Once, in a world that enjoyed a far more prosperous life thanks to the early development of nuclear fusion energy…
That world eventually fell into ruin due to a plague and monsters that began appearing one day.
And just before its collapse, the last “Assault Bot” guarding the city, the CM-29, continued to hold out. However, after endless battles, it went offline due to system overload.
That was the tale of the robot lying alone amidst barricades, still fully functional but requiring a reboot command from its operator to awaken.
In the original world, anyone possessing a skill to manipulate machines might have been able to revive it.
Isiah was one of the rare individuals in this world who possessed that skill.
“Let’s give that robot a try!”
She furiously scribbled on a tablet.
<It shouldn't be broken... It would be best if we could get it to join the fight now.>
Isiah’s observation did make sense. If we waited any longer, we might not have the chance to form ranks, and chaos would ensue.
But there was no need to worry. Once it powers up, we might not even have to do anything.
“Hurry up!”
The closer we delayed, the nearer the zombies got.
With a frown, Isiah reached out to touch the robot. Suddenly, the front camera of the robot lit up red.
“Uh, uh…?”
The robot then emitted a “Wheeeeng” sound and rose to its feet.
“■■■ ■ ■■ ■■. ■■, ■■■.”
Unintelligible alien language. Since it wasn’t attacking us, it seemed the revival was a success.
‘I don’t know what it’s saying…’
[“Assault Bot operational. Awaiting commands.”] Oh, that’s what it means.
“Eh? How does Lady Laura understand this language?”
[Actually, creatures like these once invaded our world.]
A question mark popped into my head. It seemed like a massive plot twist.
For now, we decided to focus on the battle.
I addressed Isiah.
“Senior Si-Ah, let’s sweep them away with that!”
“Meow!”
She responded with an unusually lively tone. At the same time, the robotic spider legs of the CM-29 began moving.
Wheeeeng.
The machine gun turrets rotated.
Ratatatat.
A barrage of bullets mowed down the zombies. It wasn’t just a matter of the zombies falling; their bodies were pulverized into fragments that scattered across the ground.
With its upper body swiveling, the ‘Assault Bot’ sprayed bullets like a gale sweeping through autumn leaves, causing the zombies to collapse in heaps.
We could only stand there, stunned, watching.
“Amazing.”
“Surely, it isn’t going to attack us too, is it?”
A worried comment from Lee Sang-hyun. I reassured him.
“Don’t worry. Senior Si-Ah activated it with her ability.”
“Is that what skills can do?”
I could understand his surprise. The ‘God of Mechanisms’ allowed one to control all forms of machinery, but with Isiah’s low-ranking skill, even controlling a car was pushing it. This ‘Assault Bot’ was clearly high-tier machinery, which should have been nearly impossible for her to handle normally.
But if there was no need to control it directly?
The last order given to CM-29 was to ‘actively protect civilians.’ All Isiah did was turn it on and make us appear as ‘civilians’ to it. The built-in AI would handle the rest.
Of course, this was possible only because of her skill.
Soon, the ‘Assault Bot’s’ machine gun fire ceased. The battle was over.
The only ones left standing in this street were us.
“■■■■ ■, ■. ■■■■.”
We searched the zombie corpses for ‘Orbs of Growth.’ There were no other usable items.
“Guh… I need stats now. NOW!”
Lee Sang-hyun exhibited a blissful expression as he consumed the orbs.
“Meow.”
“Park Ha-yeon was right. Coming in was a good decision!”
Due to her compliment, I directed the credit to Isiah.
“Senior Si-Ah’s actions made this mission easier.”
“Meow? Meow. Meow.”
“Hmm… Sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Isiah pulled out a tablet from her backpack and started writing.
<No, I was too flustered to even think about the robot. I thought it was broken entirely. This only worked thanks to your timely judgment.>
“Haha. But this could only have been possible with Senior Si-Ah’s skill.”
Thus, Isiah and I continued to pass the credit back and forth.
“The two of you are going to date, aren’t you? Huh?”
Lee Sang-hyun teasingly joked about us.
Park Ha-yeon, looking annoyed, interjected with a cold tone to draw our attention.
“Seonno (a term of endearment). What should we do now?”
The sun had already begun to set, creating an evening sky. The encroaching darkness posed a disadvantage to us. If there was no pressing need to move at night, the best strategy would be to wait until tomorrow.
“At least let’s move the barricade properly, fortify our defenses, and spend the night here.”
We considered entering a nearby building, but we couldn’t know where or how many zombies might be lurking inside. Though I wouldn’t be bothered, if my companions were to be attacked, they might get hurt.
Instead, this location with the barricades, where we could rely on the support of CM-29, seemed appropriate.
We set up tents and prepared for camping. Isiah volunteered to patrol with the robot since she was the only one who could communicate with it.
Sizzling sounds of barbecue meat filled the air.
Laura stood idly by until the meat was fully roasted, then quickly snatched a piece.
“Mmm~ This is delicious~”
‘Ah…’
I couldn’t say anything and just watched her.
Seeing Laura’s actions, Sang-hyun smiled and then asked with a bemused expression.
“Does our cousin also possess a hybrid-form skill?”
While tearing off another piece, Laura nodded in affirmation.
“Is that a tail I see? Perhaps a lizard-like monster? Could it be a lizardman?”
“Wh-wha?!”
Laura’s face turned a deep shade of red. Huffing with anger, she jabbed Sang-hyun in the stomach with her horn.
“Uugh…”
“O you bare-skinned ape! I am NOT some lizard!”
I swiftly picked up the riled Laura and set her back down in front of the food.
“Alright, calm down and eat your food.”
I explained on her behalf.
“Laura has a skill to transform into a subspecies of Dragon, the Dragonoid.”
“Ugh… Y-yeah. Sorry…”
“I apologize. She has poor manners.”
My words caused Laura to glare daggers at me, and Sang-hyun became even more subdued upon seeing her reaction.
“Hmph.”
Taking a sigh, Sang-hyun picked up his food.
I craved a cigarette. Even the alcohol Sang-hyun had brought would be a comfort, but it wasn’t sensible to drink alcohol in a dungeon. I was no Russian hunter after all.
Meanwhile, Isiah, who was enjoying her meal with her tail wrapped tightly around her, appeared to have momentarily entrusted exterior security to the robot.
I advised her.
“Senior Si-Ah, no matter how tired you feel, it’d probably be better to continue piloting the robot. It might be an excellent way to level up your skill’s proficiency.”
CM-29 was programmed to take commands from civilians and proved relatively easy to maneuver. Although technically the AI was doing most of the handling, the system still treated these commands as piloting, awarding proficiency points as such.
Since the ‘Assault Bot’ fell into the upper tier category, it would also reward a considerable amount of proficiency points.
During game times, it was common to spend weeks inside with these machines solely to level up the skills. Now, in the reality of things, doing the same was much more challenging.
“Meow? Meow.”
Suddenly gazing at nothingness, Isiah soon grinned, likely checking her status window.
<It's really true! My proficiency level rose incredibly! How did you know all this?>
“Pure speculation, that’s all. That bot just seemed pretty impressive.”
<Thank you. I'll keep piloting this machine all night, then?>
That judgment was correct. Such opportunities didn’t come around often, even if it meant losing some sleep.
Nearby, Park Ha-yeon suddenly grabbed my cooking skewer.
“Give it here. Let me do the grilling.”
“Uh, sure. Thanks.”
Ha-yeon grilled the meat while inquiring.
“You seem pretty familiar with this kind of thing. You look like someone who’s been in and out of dungeons for quite some time. And yet, we’re the same age?”
Instead of dungeons, it was the long history of villain-hunting that really took time. Enough that over a year had passed in the blink of an eye.
“Nah. I was equally confused but just didn’t show it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Park Ha-yeon didn’t say another word until the meal ended.
We laid down on sleeping bags, looking up at a pristine night sky. Given the world’s context of utilizing nuclear fusion energy, it was plausible that air pollution was minimal.
While Isiah continued to play around with the robot on the outside of the barricades, intermittently dealing with the odd wave of zombies, Sang-hyun was already fast asleep, snoring softly.
Suddenly, Ha-yeon spoke.
“Seonno, you remind me of a protagonist in a novel. You’re always there to help whenever I’m in trouble… Starting at D-rank but quickly rising to B-rank… Given your combat experience should be similar to mine, you’re unnaturally skilled, as if you’ve been practicing this kind of thing for a long time already.”
“I must be pretty great, huh.”
“Perhaps… Is there something you’re hiding from me?”
“…No.”
For a moment, I considered revealing to Ha-yeon the existence of “Dark Knight.” However, judging by her personality, she likely wouldn’t accept it.
I changed the subject.
“Look at those stars. The sky is incredibly clear tonight.”
“Yeah, it certainly is. And the constellations don’t match Earth’s either…”
Thus, exchanging random stories, we eventually fell asleep.
Tomorrow, we would clear the dungeon.
