Chapter 12 Just Can't Indulge It!

The next day, the Grey World welcomed a group of visiting mages.

Old Mage Halley had been to the Grey World many times before. This special Steam Nation, covering more than half of the whole world, was divided into several large city clusters, among which the Morningwind City Cluster was the largest.

Although the magic power of this world was thin, it possessed many peculiar mechanical products, such as typewriters, which were perfectly suitable for people without magic power.

Old Mage especially liked the mechanical typewriters produced in this world, and he even displayed more than a dozen different models and styles of typewriters in his room, just like figurines.

The sound produced by the mechanical rhythm was extremely pleasant to old Mage Halley's ears.

Those scalding steams, huge metal gears, and forever blazing boilers could represent the powerful forces of another kind of civilization that magic civilization did not possess.

The worlds used to be isolated from each other.

But after the arrival of the Gods, everything changed, and the old Mage was very grateful for the appearance of the Gods.

So, as a Grand Magician from Meteor World, old Mage Halley now had a mechanical dream—to pilot a giant robot!

Among the servants of the Steel Church, some were completely made of steel and machinery. These were the Steel Automatons, similar to Magic Automatons, both possessing a certain level of cognition and existing as "workers" at the basic level. However, Magic Automatons were more like clay sculptures given life by mages, maintained by magic power.

But Steel Automatons were different... Their life force was provided by "springs" or "boilers."

The old Mage had always dreamed of driving an oversized robot, but unfortunately, such robots were used for large-scale projects. Purchasing them required not only substantial financial resources but also various complicated procedures.

Such as things like a "Large Machinery Driving License," "Machinery Business Permit," "First-Class Machinery Operation Certificate," "Ironman Quality Inspection Report," "Physical Health Certificate," "Road Traffic Safety Management Commitment," "Boiler Operation Certificate," and you had to pay a large machinery tax, register with the Steel Church, as well as regularly replace the boiler, maintain the spring, and also carry out maintenance and lubrication on the machinery itself....

It was not only troublesome but also time-consuming, and to make matters worse, the annual maintenance fee was a considerable amount.

After all, giant robots aren't something you can just decide to pilot.

Behind old Mage Halley, the group of young students, who were visiting the Steam World for the first time, had been exclaiming and admiring incessantly ever since they came through the world portal, fascinated by every steam-powered building and facility they saw.

This admiration quickly turned into a "consumer drive."

"Boss, I'd like to buy a steam backpack... can you give me a discount?" The students suddenly stopped in front of a shop, their attention captured by those oddly shaped steam backpacks. These items were the Steel Church's strange creations, designed to meet various work demands with different styles of backpacks.

There were backpacks for flying, digging, weeding, diving... some of them needed to be used with corresponding tools and work clothes. And for mages, these tasks could be simply and easily completed with magic.

Yet these magic apprentices still developed an incomparable curiosity for these mechanical inventions, and after haggling with the shopkeeper several times, each of the apprentices ended up with a newly purchased steam backpack in hand.

Old Mage watched the students spend their money on all sorts of mechanical trinkets without stopping them because it was also an important part of their social internship.

Social environment, local customs, societal structures, public demand, political situations, religious issues... All of these things were better experienced in person rather than just listening to others' narratives.

Only by doing so could they create a successful promotional activity based on the actual conditions of this world, combined with the client's promotional requirements.

At the same time, it was also a major promotional event for their own academy, aiding in cross-world recruitment for the college.

The old Mage was walking with his students when he suddenly saw a crowd gathering around the tavern ahead.

"Is it Miss Malt's tavern? What new game activity has she launched now?"

The Grand Magician had visited the Grey World many times and had by chance gotten to know Miss Malt. He found himself deeply intrigued by this vampire who, rather than drinking blood, preferred to drink alcohol.

Within the Morningwind City Cluster, in the third district of the sixth sector along Southeast Second Avenue, Miss Malt, who ran the tavern.

In the third district, the various gaming activities promoted by Miss Malt were extremely popular in the area, and the beer she brewed had a very unique taste, which resulted in a large daily flow of customers.

But why had the signboard changed?

"Fictional Church... a church? When did she get religious?"

A look of bewilderment was evident on the Grand Magician's expression, and what baffled him even more was that outside the tavern, there seemed to be more people than inside! Many were gathered around several oddly shaped metal boxes, those metal boxes...

The Grand Magician and his students drew closer, curiously observing the "pictures" on the metal boxes.

"What are these things?"

"These are arcade machines... hey, do you even know how to play? You're really bad at this!" A passerby casually responded to the Grand Magician's question. The focus of his second sentence had already shifted back to the player who was playing the arcade game, as he began to give pointers.

However, the current player's time soon came to an end. He shook his head, deciding not to continue paying, mainly because there was a group of eager people waiting behind him.

"This is interesting; may I have a go?"

The Grand Magician asked a player who was about to start playing for permission, and the latter's brows immediately furrowed. He was about to refuse when the Grand Magician already produced a Gold Coin.

It was currency from this world, not from Meteor World. The Grand Magician had a sizable deposit in this world.

So, as one might expect, no one would turn down money. The Grand Magician got his wish to try this novel item, and as soon as he began, he realized it was no simple plaything.

The first round didn't last beyond two minutes before the little aircraft named Raiden was blasted into spectacular fireworks, and the machine itself began to emit a strange failure music.

Amidst a burst of laughter, the Grand Magician started the second game while his Magic Apprentices watched the arcade screen unblinkingly.

A strong sense of curiosity toward new and strange things was wildly growing in their hearts.

The second round did not last long, as the Grand Magician confidently met his demise and just as confidently began the third round.

After half an hour, the Grand Magician's eyes were affixed to the glowing screen. After being handed another Game Over, he was so furious that smoke seemed to billow from his seven orifices, his beard moving without wind, angrily thrashing about like numerous tentacles!

He had been playing seven or eight rounds already. Those consecutive Game Overs in his eyes had coalesced into a single word which meant "noob."

"Hey, you've got no game, stranger."

The onlookers were ridiculing the Grand Magician. Grand Magician Halley didn't say anything and, after starting a new round, suddenly picked up his steel-studded staff. He glanced at the arcade machine as if making a decision in that instant.

Everyone thought he intended to smash the machine and was ready to stop him, but instead, the Transformation Category Grand Magician cast a spell on himself right there and then.

"Can't let it have its way!"

Then the Grand Magician transformed into a paper-thin person and flew right into the screen!