"Fire in the hole!"
Whoosh! Flash! It was a bright morning and Lloyd's loud shout cut across the sky. At the same time, Javier's long sword glimmered. A blinding flash of light cut deep into the granite.
A second later, it exploded. Crack!
The granite that had endured the test of time for thousands and thousands of years exploded and crumbled to pieces. A crack appeared in the bedrock in one unified direction. And the chasm deepened a second later, causing it to crumble into several pieces as the weight became unbearable. Rumble!
Pieces of granite that resembled dice fell out, each almost weighing a ton.
"Good job, Javier!" Lloyd gave Javier a thumbs up.
Javier wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. He did his part and now, it was Ppodong's time to shine.
"Hey, Ppodong."
"Ppodong?"
"Do you want to eat this? It's a red sunflower seed."
"Ppo-do-dong?"
"Thad this specially ordered just for you. A set includes only one piece of each of the red and blue seeds, and I had to pay a whopping 1 RP for it."
"Ppo-do-dong?"
"Do you know how many sets I bought last night? 50. I spent a whopping 50 RP in total. You do know that I'm working my head off because I want to give you and Bangul the best of the best, right?"
"Ppo-do-dong?"
"So, what do you say? Will you enjoy it?"
"Ppodong!"
Ppodong happily took the red sunflower seed from Lloyd's palm and he began to chew.
Lloyd stepped far back and watched the hamster grow in gigantic size. Bam! A 30-foot monster appeared.
"Ppo-do-dong!"
"Yes, good job, Ppodong. You deserve a good rub."
"Ppodong!"
"Good boy. Hey, Ppodong, could you move that, please?" Lloyd pointed at the cube-shaped granite hunks.
"Just to the orc village. How about it? Can you do it?"
"Ppodong!" The hamster nodded his large, round head. Then, he waddled over to the granite chunks and stretched out his hands at them. He opened up his cute mouth and shoved the granite into his mouth.
"Ppudung? Ppu-pu-dung!" One side of his cheek became square.
"Great job, Ppodong. Can you stash those as well?"
"Ppu-pu-dung!" The other side of his cheek became square too. Lloyd hopped on Ppodong's back.
"Let's go!"
"Ppudung?" Ppodong's gait was light and quick even with a mouthful of weighty granite chunks. He headed to the orc village as fast as a dump truck. Once Ppodong transferred the rocks to the village, it was time for Lloyd, Arosh, and the 20 civil engineer soldiers to shine.
"The rocks are here, oink!"
"Everyone, get ready!"
Zoom! They were waiting at the construction site and as Lloyd appeared in the distance, they held up their chisels, hammers, and pickaxes. Ppodong stopped and spat out the chunks of granite. Everyone started to charge at them.
"Arosh will break it, oink!"
"Let's show the orcs what we got!"
"Woahll!"
That began the sweaty, painstaking construction for Arosh and the rest of the soldiers. They cut the chunks according to the mark Lloyd drew for them and evened them out to be made into bricks. Amid the hustle and bustle, Ppodong busied himself with another job.
"Hey, Ppodong?"
"Ppodong?"
"Could you please dig here? From here to here. Around this much. 20-feet deep."
"Ppo-do-dong?" Lloyd began to draw lines with a tree branch on the ground. It seemed random, but he was actually following the floor plan of the seokbinggo. The optional design skill allowed him to manufacture a 2D floor plan.
This is so handy. I can't believe that the floor plan is appearing right on the ground in real-time. He simply needed to summon the model of the seokbinggo he had designed beforehand and place it on the ground where the structure would be built.
A floor plan only he could see was engraved on the ground. So, the lines Lloyd drew exactly matched the ones in the floor plan. He clearly instructed Ppodong how deep and wide he must dig the hole.
"All right, I trust you with this."
"Ppodong!"
Ppodong raised his arms up high and the fierce digging began. Swish! Swish! Swish!
Now, even though the land was pretty much dry, it couldn't stop Ppodong from skillfully scooping the earth. He spooned out the earth with his paws at a fierce speed and a huge amount of the soil got excavated. Despite being assaulted by sand particles all over his face, Lloyd stayed beside his hamster friend. More sand flew toward his face and body, yet Lloyd never left Ppodong's side as he knew that the hamster was working hard for him.
From time to time, Lloyd carefully inspected Ppodong's work to check if there were any errors in the digging. He made sure that Ppodong scooped just the right amount of sand, nothing more and nothing less. Every inch of the ground was surveyed through his skills.
When he discovered an error, he hopped down with a shovel in his hand. He securely filled in the areas Ppodong left out and carefully scooped out the areas with excess sand.
Digging and mending the ground…Lloyd actualized the floor plan as meticulously as possible, leaving no room for error. Digging the ground is the most important part of construction. That's true regardless of what I'm building. Since it involved constructing the foundation of the facility, he could never do the task perfunctorily. Otherwise, a problem could arise in the future in the facility.
And if that happens, my credibility will be affected, and people will talk badly of me. That would hurt my business, and I won't be able to maintain it for long. Lloyd understood how crucial credibility was in this industry. Be it a human or an orc, it didn't matter. The orc chief was a client who had signed a construction contract with Lloyd.
Humans, orcs, and monsters…It hardly mattered to Lloyd who the client was. Everyone was a client as long as the contract was signed.
Do I think this way because I'm a seasoned professional?
Nah! It's because they pay me! Anybody who pays me for a job is my king, my idol! So he needed to ensure the best results for his clients. That required him to pour all his efforts into the business. Lloyd imagined how rich he would be in the future after this construction, and that motivated him to put his nose to the grindstone.
With that thought, Lloyd happily let the sweat drip down his forehead. A few days passed in a flash but the work was still tough and exhausting. Javier blasted the granite and shattered it into chunks. Ppodong transferred the rocks to the site. Arosh and the soldiers smoothened them. Lloyd evened out the ground and checked over it. About ten days later, the foundation work was finished.
"We don't have any time to rest! Let's keep going!"
"Yes, Master!" Lloyd took off his shirt and led the way. He joined the soldiers in transferring the granite bricks and stacked them up on the smoothened ground. The experience he gained in South Korea with laying out tiles helped him a lot.
Although, these bricks are incomparably large and heavy! Nevertheless, both shared the same principle: finishing the ground with heavy material. The process had many commonalities: First, you solidified the ground. Second, you pre-set the level and slope. Third, you covered the ground with rocks. Last, you filled the gaps between the rocks.
The only difference was in the last step, where he needed to waterproof the mixture by mixing the mud with limestone instead of tile grout filler. Anyway, the overall construction went smoothly until the floor was finished. As soon as Lloyd proceeded to stack up the bricks to make the walls, problems arose.
"Arghah!"
One of the civil engineers moaned strangely. It was followed by a snapping sound, which came from his back.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Argh…It looks like my back is sprained." The man had to stay bedridden for several days in pain. The granite proved to be too heavy for him to lift. Starting with him, more soldiers got similarly injured. More and more spent their time in bed as days passed by and their injuries weren't exclusive to the back. Some got hurt in the wrist while others got hurt in the shoulders. Even the experienced soldiers, who had worked on several different past projects, ended up in the same state.
At last, Lloyd was the only one left who could lift up the bricks. Javier wasn't there to help him as he was already in bed, recovering from terrible fatigue. His body had been worn down from using the mana blast for several days in a row.
Lloyd furrowed his brows.
This is a pickle. I wish Arosh was here. Goodness. Why did he have to go out hunting now? To Lloyd's misfortune, Arosh wasn't in the village. At the time the floor was getting finished, he was fulfilling his duty as a warrior and on a group hunt with his village orcs.
I can't give Ppodong the red seed, either. Since the floor was just finished, the rocks hadn't been set in place yet. The whole floor could be ruined if Ppodong, who was several tons heavy, waddled around to stack the bricks.
What should I do? Lloyd contemplated a solution. The problem lay in the weight of the rocks. But he couldn't cut down the size, either. Otherwise, it wouldn't be insulated. The sole purpose of building the seokbinggo was to keep the temperature cold. And so, large and thick rocks were imperative to prevent the heat from entering.
Should I just wait until the ground firms up? Is Ppodong the only option I have? That looked like the best plan for the soldiers' safety. One afternoon, when Lloyd was still mulling over the matter, the solution was simply handed over to him in a rather unexpected way.
"Oink?! You cannot lift that like that, oink!"
A group of orcs was always at the construction site to watch the process. They oinked in excitement when Ppodong and Lloyd smoothened the ground and when soldiers chiseled the rocks. It was the same this day. Lloyd was struggling to stack the rocks all alone. Its weight left a great toll on him but the job wasn't entirely impossible as he had the Asrahan Core Technique. It was more like weight training for him.
That's when the orcs began to interrupt and meddle.
"Human! You're lifting that wrong, oink!"
"Pardon?" Javier asked. Lloyd lifted his head, all flushed and red because of the heavy weight of rock in his arms.
A senile orc, who was looking down at the construction burrow from the ground, was speaking in his direction.
"What did you just say?"
"It's just as I said. You're not working your muscles if you lift like that, oink."
"Whaat?"
"Straighten your back and stick your butt out. Your chest should be straight, too. And make sure your ankles are positioned flexibly because that's the only way you can train your muscles, oink!!"
"Uhm, but I'm not doing this for exercise."
"It doesn't matter, oink!!"
After that, the other spectating orcs started to chime in too.
"Grab the lower part, oink!"
"Mind your breathing! Oink!"
"Rise faster when you lift it up, oink!"
"One more, oink!!"
The construction site suddenly transformed into a gym for highly seasoned, ripped, and motivated trainers. The orcs were the trainers, while Lloyd was the scrawny guy taking baby steps on his journey to be buff. Eventually, the orcs came forward out of frustration and demonstrated the movement themselves.
"Oink! Oink! He's insufferable, oink!"
"Why can't he do it properly?! Oink!"
"Let us show him, oink!!"
"Watch and learn, oink!"
About ten ripped orcs jumped down into the construction site and before Lloyd could stop them, each carried a granite brick in their arms. Their veins, as thick as an anaconda, popped out.
"Alrighty! Oink!"
"Yes, oink!!"
The rock was terribly heavy for Lloyd, even with the help of the Asrahan Core Technique. It took about three or four soldiers to carry just one. However, with these orcs, it was a cakewalk. It was like a giant gorilla that appeared in the Olympic weightlifting games and made fun of all the athletes by lifting up the weights without breaking a sweat.
"Wow." Lloyd gaped at the incredible sight. But he quickly jostled himself out of the daze and realized what he had to do.
He immediately exclaimed, "Oh, my, you're so amazing!"
"Oink! This is nothing, Oink!"
"No. You are amazing. I never dreamed of being able to move that all the way over there, let alone lift it."
"Over there, oink?"
Lloyd pointed at the half-finished wall. The orc glanced at it and scoffed.
"This is the problem with humans. Watch me, oink."
As though he was lifting up an empty box, he raised the rock over his head. Afterward, he gently placed it on the area Lloyd just pointed to. Clunk! The rock thudded as the orc put it on top of the other rocks.
"Perfect. This is it." Lloyd discretely clenched his fists. Then, he moved on to carry another brick beside him. He struggled with it on purpose.
"Ow! Arghh!! I can't do it. Why?"
"Tsk, tsk. Move, human. I will show you how it's done, oink!!"
Thud! The orc placed the rock in its correct place once again. This process was repeated several times. Lloyd feigned weakness as he wiped the sweat off his face. He tugged at the heartstrings of the orcs by showing his incompetence, and it was enough to win him an Oscar.
Each time he did so, the orcs helped him out, feeling extremely sorry for this poor human. Their muscles trembled in regret and they never stopped trying to teach Lloyd the right posture. Lloyd noticed how warm and kind they were despite their menacing appearances with their bulky physique.
Thanks to the orcs' generous meddling, the wall was completed in just a few hours. However, he didn't stop there.
"My, my! It's harder to lift this way! Ouch! Yikes!" Lloyd pretended to struggle the next day as well. He acted like someone trying to summon a gym trainer by misusing fitness equipment. The orcs must have talked about Lloyd the previous day as more orcs showed up this time.
With a burning passion for imparting the proper way of working out, they started to instruct this miserable newbie, and thanks to their almost voluntary help, the outline of the arch-shaped ceiling was built in less than two days.
And they're stacking up the bricks so well. The orcs were like a crane. They were so strong that they could quickly put the bricks in their proper spots. Long live muscles. Lloyd's dream was getting materialized. The construction took place at lightning speed.
Translator: https://bettertranslation9.wordpress.com