Level Up Machine

Chapter 44 Explosive Level-up (2)

He was walking down an endlessly long corridor. An eternal silence weighed down within the passage. Yeong-sik arrived at the end of that corridor.

– Click.

A sound like gears meshing echoed through the air.

Yeong-sik reached out his hand.

The door, made up of countless mechanical devices, began to slowly open at his touch.

– Boom.

A heavy sound resonated.

What lay beyond the door was a massive cavity.

Yeong-sik walked slowly into that empty cavity.

“I know it’s already too late.”

Yeong-sik muttered with an exhausted expression. His voice was weary, desolate, and dry.

Yeong-sik raised his right hand. As the skin peeled away, countless metal devices were revealed. A faint voice flowed from his lips.

“But still…

Yeong-sik’s right arm shattered into hundreds, thousands of pieces.

The metal devices that fell to the ground moved as if they were alive.

Yeong-sik’s eyes shone coldly.

“I can’t stop here.”

He spoke in a sharp voice, as if cutting with a knife.

– Woooong!

The metal devices crawling on the ground formed a unique pattern. A bright light emerged from within that pattern.

A gigantic sphere emitting a bright light appeared before his eyes.

* * *

“Cut!”

The video ended. Yeong-sik collapsed from the bed to the floor, curling up his body. The torrent of vast information shook his entire being.

“Argh?”

Yeong-sik, crouched on the floor, grabbed his hair. Forgotten fragments of memories slashed sharply through his mind.

‘That sphere of light earlier…

Yeong-sik thought about the final part of his memory, the sphere of light that had emerged from the ground. It was clearly the same sphere of light he had seen in the tutorial space.

‘Why is that in there?’

Yeong-sik’s expression twisted. The more his memories resurfaced, the more questions piled up without any resolutions.

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t understand why the Black Cube and the sphere of light were in his memories.

“What on earth am I…?”

Yeong-sik muttered in a low voice, looking down at his hands. He had no clue about his own identity.

Chi-ik.

A familiar static noise cut through his thoughts.

### [Security Level 7 Unlocked.]

### [Unlocking Level 5 allows the use of ‘Shotgun’ and ‘Gatling Gun.’]

### [Unlocking Level 6 allows the use of ‘Mine’ and ‘Electromagnetic Field.’]

### [Unlocking Level 7 allows the use of ‘Laser’ and ‘Energy Blast.’]

“What…?”

Yeong-sik widened his eyes at the mechanical voice he heard. Before he could continue his thoughts, a flood of massive information shook his entire body.

“Argh!”

Shotgun, Gatling Gun, Mine, Electromagnetic Field, Laser, Energy Blast. The methods for using six different weapons flowed into Yeong-sik’s mind. It was an overwhelming amount of information that made his head spin.

Yeong-sik’s body began to tremble slightly.

Click.

His back opened, and a grotesque Gatling Gun emerged. His right hand twisted, revealing the muzzle of a shotgun. Five mines fell from his left thigh, and a blue electromagnetic field spread around him.

Yeong-sik bit his lip roughly to control the incoming information. However, contrary to his will, red light emitted from his eyes. It was the light that appeared when he used the laser.

‘Dangerous.’

Yeong-sik looked down at his left hand. A spherical energy projectile began to form in his palm. There was no need to think about what would happen to this shabby inn if he used all these weapons simultaneously.

[Warning.]

[Due to excessive information, weapon control functionality is diminished.]

[Requesting rapid information processing.]

“If it could just happen, like I want!”

Yeong-sik shouted in a frustrated voice, placing his right arm on his forehead. The flood of weapon information pouring into his mind made his head feel like it was burning.

“Huff.”

Yeong-sik took a deep breath and closed his eyes. With his vision cut off, he could feel the torrent of information swirling in his mind.

‘Start with sorting the information.’

Yeong-sik began to categorize the information according to the weapon it was associated with. Then, imagining creating folders in his mind, he placed each piece of information into a folder. If he couldn’t process all the information at once, he had to store it in folders and review it one by one.

A persistent task began. The information poured in simultaneously, trying to tangle, and Yeong-sik desperately organized it to sort it out.

Chi-ik.

[Information sorting complete. Weapon control functionality restored.]

[Using all weapons simultaneously at the current information processing level may critically impair weapon control functionality.]

“Whew… I managed to avert the crisis for now.”

Yeong-sik slowly opened his eyes. The red light no longer shone in his eyes. The mines that had fallen on the floor and the Gatling Gun that had protruded from his back all returned to his body.

“Six weapons.”

As the situation settled, Yeong-sik thought about the new weapons he had obtained. A natural smile crept onto his lips.

How it happened was beyond his comprehension, but from level 5 onwards, he was able to obtain not just one, but two weapons simultaneously.

He gained twice the weapons he had thought of in his mind.

“Moreover, each weapon is incredible.”

Yeong-sik recalled the information about the new weapons he had obtained. Even though there were restrictions, like boost or slow motion, they were extremely powerful weapons considering those limitations.

“Hmm…?”

While organizing the information about the weapons, Yeong-sik focused on two familiar ones. The Gatling Gun and the Laser. These were the weapons he had used during his first forced liberation.

“Does that mean I unlocked up to level 7 back then?”

Since he had killed Nam Gi-tae with the Laser, it was correct to say that he had unlocked up to level 7.

Yeong-sik’s expression twisted.

“Why on earth?”

At that time, Nam Gi-tae and his subordinates were mere ordinary people who hadn’t even undergone ‘adaptation.’ They only had crude weapons used by Orcs.

Unlocking up to level 7 against such opponents? It could only be thought of as a malfunction in the danger detection system.

Frankly speaking, even if only Blade and Boost were unlocked, it wouldn’t have been difficult to wipe out such a group.

‘Come to think of it, back then…’

Yeong-sik recalled the forced liberation when he faced the Light Shield Guild. Even then, he had annihilated them with overwhelming force that the guild members couldn’t even react to.

“Forced liberation itself unlocks too many levels.”

Yeong-sik muttered with a distorted expression. Forced liberation unlocked security levels to the extent that it could ‘crush’ the target. It was beyond using a knife to kill a cow; it was like hunting a chicken with a bazooka.

‘Just how many levels are there?’

Yeong-sik frowned with an expression that said he couldn’t fathom it. He had no idea how many levels he had unlocked during the second forced liberation.

“Anyway… this gives me even more reason not to use forced liberation.”

Yeong-sik muttered in a low voice. Just by unlocking the level to face the Light Shield Guild, his level limit had dropped by 5.

If it had been activated against a guild with rankers mixed in?

Forced liberation would unlock even more security levels to the extent that it could overwhelm rankers. It might even unlock up to the maximum level he could release.

If that happened, the risk from the overload would be too great. It wouldn’t just end with the level limit; in the worst case, he could lose his life. The pain he felt in the overload state was so intense that it wouldn’t be strange if he died right then and there.

“…But still, with this much power.”

Yeong-sik grinned as he organized the information on the new weapons.

When he obtained stats and skills through the Memory Cube, he thought he had received rewards beyond his expectations.

However, the power he obtained by unlocking security levels beyond level 5 was even more incredible.

‘If I get a little more used to controlling the weapons, it won’t be impossible to surpass others within three months.’

Yeong-sik recalled the powerful strength that Choi Yu-na and Park Cheol-tae’s party had displayed. When they first parted ways, he wasn’t sure if he could reach their level of power in just three months, but now things were different.

He felt that he could obtain strength not just equal to theirs, but perhaps even surpassing it.

“Alright.”

Yeong-sik smiled with satisfaction and opened his status window.

“`
[Summoner Information]

Name: Yeong-sik

Level: 30/73

Class: Mechanical Engineer (Hidden)

Health: 935 Mana: 753
“`

**〈Stats〉**

“`
Strength: 63

Agility: 67

Stamina: 62

Dexterity: 70

Intelligence: 45

Wisdom: 48

Luck: 43

Charisma: 60
“`

**〈Skills〉**

“`
[Structural Analysis: Lv 6]

[Dismantle: Lv 2]

[Extract: Lv 3]

[Manufacture: Lv 4]

[Enhance: Lv 1]

[Light: Lv 1]
“`

“Wow.”

A short exclamation escaped Yeong-sik’s lips as he checked his status window. His stats far exceeded the average.

‘At my current state, I’m almost on par with level 50, aren’t I?’

Since the stats obtainable from the Memory Cube did not include health and mana, he didn’t quite reach level 50, but his other stats exceeded the average stats of a level 50 character.

At this rate, when he reached the level limit of 73, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he could have stats nearing level 90.

If Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword Guild saw him now, she would likely abandon her haughty demeanor and offer numerous conditions to recruit him into the Leviathan Guild.

‘Not that I’m considering going there.’

Yeong-sik shook his head resolutely at the thought of the Leviathan Guild.

From a purely benefit-oriented perspective, betraying the Salvator Guild and joining the Leviathan Guild would yield more gains. Joining the Leviathan Guild would eliminate the need to fight against the Elnote Kingdom or rebuild a guild from scratch.

Furthermore, they were one of the three great guilds. They might possess a high-grade Black Cube, which was currently one of the most needed items for Yeong-sik.

However,

“I don’t like it.”

Yeong-sik muttered sharply. The thought of betraying the Salvator Guild and going elsewhere felt extremely ‘petty’ to him.

His body was mechanical. Even if his arm was torn off, mechanical parts would spill out instead of blood.

But that didn’t mean he had lost his humanity. Yeong-sik was, in fact, much more ‘human’ than those who had fallen to the bottom like Nam Gi-tae or Hong Seung-gal.

“Anyway, I’ve used up all the Black Cubes…”

Yeong-sik organized the Black Cubes strewn across the bed into his inventory. The growth achieved through the Black Cubes had resulted in much greater success than he had expected.

Now, it was time to push his level, currently at a mere 30, to the limit.

Yeong-sik grinned as he thought about a certain ‘plan’ that had come to mind when he obtained the new weapons.

If his plan succeeded, it would allow him to power-level far beyond even Cheon Tae-hwang, who was comfortably growing in a dungeon managed by a large guild.

“First, let’s make a drone.”

Yeong-sik muttered as he looked at the gold he had received from Bae Han-seong.