Chapter 14 Part1 (1/2)

<chapter 14.=”” new=”” pace=”” -=”” 1=””>

Guillotine Steelworker had said that the seal he'd made was only possible for golems to create. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't think that was a lie. But even so, it didn't seem like it'd be impossible to recreate it.

'It's possible to copy a golem's mana pattern, so there's no way it'd be impossible to copy the seal.'

But it wasn't something he'd be able to do in the foreseeable future. Because of that, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo thoroughly examined each golem as best as he could, indulged in the core's knowledge, and broke apart the low ranked golems to try to familiarize himself with the golems themselves.

”What are you going to do by copying that?”

”I'm going to try controlling the golems.”

”You're trying to control Arema Steelworker?”

”Nope. That guy's probably impossible for me to control.”

From the start, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo hadn't even caught a glimpse of the highest authority over the golems. If he more deeply examined the golems, as well as absorbed more cores, he thought he'd be able to figure it out someday, but he knew that now wasn't the time.

For starters, his goal would be to obtain Guillotine Steelworker's administrator seal. So, he would gather all of the abandoned golems in the Empire and create his own corps of golems; that was his goal. If Arema Steelworker had heard him say that, he'd be speechless and fall flat on his face.

”I'm not going to just destroy golems, so don't worry. If that's all I was going to do, then why would I have taken the train and come out here? We have to take care of the undead nearby, too.”

”Yay, I'm so happy...”

They activated the elevator through the general administrative seal and went outside. While the west side consisted of stiff highlands, the landscape here was way too different. They wanted to check where they'd surfaced, but that was impossible.

”I wonder where our seniors are.”

”They should be in the center of the Empire.”

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin had grown drastically, but their seniors were mostly level 6, or perhaps even higher. They still had a lot of catching up to do.

Of course, even if they did reach their level, they absolutely wouldn't be able to stand before them and reveal themselves to them. Would they be able to make them cease their deep-seated hatred towards the undead by just saying that they were heroes... Honestly, he was really doubtful of that right now.

[Detecting trespa.s.ser.]

[Repelling them as a top priority.]

”So like I was saying, just take them down for now.”

”You!”

”I can't raise my abilities by fighting against them anymore.”

A golem's greatest strength was that they had a st.u.r.dy base, but that could be a weakness as well. They were too unaccustomed to irregularities. From the very beginning, they were much too easy to take down for Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, whose specialty was his irregular fighting style that lacked a concrete form.

Hearing that, Jin thought that he was shamefully boasting, but like always, he couldn't deny it.

”I want to observe the golems more thoroughly. So, charge!”

”Sseup, I guess it can't be helped...”

Jin gallantly galloped forth, with his body enveloped in steel-like mana. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo saw the golems switch their battle formations to intercept him, and leisurely observed their mana patterns. Of course, because he was maintaining his general administrative seal, all of the golems aggroed on Jin.

”I've been fighting too much lately, so I've been tired.”

No one would say anything if he took a really quick break in between a.n.a.lyzing the mana. Probably. He nodded his head and continued observing. However, he started to get bored from just observing and studying, so he decided to open the chatting channel.

[Mr. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo has entered.]

[Ye Jin Jin: It's been a long time!]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: Yeah, it has. You're still alive?]

[Lloyd H.K.: Jeez, I have no idea who's the senior and who's the newbie here.]

[Prince Altania: Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, how much more have you got before you're level 5?]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: I should reach it soon. I only have about 10 more stats to go.]

It was a lie, of course, but they thought of 10 stats differently than him, so he had no choice.

[Prince Altania: Holy s.h.i.+t. You're really close. Even if his starting specs were high, this guy... He's probably not more talented than me though, right?]

[Yasunori Akira: Your talent is common amongst heroes. Doesn't it seem strange that you're comparing yourself to Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, who everyone has high expectations for?]

[Prince Altania: What? You want to go? Are you looking for a fight?]

[Yasunori Akira: Pfft.]

As always, his seniors responded to him affectionately. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo suddenly thought, after being greeted by each and every one of them. Ye Jin Jin knew about his true nature, but how would his seniors react when they saw him? Would they accept him? Would they reject him? Would they pity him?

The more he learned about the Underground Empire, as well as the heroes, the more he thought about his true ident.i.ty. Perhaps it wouldn't be as simple as he thought; at some point, that thought had begun to grow more and more.

'It's a relief that I met Ye Jin Jin when she was still naive and gave her a good impression of me.'

He thought it might've been the right decision to hide his ident.i.ty and spoke calmly.

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: Not much happened while I was away, right?]

[Lloyd H.K.: Ah, now that I think about it, you may not know. A newbie came in.]

[Lee s.h.i.+n Woo: A newbie...?]

Of course, he was already well aware that it was quite common for heroes to trickle in, but it felt a bit strange that he already had a junior. Then, Prince Altania spoiled the mood.

[Prince Altania: What a mannerless brat. They came in just a little while ago and then left right after.]

[Erian Rendu: Mannerless? They could just be extremely individualistic. Sir Altania.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Individualistic, huh... That's the most dangerous tendency to have. If you're not as strong as Akira, that is.]

[Yasunori Akira: Don't call me by my name. ...Well, they'll prove it soon. Whether it was arrogance or skill.]

[Ye Jin Jin: Mr. s.h.i.+n Woo, how have you been? I finally reached level 4!]

[s.h.i.+no Rendu: You've been dawdling all this time, yet once you found a man, you've become unstoppable, huh.]

[Ye Jin Jin: W-What are you talking about!?]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo adequately told his seniors, who quarreled amongst each other and amicably went back and forth in their conversations, about himself as well as keeping some parts of himself secret, while also hearing about the situation in the Empire. He even tried to ask them about the 12 generals, but to no avail.

[Prince Altania: Ha, the 12 generals? I'll be straight with you. We haven't even reached the capital, let alone the major city. It's kind of discouraging, but it's impossible to fight a general before you're level 7.]

[Lloyd H.K.: Would it even be possible just by reaching level 7? You'd need to be packed with level 4 artifacts, as well as heroes using their full strength; even then, they'd barely be able to take one down. Our senior told us that before, remember?]

[Prince Altania: Heng. As long as you and I are there, we can do it.]

[Erian Rendu: I'm level 6 now, too! Lloyd, when the time comes, you can count on me!]

Just taking a peek into the chatting channel, one could tell that they had the energy of top cla.s.s celebrities! Lloyd, who'd even been recognized by that harsh Prince, was dazzling. To the point that he felt jealous.

If he had still been human, could he have been like him? However, he snorted at such fruitless thoughts and left the chatting channel. Jin was still vigorously rampaging about and breaking apart the golems.

”What the h.e.l.l man! You weren't even watching and were doing something else, weren't you!? Umhp!”

[Ceasing function.]

[Ceasing function.]

”Of course not.”

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo saw a group of golems falling with a single kick of Jin's hind legs, and laughed calmly as he replied.