My plan is to turn my previous Labyrinth Explorer into a Puppet corpse, then peek into that corpse’s memories to gather information about the Labyrinth.
I decided to tell my Assistants about this plan.
“Do you guys think this is unethical?”
I cautiously asked, worried that they might think this was wrong. To be honest, I don’t have much of a problem with it. Resurrecting a soulless pile of flesh and reading the memories contained within doesn’t seem unethical to me at all.
Maybe it’s because of my harsh experiences in Elemenzia, but my values are a bit different from those who grew up peacefully on Earth.
Even so, I wanted to avoid actions that might make my Assistants frown, especially if my Coin provider Rize opposed it. I’d be willing to scrap this whole plan if it came to that.
Can’t lose my Coin supply…
In the meantime, my Assistants, having restored their nicknames, replied to my question in the chat.
【Rize Nova】—Unethical, huh…
Fortunately, Rize didn’t oppose it.
As expected, Alice was very encouraging.
Missy unexpectedly supported me blindly.
【Yumi】—Hmm…
Pururu seemed to have little thought about it like me.
Finally, Ha Yumi spoke up.
“Yeah. It’s true.”
I nodded slightly in affirmation.
The moment Ha Yumi learned about what kind of person the previous Explorer was, she changed her words.
Realizing it was someone who tried to kill me, Ha Yumi tossed ethics aside.
Well, I suppose this is how values change.
*
Iris, who had explored Cave #1, returned, bringing along the corpse of Min Hyeong-seok and others.
The corpses were entrusted to the Necro Puppetmaster.
I asked them to merge well and requested that Min Hyeong-seok’s memories be preserved as much as possible.
[Hmm. The main material is too weak. I will need to mix in a lot of additional materials to make it strong.]
[Hehehe! How about adding this too, Master?]
[Don’t ask me, ask the Gauntlet.]
[Hehehe! Master’s Master! Can we add this too?!]
“Just do what you want.”
The Necro Puppetmaster and the Curse Devil Gentleman were busy merging “the one who was Min Hyeong-seok” with other corpses.
Add this.
Add that.
They were making quite the mishmash.
It seemed like they were merging a bit too much, but…
I guess there’s no helping that.
After all, the material being Min Hyeong-seok’s corpse is garbage-level.
Since I wanted to create something not just for reading memories but also for combat, it made sense to mix in as many corpses as possible to create a usable one-man operation.
One raw Min Hyeong-seok corpse would just produce garbage.
It’s reasonable that since the central corpse is trash, a fair amount of strong corpses are needed.
As I was curiously watching the merging process,
Seo Dan-bi mentioned the name of the previous Explorer.
It seems that the idea that this corpse was Min Hyeong-seok was a bit shocking.
She was just finding out today that the previous Explorer was Min Hyeong-seok.
I thought I had told her before, but it turns out I hadn’t mentioned his name specifically.
I’d only mentioned that we were classmates… I mean, acquaintances.
For your information, Min Hyeong-seok was also Seo Dan-bi’s classmate.
Of course, they weren’t close; they just shared the same school.
Unlike the thug Min Hyeong-seok, Seo Dan-bi was a regular student who quietly attended school.
There were no points of contact between them; their personalities clashed like oil and water.
I stumbled across a strange chat in the midst of this.
Betrayed by his wife?
“Min Hyeong-seok was betrayed by his wife?”
“Seems like he chose the wrong woman… But I just now found out he was married.”
“Someone I know? Who is it?”
“It’s not like there’s a problem.”
“What are you talking about? When did I?”
【Rize Nova】—Wait…
【Mysticism】—🧐
“······.”
I began to understand what Pururu’s chat was hinting at.
The girl I once liked.
The one who dated Min Hyeong-seok.
And judging by the context of the conversation now, it’s very likely that the woman who is Min Hyeong-seok’s wife is the same girl I had a crush on.
‘But that doesn’t add up.’
What betrayal is he talking about?
That sweet girl doesn’t have a character to betray anyone.
If anything, it should have been Min Hyeong-seok who did the betraying.
“···Dan-bi, tell me that story in detail later. I’m kinda curious.”
“I don’t mind. After all, it’s a thing of the past.”
While I was communicating with my Assistants,
[All done.]
[Hehehe! Amazing!]
The merging was complete before I knew it.
*
■Neo Hyeong-seok
─Actual Danger Level: S-Class.
─Current (Nerfed) Danger Level: B-rank.
─Special Notes: Previous Explorer.
Our new friend.
I completed the Pokédex entry for the birth of Neo Hyeong-seok, the Puppet of the Necro Puppetmaster.
【Pururu】—Neo Hyeong-seok LOL
“Enough with the praises. I’ve always named monsters well.”
【Mysticism】—🤔
Neo Hyeong-seok’s rank is as stated, S-Class.
Even though the main body was rubbish that couldn’t be reused, the abundant and notable materials meant it was reborn with a high rank.
This could be considered a transformation.
Min Hyeong-seok’s soul that was taken somewhere must feel proud seeing its body like this.
Before I asked Neo Hyeong-seok several questions,
I first ordered him to act as a punching bag for Melody Fox.
Looks like against the growls of Melody Fox, there’s been a lot bottled up.
[Kyuuuuu!!!]
Melody Fox kicked Neo Hyeong-seok with a back paw.
[Kyuuuuuu!!!]
Then came the Front Paw Stamp.
[Kyuuuuu!]
Followed by the Body Headbutt.
[Kyuuuuuu!]
And the Headbutt in the end.
[Kyuuuuuu!]
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
She rained down hits, using her entire body.
The surprising part was how the damage seemed to be accumulating.
S-Class is not just a title for nothing.
Unlike the weaker Hedgehog Summoner, this Buff-specialized Monster retains enough strength as an S-Class.
Melody Fox knows it too.
That what she’s beating up is merely a Puppet with Min Hyeong-seok’s memories and not the real Min Hyeong-seok.
It has a self but lacks a soul.
Despite that, her resentment was strong enough that she wouldn’t easily let it go.
Of course, since she knew it was a distinctly different being, the one-sided beating didn’t last long.
[Kyuuuh, kyuuuh…]
Melody Fox stopped her actions and was breathing heavily.
[Hmph!]
Then she turned her head sharply and climbed behind Aracne to once again drift off to sleep.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up to start hitting again.
Anyway.
With Melody Fox’s beating time over, it was now my turn to ask questions.
“Neo Hyeong-seok.”
[Yes!]
“First, come here and lie down.”
[···Yes!]
I couldn’t help but want to wring out a bit more.
Something about it just doesn’t sit right with me.
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