Genius Engineer Mingming
Mingming was small. But the confidence she radiated was larger than anyone I had ever met. Smiling like a little troublemaker, she looked up at me from the cockpit.
"Our darling, you're bigger than I thought?"
"You're the small one..." I decided not to voice the unnecessary retort. There were more important matters than her height.
"So, what's this method you mentioned?"
"So impatient. Rest for a bit first. Let's talk details after we leave the strait, all right?"
At Mingming's gesture, the floor beside me opened with a soft whir, and a chair rose into view. She turned toward the control panel, and the chair began to speak.
"Greetings, master's guest. What would you like to drink? We have sparkling water, green tea, and plain water."
As I examined the chair with curiosity, Park Seona, who had been sipping water nearby, explained.
"It's a golem. She said the entire aircraft is a collective made of countless golems. Isn't that fascinating?"
'Golem Summoner?' Though they shared the same class, her ability felt entirely different from Kim Pokhaeng's. It made me wonder if this was what advanced AI might have looked like if it had continued developing back in the old world.
'Definitely a top-tier user... She's probably already transcended.'
I drank my water and watched the golem carry us out of the Stormy Strait. Escape proved effortless. None of the forces the Golden Lord had displayed could reach Mingming's aircraft.
[Inooooom!]
As the vessel rose into the sky and distanced itself from the strait, the creature's will grew fainter and fainter.
The Golden Lord had lost me once again.
'A fishman army...'
I recalled the forces he had shown last. Enormous fishmen the size of small mountains. Wyvern's skill attacks would never be enough to bring them down.
'The size difference is too extreme...'
Using zombies to fight them would be far too difficult and time-consuming. The only viable option I could think of was explosives. Even without Mingming's missiles, there were warships among the floating debris. If we could seize those, we might stand a chance.
'But will we even have that kind of time?'
He had tracked me down with perfect accuracy. He must possess some method of locating me. That meant battle was likely before I could gather everything I needed to face him.
While I was lost in thought, Mingming rolled her chair over and smiled at my expression.
"Heh? You're thinking of fighting after all, aren't you?"
I tilted my head.
"What do you mean?"
"Normally, if things got this messy, people would be mashing the battle-start button to reach Stage 6. But the look on your face tells me you're planning to take those guys on instead."
She wasn't wrong. If there had been no other option, I would have fled without hesitation. Yet something told me it hadn't reached that point.
"It doesn't feel completely impossible."
Mingming laughed, clearly amused.
"Good. Our situation isn't actually that bad. More importantly, we can always tune into the main quest and skip ahead whenever we want, right? Once you reach Stage 6, we'll all move over with you anyway."
'Move over with me?'
"Come to think of it, you guys—"
Mingming pressed a finger to my lips.
"I can't answer that right now. It would violate the contract. But I can say this much: we came here of our own free will, and we'll do everything we can to help you."
'Hmm...'
I decided to accept it. These people hadn't merely offered help—they had already provided real assistance whenever I needed it. Questioning their motives now would be rude.
"Understood. I'll drop the subject."
"My turn to ask. I've had plenty of experiences in Stage 5, but I've never seen this Golden Lord. How did you end up being chased by him? Did you actually steal his gold?"
I shook my head.
"I only received the blessing of gold at the altar. The only difference is that I received it through the Fruit of Good and Evil."
Mingming scratched her cheek, her face full of confusion.
"Huh... That's strange. Plenty of users have received the gold blessing on the Fruit of Good and Evil since El Dorado was discovered. Why hasn't anything happened until now?"
I didn't understand it either. The Golden Lord claimed he was after me because of the Fruit of Good and Evil, yet the reason for his sudden appearance made no sense.
We failed to find any reasonable explanation. We had visited El Dorado right after entering Stage 5. There simply hadn't been time to trigger any special conditions.
"We'll think about it later. More importantly, what was this method you mentioned? You sounded like you already had a plan if we just ran away."
Mingming nodded.
"Have you heard of the Dark Trench?"
A trench was an oceanic valley deeper than six thousand meters. The Dark Trench was known to be especially dangerous even among such places—a forbidden zone in Stage 5.
"I've heard of it."
"I was the first to discover it. Terrifying octopus monsters live around there. They're usually docile and won't attack anything that passes by."
Repeating her words, I quickly understood.
"I see. We have so few numbers that they won't care about us, but if a massive fishman army enters, territorial disputes could break out."
"Exactly!"
It was a solid suggestion. To oppose the Golden Lord, we needed to collect floating objects and build a fleet. Staying at sea for extended periods required the right environment, and the Dark Trench offered favorable conditions in many ways.
'Octopus monsters, huh... Wait a second...'
I pulled out the tentacle flask I had received from the Beast of the Plains. Mingming's eyes widened when she saw it.
"What's that? It looks exactly like the tentacles of the octopus monsters from the Dark Trench. Where did you get it?"
How was I supposed to explain this?
"I received it as an apology."
The mass of tentacles inside the flask had grown considerably since I first obtained it. The tentacles squirmed, revealing small eyes. Those eyes looked up at me and smiled shyly.
"Daddy."
Park Seona turned to me.
"Did that tentacle just call you daddy?"
"I don't know either."
I truly didn't. Maybe it had said "ow" instead? The flask could have bumped against something when it shook. Then another voice spoke.
"Daddy...!"
Both women stared at me, waiting for an explanation. I had none to give.
At that moment, Baengnae, who had been exploring the cabin, came running and shouted.
"Papa!"
'Huh...? Why you?'
She must have overheard our conversation and decided to play a prank out of boredom. Before I knew it, a swarm of Cheongnae had appeared, clinging to me and chirping "papa" like baby birds.
I scooped them up.
"What are you doing?"
"Papa!"
"Papa!"
"Daddy!"
"Go play somewhere else. I'm working right now."
At my words, the women's eyes darkened.
"Darling's preferences..."
"Our darling... was into that?"
"I don't know what you're misunderstanding, but no!"
"Hi-hi. Fun!"
A brief, serious conversation followed. I quickly explained how I had obtained the flask in Stage 4 and clarified Baengnae's mischievous nature. The women accepted the explanation without difficulty.
"Anyway, we're heading to the Dark Trench."
We flew swiftly toward the Dark Trench, thanks to Park Seona's Wind Compass applying to all vehicles.
***
That night, we quietly descended the aircraft onto the surface of the Dark Trench. From now on, this would be our base camp. Here, we would gather floating objects and build a navy to face the Golden Lord.
Chaaah— Just then, a logistics vessel drifted into view from afar. Park Seona clapped her hands.
"Wow! Great start."
Logistics vessels were rare floating objects. Though they contained powerful creatures, they also held large random boxes—a classic high-risk, high-reward mini-event. For me, the native creatures were practically a bonus, so it felt like double the reward.
"All right, time to work."
I summoned the box-opening zombies in a line. They looked confused by the new environment, but once they spotted the ship, they understood their task remained the same: defeat the enemies and open the boxes.
While waiting for the vessel to approach, Ju Giju sidled up to Mingming. Lowering his voice, he spoke.
"A pleasure to meet you, my lady."
'This guy, again...?'
But the words that followed were unexpected.
"Could you perhaps be Mingming, Asia's mechanical genius?"
"Huh? You know me?"
"Of course! I've admired your great achievements every night through various video materials. You are truly humanity's pride!"
'Was Mingming famous? No, forget that—why is this guy talking like that again? This is ridiculous.'
Left unchecked, Ju Giju continued spouting strange lines without restraint. Becoming a zombie seemed to have made him even more shameless.
"Hehe, my lady, you look even more beautiful in person. Ah, the mystery of the human body! A form without unnecessary curves, optimized for energy transmission—it's every bit as magnificent as the videos I watched every night!"
'Is this guy actually insane?'
Bang— I smacked Ju Giju on the head and dragged him over. It was my fault for letting my guard down. I shook the dazed man awake.
"You're number one."
Mingming watched the scene and asked,
"Was that guy a user before he became a zombie? From the video talk, it sounds like he saw a program I appeared on before."
"Yeah."
Mingming approached Ju Giju, flipped his eyelids, and smiled mischievously, as if she had found an interesting toy.
"If it's all right, could I use a few of these guys for modification? There's something I want to experiment with."
"Hmm...? Go ahead."
I didn't know what she planned, but I gave permission anyway. Ju Giju had grabbed my pants and begged me not to allow it, so naturally I did the opposite of what he wanted.
"Aaaah! S-save me! That woman is the one who tried to make giant robots by dissecting corpses!"
"No, you were hitting on her until just now."
"That was because I wasn't the test subject back then...!"
I grinned.
"Hey, she won't kill you, right?"
"Not killing me is the problem!"
Mingming summoned a golem, grabbed Ju Giju by the hair, and stuffed him into the golem's pocket like spare parts. Then she smiled brightly and licked her lips.
"It's been a really long time since I experimented on a person."