Level Up Machine

Chapter 82 The Power to Shake the Continent (3)

“When on earth will I extract all this…”

Yeong-sik let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the massive pile of minerals. Well, it was minerals worth a whopping 40,000 gold.

If it wasn’t this much, it wouldn’t have made sense.

‘But it doesn’t take much magic power to extract.’

The extraction skill he used to make the materials didn’t have any particular cooldown, so it was possible to extract a large amount of minerals in a relatively short time.

‘Let’s start with the iron ingots.’

Yeong-sik began extracting the iron ingots first, as they were the most abundant.

*Ding.*

[Extraction was successful.]

[You have obtained 275 metal screws, 167 metal parts, and 82 metal plates.]

[You have obtained 1 C-grade metal core.]

About 10 tons of iron ingots scattered into the air and transformed into metal materials.

‘500 more times to go.’

Despite 10 tons of iron ingots disappearing, the pile of iron ingots hadn’t shrunk at all. Yeong-sik looked at the remaining mountain of iron ingots with a weary expression.

*Ding. Ding. Ding.*

The clear sound of bells rang continuously as the pile of iron ingots gradually diminished. In proportion, various metal materials piled up like a mountain next to him.

*Ding.*

[The level of the extraction skill has increased to 4.]

[The amount of materials that can be obtained through the extraction skill has increased.]

[A 10% chance to apply the ‘Great Success’ trait, doubling the amount of materials obtained.]

‘Great Success…?’

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled at the message that appeared before him. A Great Success that doubled the amount of materials. Although the probability wasn’t high, it was an extremely beneficial trait compared to having none at all.

‘It was a good idea to start extracting iron ingots first.’

If he had started with saronite or mithril, he wouldn’t have been able to benefit from the Great Success trait.

Yeong-sik stretched as he looked at the nearly finished extracted iron ingots.

“Now, let’s start with the saronite.”

Muttering to himself, Yeong-sik headed towards the pile of saronite. The mineral, emitting a brilliant blue light, was the most commonly used mineral in magic tools.

“Extract.”

*Ding.*

[Great Success!]

[Extraction was very successful.]

[You have obtained 32 metal screws, 12 metal parts, and 7 metal plates.]

[You have obtained 5 C-grade metal cores and 2 B-grade metal cores.]

As the saronite scattered into the air, a blue message window appeared before Yeong-sik.

Saronite, a mineral imbued with magic power, yielded metal cores much more frequently than regular iron ingots. Additionally, with the Great Success trait applied this time, he obtained B-grade metal cores, which could never be obtained from ordinary iron ingots.

“Good. Let’s keep this momentum going.”

Yeong-sik, with a satisfied smile, reached towards the pile of saronite ingots.

At that moment, his expression stiffened slightly.

Despite using the extraction skill, the saronite ingots had barely decreased.

‘Wait a minute, at this rate, how much more extraction will I need to do?’

Unlike the iron ingots, where 10 tons could be extracted at once, the amount of saronite disappearing per extraction was very small.

“This alone is going to be quite laborious.”

Yeong-sik looked at the mountain of saronite with a weary expression.

* * *

*Ding.*

[The level of the extraction skill has increased to 5.]

[The amount of materials that can be obtained through the extraction skill has increased.]

[You have acquired the ‘Mass Extraction’ trait, allowing the extraction of larger quantities at once.]

“…Phew. Now I can do this a bit more comfortably.”

That night.

After spending an entire day, Yeong-sik managed to extract about half of the saronite. He sighed as he looked at the blue message window in front of him.

Even extracting saronite took quite a long time. Given this situation, it was impossible to estimate how much time would be needed to extract mithril, which contained even more magic power than saronite.

‘Still, it appeared at the perfect time.’

Yeong-sik checked the effects of the newly acquired Mass Extraction trait with a satisfied smile.

At that moment, the familiar sound of a bell rang in his ears again.

*Ding.*

[As the level of the extraction skill has increased, a new skill has been unlocked.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Modification Lv 1’.]

“Hmm…?”

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the window that appeared before him.

The modification skill. It was one of the skills he had secretly wondered why it wasn’t available in the class of a mechanic who dealt with machines.

With an intrigued expression, Yeong-sik checked the information about the modification skill.

[Skill Information – Modification Lv 1]

Content: You can change the appearance and performance of machines. The range of modifications is proportional to the skill level.

“The skill description alone doesn’t give me a clear idea.”

Yeong-sik frowned slightly as he looked at the overly general skill description. With this information alone, it was hard to understand the difference between the modification skill and the enhancement skill.

‘Let’s see.’

To test the modification skill, Yeong-sik used the pile of metal materials to create a dryer.

“Modification.”

When he uttered the skill name, a blue light flowed from Yeong-sik’s mouth into the dryer. A rough image of how far he could modify the dryer surfaced in Yeong-sik’s mind.

“What is this?”

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled. Among the elements that could be changed with the ‘Modification’ skill, there was a function that piqued his interest.

‘If I can use this well…’

The biggest problem with the item Yeong-sik had just created was that it couldn’t be used for anything else.

However, the ‘Modification’ skill had a function that could compensate for such shortcomings.

‘It won’t be easy to use right now, though.’

Yeong-sik looked at the skill window with a regretful expression. While the modification skill could compensate for shortcomings, it didn’t provide a perfect solution.

‘But it might come in handy later.’

Thinking that, Yeong-sik looked at the remaining saronite ingots.

“Let’s take care of these first.”

The day had completely ended, and pitch-black darkness had fallen, but it wasn’t a big issue for Yeong-sik. After all, he was more machine than human, hardly feeling any fatigue.

* * *

“It’s finished.”

The next morning, after staying up all night.

A murmur of astonishment escaped Yeong-sik’s lips. In front of him was an enormous pile of metal materials, so vast that ‘countless’ was the only fitting description.

40,000 gold.

In terms of Korean won, it amounted to a staggering 40 billion. It was the result of extracting all the materials.

Among the mountain of metal materials were quite a few rare materials emitting a blue light.

“This is incomparable to the time with the Iron Golem…”

The exploration of the abandoned mine, which had become a turning point for Yeong-sik, seemed laughable now due to the massive amount of metal materials obtained.

During the extraction work, guild members who brought him meals stared in astonishment at the mountain of metal materials.

‘Can I even use all of this before the dungeon exploration?’

Yeong-sik looked at the mountain of metal materials with a hollow expression.

It had taken a whole day just to extract them. How much more time would it take to use all these materials with his manufacturing or enhancement skills was beyond estimation.

“Let’s start with enhancement first.”

Yeong-sik shifted his focus to the enhancement skill, which he had hardly paid attention to during his busy schedule.

“Enhance.”

Yeong-sik placed his hand on his right wrist and used the skill. Blue light flowed into his right wrist.

[Would you like to enhance this item? Enhancing requires 8 C-grade metal cores.]

Without hesitation, Yeong-sik nodded. In the past, he would have frowned at the thought of using 8 precious metal cores, but now the situation was different.

*Ding.*

[The level of the shotgun has increased to 2.]

[The number of bullets used per shot and the rate of fire have increased.]

[The level of the Gatling gun has increased to 2.]

[The strength of the bullets used in the Gatling gun has increased. The time until recharge after ammunition depletion has been reduced.]

[The level of the mines has increased to 2.]

[The number of mines that can be used at one time has increased to seven.]

[The level of the laser has increased to 2.]

[The output of the laser has increased.]

[The level of the energy blast has increased to 2.]

[The time required for full charging is reduced, and more energy can be charged.]

[The level of the enhancement skill has increased to 2.]

[Enhancement is now possible using higher grade metal cores.]

“…This skill is no joke.”

Yeong-sik let out a brief exclamation as he enhanced his weapons one by one. The effects of the enhancement skill were so impressive that he felt embarrassed for having neglected it until now.

‘Especially the fact that it strengthens the weapons in a balanced way is the best part.’

Although it didn’t bring about a massive power increase like when unlocking security levels, the enhancement skill was certainly attractive as it compensated for the shortcomings of the weapons he was accustomed to using.

“The problem is the metal cores…”

Yeong-sik frowned as he looked at the mountain of metal materials.

Although he had a decent supply of B-grade metal cores, A-grade metal cores were scarce, even from mithril.

‘Let’s try enhancing them one more step.’

Knowing the tremendous effect of the enhancement skill, he couldn’t afford to be stingy with the metal cores.

“Enhance.”

Yeong-sik once again used enhancement on his weapon.

[The level of the blade has increased to 3.]

[The blade can now vibrate at high speed, allowing for the ‘Slash’ effect.]

[The level of the shotgun has increased to 3.]

[You can now use the ‘Blast’ effect, firing three shots at once. However, the shotgun cannot fire for a certain time after using Blast.]

Every time he used the enhancement skill, blue windows appeared before his eyes. The effects were so excellent that they could be considered skills in their own right.

As each of his weapons gained new abilities, the smile on Yeong-sik’s face grew wider.

Seeing his weapons, which he had used freely like extensions of his body, evolve by reducing their drawbacks and highlighting their strengths, he couldn’t help but feel good.

“Phew…”

Yeong-sik took a deep breath as he saw the final message indicating that the enhancement skill had reached level 3.

A thrilling shiver ran through his entire body. Even Yeong-sik, who always maintained his composure, couldn’t help but move slightly due to the impressive effects of the enhancement skill.

“At this rate, it might be better to focus on the enhancement skill rather than the manufacturing skill.”

Yeong-sik let out a chuckle as he looked at the mountain of metal materials. He felt an urge to use the few A-grade metal cores he had right away to enhance his weapons to the next level.

‘Before that, let’s start with manufacturing…’

Calming his excitement, Yeong-sik looked up at the mountain of metal materials. Most of the common parts in that pile had no use other than being utilized by the manufacturing skill.

“Then, let’s get started.”

With a now calm voice, Yeong-sik began to use the manufacturing skill.

*Ding.*

[The level of the manufacturing skill has increased to 7.]

[The recipes for manufacturable machines have been greatly expanded.]

“What is this…”

A voice filled with astonishment escaped Yeong-sik’s lips as he looked at the blue-tinted window.

His entire body trembled slightly, a mix of excitement and shock. It was only natural for him to react this way.

“Huh?”

Displayed in the message window before him were incredible items that could shake the entire continent of Elnore.