The Retired Max-Level Worker Wants to Rest - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Railgun

TL/ED – Miso

-Last week, the first Awakener revealed themselves at the Jongno Gate, turning the tide against the monster onslaught!

It had been two weeks since the monsters emerged from the Gate.

Many people had died.

Buildings collapsed, roads were paralyzed, and some areas lost electricity and running water. Monsters slipped into the gaps between ruined buildings, and others crawled out through the sewers to reach the outskirts.

The problem was that this was Seoul.

-Experts say we need to abandon 80% of Seoul’s area. However, with the appearance of Awakeners, that figure has been drastically reduced. We can hold it to roughly 20%……!

Abandoning Seoul was not an option.

Seoul was where the nation’s wealth was concentrated.

Its buildings. Its infrastructure.

Banks and government agencies, all the same.

-We have Awakeners! We can drive out the monsters without dropping missiles on Seoul!

The value of Awakeners could only skyrocket.

The government wanted to conscript them.

Corporations wanted to buy their power.

Those in power wanted to monopolize them.

But.

-The United States is offering preferential treatment to Awakeners! They are more than worthy of being called heroes of a new era-

Starting with the United States.

-Our France needs Awakeners. We boast a long and proud history and tradition!

-Britain is searching for proud new nobles!

-Cold Russia will keep you safe-!

And so on.

Every country was seeking Awakeners.

Their own countries had Awakeners too.

People who had been caught up in Gates had returned as Awakeners. But their numbers were absurdly small, and the monsters kept pouring out endlessly.

-It is known that the combat disparity between Awakeners can range from several times to dozens of times, depending on their chosen skills, position, and Level. In the United States, they are being classified into ranks……!

Their combat capabilities varied wildly.

Depending on which Gate they’d been pulled into, what talents they possessed, how they had survived, and how many monsters they had killed, the gap in fighting strength was staggering.

China was the first to make a move.

-The People’s Republic of China has begun forcibly conscripting Awakeners.

That was the news going around.

They had tried to keep it secret internally.

But there were no secrets in this day and age.

Why?

-Introducing America’s newest A-rank hunter, Xiao Ming-!

The U.S. had recruited a Chinese Awakener. China protested to the U.S., but the American president extended his middle finger during a live press conference.

-Fxxking- XXX!

The microphone had been cut.

But the finger and the lip movements were broadcast as-is.

That was only the beginning, though.

The entire world plunged into a war over Awakener recruitment.

* * *

“…….”

I lay flat on my back and stared up at the sky.

I was feeling better now.

Mana Operation had made things considerably easier.

“Did I move too much mana?”

The amount of mana I possessed was 1.

But I had channeled 10 through myself as a conduit.

That seemed to have caused side effects. Like a circuit burning out from a power overload.

‘Am I just too weak?’

That was why I’d had Cha Yu-ra do it instead.

It happened to be when I’d stopped by the base to pick up the Coordinate Receiver.

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

She extended her hand.

She fed mana into the charging port.

And then.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

It climbed rapidly.

But when she had used about 50% of her mana.

“That raised it by 25%.”

If I was a 1.

She was a 5.

And the battery was a 10.

That meant she had five times more mana than me.

She didn’t even look that strained.

Just a mild wave of dizziness.

I had Park Dong-cheol try it too.

“……urgh-”

He had even less than me.

He was definitely a physical-type specialist.

‘I’d better be the one doing it after all.’

Their mana recovery was slow.

Cha Yu-ra used Mana Operation, and Park Dong-cheol used meditation. So when time was short, it made sense for me to handle it, since I could recharge via Core Cells.

‘Not easy.’

For now, I’d try charging just two.

Give one to Cha Yu-ra.

Use one myself.

.

.

.

Another half a day passed.

I barely managed to charge two batteries. My stamina had plummeted so sharply that I’d needed a Revital injection.

‘But I’m not feeling any side effects.’

Revital.

Naturally, frequent use was bad for the body.

But how realistic was it to keep that rule on a battlefield? In my past life, I’d once taken five consecutive injections and experienced my cells rotting from the inside out.

I’d survived by getting into an emergency recovery capsule.

‘This time, there are no signs of those side effects.’

Should I try a few more?

I considered it, then shook my head.

If my cells collapsed now, there would be no way to treat it.

‘Maybe it’s the Super Regeneration, or the power of mana.’

And one more thing.

The dizziness I’d experienced during Mana Conversion had diminished significantly. It was incomparable to the first time.

Was I adapting?

I needed to give it more time.

Anyway.

“Tank’s done too.”

A Light Tank.

About the size of two SUVs put together. Smaller than a standard tank, but faster and more agile. On top of that, it was equipped with a machine gun that used Turret ammunition and an HE Accelerator Cannon.

This one had been genuinely difficult to build.

And then.

-You have gained a large amount of EXP.

-Your Level has increased.

Over the past week.

The Turrets had intermittently activated to dispatch Creeds, and Park Dong-cheol and Cha Yu-ra had earned EXP by hunting while traveling far out to plant Coordinate Receivers.

They hadn’t only encountered Creeds either; they’d also found several Alpha-scale Nests.

‘That netted us quite a bit of EXP.’

And the construction.

I’d built an entire Tactical Fortress from scratch.

Thanks to all of that, I’d reached Level 24.

It was a little disappointing, though.

‘Would’ve been nice to hit 25.’

Leveling up was brutally slow.

It felt like the required EXP was multiplying several times over with each level.

“……Hoo.”

The sun was rising.

I’d been up the entire night.

That was when it came.

-You have survived for 13 days.

-The Second Trial will begin on Day 14.

Just as expected, a Trial had been announced.

It seemed they came once a week.

-Second Trial: Brakta Swarm Assault!

-Creed 2,000/2,000

-Cree’vah 100/100

-Basilak 60/60

-Birnok 1/1

-23:59:55

The details of the assault were laid out.

Exactly double the numbers from the first assault. The timer was still 24 hours. Judging by that alone, it didn’t seem like too much of a problem.

Our forces had been greatly expanded, after all.

But.

“……Birnok.”

An infection-specialized flyer.

It stood 6.5 meters tall and measured 14 meters from wingtip to wingtip. It weighed over 780 kilograms and looked like a single, massive pterosaur.

One dripping with venom.

‘Its flight speed is incredibly fast.’

Could Cha Yu-ra hit it?

The Auto Turrets could engage airborne targets.

But they only fired bullets.

Meaning light-armor firepower.

‘A Birnok qualifies as heavy armor.’

Even if Cha Yu-ra managed to hit it.

Could she penetrate it?

‘Probably not.’

She had penetrated a Basilak.

But that had been at close range.

Still, I couldn’t just sit and watch the thing.

‘Infection Cloud.’

It sprayed a toxic fog that blanketed a 50-meter radius.

Equipment surface corrosion, filter degradation, muscle spasms on skin exposure, and a coma after more than 30 seconds of respiratory exposure.

It had to be avoided at all costs.

And that wasn’t all.

‘Spore Bomb.’

A spore launcher with a maximum range of 800 meters.

Light-armor destruction on impact.

Infectious spore dispersal across a 20-meter radius.

‘A single Birnok completely changes the dynamic of a battlefield.’

It was even deadly in close combat.

A flyer with heavy armor.

“……I was planning to rest today.”

There was a way, though.

Risky, but the odds were reasonable.

.

.

.

With 20 hours remaining.

I poured every available resource into expanding my Core Cell supply.

‘I need power.’

Then, between the ten Turrets.

I reinforced the ground.

I dug into the earth, drove in pillars, and ran wires in every direction. Filled the space with rock and sand, then sealed it over with metal.

‘Fifteen Core Cells.’

Even that wasn’t enough. I left only the power needed for Turret and ammunition production and routed everything else to that spot.

‘That should be enough for three shots.’

With 15 hours remaining.

I pulled the rails from the 3D Fabrication Engine.

They had to be fabricated from specialized alloy steel, not ordinary metal, so the power drain and material cost were both massive.

But they had to be made.

Around that time.

“We’re back!”

“Phew- That was rough! We ran into swarms multiple times on the way!”

Cha Yu-ra and Park Dong-cheol returned.

The Radar’s coverage had clearly been expanded.

I wanted to start searching for the exit Gate immediately, along with any sizable Nests or bases in the area, but there was no time for that.

“Good work. Get some rest.”

They needed to rest.

Eat, shower, relax. That was the only way to maintain focus through a battle that could last who knew how many hours.

This was what it meant to be a Worker.

Quietly supporting from the rear, my ass.

‘I was always fighting on the front lines!’

A flash of anger surged through me.

It was because I’d remembered all the times I’d been stuck holding the line in my past life.

“Hoo-”

I’d pulled two rails and an assortment of components from the fabricator.

I carried them over to the reinforced ground.

Now I just had to assemble it.

‘And the 3D Fabrication Engine keeps printing ammunition.’

Fortunately, time wasn’t going to be an issue.

What was this thing?

‘TGR-94 Spear Head.’

A ground-mounted, high-output railgun.

3.8 meters long, 480 kilograms.

It used dual-rail acceleration and superconducting power packets. Its rate of fire was one round every 18 seconds, and with the power I’d prepared, it could fire up to three shots.

‘Only three shots.’

After that, it would need 10 minutes to recharge.

I should consider it three chances at most.

‘Normally, this alone wouldn’t be enough.’

Because it was a small-scale railgun.

Its effective range was only 2.4 kilometers, with a maximum of 3.2 kilometers.

A precise hit could bring it down.

But would that be easy?

‘Not at all.’

The hit had to be dead-on.

Even a slight miss, and it wouldn’t penetrate heavy armor.

And the target was fast on top of that.

‘Cha Yu-ra’s Precision Shot.’

And my Enhancement.

If those two were combined, there was a chance.

“……Done for now.”

Another batch of EXP came in.

But my Level still hadn’t increased.

Only 8 hours remained.

I needed rest too.

.

.

.

-02:02:05

With two hours left.

The three of us got up and began preparing for battle. We stretched, ate, used the bathroom, and checked our equipment.

An hour flew by just like that.

“Yu-ra, think you can do it?”

I’d explained everything thoroughly.

There was a creature called a Birnok.

If we didn’t take it out early, things would get much harder.

I’d built the railgun to kill it.

That was the gist of it.

“……I can do it.”

Normally, this railgun relied on Radar.

It measured distance through a high-magnification optical scope, then input target data obtained via Radar, adjusting angle and power output before firing.

“It’s more accurate if I shoot it directly. Precision Shot needs me to aim it myself, too.”

That was exactly what elite Combat Soldiers had said in my past life.

That was why I trusted her.

“Got it.”

Then.

Beep beep-

Something appeared on the Radar.

Less than an hour remained now.

The distance between us and the approaching force was roughly 20 kilometers.

“Let’s get ready.”

The plan was simple.

Cha Yu-ra would snipe the Birnok.

Park Dong-cheol would kill anything that got close to the Auto Turrets. Once the Basilaks closed in, he’d focus on hunting those.

‘I’ll need to run around applying Enhancement.’

One railgun.

One weapon each for Cha Yu-ra and Park Dong-cheol.

Ten Turrets.

Plus the Light Tank I’d be riding in.

I’d burn through an entire Mana Battery.

And so.

“They’re coming!”

Cha Yu-ra called out.

I used Target Enhancement on the railgun.

Clunk.

She gripped the railgun. Her hands found the controls with practiced ease as she peered through the high-magnification optical scope.

“First shot’s for zeroing.”

I said.

Cha Yu-ra gave a small nod.

She didn’t aim for the Birnok right away.

She aimed at the Creed swarm charging at the front.

Keeeeing-

The railgun began to charge.

It rapidly drank in power from the Core Cells.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

At the same time, her Precision Shot charged alongside it.

The rails glowed blue.

That alone took 10 seconds.

“Hoo.”

A short breath from Cha Yu-ra.

Click.

She fired.

Pwak-!

The shot launched.

For a split second, the air itself seemed to shatter, as if time had stopped.

━━━━━━!

A line was carved across the world as though splitting it in two.

It streaked toward the edge of the horizon.

The Creed swarm was cleaved in half.

“…….”

It was staggering.

It was never supposed to be this powerful.

But there was no time to marvel.

A few seconds later.

Kwagwagwagwa-!

The sound arrived late.

-Your EXP has increased.

-Your EXP has increased.

-Your EXP has increased.

-Your EXP has increased.

.

.

.

Dozens of notifications rolled in.

Cha Yu-ra spoke calmly.

“Zeroing complete.”

The red-hot rails cooled rapidly.

And the power began recharging.