The Spare Homunculus
After taking Ping Lei and Karla onto my team, a few things in my daily routine changed.
First, my training time increased dramatically compared to before.
“Huk, huuuk.”
“Is that all you’ve got?”
“I can… still keep going.”
The man was covered head to toe in bruises.
Ping Lei glared at me with venomous eyes.
At first he tried to avoid training, but somewhere along the way his gaze turned ferocious, as if he wanted to devour me, and he began clinging to me relentlessly.
“I agree.”
Sorry, but with your current skill level, even ten years of effort won’t be enough.
Still, after getting beaten repeatedly, Ping Lei’s martial arts ability improved at a frightening pace.
“Apparently not entirely.”
The master of the oasis.
The constellation who had originally contracted with Ping Lei—Seth—had lost interest in him after the promotion match.
How did I know?
Every time I entered the Tower, he kept shooting me flirtatious glances.
“I’m not sure if a person can truly be reformed, but it’s worth trying.”
Taking Ping Lei in was a kind of experiment.
In my previous life, he had been a colossal villain who ruled the underworld not just in China but across the entire world.
If I kept him close and guided him, maybe rehabilitation was possible?
And if it looked like it wasn’t going to work…
“I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
I let out a short breath and calmed my mind.
…Yeah.
If Ping Lei showed no signs of genuine change, I planned to eliminate him with my own hands.
There were plenty of ways to do it.
In the era of destruction, I had done whatever it took to survive.
They say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, right?
As long as Ping Lei stayed within my sight, I could deal with him if the need arose.
On the other hand, Karla threw herself into training with genuine enthusiasm.
She was still curt and never spoke about anything unrelated to work, but whenever she sparred with me, she always gave it her all.
“What is it?”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“If my goddess says so, then it must be true.”
Seeking strength—or rather, being obsessed with it?
There wasn’t much information available about Karla.
All I knew was that when the era of destruction arrived, she had answered the call of her constellation and abandoned humanity.
Even that Ellen bastard had kept his mouth shut about it.
I should have asked more questions when I had the chance.
Jiyoung also participated in sparring matches enthusiastically.
Slice!
The scythe sliced through the vibration barrier and flew straight toward the nape of Jiyoung’s neck.
It stopped just an inch away.
“Ugh… I lost.”
Jiyoung spoke in a low, frustrated voice.
Upon hearing her surrender, Karla withdrew her scythe.
Both Ping Lei and Karla were one—no, two steps ahead of Jiyoung.
It was only natural, considering the difference in the time since they had awakened as players.
“It’s because I couldn’t keep up with Master’s teachings!”
Jiyoung burst out with teary eyes full of determination.
It was good that she was motivated, but maybe I needed to calm her down a bit.
As for Kim Youngsoo, whom I had classified as a supporter…
“I’ll have to decline.”
He refused sparring matches one after another without even wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Vice Commander, please wait until the new puppets arrive.”
“I’m counting on you, Team Leader.”
In the time left after training, I challenged the twelfth floor of the Tower again.
My plan was to tackle the next floors together with Jiyoung.
However, my barrier application skills were still insufficient to challenge the eleventh floor.
Since I already knew what the first-clear reward for the eleventh floor was, it was worth being greedy.
One day, while I was repeatedly activating and destroying training wooden puppets as usual, a mysterious message appeared.
Understanding of the Training Wooden Puppet has reached 100.
The wooden puppet is revealing its true form.
Oh, right. There was an understanding stat, wasn’t there?
It was a value that had increased slightly every time I destroyed a wooden puppet.
I had been using them whenever I had time to gather essences, and before I knew it, the stat had reached its maximum.
A light enveloped the wooden puppet.
A moment later, the status window of the transformed wooden puppet appeared before my eyes.
“…Spare Homunculus?!”
My eyes widened.
With my mouth hanging open, I scanned the wooden puppet’s description over and over.
◈ A wooden training puppet from the basic training hall.
◈ Upon reaching maximum understanding, it has regained its original form.
◈ When a wandering soul that has lost its body is imbued into the homunculus, it can manifest a portion of its appearance and abilities from life.
◈ It can also be kept as a partner that grows alongside the user. In this case, it will automatically absorb a portion of the experience points.
A spare homunculus.
It was an item I had never heard of even in my previous life.
“I didn’t expect there to be something I didn’t know about.”
This goddess of mine.
I’m being dead serious here, and she’s ruining the mood.
“I really am serious.”
When she put it that way, I had no rebuttal.
…Huh?
I clapped my right hand over my mouth.
I had almost let out a scream.
Thump. Thump.
My heart was pounding wildly.
“My goddess, you really say the most ridiculous things sometimes.”
That’s because you just dropped a bomb out of nowhere!
Nyx suddenly flew closer, placed her hand on my forehead, and said,
She sounded genuinely worried.
Ugh. Calm down. There’s no need to trip over a casual remark Nyx threw out.
I took a deep mental breath and scanned the item description once more.
“Looks like I can’t get any more essence from it now.”
[Tyrannosaurus – 49.3%]
The primordial species essence was nearly half full.
What a shame.
I had been using it steadily as an essence farm until now.
“…What is it?”
The fact that Nyx had mentioned regression made it hard for me to answer right away.
“It’s an artificial life form created through alchemy, I suppose.”
The Philosopher’s Stone.
And the creation of homunculi.
They were secret arts said to be achievable only by those who had reached the pinnacle of alchemy.
Among them, homunculi occasionally appeared here and there while clearing Tower missions.
The minions who handled the lane in the promotion match were degraded versions of homunculi, after all.
“The problem is that this thing has no ego—or in other words, no soul.”
A homunculus was a perfect being crafted by alchemy.
The definition of “perfect” might vary from person to person.
In human terms, an “artificial” being that possessed a soul and was undeniably a living creature could be called a complete homunculus.
“Hmm, but from the description, it looks like it was intentionally made this way.”
A homunculus that could only be completed by granting it someone’s soul.
It was a different concept from defying the natural order like the undead, or resurrecting the dead through the grace of a healing-type constellation.
“It’s not bad, though.”
“It can only be used if it has a soul…”
Wait a second. Come to think of it, there was a soul right in front of me.
“I just had a brilliant idea.”
“It says that once a soul enters the homunculus, it will take on its appearance from life.”
“And right now, my goddess exists only as a soul.”
Nyx’s eyes widened.
“It’s better than wandering around as a spirit body like you are now, isn’t it?”
Nyx firmly refused.
It was uncertain whether a homunculus could even accept a powerful being like a goddess in the first place.
But if she wouldn’t even try, what was I supposed to do?
I had gotten a homunculus instead of a wooden puppet. I wanted to make use of it somehow.
“Well, if my goddess doesn’t want to, there’s nothing I can do.”
“If you enter that homunculus, you won’t have to follow me around anymore. You’ll be able to explore this world on your own.”
“Think about it. Right now you can’t leave my immediate surroundings, but once you become an independent entity, that will change.”
After that, I muttered to myself about the development of modern civilization and all sorts of entertainment, as if talking to no one in particular.
Nyx pretended not to care while secretly listening to every word I said.
“Ah, never mind. Since my goddess hates the idea, I’ll find another soul in the Tower.”
“No, it’s fine. I have committed a great offense against my goddess. I should put this away immediately.”
Nyx shouted loudly.
“What are you deliberating about?”
“Nah, forget it. It would be improper to place a noble goddess inside such a shabby homunculus.”
She spoke as if it were a grand decision, but her face openly showed impatience.
If I teased her any more, she might actually give up on the homunculus, so I decided to stop here.
“If my goddess is willing to go this far for me, then I have no choice but to accept.”
Nyx immediately seeped into the homunculus.
The Spare Homunculus has detected a soul.
Soul — Goddess of Night, Nyx
The dignity engraved upon the soul is overwhelmingly powerful.
This existence cannot be contained by a homunculus body.
Physical abilities will be reduced.
Physical abilities will be reduced…
“Goddess, are you okay?”
Fortunately, Nyx seemed to be alright.
Still, I wasn’t sure if the homunculus could handle Nyx’s power without turning into a defective product.
Some time after Nyx had merged with the homunculus…
Successfully imbued the body with the soul’s properties.
From now on, the homunculus’s appearance will change to match the soul’s form.
Crack. Crunch!
Flesh, muscle, and bone began reassembling themselves.
From the previously empty pores, a waterfall of hair cascaded down to her waist.
Eyes, nose, and mouth that had lacked any personality took on the shape of a living human.
The homunculus’s form gradually transformed.
Why did it look so familiar?
“Ah, that time!”
After defeating Ness.
This was exactly how Nyx had looked when I encountered her true form beneath the lake.
The transformation was complete.
The homunculus—no, Nyx—rose to her feet.
Wait a minute.
You can’t just stand there without a single thread on your body.
I quickly turned my head away.
“Ah, no, it’s just…”
“Please, just put on some clothes first.”
The sudden stimulus sent heat rushing to my face.
I was terrified at the thought of my teammates seeing her like this.