Fortunately, the newly appeared monster was not as strong as the scout.
My spear strike punched a hole through its body, and under the attacks that followed from the squad members, it finally breathed its last.
As I looked at the dead monster, I heard Soph speak.
[I don’t know whether to call this troublesome or fortunate. Only after seeing that did I remember.]
It would have been nice if he had told me sooner, but I could not ask for that much.
I was simply grateful that he was remembering things at all, like now.
[That is one of the combat soldiers created by the control object. A monster that imitates humans.]
Soph’s voice was terribly dark.
[Originally, it was not a monster that would be exposed this easily. Many died because of that thing. They infiltrated among people and caused tremendous chaos.]
Certainly, if this had been a normal world with many people, the damage would have been immense.
Right now, people had vanished, so the very fact that there was a human made no sense, and because we were former soldiers, we had noticed quickly.
Even so, once you knew, it seemed like it would be easy to tell them apart.
It did not seem able to speak, and its behavior was different from an ordinary human’s as well.
At my words, Soph clicked his tongue.
[Simple ones like this only resemble humans in appearance, but the others could even speak, so it was difficult to distinguish them from humans.]
This was supposed to be simple?
Even now that it was a corpse, it was not easy to tell apart.
If not for the white blood and the fingers that had turned into tentacles, it would have been no different from a human.
“The inside is completely different. The bones forming the skeleton are similar to a human’s, but the muscles, organs, and lungs all look different.”
“The clothes aren’t cloth either. They’re a kind of skin. Fascinating. How is something like this possible?”
Margreta and Tom were sitting in front of the woman’s—no, the monster’s—corpse, digging through it with bone knives.
The two of them were serious, but it was a little hard for the others to watch.
The monster being dissected looked so much like a person that even the soldiers turned their eyes away, and Hanna and the middle-aged Chinese man had retreated far into the distance.
Fortunately, the examination ended quickly.
“There’s nothing more to find out. It’s a life-form completely different from humans. This isn’t something for a pathologist to examine, but an alien biologist.”
It seemed it had not ended quickly because there was nothing special, but because there was nothing they could identify.
Margreta shook the white blood off her bone knife, and after Tom packed up the emergency tools again, we put the corpse into a box.
I intended to give this corpse to the biologist at the base.
After that, I cautioned the squad members.
“In any case, it’s a monster that looks exactly like a human on the outside. Everyone, please be careful.”
At my words, everyone nodded.
The Chinese people understood me as well.
Unlike the guard, whose expression did not change, the middle-aged man kept nodding after hearing me.
“I heard it would be dangerous, but I never imagined it would be this kind of danger. It was the same during the hunt, but this place truly is another world.”
He took out a handkerchief from who knew where and wiped away the sweat pouring down his face.
We began searching again.
This ruin, which Soph had called a training center, resembled a modern bunker on Earth, unlike the other ruins.
After passing through the broken entrance on the surface and descending the stairs, a long corridor and rooms connected to it came into view.
The corridor was made of metal rather than stone, and a soft light flowed from the ceiling, so there was no need to take out torches.
Contrary to Soph’s words, the interior facilities were badly damaged, but neither the objects nor the ruin itself looked old.
[That is because it was fixed in place with freezing magic all this time. The light remains because the magic was still alive as well. It has not been long since the ruin was destroyed.]
That meant this ruin had been intact until recently.
We had simply come a little late and ended up seeing it after it had been wrecked.
[It will not all be broken. We can only hope something intact remains.]
What we were looking for was a kind of training device that educated people.
As we continued the search, Soph explained what this facility had done in the past.
[Not all of us could become mages either. There were those who could use the power of the stars, dark energy, but had no aptitude for magic.]
It seemed there had been people like me back then too.
[There was no one who could not become a mage because formulas were too difficult. Those people simply did not have the aptitude.]
I, too, simply did not have the aptitude for mathematics and physics.
[...In any case, we mages did not turn our backs on such people either. We created all sorts of magical tools so that those people could use magic like mages. Those are what you call relics.]
After telling me what relics were, Soph finally spoke about the training center.
[This facility is a training center where warriors learned and practiced with the relics they used. You are not using a relic, but the method of application should be similar, so it will be helpful.]
If what Soph said was true, it was certain to be of great help to me.
The problem was that we had not found an intact room while passing through several of them.
On top of that, there was another humanoid monster in one of the other rooms.
This time, it was a monster imitating a young boy.
A child leaning against the wall, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.
The first to see that monster was Sergeant First Class Woo.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
Sergeant First Class Woo’s face twisted violently, and curses spilled endlessly from his mouth.
Spewing profanity, he charged at the boy—no, the monster.
The boy—no, the monster—stretched an arm toward Sergeant First Class Woo as he rushed in.
Sergeant First Class Woo thrust his spear at the monster.
Thuk. Thuk. Thuk.
White blood splattered, and the monster screamed.
The monster’s elongated fingers turned into tentacles and tried to stab Sergeant First Class Woo.
But Sergeant First Class Woo did not retreat.
He dodged the incoming tentacles and continued thrusting his spear.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
Even after cutting off the tentacles, piercing its stomach, and bursting its head, he did not stop.
Thuk. Thuk. Thuk.
His maddened appearance was enough to make the squad members stop in their tracks.
Everyone seemed shocked, but I paid it no mind and walked up beside him.
I placed a hand on Sergeant First Class Woo’s shoulder.
“Sergeant First Class Woo.”
At my words, Sergeant First Class Woo flinched and stopped his spear.
“Hoo. Hoo. Hoo... I’m sorry.”
After taking deep breaths, he apologized to me.
I shook my head.
I had not expected Sergeant First Class Woo to react this way, but it was not the first time I had seen such a reaction.
Instead of warning him, I asked him a question.
“How many did you lose?”
At my question, he answered in a cracked voice.
“Half my unit died in an instant. Back then, it was a child too.”
The war was over now, but soldiers had experienced countless hellish things during it.
An entire unit being buried alive when a cave collapsed, or half a unit dying to a child’s suicide bombing, were not special occurrences.
Everyone simply kept it from showing on the outside, but soldiers who had gone through the war all carried at least one mental illness.
The same was true for me.
I patted his shoulder and spoke to the other squad members.
“He just got worked up for a moment because he remembered something from the past. He’s let out what was inside him, so he should be all right now.”
There was no way he was all right. Even so, I had to say it like that.
After hearing our conversation, the squad members also understood why he had acted that way.
That was also why I had deliberately brought it up.
Fortunately, the squad members understood him.
I did not know what the Chinese people thought, but I had no room to worry about those two as well.
In any case, Sergeant First Class Woo needed to rest for a while.
Taking that opportunity, I let the other squad members rest too and continued searching alone.
After passing through rooms where broken facilities remained, when I was not far from the end of the corridor, I was able to find a relic that was comparatively intact.
A bed similar to the kind used at a dentist’s office, and a single helmet placed on top of it.
Seeing the helmet covered in patterns reminded me of equipment I had seen on Earth.
“Is this like VR equipment?”
[What is that?]
“Equipment that shows you virtual reality.”
[Was such a thing possible with what you call Earth’s science? To think it could make one experience a virtual reality without even magic. I have underestimated Earth’s science.]
[...]
The virtual reality Soph was talking about and the virtual reality I was talking about were worlds apart, but I let him misunderstand.
[This is basic training equipment. It is not for relic education, but try this first.]
As if he had no interest in Earth’s science and technology, he urged me to use the device.
[Put on the hat and lie down here. It looks fine on the outside, so there should be no problem.]
I was about to put on the helmet when my hand stopped at Soph’s words.
“That makes it sound like there will be a problem.”
[It will be fine. I will watch, and if there is a problem, I will stop it.]
That was no different from saying there was a high possibility of a problem.
Even so, I could not come all this way and simply leave.
There were still more rooms I had not looked through, but I had to check this first.
I put on the helmet and lay down on the bed.
[I will begin. I will make preparations in the meantime as well, so do not worry and...]
Soph’s words grew more and more distant.
The world darkened, then brightened again.
It was something I had already experienced many times.
However, what I saw after it brightened was different from before.
Previously, I had been able to see and feel the entire world, but this time, all I could see around me was a white background.
In the center of that background stood one person.
He was an ordinary man without any distinctive features.
He was wearing armor similar to the fighter I had seen in my dream.
He had been standing there blankly, but when I approached, he opened his mouth.
“From now on, we will begin instruction on basic combat methods using energy.”
A simple response that did not feel human.
I had seen a scene like this on Earth before.
‘Is it like a training NPC?’
“First, we will conduct a sparring match to assess your skills. Please defend and attack to the best of your ability.”
“What a relief. It would’ve been troublesome if you’d started droning on and on and called it education.”
Fortunately, this instructor was practical.
No weapon was provided, but the same was true for my opponent.
My body was no different from reality either. I could use energy, and I could feel my super senses.
The body and senses that had grown faster than before after coming to this planet were also the same, so confidence welled up in me.
“Here I come!”
I shouted loudly and charged at the instructor NPC.
I was beaten half to death.
I could not land a single hit.
I had become faster and stronger than before, but my opponent was faster and stronger.
It did not hurt as much as in reality, but after I ended up sprawled on the floor without touching him even once, a sigh escaped me on its own.
“I thought I’d gotten a little better, but I guess close combat really is impossible for me...”
As I looked at the instructor NPC while lying on the floor, he was looking at me with pathetic eyes.
To be honest, I was not bad at fighting. If I had been bad at fighting, there was no way I would have been pulled into operations every time.
However, for some strange reason, using my own hands directly or swinging a weapon was difficult.
When I learned techniques, I could follow along well enough, but once sparring began, I moved terribly, and when I stood before an enemy, both my attacks and defenses became tangled.
“I was good at dodging by instinct, and I could manage just stabbing at weak points...”
If it was only dodging, I could do it better than anyone.
I was truly confident in attacking a single point, like with shooting.
But when those things were combined and a form was added, it all ended up a mess.
As I lay on the floor sighing like that, the instructor NPC opened his mouth.
“Assessment complete. The trainee’s condition has been understood.”
“You mean I’m a mess.”
“At present, the trainee has not internalized his exceptional senses.”
“My senses what?”
At the unexpected words, I sprang to my feet.
The instructor NPC continued speaking regardless of my actions.
“The trainee’s actions deviate from their intended path each time due to a conflict between senses close to precognition and rational movement. If you learn to move according to your senses through training, the situation will improve.”
“Is that really true?”
Honorific speech came out on its own.
It did not matter whether the other party was an AI or a magical NPC.
If he could fix my problem, then speaking politely was nothing at all.
“From now on, training will begin through sparring. I will attack first, so prepare to block.”
“Ah, wait!”
I had liked that he was practical, but to think even the instruction would be sparring without explanation.
Startled, I raised my fists, and at the same time, the instructor charged in.
Thwack!
“Argh!”
I flew through the air again.
How much time had passed?
As we continued sparring, I realized at some point that the world had gone dark.
‘Is it already over?’
The world brightened again.
I could see the softly glowing ceiling.
And just as I was thinking that my head somehow felt hot, I heard Soph speak.
[As expected, it was not completely fine. It broke midway, so I had no choice but to wake you.]
“What?”
I hurriedly took off the helmet.
Smoke was billowing out of the helmet I had removed.
Unlike while I was inside, it seemed not much time had passed.
I threw the helmet away and was about to say something to Soph.
Soph got in the first word.
[The helmet breaking is one thing, but the guest you were waiting for has arrived.]
At Soph’s words, I got down from the bed and picked up my spear.
Step.
One person came inside.
It was a young Chinese man.
He was the soldier who had come as a guard, and now, he was my enemy.
Having entered the room silently, he was holding a sword I had never seen before.
[It seems there was a sword lying around.]
Looking at the sword, Soph clicked his tongue.
The man, who had remained silent until now, opened his mouth.
“I waited until you were alone. Since I happened to pick up a sword too, this should be perfect for finishing things.”
As expected, it seemed he had also been waiting for an opportunity.
I also raised my spear and stood before him.
Soph asked,
[So, was it of some help?]
At those words, I grinned.
[Yes. It was a great help.]