Chapter 752: The Second Cube

After sending off the freshman prospects,

I used the skillbook I had newly obtained.

[‘Snow Wall(C)’ has been learned.]

A perfect replacement skill for [Ice Wall].

It would not be wrong to call it a straight upgrade.

If I had to pick a drawback, its defense is lower.

After all, a wall made of snow would inevitably be softer than a wall made of ice.

Of course, I only had to link it with [Diamond Freeze].

Then its defense would not just rise. It would become outright indestructible.

Everything else is nothing but advantages.

The basic height and width of [Snow Wall] were roughly 1.5 times those of [Ice Wall].

Depending on need, I could also shrink the area and increase the thickness.

Also, once it took damage past a certain level, it collapsed on its own and turned into a snowstorm.

It had additional effects that restricted the vision of enemies within range and made them vulnerable to water/ice magic.

Truly excellent.

I felt like clapping like a seal.

Dang Gyu-ri looked at me, narrowing their eyes.

“You seem very satisfied. It must be an extremely evil skill.”

“That is an utterly baseless slander. Maybe I simply like it.”

“What does it do?”

At that question, I readily shared the skill description with them.

Dang Gyu-ri read through it, then frowned as if they had seen something they should not have.

“It is evil. Was wind magic not enough for you?”

“I still have a long way to go.”

When I answered with a fresh smile, Dang Gyu-ri shook their head.

“I don’t know anymore. It must be for world peace or whatever again.”

“You know me too well.”

“Isn’t that obvious? Anyway, what now?”

“I’m planning to visit Magic Engineering.”

I had received a message from Bong Jaeyeong a little while ago.

She asked me to come by as soon as possible once midterms ended.

With the outside request overlapping and everything else, I had not visited for several weeks, so it was about time.

At that, Dang Gyu-ri said calmly,

“I’m coming too.”

“Why?”

“Why else? Because of the side effect.”

“You said earlier there wasn’t one.”

“When did I say there wasn’t? I said that when I want something, I say it right away.”

I went, “Hmm......” and gave them a very suspicious look.

Even so, Dang Gyu-ri spoke as if nothing were wrong.

“We have to stick together all day today. Something terrible will happen if we separate.”

“What terrible thing happens?”

“I get anxious, empty, break out in cold sweat.”

“.......”

To conduct an experiment on the spot, I slowly backed away.

Not long after I widened the distance, Dang Gyu-ri quickly approached and held out their hand.

“Wow, look. My hand is sweating.”

“It’s clean, without a drop of moisture.”

An iron-wall defense that was practically [Ice Wall].

At this point, Dang Gyu-ri’s lips began poking out little by little.

“Baby Sovereign, are you really going to hurt my feelings like this? Do you know how long it’s been since we saw each other?”

“Now that I think about it, there might be a side effect we don’t know about.”

“Now we’re finally communicating. You have to look after me, don’t you?”

“Then let’s set one condition. Staying beside me is fine, but you can’t interfere.”

From Bong Jaeyeong’s perspective, Dang Gyu-ri might be a classmate, but they had no particular friendship or connection with her.

There was a high chance she would feel burdened if they simply stared at her from beside me.

All the more so if they started talking to her for no reason or distracting her.

At that, Dang Gyu-ri shrugged.

“I’ll just hide in your shadow.”

A skill they had put to good use during winter break too.

They had deceived the Blood Cult’s eyes by pretending not to be there, then popped out at the decisive moment to join the battle.

Apparently, its performance had improved even further while they raised its rank.

SLIIIDE......

Soon, Dang Gyu-ri’s figure vanished as if being sucked downward.

When I lowered my gaze, they were attached right beside my shadow.

Affectionately linking arms with it, they drew half a heart with one hand.

Meaning I’m supposed to complete the other half.

I nodded, then gave a big thumbs-up beside the half-heart.

At that, the Gyu-shadow seemed to get very angry and began repeatedly throwing elbows and knee strikes at the Ho-shadow.

Then they scribbled letters.

[You are testing my patience today]

[Shall we also test how far your cheeks can stretch?]

“Obviously, I was joking.”

When I made half a heart, the Gyu-shadow attached the other half of the heart to it.

Then they pointed sharply into the distance and scribbled letters.

[Depart!]

*****

As always, Magic Engineering Workshop One was busy.

Because so many requests came in, even now, right after midterms had ended, there was no time to rest.

It looked like they had no room to receive a guest, same as usual, so I decided to wait at the entrance for now.

WHIRRR—

While I listened to the sound of various tools operating and watched the flashing blue light of mana,

a male student finally walked out.

He was in the same year as me. We were not close, but we had become familiar with each other’s faces in passing.

He seemed to recognize me too, because he got straight to the point.

“You want me to call Jaeyeong?”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“Hold on.”

Some Magic Engineering guy went into the workshop.

Not long afterward, Bong Jaeyeong came running out in a fluster.

Her whole face was full of delight.

“Senior!”

“You could have come slowly.”

“I can’t make you wait any longer. I’ll guide you this way.”

Bong Jaeyeong immediately took the lead.

Then, as if something occurred to her, she flinched and turned back toward me, straightening her clothes.

At that, the Gyu-shadow beneath my feet propped their chin on their hand.

[That’s totally a green light]

Let’s not read too much into it.

I answered that way and kept following Bong Jaeyeong. Soon, we entered Workshop Four.

Last year, there had at least been one senior here, but this year, it was completely empty.

Thanks to that, it was perfect for quietly talking or teaching her something.

As I sat down, I asked,

“How far had we gotten again? About 80%?”

“Actually......”

Bong Jaeyeong trailed off and opened her inventory.

What she took out a moment later was a small box about the size of a soccer ball.

It was covered in all sorts of plants and flowers, and it emitted a fresh green aura.

[Life Cube(S)]

“......I finished it.”

“Really? That was fast. There was still a lot I hadn’t taught you.”

“I tried applying things based on what I learned from you, senior, and it worked.”

A 10x10x10 blueprint could not have been as easy as that sounded.

As expected, geniuses really were different somehow.

This must be what people meant when they said someone understood ten things after being taught one.

Soon, Bong Jaeyeong carefully handed me the cube.

“I contacted you because I wanted to show you first.”

[Life Cube(S)]

▷Doubles the effect of stored life-type items.

I focused on the number “2” in the option.

If she had made one or two mistakes, it would have dropped to something like 1.8 or 1.9 times.

In other words, the cube before my eyes was 100% perfect.

So I nodded in satisfaction.

“There’s nothing to fix. You worked hard.”

“It’s all because you taught me well, senior.”

“At this rate, you’ll do fine even without me.”

I guess I don’t need to come to Magic Engineering for a while.

At that, Bong Jaeyeong froze for a moment, then spoke in a more urgent tone than usual.

“I still have a lot of trial and error, and my production speed is slow, so you have to stay beside me and correct me, senior.”

The Gyu-shadow beneath my feet crossed their arms as if they smelled a lie, but there was some logic to it.

We do need to raise the speed.

Our final goal was mass production of Life Cubes.

By gaining a spec advantage through powerful items, we would bring world peace closer.

To do that, preparing dozens might be impossible, but ideally, we would prepare five or six to match the number of [Bond] members.

But if the first S-rank cube had appeared only now, at the point when first-semester midterms had ended, simple calculation said we would have to wait until the middle of next year to get six.

The chance that nothing would happen and everything would stay peaceful until then was extremely low.

Of course, the Bong siblings’ pace was already incredibly fast, but if there was room to make it faster, it was right for me to keep teaching her.

I could catch the parts she struggled with and help her get used to the process through repetition.

“Then let’s keep meeting for a while.”

“......Yes! I’ll work hard.”

Bong Jaeyeong’s complexion brightened.

Then she looked at the cube again and asked,

“How should we use this?”

“What does your brother say?”

“Oppa wants to announce it right away.”

Even the B-rank prototype had once caused an uproar throughout Dragonslayer Academy.

An S-rank would cause an enormous wave.

Tremendous glory would return to everyone who had participated in and sponsored the project as well.

Especially since Senior Bong Jaeseok had invested more than a year into cube production, it was understandable that he wanted to see results as soon as possible.

However, since we also held a considerable share, we were in a position to offer opinions.

I kept asking Bong Jaeyeong questions.

“What do you want to do?”

“I think...... it’s still too early.”

“Because you feel your understanding is lacking?”

“Yes. I think it would be better to make a few more before announcing it.”

“I think that’s better too.”

By then, she could proudly claim to be an expert.

If we explained that point, Senior Bong Jaeseok would not force the matter either.

Was there a risk someone would steal the achievement in the meantime?

It was safe to say there was virtually none.

At the present point, there were probably not many people in the entire world who could understand and assemble a 10x10x10 blueprint.

Within Dragonslayer Academy, it was just me and Bong Jaeyeong.

Therefore, we concluded that we would postpone the announcement.

“Still, it’d be a waste to just let it sit around, so I’m planning to take it to Nature.”

“Nature?”

“We agreed to give them one too.”

“I heard that.”

Magic Engineering and the Nature Club had been working in close cooperation since last year.

Because the Nature Club mainly used life-type items, if we succeeded in mass-producing S-rank cubes, their combat power could be strengthened enormously.

It was also about time we got back at least part of what had been invested.

“Of course, I’m not saying this purely for Nature’s benefit. I’ll receive the B-rank one in exchange.”

“Ah......!”

An exclamation mark seemed to appear above Bong Jaeyeong’s head.

Rather than tearing apart the S-rank she had made with her own hands, researching the prototype I had made would help raise her understanding.

That much would also accelerate future cube production.

It was a win-win for both clubs.

Soon, Bong Jaeyeong readily nodded.

“I think that’s a good idea. I’ll contact them.”

“I’ll go. You’re busy.”

“I can’t make you run errands, senior......”

“I have to go there once anyway.”

Park Nari had invited me, and I needed to ask for a favor too.

Regarding [Thousand-Year Evergreen], and Mountain Dragon.

That was another reason I wanted to give the S-rank cube to Nature.

Soon, Bong Jaeyeong let out a small sigh.

“I’m always receiving help from you, senior.”

“At times like this, you’re supposed to say you’ll be in my care.”

“......I’ll be in your care. And thank you.”

A faint smile settled on Bong Jaeyeong’s lips.

As I left the workshop and walked away, the Gyu-shadow beneath my feet squirmed in dissatisfaction and formed words.

[That is totally a green light. She’s completely smitten.]

“It’s probably respect toward a senior and teacher.”

[Her eyes were heart-shaped, though?]