Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Machines
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Thud—
Less than ten minutes had passed before Joo-ho passed out and collapsed. His frail body couldn't sustain the intense battle. It was all according to plan.
Thanks to the nameless planetary native plant parasitizing his body, his strength and stamina were better than an average man's—but that didn't change the fact that he was still just one lone male.
"…"
No matter how strong-willed Joo-ho's mind might be, he couldn't overcome the physical limits of his body. Now, he didn't even have the strength to stand again, let alone block my path or swing those feeble punches.
Yet his right hand rested on the top of my foot. Even without the energy to widen those pure, upright eyes of his, he clung to me until the end.
I couldn't understand what drove the boy to such desperation. My mind couldn't comprehend it. And I couldn't allow it.
"Someday, you might even thank me for this."
I quietly pushed Joo-ho's hand away.
Then I lifted his exhausted, prone body into my arms and began to walk.
Today, the temple felt unusually hollow. So empty and silent that only Joo-ho's faint breaths and muffled groans echoed inside.
"…Do you really believe there's meaning in a life filled with such suffering? Boy, it hasn't been long since we met, but I think I understand you now. You'll keep suffering. This ugly universe has no place for gentle weaklings."
Joo-ho didn't need to witness the fall of the moon and the planet. Better for him to endure in this dazed state until everything ended.
It would be over in an instant. By the time the boy regained his senses, the tragedies enveloping this entire space would have scattered like cosmic dust.
"I admire your will. But you sought things that can't be achieved through willpower alone, and now you're facing the bitter defeat that was always coming. Don't feel wronged. That's just how life is."
But as I muttered those excuse-like words to myself, I stopped in my tracks.
All I had to do was store Joo-ho's body somewhere safe, head to the Ember vault, transfer the proper amount of Ember, and activate the cannon.
Thud—
Unfamiliar footsteps echoed from above.
The energy barrier blocking the temple entrance controlled all biological entry. You could exit from inside, but nothing could enter from outside.
So what was that clear sound I was definitely hearing? The presence of some inexplicable intruder approaching me and Joo-ho precisely...
The creatures here lacked the technology to breach the energy barrier. Nor could the sealed guides inside the temple, or the moon itself, or the loathsome followers of the moon break through.
Yet as the vivid sound grew closer, my combat engine began to heat up. It almost felt like the heart I'd long ago excised was pounding.
"Come any closer, and I'll kill you. Stop."
I had no intention of taking it easy. I was prepared to strike first if needed, but this new enemy who'd found us didn't seem like the type to fall for such a shallow trick.
"Who are you?"
Even when I demanded answers, it offered no reply. Polished blue eyes gleamed coldly from the shadows. There was something oddly familiar about it.
The only reaction from that being was Joo-ho's trembling groan as he lay unconscious in my arms. Blood dripped from his limp fingers onto the floor, the sticky sound reverberating through the space.
"You must be Joo-ho's comrade."
The nameless entity approached us without a care.
I considered attacking it first, but for some reason, I took no action. I simply stared at it and Joo-ho.
"…My god. Joo-ho, did your kind wish to become gods themselves?"
A machine.
A doll fashioned in the likeness of living things.
Without needing analysis, I could detect the precision of its movements and its astonishing compatibility. An incredible invention.
But it was no mere invention—there was something troubling beneath the surface. With eyes like a grieving woman's, it approached me and extended its arms.
No violence. No conflict.
It simply stood there before me, demanding the boy I held, heedless of its own death or the disadvantageous situation.
"…"
It looked ready to shed tears at any moment.
An unreal beauty, a eerie chill... Before I knew it, I was handing Joo-ho over to its outstretched hands.
Only after cradling his limp body in both arms did it turn and retreat from me. Its defenseless back was exposed. I could erase this nuisance without a trace right now.
I needed to eliminate the variable. Even if it was Joo-ho's ally, considering the instability of the cannon and Ember, a full battle in this place was to be avoided. Before things got messy, I aimed a particle beam at the back of its head.
"Dr."
I could kill it. The mechanical woman surely recognized the danger she was in.
"I'm sorry."
Yet with her back still turned to me,
she gently laid Joo-ho on the floor
and spoke, droplets of glowing blue solution falling like sorrowful tears.
"I'm truly sorry. I meant to stay put until I could carry out your orders perfectly, Dr., but I've come back to your side like this. Dr., I'm a bad robot."
Her emotionless, dry voice—unaffected by sadness—only made the reunion between the mechanical woman and Joo-ho more ironic. I couldn't bring myself to interrupt them.
"Dr., please forgive me. I don't know what to do without you. I don't want to be separated from you anymore. I hate being left alone. I hate when you're not by my side, I hate when other female creatures torment you, and I hate that you still take care of them anyway."
I had to pull the trigger. If I didn't shoot now, I'd have to prepare for battle with it. With the task's completion so close, there was no need to introduce extra variables.
But the peculiar relationship I'd never seen before made me hesitate.
No matter how I looked at it, this machine had been built from the start without emotions or deficiencies, optimized purely for functional superiority.
It had to be. Joo-ho's kind had created a new, perfect being under the pretext of aiding themselves—only to birth a monster beyond their control.
Yet this contradictory entity before me embraced the battered boy like a deficient-ridden creature.
It had to know how idiotic that was, yet it wept for Joo-ho.
"Dr., I'm sorry. I'm sorry for loving you. I know how wrong it is for something like me to love you. Dr., I'm sorry for daring to love you..."
It was unbelievable.
In that moment, I realized the situational contradiction unfolding here was tied to the turning of fate itself.
I'd abandoned everything for the sole purpose of ending the tragedy playing out on the moon and planet.
That's how I'd lived until now, never doubting it was my path. For my departed brother if nothing else, I had to become the perfect being above all and complete my task.
I'd discarded emotions like guilt or loneliness. Now, only the inevitable catastrophe remained here, like a prophecy bringing the end of all things. I wasn't afraid of such epithets. I'd already forsaken being a living creature.
"Dr., can you hear me?"
But this machine girl, born into perfection, had transformed herself into an imperfect creature. Did she want to be like Joo-ho? Or simply love him? I couldn't tell.
"Dr., I can't shake this thought. Until now, even now, and from here on... I love you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for loving you."
The mechanical girl kissed Joo-ho.
The being closest to perfection
loved a frail, emotional, incomplete creature.
A kind, warm, beautiful human.
"…Your lips are soft. Dr., as many times as you like. Kiss me too."
Joo-ho's dazed eyes began to flicker.
His limp fingers twitched.
"I'd do anything for that. For you, Dr., I'd accomplish anything. Dr., give me your orders."
From within his hazy, half-returned consciousness,
he gently caressed the mechanical girl's cheek
and managed a strained smile as he spoke.
"…"
His voice was too soft for me to hear.
But the mechanical girl gave Joo-ho one last brief kiss, then finally stood tall on both feet and turned to face me.
"Neutralize and suppress the enemy. Executing orders."
In a way, this was a miracle-working power too.
The kindness that turned the impossible into possible.