Originium Arts.
Simply put, it's a method by which humans, through certain techniques, guide the energy inside Originium into specific forms and apply it to specific purposes.
As far back as the dawn of Terra's civilization, humanity had already discovered a close connection between themselves and Originium.
They found that in environments rich with Originium, they could, by sheer will, trigger all kinds of natural phenomena—
Fire bursting from their hands, frost spewing from their mouths, lightning summoned with a glance…
These primitive techniques were the earliest Originium Arts.
Not only that—
As civilization advanced, people learned to process Originium in special ways to better cast Arts. The resulting devices were called "casting units."
And someone who mainly relied on casting units to use Originium Arts was called a "Caster."
Later, people discovered that what kind of Originium Arts a person excelled at—and to what degree—was an inborn, fixed aptitude. This was known as an individual's "Originium Arts uniqueness."
In other words, a person's ability to use Originium Arts had an innate ceiling and floor.
So, in order to level out those differences—and to harness the benefits of Originium Arts more efficiently—humanity invented technology that sealed Arts inside crystal units and then released them through mechanical structures.
The products of this technology were called "encapsulated casting units."
They turned Originium Arts into Originium technology, paving the way for the explosive rise of Originium industry.
To this day, on Talos-II, humanity still enjoys the convenience this development has brought.
…
The armory.
It had been a mess before, but after the arsenal engineers cleaned it up, it was back in order.
"Doktah? Coming to my place this early—need more weapons?"
Seeing the suspicious hooded man sneak into the armory at dawn, Semyon—someone Hao Fan had already gotten familiar with—greeted him casually.
"More or less… I have to head into the wild today, and for my own safety, I figured I should raise my combat power a bit before I go."
Hao Fan said it straight, holding his hand out.
"Do you have any industrial explosives?"
"…Uh, I do. But what do you want that stuff for?"
Semyon eyed him suspiciously.
Compared to a handgun, industrial explosives were far more sensitive—and dangerous.
Unless there was a special case, he generally wouldn't hand them out to other operators.
"Self-defense, obviously."
Hao Fan answered without hesitation.
"Uncle Semyon, you know my situation. I'm not good with a one-handed sword or a hand cannon, so I figured I should bring gren—uh, I mean, industrial explosives. That'd make me feel safer."
"…Then tell me what this is about first."
Semyon didn't say yes right away. He wanted the context.
So Hao Fan explained the delayed shipment situation from start to finish.
"Basically, the transport line's in the southern meadow. It's not far from the Hub base, but Erik told me a swarm of acid Originium slugs lives there, so… it feels pretty dangerous."
As he spoke, Hao Fan's tone grew a little weary.
In Valley No. 4, plenty of Originium insects were timid—when threatened, they'd curl into a ball and roll around to protect themselves. Basically harmless.
But acid Originium slugs were different.
They looked like snails—wild, infected creatures. Even if they were just as skittish and hid in their shells, they were still genuinely threatening.
Because they could secrete acidic substances.
And when threatened, they'd shake violently and launch the Originium crystal clusters on their backs outward—basically as a scare tactic.
Strictly speaking, that counted as self-defense.
The problem was, these cowardly things couldn't judge properly. Once they tucked into their shells, they'd just mindlessly fire Originium in all directions.
Faced with that, Hao Fan was at his wit's end.
He wasn't going to attack them first.
But if he just happened to pass by, got labeled an enemy, and then got crushed to death by a storm of crystal clusters—what was he supposed to do?
So, to be safe, the only option was to stack up more defensive measures before heading out.
And speaking of safety—
For Hao Fan, the most dangerous and unfamiliar thing in this world was Originium Arts.
Fear came from the unknown.
Compared to a sword or a hand cannon, Arts—literal "magic" that didn't exist on Earth—made him, as a transmigrator, even more wary.
Last night, while talking with Perlica, they'd also covered Originium Arts versus Originium technology.
Without a doubt, as an expert in protocol tech, her understanding was encyclopedic—detailed enough to explain Originium Arts down to the finest points.
And after learning even a decent amount, Hao Fan only felt more awe toward it.
Because he couldn't use it.
"Got it… alright. I'm with you on this. But I can only give you two charges of industrial explosives. No more than that."
After hearing the explanation, Semyon's tight frown finally relaxed, and he agreed.
Still, this time Hao Fan had to pay—no more handing things out for free forever.
"Thanks. Cash on the barrelhead!"
Hao Fan paid without hesitation.
After all, with his money-spawning ability, his savings were… surprisingly decent.
Not rich, exactly.
Because if he could only pull out one unit of currency at a time, and it took two seconds per pull, then even if he did nothing else all day—no eating, no drinking—he'd only be able to generate a little over forty thousand gold tickets in a day.
It sounded like a lot, but in reality it wouldn't reach that number—because there was no way he could spend all day doing nothing but "spraying money."
So at best, he counted as a comfortable middle-class type: fed and clothed without worry.
"Uncle Semyon, besides weapons, do you have armor or anything like that?"
After securing two explosives, Hao Fan still wasn't satisfied—he wanted to improve his survivability further.
He thought it was absolutely necessary.
Because if you were a squishy human trying to survive in a dangerous otherworld…
Stacking armor and defense was the obvious play, right?
Semyon understood—but…
"Bad timing. The armory hasn't restocked armor-type gear lately. I can't meet that request."
He looked apologetic, then changed tack.
"But if you're fine with a temporary product—simple, improvised armor—I've got a few pieces no one wants. I can give you a set for free."
As he spoke, Semyon turned around and rummaged through storage.
In the end, he pulled out a red-and-white set of simple armor and simple gauntlets.
Temporary products—untested by Endfield Industry's formal inspection pipeline, with limited defensive capability.
Obviously.
This kind of beginner armor—simple structure, light as paper—offered more psychological comfort than real protection.
Because it looked way too thin.
"This… goes under the coat, right?"
Hao Fan picked it up, staring at it with an utterly deadpan expression—like he was choosing someone's unwanted short-sleeved undershirt.
Still, he didn't refuse.
Better than nothing.
"It's free, so… I'm not turning it down. Thanks, Uncle Semyon. See you."
On the spot, Hao Fan took off his hooded Doktah coat, put on the simple armor and gauntlets, then put the coat back on—and left.
Semyon, meanwhile, seemed a bit surprised.
"So that's what he looks like… just like the rumors—no racial traits at all. What a strange guy."
He muttered a few words to himself, then went back to organizing the armory.
Back on the surface, Hao Fan suddenly remembered something.
"Almost forgot—haven't drawn my new ability for today."
With that thought, he couldn't wait. He opened his virtual panel and did his daily gacha pull—
…and fell into a long, profound silence as he stared at the dumb-meme-style "special ability" he'd gotten.
[Eat Rocks]Effect: By consuming Originium, you can gain mastery of Originium Arts—though there may be certain side effects.Note: People can't eat rocks. At the very least, they shouldn't.
....
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