136
Chapter 136
I reunited with the Mercenary King, who had been killed by the Teddy Bear.
The Mercenary King had become a Doll and was serving the Teddy Bear.
Seeing that sight left me completely in shock.
......What in the world happened?
Did the Teddy Bear resurrect the Mercenary King as a Doll?
It was a truly terrifying ability.
To think it had the power to turn a dead Human into an obedient Doll....
If that was the case, were the Butler Dolls I'd seen so far originally Human too?
An even greater sense of despair washed over me.
If an opportunity to escape never came,
I had planned to kill myself rather than live as their Slave.
Since my gender had been changed, I didn't have any lingering attachments to life anyway.
But I had just faced the harsh reality that suicide couldn't be an escape.
Death wasn't enough to let me escape from that Teddy Bear.
*
Day four of being a Slave.
An opportunity to escape had finally arrived.
Today, I was assigned to carry out my duties as a Transport Slave.
The reason they entrusted such a task to someone they couldn't even trust was because I possessed a rare skill called Subspace Storage. The Teddy Bear already knew about my ability from seeing it before.
Anyway.
Once I leave the Dungeon, I plan to look for an opening and run away.
That was the only way out for me.
"Heuksuni, come here."
A woman named Ailee called out to me in a gentle voice.
She used to be a Human, and she was the woman who handled Interpretation between monsters and Humans.
For the record, Heuksuni was the new name I had been given.
Apparently, it was a name the Teddy Bear came up with itself.
The bastard had a terrible sense of naming.
There should be a limit to how tacky a name can be.
Well, it didn't matter.
They could call me whatever they wanted.
It wasn't a name I would hear for the rest of my life anyway.
Because the moment I escaped this place, I would say goodbye to that name forever.
"You know this Doll since you see him every day, right? He's the Chief Jailer, Hunting Team Leader, and Transport Captain."
"Ah, yes......."
I knew he was the Chief Jailer.
But I had no idea he was also doubling as the Hunting Team Leader and Transport Captain.
Why would they give him so many roles?
Was he favored by the Teddy Bear?
If so, that meant he was a close aide Doll, making him extremely dangerous.
But I'd felt this since the first day—I felt like I had seen this guy somewhere before.
Was he registered in the Mercenary King's Encyclopedia?
...I don't know.
I couldn't quite remember.
"Today, you just need to go collect Natural Mana Stones with the Transport Captain here."
"Just the two of us?"
"Yeah. Normally, he'd take other Dolls with him because there's a lot to transport, but with your Subspace Storage skill, there's no need for that."
They were sending just the two of us?
Did they really not think I would run away?
No. There was no way they actually trusted me.
Then did they think I absolutely couldn't escape?
Was it because this Transport Captain guy was just that formidable?
.......
Still, I had to give it a try.
Opportunities like this didn't come around often.
With only one guy watching me, I harbored a sliver of hope that I could somehow manage to slip away.
"P-Please take care of me."
"...."
I bowed my head in greeting to the Transport Captain.
And then I followed him out of the Labor Camp.
Ailee and a few other Dolls were also moving alongside us.
"That's the Dungeon entrance over there."
Ailee pointed ahead.
I could see a Portal not too far away.
The Labor Camp and the Dungeon entrance were much closer than I thought.
Of course, distance wasn't the issue when it came to escaping.
Because a very dangerous-looking Werewolf Doll was standing guard in front of the Portal.
Just as we reached the front of the Portal.
"I will be on my way then."
"Ah, hold on a second."
Ailee called out, stopping the Transport Captain and me.
"Heuksuni, could you open your Subspace Storage for a moment?"
"Excuse me? Ah, yes...."
Was she trying to check my ability?
I didn't know the reason, but I followed Ailee's order anyway.
After all, I was just a Slave.
I wasn't in any position to be asking for reasons.
"It's open."
The moment I opened the Subspace Storage.
"Go on in, guys."
Ailee issued a command to the Dolls.
The Dolls nodded their heads and quickly invaded my Subspace Storage.
"...Huh?"
Wait, how did they get in?
Living creatures aren't supposed to be able to enter!
Was the Doll Tribe not considered living creatures?
What kind of crazy race was this!
"Oh, did I startle you? They will be guarding your Subspace Storage from now on. You can pretty much think of them as Warehouse Keepers."
Ailee explained.
Guarding my Subspace Storage....
This was probably meant to monitor me from the inside in case I tried to pocket anything. Furthermore, it was likely their intention to plant those Dolls inside my ability in case I tried to run away.
Damn it, they really weren't sloppy at all.
I didn't have the ability to open a Subspace Storage connected to another Dimension.
But that was fine.
If I succeeded in running away, I could simply live the rest of my life without ever opening my Subspace Storage.
"...Understood. Shall we get going now, then?"
"Ah, hold on."
What now!
What else are they going to do?
"Transport Captain, you remember what the Bear Baby ordered earlier, right?"
When Ailee asked, the Transport Captain nodded.
"And you packed the cotton that Baby Tosun gave you?"
Nod, nod.
The belly of the Transport Captain, who had been nodding, suddenly split open vertically.
Ailee pointed at the opening and spoke to me.
"Heuksuni, go in there."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm telling you to go inside our Transport Captain's body."
"...You want me to go in there?"
"Are you hard of hearing?"
"Ah, no... I'm sorry."
"Right, hurry up and get in. If you go in there and rest, the Transport Captain will swiftly and safely take you to the destination. Our Transport Captain is incredibly fast when moving alone."
Thanks to my frame getting smaller after turning into a woman, I was able to forcefully squeeze my body inside.
After confirming that I was inside his body, the Transport Captain stuffed white cotton all over the split area.
With that, the split portion was partially sealed.
It wasn't completely sealed; it was left slightly open so that I could breathe.
I was curled up inside the Transport Captain's body.
Only my face was sticking out.
"It does look a little bizarre...."
"......."
"Anyway, be careful and have a safe trip."
"Yes...."
By the looks of it.
Escaping today would be impossible too.
*
Time passed,
And it was already the seventh day since I became a Slave.
I finally came to a conclusion.
The conclusion that it was impossible to escape from this crazy place.
So in the end, I gave up.
I decided to accept my fate and live as a Slave.
After spending a week here, life in this place didn't seem too bad.
I was also getting along quite well with the monsters of this Dungeon.
"■■■!"
"■□□□!"
The Fox and the Red Panda making strange laughing sounds.
They came to see me every few hours and beat me mercilessly with their fists.
It didn't hurt at all.
They weren't hitting me to bully me in the first place.
At first, I didn't know why they were doing this, but now I know.
This was their way of asking me to play with them.
After playing with them for a bit, they would return with satisfied faces.
"■■."
"■■."
"■■■!"
Two Teddy Bears wearing Maid Uniforms.
And one huge bear monster.
These three would come visit me once a day.
Anyone could tell they were the closest aides to the Teddy Bear, the Dungeon Master.
Smack-!
The bear monster hit my head.
And it ordered the two Teddy Bears in Maid Uniforms to hit me.
The Teddy Bears cautiously followed suit and hit my head, looking clueless.
And then they went back.
"■□!"
A golden snake occasionally came to visit me as well.
Or wait, did they say it was a monster called a Dragon?
Regardless, the creature would silently stare at me with curious eyes before leaving.
It didn't just observe me; it watched the other Slaves, too.
It just seemed like a monster that enjoyed observing other creatures.
"□■, □■."
The Rabbit Doll monster visited us Slaves for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Then it casually tossed a Carrot with an indifferent expression before leaving.
It was a kind Rabbit.
The Carrot was so delicious it made me want to cry.
Other than them, the Dungeon Master Teddy Bear, Ailee, and the Vampire, among others.
The monsters of this Dungeon took turns stopping by the Labor Camp.
After seeing them so often,
the way I looked at them changed a little.
At first, everything was scary and terrifying.
However, they were starting to look a little cute now.
It wasn't particularly strange.
Although they were dangerous monsters with immense power, they were objectively cute-looking monsters.
But did I always like cute things?
It wasn't that I disliked them, but I don't think I was ever particularly interested either.
The more I looked at the cute monsters, the more I felt my mind gradually settling and feeling warm.
I was slowly blending into this Dungeon.
Is this what people mean by healing....
It was an emotion I was feeling for the first time in my life.
A change was happening in my life, which had always sought only stimulation.
It was a positive change that refreshed my clouded mind and cleared my thoughts.
I thought to myself once again.
As long as I didn't harbor impure thoughts like running away,
life in this Dungeon wouldn't be so bad.
I only did a bit of transporting.
Yet everyone praised me, saying I worked hard.
For some reason, being surrounded by cute creatures and receiving praise felt so good that I could fly. In particular, the praise I received from the Doll Tribe made me the happiest.
I somehow felt like I now understood why the other Slaves were satisfied with their lives in this Dungeon.
*
Day ten of being a Slave.
I am hungry for praise.
I want to hear even more praise.
I've become addicted to the praise of cute creatures.
While pondering how I could get bigger and more frequent praise than now, a piece of knowledge that might be helpful suddenly came to mind.
Are there any monsters here who haven't joined a Domain yet?
If there are, I could have them join a Mythical-grade Dimension Domain.
Just like my late adoptive parents and Master did for me when I was a baby.