---

“What do you mean you need a good machine?”

Where did this sudden and absurd idea come from?

And why do I need to go to the Western Regions?

Zhuge Sa interlocked his fingers and said, “So, how many copies of a novel do you think are sold in a year?”

“I don’t know.”

“Even if metal typesetting has developed and millions of books are published annually in the Great Ming Empire, most of those are classic texts and research that would help with the past exams. At least eight out of ten are treated as miscellaneous works. The share of novels is so small that even if there are many, selling more than a thousand copies per book in a year is tough. You can only sell that many in a big city; otherwise, it’s stuck in dusty old bookstores seeing little sunlight. Well… if you manage to sell three hundred copies, that would be considered a huge success. The unpopular books just get passed around.”

“……”

“The reason there aren’t many scholars writing novels is that there are so many jerks who look down on novels and call them ‘bizarre literature.’ There are lots of hurdles to making a novel successful.”

So, that’s how little was selling?

Well, novels are expensive…

I barely managed to scrape together enough money during the escort era to buy one book. Paper and books were that precious, and finding something like a novel was even harder. Zhuge Sa continued, “Well, selling is one thing, but that won’t move the Celestial Sage. To impress and rouse him to help us, we need something significant, a success you can see. It needs to be popular enough to have a Peking opera performed based on the novel in Luoyang.”

“Ugh… that sounds a bit much…”

“Right. So, I’m planning to push this forward by sheer quantity. I intend to significantly develop printing and publishing technology. Almost to a level that’s hard to accept in the current civilization. If printing technology explodes, naturally, there will be plenty of books produced, and novels will become popular easy-peasy. Bring out the Crystal Stele.”

When I took out the Crystal Stele, Zhuge Sa ran his fingers over its surface and said, “The surface of this stele contains all the secrets of alchemy. The development of civilization is closely related to the temperature of fire; this stele contains methods for raising that temperature to blue.”

“I know. You taught me.”

I nodded and took in Zhuge Sa’s words.

“The higher the temperature, the more metals can be smelted and worked, and the easier it is to change their properties.”

The temperature of fire changes from red to orange, yellow, and finally turns white, before eventually reaching blue. And let me tell you, blue temperatures are insane, and there are practically no metals that can’t be melted at that heat. Having learned alchemy, I knew this fact.

“Printing technology is also closely tied to the temperature of fire. Today’s printing technology uses a mix of metal and wood types; Goryeo’s printing is even more advanced than the Great Ming Empire’s. I estimate the technological gap to be around thirty years. I plan to leapfrog this to a 200-year advance using the alchemical technology from the Crystal Stele. Besides, this life of yours is likely going to be short-term anyway, so a little surprise should be fine.”

I was astounded by Zhuge Sa’s words.

“Two hundred years? You think you can jump that far ahead in printing technology?”

“With this stele’s help, it might be possible to overcome even a five-hundred-year difference in civilization. It houses the divine knowledge attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, the god of alchemy, along with thousands of years of research results. With the right approach, you might even manipulate the atomic realm.”

He seemed a little too excited as he continued, “The paper issue can also be solved easily. Currently, everything is done by hand, but by switching to automatic printing, and since the existing paper doesn’t suit the pressing method, I’ll create new paper materials using the Crystal Stele.”

Zhuge Sa added, “But even I can’t learn the most advanced printing techniques; I wasn’t that interested to create something from nothing in that field. So, we need a top-notch machine. Baek Woong, you need to get on this and act fast.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Go to the Western Regions and look for the Alchemist Guild. Bring back their best printing technology or steal a printing machine.”

“……”

“Learning would be tough, so stealing a machine seems sensible.”

I was spaced out for a moment, but then I snapped back and said, “I’ll give it a shot.”

Normally, I would have grumbled about that absurd suggestion to steal a printing machine, but after facing so many challenges, I had grown to adopt a “let’s just try it” approach.

Zhuge Sa said, “This is more important than you think. The Celestial Sage is a whimsical fellow; if he’s in a good mood, he’ll be generous with you. Securing solid help from him could significantly raise our chances of survival in Dark Heaven Village.”

“Great!”

Where should I begin?

I thought, ‘Hmm… Shall I first visit that ‘fake’ Saint Germain?’

In my past life, while tracking the alchemist’s whereabouts in the Imperial Palace, I discovered there were two individuals sharing the same name. If I could find the imposter first, it seemed like progress might speed up. Just because it’s a fake doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be knowledgeable about alchemy; they were still an alchemist. Finding the traces of alchemy was sure to lead somewhere.

Swish!

I called upon the spirit of the National Seal to utilize its search function.

“O Spirit of the National Seal, find out where the alchemist Saint Germain is using the Palace Examination Technique!”

[Not gonna do it… Find it yourself…]

“What?”

[Nope. I’ll do it.]

Did this jerk just talk back to me?!

While I was flabbergasted, the spirit of the National Seal soon announced the search results.

[There are a total of 2 results for Saint Germain.]

“Give me the locations.”

[Here.]

On one screen, a western elder was trembling and studying in an old room. The other showed an alchemist injecting a suspicious potion into a Dragon Person. While observing the two screens, I said, “I want the precise location of that elder.”

[I’ll provide the coordinates.]

Whizz!

I received the coordinates of the ‘fake’ Saint Germain. In that moment, I realized I could teleport there using Beating. Without delay, I zoomed straight to the impostor Saint Germain.

Zip!

As I entered the old room, it felt like the space was packed tight. The old man, sitting at a desk writing with a feather quill, jerked his head around in surprise.

“#&^$… @&^&@!!”

It was clearly some foreign language, so I couldn’t make it out. I frowned and grabbed a nearby spirit to possess and translate his speech.

“Nice to meet you, elder. I am Mauritz of Nassau. Are you a subject of our nation?”

“I, I am…”

The old man stuttered, glaring at me with suspicion.

“Are you a necromancer? What do you want with me?”

With the spirit of Mauritz helping, I asked, “Are you the imposter claiming to be Saint Germain?”

“……?”

He wore a dumbfounded expression and then said again, “I am Saint Germain! Not a fake!”

The old man sneered at me, “Mauritz of Nassau… Are you pretending to be the famous figure who died during the independence war in the Netherlands? Get lost! I don’t want my research disturbed by anyone!”

“I’m curious about your connection with the real Saint Germain, you know; you both have the same name.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Anyway, you’re an alchemist, so tell me the location of the Alchemist Guild or where I can find advanced printing machines.”

“Eat dirt, you bastard!!”

Boom!

Suddenly, the elder activated a smoke bomb and tried to escape, but no trick would work on an expert like me. I grabbed his arm and unleashed a bloodline technique with incredible speed, and he fainted in an instant. I used the Soul Exchange Technique to extract information from him.

“Why are you impersonating Saint Germain? What are you doing in this remote place?”

The old man, caught in the Soul Exchange Technique, stared blankly as he answered, “Impersonate… No… I am Saint Germain… an alchemist…”

“Huh?”

“I am… the real one… not someone else…”

This guy is the real deal?

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘If he can’t lie while under the Soul Exchange Technique, then is he truly the genuine article?’

If that’s possible, it might be a case like the Demon King Bendoksha pretending to be enchanted by Miho for amusement; this guy could hold an immensely high status. But that thought didn’t even occur to me, so I had to accept the guy as the actual Saint Germain. Perhaps my Soul Exchange Technique wasn’t strong enough to fully subdue his spirit, but it certainly didn’t feel like a lie.

“Alright, let’s assume you’re the real Saint Germain… Do you know anyone who might impersonate you?”

“Impersonate… That could be…”

As if something had come to mind, the alchemist said, “… decades ago… I created a Homunculus while attempting to make the Philosopher’s Stone… I couldn’t retrieve all the experimental subjects, and that might be it…”

“What?!”

Homunculus?!

That’s what they call a Portrait Immortal in the East! Though it’s created through somewhat different techniques, both are made in imitation of humans. I felt like a new truth was dawning and said to him, “Great. Now tell me where the Alchemist Guild is located and the place with the most advanced printing technology in the Western Regions!”

“The Alchemist Guild… is led by the Druid Elder Merlin… is in another realm… you must cross Mundus to get there… it doesn’t exist in this world… without magic or techniques, you can never reach it… and you must at least contact a magic organization… The place with the most advanced printing is in the British Empire… As far as I know, one of the great inventors who crossed to the New Continent created a double-sided rotary press… it should be the most advanced.”

“Double-sided rotary press?”

“It’s not manual; it’s automatic printing and can produce thousands of sheets in a short time…”

“What’s this New Continent?”

That’s a term I’ve never heard before.

When I asked, the elder Saint Germain said, “According to Marco Polo’s tales, adventurers heading to the Eastern Continent accidentally found a new continent… very vast… currently in the process of colonization… it’s the hottest land of adventure…”

“Hmm…?”

Could there actually be a New Continent? I ruminated and thought I might know where that is. ‘It’s referring to the place nestled between great oceans.’

Although I had surveyed the Heaven and Earth Sea, there was still a place I hadn’t visited. I hadn’t explored the Tianzhu Continent thoroughly and hadn’t set foot on the Black Continent located below the Western Regions. Plus, knowing that there was a vast New Continent even further west, I figured the foreigners must be currently exploring that land.

“How do I get to the New Continent?”

“Just go to the Portobelo harbor… Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire is always recruiting adventurers to send to the New Continent… and there’s a war against the British Empire going on there… follow the adventurers.”

“Alright. I’ll have more questions later, but first, get into the wooden armor!”

Swish!

I shoveled the elder Saint Germain into the wooden armor and immediately used the Heavenly Secret Technique to travel to this Portobelo harbor. Luckily, since it was a well-known place, I was able to arrive by asking pedestrians for directions without needing the spirit’s help later on. I got a map of the New Continent at the Portobelo harbor and examined it.

‘Hmm. That’s quite a distance…’

The distance was immense compared to crossing to the British Empire! I couldn’t avoid taking a ship, which left me pondering. Is it even possible to cover that distance by running?

“… Let’s go the easy way.”

I could do it, but there was no reason to attempt it. I promptly called on the spirit of the National Seal and said, “Guide me to the place where the inventor of the double-sided rotary press is!”

[Searching… Search Completed.]

The National Seal efficiently pinpointed the location and provided me with coordinates. With the information on hand, I could just search, receive the coordinates, and teleport right away. Once the coordinates were input, I immediately used Beating to teleport.

Zip!

I had arrived at a wide area due to my estimation, so I didn’t land right beside the inventor but situated myself on a nearby overlook. Indeed, this was the New Continent, and below the hill were Western adventurers and mercenaries camping out.

“I did it!”

Did this mean I almost circled the globe once? Just the Black Continent and the poles were left, and that was all!

‘Huh?’

In that instant, a chilling sensation crawled down my back.

Something felt odd.

Woooo!

While I sensed the peculiarity, I noticed a phenomenon in the sky where crystal formations were condensing into what looked like clouds before dispersing. I glanced up to see that it had solidified my body in shock.

“……!!”

[Old Ruler!]

‘What?!’

Only an Old Ruler could give off such a creepy vibe and distort the surrounding space and dimensions with mere divine power! I didn’t know for sure, but those cloud-like crystals could undoubtedly belong to an Old Ruler!

Ka-boom!

Moreover, two or three more Old Rulers began to appear here and there. One looked like a giant eyeball, and another strange giant had eighteen legs with triangular horns. Those things were definitely Old Rulers!

‘Eek.’

I was so startled that I hurriedly tried to escape using Beating, but it just wouldn’t activate.

‘Damn it!!’

With no other choice, I dove into a nearby cave, concealing my presence and staying completely still, hoping they would lose interest and move away. There was no time to seek out the inventor right now.

Drip!

As I hunched down inside the cave, I noticed a cold sweat breaking out. I felt the tension arcing through my heart with an intensity that felt like it could burst through. I forcefully restrained my breaths as they threatened to escape, feeling like my heart might just spill out.

How much time had passed? –

After a cautious while, I slowly exited the cave, confirming that the Old Rulers were gone. I took stock of my surroundings.

Tragedy!

The Western adventurers who came to explore the New Continent, along with the massive armies, were utterly ravaged inside and out. Their insides were exposed, like blood vessels sprawling across their bodies, an unimaginable sight. Furthermore, some of them were still writhing, as if clinging to life.

‘Ugh…’

The Old Rulers had just snacked on and savaged the explorers! Thousands had been massacred on this ground. I felt a wave of relief, having faced a tiger and survived.

“Damn it… I need to quickly summon the inventor’s spirit and get the hell out of here.”

I muttered bitterly.

There was no way I could explore this place any longer.

New Continent!

This was a land where wild Old Rulers could stroll around without any care in the world!

 

---