Ch.65Chapter 65. When a Doll Acquires Emotions, It Commits Irreversible Mistakes.

The next day, Linna was found dead.

She was lying in the middle of the exploration camp, fully clothed, staring at the sky.

Dried tear tracks marked her face, and a locket was clutched tightly in her hand.

In truth, if not for her name-tagged clothes and the necklace, it would have been difficult to identify this withered corpse as Linna.

While the expedition leader looked down at the body with a somber expression, the other members merely glanced at the deceased and whispered among themselves.

“Serves her right for cheating when she had a lover back home.”

“The captain was too good for her anyway.”

According to Lin’s knowledge, all the expedition members were the captain’s women, yet they were still badmouthing Linna.

Whether it was simply because they had lost an opportunity last night, Lin couldn’t tell, but explorers were a breed as unhinged as mages.

If mercenaries chased money, explorers blindly pursued both mystery and wealth.

That must be why the expedition leader’s following insane encouragement actually worked.

“This is very unfortunate and sad, but we must think positively. Our shares have increased!”

The female members cheered.

These people, who had already disliked Linna, were now rejoicing at the prospect of more money coming their way.

It was disgusting in the game, but seeing it in person made it even more revolting.

“However, if we keep losing members, we’ll be short-handed, so please speed up your investigation.”

The expedition leader slapped Lin’s shoulder heartily as he spoke to the bewildered Lin.

“You have a well-trained body? Nice muscles.”

But this man.

He was slowly caressing Lin’s shoulder, as if massaging it.

Then his hand gradually moved down, fondling Lin’s back.

“Mmm~.”

The expedition leader closed his eyes and exhaled appreciatively.

Even as Lin openly frowned, the man’s hand was sneakily trying to move below the waist when Tigria intervened.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah~ my apologies. When I see someone with muscles, I just want to check them out.”

The expedition leader stepped back reluctantly, smacking his lips, and made an irritated excuse to Tigria who had interrupted him.

His tone was similar to that of a woman whose good time with a lover had been disturbed.

‘What is this?’

This guy is an NTR man? But he’s heterosexual? Maybe bisexual?

Damn, I only cleared the DLC once, so the character profiles are incomplete.

Tigria stood in front of the shuddering Lin, exchanging hostile glares with the expedition leader.

“A victim appeared right after you two arrived. I hope you’ll earn your keep.”

The expedition leader retreated first, making a snide remark to the mage.

“We’re not exactly abundant in supplies, you know.”

“Don’t worry. We will definitely catch the culprit.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Lin wasn’t sure whether to be glad that the relationship between the NTR expedition leader and Tigria was deteriorating.

But as with everything, excess brings trouble.

Trying to ease the tension, Lin made a request to the expedition leader.

“Various magical beasts inhabit the ruins, but serial killings often involve someone who eats their companions and disguises themselves. It may be uncomfortable to hear, but we need to first check if an enemy is hiding among us.”

“Of course, it’s not uncomfortable at all, so don’t worry. Avoiding reality won’t solve the case.”

“May I question your members?”

“By all means.”

The expedition leader placed his hand on Lin’s shoulder again and whispered suggestively.

“I have high expectations. Perhaps you’d like to join me for dinner tonight?”

“Since it’s a given that the culprit operates at night, I’ll focus on identifying them.”

“That’s a shame. But if you catch them, I’ll reward you handsomely.”

Retreating under Tigria’s fierce glare, the expedition leader immediately called out to a short-haired female member nearby.

“Anna! How about dinner tonight?”

“…No, thank you.”

“Don’t be like that. You know the reason I have dinner with everyone in rotation is to distribute what little meat we have.”

“…Ugh.”

Anna’s face flushed slightly as she reluctantly agreed.

“Alright.”

“Great, see you tonight!”

The expedition leader strode energetically back to his tent.

Tigria glared at his back until he disappeared.

“I hate that man enough to want to kill him.”

“You can’t kill him.”

“That’s just how much I hate him.”

Lin didn’t bother to disagree.

—

Lin and Tigria walked around the camp, questioning the members.

Since this was also a segment in the game where you gathered clues about the culprit by walking around, Lin’s player compulsion kicked in again.

He glanced into a tent whose owner seemed to be away, looking for useful items except money, but found nothing of the sort.

“Lin, what is that?”

Instead, there were rather inappropriate objects scattered in each tent that stimulated the mage’s unhealthy curiosity.

“It’s long and thick, shining with lubricant.”

“Don’t pay attention to those.”

“Could it be what I’ve only read about in books…?”

“I recommend learning about that when you find someone you love.”

“Love… I’m just a researcher.”

“Researching true love, right?”

“I understand.”

Having come up empty-handed, Lin abandoned his pointless greed and seriously began questioning the expedition members.

When asked about the deceased Linna, they all gave unfavorable responses.

“She was a stupid woman who deceived herself.”

“She made pathetic excuses, saying she had no choice because of money.”

“We’re no different, but she whined more than anyone else.”

They didn’t even try to hide their relationships with the expedition leader.

“Once you taste the captain’s favor, who could resist? With that magnificent thing of his, muscular as he is…”

“Still, he’s the only one in my heart. I’m just temporarily filling what he can’t provide.”

“You’d better be careful.”

The last person to answer was Anna, who had been invited to dinner by the expedition leader.

“Even your mage girlfriend’s belly will growl with hunger, and her mind will go blank.”

“That won’t happen.”

When Tigria denied it, Anna smiled sadly.

“I thought the same once.”

It was a waste of time.

They hadn’t found any useful items in the tents, nor had they obtained any useful information from the members.

“Lin, this is so disgusting I want to throw up.”

“Me too.”

Tigria actually pressed her lips tightly and her body trembled slightly.

Lin patted the mage’s back as tears welled up in her eyes from the effort to hold back, and fortunately, she calmed down quickly.

But now it was Lin’s turn.

Though he thought he was fine, his chest suddenly heaved, and he quickly covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Urgh…”

As his head spun and he bent over at the waist, a small, soft touch stroked his back.

It was Tigria.

“Are you okay?”

“Thanks to you. Thank you.”

At his words of gratitude, the mage’s face contorted just like the night before.

Though she didn’t quite smile, Lin felt the wall between them crumbling little by little.

Standing up straight again, Lin deliberately asked cheerfully:

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“I am. But we have nothing.”

“We have those odds and ends we picked up in the ruins yesterday.”

“What would we use those for?”

Lin and Tigria had fled in such a hurry that they hadn’t even brought money.

Not that money would help much, as there was nowhere to buy things.

But Lin grinned.

As if on cue, joyful shouts from the expedition members rang out.

“It’s the Golden Carriage!”

Looking in the direction of the shouts, they saw a large carriage gleaming with gold entering the camp.

The sign on the cargo compartment, which was modified to resemble a food truck from Lin’s past life, read:

[The World Postal Service’s Golden Carriage!]

“Come one, come all! The Golden Carriage has everything except what it doesn’t! If you have money, we sell food and daily necessities! If you don’t have money, we buy or trade items, so come take a look! The Golden Carriage operated by the World Postal Service for explorers! Oh, it’s good! Oh, it’s useful! Come quickly!”

“Is there something you’d like to eat?”

As Lin rummaged through his porter’s bag, Tigria, who had been staring blankly at the Golden Carriage’s solicitation, burst into laughter.

“Haha!”

Though it came from her expressionless face, the laugh was enough to surprise Lin.

Embarrassed, Tigria pulled her robe’s hood down deeply.

“Sorry. I thought the timing was too perfect.”

What change was occurring in this short mage?

Perhaps Lin needed to reconsider his perception of Tigria.

From a doll willing to do anything for her purpose to a child whose emotions were just beginning to awaken.

Suddenly, a memory from the past-life Lee flashed through his mind.

‘What do you think about affection?’

‘I wasn’t connected to that, so I’m not sure. Let’s explore the ruins once more instead.’

‘What does the porter like?’

‘Good items. And ruins likely have good items. Since you mentioned it, shall we go?’

‘Is this a good item?’

‘It’s decent. Shall we go a bit deeper?’

The past-life Lee had viewed the mage character merely as a combat unit with good firepower.

So whenever dialogue events with the mage occurred, he would cut them short and go hunting for rare items in the ruins.

It was a play style born from the desire to quickly finish the sub-episodes and reunite with Luci to clear the DLC.

The game’s Tigria falling for the expedition leader was the fault of past-life Lee, who had blatantly ignored her.

When Lee was horrified to see her accepting the expedition leader’s seductive hand, he used the save-load technique to go back and build some rapport, but the affection level only rose from “Hurt by Indifference” to “Ordinary Companion.”

‘Wait a minute?’

Come to think of it, the DLC was played entirely from the porter’s perspective, wasn’t it?

“What food does the porter like?”

The mage interrupted his thoughts, but Lin wasn’t annoyed as before.

“Well, having grown up where food was scarce, I’m not picky.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

“I see.”

And for some reason, he wanted to continue the conversation.

“But.”

“?”

“I like seeing people enjoy the food I cook.”

“…I like fried eggs.”

“They’re delicious, aren’t they? And easy to make too.”

Lin took out the miscellaneous items he had collected yesterday from his porter’s bag and walked toward the Golden Carriage.

Several expedition members were already gathered there, creating a bustling scene.

Tigria gathered her courage and grabbed his sleeve.

“Lin… will you be happy if I eat deliciously?”

“Of course.”

Lin smiled gently.

“If I weren’t a porter, I would have wanted to be a chef.”

He gently withdrew his sleeve and went to the Golden Carriage to begin haggling with the postal worker.

As the mage watched him, an alarm was ringing in her heart.

‘Will you be happy?’

‘Of course.’

Their conversation kept repeating in her mind.

Her heart was pounding.

Almost to the point where it was slightly difficult to breathe.

At the same time,

Fear also nestled within that pounding.

‘We are dolls. Dolls should not have emotions.’

The Original’s warning.

‘When dolls develop emotions, they commit irreversible mistakes.’

The Original had said this with a bitter smile.

With sadness in her eyes tinged with madness, her widely opened mouth trembling as she tensed her face.

‘Like me.’

Only then did Tigria realize.

That this pounding and fear were indeed emotions.

‘I have failed.’

She wanted to protect this heartbeat.

‘Because I wanted to know about love firsthand.’

Had the Original failed to protect this heartbeat?

‘But because it was a clumsy love harbored by a doll, I couldn’t distinguish it from base pleasure.’

This precious heartbeat.

‘So you must research love. Research affection.’

Why?

‘Don’t even think about harboring it yourself.’

If that were to happen,

‘You too will fail like me.’

A single tear had rolled down the Original’s cheek.

‘I am a failure. Guerrero’s failed love.’

As she raised her head at the chill of those words, Lin had returned holding a few eggs.

“I’ll cook for you right away.”

Perhaps the Original had warned her because she already knew what would happen.

Despite spending hundreds of years in a doll’s body, the mage had, for the first time, failed to let go of this warmth given to her and ended up harboring it in her heart.

“I look forward to it.”

And as she embraced that warmth, the mage was finally able to smile a smile befitting her beauty.