Chapter 3

 

Chapter 3

 

“Adamantium?”

Jin-woo immediately shook his head.

That was an upper-floor material.

There was none on the first floor.

“Alternative?”

[Alternative material search complete.]

[Mana Stones usable if efficiency loss is accepted.]

Mana Stones.

They were stones that held mana, much like Adamantium.

However, their quality was lower.

‘So it can be substituted with that….’

“To get Mana Stones… I’d have to hunt monsters….”

It was not particularly efficient.

Perhaps it would be different on the higher floors.

But even if he hunted monsters on the first floor, the Mana Stones he could obtain were limited.

“There has to be… another way.”

[Current Magic Tower— Mana Stone Mine present.]

Jin-woo inhaled a beat late.

“…That makes no sense.”

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Jin-woo asked.

“Are you sure?”

[Affirmative.]

“There’s… a Mana Stone Mine in this Magic Tower?”

A resource counted among the rarest in the entire Tower.

It was buried on the first floor, beneath this Magic Tower.

“…How?”

[Because the current Magic Tower is a facility constructed atop a ‘mine.’]

“They built it on top of a mine?”

[Affirmative.]

“Then why did they build a Magic Tower on top of a mine?”

He had learned of the Magic Tower’s existence from the ninetieth-floor stone monument.

A legacy left behind by the Tower’s designer.

“Who is the Arcanist?”

After a brief silence following his question, Lumina answered.

[Authority confirmed.]

[Temporary Administrator.]

[Confidential record inaccessible at current Grade.]

“…You can’t tell me?”

[Affirmative.]

It seemed his authority was too low to access the record called the ‘Arcanist.’

“Then if I become the Full Administrator, can you tell me?”

[A Full Administrator can know everything about the Magic Tower.]

In the end, it meant he had to become the Full Administrator.

How could one bear the sorrow of being a mere Temporary Administrator?

Still.

“Full Administrator… Well, I was planning to become one anyway.”

The designer, the Arcanist.

And why this Magic Tower was called an ‘Ark.’

Even if he could not know yet, once he became the Full Administrator, those questions would surely be answered.

“Good. Then guide me to the mine.”

Jin-woo left the main room and descended the stairs.

The farther down he went, the heavier the air became.

“Aren’t Magic Towers usually built upward? But this Magic Tower goes downward?”

[Design Purpose: Concealment.]

[Risk of upper exposure— underground expansion selected.]

It was a structure built to avoid being discovered.

‘It’s for survival.’

When he finished descending the stairs, a corridor appeared.

The walls were rough, and a thin layer of old dust covered the floor.

The traces of artificial excavation were clear.

A moment later.

His view opened up.

“…So this is the mine.”

It was not large, but it was unmistakably a work area.

Signs of excavation remained.

And—

In a corner, he saw old pickaxes.

Rusted blades.

Worn handles.

Some had been left there broken.

‘There are signs they were used.’

This place had actually been used.

Jin-woo lifted a pickaxe.

“Before the reason, what matters first is— whether I can use it right now.”

‘…It’s completely rusted. I can’t use it like this.’

He looked deeper into the mine.

In the darkness, untouched rock walls quietly waited.

However—

His gaze fixed on the corridor on the opposite side of the mine.

A deeper place.

A passage that seemed to lead toward the center of the Magic Tower.

Jin-woo quietly approached.

Shhhk.

The air folded, and a blue curtain rose like a wall.

At the same time, Lumina’s voice rang out.

[Restricted Access Area.]

[Current Administrator Grade: D]

[Required Grade: B]

The curtain did not budge.

“…Grade?”

Jin-woo looked at the curtain and let out a short breath.

“It’s tiered.”

Jin-woo scanned beyond the curtain once more.

“Good. Then the order’s set.”

He would fix everything possible at D first, then rise to C.

“I understand the structure.”

He would seize control of the area currently open first.

Survive, then expand.

‘Then….’

Jin-woo turned around.

Once he became Grade B, that door would open.

***

Jin-woo came back upstairs.

He looked down at the pickaxe he had brought from the mine.

The blade was dull, and the handle was already cracked.

Proper mining was impossible in this state.

“…It’s garbage.”

Then Lumina’s voice rang out.

[Reforging possible.]

[Forge operation possible.]

Jin-woo raised his head.

“There’s a forge too?”

A moment later,

he was standing in front of the forge located on the first floor of the Magic Tower.

The facilities were old overall, but their forms were clear.

An anvil.

A furnace.

A magic furnace.

Several old hammers hung on the wall.

Basic work seemed possible.

The problem was energy.

“I can… use this place, right?”

[Possible if residual energy is used.]

The remaining energy was 15%.

The number was falling slowly, but unmistakably.

To replenish it, he needed Mana Stones.

To obtain Mana Stones, he needed a pickaxe.

‘So I have to fix this first in the end.’

“Good. Activate it.”

[Emergency forge activation.]

[Priority reallocation.]

[Energy concentration.]

[Partial Magic Tower functions suspended.]

A faint vibration traveled from somewhere inside the Magic Tower.

Unnecessary functions shut down one after another, and energy gathered in one place.

[Magic furnace activated.]

WHOOSH—!

Flames rose inside the furnace.

In an instant, the air in the forge changed.

Scorching heat stabbed at his skin.

“How long can it hold?”

[Time until shutdown: 01:00:00]

If he failed to revive it, the Magic Tower would die.

He would be next.

Jin-woo stopped his hands.

Holding the hammer, he recalled the number again.

‘One hour.’

Long, if it was long.

Short, if it was short.

But what he had to do within that time was clear.

Fix the pickaxe, mine Mana Stones,

and save the Magic Tower.

If he was late on even one, it was over.

‘If I get the order wrong, everything collapses.’

There was no reason to slow his hands.

The moment he hesitated, time would slip away as it was.

Jin-woo steadied his breath and gripped the hammer again.

What he needed now was not judgment, but execution.

Jin-woo lifted the hammer.

[Lower-grade Blacksmith’s Hammer]

Grade: D

Crafting Efficiency: D

Crafting Speed: F+

Durability: 20

‘Considering this is the first floor, it’s usable, but…….’

He had Transcendence-grade Enhancement.

《Target: Equipment》

《Enhancement applicable.》

Jin-woo enhanced the blacksmith’s hammer.

《Lower-grade Blacksmith’s Hammer +1》

《Crafting Efficiency enhanced.》

Crafting Efficiency.

The result would change.

“Then it’s now.”

A brief smile formed on Jin-woo’s lips.

“I’m confident I won’t fail.”

The reason he had survived all the way to the ninety-eighth floor.

It was because Jin-woo had always chosen to be the one who prepared.

CLANG—!

The hammer struck the anvil.

***

Before his regression, he had learned everything outside of combat.

‘If I wanted to live… I had no choice but to do it all.’

Unless one was a combat Hunter, survival was a matter of preparation.

Enduring was more important.

Blacksmithing was one of those skills.

‘Though I’m not as good as the guys who had skills….’

Jin-woo looked down at the pickaxe he had made.

A tool made by melting down old iron and reshaping it.

It was the result he had completed without a skill, using only the feel in his hands and his experience.

It was neither precise nor clean.

But for what he needed right now, this was enough.

“Then….”

Jin-woo checked the pickaxe’s condition.

[Sturdy Iron Pickaxe]

Grade: D-

Mining Efficiency: D-

Mining Speed: D

Durability: 20

D-grade.

The materials had not been good, so the result matched them.

Still, it was not bad.

‘That’s thanks to the enhanced hammer.’

Making something D-grade with those materials was impressive.

‘There shouldn’t be any problem mining with it.’

Jin-woo immediately made his decision.

“And….”

He used ‘Enhancement.’

《Target: Equipment》

《Enhancement applicable.》

A moment later.

《Sturdy Iron Pickaxe +1》

《Enhancement Effect: Mining Speed enhanced.》

There was no visible difference.

This change was something he would only be able to feel once he actually used it.

‘I’ll confirm it in the mine.’

That was when it happened.

Ding—

A familiar notification sounded.

Jin-woo checked the message.

《First tool for survival crafted.》

《Survival EXP accumulated.》

Jin-woo only stared at the message for a while.

“…Survival EXP?”

Jin-woo stopped for a moment.

It was a system that had not existed before his regression.

It recorded not fights,

but ‘choices made to endure.’

‘Not bad.’

He gripped the pickaxe.

The weight transmitted into his hand felt more certain than before.

***

CLANG!

CLANG!

Dull metallic sounds pounded through the mine.

Jin-woo gripped the Sturdy Iron Pickaxe with both hands and brought it down toward the rock wall at the same angle.

The Mana Stone Mine.

Under the faint light, the air was cold and damp.

The smell of metal stung his nose, and each breath he drew seemed to roll cold through his lungs a second time.

This was not work done by strength alone.

‘Angle.’

‘Rhythm.’

If he struck blindly, he would only drain his stamina.

Before his regression, he had engraved that into his bones while enduring several days in a mine.

That was why his hands moved evenly, and his motions were minimal.

CLANG—!

The sound of metal striking stone rang out once more.

Clack.

That was when it happened.

A chunk of stone that had broken off from the rock wall rolled across the floor.

Among the gray stone, faint white blotches were mixed in.

Jin-woo put down the pickaxe and picked up the stone.

The surface was cold, and he could feel a faint trace of mana.

[Lowest-grade Mana Stone]

Grade: F

Mana Efficiency: F

“As expected.”

Lowest-grade.

It was what he had expected, and yet confirming it in his hand made his mood sink.

“This won’t… produce enough efficiency.”

He lifted the pickaxe again.

CLANG!

CLANG!

The longer he continued mining, the faster his stamina was consumed.

Was it because his level was low?

Or because his body had not fully adjusted yet?

‘I get tired quickly.’

His wrists grew heavy, and heat built in his shoulders.

His breathing gradually roughened as well.

“I’m getting tired, as expected….”

The only fortunate thing was—

Jin-woo looked down at the pickaxe.

“It’s only this good because I have Enhancement.”

The enhanced Sturdy Iron Pickaxe.

The difference was very slight, but he could clearly feel that his mining speed had increased.

‘By feel… a few percent.’

One less strike.

That difference divided life and death.

Jin-woo gripped the handle once.

The cracked part caught against his palm with a faint tap.

‘…Like the broken ones from earlier, I’ll end up the same way soon enough.’

If the pickaxe broke, the mining stopped.

If the mining stopped, it was over.

The chain was simple, and the conclusion was brutal.

Jin-woo relaxed his strength and raised his accuracy instead.

He did not strike with his arms.

He made a rhythm with his waist and legs, dispersing the strain so it would not build in his wrists.

“One more time.”