25
Chapter 25
The ground collapsed from the woman's kick.
It seemed like she used some kind of skill.
Beneath the collapsed ground.
The bottomless pit wasn't created by the woman.
It looked like a passage that had already existed beneath the earth.
Because no matter how powerful a kick could be, it made no sense for it to have enough force to punch a hole this massive.
"■□□!"
"□■■□■!"
The other Humans gave up the chase.
As soon as the woman showed the Action of trying to destroy the ground, they quickly jumped back and retreated.
The Humans had already checked the cracks in the ground caused by the explosion, and they seemed to have figured out that a deep pit lay beneath it. Well, they had been here for quite a while after the explosion, so they must have surveyed the terrain.
The woman and I plummeted down the hole.
The Humans who weren't caught in the collapse stood up there, staring down at us with stupid expressions as we fell.
Hey! Come catch us if you can!
I thrust both of my hands toward them.
Double middle fingers! Eat this!
Actually, choke on it!
And just like that, we were endlessly sucked into the deep darkness.
But wait, are we actually going to survive this?
***
The end of the deep hole.
Right before crashing into the ground, the woman's body became as light as a feather.
Tap.
The woman lightly stepped onto the floor.
It was a perfectly smooth landing.
This must be another one of her skills.
Her Action wasn't reckless; she actually had a plan all along.
Hop!
I slipped out of the woman's arms.
After jumping down to the floor.
First, I turned my head and looked around my surroundings.
Even though we were deep underground, it wasn't dark.
Because a faint light was seeping out from the walls all around us.
This wasn't a naturally formed cave.
The walls and floor were smoothly finished with refined gray stone.
It looked reminiscent of a massive research facility's hallway.
The hallway stretched endlessly on both sides from where we landed.
This was definitely the inside of an artificial structure built by someone a long time ago.
Alright, I've got a rough grasp of our location.
Having finished my assessment, I immediately looked up at the woman.
The woman was just staring blankly down at me.
Hello there.
Thank you for saving me.
Bow, bow, bow!
I bowed at a ninety-degree angle three times to express my gratitude.
There has to be a bowing custom in this world too, right?
"......."
The woman stared at me intently without saying a word.
Excuse me. Please give me some sort of reaction.
It's really awkward getting absolutely no response.
Blink, blink.
The woman started blinking rapidly.
She suddenly let out a small chuckle, then squatted down in front of me.
"■□ ■■ □■ ■■■□."
The woman slowly reached out her arm.
After hesitating for a moment, she placed her hand on my head and carefully began to pet me.
Hey, do you think I'm some little kid?
I thought about roughly slapping her hand away, but decided against it.
Pet, pet.
It actually felt pretty good.
I guess it can't be helped.
Just this once.
I will make a special exception and allow you to touch my head.
I crossed my arms and sat up perfectly straight.
In this dignified posture, I enjoyed the woman's warm touch.
"■■."
Seeing me like this, the woman smiled.
It wasn't a mocking smile.
She wore a gentle smile.
You must have realized that I'm not a bad monster.
A kind and thoughtful Human!
I like you very much!
At first, I thought Humans in this world just blindly killed monsters the moment they saw them, but looking at this woman, fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The Humans from earlier were just bad guys.
Anyway.
I felt like I could be friends with this woman.
And with that Baby Doll held in her arms, too.
As I stared intently at the Baby Doll,
"■□."
The woman noticed my gaze.
The woman hugged her baby even tighter.
It's okay, I won't eat it.
You don't need to be so on guard.
Because I'm a harmless Teddy Bear.
"...■□□?"
The woman looked at me with a pondering expression.
Soon, with slightly trembling hands, she carefully held out her baby.
Oh. Did she decide to trust me?
It was an unexpected Action.
Because she seemed to care for her child dearly.
Even while we were falling earlier, she held onto it tightly so I couldn't get near the baby.
But she seems to have changed her mind now.
Is it because my appearance is just so harmless?
Or because I'm a similar species to her baby?
This woman is truly naive.
To trust me just from seeing a brief glimpse of my behavior.
She was a Human with absolutely zero caution.
She shouldn't just trust anyone like that.
Well, I was still thankful that she trusted me.
I need to be careful not to harm the baby, even by accident.
I will absolutely never betray her trust.
"■■ ■□■□ ■■■."
I don't know what you're saying.
Does it mean I should get along with your baby since it's a Doll-type monster like me?
I stepped right up to the front of the Baby Doll's nose.
Alright, shall I try making friends with this little one too?
If I just play with it like playing with a kid, we'll get close in no time.
I covered my face with my front paws.
Coochie-coo! Peek-a-boo!
Moving my front paws aside, I revealed my hidden face.
The Baby Doll had absolutely no reaction.
It maintained an expressionless face.
You're not going to laugh?
Laugh right now.
Coochie-coochie-coo! Peek-a-boo!!!
It's not even surprised.
No, it might have been surprised on the inside.
It just couldn't react because it lacked an Action skill.
If I have some free time later, I should somehow help it learn an Action skill.
Even after that.
My communion with the Baby Doll continued for a while.
Of course, it was a completely one-sided communion.
Coochie-coo! Bear-a-boo!!!
***
I raised my head.
Above us, I could see the passage connected to the surface.
It was the hole we had fallen through, and the exit to escape this place.
If possible.
It would be better to climb back up there rather than wander around this mysterious underground area.
But going up was impossible.
Because I don't have something like a Flight skill.
The Human woman also has a skill to land softly, but it didn't seem like she had a skill to fly in the sky.
We couldn't climb up either.
Because the height was no joke to attempt that.
So, I cleanly gave up on the idea of escaping through that hole.
Well, it's not like that place is safe to begin with anyway.
Even if we waited a day or two before going up, there's a chance the Humans up there hadn't withdrawn and were lying in ambush. I don't know about the other Humans, but a guy like that Chastity Belt Human would be more than capable of pulling off such a perverted stunt. Die, you pervert.
Anyway.
The woman and I slowly started to move.
It didn't seem like the Humans from above would chase us all the way down here, but we couldn't just stay put in this spot forever.
We need to find an exit and quickly return to the surface.
The Human woman would starve to death if she went hungry for too long, and I wouldn't be able to move if I ran completely out of Mana.
There were two directions: left and right.
Out of these, we chose to go left.
There was no particular reason for choosing the left path.
We just chose it based on gut feeling.
While we were moving like that.
I stopped in my tracks for a moment and looked up at the woman.
I suddenly felt worried about her.
By the way, are you okay?
I'm thankful that you saved me, but it ended up looking like you betrayed the Humans... Won't you be punished later if you reunite with the Humans?
I wildly flailed my arms and gave her a look full of concern.
The woman tilted her head,
Ah! She let out an exclamation.
Immediately after, she picked me up and hugged me tightly in her arms.
What are you doing?
It seems my meaning wasn't conveyed properly.
I didn't mean for her to hug me.
I immediately slipped out of her arms and hopped down.
It's not that I hate being hugged, but I'll pass.
What I'm saying is that I'm not a baby.
I can walk perfectly fine on my own two feet.
Turning my back on the questioning woman, I took the lead and walked with a dignified posture.
Just stick close behind me and follow.
Since you saved me earlier, I'll protect you this time.
For reference, the woman is weaker than me.
To be exact, as long as I activated my Bloodsucking Enhancement skill, I could far surpass the woman's power.
[Human lv.15]
┗Pw.30 (+20)
┗Rnk.Uncommon
[Soul Weapon]
┗Pw.20 (+30)
┗Rnk.Uncommon
As an aside.
The woman's Soul Weapon was the brown Long Boots she was currently wearing.
***
The hallway stretched on endlessly.
It felt like we had been walking for thirty minutes, but we were still traversing the exact same type of hallway.
We hadn't even come across a single fork in the road.
I refrained from using the Rolling skill.
I had to conserve my Mana as much as possible.
Because I didn't know how vast this underground area was, or if there would be a way to replenish my Mana.
While continuing to move forward like that.
I suddenly came to a halt once again.
It was because I remembered something I had forgotten.
Come to think of it, I was currently in a state where Evolution was possible, right?
Now that I've thought of it, I should do it right away.
Because I never know when a dangerous situation might strike.
"■■□■?"
Ah, seriously.
I'm not asking for a hug, so please don't grab me.
I slipped away once again from the woman who had picked me up.
Why is she so eager to hug me?
I put a little bit of distance between myself and the woman.
Just wait right there for a moment.
Because I'm going to show you something really amazing.
[Current Physical Adaptability is 30.]
[Would you like to use [Evolution lv.2]?]
Yeah.
Bring up the Evolution list.
================
[Evolvable Species]
◎ Idiot Teddy Bear - Uncommon
◎ Armadillo Teddy Bear - Uncommon
================
Bzzzt-
Along with a strange noise.
The text on the Evolution list floating before my eyes shattered until it was unrecognizable.
The broken text was quickly restored.
Is this a bug or what?
================
[Evolvable Species]
◎ Pure White Teddy Bear - Uncommon
◎ Armadillo Teddy Bear - Uncommon
================
Hmm....
I feel like I caught a glimpse of an Evolution route called Idiot Teddy Bear right before the text glitched out.......
Was I imagining things?