chapter 163
Simulation room.
Gidan configured the monster’s level and type into the massive bio-printer, then stepped aside.
Soon, a large hologram lit up in the center of the simulation room, displaying a 3D blueprint modeled after an S-Rank monster.
Once he pressed confirm, bio-printing began according to the blueprint.
The monster dummy was layered bit by bit—starting from its claws, then its skeleton, then flesh.
A bio-printer, like a 3D printer, was a machine that printed biological structures. It could mimic a monster’s physical tissue and defensive properties quite accurately.
Of course, the dummy couldn’t move since it wasn’t alive, but it was incredibly useful for testing attack power. That’s why all the guilds that could afford it had one.
“You’re not really supposed to use this recklessly…”
Of course, each use cost an astronomical amount of money, so they couldn’t use it often.
“Ehh~ Kids don’t need to worry about that kinda stuff.”
Team Leader Hwang Yumin beamed, saying she’d take responsibility.
And the reason they were allowed to use the simulation room today—was all thanks to that special guest.
Guru creaked forward toward the printed monster dummy.
More precisely, it was because of the chick drone in the hands of that “guest,” who was even wearing the same training jacket as Gidan.
The innocent preschooler had blurted out in front of Hwang Yumin, who was basically a hyena, that she’d come to test out a new weapon…
“In that case, let’s head to the simulation room!”
…And so this happened.
Her stiff movements from nerves made her look even more like a doll, which may have helped avoid suspicion.
Will this really be okay?
Contrary to Gidan’s worries, Guru chattered on confidently when Team Leader Hwang Yumin asked about the new weapon.
— It can lock onto and attack targets within a radius of about 100 meters...
“Ooh! That’s so cool!”
— Is it?
Once someone showed interest in her new weapon (toy), the teddy bear’s ears flapped and little puffs of breath shot from its nose.
“What’s the item’s rank?”
— It’s not determined yet.
“What do you mean? It’s not a finished product?”
— When I say it’s not determined yet, I mean it’s not determined yet.
Though Hwang Yumin looked a bit puzzled at her response, she just accepted it since the creator said so.
Not like I had high expectations anyway.
Most people associated Jjapso with potion crafting, so they naturally assumed her strengths lay in pharmaceuticals.
All she had to do today was show up as a surprise guest.
The secretive Hunter Jjapso would cause quite a stir just by appearing.
And Hyeonak’s Gidan, playing along with Jjapso’s toy!
This is insane. Should I post this as a vlog?
Grinning, she raised both hands and waved them side to side.
“All right, let’s get into position and prepare!”
While the staff got the shoot ready under Hwang Yumin’s direction, Guru pulled up the chick drone’s information.
[Mephisto Series Prototype mk.1 (Rank Undecided)]
The item’s rank has not been assigned. Once the item is activated, the system will evaluate all parameters to assign a rank.
Using this item may be dangerous. Children should test and evaluate items with a guardian present!
Hm, dis is weally stwange.
Ever since getting the idea from Woojoo, Guru had begun modifying a toy drone.
And just when she thought she’d finished a pretty solid version—
The info window had changed to that.
Oweng!
Usually, the System assigned item ranks automatically.
So having the rank appear after the test? It felt totally off.
She even asked AI Juju if there were any similar cases, but the response was that it had no clue.
That’s why she’d geared up and run to Gidan.
Daddy would never let her do it if she said it was dangerous!
Among all the adults she could’ve dragged into this, Gidan was the easiest to handle.
Though it kinda spirawed outta contwow…
Guru fiddled with the chick drone, feeling a bit timid under the glances sneaking her way.
But.
This was something she had to do anyway.
Guru straightened her back.
— I show you.
The camera crew raised their equipment.
Soon, the propeller spun atop the chick’s head, and it lifted into the air.
Once it reached a certain height, the chick drone hovered in place.
Now that it had locked position, if any attack occurred within a 100-meter radius, it would target the aggressor and fire off electrical energy.
— Now hit it.
At that, the PR team leader gestured to Gidan.
Clearly telling him to hurry up and test it.
“You have to tell Jurim hyung I had nuffin to do with this…”
Gidan muttered, sulking, and pulled out his weapon, Viaht’s Void.
No need to use a skill, right?
Since it was just a test, lightly wrapping it in mana and giving it a tap should suffice.
Thwack—
Without much thought, Gidan hit the dummy.
Bzzt!
Electricity sparked from the mana stone embedded in the chick’s chest. Its yellow fluff puffed up like a dandelion.
Just as Gidan chuckled at the cuteness—
The chick’s mouth opened, and the energy gathered from its chest surged upward.
Crackle!
Fweeeeee—
With a slicing whoosh, a charged projectile zipped forward in a straight line.
“…?”
Ssszzzzz—
The area around the impact site sizzled and blackened.
The only person who could track the speed of the shot was Gidan.
Even I… barely kept up…
Chills ran down his spine.
Gidan was one of only two people in Korea with hypersensory perception. Meaning his dynamic vision far exceeded a normal S-Rank’s.
Which meant that plump, dopey-looking chick drone had just fired a projectile at a speed faster than sound.
The rest of the team, finally snapping out of their daze, rushed over to check the dummy.
There was a hole nearly 10 centimeters wide.
Gidan swallowed hard and asked,
“What… what the hell does it shoot?”
— Ewecktwicity. I twansfowm mana into ewecktwicity and make a paf to shoot.
Gidan thought for a moment, then murmured,
“…Then this is… a railgun.”
The kind America tried to develop but gave up on.
“A railgun…?”
Some understood, others didn’t, and chatter broke out.
“A portable railgun?!”
“What’s that?”
“C’mon, you don’t know those electric rifles from games?”
“Huh?”
Half were shocked, half confused—
But the important thing was this:
Jjapso had proudly brought in a drone-mounted prototype of a weapon the U.S. had abandoned development on.
And this railgun? Its power source was a mana stone.
Meaning it could be used even in dungeon raids where only mana-based attacks were effective.
I heard Switzerland succeeded in developing a coilgun that shoots mana…
But a coilgun was a downgraded version of a railgun.
And this wasn’t even her main weapon—it was just a sub-weapon.
The chick drone was designed as a sub-weapon that auto-attacked enemies within range.
While a coilgun would deal main damage, the chick’s railgun would add bonus damage on top of that.
Among the stunned Gidan and his teammates, the first to recover and react was—of course—Team Leader Hwang Yumin.
“…How did such a genius just plop into our laps? Is this heaven rewarding Hyeonak for all its suffering?”
She looked nearly delirious. Her eyes were wild as she burst into a flood of praise like a woman possessed.
“As expected! I knew our Hunter-nim was going to do something big! This is the one! The one who’ll save Hyeonak! This person is our hope! I clipped so many articles when our Hunter-nim joined—I really wanna show them to you sometime!”
She wrapped Guru tightly in her arms and planted kisses all over the teddy bear costume.
— I-Is dat so?
Flustered but happy from all the praise and affection, the teddy bear’s ears perked straight up.
“Come on, noona. At least put her down while you’re talking.”
A flustered Gidan orbited around Hwang Yumin like a little planet, begging her to finally let Jjapso go.
Only after delivering a passionate speech about Hyeonak’s future and Jjapso’s role in it did Hwang Yumin reluctantly release Guru.
No more worrying about sponsor contracts falling through now.
Where did this adorable genius come from?
“She came on a bicycle! Pwahaha!”
Unable to contain her giddy laughter, Hwang Yumin waved at the cameraman.
The team moved seamlessly into filming—
“Our Hunter-nim! Look back, perfect. Dana, you stand here too.”
Hwang Yumin lined the two up and showed [N O V E L I G H T] off the giant sponsor logo on the backs of their training jackets.
“Okay, let’s go again. Make it look cool!”