The Incredible Power of a Headpat
The most efficient way to obtain electricity early on, when resources were scarce, was undoubtedly solar power using panels.
"Solar panels?"
"Exactly. Hydroelectric power is stable, but in our current situation without a river or a large reservoir, it's impossible. Wind power is out of the question too—the noise from the turbines would just attract the attention of nearby Mutant Monsters."
That was why, whenever people developed hydro or wind power, it was typically done in the middle of deep mountains where there was absolutely no one around.
In contrast, solar power had advantages that compensated for the drawbacks of those other two methods.
"Solar power has the disadvantage of only providing electricity during the day and when the weather is good, but in our current situation, the advantages far outweigh those downsides."
"For example?"
"First of all, there's no noise. We just need to install the panels on the roof of the motel where we live."
"Oh...!"
"And it seems humanity right before the extinction really loved eco-friendly energy. You can find panels scattered all over the roofs of any building that's reasonably tall."
"In other words, it means we can secure materials smoothly without drawing the attention of the monsters!"
"That's exactly it."
At my explanation, Revi’s golden eyes sparkled brightly once again. Perhaps it was because she had only ever attended combat-related classes at the R.P.M floating in Earth's orbit, but she seemed surprisingly interested in this kind of technical knowledge. She had the look of a college student who had finally found her major.
"Then, is our daily routine today to scour the rooftops of buildings where solar panels are likely to be?"
"Yes. But let's try to pass on buildings that are too collapsed or look like they don't get any sunlight at all."
"Is that... because of the monsters, Chanwoo?"
"Right. Of course, I believe you could hold the upper hand in a fight against most monsters, Revi, but your mission right now is to guard me, not to exterminate the enemy."
"...! You are correct."
"You’d be limited to combat centered around protecting me, and our goal is just the solar panels anyway. I’d like to avoid unnecessary fighting as much as possible."
"Yes, I understand, Chanwoo."
This wasn't true for all Soul-like games, but Star's Doll was known for having an especially hardcore system: a combat structure that lacked leveling up. Unlike other RPGs where you grew stronger by gaining experience points from defeating monsters, in Star's Doll, even if you hunted down monsters, you only gained a few drop items. Unless you were doing 'weapon reinforcement' or an 'awakening through specific materials,' it was entirely possible to play from the beginning to the very end with the same base health and attack power you started with.
'Besides, we don't even have a 'Workshop' at our base yet. Even if we succeed in hunting monsters, we’d just let the materials rot. It’s impossible to craft anything right now.'
If there was any benefit to be gained from monsters in our current state, it would be 'food,' at best. But even then, in terms of efficiency, there was nothing more inefficient. In the first place, you didn't need to risk your life fighting monsters for food; you could easily find it by hunting the animals that were everywhere, or at the very least, by foraging for mushrooms growing in the ground.
Grrr-umble.
"Hmm?"
"Ah..."
Perhaps it was because I had been thinking about eating. My stomach, which hadn't had a single thing since I woke up in this world yesterday, let out a protest.
"Chanwoo... were you hungry?!"
"Yeah. I guess I am."
Perhaps because I had gained a reliable companion, I seemed to have remembered the hunger I had forgotten.
"Then you should have told me sooner! What would you have done if you had 'starved to death'?"
Starved to death? Even if I was a man with no notable strengths other than my 'little guy,' did I really look that weak in Revi's eyes?
"No, I was just planning to eat when you got hungry, Revi."
"For your information, I ate two days ago, so I was planning not to consume any other food until tomorrow."
"W-what?!"
That was a completely unexpected answer from Revi. No, an android belonging to the 4th Unit should have had extreme calorie consumption due to their highly active combat capabilities. I couldn't help but be shocked by the fact that she had already been starving for two days.
"Revi, are you... okay?"
"Of course, Chanwoo."
"No, but the 4th Unit... I mean, the combat unit is a group that consumes stamina as quickly as they move."
"That is correct."
"But you've been starving for two days and you're not hungry at all?"
"Yes. I have undergone fasting training in preparation for when food supplies are completely exhausted."
Did the 4th Unit have that kind of training? Or did Revi train separately at R.P.M? Whatever it was, it was impressive. She had solved the 'calorie over-consumption' problem, which was one of the biggest drawbacks of the combat-only 4th Unit, all on her own.
Pat, pat.
"That's amazing."
"...Eh?"
Revi, with her white hair, somehow reminded me of my dog, Poppy. Poppy was the name of the white bear we kept at home; he was just big, but like Revi right in front of me, he was incredibly gentle and dependable. He listened so well, just like Revi. He was as smart as a human, so when I asked him to bring me water, he’d bring the whole refrigerator. Suddenly, the old memory of drinking cola with that bear came to mind. Perhaps that was why.
"Ah."
Just like I always did for the white bear Poppy, my right hand was already nade-nade... patting the head of the white-haired Revi. She wasn't an animal! Of course, she wasn't a human either, but an android, but still! I felt like a boss who had just sexually harassed a female subordinate, and I wanted to pull my hand away immediately and apologize.
"R-Revi. I'm sorry...!"
"Why are you stopping halfway, Chanwoo?"
But the moment my hand fell from her head, Revi used her dazzling reflexes to immediately grab my palm with both of her hands and place it back on top of her head.
"I am not sure what kind of action this is."
"Uh-huh?"
"But... it feels strangely good. It feels like my condition is recovering on its own."
Her condition recovered just from having her head patted? As with all survival games, the most important thing for survival was the character's condition. Just as the body is healthy when the mind is at ease, hunger or injuries could be dealt with by finding food or treating wounds. But since condition management didn't improve immediately just by trying, and Star's Doll, which combined survival with the Soul-like genre, had condition significantly affecting combat power, condition-related items were among the hardest to obtain in the world.
And yet, Revi was happy enough to smile over just this.
Pat, pat, pat, pat.
"Revi... does it feel good?"
"Hnnng. Yes... huff! It feels good... Chanwoo."
"O-oh, I see..."
It was obvious she wanted me to keep patting her. Since it didn't cost me anything, I put my all into patting the head of my polar-bear-like Revi. But we were just patting her, right? It should have been a perfectly wholesome scene of praise, so why was Revi’s body trembling so violently? It was as if she were feeling 'something,' and she didn't seem to know why she was acting this way either, but she was letting out rough breaths as if it felt good.
She was letting out moans that sounded like she was melting, and if someone saw us, they would definitely think... um... how should I put this?
Ah, right! It was a truly wholesome scene, just like someone doing some 'intense exercise.'
"Revi... are you satisfied now?"
"Phew. Yes! Thanks to you, I am enveloped in a refreshing feeling I have never felt before, Chanwoo."
After the patting ended, Revi was beaming, her golden eyes shining brighter than ever, looking like the happiest android in the world.
"Well, I'm glad then..."
"Um, Chanwoo. But for some reason, my crotch has been feeling itchy since a moment ago. Why is that?"
"What?! W-well? I'm a human, so I don't know much about android bodies!"
"Is that so..."
Damn it, Revi. Why do you have such a body but have absolutely no knowledge of your lower half? In a different sense, it was like casting pearls before swine. It felt like I was dealing with a child who had only grown into an adult's body, so I couldn't bring myself to take it any further. And our goal wasn't this kind of 'red' development in the first place.
"More than that, Revi! We seem to have arrived at the villa district, so let's look for solar panels together."
"No! Before that, we must fill Chanwoo's stomach first!"
A villa district in South Korea that had been left abandoned for at least 1,000 years after humanity's extinction. Perhaps because human footsteps had ceased even before redevelopment, the district we arrived at looked just as it had in the past, but thanks to the giant trees that had grown like apartment buildings, it showed a sufficiently high landscape. But Revi insisted on filling our stomachs before looking for the solar panels that were supposed to be here.
"Chanwoo's stomach is the priority!"
"Even if you say that, I think it took at least an hour just to get here..."
If it was food, we could have easily solved that around the motel, not necessarily here. Above all, our active time was limited to the afternoon while the sun was up, so I wanted to act more efficiently. However.
"If Chanwoo starves here, I feel like my condition will drop along with yours."
If you starve, I die too...
Thanks to Revi, who constructed her conversation like that, I had no choice. Grrr-umble. I was hungry anyway from starving all day, and solar panels were items that could be easily obtained early on.
"Then, shall we fill our stomachs first?"
"Yes!"
If she had a tail, Revi would have been wagging it. I decided to actively accept the opinion of our pet android(?).