Chapter 23: I Got A Disciple I Didn’t Know About

“Was it 11-2?”

Thud.

Thud..

Every ten steps, Yooseong would raise his head to check the signs around him.

There were several signs with numbers and numbers written on them.

He would find the sign with the number 11 and guess where he was.

The reason he looked at the signs instead of his surroundings was simple.

When he looked up and looked ahead, he saw endless square wooden buildings reminiscent of shantytowns on Earth, and it was impossible to tell which house was which.

One of those many cubic houses was Yooseong’s house.

The workshop in the alley where he used to live had completely collapsed and turned into ashes, perhaps because the giant Thor had stepped on it once.

Of course, he could have built a workshop there again.

‘It would be inconvenient if he came back.”

The location of the workshop had already been discovered by KarenRedleaf.

In preparation for the uncomfortable faces that kept coming to his house, he bought a house in a shantytown full of identical buildings.

Of course, as time goes by, the location will be revealed anyway, and if he was not planning on being caught at all, it would be right to move to a different area.

Squeak

However, there was still work to be done at Metallica, and the construction crew for the dimensional transfer gate was also here, so Yoosung was satisfied with just buying a little time.

It would be better than being in a place where the location had already been revealed.

“It’s a bit dusty.”

The interior of the house, which was built not long ago, is not much different from the workshop in the alley.

Everything has been designed to resemble the workshop in the alley, with a workbench, a shelf, and a bed, for “familiarity.”

However, the hideout leading to the underground base is still in the alley, so the previously unnecessarily large closet that was there was not prepared.

Suddenly…

Yooseong took off his outer clothes and placed the giant fragment he brought on the workbench.

He started preparing the flask containing the reagents needed for mineral investigation and the alchemy tools to investigate the hardness and mana suitability of the ore one by one on the workbench.

Bubbling…

After a while, when the heating lamp began to boil, Yooseong sat in front of the workbench while wearing eye protection like goggles and picked up the giant fragment with tongs.

He tried soaking it in the heated reagent.

Scratched it with another hard rock.

Blew mana into it through the magic stone to check the changes.

Bang.

And when he let go of the tongs that were holding the ore.

“This is it!”

Yoosung exclaimed as he took off his eye protection with trembling hands.

The rock with high mana adaptability that he had been searching for and the rigidity to withstand the output of the dimensional transfer gate!

He felt a sense of accomplishment at finally finding it, but at the same time, he was also annoyed that his transmutation technique: interpretation was not working.

“Why on earth can’t I interpret it?

Hoo..”

Only by interpreting the art of transmutation can one know the exact composition of the ore and create a device that mass-produces the ore through transmutation.

However, if the interpretation does not work, there are only two ways to obtain this ore.

First, transmutation itself can transmutate the ore.

However, this method is impossible without a doubt.

The conditions for transmutation overload are the complexity of the target structure, size, and high energy content.

This giant fragment is small in size, but it has a complex structure and high energy content.

It has high mana adaptability and strong strength, but its structure is complex due to its density, and it has a large storage capacity that can contain high energy, so transmutation determines it as a high-energy object.

Even if Yooseong, who is considered the best transmutationist, attempts transmutation, he can only replicate a fragment the size of a fist.

He needs ore to cover a dimensional transfer gate the size of a soccer field…

If he were to transmutate that much, Yooseong would not be able to fill even a tenth of it by using transmutation alone until he dies of old age.

Throw it away.

“Then the remaining method is…”

Simple.

The place where the giant fragments come from.

Hit the giant itself and dig it up.

“When I saw then… it regenerated like a lizard even when cut off, right?”

Yooseong imagined holding onto a giant and continuously tearing off its limbs for a moment, then immediately got up from his seat and prepared to go out.

“What?!

You want more ore!?”

He ran straight to the blacksmith workshop and came back after getting more giant fragments from BolderBerg.

Sizzle..

Bubble bubble..

And that evening, Yooseong examined the giant fragments he had obtained in more detail.

“What…

Each fragment has a different mana adaptation and hardness..?”

The excited mood sank a little to the abyss when he confirmed the results.

After examining several pieces of the giant fragments, the mana adaptation and strength were all different even though they were the same mineral.

“It’s definitely the same type of ore..

But why are the results all different?”

Yooseong was holding the ore fragments in his hand and pondering the incomprehensible results.

Suddenly, a scene flashed through his mind.

Iris swung her crystal sword and spear to attack the giant, and the giant blocked it with her arms and fists and recovered from her wounds.

“Surely…

The mana adaptation and strength of the regenerated parts decrease?”

That was all that came to mind.

“Then it would be impossible to tie them up and mine them, right?”

If he could capture just one and mine them, things would be very easy…

However, if the mana adaptation and hardness decrease in that case, there would be no reason to mine the giant fragments.

“In the end…”

There is only one method left.

“We have to catch as many as possible.”

You have to catch as many giants as possible and extract and extract their bodies.

The difficulty level increases dramatically because you have to separate their limbs before they recover, rather than simply defeating them.

“But that’s fortunate…

It’s not like there’s only one giant or they’re rare.”

The giants would soon arrive on this continent.

The giants’ invasion, which he had thought was just a nuisance.

Yooseong now truly considered the invasion of the giants, which anyone would find terrifying, to be a blessing.

Because of them, his return home, which had seemed so far away, felt so close that it seemed tangible.

Thud…!

Instead of the quill and parchment he usually used, Yooseong used a proper ballpoint pen and A4 paper, and for the first time in a long while, he wrote down methods and means to attack the giants on paper until nightfall, looking very energetic.

Thump-

“I can’t do it alone.”

Assuming that there were over 100 giants, and recalling his battle with the giant Thor, he concluded that no matter how much equipment he had, it would be impossible for Yooseong to ‘collect the limbs’ alone.

Thud…

He grabbed a shovel and a cube containing equipment.

Squeak…

He left home.

It’s still early morning, so the lights in the workshops and buildings are all off, and only the shadows of the buildings towering above and below can be seen.

Yooseong came down the hill of the shantytown almost as if he was running and entered the dark commercial district.

Step, step, step..

He kept walking down the dark road.

Step, step.

He stopped walking in an empty lot.

“…”

Yooseong looked at the remnants of slightly puffed up dirt.

There was an alley and the entrance to the workshop here.

The reason it’s in the past tense is because the remnants have now been cleaned up and it looks like a well-plowed field.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Yooseong started digging the evenly packed dirt with the shovel he brought.

“Whew..”

As sweat formed on his forehead, a silver iron door appeared from inside the hole.

It was a door that had been used as the entrance to the workshop, but he didn’t want to throw it away, so he converted it into a cover leading to an underground hideout.

Squeak..

squeak…

He opened the cover and went inside.

Yooseong.

“Night vision mode.”

[Night vision mode applied…]

He activated the prosthetic eye and closed the cover, finishing it with fusion magic.

Even if he found the door, it wouldn’t be easy to open.

Hooooowoong…

The sky is blizzarding.

The land is covered only in white snow and the cone-shaped snowy mountains rise up as if they’re going to pierce the sky.

It’s called the ‘White Magic Realm’ among adventurers because it’s a place where snow falls 365 days a year and the weather remains below zero.

According to legend, a dragon made of ice has made its nest there and no one is allowed to approach.

It was not simply a rumor created by fear of the cold and extreme terrain, but there were stories of hunters in nearby villages seeing blue dragons flying around, so people believed that it was half the dragon’s territory.

Jerk.

Jerk..

“Whew…”

A person walking through a white snow field where no one comes..

[Automatic body temperature control function.. operating normally..]

“If it goes off.. tell me right away.. I’ll freeze to death..”

[Yes.

Master.]

There was a steel human.

There was only one person in this continent who wore a black-coated helmet on a suit that resembled muscles made of metal.

The person walking right now was none other than a meteor!

Just a few hours ago, a meteor that had been in the Metallica Capital was now walking on the snowy road of the White Magic Mirror, which was two kingdoms away from the Metallica Capital.

The reason it was possible to move without a magician was thanks to the magic circle that led to the White Magic Mirror among the escape magic circles operating in the meteor’s underground hideout.

Fortunately, the magic circle leading to the White Magic Mirror was functioning properly, while the other magic circles were damaged.

“Is this the right way..?

I can only see snow?”

[Reconfirming coordinates…]

[Unable to determine exact location due to terrain deformation.]

“.”

I had clearly set up a magic circle in a cave near the target point.

Due to the environment where snow fell incessantly in the White Magic Mirror, the terrain’s elevation changed, making it impossible for Yi-an’s navigation to pinpoint the location.

In fact, it wasn’t just Yi-an’s fault.

Since settling down in Iron Road, I hadn’t been to the White Magic Mirror even once.

Thud…

thud…

It’s a place I don’t want to come to for many reasons.

‘That’ hideout in the White Magic Mirror was Yooseong’s greatest strength, but also a place like his chuunibyou past that he wanted to hide.

Since he didn’t feel like going, he naturally stopped coming.

If there was another way to defeat the giants, he wouldn’t have come here.

Thud…

After struggling for a long time in the white landscape covered in snow, “_”

In the distance, the entrance to a cave that was too big to be called a cave, but too small to be called a mountain, began to appear.

‘Found it!”

Now that his destination was close enough to be seen, Yooseong leaped forward, staggering and using all the strength of his suit.

Whoosh–

With each leap, the entrance to the giant cave came closer, and the ice wall filling the entrance came into view.

“There’s less snow at the entrance compared to other places, right?

Maybe the wind is blowing in the opposite direction…

The area in front of the ice wall was so cleanly cleared of snow in the shape of a fan.

Considering the completely white landscape, it was not normal for the snow to be cleared to the point where you could see the dirt on the ground.

As he got closer and closer to the entrance, Yooseong felt something was strange.

Is there any trace of someone having stayed here?’

After searching with his prosthetic eye, he saw someone’s footprints in the snow.

“Log cabin…?”

He could see a small log cabin built right in front of the entrance.

There are two poles standing up, and there are traces of meat dried there or rocks gathered to make a campfire, so it is highly likely that someone has been living in that log house until recently…

no, even now.

Jeez.

“…”

Since I haven’t been here for several years, someone could have built a log house in front of here.

If it were a different place.

However, this is the White Magic Realm where people rarely come and go.

Furthermore, this huge cave is not just any cave, it is the dragon lair where Bingryong Liupleia lived.

Since it always likes to settle in the center of a certain area, this is the center of the White Magic Realm and can be said to be the most dangerous area.

But why would it make a house and live in a place like this?

It feels like a dangerous person with a story rather than a normal person.

…

Maybe it’s another dragon.

It could be a dragon that came to seek revenge on Bingryong Liupleia.

Standing a certain distance away from the log house, Yooseong wondered whether he should search the house or bring a weapon and set it up nearby.

Squeak…

Then the door to the log cabin opens.

“Whoa-

The weather is clear again today…

Huh?!”

A little boy wearing a bear hat and fur coat comes out.

Jiying.

A prosthesis that automatically enlarges the girl’s face.

The blue hair and blue cat eyes that grow under the bear hat.

The facial features are like a cute girl’s, but one protruding fang tells you that she is not human.

Swish swish- and a black striped tail waving behind her clothes.

‘Beastman…

half-beastman?’

If it’s a complete animal head, it’s a full-beastman.

If it has animal ears and a tail, it’s a half-beastman.

Probably a feline…

Judging by the tail, the girl, who was presumed to be a black tiger beastman, looked straight at Yooseong as if she had seen a ghost.

Why is a little girl alone in a snowy mountain like this…?”

Meanwhile, Yooseong, who was looking at the house in heat detection mode, realized that there was no one in the house and turned his head back to the beastman girl.

The girl was still frozen.

“You’re scared….”

Yooseong, who judged it that way, didn’t bother to approach her and just stood there.

“Over there…”

He reached out to the girl and spoke.

“Hic..!”

Then the water girl took a couple of steps back with a surprised face.

“Oops..!

I’m not normal right now.

Yooseong, who realized belatedly that he was wearing a full suit, moved his fingers to remove the helmet part of the suit.

“Whew..

Sorry for startling you.”

“Ah..!”

“I’m not a bad person.

You don’t have to be so scared..”

“Sa..sasasasat.”

“Sa..?”

“Master!!!”

Clink!

Yooseong tried to reflexively take a defensive stance for a moment as he watched the water girl throw down the broom he was holding and rush towards him.

“Master..?”

The title “Master’ that the girl uttered and.

Thud-

“Huh..huh..Master..!!”

He couldn’t do anything as he saw the girl running towards him, falling over, getting up again, crying and blowing her face, crying and blowing her tongue.

Because he couldn’t find even the slightest bit of bad intentions or murderous intent in the girl’s wet eyes.

Pok-

The girl who finally reached the firm embrace of the meteor buried her face in the stomach of the suit.

“Hwaaang-!”

She started to cry more sadly than ever.

“Thump!

Thump!

Calm down.

You’ll lose strength if you cry like that, right?

Yeah?”

Although Yoosung was flustered by the sudden situation, he had a younger sister on Earth.

He patted her on the back in the softest voice he could and tried to comfort her.

“Huh…

huh…”

After Yoosung’s efforts, the calm Suin girl finally wiped her face, which was covered in snot and tears, with her sleeve.

“Why!

Why are you so late!

Master!”

“Huh?”

She shouted at Yoosung again, using the title ‘Master”.

To Yoosung, the only people who called him master were the dwarves of Metallica.

So why was this girl he had never seen before calling him master?

“Master…

What do you mean?

By the way, don’t you have anyone else?

Like your parents or someone you live with?”

“No!

I’ve been living alone the whole time…

And a master…

a master…”

The girl trailed off and suddenly searched through her pockets, took out an object, and showed it to Yoosung.

“You said that if I came to you, I’d make you my disciple!

That’s why I came to you and waited!”

“What is this…

ah!”

Yoosung’s face hardened for a moment when he saw the compass on the girl’s small palm.

-Sorcery?

Transmutation is definitely an excellent technique.

Rather, wouldn’t transmutation make you much stronger than the punches those guys use?

If you want to become strong, then come to me.

I may not be your martial arts master, but I will be your transmutation master.

…I remembered.’

The half-beast black tiger beast girl that we saw in the Animas, the water nation in the desert.

A child born as a half-beast in the orthodox tiger water nation in a country where the water tribes are fiercely divided between the Wansu and the Wansu tribes, and who was neglected.

‘I was crazy!”

I remember him being born with the profession of a sorcerer in a family that followed strong martial arts, but he was neglected, and he remembered everything, like how he gave me a compass with the coordinates of the hideout and even said he would become my master.

“When….

when have you been here?”

“Since they said the Demon King was…

ugh…

defeated.”

Two years ago.

So for the past two years, this little child had been living alone in this place filled with snow, cold and crazy, where it was hard to find food.

“Hey…

Master?”

Yoosung, who saw the water girl staring at him with tears in his eyes, felt as if his own child, whom he never knew was all grown up, had come to find him and called him ‘Dad!’

and at the same time, he felt an urge to beat his past self to death for spewing out such useless words.