The First Companion (1)
Fundamentally, factory simulation games are solitary experiences. You project yourself onto a protagonist who mines resources alone, builds a factory to process those materials, and optimizes the entire chain of production for new goods. In simple terms, it’s a game about agonizing over how to slack off more efficiently.
While it can be fun to design and enjoy such systems, it lacks the joy of human interaction and social connection. Even if the characters are just NPCs.
There are rare games that support multiplayer, but the vast majority are designed for single-player.
From the moment I woke up in the research bunker and began to adapt, I recognized this world as a factory simulation game. Naturally, I started recalling the pros and cons of such games one by one.
Factory simulation games have plenty of resources! Because if resources were scarce, the game wouldn't be fun. Of course, they don't just hand them out infinitely; there's a limit to the quantity, which creates the fun of designing efficient production, but at the very least, you never feel a sense of lack.
From that point on, my worries about survival began to fade. Once that happened, my mind eased, and thanks to game-like elements such as quest windows and inventories, this world naturally became "inside a game."
And since the world I used to watch on a monitor had turned into a vivid reality, I couldn't help but be excited as a gamer. It was something anyone who enjoys games has dreamed of at least once.
So, I was thrilled. My sense of reality dulled. I thought of everything like a game.
That’s why I thought everything would work out like a game this time, too.
I worked hard on the customization to obtain the companion from the quest and pressed the complete button. The pod began to operate actively, emitting a low hum. The interior of the pod, made of transparent glass, started to fill with a clear liquid.
In an instant, the container was filled with liquid, and vivid colors began to take shape. The Arc Core I had inserted earlier moved to the center of the liquid-filled interior. The core began to glow, and red lines started to form a structure.
"What is this?"
I watched in bewilderment, but I soon realized what it was. A human was being created right before my eyes. Nerves and bones were being formed, and organs and muscles began to emerge.
My mind went blank at the unexpected sight.
"Holy sh*t, then what I just customized is...!"
Regardless of my doubts, the work inside the pod continued. Muscles and flesh began to attach, and it started to take on a human form.
Eyeballs formed in the sockets, and eyelids covered them. Eyelashes grew over the softly closed eyes, and long hair cascaded down the head.
A female body was created exactly as I had customized it.
Bright blonde... no, shimmering silver hair, a beautiful fox-like face, and a slender height. It was exactly the figure I had created with a light heart just moments ago.
"I, I created a human? Sh*t, is this even allowed?"
To think that the character I made so casually was actually a process of creating a real person? If I had known beforehand, I would have been more careful.
Whether I liked it or not, the woman's body before me was completed regardless of my will. I was dazed, but inadvertently, the woman's naked form caught my eye.
Gulp.
My mind had been blown by the grotesque process, but my instincts were honest. My confused head was suddenly filled with a strange excitement.
Time without a girlfriend = my current age. Where would I have ever seen a woman's naked body in my life? Embarrassingly, while my mind was a mess, my instincts were certain, so even though I knew I shouldn't, I was helplessly drawn to the force pulling my gaze.
The woman sleeping with her eyes closed in the pod was the appearance I had created while dreaming of my ideal type. Naturally, I couldn't help but look.
"D*mn, she's pretty. Crazy."
I clamped my mouth shut at the exclamation that slipped out before I knew it.
'Sh*t, you crazy bastard. Are you getting horny at a time like this? This isn't the time for that!'
I cursed at myself and suppressed my instincts. But it didn't calm down easily. My gaze kept drifting toward her snow-white skin like a magnet.
As I was struggling with myself, the liquid in the pod began to drain. The woman, who had been floating in the liquid, slowly opened her eyes as the fluid receded and stood straight inside the pod.
The woman's two blue eyes stared directly at me. I flinched and averted my gaze.
Hiss... Click.
The pod's transparent lid opened, and the woman slowly walked out.
Splish, splish, splish.
The sound of bare feet hitting the floor drew closer. I held my breath, unable to meet her eyes, and stared only at the floor. A pair of bare feet appeared in front of my own. She had come right up to me.
I slowly raised my head to meet her eyes.
Clear, beautiful eyes containing a blue universe. They were as beautiful as if I were about to be sucked into the ocean. I was stammering, mouth agape, wondering what to say, when suddenly, the woman swayed and collapsed into my arms.
"Whoa! Whoa, whoa!"
Afraid she would fall, I quickly put my arms under her armpits to catch her. Whether she had lost consciousness, she slumped against me.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
I shouted with all my might at her closed-eyed face, but there was no movement. I had caught her by the armpits, but because I did it so hastily, I momentarily lost my balance.
"Argh!"
I fell backward and landed on my butt. As I fell, the woman collapsed on top of me, and I felt a heavy weight.
Her long hair covered my face, and a strange scent tickled my nose along with a ticklish sensation. Along with the fragrant smell I was experiencing for the first time, I felt the curves of her body on top of mine. The soft skin felt against my palms.
Thump, thump.
I could feel a wildly beating heart. Was this my heartbeat? Or was it hers? I couldn't tell.
"Haa, haa. This is driving me crazy."
I couldn't get a grip at all. My whole body felt paralyzed by the intense stimulation I was feeling for the first time.
"...Hey! Please, get a hold of yourself!"
I tried to wake the woman who had her face buried in my neck, but there was no sign of her waking up.
"What do I do now?"
I sat on the floor, frozen, unable to do anything about the woman who was snuggled deep into my arms. As I sat there, unable to move, the woman in my arms began to twitch.
She slowly lifted her head, and our eyes met. At the gaze staring straight into mine, I turned my head away before I knew it. As I avoided her gaze, I felt her breath on my cheek. At the warm breath tickling my cheek and neck, my body heated up as if it were burning.
"Uhh... hey..."
Every time her fragrant breath brushed my cheek, my whole body felt like it was being paralyzed.
The woman who had been staring at me slowly stood up. I watched her blankly. Her snow-white naked body drew beautiful curves according to the light shining from above. I watched her silently, forgetting even to breathe, unable to take my eyes off the sight.
"Greetings. I am HRA.B1-001. How should I address you? Commander? Master?"
A beautiful and charming voice, the kind you'd wonder if a voice actor was speaking, flowed out. This woman was beautiful not just in face, but in voice as well.
"...Uh, just call me comfortably."
I felt her expression stiffen slightly at my words. There was almost no change in expression, but even a faint shift conveyed her discomfort.
"I cannot do that. I was designed to take on the difficult tasks according to your orders. As a subordinate receiving orders, I cannot address you comfortably."
"But I came here suddenly, and I don't even have any rank."
"It doesn't matter. You are my superior."
She was firm. I wondered what to do, but I soon realized I had been staring at her naked body the whole time. I hurriedly stood up and turned around.
"Uhh... first, let's put on some clothes and talk!"
"Understood."
As soon as her answer ended, I gestured for her to follow and headed straight for the bedroom. I remembered there were several sets of clothes in the bedroom earlier.
Following my footsteps, the sound of her bare feet tapping the floor followed. Arriving at the bedroom, I hastily grabbed all the clothes I could find and handed them to her without looking back.
The woman pulled one set from the pile and began to get dressed.
Rustle, rustle.
A strange tension flowed with the sound of her getting dressed. I cleared my throat to hide the awkwardness.
"I am dressed."
At the words that she was dressed, I turned around.
'!!!'
I saw her wearing the same jumpsuit as me. I don't know if it was the clothes, but her body lines were revealed just like a bodysuit. And above all, the center zipper wouldn't close because it couldn't contain her overflowing breasts, leaving her upper chest wide open.
Gulp.
I swallowed hard before I knew it.
"Then, if you are reluctant to be called by rank, please tell me your name."
Rather than being called by a rank that didn't even exist, it was better to be called by name.
"That would be better. My name is 'Kwon Jaero'. Please call me Jaero."
"Understood, Jaero. I look forward to working with you."
She placed her hand over her chest and bowed politely.
"Yes, I don't know what this is, but I look forward to working with you too. More than that... R something 01... miss? What did you say your name was?"
"If it is difficult to call, you may call me R1."
It felt a bit uncomfortable to call a person by a model name.
"Hmm... or how about I give you a name instead?"
"If that is more comfortable for you, I will do so."
"...Then I'll call you 'Eve'. How is that?"
"That is good."
Even to me, it felt like I had named her quite carelessly, but I was relieved she said it was fine. I was a bit nervous when she showed a firm attitude earlier, but it must have been a misunderstanding.
"Yes, Eve. I look forward to working with you."
"Please drop the 'Miss'."
She was definitely firm.
***
Eve... no, Eve and I talked about each other. Eve was aware that she was an android and said she was designed to absolutely obey me.
I don't even know if she's obeying me because she knows who I am. I'm just a person who was suddenly kidnapped and dropped here, clearing game quests, and suddenly I have a subordinate?
And she was well-versed in several "common sense" facts...
"So, you're saying the world has perished?"
"Yes, I do not know how much time has passed since the destruction, but according to the information currently input into me, at least 300 years have passed since the global catastrophe."
To think it's a perished world... Does that mean only Eve and I are left in this world? It's something I couldn't even imagine.
"What on earth happened...? Then are only Eve and I left?"
Eve shook her head.
"That is not the case. It was a terrible catastrophe that destroyed most of the world's civilization, but there were still survivors. And from a positive perspective, it seems humanity has not yet perished. If that were not the case, you and I would not be able to talk like this."
"What was that catastrophe?"
Eve paused as if choosing her words, then opened her mouth again.
"The catastrophe has many names, but most called it 'Crystallization'. It spread like a virus, and once infected, jewels like crystals form all over the body, and you slowly die."
"Then what do we do? Can't we go outside?"
"In the early stages of the outbreak, various ecosystems were destroyed, and most of the population, as well as animals and plants, died. However, fortunately or unfortunately, the contagiousness weakened as time passed."
I felt a slight sense of relief at those words.
However, Eve paused for a moment and looked at me sharply.
"But you must be careful. According to records, one of the characteristics of past Crystallization was that it was particularly fatal to the 'male' gene. Because of that, the number of males plummeted, and it is recorded as a crisis for the survival of humanity."
At Eve's words, I felt the hair on my body stand on end.
"Only men? Was there a virus that specifically targeted and killed men?"
"It's not that women are not at risk. However, it was a virus that was particularly fatal to males. Unfortunately, civilization collapsed so quickly before the cause could be studied, so it is unknown."
At Eve's words, I became afraid to go outside again. Since she didn't seem to be trying to scare me but rather conveying facts as they were, anxiety washed over me even more.
Still, at least 300 years have passed, is it still dangerous? If that much time has passed, wouldn't there be a possibility that it has weakened significantly or disappeared, even if it wasn't perfectly eradicated? Eve probably wouldn't know about this part either.
I tried to compose myself and changed the subject.
"By the way, do you know who built or manages this place?"
She shook her head.
"That information is intentionally omitted. All I know is that this facility was built for someone, and it is a research lab made to be used for that person."
She finished her answer and stared straight into my eyes.
"In my opinion, that someone seems to be you, Jaero. Seeing as you are the one I must follow orders from, I am more than 99% certain."
"What? I don't even know why I'm here! And even if it's small, isn't there a 1% chance you could be wrong?"
"That less than 1% probability is an error that could exist due to my flaws, so I believe it is 100% you. I was designed to follow you even before I was born."
I couldn't argue anymore at her firm gaze.
"Do you understand? I don't know the situation outside, but you are a precious healthy male in a world with few men. You must prioritize safety above all else. I will protect you so you are not in danger."
Eve's eyes were very firm. It was a gaze that said she would burn herself out to protect me if I were ever in danger.
"I don't know how the world has changed yet, but according to my records, the number of males may still be insufficient. The situation was serious enough that it would be difficult to recover easily."
It was a very shocking statement. To think the outside was such a dangerous place. I broke into a cold sweat and maintained a submissive attitude toward her.
I heard about other common sense facts of the world, but most of them were information I couldn't understand even after hearing it, or they were meaningless for now because they weren't clear.
"Phew... then what should we do now?"
"What were you doing before you met me?"
Before meeting Eve, I was clearing quests. I had explored the research lab and gone outside to build a power plant to restore the lab's power.
"I restored the power here, and there's a generator outside. Would you like to go see it together?"
"Yes, let's do that."
I was terrified of going outside, but since I had already been out, I went out of the research lab with a slightly resigned feeling. Next to the research lab, I could see the generator running hard, making a low sound. Eve examined the generator here and there for a while.
"It's a facility that looks quite good. Where did you get this?"
"Ah, I made this."
"...You mean you made it yourself?"
It was the moment I witnessed the first change in her expression.