CH 248

[Um Ji-Cheok’s Universal Production Machine MK4]

[Class: S+

[Type: Crafting Machine / Summoned Entity (Artifact)

A mythical crafting machine created by Um Ji-Cheok by combining the [Divine Alkahestry and Alchemy] and various crafting skills. It is a transcendent item that can handle both mass production and small-scale diverse production. It is also capable of processing and producing everything from chemical substances to metals.

Feature: Increase production by 500%.

Feature: Guaranteed quality of A or above for all produced items.

Feature: Increase crafting success rate by 300%.

Feature: No mana cost for maintaining the summoned entity.

Feature: No other costs for maintaining the summoned entity.

Feature: Can replace mana consumed during production with Magic Stones.]

It was a transcendent production device created by mastering various crafting skills using Likes. After its creation, it was treated as a summoned entity like his Mono Bike G. It could produce potions, weapons, and armor, simply by throwing in the necessary materials. It could even handle raw materials without any refining or processing needed. It was amazing!

Ji-Cheok had replaced all the machines in his factory with this one. With its overwhelming production capacity, he could cover the global demand for potions and still have plenty left over.

“This is great. Are there any other issues?”

“No issues, Director.”

Ji-Cheok made a personal visit to the factory to get rid of the original machines and summon the new ones. He asked if there were any issues, and the factory manager assured him there were none.

“I will also need you to prepare the dimensional barrier generators for shipment, so please make sure everything runs smoothly,” Ji-Cheok added.

“We have already prepared all the delivery trucks in advance.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Ji-Cheok felt a bit like a savvy businessman with Cheok-Liang’s support, even though he had never done anything like this before.

“Alright then. Take care,” Ji-Cheok said, bidding the manager farewell.

“Of course, sir,” he replied with a crisp nod as Ji-Cheok exited the factory.

The factory was not on a massive scale, being located in the border area between Goyang city and Seoul, but it was still a proper factory nonetheless.

«Things are going smoothly, Master. Since yesterday’s livestream, pre-orders have surpassed 100 million units for the ultra-small size and 56 million units for the small size.»

‘In just one day?!’

«Yes, Master.»

‘Well, this is a perfect replacement for the Warding Stone, so I get it. Besides, I can use this to delay the end of the Tutorial even further, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone.’

«The net profit per unit is 200,000 won for the ultra-small. For the small one, the net profit per unit is 1,000,000. With the amount deposited right now, the net profit is over 120 trillion won!»

‘My company is printing money! I feel like I’m beating the Rothschild family all by myself with this much money coming in.’

«However, there is also pressure coming in as well. Other groups are working on creating something similar, so you cannot let your guard down. If they fail to replicate your item, they are going to try to sabotage you. »

‘You’re right. They will probably get a bunch of craftsmen and Hunters together and try to tear it apart and use appraisal skills or duplication skills to try and make their own version.’

However, that did not matter to Ji-Cheok.

‘This is all part of my plan. The sheer amount of money involved may be overwhelming, but I am a God, I really am! I’m a God, huehuehue! Well, anyway. Even though I made 120 trillion won in one day, I need to calm down and think about the next step.’

“Actually, I was thinking of selling a bunch of these miniaturized dimensional barriers and then activating them in a cloud computing kind of way… But I might just make enough money from it to build the dimensional barrier all by myself!”

If Ji-Cheok started building a big dimensional barrier, there was a one hundred percent chance of interference from all directions. He did not know if the governments around the world were going to cooperate, and he did not think they were going to like his idea because it was going to cost a lot of money.

Thus, he had thought of something outside the box. He had changed his strategy to just have people buy their own dimensional barriers! And then, once mini-barrier owners got to a certain number, he would connect them.

That was essentially what cloud computing was—using the Internet to combine the computing power of servers that were far away from each other!

However, considering the rate at which he was selling right now, he could just pour all his money into building the giant dimensional barrier and finish things themselves.

“Hm... It’s kind of scary. Reminds me of that guy who used to say he was going to terraform Mars and live there with his money.”

«It is all because Master’s ideas are innovative.»

“Well, I don’t know. I feel like I’m just recreating the Egg of Columbus thing. And I am not just making money, I’m raking in so many Likes too! From that live advertisement I did, I got 700 million Likes!”

«That just shows how revolutionary this product is. The Warding Stones are only found in dungeons, and they cost a lot of money despite being not as effective as your dimensional barrier generator.»

“I guess you’re right. My product is a perfect substitute for the Warding Stone that’s cheaper and works better… Wait, this is exactly the same as when I started making potions!”

Even the monopoly part was the same—a few major Hunter Guilds had a monopoly on Warding Stones.

«You are right, Master.»

“Now that I think about it, at this rate, Hunters with auxiliary jobs will literally save the world!”

«Well, it is a bit different, since it is because of the power of Likes that Master has gained this much ability.»

‘You’re right. You can’t be this strong with only crafting abilities. That’s true even for me, I had to mix and match a bunch of skills to get to where I am today. I had to risk my life to get the World Tree I have now.’

“Then… Let’s run a simulation, Cheok-Liang. Let’s try to find the middle ground.”

«Yes, Master. I will start the simulation. Calculating the variables…. Simulation complete. If the world is supplied with two billion of the Small Dimensional Barrier Generators, we can reduce the cost of the original dimensional barrier we were building at the North and South Poles to one-tenth of the current construction cost!»

“You mean the Supermassive Dimensional Barrier, right?”

«I will refer to the original dimensional barrier we are building as the Supermassive Dimensional Barrier from now on. And yes, that is correct.»

‘Only one-tenth of the current cost, huh… That means the previous cost of 100 billion Likes would be reduced to ten billion Likes, and one quadrillion won would be reduced to 100 trillion won. But I already earned 120 trillion won, so does that mean we’re done with our plan?’

«It will take fifteen months at the fastest for all two billion of your generators to be sold, Master. Considering the resource, which is time, I suggest you build at least four hundred trillion won worth of the dimensional barrier.»

‘Okay. We’re at least at sixty percent of our initial goal.”

“Today is the first day of the opening sale, so that’s when the most money will come in. It will only go down from there, right?”

«Yes, Master. But even if that is the case, you will be able to meet your goal quickly.»

‘When you say that, it sounds like we’re playing with Metropoly money. It doesn’t feel real. It feels like only yesterday when I had to face the grind every day as a temp worker, but now I am saving the planet with civil engineering.’

«I sent the revised designs to Jung Bi-Ga. She said that she will be heading to the North Pole herself.»

“Is it okay for the boss to go there herself? What about her own company?”

«It is not uncommon for people to work from home these days because they have good computer skills. Besides, Jung Bi-Ga is very proficient in Arcane Engineering, so she only needs some robots to run her factory.»

“I just hope the robots don’t revolt against the world later.”

«I do not think that is possible. Since her robots are created by her skills, there cannot be a situation where she cannot control them. I thought you knew about this. Hunter skills are a lesser version of divine abilities. The power of a transcendent being cannot be overturned by an A.I. rebellion.»

“I guess so…”

‘What would the master of science fiction, Arthur C. Clarke, say if he could see this?’

George Orwell was half right. Even without the A.I. rebellion, the world would still be ruled from behind the scenes by Big Brother.

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was a lot like this too. Instead of being split into classes by genetics, social strata were separated by their Awakened abilities—or lack thereof, and instead of consuming happy drugs, they consumed GodTube.

‘It’s a funny world. After all, isn’t our reality sort of a recreation of science fiction writers’ predictions?’

Ji-Cheok left the factory. He summoned his Mono Bike G and hopped on.

He was close to his goal. When everyone else was saying ‘No way, you can’t do it!’ he had somehow found a way.

From now on… it was just a matter of kicking the shit out of everyone who would inevitably try to stop him from reaching the goal.

‘I’m gonna do it. And it’s probably the easiest thing I’ve done until now.’

Vroom!

He revved the engine and sped down the road.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Huh?”

His clones were also traveling around the country, wiping out unpopular dungeons one by one. There were currently thirty-five percent fewer dungeons in Korea than there had been before he became a Hunter. He would have liked it even better to wipe out all the remaining dungeons, but some of them were hunting grounds for the other Hunters, so he left those dungeons alone.

Ji-Cheok left the factory and headed straight to the Manaforming Forest. The area he had burned and cleared of dungeons was about three times the size of Seoul, and it was now completely barren.

Or so Ji-Cheok thought. However, when he got there, there was construction going on smack dab in the middle of the area.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Ji-Cheok sat down on his Mono Bike G and looked down from the sky. What he saw was outrageous.

‘I mean I understand that I cleansed a large area, but what are they going to do if monsters come out of the Manaforming Forest?’

«The Korean government has made plans to immediately develop the cleansed area, Master.»

“No shit, aren’t they moving on kinda fast?”

«Yes, Master.»

“Do they not care about their safety? How can they—”

«It is safer than you think, Master.»

‘Huh? How?’

«They are using an item that Bi-Ga started selling three months ago. It is a shield-generating device. The name of this item is Aegis.»

As he listened to Cheok-Liang, he saw a wall of vertical energy that seemed to mark the boundary between the purified and unpurified area.

‘I have seen something like this in an apocalypse game before. By the way, isn’t the shield from Greek and Roman mythology called Aegis? They are pretty confident, aren’t they?’

«The item has the ability to absorb mana from the environment. Of course, it is usually charged with Magic Stones, but the ability seems useful in case of emergency. The energy consumption is one Mana point for every ten kilograms of impact.»

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“I don’t really understand even if you say that, but it’s excellent right?”

«It is truly excellent, Master. None of the Hunters’ shield-related skills have an exchange cost like this.»

“That’s impressive… Wait, look at those things! Aren’t those mine?!”

«Yes, Master. They are using your Small Dimensional Barrier Generators as well. They have been deployed in multiple locations»

“I left the sales to Ji-Han… It seems like he gave them to the government first.”

«Strategically, I feel that he made a wise decision.»

“I see. Then what should I do? I’m worried about the construction.”

«You do not need to worry too much, Master. The permit for clearing the Manaforming Forest has already been issued. We also got the tax exemption by giving the government the dimensional barrier generators first, and we also received the right to begin construction in the Manaforming Forest right away.»

“Wow, Ji-Han is doing a good job.”

«He is definitely a talented individual, Master.»

“Then let’s not refuse the help and clear the rest of the Manaforming Forest immediately!”