Chapter 119 – New Golem Maker (1)

Once Lee Shin-Woo and Jin parted ways with Guillotine, they wordlessly took the Golem train back to the level 2 danger zone. The facility was close to the area where the now destroyed city Kehebe had been.

Amid their silence, a voice cheerfully pestered Lee Shin-Woo.

[Please take care of me, sir. Henceforth, I’m in charge of supporting you in battle and scouting. Please give me a name.]

[Please give me a name. I’ll explain my abilities again. I have high agility and strength, but my endurance is incredibly low. Please handle me with care. I have some magic as well.]

[Please give me a name. My most effective ability is the subspace. With the latest techs created through high-rank magic engineering, I can hold a maximum of 4,000 zeta...]

Lee Shin-Woo finally looked up. He had almost arrived at his destination... the Kerr Century Winery. Before he entered, he needed to fix this guy.

"It’s a relief that they misunderstood us, isn’t it?" Lee Shin-Woo said.

"Misunderstood?"

"Yeah."

The Golems held the unyielding belief that the Steelworker seal could only be obtained by a Steelworker. That pride was Guillotine's only and worst mistake. Because of that, Lee Shin-Woo was able to clear out the entire facility without garnering any suspicion, and even now...

"I'll give you a name, so come over here."

[I underst...]

Lee Shin-Woo reached out and seized the Observer Golem. He could tell this little guy was sent to spy on him even without seeing its name.

But he didn't know who exactly ordered its deployment, or whether he should extract information from it, dispose of it, or try to find some other use for it; he had been observing the Golem to figure out the answer rather than acting rashly.

If its mission could only be changed with Arema Steelworker's seal, I would have no choice but to give up and dispose of it.'

Fortunately, that wasn't the case. The Golem’s creator and administrator were both Guillotine. Arema Steelworker must trust Guillotine a lot.

Lee Shin-Woo wouldn’t say Guillotine had made the decision to give him the spy of a Golem, but it was clear that Guillotine had quite a bit of authority. And...

Given the weight of the order, I can change it as much as I want with my own authority.

Lee Shin-Woo no longer had a pure Steelworker seal. After countless improvements, he had successfully acquired an independent authority, and it was simple for him to erase Guillotine's order as if it hadn’t there in the first place before replacing it with his own.

And here...

He hadn't had the Observer Golem for very long, but right now, he had plenty of time to experiment. With his mind made up, Lee Shin-Woo activated his seal whilst infusing the Golem with a completely different mana.

[N...Name...]

That radiating, gentle gray energy was none other than his high-rank darkness element! Because darkness was the element that controlled contracts, he thought that he would be able to bypass the preexisting command authority and create a new relationship with it; that was the reasoning behind his action, and the effect was truly outstanding.

[...Recognizing highest command authority.]

When the administrator seal took in the darkness element and radiated an even more intense light, a black light spread throughout the Observer Golem. It sounded like it was breaking, and at that moment, something seemed to burst out of a part of its body. In a much calmer voice than before, it said, [Recording halted. Deactivating surveillance function. Deactivating information transmission function.]

"Information transmission... So when were you supposed to send a report to Guillotine Steelworker?"

[In a week.]

"I'd like to make up a report so that they don't get suspicious. Can you input that kind of information?

[Of course.]

More energy surged from Lee Shin-Woo's hand and permeated the Golem. The Golem would only process and transmit information appropriate for Steelworker’s eyes. While it was incredibly difficult work, Lee Shin-Woo had a book he could reference!

"Let's see... Wait just a second, Jin."

"..."

He carried an open, well-weathered book in one hand and the small Golem in the other. With black energy constantly radiating from him, Lee Shin-Woo looked like he was from some kind of evil cult at best.

As always, Jin didn't really know what Lee Shin-Woo was doing, but he decided to do as he was told and watch his surroundings. Lee Shin-Woo closed the book after a few minutes.

"Alright. I can... Mm, is this okay?"

[Any deficiency can be fixed at a later time.]

"Nice. I'll make other adjustments after I've studied some more, and when the time is right.]

[I understand.]

However, Lee Shin-Woo didn't let go of the Golem. He believed his authority could be taken away if or when Arema Steelworker intervened, so the only way to create a stable relationship which cannot be disturbed by anyone is...

"Let's change the programming a bit, shall we? I'll program the absolute principle that 'ownership' ranks higher than 'command authority.'"

[...It's possible. In order to prevent a few minor bugs from occurring, I will prioritize removing Steelworker's ability to intervene.]

"Go ahead."

Jin couldn't understand their conversation at all, and listening to them exchange a few words, he saw mana coming out of the Golem's body with fine control, while Lee Shin-Woo's mana filled the vacancy. Lee Shin-Woo meticulously examined the entire Golem once more before laughing with certainty.

The power of darkness was absolute and transcended logic; it had altered the Golem's very structure. And at the moment of his success...

[New mode completed, Master.]

From the outside, the small Golem looked like a living, breathing hawk. Its gem eyeballs focused on Lee Shin-Woo and shone as it called him 'master'. This was proof that his absolute authority had been safely created, which was something that hadn't existed before.

What would Guillotine Steelworker think if he knew that Lee Shin-Woo had completely remodeled the surveillance unit and made it devote itself to him? Of course, he would never find out.

"Nice. From now on, your name is Rem[1]."

"Your way of naming things is only getting worse!"

With the combination of his knowledge on Golems and his mastery over the darkness element, Lee Shin-Woo had created his first 'child', so he gave it a proper name. Jin was shocked to hear that it was considered a proper name in Lee Shin-Woo’s mind. Unfortunately, now that the Golem was completely loyal to Lee Shin-Woo and took his words as absolute commands, it couldn’t voice its complaints; it didn't even have that capacity to do so.

[I understand, Master.]

The moment it accepted its name...a large amount of mana was released from Lee Shin-Woo's body, which automatically changed into the darkness element. He could sense the change keenly, and it dawned on him just how important a name was in a master and servant contract.

No, maybe his mana had responded like that because he thought names were important.

[The Observer Golem, Rem, has become your subordinate completely! Your achievement triggered a tremendous change in Rem.]

"Huh?"

A familiar message popped up, reminding him of the time he established a master and servant relationship with the Pauls and Chi Pauls. At the same time, Rem's body became engulfed in darkness mana. Lee Shin-Woo heard a cracking sound from within and gritted his teeth at Rem's changing appearance.

"If I knew this was going to happen, I would've named it Rem Paul!"

"Yeah, yeah."

The transformation process wasn't very long. Rem's now exposed form was truly shocking. What had originally looked like a living hawk had changed into a bone creature!

While its body was made of bones, they were tough and covered in another layer of skin-like bones. It looked like a hawk figurine that a sculptor had made out of fine ivory, refined and beautiful in its texture and lovely curves. Instead of a Golem or an undead, it appeared more like a living being made of bones.

"I'd be happy if I got to look like that."

"It's definitely pretty, but...when Guillotine asks for it, how are you going to show it to him?"

Lee Shin-Woo was both in awe and concerned as he looked at the now transformed Rem. An unexpected message then popped up before him.

[Through your ability and mana, this Golem has been bestowed with a karma. By acting as though it were an ally, it will approach other Golems, implant your darkness in them, and ultimately cause them to change and be reborn. It has awoken "Mana Parasite".]

[You have created a Joker's pet, a cuckoo. The cuckoo will share a portion of your innate skills, and based on its role, its abilities may become even greater. Perhaps an even more dramatic evolution awaits it in the future.]

[Lv6 Cuckoo Golem - Rem]

"I thought it was a bit small,” said Lee Shin-Woo. “It wasn't a hawk, but a cuckoo...!?"

"Why? Did you create something weird again?"

"Yeah, and it's really weird this time."

The skill that Rem had awakened was much too amazing for him to dismiss as weird. By using both the administrator seal and his darkness mana, as well as acquiring the ownership authority over the Golem, he seemed to have had a considerable effect on Rem.

To be honest, Lee Shin-Woo himself didn't really know how this kind of change had occurred.

"It probably wouldn't work on the Steelworkers, though..." Lee Shin-Woo muttered.

"Mmmm?"

"No, it's nothing."

Lee Shin-Woo had decided to do to any high-rank Golems he encountered what he had done to Rem, namely the level 6 Golems or greater that were under Steelworker's direct control. With Rem’s evolution, the task became much easier.

He was especially pleased by the fact that Rem could share a portion of Joker's innate skills, including Acting, Disguise, and Instigate. Then at the very least it could disguise itself before the Steelworkers. Moreover, it might grow to learn even more amazing abilities in the future.

[Please call me Rem from now on, Master, and please take care of me.]

"Alright, Rem. Take care of me too."

He didn't know if Rem was aware that it had done a 180 and gone in an opposite direction from its original mission, as it naively perched upon his shoulder. That painted a much better picture.

It had gotten a lot stronger in various aspects when it transformed into a Cuckoo Golem, so Lee Shin-Woo could actually use it in battle. Its subspace would also help in various ways.

Above all, it had gotten smaller, so it was easier to carry around. Previously, he had refused the Pauls, the Golems, and the Chi Pauls from accompanying him not only because they wanted to change the Empire, but because they were way too big; they would get in the way of his work!

"Wait a sec. If this guy has a subspace and can move quickly... Can't it collect loot!?"

[It is possible to change the location of my subspace, as well as automatically send anything inside.]

"Oooooooooooooh!"

They marveled at Rem's subspace ability, the newest addition to their party, and hurried towards the winery. As for Rem's Mana Parasite, which came from Lee Shin-Woo's karma... Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t yet realized how amazing that ability would be in the future.

1. E/N: The 렘 character here is the same Rem as the one used for Rem in Re:Zero… Seems like a loose reference due to it being a servant.