I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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After creating the collagen processing machine.

I immediately succeeded in producing pure collagen by pouring in a large amount of pollock skin.

This was the raw material for artificial skin.

After creating the artificial skin, I decided to apply it to the “dummy.”

To see if the mosquitoes would react.

-Whee-e-e-e-ng~

“Ah.”

But there was no reaction.

Despite the effort put into making the collagen processing machine, the mosquitoes didn’t respond to the dummy.

“…It’s not completely absent, is it?”

There was some progress, though.

Mosquitoes that didn’t even look at the dummy before began to circle around once the artificial skin was applied.

The problem was that they didn’t land and suck blood.

“That’s frustrating.”

It was just mosquitoes, but dealing with them was tricky.

Well, if mosquitoes were this cautious, it must be why the nobles had such a hard time.

From what I heard, they tried every possible method to repel mosquitoes, but in the end, it was all in vain.

The results were likely a result of the mosquitoes’ cautious and picky survival strategies.

“Since it’s come to this, I’ll go all the way.”

At least they showed some interest in the artificial skin.

The ones that didn’t care before were now hovering around it.

So what kind of reaction would real skin provoke?

“Let’s go with bio ink.”

Bio ink.

By extracting human fat and removing the extracellular matrix, it becomes bio ink.

In other words, if I shoot this and process it properly, it will turn into real human skin.

I don’t remember exactly how I know this, but I knew such technology existed and had a rough idea of how to implement it.

“Fix, let’s make a bio ink injector.”

“Whee-e-e-e-ng~!”

So, I started crafting the bio ink injector.

With the help of holograms and Fix, I worked from Friday morning until 4 PM, and I quickly managed to create it.

If even level 3 in engineering thought and hand skills could achieve this, what could happen at level 4?

Anyway, after creating the bio ink injector, I called Elena to ask her to lend me her telekinetic abilities.

It was to cut open my belly and extract the fat.

“…Why do you only ask me for things like this?”

“Hehe. Please.”

“…Haa.”

Thus, linking with Elena’s abilities, I began to slice my body with a scalpel, just like when I had implanted the mana stone.

In the past, just looking at my insides made me nauseous, but now I felt nothing.

“Thank you, Master. I’m always in your debt.”

“Yeah, I’m glad it was helpful.”

Having completed the fat extraction, I chemically processed it to remove the extracellular matrix.

In the meantime, Elena left to study ancient spells, saying she had research to do.

Recently, it seemed like Elena was quite busy due to the newly discovered ancient spell.

-Zzzzzz!

Anyway.

Eventually, I injected the bio ink into the injector and began bio-printing.

Additionally, I cultivated dermal cells in collagen gel to expose the epidermal layer to the air.

By doing so, I could create artificial skin that closely resembled human skin.

‘Of course, adding vascular tissue, sweat glands, subcutaneous fat layers, and fine hair would increase the detail, but…’

The opportunity cost for implementing that was just too high.

So first, I need to check if mosquitoes react to this level of artificial skin.

With that, I attached the new version of artificial skin to the dummy and proceeded to experiment…

-Whee-e-e-e-ng~~~~~…!!!!

The ones flying around the dummy finally reacted.

They settled on the new version of the artificial skin.

And then—

-Suck… suck… suck…

They started probing for blood vessels using a straw on the skin.

With human-like temperature, periodically releasing carbon dioxide, and even emitting sweat scents, they were easily fooled by the artificial skin.

“Wow… you’re dead now.”

It’s time to massacre the mosquitoes.

***

Afterward, Ed created not just the dummy but also a detection mosquito net.

The mosquito net would emit intense heat at any point mosquitoes attempted to penetrate, inflicting fatal damage.

This was Ed’s design, considering the characteristic of the mosquitoes, which had strong exoskeletons but were vulnerable to heat.

“Now I just have to wait for the right timing.”

Having completely conquered the mana mosquitoes, Ed waited for the proper moment.

The time when the nobles’ irritation peaked.

Thus, he postponed the exhibition by a week.

Because the peak of the annoyance from mosquitoes would begin a week after the announcement day.

“I needed to do a lot anyway, so this works out.”

In the meantime, Ed was doing his part.

He checked the academic achievements of his crew through pop quizzes, and if their scores fell below the average, he would reward them with a repulsor beam.

“I studied hard… I even started losing hair over this…”

But they worked hard.

Given they were just starting out in physics and averaged a score of 55, it wasn’t a bad score.

“Keep it up. I have great rewards lined up.”

Ed was strict though.

Because he promised them good rewards.

Thus, he believed they could endure the pushing.

“Ah, got it…”

And, as expected, the crew obeyed him.

Because they all received gauntlets from Ed.

However, the gauntlets they received were incomplete.

They would transform into gauntlets when wearing the bracelet, but they would only transform halfway before stopping.

They would only cover up to the wrist, leaving the back of the hand and palm unprotected.

Thus, what they received was merely for style.

Just transforming from bracelet to wrist guards.

That was about all the function they had.

“If you pass the benchmark score, I’ll cover your hands too.”

So Ed dangled a bait.

If they scored well, he’d cover their hands too.

And if they followed his teachings well, they could someday make their own suits.

Of course, that was a lie.

Even if they completed physics, it would be impossible to create a suit like Ed.

It would just produce one more complete slave.

‘Still, by that time, they might enjoy the fun of mechanical engineering.’

Even if they couldn’t create suits, they would, by then, be able to create various weapons or equipment.

Once they reached a certain level, they would likely devote themselves to studying and building equipment on their own.

Maybe by then, they’d be joking with each other about engineering humor.

Occasionally, it might look something like this.

1. If Iron Man is translated to English, it’s Iron Man.
2. “Man” means Male, and Iron is Fe in the periodic table.
3. So Iron Man = Fe Male.

These kinds of jokes, that makes you chuckle.

‘Well, it was kind of fun.’

Suddenly, Ed reminisced about the time when they were cracking such jokes.

When he hadn’t washed his hair for days and was sprawled out in the lab.

Didn’t he spend time making all kinds of silly jokes with his colleagues back then?

Especially, what brought a smile to Ed’s face was a horror joke.

When his colleague, who had toiled for months, finally got their machine working.

That was when he proudly declared his success to the neighborhood.

“Done!! Finally done! Look! Didn’t I tell you I’d come back?”

An upbeat laugh while celebrating their success.

Ed looked at that colleague with a bewildered expression.

“Come back? No way?”

“…?”

“This isn’t yours? It seems like you forgot a part.”

Saying this, Ed presented a certain part.

That part was essential for the machine his colleague had built.

His colleague’s expression began to turn to horror.

“Then why is it working…?”

“…?”

The silence filling the lab.

The horrifying sound of the machine running furiously.

But in a split second, Ed burst into hearty laughter.

He revealed that he hadn’t forgotten any parts, but rather had secretly taken something that was at his own place.

That was the moment when all misunderstandings were cleared.

“What do you mean? I told you I’d borrow that part. There shouldn’t be any part on your desk, right?”

Another colleague made a significant remark.

Stating that they already borrowed the key part that was at Ed’s desk.

Then what was this key part in Ed’s hand?

Everyone’s expressions turned serious.

‘Actually, it was a two-layered trap.’

But that too was a bait planned by Ed.

To tease the colleague who succeeded in assembling the machine, he coordinated with another colleague.

‘Sure, it was tough, but I endured for my buddies. Engineering students really understand each other.’

The research lab, filled with many memories.

In that research lab gathered experts from various fields.

It was a place assembled for some massive project, and to achieve that task, experts from different studies had to put their heads together and ponder.

And at that time, he was──────────────────────────────────────────────────

“…?”

What was it again?

Suddenly, his head throbbed, and he couldn’t remember.

He even questioned why he, as a college student, was in the lab in the first place.

Did I continue into graduate school?

It felt like all I did after graduating was play computer games all day long.

Wasn’t I such a shut-in that I had to clear El Pandor Runtera?

‘Was I mistaking it for a group project?’

Ed scratched the back of his head.

It seemed he confused group projects with contents from his dreams.

“Ahem. Then study. I’ll head back to the lab.”

With that, Ed wrapped up his past reflections and returned to the lab.

He didn’t have time to waste on such pointless thoughts.

He had a lot to do.

‘Demon Church…’

Especially recently, he was disturbed by the existence of the Demon Church.

Because during outdoor practice, demon species had revealed themselves.

From the first round to the current round, when the demon species appeared, it was a sign that the Demon Church was emerging.

Just as he was rapidly altering this world, the demons might be responding just as quickly.

‘I need to root them out.’

Thus, Ed began to devise a plan to expose them.

The ones who betray humanity first and later stab the back in order to aid the demon invasion must be eliminated.

If these guys were left to their own devices, they would proliferate like cancerous cells and devour the entire empire.

‘I need to find where they operate.’

But the timing and location of the Demon Church’s activities were random.

“El Pandor Runtera” was such a volatile game that even Ed, who knew the future, couldn’t predict their movements.

‘Still, it’s not like there’s absolutely no method.’

However, there were certain areas where they often operated, and he could catch the signs that appeared when they were active.

Even if he couldn’t entirely prevent their actions, he could eradicate a sprout as soon as signs were detected.

‘I’ll need to use people.’

But to capture those signs, he had to deploy his people across the country.

Since he couldn’t monitor every activity of the Demon Church scattered throughout the nation.

Thus, Ed began to plan to set up his surveillance network.

Just then, a suitable idea popped into his mind.

***

Time passed, and a week later.

The entire empire was at its peak repulsion towards mosquitoes.

The ‘Mana Mosquitoes,’ having evolved by sucking the mana from blood, had begun targeting the nobles’ blood for breeding.

-Please take good care tonight.

So nobles, without exception, began hiring Dream Guardians.

Noble families without money had their family members take turns playing the Dream Guardian role.

But that alone had its limits.

After the ‘Mana Mutation Syndrome’ epidemic from 13 years ago, the number of Dream Guardians had decreased by more than half.

This was due to untrained Dream Guardians being bitten dozens of times by mosquitoes and becoming mana invalids, with that news spreading nationwide and sowing fear.

The fear of losing mana eclipsed the greed for money.

Thus, by now, only desperate mana users or veterans confident they wouldn’t get bitten while drawing in mosquitoes were still operating as Dream Guardians.

“Finally, today is the day. I’ll go see my future son-in-law.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Amidst this, Ed’s appraisal event was finally happening.

It was being held at the time when people suffered the most stress due to the mosquitoes.

As such, nobles began to line up to attend Ed’s appraisal event.

Not only the empire’s four great dukes but also marquises, earls, barons, and others who wanted to build connections with Ed formed a long line.

“What kind of items will he showcase this time? I’m looking forward to it.”

Soon, the grand hall was filled with nobility.

It was a sight to behold, with famous nobles easily recognized by name gathered in one place.

“Ooh. Looks like it’s about to start.”

Then.

The lights in the bustling grand hall began to dim.

Now, only the stage remained illuminated.

Everyone was waiting for Ed’s arrival.

-Creak… creak…

In the midst of this strange tension, someone’s footsteps echoed through the auditorium.

Soon, someone in black emerged from backstage and began climbing the stairs, and when they reached the top, the lights shone on him, revealing the face of a handsome young man.

A soft gasp escaped in various spots of the audience.

“Future son-in-law…!”

At once, Ed stepped onto the platform.

The nobles beheld the extraordinary genius that had secured the viscountcy by pure merit.

Confidence and composure radiated from his face.

Their hearts raced, anticipating what remarkable item he would unveil this time.

“Greetings. I am Edgar Fix.”

Was there some magic in his voice?

Just stating his name sent chills down everyone’s spines.

All the nobles in the empire now understood the value linked to the five words ‘Edgar Fix.’

At this point, Ed had the power to make others bow their heads and expect great things simply by revealing his name.

“Without further ado, let me introduce my creation.”

Ed’s presentation was concise yet assertive.

His demeanor was direct, as he displayed the item without any formality.

The audience’s hearts pounded with excitement.

As the black curtains lifted from the stage, an object wrapped in deep black cloth appeared.

With a smile, Ed removed the black cloth.

The pupils of the nobles widened greatly.