Ddyudyaddya-i (Part 2)
Ddyudyaddya-i.
I felt like I was losing my mind, so I hummed a familiar rhythm to myself. Ddyu-tya, ddyu-tya~ ddyu-tya-tya~ woo-tya-ya~ Am I going to become a troll... Ah, wait, that's not it. Anyway, if you're wondering why I was doing this...
"Ddyu-oo-tya-tya-tya."
With a single misclick, a woman who presumably came from my hometown in my past life had arrived at my house. She was normal for a split second, but then she broke down immediately.
"Ddyudyaddya-i."
Ever since, she had been repeating nothing but "ddyu-tya-tya-tya" like a broken record, driving me absolutely insane.
"Yes, good job!"
"Ddyu-tya!"
Unlike me, however, Reina was smiling warmly as she washed, dried, and dressed the nameless woman. Well, actually, she wasn't dressed yet.
"Head Mod, did you buy the clothes?"
"Ah, hold on."
I bought a generous amount of white T-shirts, shorts, and items labeled as women's underwear from the Point Shop and handed them to Reina.
"Hmm."
"...What is it?"
"No, nothing."
Was it because she was being stranger-than-expectedly kind? This wasn't the Reina who would immediately fly into a jealous rage the moment I interacted with any female user in the gallery.
Of course, when asked about it, Reina had simply replied: Oh, come on, she's so pitiful. But still...
Do succubi even have pity?
They were a race that usually preferred a different kind of "pity."
Yet, she was taking care of her with far more sincerity than I expected. Honestly, was Reina actually a half-breed between a heavenly angel and the Succubus Queen instead of a pure succubus? Maybe the Succubus Queen had used her insane charm to seduce a heavenly angel and conceive Reina... As I was lost in these thoughts—
"...Head Mod?"
"Hmm? What?"
"I feel like you're thinking about something weird."
"No way, you're imagining things."
"Hmm..."
She caught me. Ahem, anyway.
"Isn't it a bit awkward to keep calling her without a name?"
Since we didn't know her name, we had been calling her "human," "woman," or "human woman," but it felt wrong to keep doing that.
"True. What would be a good name?"
"Ddyu..."
The girl leaned her head against Reina's thigh and drifted off to sleep. Part of me wanted to just name her "Ddyu-tya-i," but...
No matter how broken she is, that's still a human being's name. That's a bit much.
Even with the two of us putting our heads together, nothing good came to mind.
"I know a great method for times like this."
"What is it?"
"Asking the gallery users for recommendations."
Surely they'd come up with something decent, right?
(Meme of a frog demon covered in question marks)
Recommend a girl's name, please. Yep.
"Completely useless."
I expected as much. Whenever you post something like "Give me some recommendations" to gallery users, nine times out of ten, they'll either talk nonsense or try to mess with you.
"Well, I used to do the same thing."
So, half-giving up, I was browsing through the concept posts when I saw one.
(Selfie with a tiny cleaning robot – RD1234 making a V-sign with their left hand)
Excluding my comrades who have entered hibernation, this is the only friend who lives with me and helps with cleaning duties. So I named him Wall-E. My friend seems to like it too. (Emoticon of RD1234 smiling brightly with healthy teeth)
By the way, thank you for making an emoticon out of this unit's image.
When I casually asked Reina what she thought of "Liv," she looked at me with slightly teary eyes and nodded.
"It suits her perfectly."
"Really? The other Liv was white, but this one has black hair."
"There's a certain vibe, you know? It's like... a human version of Liv?"
Where exactly? Anyway, that was how the unidentified woman ended up with the name "Liv."
"Ddyu-tya?"
"Your name is Liv from now on."
"Ddyu...?"
"Liv!"
"Ddyu-tya."
"Hmm, is it hard for her to pronounce?"
It felt like I was trying to coax a baby into babbling its first words. Still, thanks to Reina's excellent care, Liv was able to recover her energy quickly.
Late at night, after the sun had completely set and darkness had fallen.
Since the Gallery Exchange only opened in the morning and closed in the evening, Reina finally had the leisure to fully focus on taking care of Liv.
"Ddyu-dyu-dyu-dya-dya."
"Uh-oh, don't spill it like that."
Reina had completely transformed into a nanny. I spent my time watching the two of them. It was truly peaceful.
"Reina? I bought some extra towels and toiletries earlier. Before you go to bed later, take Liv to the bathroom and give her a wash."
"Sure, I will. Oh, right. Head Mod, could you watch Liv for a bit while I clean up the dishes?"
"Ddyu-tya-tya."
"Huh?"
Let me repeat: the human sent by the fixed-nick user "3rdTransportPlatoon" was not a child, but a twenty-two-year-old woman. Of course, she only looked to be about 155 centimeters tall with a skeletal, skin-and-bones frame, but if someone weighing at least forty kilograms charged at a fragile, shut-in gallery addict like me at high speed...
"Ugh!"
This is what happens. My waist almost folded in half.
"Ouch, hurts..."
"Ddyu?"
"C-Could you move aside just a little bit?"
When it was just the two of us, I tried to speak to her in Korean as much as possible. I had no idea when or what minor trigger might bring her memories back. However, she didn't react like she did before. Liv stared blankly at me, reached out her hand to tap my bangs, and then pulled off a round speck of dust, presenting it to me.
"Ddyu-tya."
"Huh? Ah, did you brush the dust off my head?"
"Ddyu-ddyu-tya-tya."
I felt my defenses strangely melting away. Afterward, as I was browsing through the concept posts with Liv clinging tightly to my side, I found a familiar war correspondent's analysis of the battlefield.
"Come to think of it, how is the war going?"
(A map of the war situation showing a stark difference)
The tables have completely turned into a battle of who is more incompetent. The always-incompetent Demon King's Army VS the suddenly-incompetent In-Eld Alliance.
Whether they break through or hold the line depends entirely on who is the bigger idiot.
Especially on the Central Front, they held out for a long time with the Hero, but suddenly the humans began to flee in panic. I heard from prisoners before they escaped (unverified) that the Hero has gone missing. Yep.
"The Hero disappeared?"
I was a bit puzzled. The Hero was one of the most frequently discussed topics in the gallery. The entity that brought victory to the In-Eld Allied Forces, the most hated target of the demon race. That was the Hero. Naturally, the Mabung-is were highly interested. However...
So what the hell does that bitch of a Hero even look like?
↳ Does anyone actually know?
↳ It's like how nobody knows what the Demon King looks like. Aside from the fact that she's a woman, nobody knows lol.
↳ Isn't her ability unknown too?
↳ Yeah, strangely enough, absolutely nothing is known about either her ability or her appearance.
↳ Then why did they say we were pushed back because of the Hero?
↳ This guy is sharp.
↳ You have opened your eyes. Come to the Demon King's Army Intelligence Department.
↳ I'm just a regular soldier, will they accept me if I go?
↳ Do you think they would? lol
"Yeah, why is that?"
Even if they didn't know her appearance, shouldn't her ability at least be known for her to be called the culprit who brought down the Demon King's Army?
Why else? It's because the humans successfully counterattacked and heavily propagandized that they 'won thanks to the Hero' lol.
↳ The Demon King's Special Ops also confirmed that the Hero's ability made a huge contribution.
In other words, the Hero definitely existed, and it was a fact that the demons had been pushed back because of her. And...
"She recently went missing. And she's a woman?"
No way. It couldn't be... right?
"Liv, can you stay still for a second?"
"Ddyu-tya?"
I took a picture and posted it to the gallery.
(A slightly blurry photo of Liv)
Does really no one know?
"Well, there's no way these guys would know."
"Ddyu?"
"No, it's nothing. Let's go wash when Reina comes back, okay?"
"Ddyu-tya-tya-tya!"
But just then—
"Huh?"
A 1-on-1 chat message flew in through the Exchange, which should have been closed.
"The Hero?"
"Huh? What did you just say?"
"Ah, nothing!"
This was absurd. A person with such an innocent soul was the Hero? This harmless creature who could only make "ddyu-tya-ddyu-tya-tya-i" sounds?
"Ddyu-tya?"
Liv tilted her head far to the side, staring at me. Fortunately, Reina came to pick her up, so I handed her over without a fuss.
"Alright, let's go wash up."
"Ddyu..."
They're going to kill her.
Through the cracked bathroom door, I could hear the sound of Reina and Liv splashing around. I knew very well from hearing it