“Oh my god.”
“Look at the size of it. You can’t even see the end!”
“It’s almost as big as Yeouido, isn’t it?”
The fortress floating above the river was so massive that the soldiers couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.
“Yeah, but...”
While successfully summoning the fortress was a feat in itself, there was a minor issue.
“How do we get inside it?”
“...”
The fortress was floating on the river, and we didn’t exactly have a way to reach it.
If only we had a boat... But with the city having turned into a dungeon, even /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the small boats that might have been on the shore had been destroyed.
It wasn’t feasible to ask the mages to freeze the river, either. That left only one option.
“We’ll have to swim.”
“Oh.”
With the stamina of the Awakened, it wouldn’t be impossible.
As I started to take off my uniform to dive into the water, someone grabbed my arm.
“Wait a moment, sir.”
“Hm?”
It was Corporal **Gongwoo Lee**, one of our engineering soldiers.
“Oh, right. As engineers, could you... maybe make a boat?”
Most of our engineers had once been hobbyists who dabbled in DIY projects. But since Awakening, they could create almost anything if they had the materials.
“A boat? Well, I could make one, but...”
“Really?”
“But I’ve got an even better idea.”
A confident grin appeared on Gongwoo’s face.
“Let’s build a bridge.”
“A... bridge?”
At first, it sounded absurd. Wouldn’t building a boat be simpler than constructing a bridge?
“Bridge-building is actually a core skill of engineers,” Gongwoo explained.
Being a cook, my knowledge of other military roles was limited, and I hadn’t known that bridge construction was an engineering specialty.
“Well, we’ve never actually built one, as we’re not a dedicated engineering unit,” he admitted. “But with our new skills... we’re hardly ordinary engineers, right?”
It was true. Just as I, an ordinary cook, could now slice through steel, our engineers had abilities beyond the ordinary.
“There is one thing, though,” Gongwoo added.
“Yeah?”
“We’ll need a lot of manpower to gather materials for the bridge. Could you spare some extra hands?”
“That should be easy enough.”
* * *
Or so I thought.
“That’s a little bit of manpower?” I muttered as I took a breath.
I had been thoroughly deceived.
Building a makeshift bridge across more than a hundred meters of river was no easy feat.
‘As if this could be simple.’
I glanced around.
“Huff, huff...”
Our high-level soldiers, essentially living machines, were groaning from exertion.
The sheer amount of heavy lifting and physical labor was enough to make even the Awakened struggle. Thankfully, my high base stats helped me endure it, but without them, I’d have given up already.
“Come on, workers! Just a bit more effort!” Gongwoo called out cheerfully.
“Next, let’s grab those materials from that building over there,” he added, pointing.
Building a bridge required materials we didn’t have on hand, and while we had packed some supplies from the base, it wasn’t nearly enough for a full bridge.
The solution Gongwoo and his team had come up with was... surprisingly straightforward.
Or perhaps absurdly so.
“We could just dismantle a few buildings,” they’d said casually.
Their solution was to demolish nearby structures for raw materials, as if we were in some kind of construction simulator.
One soldier swung his massive sword, and a chunk of a building wall came crashing down. The soldiers carried the debris over to the engineers, who hammered and shaped it into bridge components.
“...This actually works?”
Though it was reminiscent of a game, the soldiers’ strength had made the impossible feasible.
“Ugh, I brought it over,” one of the soldiers grumbled, hauling a massive chunk of debris.
“Thanks!”
As they handed over the salvaged materials, the engineers transformed the crude chunks into modular bridge components. Watching the engineers work was impressive—somehow, they’d adapted these salvaged parts into a functional bridge frame.
“Damn... this is exhausting.”
One of the soldiers grumbled, “Why are combat troops doing engineer work?”
‘It’s a fair complaint.’
In the regular army, staying within your role was a matter of respect. So it was understandable that some were disgruntled.
However, there was a simple way to remedy the situation.
“Let’s take a break and eat!” I called out.
In most cases, the answer to complaints lay in filling empty stomachs.
I served up a hearty meal of **Bone Broth Soup of the Passionate Sous Chef**, which restored their energy and boosted morale.
Afterward, their enthusiasm was unmatched, and they worked at breakneck speed, completing the bridge well within the day.
“It’s done!” Gongwoo declared.
The soldiers gawked at the bridge that now extended all the way to the fortress.
“Wow... is that really a bridge we built in just one day?”
It was a rickety thing, not meant for heavy loads, but it would support soldiers crossing.
* * *
“Alright, everyone, let’s cross carefully!”
The makeshift bridge swayed as we crossed, but it held steady.
Finally, we reached the imposing wall of the fortress.
*Ding.*
[Vimana is now open.]
A message appeared in front of me, and then, with a deep rumble, the fortress’s wall began to shift.
“Halt!” I ordered, as the enormous fortress doors creaked open, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
*Thud!*
When the doors were fully open, another message popped up.
[Vimana’s opening is complete.]
[Recognition of summoning rights established.]
[Vimana acknowledges its master.]
[Congratulations!]
[This fortress is now yours.]
[A new title has been granted.]
[Title: Lord of Vimana]
[Effect: Access to fortress management menu.]
A title! I quickly scanned the description and turned my attention to the gate, stepping into the fortress for the first time.
It wasn’t just a fortress. Inside the towering walls was a sprawling, black-steel fortress city.
* * *
“Why is everything so dark in here?”
“Is this all made of steel?”
The soldiers spread out to explore. Although I’d seen the fortress briefly in **Ariella’s Shadow Veil**, I hadn’t had the chance to fully explore it.
I approached one of the buildings and touched its sleek, dark surface.
‘Cold.’
The black-steel-like walls had a smooth, metallic sheen. The fortress felt fittingly industrial—a perfect match for the **Steel Legion**.
“There’s a barracks here!” one soldier shouted.
“And a huge storage area!” another called out.
The sheer size of the fortress was impressive, with countless buildings scattered across the vast area.
As I surveyed it, a thought crossed my mind. ‘It feels smaller than it did in the Shadow Veil.’
Back in the Shadow Veil, the buildings had been taller, and the fortress’s scale had seemed much grander. Was it just my imagination?
Still, the soldiers were thrilled, exploring every corner with excitement.
“Hey, Minjae,” I called to Sergeant Minjae Lee.
“Yeah?”
“Keep an eye on the others. I need to check something.”
We had an incredible new base, but my main priority was determining if it could withstand the monster wave **Taejun** had warned us about.
I figured the answer might lie in my new title’s effect, **Lord of Vimana**.
I guessed I’d need to activate the fortress management mode.
“I’ll be heading to the inner keep.”
* * *
The inner keep, encircled by a small moat, lay in the heart of the fortress. Crossing a small bridge, I entered the towering castle-like structure.
“...Majestic.”
The place was vast, with multiple rooms and halls fit for a medieval noble.
After exploring briefly, I located a large central room.
[Welcome to the Command Control Room.]
This seemed to be the heart of the fortress.
...Of course, it had to be a command center. I’d hoped for something a bit different.
[Recognition of the lord’s authority confirmed.]
[Access to fortress management mode granted.]
That was what mattered. I activated the fortress’s management mode.
*Ding.*
A large system message appeared in front of me.
[Vimana Fortress - Level 1]
[Lord - Shin Youngjun]
[Exterior Area: 1,000,000㎡]
[Interior Area: 3,000,000㎡]
[Capacity: 1,000 personnel]
[Durability: 99,873/100,000]
“Is this like a status window?”
It resembled the status window Awakened could view of themselves, giving me a detailed look at the fortress.
Some things caught my attention.
First... “Why is the interior area three times bigger than the exterior?”
There was no way the system was lying, so this fortress must somehow contain triple the internal space its exterior suggested.
‘Where are the laws of physics here?’
Then there was another odd detail—the “Level 1” designation.
“Ah, that explains why it looked smaller than it did in the Shadow Veil.”
When I’d glimpsed it before, it had been in its fully unleashed form. Now, as I suspected, it was only at level 1.
It seemed that by leveling it up, I could restore it to that former grandeur.
But how to level it up? I had no idea.
As I pondered, I noticed a button below the status window.
[Switch to Administrator View]
Curious, I reached out and tapped the button.
“...!
?”
My perspective suddenly shifted upward, giving me a bird’s-eye view of the entire fortress.
Looking down, I could see the black steel buildings and the soldiers roaming around below.
“Administrator view... so it’s an overhead perspective?”
After a few moments, I adjusted to the new view. It reminded me of those mobile strategy games where you’d look down at your domain.
“Wait a minute...”
From up here, I noticed something.
“Why are there so many empty plots?”
The fortress had plenty of buildings already, but there were numerous empty spaces, as if designated for construction.
As I focused on one such area, a message popped up.
[Building Site]
[A building can be constructed here.]
[Select the building you wish to construct.]
[Training Grounds]
[Forge]
[Laboratory]
[Barracks]
[Prison]
“...”
It seemed this fortress was far from complete.
“Well, I guess I have to build it up myself.”
Building on these plots would take time I didn’t have. If we’d had time to fortify, I wouldn’t have resorted to summoning the fortress over the river in the first place.
I continued scrolling through the list, and then one name caught my eye.
[Dining Hall]
“...Right, of course.”
Before I knew it, my hand had already hovered over the **YES** option.
‘Wait!’
What we needed right now were defenses to hold off the monster wave. The **Dining Hall** could provide buffs, but I wasn’t sure it would be effective enough.
‘And it said building costs points, too...!’
But what could I do? I was a cook. Resisting the urge to build a dining hall was impossible.
“Uh, where’s the cancel button...”
[Construction of the Dining Hall has begun.]
[Points Used: 1000]
“...”
I searched frantically for a way to cancel it, but there was none.
However, the mention of the points needed for construction—**Occupation Points**—caught my attention.
“Wait... I know that term.”
**Occupation Points** were different from the points we earned from monster kills. They were accumulated from controlling areas over time, with larger, longer-held territories yielding more.
And if construction here required them...
“Well, well...”
Our guild held the **Mountain Range**, three small towns, and recently had claimed a large city. We’d held the mountain range for quite some time, amassing a hefty sum.
In mobile games, I’d quit when I couldn’t afford to build structures.
But here, things were different.
The Dining Hall cost only 1,000 points.
Though it might seem like a lot, I couldn’t suppress my laughter.
Because when it came to Occupation Points...
[Available Occupation Points: 21,873]
“I’ve got plenty to spare.”
______________________
TL NOTE: Please don't skimp on the stars and likes of the translation - it inspires me and gives me the strength to write more. Thank you~!
