"Shin-Woo, are you alright!? Lee Shin-Woo!"

"Bleh..."

Lee Shin-Woo knew he was physically incapable of vomiting, but he still retched while breathing roughly. It was something he had retained from his days as a human being. Repeatedly doing so calmed him down; it was effective even if it was nothing more than a placebo.

"Get a hold of yourself, Shin-Woo!" Jin yelled while shaking him wildly to wake him.

Lee Shin-Woo pushed him aside and said, "I'm okay. There was way too much information coming in all at once. That also means it’ll be very helpful. It'd be great if I could make one for you as well."

Jin scraped his hooves against the ground in protest and snapped, "You want to give me something like that when it was difficult for even you to absorb!? Are you crazy?"

"Well, you probably won't be able to absorb the memories, so don't worry. It'll be helpful enough if you just learn the fundamental principles behind how Golems use mana, as well as how their bodies operate."

That would be especially helpful to Jin since he didn’t even know the basics of mana manipulation. Hearing that, the goblin fire in Jin’s eye sockets spun, indicating his internal struggle. It didn’t take long for him to calm down, though. The reality of his situation wasn’t lost on him.

“But there’s nothing we can do since there isn’t any Golem here,” Jin said. “I do really want to get stronger as well, but we won’t be getting our hands on any more Bone Cores.”

"Haha. So you’re willing to go through the process if we can somehow get more?"

"Well, yeah. But there aren't any...right?"

Lee Shin-Woo's laughter unnerved Jin. He saw Lee Shin-Woo smile and conjured a ball of red mana on his outstretched hand, which then morphed into a peculiar pattern. It was the pattern that had been inscribed onto the Original Core.

"Please tell me it’s not what I think it is."

"Why do you think there were so many Golems here? There are two possible explanations. First, this was where Golems ended up going."

"Aw..."

That was enough for Jin to figure out what Lee Shin-Woo was trying to tell him. The next moment, the entire area seemed to resonate with the seal Lee Shin-Woo had manifested with his mana. The heart of the highlands started trembling, to be exact.

A golden circle emerged above the ground, and the party of two entered the circle. Although they weren't even connected, Jin was able to tell what Lee Shin-Woo intended.

"Is this by any chance a production site for the Golems...?”

"It is,” Lee Shin-Woo said. “It makes sense that there will be more Golems below, doesn’t it? Some Golems must have been trapped underground following the Empire’s collapse..."

Lee Shin-Woo rode atop Jin as the area within the golden circle began to sink. It felt as though they were riding an elevator down to a secret base. The seal on Lee Shin-Woo's palm was still slowly swirling.

“Did you get a permit?” Jin asked. The seal reminded him of magic circles from fantasy movies. “Like those for dungeons?"

"Essentially, I’ve reverse-engineered the Original Core's code and attained the rights of a general administrator. However, the owner should still have the executive administrator’s rights, so I can’t steal a proper permit."

"Ooh..."

Again, Jin didn’t understand a word he was saying, but nonetheless agreed enthusiastically. Lee Shin-Woo had expected Jin to be oblivious to natural sciences, but well, Lee Shin-Woo himself majored in liberal arts in his past life. Fortunately, calculating the composition of mana didn't rely on arithmetic skills, but on intuition and logical reasoning.

"How far is this thing going to go down?" Jin asked.

"Since our seniors had dug as much as they could and still hadn’t been able to reach it, the production site is most likely really deep underground."

The Empire was constructed underground, and yet they were going even deeper. Now Lee Shin-Woo understood why the entrance to the production site was set up on the highlands. The more I think about it, he thought with a wry smile, the more incomprehensible the scale of the Underground Empire seems.

"Ah, look. The ceiling's closing."

The ceiling closed like the lid of a container, and darkness swallowed everything whole. Due to the blazing goblin fire in their eye sockets, though, they could still tell where the other was.

Lee Shin-Woo was suddenly concerned. That’s cool and all, but won’t that make any attempt to move stealthily in the dark impossible for us?

"I should practice turning off the goblin fire," Lee Shin-Woo muttered.

"Your imagination's frightening... By the way, I’ve followed you down, but wouldn't the administrator be here as well?"

"They might," Lee Shin-Woo said nonchalantly.

Jin narrowed his eyes. "Then it's dangerous for us!"

"It's always been dangerous. This time is no different," Lee Shin-Woo calmly acknowledged Jin’s concern. "But if we overcome that danger, we can grow tremendously. That's our advantage over the other heroes. Not the fact that we have multiple lives, but the fact that because of those lives, we can attempt things that are dangerous to others, even if it was just one more time."

"That's...true."

"If need be, I'll give up a life so that we can both run away. No matter what, I’ll leave this place gaining more than what I may lose."

Jin marveled at Lee Shin-Woo's mentality. It was amazing that Lee Shin-Woo wouldn't hesitate to risk his life and stubbornly fight in dangerous situations, yet had survived up until now without losing many lives.

If he had 97 remaining lives like Lee Shin-Woo, Jin had a feeling that he'd become complacent; Lee Shin-Woo, on the contrary, seemed much more on guard. His tenacity and will were truly awe-inspiring.

"We've arrived," said Lee Shin-Woo.

Their descent came to a complete stop, and the slight tremors ceased. It was still dark everywhere, but Lee Shin-Woo could sense that there was a passageway extending far ahead of them, and it was filled with Golems.

[Trespassers detected.]

[Administrator’s seal authenticated.]

[Continue standby.]

The Golems activated instantly and made a piercing noise, but ceased their movements immediately after once they recognized the seal hovering on Lee Shin-Woo’s palm.

Jin’s awe was interrupted when Lee Shin-Woo suddenly balled his hand into fist and crushed the seal. At that moment, the Golems' attitude changed completely.

[Trespassers detected.]

[Blocking intrusion into the production base.]

"Hey!" Jin yelled in astonishment. They could’ve taken a leisure stroll into the base. Why was Lee Shin-Woo making things difficult?

"We won't be able to grow at all if we just enter like this,” Lee Shin-Woo said camly. “I thought this could at least be a chance to improve my Acting, but I can’t do that with Golems that aren’t even sentient."

"You dumbass... They're coming!"

[Beginning attack.]

Something flashed in the darkness; the closest Golem had swung its greatsword!

[Lv4 Bronze Sword Golem]

The instant Lee Shin-Woo dodged its attack, he confirmed that there were greatswords attached to where its arms should've been. The Golem was different from those above ground, and probably stronger as well!

[Entry failed. On standby.]

[Attack failed. Resuming attack.]

"Hmm...?"

Unfortunately, the passageway was so narrow that the Golem couldn’t fight properly, and despite the sense of threat it gave off, its greatsword ended up stuck in the wall. It struggled to remove it.

Hostile or not, the stupid Golem wouldn’t provide enough challenge to properly train his skill. Disgruntled, Lee Shin-Woo said, "Go ahead and fight it yourself, Jin."

"But it looks stronger than the Bronze Golems up top!"

"You have an absolute advantage here with your high agility. Just try it out!"

Lee Shin-Woo dismounted and pushed Jin forward. At that moment, the Golem succeeded in pulling out its greatsword and continued with its second attack. Startled, Jin rushed away and successfully evaded the slash.

"Hey!" Jin yelled in protest.

"Good luck!"

"Eeeeek....!"

Gnashing his teeth together, Jin activated Steel Body, which made him as tough and sharp as steel; it was an extremely useful skill that transformed his body into both a shield and a sword.

Immediately after, Jin forcefully attacked the flustered Golem with his front legs as its greatsword got stuck in the ground. He had propelled himself forward with his hind legs while hitting his target with the front, putting the weight of his entire body into the attack!

[Critical Hit!]

[Confirming critical damage. Retreating for repairs.]

[Confirming target's survival. Switching out.]

With Jin’s high agility, the simple motion of pushing himself forward generated a frightening force, so much so that he was able to inflict critical damage on a level 4 Golem!

Such attacks would’ve been incredibly harmful to himself in the past, but Steel Body proved to be useful. His front legs were temporarily transformed into something like steel from knee down, which reduced the strain on his body while increasing the power of his attack.

"Oh,” Jin said in surprise. “Why are they so weak?"

"As I thought, you can do it if you try. Now keep going. Attack the Golems like you’ve done."

"Ugh!"

Jin didn't even have the opportunity to respond before he had to move again. As soon as the Golem that had attempted to retreat vanished into mana particles, another Golem attacked with a spear. Jin dodged the incoming spear hectically.

He’s talented. Very nimble.

Lee Shin-Woo nodded as he watched Jin struggle. Higher agility enabled a quicker response to external stimuli. It was unfortunate that Lee Shin-Woo couldn't give Jin any advice in terms of how he should move.

Jin’s problem was his timidness whenever his enemy attacked him. However, Jin was getting noticeably better and better. When push came to shove, Jin might be capable of making an even more powerful attack than Lee Shin-Woo with his high agility. That made Lee Shin-Woo happy.

[Ceasing function.]

[Ceasing function.]

"Don't get careless. There are more above you."

"I see them!"

Jin was slower than Lee Shin-Woo in killing Golems, but his speed was still not to be trifled with. He made quick work of the Golems and gradually cleared the passageway of any threats. He fought battle after intense battle against the Golems, which had an overwhelming disadvantage in this narrow space with their large size and equally unwieldy weapons. Lee Shin-Woo could see Jin improve by the minute.

Lee Shin-Woo picked up the cores and the Perium the Golems dropped and relaxingly followed behind Jin. Once he was sure that Jin wouldn't have any trouble taking down the Golems by himself, he started to earnestly examine the core.

[Reinforced Attack Type Bone Core]

[Original Core Synchronization Rate: 17%]

"Ah, so that's why."

The difference between the Golems up top and the ones below was clear. Those above ground were charged with defense and protected the entrance to the base, while the Golems trapped underground were mostly focused on offense. Thus, they were fitted with weapons like greatswords and spears, but were weaker in defense.

Both Autonomous Defense Type Core and Attack Type Core originate from Original Core, so I don't really need them.

Autonomous Defense Type Cores and Attack Type Cores were mass produced versions of the Original Core, which wasn’t of much help to Lee Shin-Woo after he absorbed the Original Core. In fact, Lee Shin-Woo could easily discern the information stored in the Attack Type Cores even while its synchronization rate was only at 17%.

[Ceasing function.]

[Ceasing function...]

"Hah!"

"Well, actually I do need it," muttered Lee Shin-Woo.

Jin’s performance had been impressive, but there were still areas in which he was lacking. Lee Shin-Woo shook his head and started to reinforce the core of his choice in earnest. Since they were all reinforced cores, one successful reinforcement would increase the synchronization rate by 1.5%; 2% if he was lucky.

[The Bone Original Core has been completed. You need more materials to manufacture Golems. You can analyze the core in order to figure out what materials you’ll need.]

As Jin diligently fought his way through the passageway, Lee Shin-Woo had been absorbing the cores of the fallen Golems and eventually created another Original Core.

"Be happy, Jin. Now you'll be able to learn the fundamentals of combat and magic..."

"Shin-Woo!" Jin called out for him urgently.

“What…” Lee Shin-Woo paused while he was about to pass Jin the Original Core and looked up ahead. "Huh?"

There was an object made of iron in front of him, something he'd seen many times before coming to the Empire. It was extremely large and long, built with compartments and doors. The thing sitting on the track in front of them was...

"It's a train."

"Isn't that a train...?"

Lee Shin-Woo and Jin muttered simultaneously before exchanging a glance.

At that moment, they were sure of one thing: they had uncovered a secret no other hero before them had found out about.