I discovered about a dozen automatons in the cargo hold of the airplane that had landed in the mansion's garden.
"..."
"..."
But most of them had completely stopped functioning.
'Like a scene from a horror movie.'
Not a single automaton was intact.
The girl whose eyes met mine bowed gracefully.
[10]■■■■■
"I greet my new master."
"Is that okay?"
She had no arms.
"Automatons are fine as long as the head and torso are intact. Thank you for your concern."
"...Seems that way."
A girl with no legs was approaching, dragging her lower body and hair on the ground.
I was starting to doubt this game's genre.
[12]■■■■■
"I greet my new master."
"Stay still. That must be hard."
"You're concerned about me too? Thank you."
"..."
She seemed like a little girl craving love and attention.
Contrasted with my granddaughter who receives so much love she doesn't know she's happy.
I also saw boxes containing sorted automaton parts.
Right arm, left hand, right foot, lower body, upper body, head...
"Young master! Are you safe?!"
"Hm? This voice is... the helper?"
"It's Elise."
I looked inside the box where the aloof voice came from.
The helper with only her head and torso remaining was inside. Didn't expect to reunite like this.
[13]■■■■■
"Elise. You're pretty even without limbs, you know?"
"I'm glad you like it. You can hang me on the wall like this if you want."
"That seems kinda wrong!"
I carefully took her out of the box, unable to do anything by herself.
I'd planned to kick her butt hard when we met again. But seeing the helper's bizarrely grotesque state made me lose all desire to play around.
She whispered softly in my arms.
"I'm sorry for looking down on you, young master. You protected your family admirably."
"How do you figure?"
I came out of the airplane. And showed Elise the devastated mansion landscape.
The protagonist's family was on the brink of ruin. Might already be ruined.
"Because a healthy male to continue the family line is alive. You didn't lose your only estate either."
"Elise. You know a lot about this estate, right?"
"Yes. My period of dedication to the Marcus family is relatively short, but I'm confident I know Baron Marcus territory well."
"That's my helper! Knew I could count on you!"
"It's Elise."
"Where should we start to restore the estate? I have no one to ask."
Everyone ran away, leaving only me behind. And didn't come back.
'Can't be helped.'
From novels to games, regardless of genre, protagonists starting unhappily is practically a law.
Family dies, hit by a truck, engagement broken by a prince, dirt poor, looked down on for being weak, world ending, memory loss...
Ronan Marcus's fate of becoming alone the moment he opened his eyes is because he's this game's protagonist. So lamenting his situation is pointless.
"Don't worry about the estate. The automatons will manage everything."
"Then what does the lord do?"
"Meet excellent women and produce excellent heirs. Because automatons can't do that for you."
"What else?"
"Pick fights with other lords and declare war."
"Cool!"
Meaning the lord has nothing to do.
"...Still, it's better if you decide the estate's ideal form and direction for development."
"For example?"
"Ruins were discovered in the estate. Developing those ruins could rapidly grow the tourism industry."
"Next is the ruins."
The episode where I learn how to explore dungeons.
Must be an extension of the tutorial.
"The decision is yours, young master."
"How far has the ruins exploration progressed?"
"Only the entrance has been found."
"Perfect."
A revelation to enter first and monopolize the treasure.
"Should we develop the ruins?"
"After I finish exploring."
"Entering ruins with no information yourself is too dangerous. If we commission mercenaries..."
"It's fine."
If I die, I'll just restart from the beginning. That's the charm of games. Don't need to be careful like in reality where you only have one life.
"It's not fine."
"...Suddenly tired."
The fatigue seemed to hit as the tension from combat released.
"Leave the rest to us and rest."
"With that body?"
"We'll get repaired."
"Okay."
Will I wake up in reality if I fall asleep?
I lay down on the garden lawn torn up by the bandits' airplane landing without permission. The helper too, of course. She had no choice without limbs.
"Young master? Rest in bed."
"You handle that too."
"..."
I fell asleep right away, hoping to wake up in reality.
***
Almost all VR games skip sleep and biological needs. Who has time to eat and use the bathroom when you've carved out precious time to adventure in a fantasy world?
But I was handling everything from one to ten myself!
Without the status window following me like a wig, it was identical to reality.
'Really inconvenient game!'
The dissatisfaction that built up from the unfriendly tutorial broke through the limit.
But strangely, really strangely, I kept enduring it because I felt like I'd gotten younger.
"Young master. Good morning."
Elise, who'd restored her limbs, greeted me while tidying the disheveled bedding.
"Weather I hate."
"Because the sunshine's too nice?"
"Yeah. Makes me want to sit on a park bench overlooking a river or lake and soak up the warm sun. Weather that tortures office workers. But how'd you know?"
"I know everything about you, young master. I was the administrator of your advanced learning."
"So that's the setting."
"It's fact, not a setting."
Two days had passed since the day we drove out the bandits.
Didn't feel real. I just closed and opened my heavy eyelids, but they said a day had passed.
When I opened the window where warm sunlight seeped through, soft air struck my cheeks.
'Don't wanna go to work...'
But I can't even retire at will until I pay off the loan.
I leaned on the terrace railing and looked down.
[10]■■■■■
[11]■■■■■
[12]■■■■■
The repaired automatons were moving luggage.
I'd completely given up, but the automatons hadn't. They caught the bandits who'd fled on the airplane and retrieved all the plundered valuables.
"Young master. How's your body?"
"Really good."
My left shoulder had completely healed while I slept.
"How's your heart?"
"My heart?"
"You lost your family. Are you okay?"
"Don't feel anything."
"You mean family doesn't feel like family? You should be grateful for advanced learning's aftereffects right now."
"Well, yeah."
I gave up refuting Elise's misconception.
"Young master. Damages compensation arrived from the Count Benator family."
"Oh yeah?"
"Please check."
She opened the lid of a small jewelry box and handed it to me.
[?]■■■
[?]■■■
Black acorns with status windows were inside.
"They're coins."
"So these are coins."
Coins.
Fantasy consumables that turn soulless dolls into automatons with souls.
"Think of 1 automaton as 1 aircraft carrier and you'll get it."
"Good. I understand."
"Should we store them like this?"
"No. I'll use them right away. Prepare."
Let's pull some pretty aircraft carriers!
***
Operating the estate automatically required many automatons.
'Can't give up automation!'
I wasn't in a position to save the coins received as tutorial rewards.
High noon when intense sunlight attacked my crown.
Girls wearing gray tank tops and leggings that clung to their bodies were lined up waiting in the parking garage.
"I don't see status windows."
"Not that you can't see them—they don't have them. Because they're still dolls."
"I see."
Except for not having status windows like corpses, they were perfect automatons.
Elise, holding the jewelry box, explained.
"Just give a coin to the doll you like, young master. The remaining dolls are returned for free, so no need to feel burdened."
"They're all female. No males?"
"Would you prefer males?"
"No!"
I just asked to understand this game's worldview more broadly!
"I'm joking."
"Oh, yeah."
"Males who lost in market competition were discontinued, so they're hard to find now."
"But there must've been demand..."
"There was. But less than for cute and lovable girls."
"I see."
Seems they fought until only one remained. I think I know why they fought without asking.
With my question resolved, I took out 1 coin from the jewelry box.
'Already excited!'
My deliberation wasn't long.
Like choosing bread at a bakery, I gently pushed the coin like chocolate between the pink lips of the doll that caught my eye first.
[10]■■■■■
A status window appeared above the doll's head. The moment she transformed into an automaton with a soul.
"Ah..."
"Level 10."
Elise said teasingly.
Automatons can't level up, but they don't start from level 1 either. However, you don't know that level until you use the coin.
In other words, a gambling doll gacha!
"It's fine. This is just the start."
[10]■■■■■
[10]■■■■■
But this time was also level 10. Consecutively too!
Elise, covering her raised mouth corners with her hand, smiled annoyingly with her eyes.
"You have bad luck, young master."
"Wait. This is just the start."
I'm this game's protagonist. The game revolves around me. Having no luck doesn't make sense!
[11]■■■■■
"Got one!"
"Level 11?"
"This is it! Elise. Did you see that? This is protagonist buffs."
"Young master. Please refrain from statements that seem to deny reality. And level 11 comes out fairly often. Can't say you're lucky with this."
"Don't rush. The real thing starts now."
I tried repeatedly to continue this upward trend.
[10]■■■■■
[10]■■■■■
"..."
"You really do have bad luck."
"What's the problem?"
"There's no problem at all. If I had to add something, it's because you're not the game's protagonist or anything."
"Elise. No matter how much you deny it, truth doesn't change."
I'm the protagonist. This is truth.
'Calm down. Don't get excited.'
This isn't gambling gacha with my small, precious salary invested. Even if I fail, there's no financial loss, and this game will just get a bit annoying and unlikable.
[10]■■■■■
[10]■■■■■
"...Definitely rigged odds."
A game company that abandoned conscience is deceiving gamers!
"No. It's just that your luck is bad, young master."
"Did they disclose the exact odds?"
"Who would disclose that?"
"Obviously the game company... the company that made the coins should."
"All coins have status windows. Status windows can't be manipulated or forged. That's why coins are the only reserve currency accepted in every country."
Half-listening to Elise's explanation, I glanced at the jewelry box.
[?]■■■
[?]■■■
Only 2 coins left before I knew it.
After a deep breath, I carefully took out 1 and fed it to a doll.
[14]■■■■■
"Ooh..."
"Is this rigged too?"
"Of course."
But I thought just a little, a tiny bit, that maybe it wasn't.
I took out the last coin from the jewelry box. And while moving my gaze to choose a doll, I stopped.
"You recognized her right away."
"Of course."
That doll was the strongest and most difficult automaton from the tutorial. So difficult my brain froze during combat.
"She was in good condition so I repaired her."
"I see."
"Was it a pointless thing to do?"
"No. You did well."
I'd felt like I'd gotten younger after getting cut by this girl.
If that stimulus hadn't awakened something in me, I never would've passed the tutorial.
'Thank you.'
This coin is my thanks for that.
I pushed the coin between her lips.
"Young master!"
Elise suddenly made a fuss.
"What?"
"Look at her status window!"
"Didn't need to tell me that... whoa!"
──────────────
Achievement: Unique
Reward: 1 Level
Description: You obtained a rare doll!
Rating: Nice catch.
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