Chapter: 170. The Gear Falling Apart (2)
“Child?”
With no malice, just pure curiosity.
I posed the question to the librarian behind me.
It’s not that I’m suspecting the librarian of betrayal.
Of course, I assumed there are betrayers among humanity, but at least I didn’t think it would be in such a manner.
Regardless of whether that broadcast was true or false, I believe that comrades who fought together wouldn’t betray each other in the midst of combat.
To be frank, even if that broadcast is true, what difference does it make?
At worst, the librarian, who I thought was just a pure Earthling mixed with some machines, just turned out to be a machine partly made with otherworldly blood.
In a world where cults exist, there’s no reason not to trust the librarian.
Finishing that thought, I turned my head to hear the librarian’s response.
What I found was a librarian with an expression I hadn’t anticipated.
The face twisted as if she had bitten into a bug, radiating clear disgust at the broadcast streaming in.
“Hey. Are you okay? Your face is getting messed up.”
Seeing her gaze fixed on the speaker, it seemed she hadn’t heard my question, so I tossed it out again.
“Oh, I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Only then did the librarian relax her expression, lower her head, and match my gaze.
As expected.
Was that broadcast so unbearable that she couldn’t even hear my question?
“I was asking what it meant for you to call me a child.”
“Oh, is that what it was? It’s not particularly profound.”
With open palms, she shrugged.
The librarian, showing such exaggerated body language, soon opened her mouth again.
“It just means that every human she modified is her child. I don’t know what she’s thinking, considering I have different parents.”
Her voice was filled with disgust.
– “Having shed the weak flesh, we’ve forged unyielding bodies. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to express that as a familial bond?”
As if to refute her, the speaker sent another bizarre voice.
“I’ve received nothing from you.”
Following the librarian’s furious retort.
– “If that’s what you think, why did you come to this island? To our paradise? You could have just left us alone to rust and deteriorate.”
The moment the speaker uttered that sentence, a sudden kzzzt of noise erupted.
Bzzzzt. Bzzzt.
With a spark, the speaker exploded.
“It’s noisy.”
“I’ve never seen you so emotionally responsive. Hey.”
Seeing her react so fiercely to such a lousy adversary made me wonder if she had been harboring anger towards someone who ruined her life.
“There are indeed those I truly dislike. The worst of them is the owner of that voice.”
Hmm. Is that so?
“By the way, I’m going to meet them now. Is that alright?”
“Is that even a question?”
Wait? Was she not grasping what I meant?
“I meant, steam’s puffing out between your armor. Is that alright?”
Like when I use spatial manipulation.
For some reason, just talking to that person seemed to create that level of overload.
Whether that was the mysterious being’s ability or if the librarian got stirred up just by hearing the voice remains unclear.
…Well, it seems she’s more excited than I imagined.
Accepting my observation, the librarian took a deep breath to calm her heated body.
“If it’s hard, you can go back. It’s not like you have to see them right now.”
It seemed I was on my way to see them, but of course, I’d risk missing the reality fixer and waste time.
But compared to losing a friend due to the librarian being defeated or ruined, that loss was trivial. So I kept suggesting to her.
“Honestly, this is practically the last story, right? It didn’t just suddenly show up like my story, and since you have the initiative, it might be better to gather your thoughts and pick another day to come.”
Uncharacteristically, I made an exaggerated gesture and poured out a lot of words.
“Oh, of course, I’ll still attend. That fervor…”
Continuing with my words.
“Hahaha.”
My suggestion was cut short by the librarian’s laughter.
Was there something funny in my words?
Why was she suddenly chuckling?
With that thought, I shot her a serious look, but her laughter continued for a long while.
“Haha, um, how should I put this…”
After what felt like an eternity, the librarian finally opened her mouth.
“It seems you, Haram Lee, are more bewildered than I am. Thanks to that, I feel a bit more at ease.”
Bewildered? Me?
What kind of nonsense is that?
“Hey, when did I say I was bewildered? At what day, hour, and second? Huh?”
“Yes, yes. You’ve calmed down, so let’s go,” she replied, leaving me behind while striding toward the exit.
She didn’t even respond to my words.
“Hey, when did I ever get bewildered because I was worried about you? Shut up!”
“If you don’t hurry, I’m going alone.”
Damn that jerk.
Yeah, I’m going because I’m annoyed. Go on.
Creeeek.
I heard mechanical sounds from down the hall.
I glanced at the location of the sound and spoke.
“There’s an unfamiliar weapon at one o’clock.”
“I know already.”
Crack.
No sooner had my words ended than a gun-like object jumped out from between the walls, sparking and nobly perishing.
A fortification that couldn’t even launch an attack before being neutralized by a mere gesture from the librarian.
Although quite some time had passed since entering the base, most of the battles had proceeded like this.
I opened a door only to find a horde of mechanical soldiers, but with one flick of the librarian’s hand, they were neutralized.
The walls of the corridor opened to reveal a barrage of flamethrowers, but upon being glared at by the librarian, they retreated back into the wall.
Of course, there were some weapons she occasionally couldn’t spot, but those types didn’t escape my surveillance and were destroyed.
According to the librarian, it’s fine to let them be.
Honestly, is it rational to just watch things come flying at you?
What if I suddenly die from a stray bullet and be left tormented by guilt?
Well, anyway.
At first, I was all on edge with the various mechanical soldiers and traps.
But now, this is the situation.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Bang. Tap.
Hmm? The sound of footsteps feels odd.
“There seems to be something on the floor.”
“Oh, a trap. I’ll deactivate it.”
Two men walk casually along the path, showing no sense of crisis.
They have no clue where they’re supposed to go, wandering aimlessly.
This is all because the librarian’s hacking skills are a mess.
“Aren’t you done scanning the map yet?”
“Seems like I just need about 10% more.”
Didn’t you just say two hours ago you needed only 5% more?
Why did it increase?
“Didn’t you say 5% earlier?”
“I have no memory of that.”
Her convenient perfect recall.
No matter how badly I forget things, I wouldn’t forget anything from two hours ago, would I?
…Probably not.
But really, there’s no point in arguing.
I know well enough my own limitations.
While I can break down and bury this solid underground base thanks to expanding and stabilizing space, looking for a path to meet the final boss of the story is beyond me.
There are certain things in the world that just can’t be solved with force.
So let’s not blame the librarian.
Hmm. Whatever.
With a heart as wide as my sea—
“Hey, there’s a flamethrower—”
With an ominous remark, my cheek felt warm.
Specifically, the cheek that had turned blue from being hit by plasma earlier.
By now, it might have already ripened.
“Sorry. The signal system is so disrupted that while focusing on the map, I accidentally…”
The librarian’s excuses faded into the background.
More than that, I should be more concerned about why my cheek smells nice.
It’s probably just an illusion? Just a minor burn, nothing that smells like cooked meat, right?
It wouldn’t lead to a catastrophe where someone pulls off my cheek to eat it, right?
…I can’t hold back any longer. Damn it.
“Hey, you damn jerk! If you can’t do your area of expertise, what are you even doing? What? Can’t penetrate a security? So you don’t know the locations of the traps and can’t find the map?”
“It’s natural since it’s the enemy’s base. The security has to be this tight for it to hold value as my enemy…”
“Oh dear, is that so?”
You’ve been sealed for over ten years, haven’t you?
Playing around for ten years must have led to the tech grid catching up with you.
“No, let’s just smash everything. Whether it causes a space collapse or whatnot, they’ll stabilize it if they don’t want their base destroyed.”
If I break through in a straight line, it’ll all be resolved.
Whether it’s a rock formation or an important enemy facility.
Even if some enemy accidentally gets hit by my hammer and a catastrophe ensues.
Everything is bound to work out, I’m saying.
“I told you it can’t be done! This isn’t a spatial distortion designed with safety as the top priority…”
“Yeah, yeah. I wouldn’t understand that scientific explanation anyway.”
I summoned my hammer, scheduling demolition time.
With the intent to blast through the wall in front of me.
From the edge of my field of vision, I saw the librarian rushing over with a panicked expression, but it was already too late.
My stance was already taken.
Thud.
With a single step taken, the hammer began to be hurled.
Thud.
And just before the librarian arrived, the hammer met the wall.
The handle of the hammer bent slightly under the pressure, and an unimaginable burden was placed on my hand.
Crick, crick, crick.
The sound of metal bending accompanied a ping. Ping ping ping.
Rivets flew in all directions.
Bang.
The steel wall was blast away with refreshing ease.
Ah. That feels great.
It really is easier to break core attacks.
Facing me, I could feel the librarian’s glare, but what does it matter?
It’s too late now.
If the space warps, we’ll deal with it when it happens.
“Don’t glare at me like that. Now that it’s opened, let’s go.”
…Haah. That’s true.
Despite my cheerful voice, the librarian’s was like a gloomy atmosphere that plunged to the depths of hell.
But eventually, she simply followed me into the room.
“Hmm? It’s larger than I thought?”
From the outside, the room appeared dark, giving the impression of a hollow space or another corridor, but upon stepping inside, it was actually quite spacious.
The floor was metallic; it was clear it wasn’t some kind of natural cave.
Perhaps fascinated by such a peculiar space, the librarian turned her head to examine the surroundings and then spoke.
“Something is shining over there.”
“Let’s check it out.”
To me, something indeed appeared to be emitting light.
A faintly blinking bizarre source.
Despite thinking it a vast room, we had been walking through narrow corridors, so that was our misjudgment.
Crossing what might only be the size of a training room, we arrived before the source of light.
After spotting it, I tapped the librarian’s back and spoke.
“What did I say! I told you to just do it!”
…Don’t tell me. No, it can’t be, right?
Startled, the librarian reached out toward the shining source.
A blinking terminal.
To be exact, it was an old CRT monitor attached to a computer.
Just about 20 seconds after the librarian made contact with the terminal—
…How… is this happening…
The librarian let out a groan.
“What is it, something go wrong?”
“I found it.”
As she uttered that.
“The map. I found it. Hahaha…”
The librarian’s sad laughter filled the room.
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