Chapter 346

〈 Chapter 346 〉 Part 1, Chapter 15, Section 4

<5:40 PM, New Seoul Yu Sung Family Mansion.>

“Director, the item you ordered.”

Hikari handed me a black attaché case. The square-shaped case, gleaming with a dark luster, was adorned with exquisite finishes that screamed luxury.

“What’s this…?”

“It’s made from leftover Kinna-ra hooves. We used Heuk Jeon-jal skin for additional decoration.”

Despite looking exhausted, Hikari proudly raised her head. The case crafted with such dedication was truly beautiful to behold.

“Thank you. Now open it for me.”

I had previously asked Hikari to adjust the lock combination on the case, and she showed me an analog dial-style lock.

1, 2, 2, 5.

Christmas Day and the time when Seongju descends in the original story. And simultaneously, the day Earth’s doom was discovered at the cost of the previous Oracle’s life.

December 25th, 2025. This day will surely go down in history for many reasons.

Click.

Carefully, I opened the case. Inside the case made from Heuk Jeon-jal skin, Kinna-ra leather protected the interior, with Water Monkey fur serving as cushioning beneath it. Nestled within its groove lay a single pistol.

Clang.

I lifted the pistol to check its grip.

“Hikari, as expected. But there’s only one, right?”

“One is enough, isn’t it? You know… hehe.”

Scratching her head, Hikari laughed. She wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about firearms. Creating this gun was more out of my earnest request rather than personal curiosity.

“Still, did you make it according to my order?”

“You provided the blueprint using your magic power.”

The pistol crafted from S-Rank monster remains perfectly matched my specifications. TAT. A pistol firing guaranteed firepower 50-caliber bullets. Tripple.Action.Thunder.

As basic armament for a commander and protagonist, it was also the weapon I was most familiar with.

“Director, wait a moment. All we need now is to load the bullets…”

“The bullets will be handled by magic power, so don’t worry.”

“But shouldn’t there be some form for them?”

“I’ve got something here to hold their shape.”

I pulled out a bullet I’d kept in my pocket. Underneath the gun barrel cover was a small groove designed to ‘mount’ the bullet. Into it, I inserted the ultimate weapon: <Deokbae Bullet>.

“Hmm… Director, why not just buy new bullets?”

“I’m nerfing it myself appropriately, so it’s fine. With spirit stones inside, it’ll pack close to A-Rank firepower.”

Snap.

I flicked my finger, creating a temporary barrier. A blue flame barrier spread around us, and holding the TAT with Deokbae Bullet loaded, I raised it with one hand.

“Feels good.”

The gun, reinforced with an entire Kinna-ra hoof, weighed nearly 10kg with the Deokbae Bullet included. But my magically-enhanced body easily handled the weight as I aimed the muzzle at the barrier and infused it with magic power.

Whirrr—

A thin layer of magic coated the Deokbae Bullet. It absorbed my fire-attribute magic power through the thinly-spread spirit stone on the casing, causing the magic to boil inside the barrel.

“BANG!”

I pulled the trigger.

BOOOOM!!

A thunderous roar erupted as flames spewed from the barrel.

The magic-coated Deokbae Bullet exploded upon pulling the trigger, maintaining its bullet shape thanks to the Deokbae core, and shot toward the barrier.

Sizzle.

The barrier consumed the Deokbae Bullet. Even though Karna couldn’t break it, the mere B-Rank Deokbae couldn’t even come close to shattering it or deliver the desired firepower I wanted.

“Director, why don’t we just use materials from other S-Rank monsters for the bullets? They’re expendable.”

“Managing spent casings would be annoying.”

It was precisely because handling spent casings would be troublesome that I opted for a system that refined magic power directly into projectiles.

“Thank you. I won’t forget this favor. Half now.”

“…If you bring more monster materials next time, I’ll make the other half for you.”

Durability, water attribute, darkness attribute.

The gun combined materials from three S-Rank monsters with these attributes. Hikari carefully retrieved a golden feather from the case.

“I received this directly from Garura-sama. And what I mentioned earlier…”

“Here.”

I handed over something I picked up in China.

“A Calipera antenna. I specially transformed it into its true form to cut it off. It can’t be replaced anytime soon.”

Summoning the S-Rank light attribute monster Calipera, I had its golden hair cut off, causing it to cry pitifully. But giving Rasputin as a gift to embed into Black Scorpion made it happy again.

Thus, the S-Rank fire and light attributes were united.

All that remained were wind and illusion S-Rank monsters. If we could obtain materials from their corpses, Hikari would craft the remaining TAT round.

“Can’t we just use one of those for all three materials?”

“No way. Garura-sama’s feather is purely decorative. No compromise on this.”

“…”

Though attaching a golden feather to the gun seemed odd, without Hikari, Chang-yeom wouldn’t be satisfied with the result.

Just like insisting on using seven S-Rank cores of different attributes to create homunculi, Hikari’s material demands were beyond imagination.

“You’re really stubborn sometimes.”

“But if I don’t, I can’t be satisfied!”

“Understood. I’ll get them soon. In two days.”

Gaining one attribute-specific core and possibly another random one. If it’s not an attribute I already have, it would be ideal, but we’ll have to capture the Nuclearian to see what we get.

“Will you use this against Nuclearian too?”

“No. This is for him.”

I threw a punch into the air. Hikari shook her head, clearly exasperated.

“S-Rank or lower attacks are ineffective… having such a monster hovering above us is terrifying.”

“That’s why we’ll safely contain it with barriers before capturing.”

S-Rank “or lower” attacks are completely ineffective. Thus, the Deokbae Bullet is sealed.

“Let’s think about the Nuclearian issue the day after tomorrow. For now, let’s deal with other matters. I’ll put this to good use.”

Removing the Deokbae Bullet, I attached the TAT to my Magical Gear. Like how Karna carries Bijaya, I can now carry the TAT using Magical Gear. Though I probably won’t use it much.

Beeeep.

Right on the dot, it was 6 PM. Both Hikari and I swallowed hard.

“…Hikari. Compile the results.”

“Understood.”

Hikari pulled out her special keyboard and began typing furiously. Dozens of screens floated before us, filled with admission applications submitted through the network to Galaxy University.

“Should I give a summary or exact numbers?”

“Summary please.”

“Two hundred ten million applications.”

“…”

Nearly 450,000 people take the college entrance exam each year, and this world isn’t much different. Yet five times that number—2.1 million applications—filled the screens before us.

“With an admission quota of 100…”

“The competition ratio alone is roughly 21,000:1.”

“…Then let’s start filtering the applicants.”

Hikari brought up the search bar. As long as I called out names, she could instantly check whether they submitted applications.

“…Ahem.”

This method could only be used by Hikari, meaning every name I called out would be known to her.

“Hmph, hmph~ Who might the director’s wives be this time?”

Of course, we could painstakingly go through each application, but there simply wasn’t time to sift through 2.1 million entries.

“Hikari, keep secrets?”

“Of course! I promise.”

Hikari casually wrote down a three-character name.

#Seung-hyung Lee

“Our Seung-hyung Oppa just needs to enter as top student, neehee.”

“…Hmm.”

Even though the exam is written, I’m certain Seung-hyung Lee won’t secure first place.

“Next.”

I searched for names likely to have applied. Some surprisingly hadn’t, while others followed through as expected. Among them, Pungbaek stood out.

“…Is this old man really trying to attend university again?”

“Learning knows no age, but what will you do?”

The pre-appointed professor of Galaxy University’s Magic Engineering Department scratched his cheek and smiled.

“Didn’t you invite Pungbaek Cheon Hyun-taek as a professor?”

“Argh, historians should just be guest professors. Why!”

I slipped Pungbaek an invitation beforehand.

Galaxy University, specializing in cultivating superhuman abilities, still needed basic liberal arts courses. I intended to appoint Sky Castle’s Ryu Cheon-seong, Pungbaek Cheon Hyun-taek, and Architect James Lee as key figures.

“Isn’t he more into the life of a superhuman than an academic?”

“Eh, really. Could it be he dislikes teaching under Ryu Cheon-seong?”

Perhaps that’s the correct answer. Though they formed a united front in Moscow, their subtle pride clashes remain ambiguous.

“…Ugh. Alright. If he believes he can study under Ryu Cheon-seong as a student, let him try.”

Surely he didn’t blindly submit an application without considering the possibility. Feeling exasperated, I quickly moved on to another person.

#Ra-on Park.

“Naturally.”

“This is that person, right? Double SS-rank in wind and water attributes, yet still A+ rank.”

“Don’t say that in front of her. She’ll cry.”

Through the Indian expedition, Ra-on Park gained remarkable potential but remains stuck at A+.

Compared to Yoo I-shin, who briefly reached S-Rank after similar treatment, Ra-on’s current frustration is understandable.

Many heroes, including Pungbaek and Unsah, applied. Some wrote lengthy autobiographies detailing their heroic deeds in sections that didn’t necessarily require it.

“Shall we separate active heroes?”

“No. They’re all essentially the same talent. Heroes merely awakened earlier than others.”

Any human who breathes naturally accumulates mana. Especially after dimensional gates open, many monsters die, or high-ranking officers live nearby, accumulating mana becomes inevitable.

“If we had time, we could turn all humanity into superhumans. Anyone could potentially reach SS-Rank. Though it might take 20,000 years.”

“Impossible within our lifetimes. But Director, didn’t you greatly enhance Seol Hwa-ryeong? The Han River Defense Force members.”

“That’s awakening latent talent, not forcing growth. Breaking a dam versus watering a dry field are different.”

“Ah, understood. Hmm…”

Hikari looked contemplative. Before she could devise any strange ideas, I quickly changed the subject.

“Rather, please search. This time for Kim-”

“Extracting core mana and granting it to humans? Like with apostles? Universal apostolization? If we develop technology to extract and channel core mana without spirits…”

“Damn.”

That’s why I avoid giving Hikari opportunities. She stopped searching and delved deep into her own thoughts.

“Solidifying extracted core mana. Let’s call it ‘candy.’ What’s the extraction loss rate? Currently, converting 1.5% of a core’s essence means achieving initial awakening requires fifty times the energy, thus needing at least a mid-to-high B-Rank core…”

“Hikari!”

Clap!

I clapped my hands, but Hikari remained lost in thought.

“Assuming A-Rank core extraction and calculating affinity per attribute, even non-awakened individuals could accumulate mana and awaken… However, considering individual mana reserves, second-generation or higher extraction technology would be necessary…”

BOOOOM!!

I fired the TAT with a Deokbae Bullet. Only after the magical explosion roared beside my ear did Hikari blink and look at me.

“…Director?”

“Hikari.”

Pressing her shoulder firmly, I threatened her to stop thinking about impossible things.

“Forced awakening of unawakened individuals via core mana extraction. Possible, but… How shall I put it? It’s a theory you’ll discover three years from now…”

“Stop!”

Hikari covered my mouth with her hand and violently shook her head.

“Sorry! I’ll figure it out myself! Please, no spoilers!”

“…”

I grabbed her wrist and pulled it away from my mouth. Hikari’s eyes welled up with tears as she trembled in fear.

“I… I’ll find it out myself!”

“Ahh, yes.”

What would Einstein’s reaction be if someone traveled back in time to teach him relativity theory during his twenties? Suppressing the theories future Hikari had repeatedly drilled into my ears, I calmed her down.

“…Now, can we search? Let’s confirm one by one slowly.”

Among the 2.1 million, I could only hope. Taking a deep breath, I asked Hikari to begin the search.

“Starting with Nuri Kim, born in 2006.”

We deliberately set the cutoff date to include February-born middle schoolers solely because Kim Nuri was born in January 2006.

Search results for <Kim Nuri>, . ‘0’ results.

“……Are you serious?”