Invasion (1)
It was an important moment.
If the enchantment of the GAU-19 failed, he could end up carelessly losing hundreds of billions of won.
Just a few months ago, Seon Yul had been living modestly while working part-time at a convenience store. Such an amount of money would have been unimaginable to him.
Of course, now he had become a wealthy mana user holding over 10 billion won worth of intermediate-grade magic stones. But that was separate from the fact that this was an item difficult to obtain even with money.
“The probability is fifty-fifty anyway.”
It works. Or it doesn’t.
Though it was a miraculous kind of probability logic, Seon Yul had already made up his mind. Without hesitation, he used the Enchant Soul.
[Using Enchant Soul “Faster and Even Faster.”]
[A Unique-grade weapon “Very Fast GAU-19/B” has been created.]
“It’s made, at least….”
There was, of course, no issue with creating it.
What mattered was the result.
[‘Very Fast GAU-19/B’ <Unique>]
— A GAU-19/B multi-barrel machine gun modified to be extremely fast. However, it appears highly unstable for practical use.
[Base Effect: None].
[Skill: Acceleration and More Acceleration (Passive) Increases the GAU-19/B’s rate of fire threefold. (3,900 rounds per minute)]
[Penalty] Cost (ammunition) consumption speed increases threefold.
“So far, so good.”
There was a slightly unsettling sentence in the item description, but it was within expectations, so for now it was fine.
“What matters is whether it can actually fire… that’s the key.”
Seon Yul attached the dedicated ammunition belt to the GAU-19, which was mounted on its large wheeled stand.
Click!
“The weight… if necessary, I could even carry it and fire.”
Before shooting, he briefly lifted the GAU-19 and concluded he could fire it without placing it back on the mount.
Ordinary people wouldn’t even imagine such a thing, but Seon Yul was awakened. And especially inside Absolute Space, it was easily possible.
“Now… please just work.”
Having completed his preparations, he aimed the muzzle at one side of Absolute Space’s wall and slowly pulled the trigger.
Whiiiiir— dududududududududud!
The GAU-19 erupted brilliantly, spewing fire as it unleashed bullets.
Not just unleashing them… spewing them like crazy.
It was definitely a GAU-19 firing, yet the rate of fire was nearly comparable to a minigun.
But the difference in firepower between a minigun using 5.56×45mm NATO rounds and a GAU-19 using 12.7×99mm NATO rounds was beyond comparison.
If the minigun was shooting needles, then the GAU-19 was firing iron chopsticks. Naturally, the difference in destructive power was enormous.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!
The wall of Absolute Space would not collapse, of course, but the bullets from the GAU-19 slammed into it, producing a thunderous roar.
For more precise testing, Seon Yul continued firing for nearly five straight minutes without stopping.
Fortunately, Seong-hyeon had sent ammunition belt sets capable of automatically feeding almost 70,000 rounds, so there was more than enough for the experiment.
He had essentially sent nearly 100 million won worth of ammunition, which made Seon Yul feel like he had accumulated considerable debt.
But that was something to think about later. Right now, the condition of the GAU-19 was more important.
The GAU-19 had originally been designed to fire only 1,300 rounds per minute, yet he had forced it to operate at 3,900 rounds per minute like a madman. Naturally, problems arose.
What mattered, however, was how those problems were handled.
Click.
After five minutes of firing, Seon Yul immediately inspected the GAU-19’s condition.
The barrels had turned red, and smoke rose from between the muzzle and barrel gaps. But at the very least, nothing was bent or cracked.
“It looks like it could explode at any second… but it feels like Absolute Space’s power is forcibly preventing that.”
Just as he had expected, the power of Absolute Space forcibly stabilized the instability of the GAU-19 modified by the Enchant Soul.
If he took it outside Absolute Space in this condition, it would instantly shatter… but as long as it remained inside, there was no problem.
“Victory! Long live Absolute Space!”
Seon Yul raised both arms high and smiled brightly.
The magnificent Absolute Space had delivered again, and thanks to it, Seon Yul had acquired an incredibly powerful weapon.
With the insane firepower of the ‘Very Fast GAU-19/B,’ even hyper-ranker users… who far surpassed human limits and were said to be almost impervious to modern weapons, could not ignore it.
And that also meant most monsters could be deleted merely by being grazed by it.
“The only downside is that the ammunition is more expensive than I expected.”
Already spending intermediate-grade magic stones in many places, Seon Yul had gained yet another fixed expense.
Ten minutes of continuous fire would cost roughly 50 to 80 million won, so it wasn’t a weapon he could use carelessly.
He planned to normally use the Barrett or the M134 minigun, and only bring out the GAU-19 when necessary.
“Since this worked… I should search the market for any usable Enchant Souls.”
Because he had received both the GAU-19 and the ammunition as gifts, his intermediate-grade magic stones remained untouched.
Of course, he understood that this gift would eventually become a debt to repay, but he couldn’t refuse.
He had contacted them, knowing this would happen, and he truly did intend to help the Management Bureau later.
***
The market had a wide variety of items, but Enchant Souls were not listed frequently.
They were not easy to obtain to begin with, and truly high-grade items were usually sold through auctions at places like the ‘Christie Auction House’ rather than through the market.
Enchant Souls of Unique grade or higher were almost always found at Christie’s, and even Magic-grade ones were rarely on the market.
Occasionally, defective ones would appear, but aside from those, there were almost none.
Since there was no such thing as a Common-grade Enchant Soul, the conclusion was that they were difficult to acquire on the market.
Nonetheless, Seon Yul thoroughly searched the market to see if even among flawed Enchant Souls there might be something he could use.
At the same time, he also looked for items of suitable grade for himself.
“Whew, nothing.”
Even setting aside Enchant Souls, there weren’t many worthwhile items.
More precisely, there were hardly any that were useful.
It felt wasteful to buy cheap throwaway items just to equip them.
“Should I just be satisfied that I bought at least this one thing?”
[Gas and Dust Protection Mask Made from Drake Leather <Magic>]
— A mask made of black drake leather. It has excellent breathability, allowing you to breathe as if not wearing a mask, while also providing outstanding gas and dust protection. <Crafted by Leather Master Michiko>
[Base Effect: Defense +10]
[Skill: Gas/Dust Protection: Blocks low-grade toxins and almost all types of dust.]
It was exactly the style of mask-type armor Seon Yul had wanted, and it cost only 700 grams of intermediate-grade magic stones.
An ordinary person might be shocked that a mask costs 70 million won, but considering it was Magic-grade and crafted by someone who appeared to be a master using premium material drake leather, it wasn’t expensive at all.
“Leather Master Michiko… her items look good. I’ll bookmark and set alerts so I can check immediately whenever something is listed.”
After setting the alert and closing the market, Seon Yul began filling his empty pantry.
He ordered drinking water and various food supplies online.
He had been steadily converting small amounts of intermediate-grade magic stones into cash, so his bank account held about 100 million won.
He had converted them slowly… 50 to 100 grams at a time, to avoid drawing attention.
Since he had plenty of money, he ordered generously.
He had also expanded the size of Absolute Space since he still had plenty of intermediate-grade magic stones, so there was more than enough storage space.
After finishing all preparations over several days, Seon Yul finally left home to visit his aunt Lee Hyun Ah’s coffee shop.
He hadn’t properly answered her calls for a while, so he wanted to at least show his face and ease her worries.
***
The coffee shop run by Lee Hyun Ah was near Apgujeong Station in Seoul. As his cousin Jang Jun Hyeok had said, it was far from small.
In fact, it was a rather famous coffee shop in Apgujeong, operating successfully for quite some time in a prime location.
It wasn’t a famous franchise, but an independent brand. The reason it had achieved such success was due to Lee Hyun Ah’s business acumen.
Additionally, the coffee she personally made tasted exceptionally good.
And now, Seon Yul was sipping the very special Dutch coffee that people lined up to buy, while enduring the long-accumulated nagging of Lee Hyun Ah.
He should have eased this through regular phone calls, but due to awakening and hunting, he had nearly ignored her calls, allowing them to pile up excessively.
Of course, he knew all her nagging came from concern and affection. So he said nothing and quietly listened.
“…Seriously, until you find another job, come work here. I’m not saying you have to inherit the shop, but at least work part-time here for now.”
“Aunt. I’ve been busy lately.”
“Jun Hyeok said you’ve just been at home? Did you find a new job? Or did you find something you want to do?”
“Th-that… um…”
If he wanted to stop the nagging, he had to answer carefully.
“I… I got hired at the Management Bureau.”
“The Bureau? You mean the Gate Management Bureau?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. It wasn’t entirely false. Even if not hired formally, he would be helping them.
“How did you get hired there?”
“You know I’ve always been interested in that field. I met someone through it and got hired as a junior staff member.”
He couldn’t tell her he had awakened as a mana user. With her personality, she would worry even more.
“That’s a relief… but isn’t that job dangerous?”
“I’m just a junior office worker. It’s far from anything dangerous.”
He repeatedly said, “I’m sorry, Aunt,” in his heart as he continued telling half-truths.
“So it’s really what you want to do this time?”
“Yes.”
He nodded sincerely this time.
“How have you been? Your health is okay, right?”
“I’m still perfectly fine. If anything, Jun Hyeok looks exhausted these days.”
“Oh? Is Jun Hyeok managing okay? I heard the work there is… tougher than expected.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say ‘dangerous,’ so he worded it carefully.
“Honestly… ever since he awakened, he’s done nothing but make people worry.”
“What’s wrong with awakening? They say these days becoming a mana user means you’re already halfway to success.”
“I don’t know. The world’s changing too fast… I don’t even know what’s right anymore.”
Lee Hyun Ah muttered with a worried expression.
“Jun Hyeok will do well. So don’t worry too mu…”
At that moment.
Suddenly.
Unexpectedly.
Something happened.
Something even the Bureau’s warning systems failed to detect.
Ziiiiiiiiiiing!
A sudden surge of mana.
And it wasn’t just from one place.
From all directions, as if in resonance, waves of mana erupted simultaneously.
“W-what—!”
Feeling all the chaotic waves at once, Seon Yul shot up from his seat.
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