The Nebula’s Civilization

Hwee-Kyung wasn’t sure how the power of water made the mud soldiers move, either.

‘I understand up to that cylindrical device. As water falls down, each bucket gets filled with water, and as one bucket gets heavier, it tilts down and causes the device to rotate. As the device rotates, the axis of the device rotates, and as the axis rotates, those parts would rotate….’

Hwee-Kyung went through each part of the device and stopped when she came to the point she couldn’t understand.

‘That’s fine. Just figure out what’s possible.’

Then Sairan said, “So you’re saying they use the power of water to move?”

“Yea.”

“More specifically, how?”

Hwee-Kyung pointed to one side of the Mud Soldier Room.

“There is enough water coming from the source. That’s why they made a hole in the wall as a waterway. Given this place is pretty high up in Automation, the strength of the water flowing down can be utilized, making it viable to install many of those wide cylindrical devices.”

“We could install those devices on each floor. Look at the intersections of the axes when they turn. They spin as if someone is turning them by hand, when in reality, it’s just water.”

“...So you mean there’s no concrete plan yet.”

Hwee-Kyung scratched her head.

“I don’t think it’s impossible. What do you think? I’m sure there are people who know better than I do. Like the To family.”

“I think it’s possible. If it’s okay with you, I can bring someone from our tribe who might be interested.”

“...Hm. Alright. But Lakrak can’t know.”

“Okay.”

Sairan considered Hwee-Kyung’s idea. It was strange that Hwee-Kyung would be the first lord throughout history to think of this.

“But would this be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why haven’t the other lords thought of using ancient technology? Don’t you think maybe there used to be a legend about something dangerous happening if the ancient technology was touched, but it was forgotten? Consider the matter carefully. If there was something your father might have told you about a warning from the ancient people…”

“I don’t know.”

Hwee-Kyung crossed her arms and began to think.

“To me, it just seems that they were cowards. They probably couldn’t understand it because it was made a long time ago, and they assumed it would be a problem if they touched it and broke it. And not a lot of people knew about it in the first place. There haven’t been many lords until now either, and Automation was just a forgotten ruin until recently. Perhaps there hasn’t been anyone who thought like me. Or…”

“Or?”

Hwee-Kyung took out an iron piece from her pocket. It was the one Lakrak had requested her to work on.

“I may be the first lord who had to melt this much of such hard iron.”

***

Hwee-Kyung looked up at the Lizardman holding both of her cheeks. She seemed more interested in Hwee-Kyung’s face than Hwee-Kyung herself, and she sniffed, pushed and pulled Hwee-Kyung’s head in one way and another, examining the shape of her horns.

Hwee-Kyung glanced at Sairan from the corner of her eye.

“...Who did you say this was again?”

“It’s Mrs. Zaol.”

Lakrak’s wife, Zaol, was also at Automation. Automation and the Black-Scaled Tribe were planning on making a large deal, so Zaol had come to check the goods and do inventory.

Zaol mumbled to herself, “Amazing. I’ve never seen horns on a Human. No, I mean I’ve never seen a Human with horns. I’ve seen people who grew something similar to horns, but they were mushrooms or diseases. These are real horns.”

As the horns grew, the tips became numb and insensitive. However, Hwee-Kyung suspected Zaol had just licked her horns.

Hwee-Kyung then said to Sairan, “Does Mrs. Zaol know this behavior…can be a little…rude to someone who leads a tribe?”

“I think she may have forgotten.”

Zaol turned around at the sound of Sairan clearing his throat. Then she met eyes with Hwee-Kyung, who she was still holding onto.

“I’m sorry, lord of Automation.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Zaol.”

“What were we talking about?”

“Nothing. We were just about to greet each other.”

“Oh.”

Zaol let go of Hwee-Kyung.

“I become interested in things I’ve never seen before.”

Hwee-Kyung thought Zaol was a strange person, but it wasn’t a bad thing. A curious person would also be interested in work. As expected, Zaol showed great interest when Hwee-Kyung took her to the Mud Soldier Room. Zaol considered Hwee-Kyung’s idea in a positive light. After they returned to the dining hall, they laid out sketches of different parts of the device and discussed how they would continue the design.

Zaol put down the charcoal and said, “We need to check if the finished product really does move, but I think this would work. However…”

“However?”

“You’ll need a lot of manpower. And it’s a job that doesn’t produce food, so you would have to find a different way to pay them. That requires a lot of wealth. And of course, you’ll need a lot of wood to get this done. You’ll have to find wood from somewhere else since there aren’t any hard enough around here.”

Hwee-Kyung nodded and replied, “It’ll take lots of money, but I’ve made the calculations, and we should be able to make things work. Things might change depending on the weather and the turn of the seasons, but Automation can handle it even if the cost ends up high.”

Zaol shook her head as if that wasn’t the point.

“Being able to handle it or not is not the important part. The real question is whether the reward at the end will be worth all that it takes to make it happen.”

“Ah.”

“Even if you can afford it, once this waterwheel construction is done, a great portion of Automation’s assets will vanish in vain if it doesn’t make much of a difference. Then it would be better not to do it.”

Zaol organized the various drawings on silk and placed them in front of Hwee-Kyung.

“Another lord of Automation or an ancient person might have had the same idea. And they might have gotten this far as well. It’s possible they gave up after doing the calculations and decided it wouldn’t be profitable.”

“You mean there’s a reason it hasn’t been done, right?”

“Yes.”

Hwee-Kyung wondered if it would be better to just give up like Zaol said, or if she should just push through with the construction, believing she would be able to bring about a change. Hwee-Kyung had lots of money, but none earned by her. She was a beginner when it came to being a merchant.

‘Is there no way to know what the future holds?’

- The only future I see is the moment right ahead.

‘Then listen to the future I picture.’

Hwee-Kyung explained to her horns, ‘I’ll leave the first axis of the waterwheel empty. Another lord in the future might think it’s useful. Then I’ll put a bellow on the second axis. The bellow will blow air into the bloomery and the water would constantly flow, so the bloomery would always be heated. There will be a hammer on the third axis. So that it can flatten the iron that Humans aren’t able to strike. And on the fourth axis there will be a millstone to grind or pound grain.’

-Seems good.

‘That’s it?’

-It’s a future I can’t see. In my opinion, it seems like a good idea.

‘It seems good?’

Hwee-Kyung looked out the window, watching the interior of Automation from above. Then she tapped the table with the charcoal and looked at Zaol.

“Let’s try.”

***

Sung-Woon knew what Hwee-Kyung and Zaol hadn’t calculated. It took a lot of wealth to hire workers, but in the end, the workers would be spending money within Automation. They would spend money eating, drinking, and sleeping, so the money given to the workers would eventually return to the merchants of Automation. As merchants of Automation became richer, more and more merchants would enter the city. And as more goods were traded, the resulting profit would return as Hwee-Kyung’s assets. Therefore, even though Hwee-Kyung was pouring money into the waterwheel construction, she was making more money.

‘That’s what civil engineering is. If people come together to work on a big project, a bigger market is formed, and that means much more money coming and going.’

Iron pieces were used to pay the workers long-term, and in order to distinguish the iron pieces, the Black-Scaled Tribe would print writing onto the iron pieces and use them as currency. In this kind of situation, it was common for players to get a Continent Message, which came in the form of a yellow system message.

[The start of the major currency ‘Pyeon’ has been established in the third continent.]

[The major currency, Pyeon, has been established by the tribe (Unknown). The currency is being used by 6 tribes, and is considered reliable.]

As Sung-Woon exited the Continent Message, there was a General Message window underneath it.

[Your civilization has created the currency. Your civilization can determine the value of the currency, and other civilizations that use your currency will feel stronger trust when trading with your civilization.]

Sung-Woon wasn’t terribly impressed.

‘Tribes and species will be more trusting, but other players will be wary. The good thing is that the other players won’t know who’s created the currency for now.’

The borders between each tribe hadn’t been properly defined yet. It would have been difficult for tribes far away to pay attention to Sung-Woon because they would be focused on the tribes next to themselves. However, that wasn’t the only Continent Message that appeared while the construction at Automation went on.

[The start of the major writing ‘Choongmun’ has been established in the third continent.]

[The major writing system, Choongmun, has been established by the tribe (Unknown). The writing system consists of ideograms and is used on stones, tablets, silk and charcoal. The writing is being used by 12 tribes, and is considered valuable.]

[Your civilization has created this writing system. Civilizations that use this writing will feel a sense of goodwill and rapport, and they will feel stronger trust when carrying out diplomacy.]

It would be disingenuous to say that there was no benefit to creating a new currency, but the benefit wasn’t anything to write home about. That was because civilizations wouldn’t benefit from using currencies and writing.

‘Currency and writing. Unless you’re being altruistic, it’s better to develop your economy and culture ahead of others in the game.’

Fortunately, Sung-Woon had obtained two cards he could use for both economy and culture.

***

The construction had been progressing quickly, but they still had to overcome some unexpected difficulties. The first waterwheel was so big it couldn’t stay upright, and twenty workers had been killed by its collapse. Hwee-Kyung found the families of those workers and compensated them.

There was also a time where they were swindled for the trees. It was originally a deal for dozens of straight trees, but what they actually received was drying firewood in a wagon. The Black-Scaled warriors were hired to track down the frauds, and payments were recovered.

There had also been a mistake in the designs. The third waterwheel was completed and got installed, but further calculations revealed that there was no room for the fourth waterwheel. Hwee-Kyung could have concluded the construction with the three waterwheels, but boldly decided to scrap all the construction done until then.

When the third waterwheel went up again, a message appeared in front of Sung-Woon.

[The Skill: Iron Manufacture has reached Lv.2.]

[Your civilization now has the technology and foundation to produce a higher level of iron. Your civilization can smelt iron however they want, and can make stronger, more durable iron tools.]

[The current technology is way ahead of the other civilizations’ development out of all the players.]

Sung-Woon’s goal had been accomplished, but it wasn’t much now that he came to think of it.