Chapter 21

Broken Person11-13 minutes 22.05.2023

I decided to start by robbing the warehouse the hologram told me about.

Regs moved the fastest. The twitching muscles in his back told me how excited he was.

Once inside the warehouse, the A.I. helped me a lot.

The warehouse was more spacious than expected, with various items stacked haphazardly. The shield-wielding golem Reg was looking for was easy to find due to its size, but it didn’t have a magic core to power it. ‘It’s probably in a box’, the A.I. said in a voice that sounded like it was trying to remember.

We split up and started searching for the box, and along the way we found a lot of things we didn’t know what they were for, and whenever we approached the A.I., it would explain them to us.

-That’s not a magic core, it’s a communication orb.

“Communication orb?”

-Yes. Don’t they have them now? Well, even in ‘ancient times’ they were something that only master mechanics could make.

“Hmm, is this the kind of thing that allows you to communicate with the person holding it, no matter how far away they are?”

-Yes. There’s an exact distance that it can be used. But it’s about a continent away, so it doesn’t matter.

As the A.I. explained, I opened the subspace.

The A.I. explained that everything you find in a dungeon can be a reward. I remember a hologram that pretended to be a cool reward and then gave me a bunch of crappy answers, so I didn’t bother picking up the communication orb.

Even after that,

-That’s an ‘automatic wok’. It will automatically stir-fry ingredients as long as they are ‘stir-fried’.

-Well, it’s like a letter. It’s made to be read in a special way.

-What did you bring with you this time? In order, those are magic scissors, a wheelchair, and a lightsaber.

I found a lot of different things.

My biggest find was a small pocket of subspace. This was a welcome find at a time when I was worried that my subspace was full, and I wouldn’t be able to carry any of the treasures I found here.

I took the junk out of my subspace and put it in my subspace pocket. Then I put the full subspace pouch back into my subspace, which was now freeing up space in my subspace. It was nice to see the clutter that was taking up so much space was gone.

“Wow, I’m most proud of the occasional tidy-up.”

I wiped my sweaty forehead.

The subspace felt lighter and less scary.

“Haha, guys, you can bring me anything you want to take with you!”

I shouted curiously and swept up the items I’d been looking at. The warehouse was dirty, but I had sorted things thoroughly. So, all I had to do was pile them up.

As a mechanic, I was surprised to see how many things he had made, some of which could be found in the 21st century and others in a fantasy world.

“Wait, but why are there magic items?”

Judging from the text on the golem, it seemed that Yosaham could draw magic circuits but couldn’t use magic. However, there were quite a few items that could only be made by using magic.

-Ah. Probably… It was taken from the mages.

The A.I. said, suddenly backing away.

The memories of being trapped in the box must have been intense. The questioning was brutal.

I shrugged.

Not only me, but my colleagues also packed their things one by one. Surprisingly, no one asked for a subspace. We each took only what we could carry on our bodies.

“…Just that?”

Am I being too greedy?

“Yes. Most of the other stuff is hard to use without magic power.”

Herrin smiled. In her hand, she clutched a pendant of unknown use.

As I listened to her and looked around, I realized that everyone else was picking up items that were ‘interesting but didn’t require magic’, especially Regs with his giant shield.

The crate with the magic core was a bit of a disappointment, as I only found it after a lot of stuff was gone. It was lying on the floor in the corner of the warehouse where the most stuff was stacked.

“I found it… what do I do with it?”

Reg asked, stroking his chin.

He flicked the A.I. with his fingertips.

-Don’t touch me like that, my whole body is throbbing… a lot… you can see it on the golem’s breastplate.

The A.I. was right. There was a circular indentation on the golem’s chest, hidden by the shield. It was the size of a magic core.

“Isn’t this too easy to capture?”

-That’s why it’s in the warehouse.

The A.I. answered me.

Reg took a deep breath, letting his chest expand, and exhaled slowly. Then, he plunged one of the magic cores into the groove.

Woosh-

The grey bouncy ball glowed purple as it made contact with the golem.

After that, it was a battle between Reg and the Golem. The warehouse that had been cleared of many items was quite spacious and looked like it could be used for training. I backed up against the wall, thinking I could get on with the training. Everyone else had the same idea and took cover.

The A.I. flew over and hovered near us.

I stared at the A.I. for a moment. It had been focusing its energy on its eyes for so long that it was now sensitive to the energy flow, and I could tell.

The A.I. was watching Reg’s training, and at the same time, magic was flowing back and forth inside the sphere, whether it was thinking or calculating, I couldn’t tell.

-…Very, very passionate.

After watching the A.I. talk to itself, I stopped observing and watched Reg’s training.

I could see the dungeon exit. I could see the flickering membrane. It glowed slightly in five colours and then went dark.

It looked like an unpleasant place to pass through.

I barely managed a frown.

-Well, goodbye then.

The A.I. waved goodbye.

I hesitated a moment, then asked a question.

“Are you going to stay in the dungeon?”

Herrin eyes lit up at my words. Even if it was just drops of water and breath exchanged, they seemed to have bonded for a brief moment, and that was the same for me.

-…I can’t help it. I am an A.I. created to guide you through this dungeon.

The A.I.’s tone was stiff as it spoke. It was the most A.I.-like thing I had ever heard.

“But don’t you hate being in this dungeon?”

Herrin asked back, a little depressed.

-Yes. …I guess I’ve developed something called ‘feelings’, and I want to get out of this dungeon, this dark, silent dungeon….

“Then…!”

-But that’s why I can’t get out of here.

“Why?”

-I’ve come to feel things I used to treat only as predictions. I know that once I step through that curtain, I will not be able to move. I will no longer be able to think, speak, or move. It must be an act of ‘suicide’ in the language of living things. …I don’t have the courage yet.

There seemed to be nothing more we, the third party, could add, only to surrender to the slightly depressed mood.

I reached out and grasped the warrior’s forearm. I was about to ask him to leave.

-Someday, yes. We’ll have visitors here again someday, won’t we?

The A.I. didn’t seem to have much to look forward to.

To me, the A.I. had been taught too much emotion. The A.I., who must have been modelled on Yosaham, the mechanic, was a good imitation of Yosaham when we first met him, but his speech and thoughts had changed.

Perhaps the treasure chest had already developed feelings and thoughts different from Yosaham’s. The most plausible theory is that it was acting according to the input when it first met us, and then gave up halfway through.

I rubbed my temples, feeling a slight headache.

“Is it your horsepower supply or the input to your horsepower circuitry that’s the problem?”

-…both.

I clapped lightly, feeling a hand stroke my hair anxiously.

“Okay. I have a suggestion, A.I..”

-….

“There’s room in my subspace right now for a sphere the size of you.”

The magical circuitry, which even with magic, would have been visible only with a glow in the dark, began to fade. Though it remained silent, the A.I.’s excitement seemed to have caused the overheated circuitry to peek through, and it was more than a little amusing. Cute bastard.

I spoke without hesitation.

“As you know, time doesn’t flow in subspace. Sure, you won’t be able to think, you won’t be able to move, you won’t be able to speak, but at least you won’t come to a complete stop, and you won’t feel anything.”

I have the last word, but somehow, I feel ashamed.

I’m not saving anyone, I’m not in a position to do so, it’s not the right topic…. Should I do this? Won’t I be giving it some kind of weird hope, saddling me with promises I can’t keep?

A storm raged in my head, but I couldn’t stop talking as I watched the magic circuits appear and disappear like flickering lights.

I pursed my lips a few times before I spoke, my voice a little unsure.

“Maybe, it might take a while, but if I can find a way to fix your circuitry, I’ll pull you out of subspace and fix it.”

The A.I. was silent for a long moment.

-…It’ll only be a matter of moments for me, right?

“Maybe.”

-In human terms, yeah. In the blink of an eye, my magic circuits will be fixed.

“Yeah.”

-In the space of a few breaths from the land creature, I’ll wake up outside the dungeon, somewhere I don’t recognise.

“Right.”

-…and next to me is….

It didn’t seem to need my answer, but I gave it anyway. The answer came to me as I watched the bubbles rise and fall in the air.

The A.I., which had been chattering away about predictions and hopes, fell silent for a moment and then accepted my offer.

I picked up the A.I., which moved slowly towards me. Subspace opened its black mouth in front of the A.I.’s face.

I looked down at the A.I. for a moment, feeling the intermittent vibrations in my palm.

“You ready?”

-What was there to be ready for, but to wait.

“I guess so.”

-Ah, I have a favour to ask.

“….”

-When I wake up again, give me a new name. I want to feel reborn and start a new life. Not Yosahamver.11.

Apparently, the A.I.’s name was Yosahamver.11.

I nodded wordlessly. Then I put the A.I. into the subspace.

“Why are you crying?”

“Hmph, I don’t know, heuk.”

I turned around and saw Herrin burying her face in her hands and crying. She was elemental to the point of sensitivity.

After convincing myself, I opened my mouth to ask the warrior to leave. But this time, I was interrupted.

“…a little bit, and I don’t feel good about it. …but it can’t be helped.”

The warrior was the same after he finished his own conviction.

The A.I. took that as a sign of regret, and gestured toward the exit.

Now it was back to the horn mountains, where the magic was rising again.

And I had to stop by the Magic Tower at least once to fulfil my promise to the A.I..

As annoying as the Horn Mountains were, the thought of going back to the tower made me even more uncomfortable. For a moment, I remembered what happened when I left the tower.

‘Dean, you’re so mean!’

My voice echoed through the 84th floor.