đźź Chapter 11 :
Finally, we were out of prison. Fresh air after more than a month for me—though for Ren, it had been several months. We were starting from zero. No… from below zero. What we'd lived before couldn't even be called a life.
We decided to head to the address the officer gave us: work at the construction site for the city bank. On the way, Ren asked me something unexpected.
"Takeru-dono, what's your skill?"
He had never asked me that before. Not once during our time in prison.
Why now?
"My skill is called Factory."
"Factory?"
"Nuul gave it that name. It's a skill that lets me create anything I want, but I need experience points to do it."
"So your skill runs on an experience point system… but why haven't you used it before?"
"I had nothing to use it on. It was useless in prison."
"Still, it sounds like it has huge potential. Maybe even more than mine."
"Maybe… at least in the long run. But I'm not really interested in leveling it up or developing it for combat. I'm just not the type for adventures and all that."
He frowned at that.
"Huh? Then why did you even come to this world? Why bother coming at all if you're not interested?"
I answered with vague words.
"Circumstances beyond my control."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Circumstances beyond your control?"
"It's a long story."
…Not really long, but I simply didn't want to explain.
And before he could press further, Ren pointed ahead.
"Look, we're here."
We had arrived at the site. The workers were already busy. I'd heard construction started a week ago, but progress was slow—looked like the workers were a bit lazy. I wondered if my skill could help me here. Speaking of Factory, I hadn't spoken to that stupid system since entering prison.
[Detected: self-deprecation. User may be insulting himself again.]
Still as negative as ever.
"Hey, if I work here, will I gain experience points?"
[Yes. Obvious. Try not to ask stupid questions, if that's even possible for you.]
If you were a real person, I'd beat you to death.
Ren noticed the crease on my forehead.
"Takeru-dono, is something wrong?"
"No… just some unwanted communication."
By the way… shouldn't cleaning toilets count as work? Didn't I earn exp from that?
[User continues to ask stupid questions. Since when is cleaning toilets real work? You still have zero points. Don't get your hopes up.]
But they were filthy. Overflowing. Disgusting. And we cleaned them for eight straight hours!
[Still toilets. Blame the lazy guards who let them get that way.]
As we walked further inside the site, a man approached. He wore an orange helmet and a dirt-stained vest. His face looked like it hadn't known rest for years. His half-shut eyes locked on us.
"You two the new workers?"
I nodded.
He spoke in a tired monotone.
"The job's simple. Moving materials. Wood, stones—whatever's needed. You don't need brains for that. Just follow instructions."
He pointed to a nearly empty corner.
"That area's for sorting. Start there. Don't talk too much. And don't touch tools without permission. Got it?"
I nodded again.
"Also, if you see a huge man with a gray beard and a face like carved stone, don't mess with him. That's Bark—the head supervisor. One wrong look and you'll be digging the bank's foundations with your bare hands."
The phrase "with your bare hands" echoed in my head in the worst possible way.
[Sounds like a fun guy. Maybe he'll become your best friend.]
"Shut up."
And so my first workday at the site began—surrounded by hammers, saws, and supervisors yelling like it was a national emergency.
The workers were split into three groups:
1. Ground team: leveling the soil under the wooden frames.
2. Transport team: carrying stones and lumber to the collection areas.
3. Carpentry team: building the frames for pouring concrete later.
Ren and I were placed in the transport team—because we were "new."
A nice way of saying "cheap and inexperienced."
The tasks were simple:
Carry a two-meter plank from the street to the shaded area where it would be measured and fitted.
Arrange stones around the foundations for later placement according to design.
Ren, as always, didn't complain. In fact, he looked excited, like he was on some secret mission.
"Takeru-dono, I carried this plank all by myself! Isn't that amazing?"
"I'm not sure what's amazing about it… but good job."
The supervision was strict, the tasks clear… but exhausting. After two hours, I was drenched in sweat, unable to tell whether the wood I was carrying was heavier than my ribs.
[Congratulations! You earned 3 experience points.]
A small step… but finally, I felt like I was making progress.
During a short break, I watched the carpentry team. One worker used a tool to measure a perfect 45-degree angle. Everything looked so precise.
I overheard one of them say:
"If we don't get this corner right, the entire first floor will tilt."
That line stuck with me. Not because I cared about engineering… but because I felt like Factory might require that kind of precision in the future.
By evening, we all gathered at the corner of the workshop where makeshift wooden tables had been set up. Dinner was a bowl of gray soup and tasteless bread.
Simple… but the atmosphere was lively. Laughter, chatter, jokes shared between exhausted yet satisfied workers.
"Ren, you did great today!" one said, patting his shoulder.
"It's rare to see a beginner get the hang of things so quickly," added another, bread still in his mouth.
Ren, ever humble, replied:
"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without Takeru-dono's help."
A short silence fell. The workers exchanged awkward glances… as if searching their memory for a name they'd never heard.
"Takeru? Who's that?"
"Oh… maybe he means that kid standing by the water leveler?"
"Yeah! I thought he was calculating the slope or something, but he just stood there for half an hour without moving. We walked past and laughed."
And everyone burst into laughter.
I buried my head in my hands.
I couldn't tell if I should laugh with them… or die of embarrassment.
[Looks like they found you out. This is extremely embarrassing.]
"Shut up. I don't need the reminder."
And so my first day at work ended… surrounded by cement, exhaustion… and my coworkers' laughter.