Automata (2)
Automata (2)
A moment later, realizing that the Nutritional Supplements were all finished, Noah gave a slight smile as she scooped them out of the cauldron and handed them to Dojin.
"Thanks."
"No problem. This is the only thing I know how to do, after all."
Saying that, she began tidying up the scattered remains of the Automata on the floor.
An alchemical weapon that looked like just an ordinary doll on the outside, yet held the potential to become a powerful weapon.
"With just muscles... it might somehow work?"
"Huh? Uh... yeah, honestly. You need muscles to even get started. At this stage, just making it walk is tough."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Dojin listened to her and downed the Nutritional Supplement. As expected from an expert's special brew, the moment he gulped it down, he felt Tiger Energy surging through his entire body.
'Super Strength, huh...'
With his nutrients restored, Dojin's mind started spinning at full speed. An image of a certain man with Super Strength flashed through his head.
'It's been a while since I last saw him.'
Time to catch up and maybe make a deal. That's what Dojin thought.
Just like in the 21st century, in this medieval-like fantasy world, personal information wasn't considered all that precious.
Especially when someone with privileges like Dojin wanted to know something—there was no info he couldn't dig up.
"This the place—?"
Dojin looked up at the house that was close to a villa.
A three-story building. It felt even bigger than the previous house he'd heard about, so it seemed they'd moved in the meantime.
'Well, yeah, the old place was a bit cramped for three people.'
It wasn't for nothing that Dojin had bought such a massive mansion. And now, with over ten people living there, he was starting to think they might need to expand it.
Kung-kung—Dojin knocked on Han-young's house door and heard hurried footsteps rushing from inside.
Judging by the sound, it wasn't Han-young. A moment later, the door opened, and a Slave in a modified maid outfit cautiously revealed herself.
"......Who?"
"Is Han-young in?"
"The master is here, but... who are you?"
"Go tell him Dojin's here. He'll know right away."
The Slave eyed Dojin suspiciously, then shut the door and went inside.
He could hear her calling for Han-young from within, and soon after—she reappeared, flinging the door wide open to welcome Dojin.
"Come in."
Dojin carefully stepped inside and grinned at the shoe rack right by the entrance.
Yeah, just like his own mansion, most Otherworld buildings were Western-style where you kept your shoes on, so he'd missed places where you went barefoot.
As he took off his shoes, the Slave quickly organized them and offered him some light slippers.
"Thanks."
He bowed his head slightly and followed the Slave's pattering footsteps up to the second floor.
After waiting briefly in the guest room she showed him to, Han-young came in, yawning hugely with his clothes thrown on haphazardly.
"Yawwn—Well, if it isn't the harem king himself."
"......Han-young."
Han-young looked like he'd just been deep in sleep, with messy bedhead and eye gunk on his face.
It had been since they met the Ruler of the 30th Floor—how many months had it been since they'd last seen each other?
Dojin gave a casual greeting like anyone else would.
"How've you been? What've you been up to lately?"
"Fucking great. You're the one who's still alive. Thought you got wrecked after that......"
Right after Dojin took down the boss monster, Han-young had bolted with his friends.
So he had no clue how Dojin had survived or what he'd been up to afterward.
Naturally—this meeting came as quite a shock to him.
"Got a favor to ask."
"A favor? From a hotshot Level 3 adventurer like you, to a guy like me?"
"Even shit can be used as medicine, y'know."
"Haha, so I'm shit now?"
Han-young tossed out the self-deprecating jab, but Dojin brushed it off without a care.
Right then, the Slave came in with tea for the guest. As he took the cup from her, Dojin looked at Han-young in surprise.
"Didn't think you'd be the type to buy a Slave."
"Huh? Oh—her? There's a reason."
As he said that, he started groping the Slave's ass, but she seemed bothered by Dojin being right there and subtly pushed his hand away.
Annoyed by that, Han-young smacked her ass hard—and the Slave, hit with his Super Strength, collapsed to the floor clutching her throbbing butt like it was about to burst.
"Guhh—!"
"Quit your whining, you bitch."
He grabbed a Potion from somewhere and chucked it at her. The Slave snatched it up, expressed her thanks, and flipped up her butt to pour the Potion on it.
Watching that, Dojin realized their relationship wasn't your standard master-slave dynamic.
Han-young sat back down casually and treated Dojin like nothing happened.
"Broke up with the old crew. Going into the Dungeon alone's too risky—so she's my meat shield and porter."
"Broke up? Why?"
"Why d'you think? It's more profitable solo than in a trio?"
Han-young had snagged himself a pretty damn strong Cheat Ability. Super Strength that could crush an Orc in one hit, even back at Level 1.
But... around the 30th floor, a problem cropped up.
The issue that Super Strength alone couldn't take him any further.
They'd been smashing through walls with just their Cheats, no effort needed—but when they hit a real wall, they had no idea how to deal with it.
And since they didn't need to push past it just to get by, they didn't bother trying.
"So now the party's fully disbanded, and we're all just chilling at home."
"You bought this place?"
"Yeah, you bought a house too, so you get it. With our Abilities, bust ass for a few weeks and you can snag one easy."
A regular farmer here might earn one or two Gold Coins in a year, if you're generous.
The amount Han-young with his Cheat could rake in in as little as three days, a week at most.
Pulling in a year's salary for normies every week—buying a house after a few weeks of grinding wasn't that hard.
"Oh, and Slaves are nice. Tax breaks and shit."
"......Since when do you care about that crap."
"Well—I've decided to live in this Otherworld for good."
If you just gave up on going back to your old world, the Otherworld wasn't half bad.
Han-young wasn't some otaku who'd die without games or comics—he was the type who could thrive with booze, women, and fun.
In that sense, the Otherworld rocked. Money got you drugs or girls, no sweat.
"Guys like me, street trash—what, go back to Earth and do the same thug jobs? Barely scraping by... Look at me now. I got it all. House, woman, cash."
Dojin's eyes turned ice-cold. The maximum courtesy he could muster for someone who'd quit challenging himself and settled into mediocrity.
"—Yeah, whatever. Don't care what you think."
With that, Dojin quickly got to the point of his visit.
"I need your Ability."
"What, smash some walls again?"
"No—specifically, I need your muscles."
"......Muscles? What the fuck's that mean?"
Han-young tilted his head at the baffling request. Muscles, not strength?
But the next words made his face harden instantly.
"I'll heal you right up. So, can you just let me cut off one arm?"
"......What?"
Flabbergasted by the request—more absurd than asking for collateral—Han-young glared at Dojin like he was checking if it was real.
"No, what the... you serious?"
"It's not a big ask. And I'll heal you too?"
"Fuck—! How the hell is that not a big ask!?"
Han-young started yelling in outrage—and Dojin couldn't understand why.
Did he think Dojin would chop it off while he was awake or something?
"I'll anesthetize you."
"Obviously! Fuck! You'd die cutting off an arm raw!"
"I'll pay you."
"Who you think can't make money, asshole."
But his resistance was fierce. Sighing lightly, Dojin pulled out his last card.
"......Pay your debt, Han-young."
"Debt? What debt, the cash I took when I left your party?"
"No, the debt for deceiving me."
Before, Han-young had implied—without saying it outright—that he'd reached Level 3, leading Dojin to believe it.
That was straight-up fraud, and Dojin had nearly died because of it.
But Han-young just burst out laughing.
"What, you gonna kill me if I don't pay up?"
"Not kill...... you."
"Fuck off, retard. You think I'm your bitch?"
"You'll regret it."
"Regret? Fuck, should I call the Guard Force?"
The negotiation fell apart. Dojin had no slick talk or bargaining skills, and even a silver-tongued legend couldn't have made that deal fly.
No sane person would just hand over their own arm.
Dojin downed the tea the Slave had brought in one gulp and stood up.
"If you change your mind, come find me anytime. Conditions might be different then."
"Fuck off, retard."
After flipping him off so gracefully, Han-young ordered the Slave to kick Dojin out. Then he told her to sprinkle salt after.
The Slave, with no clue why, sprinkled the salt on the floor, clicked her tongue at the waste, and headed back inside.
After a day of booze, women, and debauchery, Han-young woke up kneading his Slave's ass like dough.
His brain, pickled from last night's drinks, throbbed with hangover signals of agony.
Clutching his pounding head, he chugged water in the kitchen, then finished his hangover cure with the soup the Slave made.
"Work sucks...... fuck."
All patched up, Han-young grabbed his gear and the Slave and headed to the Dungeon.
Just once a week, that's all—but for someone already sunk in laziness, even that was a hassle.
'Still, he's alive, huh.'
Han-young recalled Dojin from a couple days ago and let out a hollow chuckle.
What was it? Wanted an arm chopped off or some shit. Knew he was crazy, but damn, not that unhinged.
'Regret it, he says?'
How?
Gonna snitch to the Guard Force?
Over Dungeon shit? Even in a medieval fantasy, they don't punish without proof.
That'd be a witch hunt. In an Otherworld with real Superhumans and magic, witch hunts didn't fly easy.
"Alright, let's make some cash today too."
At the Dungeon, Han-young grinned ear-to-ear and handed over his Identification Badge to enter.
The Guild Staff who saw him checked the badge for a sec, handed it back, and spoke.
"Entry denied."
"......What?"
Stunned by the absurd words, Han-young asked again. But the answer stayed the same.
"No, fuck, why all of a sudden?"
"I don't really know either......"
After arguing with the staff for a while, Han-young suddenly remembered what Dojin had said.
[You'll regret it.]
"No, fuck......"