Chapter 98

Dragonia.

The last city that concentrated all the knowledge and technology of dragons who once conquered the world.

The city, which looked like a mix between a beautiful, dreamlike castle from a fairy tale and a magnificent, sophisticated space station from a sci-fi movie, was more deserving of being called a work of art than a mere city.

And atop a massive pyramid where one could overlook the entire cityscape stood a man and a woman.

How much time had passed?

Finally, the woman’s lips opened.

“Didn’t you say it was a house?”

“Pretty big, right?”

“It’s not about being big or small – this isn’t a house at all. Did you deceive me?”

“Rather than deception, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say there was a slight communication issue? Like how different people understand the same words differently, something like that.”

“……”

Sophia seriously considered having a fight to the death with Yuseong right there.

After calculating her capabilities, her opponent’s capabilities, the environment, equipment and so on, Sophia shook her head remembering her words about understanding if it was a secret base, and all the machines she had already put into this city.

“This is that city that appeared and disappeared in Korea, right? How did you get this?”

“Just happened? Anyway, what’s important isn’t how I got it but whether you can fix this city. Though there’s an auto-repair function, there are features that can’t be fixed with that, and besides repairs, some modifications are needed. The most important among those is…”

“Energy. A city of this size with all its built-in functions would need enormous energy to activate. I was wondering why you needed a facility with that much output – to think you were hiding a secret like this.”

Sophia wore a strangely enlightened expression, as if accepting the fate awaiting her.

“…Hehe, just when I thought I’d escaped a grinding fate, seems an engineer’s destiny can’t be avoided after all.”

“Wouldn’t ‘engineeress’ be more accurate in this case?”[note]TLN: When Sophia says “공돌이의 운명” (an engineer’s destiny), she’s using the male form self-deprecatingly. Yuseong then tries to make a joke by suggesting she should use “공순이” (the female version) instead.[/note]

“……”

“Sorry. Anyway, you’ll help?”

“I’ll need to stay hidden for a while to avoid America’s pursuit anyway, and I’m curious about the city’s mechanisms too, so I’ll help as much as I can. Ah, of course Mr. Yuseong will need to supply all resources needed for repairs and modifications.”

“That’s only natural.”

Yuseong let out a sigh of relief while giving a bitter smile.

Though the issue of upgrading Dragonia was resolved, the materials needed for repairs were still at an impossible level, and another problem remained.

“When can you finish making the gynoid?”

“Oh right, there was that too.”

Sophia’s shoulders slumped weakly.

She had carelessly forgotten, but making a gynoid to Yuseong’s requested specifications was absolutely not an easy task either.

“Excluding modifications since I need to check the details before giving an estimate… How much material is needed to perfectly repair the city?”

“Just a moment.”

As Yuseong waved his hand, numerous holograms began appearing around them.

Among them, under a message saying [Total Repair Progress 2.6%], the materials Yuseong had invested so far and the materials still needed were endlessly listed.

Reading the contents using the power of the Babel skill, Sophia’s expression grew increasingly weary as she kept scrolling through the endless list, until she finally let out a long sigh after turning the last page.

“I had some idea when I saw the size, but this is truly an absurd level. Mr. Yuseong, do you really need to repair this? In my opinion, it would be better to just abandon it.”

“After everything I’ve invested so far…”

“That’s what they call the sunk cost fallacy. Moreover, this isn’t something that ends with just repairs – maintenance costs will be needed too. Do you know how much it costs to maintain a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier?”

“Well…”

“300 million dollars a year. Obviously this city’s maintenance costs would be at least that much if not more. Unless you’re someone like Mr. Changseok, this is beyond what any individual can handle, even a user.”

“I know that too. But my decision is firm. I’m going to see this through to the end.”

It wasn’t just simple greed.

The massive gap existing between the existing users and himself.

Giving up Dragonia, his only trump card that could reduce that gap, for mere economic reasons would be too foolish.

“Haah, then it will take at least 2 years.”

Yuseong’s brow furrowed at the unexpected timeframe.

“Last time you said a few months would be enough to make the gynoid.”

“That was when it was just making the gynoid, but now there’s another mega-project of repairing and modifying the city, right? Designing and making the gynoid, doing quests to gather the equipment and materials needed, and working on city repairs and modifications in between – 2 years is short. It might even take over 3 years.”

“…Is there no way to reduce that time?”

“If it’s just about reducing time, increasing the budget – in this case the input materials – would be most effective. If we make multiple gynoids simultaneously and start construction in multiple areas of the city at once, we could do it in a year… No, maybe even a bit less than that.”

“Materials, huh.”

It was impossible to gather materials at the level Sophia demanded through normal means.

Even after pouring in more than half the rewards from the B-rank quest [Twisted World] on top of his original 30 billion won assets and Kang Changseok’s black card, the repair progress was only 2.6%.

Rough calculations showed he would need to either clear multiple S-rank quests or extract about 200 black cards from Kang Changseok.

Looking down at Dragonia’s magnificent view, Yuseong suddenly bit his lip at the rising irritation.

‘Damn it. Just unnecessarily big. What were the dragons thinking making such a huge city? Couldn’t they have made it smaller? Even if they could pour in an entire world’s labor and resources, for efficiency they should have made it smaller…’

“…Oh?”

Yuseong’s eyes narrowed.

After repeatedly covering one eye with his hand and moving back and forth, Yuseong muttered without even looking at Sophia.

“Sophia, if the city’s size decreases, would the materials and time needed for repairs decrease?”

“Of course. Logically, if the size decreases, there’s no way it would need more materials…”

Sophia’s eyes widened as she finally grasped what Yuseong meant.

Dragonia was enormous, with a diameter reaching nearly 10km.

This was because it wasn’t made for military or leisure purposes, but as a concept of migration and new settlement for escaping a dying world and rebuilding civilization.

Of course, Yuseong had no intention of using Dragonia for such purposes.

“The outskirts of this city are residential areas for third-class citizens. Inside that are cultural facilities like theaters and museums, and further in there’s a large circular park. If we cut out all these areas, how long would it take to repair everything?”

“…I’ll need to calculate that.”

An interested smile spread across Sophia’s face.

* * *

A space filled with gold and jewels, paintings and sculptures, artworks and furniture.

The lord’s room, which seemed like a physical manifestation of the words splendor and brilliance, was overwhelming to Yuseong who was accustomed to a commoner’s sensibilities.

Though he wanted to return to his house on Earth right away, he couldn’t help but shake his head remembering the crowds positioned around his home.

‘I knew I had become famous but to think it would be to this extent.’

In America, he had only intellectually understood this fact since most of his time was spent hunting monsters and traveling, but he could finally feel it on his skin after returning to Korea.

Tired of people recognizing him everywhere he went and trying to talk to him or point smartphones at him, Yuseong had no choice but to abandon his house and return to Dragonia as if fleeing.

“…I’ll stay here until the response dies down somewhat.”

Except for the slightly overwhelming visuals, the lord’s room was far superior to his house on Earth in every way including safety, comfort, convenience, and pleasantness, but it had one fatal flaw – no internet access.

A room with everything except internet versus a room with nothing except internet.

Which would suit a modern person’s tastes was obvious without even asking.

Throwing himself on the bed, Yuseong enjoyed the comfort like lying on clouds before belatedly coming to his senses and picking up the goggles placed beside him.

“This isn’t the time for this.”

Though he had somewhat narrowed the gap thanks to Tyrant’s arms, there was still an unbridgeable gap between himself who had abnormally raised only strength and the other users.

He had no time to rest if he wanted to reduce that gap even a little.

The fortunate thing was that his growth rate was very fast.

And unlike the users who focused on real-world activities to save countries in unstable situations where anything could happen anytime, he could focus leisurely on quests since he was in relatively safe Korea.

‘Three Strong is impossible and I’ve never actually met Three Intermediates so I’m not sure, but I need at least Three Weak level power. Excluding Sophia since she focused everything on scientific knowledge and development ability, that makes Kang Changseok the goal for now.’

Though he couldn’t know exactly how strong Kang Changseok was, he could make rough estimates based on their brief clash when they first met.

‘Not sure about strength or agility, but judging by his mana control ability then, his wisdom stat must be around early-mid 700s. If we assume the 700s as Kang Changseok’s average stat level, then just unlocking C-rank stat increase rights would let me match Kang Changseok in pure stats.’

Even with equal stats, there would still be differences in actual combat power due to variables like skills and artifacts, but taking even one step closer was important for now.

[Community – You have unread messages(428)]

[Welcome User RoomDweller to the Community!]

The first thing he checked was the community.

Though he still had no intention of interacting with the users, just browsing could provide valuable information that only users could share, so there was no harm in checking periodically.

-Blue Blood: There seems to be a lot of noise about some new hero lately… Shooting Star?

-GreatMage: Curious about their identity? Want me to tell you?

-SuperAnt: Ahem!

-Blue Blood: Just searching shows everything. Nationality South Korea, name Han Yuseong. Age, appearance, even videos of combat scenes are all there. I only want to ask one thing. This guy is RoomDweller, right?

“So they figured it out after all.”

The users seemed to have mostly guessed RoomDweller’s identity after this America trip, but Yuseong felt nothing special since his name had been occasionally mentioned since the Dragonia incident anyway.

What really mattered wasn’t his identity but how the users who knew his identity would act.

Whether it was the armor of fame working its effect, or they were too busy handling their own affairs to pay attention elsewhere, fortunately the users seemed to have no particular interest in him.

Though there were some sneers asking why he was acting up now when he tried so hard to hide his identity before, that could simply be ignored.

-MartialGod: I have a bad feeling. Something will happen within a month, so everyone be prepared.

Yuseong tilted his head at the message that appeared just as he was about to leave the community.

MartialGod left immediately after posting the message, and since he was the only user currently connected to the community, there was no one to ask what that meant.

“Something will happen within a month? What does that even mean? Does he have some kind of precognition skill?”

Though he pondered it, there was nothing he could do even with the warning to prepare.

Whether powerful monsters appeared or natural disasters struck, social-level preparations would be handled by Kang Changseok anyway, and the only preparation he could make was to focus diligently on quests.

[Accessing multi-dimensional exploration system.]

[Successfully observed quest.]

-I want to save my friend who became the gods’ plaything.

-Why did heaven birth me, and also birth the Single Sword of Dharma, the Taeguk Sword God, the Master of the Drunken Sword, the Solitary Sword Emperor, the Plum Blossom Sword Lord, the Divine Tiger Sword, the Twin Swords of the Great Void, the Ocean Sword King, the Four-One Sword Ancestor, the Bloody World Sword Devil, and the Gentleman Sword Dragon!

-131 member suicide squad wanting to escape from the demon realm.

-When I shouted “Status Window”, a status window appeared before my eyes.

-……

-……

-……

Still the same uniquely creative names as ever.

Chuckling as he entered the special quest window, Yuseong muttered in a disappointed voice.

“Not here this time.”