Chapter 42: Episode 42

We all stepped onto the magic circle elevator. Nine buttons lit up in the air. At first, there were only buttons for the first and ninth floors, but now a total of four were lit. One more floor, and we would have opened more than half of the Magic Tower. Feeling a sense of pride, I pressed the third-floor button.

In an instant, our surroundings changed, and a new space unfolded.

“Ooh…!”

The floor was filled with equipment of unknown purpose. I felt like I was on a factory tour.

“Welcome to the Magic Tower’s third floor, the ‘Golem Workshop,’” Ea explained, her administrative functions for the floor now restored. “This floor is responsible for the Magic Tower’s golem division.”

We listened to her as we looked around the workshop. A lava furnace, a cooling unit, a cutting machine, and various other magitech devices were arranged here. The brilliantly glowing magic circles on their surfaces made them fun to look at.

”Golems were an inseparable part of the Magic Tower,” she continued. “They covered for the mages’ weaknesses—namely, their physical abilities and their lack of numbers.”

I nodded and touched a rusted golem leaning against one wall. It was incredibly hard.

”Golems are sturdier than human soldiers and are not swayed by emotions. Most importantly, unlike mages, who are high-value personnel, golems can be replaced endlessly. That is why they served as the Magic Tower’s de facto military force.”

“The Magic Tower had an army?”

Ea nodded. “Affirmative. Ironically, the Magic Tower was at its most powerful when an unprecedented third-floor administrator appeared. It is said that with the sheer numbers of high-quality golems and the firepower of the mages in the rear, they crushed the empire’s army and brought vast territories under the Magic Tower’s influence.”

“So you’re saying this third floor is that important?”

The Potion Brewing Bureau, our main source of income. The Great Library, our source of information. And now the Golem Workshop, the core of our military strength. We had only unlocked up to the third floor, but the balance was excellent.

“Additionally, with the unsealing of the third floor, I have recovered my administrative functions. I must also inform you that a new feature has been added to my role as the administrator homunculus.”

“What is it this time?”

She gestured gently toward the rusted golem. A blue light ignited in its eyes, and it rose with a creaking sound.

“Control over all golems created in the Magic Tower.”

“Oh! It can move?”

“Of course.” The rusted golem struck several poses before it began to perform the dance of Ea’s favorite idol group.

“Ah! I can do that, too!” Eunsol stretched out her arm, and a bluish mana swirled around the body of another deactivated golem. It slowly rose and gave the dancing golem a tight hug.

“And the two lived happily ever after!” Eunsol declared.

A fairy-tale ending from what started as an idol dance—what a bizarre combination. Just then, the golem Eunsol was controlling slammed Ea’s golem to the ground.

…For a fairy tale, it seemed a little violent.

“As expected, Eunsol’s Remote Control ability seems to apply to golems as well,” Seojin remarked, then turned to me. “Tower Master, do you have anyone in mind to be the Golem Workshop administrator?”

“Not yet, no.”

It seemed Seojin was thinking the same thing I was: entrusting the third-floor administrator position to Eunsol, given her unique ability. But I had my doubts about whether a child her age could properly handle the Magic Tower’s golem division.

“How about we run a test?” Seojin suggested.

“…A test?”

“Yes. To gauge her aptitude for golems. We can see whether she can create one without the administrator trait.”

Not a bad idea. I agreed with his suggestion. We entered the workshop dedicated to the most basic golem, the mud golem.

’Oh.’

The place where they made golems was completely different from what I had imagined. If I had to describe it, it was like a massive wrestling ring. The floor was a vast, shallow pan of mud, and the walls were lined with glowing magic circles. I reached out and touched the mud; it was moist and viscous, its humidity perfectly managed by magic.

“This is the core of golem creation: the Mana Blueprint,” Ea said, holding up a blueprint from the wall for everyone to see. It wasn’t made of paper or fiber but of mana itself, a special schematic that resembled a holographic screen.

“…It’s pretty,” Eunsol said, her eyes sparkling as Ea handed her the blueprint.

“In the Magic Tower, we used these Mana Blueprints to create magitech golems,” Ea explained.

“How do you use it?” Eunsol asked.

“I will show you now.”

Eunsol and I sat at the edge of the mud pit and carefully laid the Mana Blueprints down. The values displayed on them immediately changed, and I saw a marker ’Match’ in the Erendel language appear. Ea approached and placed a high-purity mana stone a short distance from each of our blueprints.

“All preparations are complete. Please place both palms on the blueprint.”

Following her instructions, I placed my hands on the palm-shaped marks. A blue light emanated from the entire blueprint as it began to activate.

“Whoa…!”

The golem’s creation schematics appeared clearly in my mind. Eunsol’s eyes were wide with surprise as well.

“Now, please construct the golem according to the sequence and process shown on the blueprint,” Ea instructed.

“Alright.”

I decided to start with the arms, pushing mana into the corresponding section of the blueprint. Instantly, mud from the pan shot up into the air and took the shape of an arm. This was fascinating. It felt less like a blueprint and more like a remote controller. Operating it with mana was like having an invisible hand lift the heavy mud and harden it in midair for me. As I got the hang of it, it started to become fun. I followed the blueprint as closely as possible to create the arm.

“Okay. Now for the other arm…”

Just as I had roughly finished the left arm and shifted my focus to the right, the floating limb turned to mush and collapsed back into the mud pan.

“This is trickier than it looks.”

“Yusin, Yusin,” Eunsol called from beside me. “It’s easier if you start with the torso.”

Her creation already looked more plausible than mine. She had a mana stone floating in the air and was plastering mud onto it like flesh. That seemed to be the right way to do it. I decided to start with the torso as well. When I used the blueprint to levitate the mana stone and activate it, the stone’s mana spread out wide, like the ‘base’ used when creating a magic circle. It took the shape of the golem’s shadow. The mana crackled like electricity, as if urging me to hurry up and add the flesh. Looking closely, I could see faint blue lines, similar to human nerves.

I resumed my work, drawing up the mud to cover the mana stone. After molding it into a round shape, I hardened it into the form of a torso. Just for fun, I even sculpted a chest and abs.

’This is fun. Reminds me of when I was a kid.’

Working with the mud felt like I had returned to my childhood. After making the torso, I proceeded to craft the arms and legs, filling in the flesh over the mana nerves that had become the golem’s ‘core.’ It required a lot of care. If I didn’t apply the flesh exactly as the blueprint instructed, the mud would slide off. If there wasn’t enough mud, or if the shape was odd, the golem’s overall balance would be thrown off, causing parts to sag. The task demanded surprisingly delicate control.

’Alright. Arms and legs, done.’

I had the basic shape down. Now for the hardest part: the face. I looked at the blueprint for creating the face, and my jaw dropped.

’Is this even possible?’

If everything up to now had been hardware, the golem’s head was software. I had to program it by arranging magitech formulas. Of course, I wasn’t creating an AI on Ea’s level—just a system to transmit signals to the nerves to make the body move properly—but it was still no ordinary task. I wracked my brain, inputting the formulas exactly as shown on the blueprint.

Thirty minutes later…

“It’s done!” I shouted, lifting my hands from the Mana Blueprint.

Seojin, who had been watching from behind, silently pushed up his glasses. Ea wore an awkward smile.

“What’s with the reactions?”

“It’s a little different from the golem in the blueprint,” Seojin noted.

He was right. My completed golem had thin, long legs, and its arms were twisted like pretzels.

“…Haha. I was so focused on the software that the balance kept getting messed up… But it should still move, right?”

I looked at Ea, who nodded.

“I will now attempt to move it.”

Ea closed her eyes and waved her arm once. With a creaking sound, the golem’s arms spread out and then began to move up and down.

“It worked!”

I clenched my fist in joy. The arms moved normally. Next were the legs. The moment the golem was about to take its historic first step…

’Crack!’

After just two steps, its calf collapsed, and it fell to the floor. A failure.

“Ugh, so close.”

“Yusin! I finished mine too!” Eunsol called out.

“You did?”

I turned to look at her finished product.

…My god. It was an almost perfect replica of the golem on the blueprint.

“In terms of appearance, Eunsol is the clear winner. Now, let’s try moving it.”

As Ea began to control it, the golem’s arm lifted. And then…

“…Why is it just trembling?”

Beads of sweat formed on Eunsol’s forehead, her eyes still closed. The golem could walk and lift its arms, but its body was shaking too violently. Ea sighed deeply and stepped back.

“The commands aren’t being transmitted properly. It’s a failure.”

Eunsol’s face fell. I walked over and stroked her head.

“It’s okay. You did great.”

“…Okay.”

“The nerve structure part is hard, right? It was for me too…”

As I said that, my eyes flew open.

“Eunsol! How did you create the software? It was all in the Erendel language, with magic formulas, wasn’t it?”

“I just did it.”

“…Just did it?”

“Yeah! I figured out which formula moved the right arm and which one moved the left. I just pieced them together like that and…”

This was incredible. A smile spread across my face.

“This is more than enough to pass the test,” Seojin said.

“I agree.”

“I told you, didn’t I? Eunsol’s talent is genius-level.”

In truth, it was Seojin, not Bora, who had insisted more than anyone that we bring Eunsol to the Magic Tower. He had shown me a video back then. Eunsol’s Remote Control couldn’t affect living creatures, meaning it was impossible for her to directly move the people of the slums or monsters. She could only control inanimate objects or the undead. So how had she been able to protect people?

The slums were littered with equipment discarded by hunters. Eunsol had repaired them, combined them with scrap, and turned them into turrets. Whenever monsters tried to invade, she would activate these turrets and take them down. When I saw how high-quality they were on Seojin’s laptop, I was amazed.

I crouched down to meet her gaze.

“How was making a golem? Was it fun?”

“Yeah! It was fun!”

Seeing her smile so brightly without a single worry in the world felt like it was purifying my own heart.

“Do you want to keep making golems? From now on, you’ll be in charge of them at our Magic Tower.”

She didn’t even hesitate, clenching her small fists and nodding.

“Yeah! I’ll do it! I want to help you, Yusin!”

What a cute kid. She even speaks so sweetly. As I stroked her head, I noticed the knife scar on her neck. A sudden surge of anger washed over me.

’…I really want to go back to the slums and wipe them all out.’

“Then I’ll give you administrator authority right away. It might feel a little strange, but just bear with it for a moment.”

I opened the domain window and made the administrator-exclusive insignia appear on my finger. Then, I placed my finger on the hideous scar on her nape.

’Vwoom!’

The Magic Tower’s crest covered the scar, emitting a bluish light.

[3rd Floor Administrator has been registered.]

Name: Eunsol

Unique Ability: Remote Control

Personal Traits: [Dreamscape Lv.6], [Inventor Lv.4], [Potential Lv.1], [Engineer Lv.1]

Main Stats: [Magic Power 32], [Agility 29], [Stamina 15], [Strength 4]

Special Stats: [Dexterity 38], [Creativity 20], [Intelligence 15], [Endurance 11]

Total Stats: [164]

New Traits: New! [3rd Floor Administrator Lv.10], New! [Golem Engineering Lv.10], New! [Golem Mastery Lv.10]

’Clap, clap, clap!’

Ea and Seojin clapped and offered their congratulations. Eunsol smiled shyly, clearly pleased. As the warm atmosphere settled, a ringtone sounded from my pocket. It was Bora.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

—“It’s an emergency!” Bora’s urgent voice cried through the receiver. “Someone… someone challenged you to a duel!”

“…Is that all? That’s a common occurrence at the Academy. Who is it?”

—“The president!”

“President? Who?”

—“Come on! The Academy’s Student Council President!”

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep