Chapter 18 – Brunch

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Of course, once Hosanna’s mana supply was cut off, Doll 505 was shattered into pieces by the next rabbit that came along.

This wasn’t a metaphor—it literally broke into pieces with a single attack, leaving only the core rolling to my feet.

It wasn’t until later that I learned, thanks to Hosanna, that the excessive mana supply had lowered Doll 505’s durability, leading to the disaster. But at the time, all I could do was scream…

The wood used to make that doll costs money, you know. It’s not like I kept reusing it for no reason.

Of course, I still had a lot of the money Hosanna had given me, and the most important part, the core, was intact, so making a new one wasn’t difficult.

But… Doll 505 (5th generation) wouldn’t come back. I sipped the freshly refilled apple juice, lost in bitter reflection.

Anyway, Hosanna, having seen potential in Doll 505—or rather, in my doll-making skills—had proposed teaching me how to handle mana.

While he didn’t know how to handle dolls, since it fundamentally involved manipulating mana, and Hosanna, who called himself a top-tier mage, had a lot to teach.

Objectively speaking, there was no reason to refuse the offer. Honestly, even if I handled the dolls, the only outcome I could imagine was losing to rabbits.

Of course, over time, I might have been able to strengthen my dolls using Mana Thread without Hosanna’s help, making hunting easier. But how much time would that take, and how many Doll 505s would be destroyed in the process?

Moreover, the time I’d spend with Hosanna wasn’t long. He planned to return to his Lock Point on the 5th floor after about a week of maintenance. If I endured just one week of Hosanna’s help, it was clear that I’d see significant improvement.

But this was only true from an objective standpoint.

From my perspective, the conclusion was simple.

Yeah, this is impossible.

There was no need for a lengthy explanation. This is impossible. Even I know that this is a chance to grow stronger, but to do that, I’d have to face Hosanna—no, Hosanna and the people of U.P.—for a whole week?

I can guarantee that I’d be found dead inside the U.P. building within a week. The cause of death would be suffocation from overcrowding.

You might think I’m exaggerating, but even now, just being alone with Hosanna is enough to make me feel like I can’t breathe.

And now I’d have to face not just Hosanna but other people every day? That would be nothing short of torture for me.

So, I had no choice but to refuse.

Someone might say that my reason for turning down an offer to grow stronger is trivial, but for me, it’s the most important reason.

I carefully placed the empty cup on the table and took a deep breath. Then, with a determined expression, I looked at Hosanna and opened my mouth.

“Um—”

“Good thinking. Just come here around lunchtime tomorrow. I’ll let the others know, so they’ll let you in without any questions.”

“Huh? No, I—”

“See you tomorrow.”

Huh? As Hosanna finished speaking and promptly got up and left, I blinked in confusion.

Wait, I don’t want to do this…!

“Hey…!”

I raised my voice belatedly, but no response came from the now-empty reception room.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

–

“Didn’t you push her too hard?”

Yuika asked as she watched the small figure walking away with a hunched back, hood pulled tightly over their head.

“What if she doesn’t come tomorrow?”

“That kind of thing requires a certain level of guts. A timid and fearful kid like her will come even if she doesn’t want to, just to avoid hearing unpleasant things.”

“But…”

“Trust me. And for someone like her, being a bit forceful is actually helpful.”

Of course, it depends on the person, but in Hosanna’s opinion, Mari was an extremely passive girl who would go along with whatever she was pushed or pulled into.

In such cases, it’s much easier to help by pushing her rather than giving her options.

That said, if he were to outright command or intimidate her, she’d shut her mouth and heart completely and hide away. But this level of pressure was just right.

Hosanna skimmed through some documents and muttered.

“By the way, was her original name not Mari but Marionette? What a strange name.”

“Maybe she’s in a similar situation to you, President?”

“You mean she was summoned while embodying a game character? That’s possible.”

Most people were summoned to the Floating Island in their original forms, but some weren’t.

Like Hosanna, who became a dwarf, and Ulrika, who became a werewolf, some were summoned in the forms of the game characters they had been playing as just before being summoned.

That didn’t mean they completely transformed into game characters. For example, Hosanna only became slightly more handsome (likely due to the stats he had set during his TRPG days) and his hair and eye color changed.

Of course, that was still a significant change, but fundamentally, he hadn’t changed much from his original self. In Ulrika’s case, he only gained ears and a tail.

Though it was surprising that his deadpan expression was there from the start.

“Or maybe it’s just a nickname she used in her local community. It’s the kind of name a girl like Mari would use, right?”

“No, even in toxic tweets, people don’t use nicknames like that.”

“What’s a toxic tweet?”

The two had to engage in a slightly mismatched conversation due to cultural differences, but since it wasn’t an important topic, they quickly moved on.

“Anyway, she’ll come.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“If she doesn’t… I’ll have to make a house call.”

If he hadn’t known about her existence, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

But now that he did, Hosanna had no intention of leaving Mari alone. If he had been the type to ignore someone in need, he wouldn’t have created U.P. in the first place.

As Hosanna thought this, something occurred to him.

“By the way, where did those two guys who came earlier go?”

“They ran off to grab a drink as soon as they revived.”

“These bastards… Did they die on purpose just to skip work?”

‘I’ll have to take them back to the 5th floor again.’ As Hosanna muttered with a dangerous tone, Yuika silently prayed for the two who had gone drinking.

They brought it on themselves.

–

No matter how much you wish morning wouldn’t come, the sun always rises.

After spending a sleepless night repeating “What should I do?” I finally fell asleep just before dawn, but my body, aware of the appointment, forced me to wake up.

“I don’t want to go…”

If I go, I’ll have to meet people again. Meeting Yuika is still somewhat bearable, but Ulrika and Hosanna? And the thought of facing countless strangers is overwhelming.

Of course, I wouldn’t have to talk to all of them, but just the idea of them noticing me is enough to make me short of breath.

“Huff…”

Let’s think of something pleasant. A square space where only I can enter, and I’m playing games on my computer.

Imagining the games I used to play every day except when I was sleeping, my rapid breathing slowly calmed down.

A static, unchanging space where only the world inside the computer is dynamic. Indeed, the only place I feel truly at ease is my room.

“Sigh…”

Of course, no matter how much I indulge in these pleasant thoughts, I still have to go to the U.P. building. I opened my eyes and lingered in bed for a while before finally getting up.

“I don’t want to go…”

Even as I whined, my body, once it started moving, dutifully began my routine.

I tidied up the messy bed and covers, went to the bathroom for a shower (longer than usual), and got dressed.

Shorts that reached my thighs, a shirt, and a long leather robe that covered everything down to my shins. Of course, just because I was dressed didn’t mean I was planning to head straight to the U.P. building. I’d drag my feet until it was time for the appointment.

But I didn’t plan to just sit around doing nothing. I opened the shop window and bought wooden blocks for crafting. Each block cost a whopping 1,500 gold, and I had used four blocks to make Doll 505.

But this time, I bought eight blocks. I planned to make spares as well. In an instant, 12,000 gold—a fortune—was spent, but I still had 18,000 gold left from Hosanna’s commission fee.

It was enough to live comfortably for at least a week without hunting. Humming happily, I activated the Doll Crafting skill and began making Doll 505.

When people think of making wooden dolls, they usually imagine using carving knives, but with the crafting skill, no knives were needed.

It was like working with clay—I could remove unnecessary parts with my hands or attach them elsewhere.

Of course, unlike in games where you just gather materials and press a button to create a proper doll, this required me to make it entirely by hand, so the wooden doll that emerged was slightly different from the original.

Regardless of the Handicraft skill, I’ve never been good with my hands. If it were someone else, they probably would’ve made a proper doll, not something that looked like it was made by an elementary school student.

But what can I do? I made it, so I have to like it. After kneading the wooden blocks like clay for a while, Doll 505 was soon completed.

“Done…!”

[You have completed a Wooden Doll.]

[Completion Grade: D]

Hmph. Even if you say that, by my standards, it’s an A+. I tossed the system window, which was ruining my mood, aside and smiled happily at the smoothly completed Doll 505 (6th generation).

I put the completed Doll 505 into my inventory and immediately started making a spare.

Crash—!

“Eek!”

If the door hadn’t suddenly burst open, I would’ve continued.

At the sound of the explosion, I rolled off the chair and quickly crawled onto the bed.

Even in that moment, I managed to take off my shoes before climbing up, thanks to my unwavering determination not to dirty my sleeping space.

Anyway, as I sat on the bed, trembling and staring at the door, a silhouette soon appeared.

A figure as small as me waved their hand, and a gust of wind blew away the smoke obscuring my vision. When I saw the familiar face, I couldn’t help but let out a sound.

“Uh, uh…!”

“Phew. Was that too loud? Well, it was enough to wake a heavy sleeper.”

Hosanna spoke nonchalantly, then tilted his head when he noticed me sitting on the bed.

“What? You were awake, so why didn’t you come?”

“Ah, it’s not time for the appointment yet…!”

“It is time. It’s lunchtime now.”

“Huh…?”

At his words, I immediately checked the clock. But the usual lunchtime, 12 PM, was still two hours away.

As soon as I confirmed this, I turned my head sharply to look at Hosanna, who smiled and said,

“Ah, I prefer brunch, so I’m having my meal now.”

“…”

I was speechless at his bold declaration of rejecting the norm.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Q: What would you do if you were at the door?
A: Check and then smash it without checking.

Basically, none of the characters are bad people…! There will be no wicked people, even if they are slightly misunderstood to be bad!

Bad people can’t be summoned to the floating islands!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
I guess it is a decent omnipotent god after all, girlfailure living in a natural safe habitat.

How jealous, tch.