Level Up Machine

Chapter 12 Growth Potential (2)

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Yeong-sik looked down at his right arm and thought so.

His body was composed of countless mechanical devices.

Therefore, he could use his skill to analyze the structure of machines.

“There was such a method.”

Yeong-sik smirked and nodded.

He had always been curious about the structure of his own body.

Yeong-sik decided to take this opportunity to uncover a bit of the secret behind his body.

“Analyze Structure.”

Yeong-sik looked at his right arm and uttered the skill name.

And then.

At that moment, a harsh mechanical sound echoed in his ears.

– Click.

– Interference with the security code has been detected.

– External interference has attempted to interpret the security code.

– External interference has successfully interpreted security code level 2.

– The maximum unlockable security level has been raised to level 2. Do you wish to unlock the security level?

“Kuh?”

Yeong-sik felt a sharp pain in his head. He instinctively nodded.

– Click.

The sound of gears meshing together came from somewhere within his body.

A vision flashed through Yeong-sik’s mind.

In a desolate desert, a mountain made up of countless mechanical devices loomed.

He was slowly walking towards that mountain.

He reached out towards the mountain with a deeply sunken gaze.

– Click. Click. Click.

With the sound of gears meshing, the mountain of mechanical devices began to move.

The mountain split open on both sides.

He slowly walked into the mountain of mechanical devices, murmuring softly.

– Where did it all go wrong?

With that faint murmur, the vision that had appeared in Yeong-sik’s mind ended.

“Kuh!”

Yeong-sik felt an intense headache. He clutched his head, swallowing a painful groan.

‘This is?

What surfaced in his mind was a memory from his past.

It was a situation similar to when he forcibly unlocked the security level during his fight with Nam Gi-tae.

‘The more I unlock the security levels, the more memories return?’

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled.

Now, it was just a fragment of a memory, so he couldn’t understand his true identity.

However, if he continued to unlock the security levels, he might be able to recover enough memories to understand his past identity.

– Security level 2 has been unlocked.

– You can now use the weapon ‘Blade’.

‘Blade?’

Yeong-sik tilted his head at the words he heard.

Just like with Rocket Punch, information about the blade began to slowly seep into his mind.

“Yeong-sik? What’s wrong?”

“Did something happen?”

Gil-soo and Ara asked with worried expressions as they saw Yeong-sik suddenly clutching his forehead in pain.

Yeong-sik slowly lifted his head and used the newly acquired weapon, ‘Blade’.

– Clang!

“Ahhh!”

His left hand slightly opened, and a small blade about 30 centimeters long sprang out.

Ara screamed in surprise as the blade suddenly emerged from his left hand.

“What is this?

“When I used Analyze Structure on my body, I gained the ability to use this weapon.”

Yeong-sik said, with a look of disbelief on his face, as if he himself found his body absurd.

‘It’s less impactful than Rocket Punch.’

Yeong-sik smiled bitterly as he looked at the blade protruding from his left hand.

Although it was less impactful than the first weapon he acquired, Rocket Punch, this seemed to be much more practical.

At least a blade wouldn’t be a one-time use like Rocket Punch.

– Ding.

[Analyze Structure has been successfully completed.]

[The proficiency of the skill Analyze Structure has increased.]

[You have reached a new level. The level limit has been raised.]

“Huh?”

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the blue message window that appeared before him.

The message window clearly stated that the level limit had been raised. Yeong-sik hurriedly opened the status window.

[Summoner Information]

Name: Yeong-sik

Level: 1/25

Class: Mechanical Engineer (Hidden)

Health: 127
Mana: 95

〈Stats〉
Strength: 13
Agility: 15
Endurance: 12
Dexterity: 22
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 11
Luck: 14
Charisma: 16

〈Skills〉

[Analyze Structure: Lv 1]

[Disassemble: Lv 1]

[Extract: Lv 1]

[Manufacture: Lv 1]

‘The level limit really did increase.’

It wasn’t just the level limit that had risen.

Though not by much, all his other stats, starting with health and mana, had increased as well.

A thrilling sensation ran through Yeong-sik’s body.

‘So, unlocking the security levels also raises the level limit.’

One of the things he had been worried about was his exceedingly low level limit.

It was so low that it was below average, leaving him concerned about what to do in the future. But that concern had been resolved more easily than he had thought.

“Hmm… But it’s just a solid blade? I thought Yeong-sik would come up with something like a plasma cutter.”

“Ah, I actually thought the same.”

Gil-soo and Ara looked at Yeong-sik with expressions that showed slight disappointment.

At their reactions, Yeong-sik let out a hollow laugh.

“What do you think I am?”

“Well?

“Ahem. We think of you as a precious comrade.”

Gil-soo and Ara averted their gazes to avoid his.

Yeong-sik swallowed a small sigh.

“Anyway, does this mean that I can use a new weapon every time I use the Analyze Structure skill?”

Gil-soo changed the subject and asked.

At his words, Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled.

“I should try it out.”

Yeong-sik once again used the Analyze Structure skill on himself.

– Click.

– Interference with the security code has been detected.

– External interference has attempted to interpret the security code.

– External interference has failed to interpret security code level 3.

– Ding.

[This target cannot be interpreted with the current level of the Analyze Structure skill.]

With a mechanical sound, a blue window appeared before his eyes.

Yeong-sik nodded, even though he looked a bit disappointed.

Honestly, it would have been stranger if a skill at level 1 could unlock all security codes.

“It doesn’t work right now. It seems I need to raise the level of the Analyze Structure skill to obtain more weapons.”

“Oh. So, about the skill level… Does it go up just by using it a lot?”

“No. It seems to increase only when the skill is successful.”

Yeong-sik lightly furrowed his brow as he said this.

‘Come to think of it, there are no other machines here to use the Analyze Structure skill on and increase its proficiency, are there?’

The only machine in this world was Yeong-sik’s own body.

Given his current low level, he couldn’t use Analyze Structure on his body frequently. To increase proficiency, he needed to use it on other machines, but there were no other machines to analyze.

‘…I guess the only way is to make a machine myself and then use the skill on it.’

The only remaining method was to use Analyze Structure on machines he created himself.

Yeong-sik decided to experiment with this later and retracted the blade back into his body.

– Clang.

The 30-centimeter blade disappeared back into his body.

“Then let’s get a good rest today and start moving tomorrow to gather information about the surrounding monsters and obtain weapons.”

At Yeong-sik’s words, Gil-soo and Ara nodded.

Their life on the mainland proceeded smoothly without any major incidents.

Starting the next day, Yeong-sik’s group began gathering information about the nearby monsters.

It wasn’t difficult to obtain information about the monsters thanks to the adventurers’ guild, which brokered jobs for individual summoners not affiliated with the guilds established by Earthlings.

After that, they acquired an axe for Gil-soo and a beginner’s magic staff for Ara.

In the process of buying necessary hunting supplies, their 3 gold coins were quickly exhausted.

Yeong-sik had intended to prepare a bit more before starting to hunt, but with their money running out to the point where they couldn’t even secure lodging, he had no choice but to move up their hunting schedule.

“Ugh, I didn’t expect 3 gold to disappear so quickly.”

Yeong-sik sighed as they walked through the forest near the port city of Velen, where they had first arrived.

They were heading to a place known to be an Orc village.

“…Sorry.”

Ara, holding a staff with a small blue magic stone embedded in it, spoke cautiously.

The biggest reason their money had run out so quickly was that purchasing her staff had been very expensive.

“Haha. No need to apologize. We can always earn more money.”

Gil-soo said this with his characteristic good-natured smile.

His words made Yeong-sik’s expression relax slightly.

“Yes. At least it’s a relief that monsters drop gold like in a game.”

The monsters of the Ernoir continent had a chance to drop money when they died.

The gold, silver, and copper they dropped were treated as currency on this continent.

‘An Orc usually drops about 3 silver, right?’

Yeong-sik thought it was incredibly stingy, not knowing the exact drop rate.

Killing a monster capable of killing humans and only getting 3,000 won?

And it wasn’t even a 100% drop rate.

“We’ll need to hunt at least four of them per day.”

Yeong-sik said, calculating their daily expenses in his head.

At his words, Ara gripped her staff with a confident expression.

“During the tutorial, we hunted more than four per day. It shouldn’t be too hard to catch more than that now.”

“That’s true.”

Yeong-sik nodded in agreement with her words.

Before going out to hunt, he had a brief practice session with Gil-soo and Ara, and the results were quite good.

They were now capable of handling four orcs simultaneously.

‘No, maybe even five,’ Yeong-sik thought, recalling the synergy they had achieved before with Ara and Kim-soo.

Although Gil-soo was still somewhat inexperienced, Ara’s magical prowess was truly remarkable.

Yeong-sik thought it wouldn’t be long before she became the ace of the party instead of him.

“We’ve found them.”

“Three of them…”

As they roamed the forest, Yeong-sik’s group discovered three orcs.

Yeong-sik walked a bit away from the group and spoke up.

“This spot looks good.”

He looked around and took out a fist-sized chunk of meat from his pocket.

It was rabbit meat, which orcs would go crazy for.

Yeong-sik placed the rabbit meat next to a large bush.

Previously, Ara had played the role of bait, but now they were using the rabbit meat instead.

A sweet aroma spread all around.

As planned, Yeong-sik’s group crouched and hid inside the bush.

“Ara, you start the first attack. Then, Mr. Gil-soo, you charge in to draw the orcs’ attention.”

“Understood.”

“Alright.”

Gil-soo and Ara, slightly nervous at the thought of hunting orcs again, nodded.

Ara gulped as she prepared to cast her first spell.

– Rustle.

“Sniff! Sniff!”

‘They’re here.’

The sound of branches breaking and the orcs’ characteristic snorts reached their ears.

Yeong-sik clenched his right fist.

With only three orcs, he thought they could easily handle them. Ara’s magic could take down one, Gil-soo’s ambush another, and he could take care of the last one with his right arm.

However.

Yeong-sik’s expression hardened. More than ten orcs emerged from the bushes.