Level Up Machine

Chapter 45 Explosive Level-Up (3)

– Ding.

[Successfully manufactured a ‘drone’.]

[Your Manufacturing Skill proficiency has greatly increased.]

“Ha… Damn it.”

“Did you succeed this time?”

Gil-soo asked Yeong-sik with a slightly tired expression. Yeong-sik let out a deep sigh and nodded.

“Yes, I succeeded.”

Yeong-sik responded with a slightly contorted expression. The money he received from Bae Han-seong this time amounted to 1,000 gold. In terms of Korean currency, this was a staggering one billion won per piece.

With that money, Yeong-sik purchased a large quantity of iron ingots and Saronite, a lower-tier mineral of Mithril infused with magic.

Originally, he wanted to obtain Mithril, but the price per kilogram was exorbitantly high, so he quickly gave up on it.

The reason he specifically sought out Saronite, a magically infused metal instead of just iron ingots, was because one of the core materials needed for manufacturing the drone and using the enhancement skill was ‘metal cores’, which were much more efficiently extracted from magically infused metals.

As a magically infused metal, Saronite was incomparably more expensive than iron ingots, but Yeong-sik wasn’t too worried.

This was because the gold he received from Han-seong was ample.

However, Yeong-sik’s plan to enhance all the new weapons he obtained to the next level was completely thwarted as the drone manufacturing failed.

Despite having a skill stat of 70, which was close to a level 55, the drone manufacturing failed.

Yeong-sik was extremely flustered because he hadn’t anticipated this failure. He had never failed in manufacturing before, but now, for the first time, he failed with the drone, which required an enormous amount of materials.

When manufacturing fails, all the materials disappear, so Yeong-sik had no choice but to purchase more Saronite.

Although he had plenty of other materials like metal screws and parts, he was short on the most crucial material, the metal core.

Moreover, Yeong-sik failed in drone manufacturing twice in a row.

With no money or metal cores left, he looked at the pile of basic metal materials with a vacant expression.

The unexpected setback left him feeling lost, but it was the Black Cube, whose structure analysis was complete, that came to his rescue.

When he extracted from the Black Cube, which was now structurally analyzed and useless, he obtained metal cores of the same grade.

Yeong-sik made a final attempt with the metal core extracted from the Black Cube, his face tense with anticipation.

The result was a success. The drone manufacturing succeeded on the third try.

‘Now I don’t have any metal cores left for enhancements.’

Yeong-sik frowned as he checked the remaining materials. The 1,000 gold he received from Han-seong was all spent on additional Saronite.

“Ugh… I’ll have to earn more money to buy it later.”

Yeong-sik muttered with a regretful expression. He wished he could hit another jackpot like the last time with the Iron Golem’s corpse, but things in life rarely went that smoothly.

“Is this the drone?”

Ara poked the drone Yeong-sik had created with her finger and asked. Yeong-sik sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the drone I was trying to make.”

“Hmm. It’s a 10 billion won drone.”

Ara stroked the head of the approximately 30-centimeter-long drone as she spoke. Yeong-sik, who had squandered the vast amount of money he received from Han-seong in a single day, couldn’t bring himself to respond to her remark.

“Heh heh. You’ll be able to earn plenty of money in the future. Don’t be too upset.”

Gil-soo, with his characteristic friendly smile, said. Yeong-sik chuckled and nodded at his words.

As Gil-soo said, money could always be earned in the future.

“But is this drone okay without a power outlet?”

Ara mentioned the fatal flaw of Yeong-sik’s mechanical creations. In this world without electrical outlets, it was impossible to charge anything without using the socket on Yeong-sik’s right arm.

“Well, it’s a rechargeable model, so once it’s fully charged, it can be used for at least five hours.”

Yeong-sik used the structure analysis skill on the drone to store its information in his mind. After a full charge, it could be used for five hours. The maximum speed was 110 km/h, and it could carry up to 3 kg of weight.

Yeong-sik plugged the charging cable into his right arm to charge the drone. Then, he heard the familiar sound of machinery in his ear.

“We have detected a connection with the mechanical device.”

“We will connect the camera information installed on the mechanical device to your visual information.”

“Hoo.”

The video from the drone’s camera was displayed in Yeong-sik’s right eye. He touched his right eye, amazed. The drone’s information flooded into Yeong-sik’s mind.

“I don’t even need a remote control, do I?”

A separate remote control was originally made for controlling the drone, but Yeong-sik, connected to the drone, didn’t need such a remote. Yeong-sik operated the drone while still connected to the charging cable.

Wooong.

The drone floated slightly in the air according to his will. It was much more precise than controlling it with a remote.

“I never imagined I would see a drone in this world.”

Ara looked at the drone floating in the air by Yeong-sik’s will with a slightly dazed expression. She turned her head towards Yeong-sik.

“So, what are you going to use the drone for?”

“I’ll tell you when we get to the troll hunting grounds.”

“Um… This feels a bit unsettling.”

Ara said as she looked at Yeong-sik, who had a peculiar smile on his face. Yeong-sik chuckled and stood up.

“Then, let’s get going.”

“Isn’t it too late today?”

It was already well past lunchtime because making the drone took much longer than expected. Yeong-sik slowly shook his head in response to Gil-soo’s words.

“We won’t need much time.”

A broad smile spread across Yeong-sik’s face as he spoke.

Yeong-sik purchased a few materials needed for his plan and then immediately set off for the troll hunting grounds. The troll hunting grounds were located deeper into the mountains beyond the orc habitat.

The troll hunting grounds didn’t only have trolls. There were various animal-type monsters like Rakan or War Bears, low-level monsters like orcs, and even high-level monsters such as ogres.

While a few groups of what appeared to be novice summoners were seen in the orc habitat, there were no other summoners in the troll habitat.

Trolls were monsters around level 40-50, usually roaming the forest in small groups of one or two. Each troll was incredibly powerful, and their blood had such rapid regeneration abilities that it could be used as an ingredient for recovery potions.

Even though trolls were level 40-50, it didn’t mean that summoners of those levels could hunt them one-on-one. It took a party of at least three level 40 summoners to barely manage to take down one troll.

Aside from the gold dropped by monsters, the blood collected could be sold for a high price, making trolls valuable prey. However, summoners rarely visited the troll habitat.

The reason was the occasional appearance of a monster called an ‘ogre’. These monsters were nearly level 70, elite monsters that required at least six summoners of the same level to hunt down. Due to their presence, the troll habitat became one of the most avoided places for summoners.

“I’m a bit nervous.”

Gil-soo muttered as he gripped the Light Shield more tightly. It was inevitable that he felt a bit nervous since he hadn’t hunted since the abandoned mine incident.

“Don’t worry. Didn’t we acquire some good items?”

Yeong-sik said, looking at the Light Shield in Gil-soo’s hand. Gil-soo scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit embarrassed by Yeong-sik’s comment.

“Such items are too good for me. Han-seong must be quite bold to hand over something like this.”

Before parting ways with the guild, Yeong-sik and his party received rare items from Han Cheol-ho’s warehouse.

Yeong-sik obtained a B-grade rare item, the ‘Cloak of Wind,’ which increased his agility stats and allowed for momentary invisibility. Ara received a B-grade rare item, the ‘Staff of Glacier,’ which increased her intelligence stats and added extra damage to ice-type spells.

One A-grade rare item and two B-grade rare items. Such exceptional support was unheard of for summoners around level 30.

‘With that item, even Uncle Gil-soo can exceed his level.’

Yeong-sik looked at Gil-soo’s back as he walked ahead. The biggest regret in Yeong-sik’s current plan was Gil-soo’s level.

Gil-soo’s level cap was 45. It would be difficult for him to experience the ‘rapid level-up’ Yeong-sik was planning. No matter how much experience he gained at once, it would be meaningless if he hit his level cap.

‘There’s nothing we can do about it.’

While Yeong-sik knew how to raise his own level cap, it was limited to himself. He didn’t have the ability to raise someone else’s level cap. All he could hope for was that Gil-soo would push himself beyond his limits and reach new heights through his own efforts.

With that thought, Yeong-sik wandered through the forest, looking for a suitable spot to implement his plan. After searching the forest for a while, he found a place with canyon-like terrain.

‘This is it.’

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled as he surveyed the surroundings. He turned his head towards Gil-soo and Ara and spoke.

“Then let me explain the plan I’ve come up with.”

As Yeong-sik spoke, he pulled out a piece of deer meat from his pocket, specifically a haunch, known to be a troll’s favorite food.

“What kind of plan is this, exactly?”

Ara asked in a slightly frustrated voice, annoyed that Yeong-sik had yet to reveal his so-called plan.

Yeong-sik chuckled and began explaining his plan.

“What, what did you say?”

“Heh heh, no matter how you look at it, that’s…”

Ara and Gil-soo looked at Yeong-sik with incredulous expressions after hearing his plan. It hardly seemed like a plan at all, more like a reckless suicide mission.

“It takes at least three people to handle a single troll, and you plan to herd and hunt them? Isn’t that way too reckless?”

Ara asked, her face pale. Yeong-sik responded calmly.

“That’s why I chose this canyon-like terrain. If we launch a wide-area attack all at once, we can handle them even if there are many.”

“Right now, the only wide-area attack we have is my magic. Even though I have the Staff of Glacier, it’s still hard for me alone to inflict fatal damage on the trolls.”

Ara spoke in a cold voice. According to Yeong-sik’s plan, they needed to inflict critical damage on a large number of trolls with a single magical attack.

But even with her hidden class and a B-grade rare item, it was impossible for her to deliver a fatal blow to the trolls with one spell.

It was already difficult to do such a thing with single-target magic, let alone wide-area magic. The trolls would likely become even more enraged and attack them.

“It’s not just one wide-area attack.”

Yeong-sik said, tapping his left thigh. Following the pre-cut seam in his pants, five mines dropped to the ground. The mines, slightly larger than his palm, crawled on the ground like living creatures with their four legs.

“What, what are these?”

Ara asked as she watched the five mines crawling on the ground.

“They are mines capable of wide-area attacks.”

Ara stared at the familiar-looking mines, mumbling in disbelief.

“Now it’s not just Zealots…”