I will divide these into small pieces and convert them into [magic iron] to make a frame, and I will take care of the other crystals and squeeze them into artificial muscles.

“… … .”

He calmed down his excitement and took a moment to calm himself down. It was strange for a producer not to be excited about a new attempt and a great achievement, but the work did not end there.

It was just the beginning. We had only created the ‘protein’ that would make up the body, but we had not yet created anything new based on it. We could not let our guard down just because we had only taken one step.

On the way back, as had been planned in advance, in order to make any movement possible, quickly, and precisely – freely – not a single mistake could be tolerated even when making the smallest part.

Only when each and every bone is tightly aligned without a single error can it be assembled into a complete form and connected closely to each other like an actual human arm.

The number of bones in a human hand is about 20. Shihyuk had to add pseudo-muscles to it and pay close attention to the conductivity so that he could control the increase and decrease of strength on his own. There was no need to mention the work of connecting the mana path to replace the nerves in the damaged arm.

It would be a daunting, arduous, and difficult task, like weaving a living room carpet with spiderwebs, or threading a thousand needle holes while wearing mittens. Just like when I drew the Milky Way on a dagger, made flowers in the shape of a sword, and wove metal into fabric to make clothes.

No, it might be even more troublesome and painful than that. Until now, the things he had made were meant to be used by hanging over people’s hands and bodies, not things that were used as part of the human body like they are now.

But so what?

Shihyuk took up the hammer. He made up his mind to do it, and he did as he set his mind to.

If you were afraid of pain and suffering and would put down your hammer, you would have quit being a craftsman long ago. If you were afraid of new challenges and the failures that would follow, you would have already hesitated a hundred times. In the end, the one you had to fight for and the one you had to overcome was yourself.

At first, without mana. Taaang! The crystal hardened even more than before as he struck with all his might, and defended against external impacts.

The arm went up again in the same motion as the swing, and the recoil caused Shihyuk’s two feet to float in the air for a moment before settling on the ground.

The thick, callused palm of my hand, like a bear’s paw, peeled off the skin, a few drops of blood splashed onto the floor, and a snapping sound came from my wrist with that one impact. My fingers were still attached to the right direction, but my arm briefly lost its sensation and began to tremble.

Sihyuk, who had gritted his teeth and endured the pain, struck the crystal with his other hand, this time clearly charging up his mana, once again with all his might. Kwaaang! The crystal, which was still whining because it had not yet fully absorbed the shock, was helpless against the hammer blow that had been aimed at when its hardness was stronger than its elasticity.

A large crack runs through the bright yellow diamond. Once again, again, and again.

Only when his wrist finally gave out and dangled did the crystals crumble apart.

The mana crystals synthesized with [Yeouicheol] were even strangely broken. The large and small pieces that had shattered and cracked turned into round pieces like goat dung or hard candy, then spilled onto the shelf and rolled around on the floor.

Shihyuk put the missing wrist back in – there was a crunching sound like a cookie – and picked up a suitable piece of debris and placed it on the shelf. He then turned his mana into flames and wound it around a hammer, then gently pounded it like he was chopping garlic so that it wouldn’t fly anywhere.

On the surface, it seemed like an unremarkable task, but his forehead, with its thick bangs, was damp, and a single drop of sweat formed on his sideburns and ran down his jawline.

By controlling the increase and decrease of mana and power, you should be careful not to make sudden changes such as shrinking or growing again due to excessive energy. It was no different from lifting brass chopsticks with a piece of wet toilet paper.

After enduring several rounds of careful hammering, the fragments began to round up and make a sound like bubbles were bursting, and only then did Shihyuk let out the breath he had been holding. Now, finally, [Magic Steel] was created.

As much as he had been patient, his subsequent actions were not rough.

At the touch of a pounding hand, [Magic Iron] began to take shape, gradually becoming round and slightly elongated, and soon it was completed in the shape of a capsule pill with a sunken side.

Sihyuk, who placed it on the corner of the shelf, looked around at the surrounding scenery where seven or eight pachinko slot machines seemed to have burst, and let out a faint sigh.

“Little finger bone, one.”

Of the approximately 30 joints, only one was now complete.