[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 83 – Collaborators I
1
I faced ‘Endless,’ the worst enemy, an Outer God-tier monstrosity, but I didn’t respond imdiately.
Instead, I waited for the right mont.
For an infinite regressor, waiting is on another level. Imagine the frustration and anxiety you feel when your food delivery is delayed by three minutes—multiply that by about thirteen, and you get the waiting of an infinite regressor. It’s a truly superhuman patience.
During this period, I focused on maximizing my power.
Did I train in martial arts? Of course not. As Old Scho would say, my combat sense was closer to that of a beaver. Underestimating the combat talents of soone with a support background would be a mistake.
But even for soone like —or rather, because of who I am—there was still a way to maximize my power.
“Noh Doha Workshop Master.”
“…”
Noh Doha’s expression was as usual.
This person’s face was normally set in a default state of decay, so making it look even more decayed now would just add to the normality.
“Hey, I haven’t said anything yet, so why are you looking at like I’m a piece of crap?”
“Because whenever you call ‘Noh Doha Workshop Master’ instead of ‘Noh Doha Teacher,’ it’s highly likely that you’re about to spout so personal nonsense. Your personal pain, anger, venting, goodwill, your act of being human, your signals that you alone recognize my humanity—all of it ans nothing more or less than an annoyance to .”
“Noh Doha Workshop Master. You’ve been working too hard lately. I have so free ti, so how about we go on a vacation? A backpacking trip, just the two of us, like college friends.”
“You piece of shit…”
“I knew you’d like it.”
And so, Noh Doha and I set off on our trip.
If it had been after the 380th turn, after establishing the ‘Idea Ranch,’ we could have traveled together on dinosaurs (and we actually did later), but unfortunately, it was only the 100th turn now.
If it had just been , I would’ve used so quasi-flight technique to zip around. If it were anyone but Noh Doha, I would’ve carried them to enjoy the speed together.
However, Noh Doha shyly refused the latter solution, saying, “Oh, if you wanted to see commit suicide, you should have just said so.” What a shy guy.
Therefore, our ans of transportation were severely limited. Finding the best solution amidst these difficulties proved my worth as a regressor.
*Rumbling sound*…
Noh Doha, riding on our transportation, maintained his usual expression as we moved.
“Doctor Jang…”
“Yes?”
“Is this really the best thod…?”
“Yes.”
*Rumbling sound*…
“No matter how precious fuel is, surely there must be better ans of transportation—like a dump truck, or using the National Road Administration’s power, or your miraculous regressor power—sothing more plausible than this, right? Even a bicycle would be better…”
“Oh, you’re joking. We’re on a personal trip; we can’t waste the Administration’s resources. And bicycles would break down too quickly on rough roads.”
*Rumbling sound*…
“Still, what the hell… Where did you even find this goddamn yogurt cart?”
Indeed.
We were currently riding on the world’s first and only refrigerated electric cart for a delivery manager, the 3rd generation model CoCo (Cold&Cold) 3.0.
Also known as the ‘yogurt lady cart,’ its apricot-colored exterior was beautiful, and it was an ancient artifact that traversed neighborhoods with the skill of teleportation.
I drove while Noh Doha sat on top of the cart. I had even customized it with the finest cushions, so his butt wouldn’t hurt.
“Please refrain from such harsh words. This is, after all, a ‘yogurt cart’ monstrosity.”
“A monstrosity…?”
“Yes. No matter how rough the road, it goes up without a hitch. No matter how remote the neighborhood, it arrives without fail. Have you ever seen a yogurt cart broken down or stranded?”
“No, but…”
“That’s the point. Most Koreans have only observed yogurt carts in ‘perfectly fine’ condition. Even if it seems physically impossible, this monstrosity sohow always manages to produce the outco of ‘successfully arrived.’”
“What nonsense…?”
“Watch this.”
*Rumbling sound*…
An asphalt road spread out before us. The cart bravely advanced over the heavily damaged road, which was almost indistinguishable from a crumbled cookie.
The cart wheel jolted as it fell into a concrete gap. Noh Doha’s face darkened.
“It’s going to….”
But the cart, in a strange twist, clung to the concrete surface and ca back onto the normal path unscathed.
“…keep going?”
It was literally a different level of movent.
No matter how broken the concrete, how ssed up the tiles, or how bumpy the tree roots, the yogurt cart, with a slight jolt, continued straight ahead ‘without any issue.’
It traversed roads so damaged that even cars and most people couldn’t pass, wobbling but continuing onward.
Truly the pinnacle of Korean engineering. An SSS-class lost technology artifact.
“What… is this bullshit…?”
“This is the yogurt cart monstrosity. Workshop Master, you may praise now.”
“Wait, does this thing move without any fuel or charging?”
“Yes. And the refrigerator you’re sitting on can keep food or drinks fresh for a long ti. Even at stored in yogurt-shaped containers stays fresh for over a year.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, if you had sothing this amazing, you should have told the National Road Administration instead of playing backpacking cosplay! We should imdiately gather all these carts from across the country and assign them to the administration. In this fucked-up era, this could revolutionize logistics and even serve as wheelchairs for the elderly…”
“Oh. There’s only one.”
“…”
“I tried to see if mass production was possible by experinting with other relatively intact carts, but this is the only one that exists as a ‘monstrosity.’ So, I’m just using it as my beloved car.”
“Damn…”
Anyway, our two-person party, consisting of the shadowy mastermind and the light’s great demon king, traveled without incident.
Noh Doha grumbled, but he enjoyed everything. After all, we lavishly filled the refrigerated cart with ats, vegetables, and various carbs, cooking delicious als at every alti.
“You know, Doctor Jang…”
[Proofreader – Gun]
“What is it?”
“You’re utterly useless to my life, but your cooking skills are national treasure-level. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t even treat you as human…”
“…?”
As soone whose DNA had “workaholic” etched into it, Noh Doha had likely been experiencing burnout from running the National Road Administration.
As our pleasant camping trip extended from one day to two, to three, and even longer, Noh Doha’s face gradually beca more serene. The fatigue and gri on his heart were washed away.
I was truly excellent at comforting and caring for tired hearts.
“You damned regressor bastard. How long do you plan to wander outside? What if Guild Leader of the Three Thousand Worlds hears about this, do you want to see die?”
“…?”
Finally, on the sixth day of our trip, our exciting backpacking group reached its destination.
The Taebaek Mountains. Jeongseon.
Once the most famous mining area among Koreans (now known for sothing else), stood before us, and Noh Doha had an utterly ordinary expression.
“What kind of backwater is this…?”
“As you can see, it’s a village.”
The mine in Jeongseon had ford a village. The terrain was quite peculiar.
In the middle of a mountain cliff, a massive cave was hollowed out, and within that cave, village buildings sprouted like mushrooms.
It was a mining village, the essence of feng shui with just the first part, “behind the mountain, before the water.”
“The houses are made of stone…?”
“They used fireproof materials. Not a bad choice of building material.”
“The villagers seem abnormally short…?”
“Considering the tis, having a large body just ans consuming more nutrients unnecessarily, so it’s a result of convergent evolution.”
“All the residents have thick beards…?”
“It’s a ans to maintain a constant body temperature. These villagers have an incredible ability to adapt to their environnt.”
“They’re dwarfs, aren’t they…?”
Hmm.
I nodded.
“You could call them that. But calling them dwarfs sounds a bit racist, don’t you think? Let’s use the term ‘dwarves’ instead.”
“You said we were going on a backpacking trip, and you brought to a level 1 void with a different race? Are you insane…?”
Dwarves. A staple race in the fantasy genre.
In every story, they’re born with the attribute of ‘excellent blacksmiths’ ingrained in their national spirit. Thus, the masterpieces crafted by dwarves are often regarded as lost technology relics, much like the yogurt cart we were riding.
Now you might guess why I went through the trouble of coming to this remote void in the Taebaek Mountains to enhance my power.
That’s right.
I ca to get so gear.
2
I first discovered this place, known as the ‘Jeongseon Dwarf Mine,’ during my 54th regression.
At that ti, I had just established the National Road Administration, and I was traveling all over the country to complete the National Map (upgraded version).
Jeongseon Dwarf Mine was a village that seed straight out of a fantasy novel.
All around, the clanging sounds of tal being hamred echoed, and dwarves were tirelessly moving about.
Despite the decline of mining in the Taebaek Mountains, the dwarf village was alive with the constant noise pollution of pickaxes and hamrs.
However, the voids of this world were never easy. This place, set to revive as a bustling mining village, had its own peculiarities that made it hard to simply call it an ordinary village.
“Hello?”
-……
“Can you understand ? Hello? Can you recognize ?”
-……
“An inferior race compared to elves. Your beards are extrely ugly.”
Clang!
The ‘dwarves’ continued hamring on their anvils without any reaction. They acted as if I didn’t exist.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that these were not your typical dwarves.
Their beards were indeed bushy, but their eyes were hollow pits, and their mouths were re holes where lips should have been.
This was not a figure of speech.
They had no eyelids or lips.
-……, …….
Clang, clang-!
Their arms were grotesquely muscular, like the statue of Hercules, creating an oddly unbalanced physique. These lumps of flesh exhaled strange breaths from their ‘mouth holes’ as they ceaselessly hamred.
-Oh……. Ohon……. Oh… Oh……
The air did not co from their lungs, but rather from their entire bodies, which seed to be made of leather drums, producing a whistling sound from deep within their forms.
Not the breath of life, but the whistle of the abyss.
“Hm.”
…Even as the greatest linguistic genius in Earth’s history, I found Dwarvish a bit challenging. Of course, that was to be expected. It wasn’t an Earth language.
I felt a pang of disappointnt in my mouth.
‘If I could commission a weapon from the dwarves, it would undoubtedly be a legendary sword effective against monsters.’
After exploring the mining village, I found that there were a total of seven blacksmith dwarves, none of whom I could communicate with.
In the end, during my 54th regression, I only identified the location of the void and returned without any substantial gain.
3
“Wait a minute…”
Noh Doha interrupted my story.
“Then why did you drag to this remote place? You can’t communicate with them, and they won’t make any equipnt for you, right…?”
“Oh. It’s fine. I didn’t plan to ask the dwarves to make a weapon anyway.”
“…? Then why?”
“Think about it, Forge Master. Even if we can’t communicate normally, if these really are monsters imitating dwarves from fiction, wouldn’t their hamring and tanning techniques contain significant mysteries? Just as a protagonist with martial arts talent can learn much from watching a swordmaster, a skilled blacksmith could learn a lot from watching these dwarves hamr.”
“Hah…?”
“And those ores the dwarves are hamring, they aren’t found on Earth. They might be called adamantium or sothing. Naturally, the technique to slt those ores into weapons would be exclusive to these dwarves, not modern Earthlings. To slt these minerals, a skilled blacksmith would need to learn from the dwarves.”
“…?”
“Wow. What a coincidence. Right before my eyes stands the most talented blacksmith in Korean history. Ta-da.”
“…”
“Ta-daaa-”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Oh. So, you want to learn by watching these non-communicative monsters handle so adamantium or whatever, then make yourself an SSS-grade weapon…?”
“Exactly.”
“Please, just die already.”
“Oh, I heard that in a previous regression too.”
“…?”
“In the previous regression, I just carried you here within a day by force. You strangled to death for treating you lightly, saying to see if I really would die. I didn’t expect you to actually do it, but anyway. So, this ti, instead of carrying you, I brought the yogurt cart monster to make your journey more comfortable. Didn’t I do well?”
“You insane, crazy bastard――.”
He strangled .
This ti, I didn’t die.
[Proofreader – Gun]
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