Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 

Lumina’s dry voice came through.

Jin-woo raised his head.

“Water Purification Facility? The Magic Tower has something like that?”

[Affirmative.]

The Magic Tower was the final Ark.

This place was a facility built thoroughly for ‘survival.’

It was only natural for there to be a Water Purification Facility related to drinking water.

“Why are you only telling me that now?”

Jin-woo grumbled lightly.

It was closer to dissatisfaction than reproach.

[Current Magic Tower has deteriorated.]

[Discovery delayed due to facility inspection.]

[Thirst detected. Priority readjusted.]

“Well, if that’s why, I can’t help it.”

Jin-woo rose from his seat.

If there was a Water Purification Facility, there was no time to hesitate.

“Guide me.”

Then an arrow appeared on the floor.

[Beginning guidance.]

The Water Purification Facility was on the first floor.

As he walked down the corridor following the arrow, a relatively wide space appeared at the end.

Unrecognizable characters glowed faintly above the door.

“Translate it.”

[Translation: Water Purification Room.]

Jin-woo gave a short nod.

Then he reached out and pushed the door.

Creeeak—

The metal door, long unmanaged, opened with a low sound.

The inside was wider than he had expected.

In the center of the circular room was a large purification tank, and pipes and control devices surrounded it.

Crystal pillars that seemed meant for mana amplification were embedded at regular intervals.

‘…It’s here, all right.’

The problem was its condition.

Old water had pooled on the floor, and water still remained inside the purification tank.

But as he approached, a subtle smell stabbed his nose.

It was the smell of mana rotting.

His head rejected it first.

‘This is….’

Jin-woo looked at the sediment piled on the edge of the tank.

Blackened dregs.

Impurities that looked like traces of coagulated mana had sunk beneath the surface of the water.

“I can’t use it like this.”

Part of the purification device was already dead.

The pipes were cracked, and the light in the mana circulation crystal pillars had long since gone out.

‘Contamination.’

‘Facility damage.’

‘Mana circulation failure.’

It was right before his eyes, yet he could not drink it.

If he used it incorrectly, it would clearly end not with quenching his thirst, but with ruining his body.

‘Just like the Tower.’

It looked usable, but if he actually used it as is, he would die.

This place had always been like that.

“Still… it’s better than not having one at all.”

He looked beneath the control device beside the tank.

The floor was caked with sediment, the pipes were damaged, and the crystal pillars were dead.

Something was wedged under the tank.

A black metal handle, its tip processed into a pointed shape like a pen nib.

Runes remained faintly on it.

When Jin-woo carefully pulled it, it came loose with a ‘pop.’

[Magic Engraver]

Grade: C+

Precision: C+

Work Speed: C

Durability: 35

“…Why did they leave this here?”

The answer was simple.

They had not ‘left it behind.’

They had ‘missed it.’

Something must have happened that was urgent enough for them to abandon the Water Purification Room and flee.

‘What matters is that it’s in my hands now.’

It was a tool used by the side that had made the purification device.

And in the Tower, finding a tool left behind was rare.

He tried gripping the handle.

Its center of gravity was good.

The sensation of it fitting against his fingertips was not unfamiliar either.

‘It’s like a MacGyver knife.’

Jin-woo paused for a moment.

Enhancement had limits.

The calculation that he had to conserve it surfaced first, but—

‘Water is a survival condition.’

An Enhancement used to resolve a condition was not a waste.

He lifted the engraver.

“Enhance.”

Blue light settled quietly on the tip of the pen nib, then seeped thinly into it.

《Target: Equipment》

《Enhancement applicable.》

《Magic Engraver +1》

《Effect: Work Speed enhanced.》

It looked the same.

Only the sensation at his fingertips was different.

His movements connected smoothly, as if the tool knew the next motion before he did.

“…Good.”

He looked at the purification device again.

The fact that the facility remained meant that it could be repaired.

“Lumina. Can this purification device be repaired?”

[However, impossible through ‘Magic Tower automatic repair function.’]

[Manual repair: possible.]

[Success rate varies according to worker proficiency.]

“So automatic won’t work….”

Jin-woo nodded.

“Then I’ll do it.”

Clinging to something that did not exist was a waste of time.

And that would get him killed.

This was his way of surviving.

He stared at the purification device.

“Did the Arcanist make this too?”

[Affirmative.]

[Most facilities inside the Tower are Magic Engineering devices created by the Arcanist.]

“Magic Engineering….”

Before his regression, he had made and repaired countless devices.

‘Can I fix it? No, I’m fixing it.’

Without hesitation, Jin-woo opened the panel and began disassembling the interior.

[Warning.]

[If the purification device is damaged, it will become permanently unusable.]

“I know.”

Admiration escaped him.

He had seen countless Magic Engineering devices until now.

But this purification device was far beyond anything he had seen before.

“By pre-regression standards… this could even purify Basilisk bodily fluid.”

Basilisk bodily fluid, where a single drop could contaminate a massive lake.

No matter what method was used, that fluid could not be purified.

Yet with this device, it would be possible.

And there were several familiar parts.

Jin-woo’s eyes widened.

“Wait, is this….”

Before his regression, he had seen a similar device before.

A device that had erased a boss at 10% output.

Its circuitry resembled this.

“So that device was made by the Arcanist too….”

Questions piled up, but now was not the time to seek answers.

‘In any case… I can fix it.’

***

The forge.

Jin-woo stood before the furnace and continued working.

What he needed now was not a simple weapon.

The Water Purification Room’s circuit did not have a ‘severed wire,’ but a ‘severed flow.’

To connect it, he needed an adhesive through which mana could flow.

[Emergency forge activation.]

[Energy consumption in progress.]

[Remaining Energy: 67%.]

He could see the energy decreasing.

But without water, the remaining energy had no meaning.

“Done. Turn it off now.”

[Forge operation stopped.]

When the flames of the furnace settled, a viscous liquid remained inside the heat-resistant container.

Mana Crystal Fluid.

It was a liquid obtained by melting Mana Stones at an extreme temperature.

Jin-woo lifted the container and examined its condition.

“What do you think?”

[Quality: F.]

[Energy Efficiency: Low.]

[Not recommended due to low Mana Stone purity.]

“As expected.”

The Mana Stones in his possession were the lowest-grade materials that could be obtained on the first floor.

Expecting quality would be greedier than anything.

“It can’t be helped. This is all I can get right now.”

[Substitution possible.]

[Efficiency will decrease significantly.]

“That’s enough.”

What he needed right now was operation.

He took the container and headed to the Water Purification Room.

Standing before the purification device, Jin-woo opened the panel without hesitation and exposed the internal circuit.

At that moment, his vision changed.

‘Magic Engineering.’

Jin-woo used the skill.

《Magic Engineering activated.》

The moment blue light gathered in his eyes, the flow began to appear as ‘lines.’

Where it had been severed, where it had burned out, and what had to be restored first.

Jin-woo took out the Magic Engraver.

Enhanced +1.

The sensation around his fingertips was certain.

Even when he only brushed over the circuit, the lines aligned as if following him.

‘The flow was cut here.’

‘This section burned out from overload.’

A full repair was impossible.

But emergency treatment was possible.

Jin-woo brought the tip of the engraver to the joint.

When the pen nib touched it, a faint afterglow flashed.

With a motion closer to ‘connecting’ than ‘drawing,’ he quickly joined the broken lines.

His hand did not stop.

There was no room for hesitation to slip in.

As if the engraver were drawing in the ‘next line’ ahead of time, his movements continued.

‘Limit the output.’

‘Prioritize stability.’

‘As for the purification rate… enough to keep a person alive, at minimum.’

When he dropped the Mana Crystal Fluid, the liquid flowed over the circuit and connected the mana.

Then the engraver pressed it down as if fixing that flow in place.

Jin-woo finished the final adjustment and pulled his hand away.

This was not a repair.

It was closer to an emergency treatment.

But for now, that was enough.

“What do you think?”

[Emergency repair.]

[Repair Rate: 12.5%]

[Energy efficiency extremely low.]

[Note: Barely restored ‘purification function’ only.]

[Additional functions/stabilization circuit: not restored.]

“Still, it works, right?”

A short silence flowed.

[Emergency operation possible.]

At Lumina’s answer, Jin-woo nodded.

“Good. Activate it.”

[Emergency Water Purification Room activation.]

[Energy priority reallocation.]

Hummmm….

It worked.

The air changed.

The smell coming from the water disappeared, and a refreshing energy spread.

“Oh.”

First, the murkiness like an oil film on the surface split apart.

Then the sediment that had sunk to the bottom was sucked into a fine whirlpool.

The water’s color— changed from gray to pale blue and became clear.

[Purification complete.]

[Purification Rate: 87%]

[Usable as drinking water.]

“Really?”

[However, energy efficiency is poor.]

“What percentage is it at now?”

[Remaining Energy: 47%]

Jin-woo started in shock.

The energy that had been at 67% had evaporated by 20% in the blink of an eye.

The work had gotten faster, but the energy was draining out more brutally.

“S-Stop it now!”

[Emergency Water Purification Room operation stopped.]

[Remaining Energy: 45%]

[Cause: Overconsumption due to unrestored stabilization circuit.]

In that brief interval, another 2% had fallen.

It was the height of inefficiency.

“Is it because I didn’t fully repair it… Tsk.”

[Energy efficiency will improve as the repair rate increases.]

“For now… there’s nothing I can do.”

Jin-woo took out the old canteen he had brought from the rest room.

He swept a finger over the mouth to wipe away the dust and tightened the leather strap firmly.

‘One full canteen is enough.’

For something obtained after spending 22% energy, it was pitiful, but—

‘This is still something.’

He drank the water.

“Ah….”

It was cool.

The water running down his throat passed his esophagus and chest, spreading all the way to his stomach.

The trembling at his stiffened fingertips slowly subsided.

His head cleared.

Only now did he feel as though he could truly breathe.

‘…I survived.’

Jin-woo exhaled like a sigh.

He had survived today.

That was when it happened.

Ding!

《Drinking Water secured.》

《Status Effect removed: Mild Dehydration》

《Survival EXP accumulated.》

《Accumulated value threshold reached.》

《Level 2 achieved.》