Chapter 5. Shipping (2)

Where should I engrave the magic circle?

I’ve thought about it a lot.

‘Since no one will recognize it anyway, can’t I just engrave it somewhere visible?’

In a world where magic circles were commonplace, they were never engraved in places exposed to the outside.

Not only was it a matter of intellectual property, but there was also the risk of someone who wasn’t the creator tampering with it and causing a dangerous situation.

If a mana surge were to occur, it wouldn’t end with just one or two deaths.

It would vary depending on the magic circle.

‘There’s no way anyone here can handle mana, right?’

It’s a given, and there should be no room for doubt.

‘Why does this feel so unsettling?’

One in a thousand, one in ten thousand.

Just in case, I ultimately decided to engrave the magic circle in a place where it wouldn’t be visible.

I placed the silver thread on the pre-drawn magic circle and sent mana through it, causing the silver thread to start moving along the magic circle as if it were alive.

‘Eventually, this work will have to be done by machines...’

Currently, silver is the only metal here that can resonate with mana.

At least, as far as I know.

‘Since there’s mana here, could it possibly react with other metals?’

There are a few possibilities.

Mithril exists, but it might not be called mithril here.

It’s likely very rare, and people don’t know much about it.

One of the metals used only for research purposes might also be a possibility.

There could also be a completely different metal that reacts to mana like mithril.

The ecological environment here is different from a world overflowing with monsters and sub-races, so it’s possible that a different metal has the property of containing mana.

Nothing is certain yet.

‘I’ll think about that later...’

It’s a problem that can only be solved with time.

Rushing won’t help right now.

Sssss—

The silver thread, which had been moving quietly, finally completed the last stitch.

It was delicate, so I had to be careful, but that also had its advantages.

“Wow, it actually works even at this size.”

I muttered to myself without realizing it.

The size and precision were something unimaginable in a world with magic.

This was only possible because of the technology here.

‘In that world, it would have to be at least A4 size.’

No, it would have to be even larger.

No matter how meticulously the work was done, there was a clear limit to the thickness of the metal, which was either sprinkled as powder or drawn out from a smelter.

This place didn’t even have the concept of microfabrication.

Looking at the densely packed shapes inside the magic circle, which could be easily covered by a palm, I felt a new sense of wonder.

If I wanted to stack many spells or include more complex ones, it would have to be larger.

Woo—

The magic circle activated with a short hum as I injected mana.

The performance would be ridiculously low due to it being made of silver, but since the purpose was just to lower the temperature slightly, it shouldn’t be a big issue.

“I should test it myself before sending it, right?”

Testing it in my brother’s room would be a bit awkward...

Since I’m at it, I might as well check the computer I planned to buy.

***

While I was at the academy, I entered my brother’s room.

I didn’t get explicit permission, but since we’re family, it should be fine.

I turned on the computer, which I hadn’t seen in a while, and searched the internet.

I checked the second-hand market, where accidents happen almost every day, but there were no listings that met my price, and the biggest issue was that personal transactions made it difficult to pay with a card.

‘This won’t work. I’ll just go to an electronics market.’

I had planned to buy a used one, but my mind changed.

The important thing is not to buy something expensive.

“Mom, I’m going out.”

“You just came in. Where are you going again?”

“I need to buy something.”

“Okay... But, Seon-woo, why have you suddenly started using honorifics with me recently?”

Was that a bit hurtful?

Dad hasn’t said anything, but I can sense a similar feeling from him.

But now, this feels more comfortable and natural.

“I’m growing up and starting a social life. I can’t act like a kid forever.”

“Is that it? Okay, then. Do what feels right for you.”

“Yes. I’ll be back soon.”

Maybe she was worried it was a side effect of the accident.

Mom smiled in relief at my words.

“By the way, we have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so don’t come home too late.”

“Okay.”

With a slightly lighter heart, I headed to Yongsan.

Dragon Mountain was a really dangerous place.

“Since you’re buying it, why not upgrade the specs a bit?”

“No, that’s not necessary...”

“Come on, if you’re going to play games, this is way too low. These are completely outdated components... No one buys like this nowadays.”

I had just casually asked about the price of a single component, but now I was being consulted on a custom PC build.

Is this a recommendation or a hard sell?

It’s confusing.

“That’s not the case. I only need it for internet searches. If you’re not selling it, I’ll go elsewhere.”

Computers evolve and new models are released almost daily.

Sometimes, the computer you bought yesterday is already outdated by the time you wake up.

“Nowadays, it’s really... Ah! Fine. So you want this spec, right?”

“Yes, please do it that way.”

“Wait a moment. I need to find it in the warehouse... You’ll probably regret this.”

“I won’t.”

The employee, looking like he had given up, shook his head slightly and headed somewhere.

It’s an old product, several generations behind, and the free A/S period has long expired. It’s so old that even if it were sold second-hand, no one would buy it, so it’s probably in a corner of the warehouse.

I’m surprised they found it after checking a few places.

After a short wait, the employee returned, brushing off the dust from his clothes.

“It’s a new product, but it’s quite old... If you change your mind later, we won’t accept returns.”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”

The cost of assembling a computer was a mere 200,000 won.

And it was all new products.

Of course, they were outdated, but that didn’t matter.

‘Will it work? It should...’

This thought came to me as I saw the magic circle on the heat sink activate.

Although it’s a basic cooling spell, the important thing is that the magic circle is working.

‘Then other magic circles should work too, right?’

A computer is ultimately a precisely made computing device.

Someone once said:

‘Highly advanced science is indistinguishable from magic...’

Think of it the other way around.

Magic is like highly advanced science, right?

***

CPU, graphics card, motherboard, RAM.

I laid out the four essential components of a computer on my desk.

Compared to recent models, they were smaller and had a slightly outdated design, but the important thing was the performance.

First, I removed the cooler from the graphics card.

After removing the heat sink and cooling fan, the large graphics card was reduced to a humble green circuit board.

‘First, I’ll add basic cooling and mana conversion to the CPU and graphics card...’

Next, I thought of an acceleration spell to drastically improve computational power.

Not just to increase the speed of movement, but a magic circle to enhance the overall operational capability of the device.

This was a higher-level spell than the cooling spell, so it was quite challenging to draw the magic circle.

If I didn’t have the silver thread, I would have needed a plate at least one square meter in size.

Especially since it had to be engraved directly onto the core, I had to be extra careful.

If I made a mistake and the groove was too deep, it could break.

Woo—

I densely packed the silver thread into the core, which was only about 3 cm on each side, and injected mana. As expected, the magic circle started to activate with a small hum.

I applied thermal grease to the heat sink to improve its efficiency and reattached the cooler.

For the RAM, I only engraved a space expansion magic circle.

I wanted to add cooling, mana conversion, and acceleration spells, but after much consideration, there was simply no space to engrave the magic circle.

‘It would be great if there were a microfabrication machine...’

If it were possible to work at the micro or nanometer level...

‘Maybe I could even put more than a computer’s worth of ego into a single ring...’

Of course, silver wouldn’t be enough for that.

At the very least, I would need mithril, if not mana stones or orichalcum.

Still, I hoped I might find a similar material here someday.

Ding, ding.

The first boot of the computer, accompanied by a cheerful tune, displayed the Windows screen.

The speed was better than expected.

The cooler for the CPU was, of course, a sample.

I installed and ran a program to check the temperature of the main components of the computer, and fortunately, it wasn’t abnormally low.

The CPU temperature was 32 degrees.

The graphics card was 34 degrees.

It might be appropriate, but this is with nothing running.

“I need to do something...”

The most important thing is how the temperature rises when running programs that require high specifications.

I didn’t buy the computer to play games, but this was for testing.

“Wow, it’s been a while.”

Since it was an old model, I found a simulation game I used to enjoy playing.

You choose a country and start from ancient times, developing technology and culture through the medieval and modern eras to the future.

It was quite popular when it was released and is suitable for testing as it barely meets the minimum requirements.

Plus, being an old game, it’s very cheap.

I paid with the card my dad gave me and downloaded the game from an online store.

After the familiar game company logo, I started the game with a light heart.

Just as I was about to enter the early modern era, where rifles were about to appear.

“Seon-woo, come eat dinner.”

“Huh, dinner?”

Mom’s call.

When I checked the time, I realized I had been playing for over 5 hours.

“...Thankfully, it’s not the next day.”

I finally remembered why this game was called the devil’s game.

‘But the test was a success, right?’

The computer didn’t lag or overheat to 50 degrees or more during the 5 hours of gameplay.

This was a successful test, wasn’t it?

After dinner, I engraved magic circles on the remaining 9 samples and sent them to 9 companies I found online, carefully wrapped in air cushions.

But at that time, I didn’t realize that the longer you played the game, the more computer resources it required.

It was famous for being a game that couldn’t be enjoyed on minimum-spec computers.

***

Yongsan Silup.

A well-known company in Korea that produces computer components.

While their main products are relatively simple parts like computer cases, cooling fans, and coolers, they are a mid-sized company in the domestic computer industry, looking for opportunities to enter the power supply market.

A few exhausted-looking people were gathered in the company’s meeting room for a meeting.

“The most important thing in a power supply is stable power delivery. To gain trust in lower-end products, we need at least a ‘Plus 80 Gold’ certification for the higher-end line.”

“That’s true, but we also need to solve the heat issue. The fan performance we have now can’t cool high-power power supplies.”

“Let’s solve the heat issue later. For now...”

Knock, knock.

The knock on the door during the meeting made the manager, Yi Wook-gi, frown.

“What is it?”

“It’s me, Manager Ham from Marketing.”

The development team employees were already on edge due to the continuous meetings.

With no progress and only immediate results expected from the upper management, the stress was immense.

“What’s Manager Ham doing in our team meeting?”

The greeting was not very welcoming.

Ham, already on edge, froze at the hostile expressions.

While it’s hard to compare which department is more important, there is always a core department in every company.

In a company that produces computer components, the development team is undoubtedly the most important, and they know it.

He really didn’t want to come here at this time.

If it weren’t for this damn package.

“I know you’re busy, but I have something important to show you.”