Solo Clear – Chapter 14: Fortress. Probability. No. 1, No. 2

“There’s 48 hours 35 minutes and 30 seconds left until the next attack.”

Using fireworks, they courteously displayed the remaining time until the next attack.
The time left was exactly two days, 35 minutes and 30 seconds.
I couldn’t go back to the white training room that I was starting to get comfortable in.

I should look around.

The second stage seemed to have been created based on the afterlife, so I felt pretty uncomfortable just looking around.
But, in order to survive, I had to inspect the place.
I forcefully picked up my feet that were stuck to the ground.

First, over there.

In the first stage, they provided a separate safe room, which was the training ground.

“My Way Clan Fortress.”

Behind me, there was a building with an impressive name.
However, the exterior was pretty shabby.
A fence was installed in order to prevent the enemies from entering, but there weren’t any defensive functions.
The two cannons that were installed inside looked like they didn’t work, unless someone fixed them.

There was a watch tower where I could inspect the surroundings, but it looked so unstable that with a bit of strong wind, it would fall over.
And beyond the defense line, there was a small house.

“If the house is destroyed, you’ll be eliminated from the stage.”

That was what was written on the sign that was placed in front of the house.

This house was just as important as my life.
No, a house is an important asset even in reality, so they’re technically not wrong.

Jeez.
Just like the defense line in front of it, the security of the house was lax.

When I entered, the interior of the house was really simple.
It was just a large living room without any other rooms.
A bed was the only furniture that was in the living room.

Better than nothing.

After thinking about how I slept on floor with a just blanket during the first stage, I was thankful for this.
I thought they were pretty considerate.
I carefully sat on the bed.
It felt like something was pulling on my eyelids to make it heavy.

No…Not yet.

There was no way of knowing how long I would sleep if I fell asleep now.
I would probably be asleep for at least a day.

That would be the worst-case scenario.

“Inventory.”

As soon as I opened the inventory, I saw new items.
It was an item that upgraded the hammer.
After taking it out, I looked at it for a while to see how it can be used.

Upgradeable Hammer [Special Item]
I can either upgrade or fix an item that I acquire from the second stage.

As if I completely understood its function, I nodded and walked outside while holding a hammer.
As soon as I placed the hammer on top of the cannon, a message appeared.

“Will you fix the broken LV-0 cannon? Success rate is 5% and will require 500 Geny.”

“Ha ha ha.”

No one was around, but I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
As a Korean that was born in Korea and have played Korean games, I couldn’t help but be bothered by the success rate.
Due to that success rate, there are many that lost millions of dollars because they didn’t take it seriously.
5% was enough.

I still had some Geny left, so that wasn’t a problem.
Even if it failed 10 times, I think I would be able to completely understand why.

Yes.
“Please hit it with the hammer.”

“…Whew.”

I wasn’t nervous.
But, I felt that there was a need to focus.

Clank!!

I lightly hit it with the hammer.

“It has failed.”

It’s what I expected.
When based on 100%, there’s a possibility that it might succeed once every 20 times.

“It has failed. X 15.”

Pant, pant, pant!!
When I came to my senses and counted the number of times I hit it, it already failed 15 times.
The hand that was wielding the hammer was trembling.
I already spent 8,000 Geny within three minutes.

Pant…pant…

I wanted to yell out all the profanity that I had been holding in all this time.
That’s when I thought that I might fall into a slump if I kept doing it with the thought that it might work the next time.
Not having anything to release my anger, I kicked the cannon that was in front of me.

“You cannot destroy an allies’ item.”

Despite of the message that popped up in front of me, I kept on kicking it to release my anger.
10 minutes later, I felt a lot better and was calmer.

It didn’t make sense that there was only a 5% success rate when trying to repair the LV-0.
It would be understandable if it was the LV-6 or LV-7.

Is it the manager’s doing?

The manager was the first person I doubted since they raised the difficulty level.
Even if I did complain to them, nothing would change.
They were probably looking down from the sky and thought this situation was funny.

No, there’s no way.

I could be misunderstanding the system.
The humans are the ones responsible for creating a strong defense.
I took out the guidebook from my inventory.
There wasn’t any information regarding the building in the second stage.

It’s possible that I might be able to defend by myself.

I can confidently say that I was in the top level in terms of skill points when compared to the other survivors.
If I can use the Geny that I had remaining, I might be able to stay ahead.
In order to see how much I can increase stats with the Geny I had left, I headed towards the shop.
The store was located next to the house and the exterior was the same as the one that was in the training ground.

In order to find an item related to stats, I looked through the list.
A new category caught my eyes.

“Second Stage Exclusive Store.”

Of course.

I’ve been looking for this item and after seeing it in this store, it made me feel disappointed.
Workers from C rank to A rank were asleep in this store.

“You are allowed to hire a maximum of two workers.”

After seeing that message, I started getting excited because it was like I was picking my own henchmen.

An A rank, which was the most expensive, was 30,000 Geny.

[Robot Worker – A Rank]
Upgrades the building the fastest and they’re diligent.
They have some information regarding the second stage.
This worker will definitely satisfy you and they’re guaranteed to be the right choice.

B rank was an Ogre and a C rank was a Goblin.
The Goblin only costed 1,000 Geny, which made it the cheapest worker.
But after reading the description, I could see why.

[Goblin Worker – C Rank]

Their skills are okay, but they goof off a lot and take a nap when they’re bored.
Don’t expect them to respect you.

I had enough money, so there was no need to worry about this.

After purchasing two robot workers, I summoned them from my inventory.

Beep!! Beep!!

“No. 1.”
“No. 2.”

They looked like…robots made out of tin cans.
I was a bit disappointed because it looked someone just picked up metal chunks and just glued them together.
Wonder if they’ll work hard like the description said.
I did have my doubts, but immediately shook my head.

Thankfully, the first one was red and the second one was blue, which would help me differentiate the two.

“No. 1.”
“No. 1!!”

The red robot worker quickly raised its arm.

“…No. 2.”
“No. 2!!”
The other robot did the same.

“Let’s head outside.”

They immediately started moving and waited for me outside.

“Command!!”
“Command!!”

From their insistence,it seemed like they wanted to work as soon as possible. Wow. It’s nice to have workers that are looking forward to work.

“Before that, there’s something I want to ask.”
“Ask!!”
“Ask!!”
“…No. 2, stop talking and No. 1, only you answer.”

After hearing that, No. 2 became sad as it sadly lowered its arm.

“N-no, you answer too No. 2.”
“Yes!!”

No. 2 looked excited.
Even though it was a robot, I thought it was cute.
I placed my hand on the canon that I couldn’t fix before.

“This canon. I tried fixing it myself, but it didn’t work out. The…success rate is really low.”
“Can’t do anything about that.”
“Can’t do anything about that.”

I probably needed some time in order to get used to their talking.

“Why’s that?”
“When a human does it, it’ll finish without consuming a lot of time. But, when a worker does it, the success rate increases greatly, but it will take a bit of time.”
“It’s better for a worker to upgrade the facility. Humans can do it, but it’s not efficient!!”

To summarize what they said, letting the workers slowly upgrade will be more effective.

“Then, what can I ask you guys to do?”
“Insert the Geny on our back!!”
“Insert the Geny on our back!!”

On the back of No. 1 and No. 2 were holes that you would find on a vending machine when inserting a coin.
When I placed my hand on it.

“Robot worker is currently charging. Currently zero Geny.”

They probably work depending on the amount I insert.
I inserted 30,000 Geny each.

“Woahh!!”
“Beeep!!”

No. 2 started making weird noises so I took a step back.
Despite of the fact that they looked alike, they might have different thoughts.

Cough.

I thought it was necessary to command them with a serious tone, so after clearing my throat, I lowered my voice.

“No. 1 and No. 2. Secure and strengthen this shabby defense line.”
“Headquarters!!”
“Headquarters!!”

After giving a command, the two first headed towards the fence.

I had high expectations after thinking that maybe the scenery in front of this ghost-like house will change after I sleep.

I was…at my limit.

I had the urge to throw myself into the bed as soon as possible.

Ah…damn.

There was one other place I had to stop by.
Feeling disappointed about how the canon wasn’t getting fixed, I decided to try one last time.
It was the item that was in the Second Stage Exclusive Store, where I purchased the workers.
Second Stage Random Soldier.
This item costed 10,000 Geny and it summons a random solider with ranks from C to A.

Gulp.

I already failed 16 times, so my bad luck was already at its peak.
I thought this was a good chance shake it off.

“You have purchased a random soldier. Your soldier is!!!”
A blue light suddenly appeared and someone was walking out of that light.

…Hm.

staff :
Jen (TL)
Uptime (PR)