Above Your Head

Vol 2. Chapter 71: The Salvation of God (8)

-Do you want to start the next battle? If you knock down the enemies in quick succession, your number of clears will cancel the corresponding number of Death Procession. At the end of the stage, the Death Procession that isn't retracted will be confirmed and cannot be reversed.

Start. The speaker my body held onto spoke, and the next stage began.

The Gigas Call was automatically triggered and the next Avatar-1761 was summoned to the stage. I clicked my tongue at that sight, because I recalled the fact that the iron ores were all used up due to its current appearance. "It's still a fully-working Gigas, but they used a new one, huh."

It's a characteristic of the stage, so it can't be helped.

Summoned Things, or equipment, such as fired arrows and already lost weapons, that the player was not equipped with when the stage was cleared would disappear upon re-challenging the stage. The Avatar series, which was called out from the Unique World, seemed to be recognized as part of the Summoned Things. The proof was that even if the Avatar series was stuck close to my body before clearing the stage, it disappeared when I re-challenged the stage. It seemed the only recognized equipment were those equipped as soon as I entered the stage.

"At the very least, it's fortunate that it doesn't disappear completely."

Although it's useless on the stage this time.

Disappeared objects crossed over to reality instead of disappearing into thin air. I had seen those objects appearing around my body when I went back to reality after every stage.

"Hmm." I looked at the other machines standing behind me. Goblin, Hunter, and Avatar-1761. Then, I asked, "How much iron ore do we have left?"

Currently about 13 tons of iron ore remain.

"That's a lot, isn't it? I thought you said that there wasn't much left."

Genie replied to my question, We started at 4 million tons, Captain-nim.

"Ahhh, right." I nodded. Besides, more than 110 million Death Processions still remained, so the actual fact was that we had far less iron ore than what was required. I stopped talking and looked at Avatar-1761. Then, I looked at Goblin, which consumed more than four times the iron ore needed, so it was an absolutely bad choice in terms of efficiency. However, considering my increasing capabilities as a producer, improvement and development was clearly a necessary process. Also, Genie and Ares were basically helping me cut short on the path I had to take to an extreme point…

'It's extreme.' The battle method, which was assumed to smash the entire body, was the kind of thing that a living human being would not dare to imitate. 'But it's intense.' If so, there was only one name for it.

"Can you show me the blueprint for Goblin, Hunter, and Berserker?"

Berserker... You mean?

"Yes, the way Avatar-1761 fought was just like a Berserker."

Okay!

Keuuuu! Yes, that's exactly what it feels like! It will never back off and then goes...Kabooom!!

Listening to the two seemingly happy control personas, I confirmed the number of machines remaining. Aside from 13 tons of iron ore, there were more than 50 finished Avatar series; 30 units of Goblin, 10 units of Hunter, and 10 units of Berserker. I then said, "Stop with the production now, and proceed with the stage by using Goblin."

Do you plan to do more?

"You have done it in my stead thus far, so it'll be a pity to just end it," I commented, knowing that Genie and Ares had tried as much as mechanical engineering permitted. The materials were limited, so it was actually amazing that they were able to make improvements that came close to a Compléter. However, that was not a spiritual reinforcement. "Bring me the parts."

Seems like you're planning to strengthen the properties.

"Because there's no reason to meddle with the design that you both have thought about for a long time."

Genie's Metal Bodies moved diligently and placed Goblin's parts next to me. Although the parts were still not granted a property, they were produced in the giant facilities built in the Unique World by Genie. They had unimaginable sturdiness and resilience.

Whoooong---! I picked up one of the parts and started injecting Aura in. I concentrated the Aura emitting throughout my entire body at a single point. From the reproduction of ordinary steel, it soon became something that possessed a special property.

Wiggleee! The steel, which was too tough to even be scratched by a heavy-hitting hammer, twitched like living flesh. It pulsated as if blood flowed inside, repeatedly contracting and relaxing. It was a thing of wonder that would cause the scientists on Earth to scream if they saw it! It was the implementation of the Steel Muscles property.

I stabilized the burning Aura, rested for a while, and placed my hand on the next part. If the parts I touched a while ago were internal organs, then I was now working on the exterior parts.

Groarrrrr-! I named it Goblin, but it had an outward appearance similar to a skeleton to minimize the consumption of iron ore. Its armor parts, permeating in a silver Aura, had already been compressed close to the limit with rolled steel plates. Yet, it was now being compressed beyond the laws of physics to become even thinner. It gained even more sturdiness and resilience which had surpassed the limit. It was the implementation of the Reinforcement property.

In short, I applied a property to each part of Goblin. Genie then took the parts that were granted with a property to assemble and finish building Goblin.

Kwan Dae-ha

Level 6

Reinforced-type, Goblin

The level of Goblin had increased by two even though it had the same properties and materials. This was unsurprising, since the properties imbued via cartridges for mass production and the properties that I personally granted wouldn't be the same.

"Since it could be confusing..." I put my hand on the back of Goblin's head and exhibited my elemental affinity's ability. The word Goblin (Level 6) was engraved on the back of its head. "Hmm." I pondered about it for a second and added one line below it.

-by Iron Mask

"Hehe."

As I smiled awkwardly and took my left arm off of Goblin's head to check the time, Genie answered before I could do so, 2 hours and 47 minutes have passed.

"Time flew, huh. How long does it take to imbue Goblin with the properties at the Barracks?"

More than 12 hours and 30 minutes.

"That means manual work is much faster, huh," I acknowledged. Even in the case of Berserkers, it took less than 10 hours to clear the stage. So, if I proceeded with the stage only with the Berserkers, then production would be pushed back. 'Of course, if the production is delayed, then I'll just proceed with the Goblins.'

I went through the same process, making Hunter(Level 8) and Berserker(Level 10). I repeated the process in the ways I saw fit.

"Hmm. I'm not getting any better at all." I repeated hard labor because I thought that, no matter what spiritual ability it was, the most effective method to train would be repetitive action. However, only the production time was reduced, and the end product did not really differ much. "Genie, smelt all the iron ore and disassemble the previously made Hunters and Berserkers by parts. I'll be making new ones."

Yes, Captain-nim.

I focused again on imbuing the properties as I saw Genie's Metal Bodies diligently moving and arranging the parts. I then wondered, 'Should I increase the type of properties?'

If someone other than me had the ability to imbue properties, they would perhaps only be able to grant a few properties throughout their life. This was because properties could only be imbued based mainly on the abilities that one fully understood and embodied. It was just like when I created the Concentric Circle property when I first handled vibration; extremely disciplined skill, innate talent, tribal attributes or very intense individuality. Moreover, even among them, only a few fell within the bounds where that particular property could be granted to items. However, it was different for me.

"Book."

*Abilities of the Day!

Acceleration

Pressure

Conservation

Flash

I was able to extract Abilities from the book to create a property. Of course, not all Abilities could be freely extracted.

'Flash! Can't Flash be extracted?!' I tried it out of greed, but failed. It was difficult to get a sense of it perhaps because it was a spatial-type attribute. It did not matter that it was just a normal-grade Ability.

The funny thing was that I succeeded in making Steel Muscles, which could be considered a Rare-grade Ability, into a property. 'It's probably possible because I'm a species that frequently uses muscles.' If the craftsman which possessed this ability was a species that did not have muscles, the Kendler tribe for example, then acquiring the Steel Muscles property would have been as difficult as obtaining a Unique-grade Ability.

'Then what about Acceleration?' Simply by looking at it, the attribute was as difficult to make as Flash. If Flash was a spatial-type attribute, then Acceleration was a temporal-type attribute. However, properties were not necessarily made from attributes that one possessed. Like most living things, I also felt time as I lived day-to-day even if I didn't feel space.

Skill. You have acquired the skill to grant the Acceleration property (Unique)!

"...I know, I know alright. This is really useless." I frowned at the text that appeared. It was the same with the kkokdugaksi[1], and also with the Unique World. The mission system's skill was of no use. I had stat points, but since I didn't have skill points, it could only play the role of providing information on the level of abilities that I already had.

Skill. You have acquired the skill to grant the Pressure property(Unique)!

I was starting to increase the number of properties I could grant. There were plenty of opportunities for training. I had Napoleon's Iron Heart, which compensated the enormous soul power, so it was entirely doable if I kept trying without rest. There was also plenty of food now, which used to be a problem when in shortage...

Mehhhhhh~ Oink oink! Cockadoodledoo!

"…Wow." I went for a walk around the Unique World and laughed in vain at the barn on one side. A huge number of livestock were being raised in a ten-story building. That was not all. "It's vast."

200,000 years have passed, Captain-nim. This was the only thing that could be done, because the resources of the Unique World are limited.

"Where did the soil come from?"

After smelting the iron ores, there were quite a few impurities left behind that could be used as soil.

"So that's what happened, huh." I saw vast farmland that stretched out towards the horizon. It was a massive scale that accounted for 30 percent of the Unique World that had grown to B-rank after opening the door again. There were all kinds of plants growing there. Of course, the most common type was Big Bread, the special crops of the Leonhardt Empire.

Big Bread was a bread that grew on the ground. Fascinatingly enough, Big Bread took on the shape and texture of bread when fully ripe, and had a corn-like flavor. Therefore, it was a considerably good staple food.

Of course, it was like that only at the beginning. Just thinking about it, I groaned, "I'm tired of it, so please reduce the ratio of corn."

You don't have to worry about Big Bread because it's excellent animal feed anyway. Of course, even if so, it might come out as soup for dinner though.

"Ughh. The smell of corn is making me vomit..."

Skill. You have acquired the skill to grant the Acceleration property (Unique)!

The properties continued to increase. I focused on increasing the number of properties that could be used rather than on granting properties to the Gigas.

I repeated the daily life of eating, sleeping, making properties, and looking at the blueprints made by Genie and Ares. Then, at some point, specifically when the number of properties that could be granted reached 20, Genie said, All 30 Goblin units were exhausted. Shall we dispatch the newly made Goblins out?

I was surprised by Genie's words. "You've already used all 30 units?" Goblins were different from Berserkers. They took a minimum of 54 hours and a maximum of 77 hours to clear the stage, so I was surprised by Genie saying that all 30 units had already been used up.

It's actually been more than 70 days.

"I was immersed in all these tasks that I had unknowingly lost track of time. Okay, for now, let's send the newly made Goblins out... Genie, can you take a look at this blueprint?"

...Hmm? I'm sorry to say, but isn't this one of my Metal Bodies? Additionally, it's not for combat but for transportation purposes.

However, now that the iron ores were constantly consumed, it was a situation where transportation was needed. I modified the blueprints and made it into an Avatar series.

"Let's name it Porter. Send this in along with the Berserkers."

Like how it had been hundreds and thousands of times, Gigas Call was invoked. The first unit that entered was the Level 10 Berserker with the strongest fighting power in the Avatar series made thus far. Shiiiiinggggg! Then, there was the Level 3 Porter following right after.

Shliekkkkk shluckkk. Amidst the silence, Berserker began to attack and farm. Porter waited by the iron statue instead of following Berserker, who was going on a rampage.

I concentrated my consciousness and deactivated the propetization. "Gughhh. My body feels stiff." Didn't I remain in an iron statue state for 200,000 years? It was fortunate that I didn’t rust, since it wasn’t real steel. However, I still summoned the Throne of Honor in case an issue surfaced and a problem were to appear. Then, I took sufficient rest and finished a plentiful meal too.

In the end, this is how it's going.

"You thought about it, too, didn't you?"

Of course. To be specific, it's a little different. I was going to make a big Avatar series and bring your body around.

"That's a good idea, but it's a little dangerous. The blueprint will also become weird if my body, which has become hard and rigid due to turning into an iron statue, was to go onboard."

I laid down on the bed after eating. That's right. I wasn't standing but lying down instead. My body was rolled into a sphere like a fetus, reducing the surface area of the body to the maximum. Then, I went through steel-ification. Kriekkkkk! Kriekkk! My body turned into steel. As soon as my brain turned into steel, I concentrated my consciousness and emitted Aura, but...I lost consciousness as expected.

"It's still not possible, huh. When am I going to become a damned Compléter? Not yet. When are we gonna shoot the damn completion…?" As I was grumbling in the Unique World, Porter stored my rolled up body into its back, which was designed like a backpack. Then, it went into a point where the Metal Aliens wouldn't come finding and hid.

"Kieeeeehkkkkkk!!!"

Squawwwkkk! Berserker fought like how it always did. The Berserker that I personally made had a much stronger Restoration ability, which reduced combat time. Genie's Battle A.I. accumulated not just hundreds or thousands, but million units of combat data, so it would never increase and only probably decrease.

Shliekkkkk shluckkk. Porter stalked behind Berserker like a cockroach. Although it did not come close due to the risk of being discovered by the Metal Aliens, it still maintained a distance of 50 meters at all times. Then, the moment Berserker knocked down the last Metal Alien… Shliekkkkk shluckkk! Porter, who had my body on his back, quickly clung to the side of Berserker.

-Do you want to start the next battle? If you knock down the enemies in quick succession, your number of clears will cancel the corresponding number of Death Procession. At the end of the stage, the Death Procession that isn't retracted will be confirmed and cannot be reversed.

As always, it was on standby without answering the text that appeared. The maximum standby time was five minutes, so they would never miss this timing.

Gigas Call was invoked, but the direction of summons was different from that of the past. Poooof poof! Berserker and Porter who were inside the stage disappeared, emerging at the Unique World as soon as they disappeared.

Do you feel any pressure?

"There's no pressure. It's just that...Isn't the consumed spiritual power pretty high?"

It was an incomprehensible phenomenon, but it wasn't too much to handle. As the Unique World grew into the B-rank, the mass of inanimate matters that I could bring into the Unique World in a day was about 5 tons. Considering that the combined weight of Berserker and Porter was only 120 kilograms, it could be repeated virtually without limitation.

'To be subjected to weight restrictions… Let's see. I have to clear the stage more than 40 times a day. Should I clear it almost every 40 minutes?' No matter how much I improved the Avatar series, such a crazy record couldn’t be made. If I ran with my body, then perhaps...

Chwareukkk! As I sat in a suitable spot and changed the Shadow Stalker to its revolver form, Ares asked, Are you going to sleep?

"I'm not sleeping. It's just a time freeze. And don't stay up too long, either. It's making me feel apologetic."

I woke up by chance and did it because I was just bored, so you don't have to feel too much pressure.

"Yes, Genie, you too. Just run the basic program and maintain a power-saving state."

OK, Captain-nim.

I heard both answers and immediately pulled the trigger. With the clucking sound, the Time-Space Freeze Shell worked, and...

Captain-nim. Please wake up.

"Oh! Genie, how long has it been? 200,000 years?" I smiled at the expectation of how well the macro worked, but it was unfortunate that Genie shook her head.

No, it's been 70 years.

"Oh, come on!"

1. A doll appearing in traditional Korean puppet plays

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