Etheropolis Magic Engineering Research Institute.
"Oh, this is... munch munch... interesting. Gulp!"
"You could have finished eating before looking at it."
"No. I brought such an interesting blueprint, so I have to eat while looking at it. And Veila."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you ever cook something like this for me and your master?"
"Delicious food comes from a variety of fresh ingredients. In my father's house, there was only old, hardened salt and sugar, rotten cabbage, and eggs that had turned black."
"Ahem... Is that so."
I looked up at Rubolph.
Rotten cabbage and black eggs.
They must have cooked and eaten that somehow. How was he still alive?!
Perhaps, hidden behind Kancho's threat to break his staff, he was actually the type of person whose very humanity was stronger than anyone else's.
"What do you call this? The savory flavor is incredible."
"Kimchi braised short ribs. It's very tender, right?"
"The bland food of Etheropolis isn't bad, but it's nowhere near this. I love the spiciness."
I agree one hundred percent.
Bland food might be better for your health, but when it comes to taste, spicy food is the best. And no cuisine does it better than Korean food.
Grandpa Rubolph finished the lunchbox cleanly and even downed a bowl of makgeolli.
Wait a minute, he needs to interpret the blueprint, and he's drinking makgeolli!?
"Hmm?"
Did he notice my concern?
The old man waved his hand.
"No need to worry. The more drunk I get, the better I perform."
He seemed to be a master of the drunken fist style.
"So, is reinforcement possible?"
Rubolph scanned the blueprint once more and nodded.
"Of course it's possible. Who do you think I am?"
"Grandpa Rubolph?"
"That's correct, but it's a bit bland. Anyway, leave the reinforcement to me."
"Is there anything you need?"
"I think I can use parts from dismantling some magic engineering weapons..."
Rubolph trailed off and looked around the research institute.
"There are no leftover weapons. You took them all back then. If you have any left, give me some. It'll speed up the reinforcement."
"Just a moment."
Mooooooom!!
"I came out... Hoo! Hoo!"
Had it been five seconds since she manifested?
Unable to hold out much longer, Momo flopped onto her back.
"I'm so full I can't move! What about Momo?!"
"Pig."
"Pig Momo, what about it?!"
No wonder she had eaten so much today.
"Momo, open the Infinite Storage for a second. I need to use some magic engineering weapons to reinforce the Ticket Storage."
"Got it!"
Momo barely turned over and opened the bag covered in scales.
The entrance to the storage formed on one side of the research institute.
Just as I was about to walk over, Momo grabbed my pant leg.
Her face was incredibly serious and determined.
"You have to be careful of the Invader! Elia might come!!"
"Uh, yeah. She won't come. She's probably napping after making the workshop assistants clean."
"Perfect!"
Momo gave a chubby thumbs-up and then dropped her head.
She was off to dreamland in an instant.
The sin of sloth... it wasn't contagious, was it?
I shrugged my shoulders and entered the Infinite Storage.
'It's seriously ridiculously huge.'
Maybe because it had been a while, it felt even more spacious than before.
That meant Great Teacher Momo had been piling up all sorts of things.
I walked slowly, looking around, heading towards where the magic engineering weapons were.
It was truly a relief.
Unlike Elia, she was good at organizing.
After picking out a variety of items, I exited the storage.
"Will this be enough?"
"Hmm! This should be sufficient. Just rest for a bit. It won't take long. You rest too, Veila."
"No, I'll clean the research institute."
"What kind of guest cleans? Just sit down."
"Impossible. Dust flies up just from walking, and every surface I touch is sticky."
Rubolph made an awkward expression.
He really hadn't cleaned in a while.
"Ahem! Anyway, I'll start working. Could you hand me that Ticket Storage thing?"
"Here you go! Please take care of it!"
Rubolph nodded and scurried off to his workbench.
Veila pulled out the cleaning supplies she had brought and started cleaning the research institute at an incredible speed.
I sat down next to Teacher Momo, who had gone to dreamland, and opened my status window.
[Blank Card - Normal: 0]
[Blank Card - True: 1]
[Blank Card - Transcendent: 0]
I had been pondering where to use the True Card while eating Teharam grilled meat.
And I made my decision not long after.
The unique skill of Nia, the Sin of Gluttony and Sloth: Light Devourer.
It devours not just divine power but light itself. In terms of function alone, it could be considered a superior version of the Inverse Cross.
Of course, without Nia's unique traits like 'In the Darkness,' 'Form Conversion,' and 'Light Storage' that connect to Light Devourer, its utility would be somewhat reduced. But even just looking at the tactical aspect, it was well worth the investment.
If the light disappears, I won't be able to see either. How will I fight?
No problem.
I have Kancho's Presence Detection and Renya's Fighting Spirit.
And with Momo's Energy Suppression, the darkness will become a very favorable environment for me.
Ding!
[You engrave the unique skill 'Light Devourer' of Nia, the Sin of Gluttony and Sloth born from darkness, onto the Blank Card - True.]
A smile spread across my face as the energy seeped in.
Let's try it out right away.
There's something I want to test.
'Where would be good?'
I looked around and approached a lamp in the corner of the research institute.
Perfect.
I reached my hand out straight in front of me.
Then I set the range to devour.
It can be freely adjusted within the limited range.
[Light Devourer]
Crunch!
As expected, an instant-activation skill.
The moment I used it, a pitch-black wolf-shaped maw appeared and swallowed the lamp.
The light vanished immediately.
I quietly watched the lamp and timed it.
Veila had tested various things on the sleeping Nia last time.
Back then, a light bulb with a continuous power supply had come back on quickly.
'Oh ho.'
The lamp still wasn't turning on, even after nearly a minute had passed.
It was only after almost three minutes that the light returned to the lamp.
"Hey, that's mine."
"Oh, jeez. You scared me."
Nia suddenly manifested right in front of me.
I was startled because I had been lost in thought.
Perfect timing.
"Nia. Light Devourer only swallows the light that exists at the moment of consumption, right? In a case where light is continuously supplied, this lamp should have turned on immediately, but it was out for a while."
"Yeah. That's..."
Nia slowly lifted her head to look at me.
For some reason, her half-closed eyes were trembling.
"You don't know?"
"No, I know. I'm just recalling it."
After finishing her thoughts, Nia continued.
"It's because the Light Devourer that the master took is a high grade."
"It's High-Grade Level 2."
"Yeah. Low and Mid grades only eat the light of that instant. But High grade eats the conceptual space where light can reside."
I wouldn't be able to explain it scientifically, but I think I roughly understand the feeling.
It's an ability that truly suits the sin of gluttony.
"But, master."
"Yeah?"
"Why did you only learn Light Devourer? You need to learn the other unique traits too, to store what you've eaten, convert it, and use it."
She made a sad expression.
"To learn them, I need Blank Cards, but I don't have any left."
Lately, the system has been unusually stingy.
"You have to learn them when you get cards later. Then you'll get stronger."
"I'll learn them as soon as I get them."
It wasn't an empty promise.
If this one cycle of supply, storage, conversion, and use becomes possible, I'll have quite a variety of combat options.
"Good."
Nia slowly extended her thumb like a sloth.
Then she slowly walked over and lay down next to Momo.
Zzzzz!!
She must have been tired from talking so much.
Boom!!
I looked at the workbench at the sudden explosion.
First of all, Grandpa Rubolph, the worker, was safe.
Then, did my Ticket Storage explode?!
I rushed over, and Rubolph, his face covered in soot, turned to look at me.
"It's been successfully reinforced."
"Huh?!"
I'm relieved it didn't explode, but why is that considered successful?!
"Ah, this explosion? In magic engineering, it's as natural as breathing."
"Is that so? Then it's nothing serious."
"It is serious. People die from it sometimes."
I swallowed dryly.
I didn't know being a magic engineering researcher was such a dangerous job.
"Here you go. It's a bit scorched, but it's fine."
He handed me the Ticket Storage.
Ding!
[You have successfully reinforced the Ticket Storage!]
[The storage's grade increases from Unique to Epic!]
[An excellent blueprint met an excellent magic engineer! An additional Epic-grade option is granted!]
[Ticket Storage / Grade: Epic]
# Maximum number of tickets that can be stored: 20.
# Can store 10 tickets each for the Tower of Myth and the Tower of Despair.
# Epic Option: When the user desires, all Tower of Despair tickets stored in the storage are reinforced!
My hand automatically went up to cover my mouth.
I almost screamed out loud.
My level had reached 150 after the recent Azriel subjugation.
Thanks to that, all future climbs would also require reinforcement.
Every time I went through the Tower of Despair, I would have had to contact the Player Hunter Bureau, go through the hassle of finding people, or, failing that, wait for someone to talk to me like this time.
But now, there's no need for that.
'Niiice!'
Since there were people watching, I decided to hold back on the uppercut.
Instead, I strode over and hugged Grandpa Rubolph.
"Thank you! This was an absolutely necessary function! As expected from Etheropolis... no, the world's greatest magic engineer!"
"Hohoho! What's with the obvious title! I'm very glad it was helpful!"
The old man seemed pleased and patted my back vigorously.
"The result is excellent, probably because I worked after eating a lot of delicious food!"
"I'll leave some snacks before I go. There's plenty in that chubby friend's storage."
"Well, I'd be very grateful for that! Wahahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!!"
I burst into laughter along with Grandpa Rubolph.
When I get out, I need to send a message to Team Leader Jin Yunho.
To tell him I don't need him to find reinforcement tickets anymore.
Once again... super nice!
* * *
Yeonsanghoe Main Branch.
Jin Seohee and Yoo Suyeon, gathered in one place, put their heads together.
They thought hard for a long time.
"Haaaaa!"
"Haa!!"
Without either one being first, they both let out a sigh.
It wasn't because business was bad.
Business was good. Very good.
But it had become difficult to grow further in many ways.
This was because existing shops and companies, which had never even considered them competitors before, had started to acknowledge Yeonsanghoe's potential and began intense pressure.
They would need to break through this to find a path for growth, and to do that, they needed a unique move from Yeonsanghoe that didn't exist in the current market.
But they just couldn't figure out what to do.
"Would it be too shameless to hope for some innovative item to just drop out of the sky?"
"How strange. I was just thinking the same thing. Suyeon-ssi, why am I so lacking in creativity?"
"Me too."
As they were racking their brains with another sigh.
Ring ring.
Yoo Suyeon's phone started ringing.
# Yoo Jinhyuk.
The two people looked at the screen and then at each other's faces.
They hadn't even answered the call yet.
But why?
For some reason, they felt like something was about to drop.
The very thing they had been hoping for so desperately.
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T/N:
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