12 Scrap Mechanist

Nuel returned his sight back at the woman beside him, who also responded doing the same.

Lady Layx let out a knowing smile while reaching out to take his hand in hers, and cleared her throat.

"Well, we had our nice little talk. Let me send you back to the Medical Bay, Nuel?"

"...alright, okay."

The two finally reached the <Medical Bay>.

"...it's such a pity we couldn't chat some more at my quarters, but I'll catch up with you after this, hmm~ we're friends after all, right? You should just wait here for me obediently, 'kay, Nuel~?"

Butterflies fluttered all over his skins as her wispy voice tickled his ear. And his junior downstairs as well.

Second Lieutenant Layx, having enough of her fill teasing the suspected virgin boy, turned around and walked out of the patient ward.

Nuel on the other hand, watched on as she intentionally swayed her hips as she left, erotically beckoning at him, despite wearing the hard-plated exosuit.

She was expecting he would be looking at her behind!

Nuel shook his head a bit; he still could not get used to this version of Lady Lieutenant Layx.

Who knew the infamous Tutorial Iron Lady, who was fan-arted into a fierce dominatrix and a whip-wielding capital S, was behaving as a brazen, wanton woman being somewhat deeply infatuated in him.

「 Is my Charisma points that high, seriously... 」

Nuel sighed as he turned around and pulled the curtains back around his bed.

A bowl of steaming-hot potato soup greeted him from his bedside table, and considering the whole ordeal he had dealt with during the entire day - from surviving the dungeon, then to being rescued by <the Administration> soldiers, before later being interrogated by said soldiers, and finally to the current situation of being pursued by a voluptuous NPC lady - it had been a full, hectic day indeed.

「 ...I think it's time for me to try using that? It's not in the plan but... 」

Nuel pulled up the notification prompt that came up when he first climbed into the Bastion and proceeded to select 'YES'.

「 ...activate <Title Ability : Archimedes' Eyes>. 」

Ding!

_____

You are using the <Title Ability : Archimedes' Eyes>.

Select <Target Item>.

<Heavy-Class Armoured Vehicle : MB-70 Bastion> × 1 selected.

Item size is beyond the current ability's level.

A random value <Success Chance Penalty> would be applied.

Randomising value, 21.8%.

Applying value.

Recalculating new <Success Chance>.

<Success Chance> recalculated, 15.64%.

Commence ability channeling.

Duration, 30 seconds.

Please wait for a moment.

_____

A bluish holographic progress bar appeared before him as he sat cross-legged on the bed while having the soup one spoonful at a time, watching on with anticipation as it slowly filled up.

19 seconds left.

18 seconds.

17 seconds.

16.

15.

14.

...

5.

4.

3 seconds.

2 seconds.

1 second left!

Ding!

_____

You have failed to use the <Title Ability : Archimedes' Eyes>.

The <Title Ability : Archimedes' Eyes> is entering cooldown.

_____

「 ... 」

Nuel closed his eyes for a bit and sighed, his hands with the spoon lowered back into the bowl.

「 That's on a twenty-four hour cooldown now, should have used it on something smaller. Well, it's not in the plan to depend on it in the first place. I can still get blueprints using the common route. *yawn* And if nothing else happens, I'd likely be able to trigger that subclass mission... 」

Nuel finished the hot soup of diced potatoes - it was bland and unseasoned, probably per his attending doctor's request to the kitchen.

Then, he climbed out of bed, slipped the sandals back on and walked towards the ward office located at the other end of the <Medical Bay>, just beside the ICU ward where the other two civilian survivors were treated.

「 ...I wonder if there's a library that I can get access to, or something similar? That would be a big help... 」

.....

"Thank you for the escort, officer."

"No problem, sir, just doing my job. Take your time reading. I'll be just waiting here at the front desk."

Nuel turned away from the soldier who had led him there from the <Medical Bay>; he looked up and read the illuminated sign at the top of the entrance door.

「 T1 IRC...Tier 1 Information Resource Centre, huh? 」

The sliding door automatically opened as he walked inside.

It was disappointingly too small of a room to call it an "information resource centre" - there were only three computer terminals placed on each three walls of the rectangular space, and there were no books, bookshelves nor tables around - well considering the game world was set in a dystopian future, so perhaps any reading materials existed at this time would all be kept in digital format.

Nuel could guess why the soldier guard looked puzzled the way he did when he asked about 'any library' earlier - the word 'library' may have been out of use for that long!

A single round LED lamp was responsibled with lighting up the derisory space of a room.

Nuel took seat on one of the swivel chairs and switched on the computer terminal before him via touch-activation.

The capacitive LCD screen of the computer terminal lit up.

「 Let's see where can I find the engineering section in here... 」

He swiped down the touchscreen a few times as his eyes scanned the name of each folders.

「 ...Military Discipline Tutorial Files, Firearm Operation_demo...ah, found it! 」

His finger hovered over the <37th_FWRecon Company_tech.drawings> folder before he double-tapped it.

Various thumbnails of technical blueprints came up in gridview as he began scrolling to the bottom of the folder.

「 Hehehe, hopefully the game mechanic is still the same. Let's try to open one... 」

.....

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

_____

You have successfully learnt the <Common Blueprint : Generic Mechanical Component> × 1.

2 points is consumed from your [ Sanity ].

_____

You have successfully learnt the <Common Blueprint : Generic Semiconductor Component> × 1.

2 points is consumed from your [ Sanity ].

_____

You have successfully learnt the <Common Blueprint : Carburised Polyalloy Screwdriver> × 1.

2 points is consumed from your [ Sanity ].

_____

You have successfully learnt...

...

_____

His [ Character Status ] screen popped up prompts one after another as his brain was being forcefully stuffed and packed with various blueprint information, simply letting the bluish holographic progress bar getting filled up for each and every technical drawings he tapped open and scrutinised.

As if that was not enough, he also browsed through the basic engineering e-books stored aboard in the computer terminal as he let the game's automated system 'read' those books for him in matter of minutes.

Ding!

_____

You have successfully learnt <Introduction to Electronic Systems>.

You are slightly more knowledgeable on Electronic-type items.

4 points is consumed from your [ Sanity ].

You have obtained <XP > +0.22.

_____

Ding!

_____

You have successfully learnt <Basic Mechanical Discourse>.

You are slightly more knowledgeable on Machinery-type items.

4 points is consumed from your [ Sanity ].

You have obtained <XP > +0.22.

_____

Ding!

_____

You have successfully learnt <Instructions on Basic Machining and Tool-Handling>.

You are slightly more knowledgeable on Tool-type items.

4 points is consumed from your [ Sanity ].

You have obtained <XP > +0.22.

_____

Ding!

_____

Warning! Warning!

You have learnt more than 3 <Data-type Items> consecutively.

You will be penalised with the <Abnormal Status: Sanity Penalty> for 12 hours.

Due to your relatively high [ Attribute : INT ], the <Abnormal Status : Sanity Penalty> will be converted to the <Abnormal Status : Fractured Mind>.

You have been inflicted with the <Abnormal Status : Fractured Mind>, lasting for 5 seconds.

You are using the <Title Buff : Giant's Strength III>.

You have failed to resist the <Abnormal Status : Fractured Mind>.

_____

Nuel's [ HP ] -7.6.

Nuel's [ Sanity ] -3.1.

Nuel's [ HP ] -7.6.

Nuel's [ Sanity ] -3.1.

Nuel's [ HP ] -7.6.

Nuel's [ Sanity ] -3.1.

Nuel's [ HP ] -7.6.

Nuel's [ Sanity ] -3.1.

Nuel's [ HP ] -7.6.

Nuel's [ Sanity ] -3.1.

「 F**K...!!! My head feel like f**king exploding! I forgot about that penalty! F**K! 」

Nuel massaged his temple as blood - again - trickled down his nose and eyes; he just suffered from the backlash.

He opened his bloodshot eyes and let out a heavy, coppery breath.

He stared at the bluish holographic prompt in front of him for a good second.

_____

You have fufilled the hidden requirements for the [ Subclass-Promotion Mission : Scrap Mechanist ].

_____

「 I got the motherf**king subclass mission. Let's gooOO! 」

_____

[ Subclass-Promotion Mission : Srap Mechanist ] Completed

Requirements :

• Obtain <Common Blueprints> × 10.

• Craft item using at least 1 type <Low-Quality Crafting Material>.

• Obtain <Tier 1 Common Machinery Electronic Knowledge> × 3.

Progress :

• <Common Blueprints> : ( 0 >> 13 /10 ).

• <Low-Quality Crafting Material : Machinery Electronic> type used in crafting : ( 0 >> 5 /1 ).

• <Tier 1 Common Machinery Electronic Knowledge> : ( 0 >> 3 /3 ).

Rewards :

• [ Class XP ] is now shared between [ Class ] and [ Subclass ].

• [ Ability & Skill ] tab would be reorganised according to [ Class ] and [ Subclass ].

• [ Talent Trees ] tab would be reorganised according to [ Class ] and [ Subclass ].

• <Ability : Scrap Repair (Basic)> obtained.

• <Talent : Scavenger's Technics (Basic)> obtained.

_____

Do you wish to promote into the [ Subclass : Scrap Mechanist ] now?

- Y / N -

_____

「 F**king got it! 」

.

.

.

====================

Author's Post-Script:

Nuel's subclass updates and other things~~~

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[ SUBCLASS ]

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[ Subclass : Scrap Mechanist ] :

A crafting profession which specialises in manufacturing Machinery- or Electronic-type items using low-quality crafting materials.

Mostly self-taught, Scrap Mechanists thrive in the Outer Ward zones, able to fabricate practical ordinances and weapons almost entirely on materials they scavenged.

However, items crafted by these technicians do not hold much value among the orthodox factions within the Inner Ward due to their 'scrap' origin.

Grants :

• <Lv 1 Ability : Scrap Repair (Basic)> : While equipping a <Crafting Tool>, repair any Machinery- or Electronic-type item of any Grade to restore some of its durability with a percentage of success. | Success Chance ( Common \ Uncommon \ Rare or higher ) : ( +20% \ +15% \ +10% ) | Durability Restored ( Common \ Uncommon \ Rare or higher ) : ( +10 \ +7 \ +4 ) | Low-Quality Buff Effect : Increase any one [ Item Stats ] +10% (max stacks 5×) | Channeling Time : 7s + 2s/0.1kg | Buff Duration : 600s | Crafting Material Cost ( Common \ Uncommon \ Rare or higher ) : ( 20% \ 10% \ 5% ) of item weight | Stamina Cost : 0.5/s | All of the aforementioned effects will only be applied when crafting with ( Machinery / Electronic ) items with [ Low Quality ] designations.

• <Lv 1 Talent : Scavenger's Technics (Basic)> : Scavenging is a small, humbling branch of the more known domain of fabrication engineering and it teaches one that even the lowliest of dirt builds houses. | Crafted items' [ Item Stats ] : +10% | Crafting Channeling Duration : -5% | Crafting Material Cost : -10% per <Crafting Material Type> | All of the aforementioned effects will only be applied when crafting using ( Machinery / Electronic ) materials with [ Low Quality ] designations.

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[ DATA-TYPE ITEMS ]

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<Introduction to Electronic Systems>

-----A digital textbook explaining basic concepts and theories behind electrical and electronic systems. It is considered to be an Old World relic. Readily available in any Tier 1 Information Resource Centre.-----

Type : Tier 1 Knowledge : Electronic | Data, e-book

Grade : Common

Effect :

• <XP > +0.2 upon reading (repeatable 10×).

• <Lesser Academic Enlightenment> : <Chance > +5% to obtain <Epic Blueprint : Electronic> × 1.

_____

<Basic Mechanical Discourse>

-----A digital folio book compiling theses of engineers and scientists on machinery applications in the real world. It is considered to be an Old World relic. Readily available in any Tier 1 Information Resource Centre.-----

Type : Tier 1 Knowledge : Machinery | Data, e-book

Grade : Common

Effect :

• <XP > +0.2 upon reading (repeatable 10×).

• <Lesser Academic Enlightenment> : <Chance > +5% to obtain <Epic Blueprint : Machinery> × 1.

_____

<Instructions on Basic Machining and Tool-Handling>

-----A digital manual book detailing basic proper instructions on material machining techniques and tool-handling. It is considered to be an Old World relic. Readily available in any Tier 1 Information Resource Centre.-----

Type : Tier 1 Knowledge : Machinery | Data, e-book

Grade : Common

Effect :

• <XP > +0.2 upon reading (repeatable 10×).

• <Lesser Academic Enlightenment> : <Chance > +5% to obtain <Crafting Ability : Level> +2.