episode_0085

“Do you know Draken?”

“I don’t know him, but I’ve heard of him. When I fell into the dungeon, someone approached me and talked to me. His name was Dan…”

“It was Draken?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Tell me more about it.”

I must listen to this.

Even if I have to face Yerina late, I must.

“Every detail about his appearance, voice tone, and the content of the conversation. As detailed as possible.”

Embarrassing as it may be, I still know almost nothing about the final boss.

There are no hints about the final boss in the game.

There was hardly any description either.

There is almost no information given about the final boss.

All I know is that the difficulty level is extreme.

Apart from that and the name, I know almost nothing.

“I can’t provide information about his voice and appearance. At that time, my input device was disconnected… But strangely, the information was directly input into my memory.”

“What did he say?”

“The information is still intact in my memory, so I will read it to you as it is.”

It seems that forgetting is impossible unless it is deliberately deleted.

It’s a relief to hear that.

With a nod, Linda, in her emotionless voice, begins to recite.

“Squeak. Squeak… I, Draken. Squeak. I will give you power, so accept it. And help me… Squeak.”

Returning to her usual voice, Linda takes a deep breath.

I thought her usual voice was emotionless, but when she imitates a robot voice, it becomes even more dry.

“I couldn’t respond as my output device was disconnected, but I mentally expressed my refusal. After that, no more information came in. Instead, a large amount of magic attacked me, trying to control my logic circuits… I had to force shut down the system. Until someone wakes me up someday. Until someone saves me.”

With a smile, Linda finishes speaking.

The conversation between Linda and Draken was short.

But what can be inferred from it is not insignificant.

“It’s clear. It was an offer to join the Four Heavenly Kings.”

Draken directly offering his power?

I didn’t hear about it from Mijung.

It seems that neither Genesu nor Yerina have encountered Draken.

In other words, ordinary monsters do not associate with Draken.

Conversely, monsters that meet Draken are not ordinary.

They are the top tier among monsters.

Monsters with four intellects directly serving Draken.

It was clearly an offer to grant the position of the Four Heavenly Kings.

However, Linda rejected it.

She did not take a seat among the Four Heavenly Kings.

Instead, she became a common boss monster controlled by magic, attacking people as they pleased.

“It means that the position of the Four Heavenly Kings could be filled again…”

Just as an offer was made to Linda.

In the future, Draken could make a direct offer to someone else.

In other words, the vacant seat of the slain Four Heavenly King could be filled again.

In fact, the term Four Heavenly Kings does not exactly refer to four individuals.

There are just four positions that can be filled by those close to the final boss.

The position of the Four Heavenly Kings can be empty or filled with four individuals.

For example, in the case of Velfegor and Kali, they are monsters from the other world along with the final boss.

The remaining two positions are filled with individuals recruited from this world.

It was like an offer made to Linda.

“At least in the game story, the position of the slain Four Heavenly Kings has never been filled.”

Once a Four Heavenly King is killed, there seems to be a cooldown before the position is filled, or it may be difficult to find suitable candidates.

At least, it is certain that the vacant position cannot be filled immediately.

On the other hand, if time passes, the vacant position could be filled again.

If you don’t want to see the vacant position of the slain Four Heavenly King filled again, think about how much I struggled to defeat Kali.

I might have to struggle not three times, but dozens or hundreds of times more.

Thinking about it makes my head spin.

The in-game time in the original game is roughly two years.

I must finish it within that time.

If time extends, it may become impossible to conquer the final boss.

“Thank you for the valuable information.”

“Did it help?”

“It helped a lot.”

“Then, can I…”

“What is it?”

As Linda stood up with a serious expression, she leaned in close to me, looking into my eyes.

What is she trying to do?

Is there something wrong with my wig that she wants to point out?

“I’m not your colleague. I’m a slave.”

“I’m your property, so please pet me. I believe discrimination is bad.”

“······.”

Perhaps it’s because she’s a machine, her logic is flawless.

After all, petting doesn’t cost much.

As I gently stroke Linda’s head, I can feel the rough texture of the wig.

“What material is your hair made of?”

“These are donated hair strands.”

“No wonder it feels so natural. The texture of your hands feels like silicone, not very pleasant.”

“Maybe the face is relatively realistic? While the hands are made of solid silicone, the face is meticulously crafted to express emotions. Here, touch it.”

“Oh······.”

Wow.

I grab Linda’s cheeks and stretch them.

I touch her lips and even tap her eyeballs.

Indeed, while the material itself may be silicone, the texture feels much more realistic than solid silicone.

The effort put into creating her is evident.

They say rumors spread that one falls in love with machines when they are made so diligently.

Kern wouldn’t be able to complain.

“Hehe. It feels quite nice. This swaying. This texture. I’ll remember it all. And when you come back later, please pet me again. See if I’m the same, or if I’ve changed. If I’ve changed, I want to know how and why.”

“As you wish.”

It’s time to leave.

As I wave goodbye to Linda, who is smiling brightly, I turn around to leave.

But just as I was about to leave, as if she had forgotten something, Mijung rushes back to Linda.

“Oh?”

“······I liked it.”

She grabs Linda’s sleeve and bites her arm, leaving teeth marks.

Then she quickly returns to my side.

Even though Linda is made of silicone, the teeth marks won’t disappear.

Yet Linda still smiles and bids farewell.

There’s no one quite like her.

As we leave Taepyung City, we do some simple shopping.

First, we need a backpack to cover the wireless communicator, so we bought a large one.

When I put it on, it fits perfectly on Mijung’s back.

Anyone can tell we’re pilgrims on a difficult journey.

We also bought a camera.

It’s not that expensive, but strangely, there aren’t many places that sell it······ in Taepyung City, there’s nowhere else to buy it.

Of course, it’s an old model camera with poor image quality, long exposure times, and slow printing.

But for someone like me who has lived in the modern world, the meaning of a camera is significant.

Memories may fade, but photos don’t.

“I’m gaining a lot.”

Coming to Taepyung City, we gained a base, a beautiful and obedient robot maid, and even completed the goal of making a magic doll.

We also did some miscellaneous shopping.

There are many unexpected gains.

But······.

“Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

“I’ll go! Don’t rush me!”

Suddenly, my gaze falls on Jinesunyeo, who has naturally taken her place by my side.

Shouldn’t she have left after seeing the ending?

Even though I gave her freedom, she hesitates strangely.

There’s a suspicious smell in the air.

“Before we go, we need to replenish our magic. We need to replenish our energy as well······.”

“Who’s in charge here?”

“I told you then! I said I would give you magic and energy as you wish!”

“Me?”

“Do you have dementia?”

My memory is hazy.

Did I really say I would give her energy?

Suddenly, my head spins.

To replenish energy from Jinesunyeo, I guess I have to do that······.

“Oh. It won’t work. Physically, I can’t do it.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I can’t do that to Jinesunyeo.”

“Do what? What do you mean? To replenish energy, simple physical contact is enough.”

“······.”

Jinesunyeo looks puzzled, tilting her head.

No. Energy.

Of course, it wasn’t about sucking it up like that, right?

My world just crumbled.

“No. Forget it.”

“What! Now I’m curious!”

“If you know, you’ll get hurt.”

“Are you both going to be annoying? Ugh! Fine, give me your hand. Let’s get it over with. Ah! Finally, liberation! My stomach feels so relieved! It was tough being a wretched, trashy, personality-disordered, indecisive, and annoying servant to humans!”

As she reaches out her hand, Jinesunyeo grudgingly accepts it with annoyance, making a fuss loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

And as the disguise spell is lifted, Jinesunyeo’s appearance changes back to her giant form, with her mouth wide open.

“Why are you like this!”

“Stay still! To accumulate magic inside, I have to do it in my true form!”

“Even lies should be told appropriately! Last time, you received my magic in human form!”

“It didn’t matter because I immediately poured the magic into the spell! If you want to accumulate it inside your body, you can’t use disguise magic! Are you thinking of betraying our agreement?”

“Just finish it quickly…”

This is driving me crazy.

Was I supposed to do it in their state of being?

With a grimace, I reluctantly extended my hand again, and the giant creature rose up, opening its mouth to receive it.

And then, my hand was sucked into the mouth, filled with saliva.

A strange sensation enveloped my hand.

Moist and stiff to the point where I couldn’t move a finger.

It seemed to be sucking out my magic from inside.

A strong force as if it could crush my hand entirely.

I could feel the energy being sucked out in real-time, a discomforting yet subtle sensation.

Of course, I didn’t forget to infuse magic and energy inside.

After sucking enough magic and energy, the tight grip around my hand weakened.

Only then could I pull my hand out of the creature’s mouth.

“Ugh… Do I have to do this regularly? It’s terrible.”

“Do you think it’s good to put dirty human hands in your mouth?”

“Was it because you liked it?”

“No! Normally, I only absorb a bit from the tip of the leg… I only took it in through my mouth because I wanted to absorb all of your energy without leaving any behind.”

“…”

In the end, it wasn’t necessary to do it through the mouth.

Although it was unpleasant, it was already in the past.

I wiped my hand with a handkerchief and handed it to the creature.

“It’s a souvenir. Take it. If you need a refill of energy, contact Linda next time.”

“Well… I’d rather not see you for as long as possible. I’ll contact you when I feel like I’m about to die from lack of energy.”

“Fine. Goodbye. Don’t tell anyone about me, or it’ll be trouble.”

“What trouble could there be?”

“You’ll be in trouble with the Four Kings. They’ll think you betrayed them and cooperated with humans.”

“…”

The face of the creature, which had been calm all along, turned pale.

There’s no need to worry about the creature spreading rumors about me betraying them.

If they do, I can just sell them out to the Four Kings.

Even though I temporarily cooperated under threat.

The creature, who lent their power to humans, will never be forgiven by them.

Monsters seem to have a keen sense of smell for each other, so the creature will be easily tracked down and caught.

After that, the creature will know best what will happen.

“Ah, okay! I’ll keep quiet! You don’t have to worry! Let’s just pretend we never met!”

“Good. Take care of yourself.”

“Goodbye.”

“Ugh!”

Ignoring the angry creature behind me, I hurried on my way.

I have to catch the train before Yeolina arrives.

“Why are you still following me?”

“Why?! I used disguise magic… Argh!”

Pretending to say goodbye, they transformed into a completely different person and followed me.

I hit them hard on the head to drive them away.

Their weakness, the toxic sac, is clearly marked. How could they be confused?

“An unlucky guy! An arrogant guy! I really hate you! I can’t stand being subservient to humans!”

I’m such a fool.

Such an idiot.

I’m an idiot for even admiring humans for a moment.

Pretending to let go and then immediately putting on the shackles… Look at me…

It’s so annoying that I have no choice but to be swayed by humans.

“I can’t just keep being subservient…”

Looking back, I confirm that the train is leaving the platform.

The human is gone.

They can’t come back now.

Finally, I relax and take out the item I had hidden in my arms.

A magical tool filled with shimmering colors and full of leaves.

Space-time… What was it?

Anyway, it was said to be a valuable and important item.

“Hehe. It’s not like I can use it right away, right? I can take care of it for a while.”

A laugh escapes me.

What a stupid person.

While my mind was distracted by the cute robot girl, I could easily sneak away with this important item.

I even attached a talisman to it for the human.

A curse that forcibly releases the muscle tension.

If the curse is activated, it will surely embarrass the person.

“Hehe.”

Knowing that this magical tool has disappeared, I wonder how surprised and flustered the human will be when the curse is activated.

Just imagining their reaction brings me so much joy.

Originally, the plan was to implant a clone inside the train and watch their bewildered expression in real-time.

But since I failed in my pursuit, there’s nothing I can do.

“However, where on earth would someone use a magical tool that pierces through space and time… Huh?!”

At that moment.

The magical tool wavered and, like a disguise spell, its appearance changed.

And before I knew it, all that was left in my hand was a small monkey wrench.

The magical tool had disappeared without a trace.

“Is this some kind of illusion?!”

I thought I was adept at sensing magic power?

Why didn’t I notice it?

Does that mean I didn’t steal a magical tool but just a monkey wrench from the beginning?

“Ughhh!!!”

I gnashed my teeth in anger for a moment.

I could sense something rustling in my pocket.

Feeling something was off, I reached into my pocket.

And what I pulled out was not the handkerchief the humanoid had given me.

It was a talisman.

The same talisman I had attached to the humanoid.

And in that moment of realization.

The talisman emitted a light and its effect immediately manifested.

Muscle cramps…

“Uwaaaah… that crazy humanoid…”

I really want to kill them.