Chapter 314

[Deus Ex Machina (Dungeon Quest)

Rank: S++

Description: Awaken the God of Machinery to take the dolls’ emotions and souls and turn them into simple Machina, the cogs of the machine existing purely for system maintenance.]

“How peculiar,” Taidzu mumbled, withdrawing Solho’s Heroic Soul.

He was currently in the deepest point of the dungeon, Doll’s House, the surroundings filled with small and cute furniture, small enough for dolls to use. There was a pink couch, lace curtains, a small fireplace, a bed with a canopy over it, a checkered floor, and more. Taidzu felt like a giant in a country of pixies. However, the strangest part about this dungeon was that there was only a corruption quest, no purification quest.

I haven’t found any clues about the people Bodonchar wrote about yet, he thought.

Since it was a faction that Bodonchar had cooperated with, he wanted to figure out who they were, but he and the orcs had accumulated too much fatigue, as one would expect from an S++ dungeon.

The bosses of dungeons ranked S were likely Hispar-rank and above, and there was a high chance of a Lang-rank boss appearing in a dungeon ranked S+. A normal Lang-rank Chaos could overpower the average High Ranker, and a Lang-rank boss Chaos was so monstrous that it could give even Taidzu a hard time. And they were in a dungeon ranked S++, no less. Retreat was the right call here.

As Taidzu was about to give the order to retreat, Tasha, a Sahahun of the Hawk tribe, ranked fifth in the orc ranking, approached him and shouted, “Chwik! Master Taidzu!”

“Tasha. Right on time. Have the forces—”

“Please take a look at this!” Tasha interrupted Taidzu, handing him a pink diary.

There was a flowery sign at the front of the diary, and something was scribbled on it with uneven lines as if a child had written it.

Dolly’s Diary!

You’re dead if you look inside!

“Dolly’s Diary?” Taidzu remarked.

“Chwik, it won’t open, no matter how hard I try,” Taidzu said.

Taidzu stared silently at the silver heart-shaped lock on the pink diary, his eyes slowly widening.

This is... he said inwardly, feeling a power from the lock similar to a unique caliber.

His grey star, Tusk, immediately rose to the sky of Doll’s House, and he wrote history in the Akashic Records that he would open this diary.

“Hup!” he grunted, successfully forcing the lock open.

The lock fell to the floor, impressing Tasha beside him.

“As expected of Master Taidzu!” he shouted.

Taidzu flipped through the diary in search of clues regarding the individuals Bodonchar had mentioned, but such information was nowhere in sight. It only contained the scribbles of a child about what they did each day.

XX Month, XX Day. Clear skies.

I played with Hatchi today! It was so fun! We’re gonna play again next time!

XX Month, XX Day. Cloudy, then clear skies.

Hatchi doesn’t play with Dolly anymore... Hatchi said he needs to work. Hmph! What’s so fun about work? Shura played with me instead, so it was fine!

XX Month, XX Day. Cloudy.

Aww, man! Even Shura won’t play with Dolly anymore. Shura wound the key on her back. Why is everyone working? Can’t they just play with Dolly?

XX Month, XX Day. Rainy.

Dolly’s alone... This is Dolly’s playground, but no one plays with me... I’m so sad. Why has everyone become like that?

XX Month, XX Day. Super rainy.

I found the reason! Deus Ex Machina! The clockwork stole everyone’s emotions! Bad clockwork! We’re not machines! Dolly’s gonna destroy this thing!

XX Month, XX Day. Thunder and lightning.

It’s impossible... Deus Ex Machina doesn’t stop. Everyone has become a soulless cog that only works... Will Dolly also... become a Machina soon?

XX Month, XX Day. Don’t know.

My emotions are disappearing. I can’t feel joy anymore. Every day feels the same. I felt like I laughed a lot when I was little... Come to think of it, what is laughter?

XX Month, XX Day. Good day to work.

Dolly’s an adult, so I’m not sad. I want to tell Little Dolly that it will be comfortable later if you work now. We fixed the merry-go-round on the third floor today. It turns well now.

XX Month, XX Day. Good day to work.

Hatchi is broken. Shura can be used again with some repairs. Everyone must work hard. We should repair the roof starting today.

Taidzu quickly skimmed through the diary, filled with entries about what they finished and started.

It doesn’t look like it contains anything about the individuals, he said inwardly in disappointment.

However, he continued to read the diary until the end, and his hands suddenly stopped.

“Hm?” he expressed, noticing the weather report that had constantly been good day to work had changed.

XX Month, XX Day. Foggy.

Ahhh! What has Dolly been doing this whole time? I would have become an emotionless machine if he hadn’t found me!

“He?” Taidzu mumbled.

XX Month, XX Day. Clear skies.

The doll race was born anew! We’ve been given salvation! He has saved us! Dolly’s gonna call him Daddydaddy from now on!

“Daddydaddy?”

XX Month, XX Day. Super clear skies!

Daddydaddy is amazing! He says he wants to save not only me, but a bunch of other people! Dolly wants to help Daddydaddy!

“Save?”

XX Month, XX Day. Super sunny!

Finally! It’s finally here! Daddydaddy’s plan has finally started! To save everyone, he...

Taidzu stiffened like a log the moment he read the final sentence.

“Chwik, Master Taidzu,” Tasha called.

Taidzu remained silent.

“Chwik, is anything about Deus Ex Machina written in there?”

Taidzu did not answer.

“Master Taidzu?”

What? Taidzu thought, reading the final sentence over and over again.

However, the letters were like a confusing, fragmented puzzle that did not translate to meaning. Just then, a chilling voice echoed from thin air.

“You... read Dolly’s diary, didn’t you?”

“Who’s there?!” Tasha shouted, unsheathing his scimitar and pointing at the source of the voice.

A blonde little girl, tapping her Mary Jane patent leather shoes together and clenching the hem of her pink dress, was trembling in rage. Her Milky Way-like eyes spun with the sound of a winding key turning.

“I warned you! Anyone who looks inside Dolly’s diary dies!” Dolly shouted, exuding the Cosmos, the purest Chaos Mana.

“Chwik! Master Taidzu! Your orders! Master Taidzu!” Tasha shouted uneasily.

Hearing that, Taidzu quickly took his eyes off the diary as if having woken up from a dream. However, the final sentence of the diary continued to linger before his eyes like a hologram.

To save everyone, he finally succeeded in creating the Mirror World!

***

What are you talking about? I’m not a human? Seong-Hwi asked inwardly.

“You should get out of here. I will find a way to escape with Taufi and...”

Lodon was talking beside him, but Seong-Hwi was entirely focused on the voice inside him. The green eye shone playfully as it stared at Seong-Hwi meaningfully.

Please be clearer!

“Ahahaha! Can you even understand if I do?”

What is that supposed to mean?

“The world is filled with the unknown. That is why one needs endless curiosity,” Curiositas said joyfully.

Seong-Hwi stared at the approaching black wall and thought firmly, If you continue to joke around, this is the end of our conversation. I need to escape as soon as possible.

“Why would a king leave his subjects behind?”

What?

“Let me continue my previous point. You are likely not a human. Rather, you are closer to a Chaos.”

What kind of absurd—

“Why is it absurd? You told that Chaos, who became an exemplar of a hammerhead shark merfolk, that you two are fellow Chaos, did you not?”

That was a lie to trick him!

“That is not necessarily the case.” Curiositas’s right eye looked straight at Seong-Hwi. All signs of mischief were gone, giving off the aura of a sage telling only the truth. “You used an os skill, did you not?”

It was true. Seong-Hwi had indeed used an os skill at Blood Castle when he created the chaos scurvy.

“You also created Children.”

That was also true. Zhao Benshan, Havela, Emil Mielke, and Gao Weiguang were now his Children.

“Do you believe an ordinary human can do such things? Or a Chaos?”

That’s because I absorbed the genes of the Bachtasha-rank Chaos, Ajingya—

“Can an ordinary human absorb the genes of a Bachtasha-rank Chaos and use the Cosmos?”

That’s because I have the Wings of Evolution—

“So, you’re saying any human could become like you if they have the Wings of Evolution?”

Seong-Hwi remained silent because he knew the truth.

“Absolutely not. I thought you had already realized it. You said it yourself. You are special.”

Seong-Hwi had mumbled so after completing the spring cleaning at the Cecil Hotel, and Curiositas had whispered to him in response.

“That is why I observe you. What makes you special? Come find me if you wish to know the answer.”

“Now, that is the answer.”

Various thoughts and puzzle pieces swirled around Seong-Hwi’s head. His hexagonal genes, Destiny Force. os, K.I.Y., ■■■■’s Demon, and the causality stored within the ■■■; puzzle pieces that did not match continued to crash against each other.

I’m not a human? I’m a Chaos? Seong-Hwi thought.

To be more specific, Curiositas said that he was closer to a Chaos than a human, but that was also absurd in its own right.

How am I supposed to understand... if you just throw that kind of bizarre answer at me? Seong-Hwi asked inwardly.

“You even want the solution?”

Yes.

“Ahaha! You sure like to ask a lot of me!” Curiositas laughed pleasantly and continued, “Though it feels like I’m telling you too much for free... Very well. Consider it a debt that you owe me. What do you think the Chaos are?”

The Chaos are... just the Chaos, aren’t they?

They were the Mirror World’s main enemy, and an evil that all races must eradicate. They could be born from negative emotions or corrupt other races to proliferate. They were like a poisonous mushroom.

“Which race in the Mirror World has the biggest population?”

That would be... the Chaos.

The population of the Chaos far surpassed that of the other races to the point that the other races were given a world quest known as Slay the Chaos to reduce their numbers.

“Which race has the biggest advantage in securing their own kind?”

The Chaos.

They could proliferate using the corruption qualities of Chaos Mana.

“Then which race would survive to the very end like cockroaches?”

The... Chaos.

“Then that would mean the Chaos is the most evolved and dominant race. In accordance with natural selection, the final evolution of the remaining races would be the Chaos.”

Seong-Hwi’s head went blank. He had never even attempted this kind of thought process. He couldn’t understand what this insane demon was talking about.

“The Chaos is a race that tries to integrate the strengths of all races. In a way, it is only natural that you are closer to a Chaos. After all, the same goes for you.” Curiositas’s green eye slowly began to close. “You have five more races to go, correct?”

Wait! How does that answer what I have to do to defeat an army of a million Chaos monsters?!

“You said it yourself. The two things crucial in hand-to-hand combat are defeating hostiles and securing allies. If you can’t defeat the hostiles... turn them into your allies.”

Curiositas’s green eye was almost entirely closed. Seeing that, Seong-Hwi shouted a question among the countless swirling in his head, which he wanted answered above all else.

One more thing! Please just tell me this! Are you the anonymous demon who has been disbursing causality in my stead?

Curiositas’s eye suddenly widened, shining like a green sun, filled with ecstasy and delight.

“I... am not!”

***

“AHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Curiositas laughed like a madman on a vast grassland under the boundless night sky filled with countless stars.

Although his mouth was smiling, his blindingly shining heterochromatic eyes were so abnormally wide that one couldn’t tell whether they were smiling or crying.

“CHEON SEONG-HWI! CHEON SEONG-HWI! CHEON SEONG-HWI—!!!” he ecstatically called Seong-Hwi’s name over and over again.

He stretched his right arm toward the sky. The moonlight illuminated his abnormally pale skin, faintly showing a black dot.

“I had my suspicions ever since I discovered the lock!”

When Curiositas used Memory Tracking on Seong-Hwi the day they met, he noticed that his memories were strange. They were fragmented as if there were gaps in them. When the Memory Tracking was scanning Seong-Hwi’s memory of his twenty-sixth Christmas Eve, Curiositas was locked out.

There were very few people who could place a lock on the Second Fiend, and the one whom he had been desperately looking for was among them.

“Gahahahaha! Your Ark has set sail!” Curiositas shouted as he stared at the countless stars. “Honorable S.G.! Or should I call you Laplace’s Demon?!”

At that moment, every star in the night sky glared at Curiositas.