Chapter 157 Space Captain (4)

A huge flying object cast a shadow over the entirety of downtown Seoul. The nearby agent looked up.

“Spacecraft…?”

That’s right, a spaceship, to be exact. It appeared to have come straight from a sci-fi movie. But the problem was it was too realistic to be regarded as a dream. It didn’t make sense, but that was the only way he could describe it.

“This is real…”

The agent suddenly lowered his head and shifted his eyes to Yoon-seok. The worlds most praised and feared challenger, Choi Yoon Seok. There was a conspiracy circulating among the general public that his identity was fake, and in fact, his actions were accomplished by a large group of challengers. Of course, he worked for the U.S. government, so he knew that it wasn’t a conspiracy, but…

‘No way, I didn’t know he was up to this scale.’

He could feel it in his bones. Even the abilities shown in the video of that first day he appeared were now only the tip of the iceberg for this man. For evidence, he could tell by his gaze under that mask. Wasn’t he too calm?

‘…It’s probably just a daily routine for him.’

Agent Ashton Jackson’s words come to mind. Was Choi Yoon-seok the only hope for the Earth? In the end, he was right. If all the 20th-floor duel challengers possessed such monstrous abilities, they would have the power to stop future invaders.

‘What we have to do is support this person as much as possible.’

Thus, several former U.S. intelligence officials began to feel a strange sense of mission blooming in their hearts.

While the misunderstanding among the agents deepened, a hot flame fluttered deep in Yoon-seok’s eyes.

‘Captain…’

He felt more overwhelmed than when he gained power from the Tower and escaped from Kang Hyung-woo’s grasp.

‘Captain.’

That title alone contained plenty of magic. The corners of his mouth slowly went up behind his mask.

‘They said order, right?’

Although he had become a captain, he still didn’t know much about this vessel’s capabilities. What orders could he give, and was it possible to board it? He didn’t know anything yet.

‘There must be a lot to learn as a captain.’

So, when Yoon-seok finally tried to give his first order to the AI of the ship.

Wingggggggggggggggg-!

Evacuation sirens rang throughout downtown Seoul. However, that wasn’t the only thing that Yoon-seok noticed.

—A threat has been detected.

The spacecraft also sent a warning message to Yoon-seok.

—12 fighter jets are approaching the ship.

As soon as he heard it, he could roughly guess what was going on. The fighter jets were likely sent by the military when the ship appeared above Seoul. But…

—Enable short-range automatic interception systems…

Yoon-seok replied reflexively.

“No.”

—Disabled short-range automatic intercept system. The risk is 0.00001%.

He laughed. 0.00001%; in fact, no matter what the fighter jets did, it meant the spacecraft wouldn’t be destroyed. As if the spacecraft couldn’t tolerate danger to itself, when that order was rejected, it entered a new mode.

—Allocating constant power to activate shield expansion and spatial assimilation systems.

Whooooooosh-!

Light began to refract around the ship. In short, it became transparent. Yoon-seok, nervous about what else he could do, breathed out a sigh of relief and brought up his next question.

“…Is it possible to board?”

— Possible. Do you want to activate the landing system?

“Sure.”

Not only could he board it, but it could also land on the ground. Yoon-seok nodded, intending to explore once he boarded. But…

—Securing landing space.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Clink, clink.

A familiar sound came from the spacecraft. Yoon-seok injected magic into his eyes to penetrate the refractive barrier around the ship, just in time to see a large gun appearing from the bottom. It was aimed directly at the city. Yoon-seok realized soon enough what the spacecraft meant by securing landing space.

“…Stop landing.”

—Cancelling the command.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Clink, clink.

The artillery disappeared once again. Since there was no flatland nearby, it just had to make the land flat? The AI’s thought process was a little difficult to follow, even for Yoon-seok. Anyway, this means it was going to be too much to board…

“Is it possible to board directly during the flight?”

—Possible. There are a total of 21 additional doors other than the hangar.

After all, there was only one way. Since it was impossible to land, he would have to go up as he was about to jump up.

“M-Mr. Yoon-seok!”

Someone in a black suit rushed over and called out to Yoon-seok.

“Ashton?”

He was waiting nearby to match Yoon-seok’s arrival.

“I-I’m so glad you came back safely. Did you see what was floating in the sky just now, Yoon-seok?

Ashton couldn’t imagine that the spacecraft belonged to Yoon-seok. It meant it was highly likely he thought it was a new invader or a challenger from a different dimension. Yoon-seok briefly explained the situation.

“It’s a new skill that I acquired.”

“…Skill?”

“I’ll tell you about it later after I go inside and check it out.”

“…Where are you going?”

Ashton was stunned. Unlike usual, he was slow to catch up.

“It’s a spacecraft.”

“…Is it still flying?”

“Yes, with an invisibility barrier.”

“…I’m going to contact the higher-ups first. Will you wait for me?”

Yoon-seok said yes, and Ashton soon returned from making a call. He bowed politely to Yoon-seok.

“Please take me with you. Please.”

He found out later that Ashton Jackson was a big fan of sci-fi movies.

“…What’s the ship’s name?”

An empty captain’s room with only one chair. Ashton asked the question as he looked around at the huge screens transmitting images of the ground.

“It’s called the MTAE-014.”

“I see… that’s a cool name.”

Ashton wore his admiration.

“Then we’ll have to decide on a code name.”

As expected, he was quick. Ashton pondered while Asura explored like a child in a toy store.

“Do you have any names in mind?”

“Not yet.”

“Then, what about Human Star? A new star for mankind.”

“…”

Yoon-seok kept silent. Ashton’s gaze of anticipation made his heart heavy, but no matter how good the meaning was, Human Star? Didn’t this sound a little weird? But did he view it differently since he didn’t answer?

“Still, this spacecraft will be recorded in history. Then, it would be better to use Korean words over Chinese characters.”

He started to contemplate hard again. Although it was a bit awkward for Ashton, who was from the U.S., to speak Korean as if it were his language… well, it looked like he was enjoying himself, so Yoon-seok decided to leave him be.

‘Then should I take my time and check it out?’

Yoon-seok carefully sat in the captain’s seat and used Appraisal.

*MTAE-014 (Rank SS) – A spacecraft built by the Taklan Empire in the wake of its 10,000th cycle.

Up to 10,000 aircraft can be stored inside. When taking off, the performance of allied mechanical equipment within a radius of 1km increases by 25 times, and a long-distance power boost is possible. For all effects, the power of the machine is used, not magic.

Power Capacity: 7,890,000,000ZW.

Charge per minute: 420,000,000ZW.

As expected, an explanation appeared like it would for any other piece of equipment. However, the difference was that it used its power.

‘It wasn’t necessary for him to upgrade his stats.’

Yoon-seok continued to read the endless effects listed under the amount of power held by the ship. Signal Detection, Short-range Automatic Intercept, Shield Expansion, Spatial Assimilation, Power Charge, Emergency Landing… there were so many functions that it felt like he was reading a product manual. But just in time, something caught his attention.

‘Nuclear Plasma.’

For reference, the power used was about 1.3 billion ZW, equivalent to 1

/6 of the total amount.

‘That’s why he was able to use it once in a while. He couldn’t use it repeatedly even if there is no waiting time for reuse.’

Yoon-seok resumed reading the ship’s effects. The AI-equipped could take care of the small things anyway, but he still thought he had to be familiar with it as the captain. He let the time pass like that.

Yoon-seok rubbed his chin with a strange look.

‘It’s all a bit disappointing….’

The spacecraft’s performance itself was superb. However, the problem was power. It required a little more than three minutes to replenish the power consumed in firing the Nuclear Plasma once, and that was assuming no other mode was active. A spacecraft that could only use its light beam once every three minutes? To be honest, he was disappointed.

Was there any way to solve this problem?

‘Ah…!’

He was reminded of

u0007b Metallurgy}. This was still equipment, so it would be possible to use Enhancement, Add Ability, and Ego Booster.

‘It’s too much to add abilities right now… is the cost of strengthening 10% of the selling price?’

It’d be difficult to add an ability that requires 50% cost, but it was worth trying at least once.

「MTAE-014 has been enhanced.」

Yoon-seok used 2.4 million APs to strengthen the spacecraft and used Appraisal again.

Power Capacity: 8,679,000,000ZW

Charge per minute: 462,000,000ZW

The amount of power rose by a whopping 10% increase. Yoon-seok tried to strengthen it once more while he was at it.

Power Capacity: 9,546,900,000ZW.

Charge per minute: 508,200,000ZW

‘It’s a compound interest method?’

It compounded; it wasn’t 10% added to the basic value. Yoon-seok did some mental calculations. It was possible to use {Metallurgy}’s enhancement up to 10 times. Then, what would the final figure be if he maxed it?

‘This is fun.’

The power storage would be about 20.4 billion ZW; the charge per minute would be approximately 1.08 billion ZW. The nuclear rays could be fired up to 15 times in a row, and it only required about 1 minute and 10 seconds to charge.

‘Yeah, now that’s a spacecraft.’

Of course, he didn’t intend to invest all he had right now, plus he didn’t have enough points, to begin with. But Yoon-seok smiled, more satisfied than ever. Considering the number of points rewarded in a duel, it wouldn’t take long to fully upgrade.

‘Should I try Ego Booster too?’

Since the skill could only be used once, he saved up

u0007b Metallurgy}’s Rank B effect up until now. Although it already had an AI on the battleship, finding something else worth using it would take a while. Usually, challengers invested more points in stats and skills over equipment anyway.

‘Yeah, it’s not a loss anyway, so let’s try it.’

「Searching for the most suitable soul for the equipment.」

Flash-!

A white light permeated the spacecraft with a flash.

「Complete.」

「MTAE-014 houses the soul of Saint Lynn.」

—Are you my captain?

He was a little worried about this personality, but…

「The synchronization between MTAE-014 and the owner increases.」

「Saint Lynn’s Unique Powers are transferred to the spacecraft.」

「The power of the spacecraft and the owner’s magic is now convertible.」

—I’m satisfied with your magic amount.

He liked it very much.