A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 264 : Floating Territory (18)

The option of Jang Yeong-sil personally working on the Magitech Firearm was something even U-jin hadn't considered.

After all, he was the top engineer of the Floating Territory, and as such, he was the busiest person there.

Even when they had met in the inner castle, it wasn't because he had taken time out of his day to see U-jin, but rather because they had simply crossed paths while Sejong was showing off the ‘Arc Reactor.’

It wasn't exactly a leisurely time for him either, as the Northern Subjugation War was currently in progress.

U-jin couldn't have even imagined that Jang Yeong-sil would separately develop a weapon before they struck the Orc Mountains.

His request for the blacksmiths to look at it wasn't because he expected some technological breakthrough, but simply to see if its current broken state could be repaired enough to be usable.

He had even prepared himself to enter battle without a weapon if they couldn't understand Emily's design.

Because of that.

Having witnessed the end of the world Pre-regression, U-jin, who rarely held expectations for anything, couldn't help but swallow hard in the current situation.

Gulp—

“Did ya do it properly?”

“…Yes.”

Jang Yeong-sil asked while gesturing toward Shuten.

Shuten, who came over carrying the firearm, surprisingly spoke in polite language.

U-jin couldn’t help but look on with wide-eyed surprise.

Except for the Demon King, he had never seen Shuten use polite language with anyone.

Of course, it could have been just for show, but Shuten was not the type of person to use honorifics unless it was for someone he truly respected.

The fact that he was using honorifics like this meant that, although U-jin didn't know the details, some event had occurred between the two that warranted such respect.

“The brat’s finally got some iron in him. Where’d that slippery fellow go who said you have to scrap to know who’s boss?”

It was a bit off-topic to pry right now, so U-jin didn't say it out loud, but it certainly piqued his curiosity.

As if sensing U-jin's thoughts, Kim Satgat quietly whispered into his ear.

“If I may add, the ‘iron’ he’s referring to is literal iron.”

“…….”

“I heard the old man tied a chain with a heavy weight to Shuten’s torso and threw him right out of the Floating Territory. Ho ho.”

“…….”

“Still, he lasted three days, which is quite a feat. The Blacksmiths here all have strong personalities, and every single one of them has mouthed off to the old man at least once, but none of them lasted more than half a day in that same situation.”

…Whatever it was, it seemed less like respect born from a desire to emulate him and more like awe born from submission to power.

Anyway.

At Jang Yeong-sil's gesture, Shuten carefully held out U-jin’s prototype, which he had been hammering, with both hands.

Taking it naturally, Jang Yeong-sil shrugged and handed it over to U-jin.

“Take it.”

The prototype handed over with those blunt words no longer looked like it did before.

No, the shape was almost the same, but its outward appearance had been completely transformed in his own style.

“I heard you’re the one who sent this big fellow here?”

“…Yes, well. It’s a bit much to say I ‘sent’ him, but for now, yes.”

“Hmm… No matter how I look at ya, I don’t see anythin’ particularly special……”

Contrary to his rough way of speaking, Jang Yeong-sil was showing interest in U-jin.

…Well.

In truth, it wasn't so much that he was interested of his own accord, but rather that Sejong had been constantly chattering about him while Jang Yeong-sil was working on the Arc Reactor.

But ultimately, it was Jang Yeong-sil's own choice to become interested after hearing those words.

The keywords for U-jin in his head were roughly: ‘the guy who sent Shuten,’ ‘from the Peninsula,’ ‘the guy carrying a strange weapon,’ and ‘the talent Sejong covets.’

At first, he thought he didn't have time to look elsewhere given how busy he was with his current tasks, but he couldn't help but pay attention to the part about being ‘the talent Sejong covets.’

Because if there was one thing Jang Yeong-sil acknowledged, it was Sejong’s eye for talent.

Sejong rarely brought ‘martial talents’ or ‘mana talents’ onto the Floating Territory, but occasionally, there were individuals he brought aboard while breaking his own rules.

A prime example was Kim Satgat, standing right there.

And the number of people impressive enough for Sejong to discard his own rules and recruit them was so small they could be counted on one hand in the long history of the Floating Territory.

Jang Yeong-sil couldn't help but be curious about the person Sejong had set his sights on this time… especially since he had been ‘rejected.’

Well.

The bigger factor, however, was actually this firearm.

“Where’d ya get this?”

“To be precise, it’s more like it was manufactured rather than obtained.”

“Manufactured?”

“It’s called Magical Engineering… I left it to an expert in that field.”

Jang Yeong-sil nodded with a low hum.

“I heard it’s been popular lately and thought about lookin’ into it. So that was Magical Engineering.”

The brief mutter seemed insignificant, but it was actually incredible. It meant he had understood a never-before-seen method of mana utilization and even succeeded in modifying it.

“Interestin’. If this was manufactured, then lookin’ at ya, you seem to have a rather unique constitution.”

Jang Yeong-sil had even figured out U-jin’s unique constitution just by looking at the weapon.

…Well.

Since the very reason for that gun's existence was to be a dedicated weapon tailored to U-jin’s unique Innate Ability, it was only natural that U-jin’s traces were on it.

But figuring that out just by a brief glance was a different story altogether.

U-jin shrugged. “My fighting style is a bit messy.”

“Is that so? No wonder the weapon seemed specialized for causin’ a ruckus.”

U-jin’s Innate Ability specialized in imitating others’ use of mana.

「Now, watch closely. A skill is ultimately a technique that uses the internal Mana Circuit as power to force a specific ‘mana phenomenon.’」

「…The principle is simple. The core of using a skill is drawing a mana pattern suitable for the phenomenon you want to manifest onto the circuit.」

「Even if it’s called an ‘Innate Ability,’ it’s ultimately a type of skill. It’s just called that because it’s a pattern optimized for your natural Mana Circuit, allowing you to use it just by letting mana flow without any learning or training.」

「So, theoretically, if you have an understanding of someone else’s Innate Ability, you can imitate their mana pattern and manifest that ability at any time…」

「Does a Mana Circuit without any boundaries between types even make sense? Is this that ‘trash game based on luck’ you mentioned? You weird thing.」

In terms of versatility, it was outstanding since he could twist the Mana Circuit to remove attribute restrictions. But that versatility itself was practically the drawback of U-jin’s Innate Ability.

He could steal others’ abilities with his natural constitution, and his Mana Circuit could simply change shape to match the fluctuating flood of mana, but weapons were different.

Most Artifacts couldn't last even a day in U-jin’s hands, and even high-performance 4-star or 5-star Artifacts couldn't last a week before their durability was exhausted.

It wasn’t because they were of poor quality, but simply due to U-jin’s combat style.

After all, even the hardest steel is bound to break if you repeatedly fold and unfold it in the opposite direction. No matter how well-made a product is, it’s bound to break if used contrary to its purpose.

U-jin’s fighting style, which specialized in using mana of various attributes without a specific area of expertise, was nothing short of a nightmare for any weapon.

That was why, throughout both his past and current lives, the only weapon U-jin could properly use was the Magitech Firearm Emily had custom-made for him.

Anyway.

“Take a look.”

Following Jang Yeong-sil’s words, U-jin looked down at the weapon he had been handed.

The fact that he told him to look at it so confidently meant he was sure of the Magitech Firearm he had modified. U-jin calmed his racing heart and examined its appearance.

‘…….’

The shape of the gun, made through a solid casting method, remained the same, but several Chinese characters unique to the Floating Territory were engraved on it.

…Since the rest of the appearance hadn't changed, it seemed that what Shuten had been hammering was the process of engraving these. In magical terms, it was like engraving a ‘Magic Circle’ onto the weapon.

It was a method used quite often by the Order.

Compared to Artifacts with their own unique legacies, their durability and performance tended to be lower.

However, the enchanted Artifacts produced by the Order, by engraving Magic Circles, were already being utilized in the War against Demons.

A question suddenly occurred to U-jin: were ‘Magical Engineering’ and ‘Arts (Sulbeop)’ compatible?

But that doubt was neatly resolved by Jang Yeong-sil’s subsequent comment.

“The circuit was so damn complex that I couldn’t mess with it much, so I just tweaked it enough to synchronize with Arts. I had a rough time rackin’ my brain for once.”

“…….”

“But I did it properly, so there won’t be any pathetic malfunctions.”

If he was confident enough to guarantee it himself, then one could assume there would be no malfunctions. …In the first place, the original prototype wasn't a finished product and wasn't perfect, and the reason he had left it here was because of those ‘malfunctions.’

It was more accurate to say it was better than before.

‘…….’

Though he couldn’t recognize all the characters engraved on the iron barrel, there were a few he knew.

Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth.

The five characters symbolizing The Five Elements.

It seemed Jang Yeong-sil had roughly anticipated U-jin’s combat style and created five Arts circuits.

Whether the design was originally laid out by Emily or created by him, one thing was certain: unless Emily learned the mechanics of Arts from Jang Yeong-sil, it would be impossible to return to her and restore it to its original state.

However, the level of completion felt in its form was substantial.

‘…If it’s like this.’

The thought naturally occurred to him that it might not just be slightly better than the Dragun prototype he had been using, but might even surpass it and reach the level of the weapon he used in his past life.

Gulp—

As U-jin swallowed hard, Jang Yeong-sil held out a pouch this time.

“Take it.”

“…This is?”

“Ya need bullets to shoot, don’t ya?”

…Mana bullets.

It seemed they had also undergone modification.