Chapter 012: Designated Initial-Y01, the Doll Maiden Named "Liuszi"

“Huff—, that scared me to death.”

Still shaken, Kobayashi gasped for breath, wiping the cold sweat forming on his forehead.

That black container had almost crushed him into a pancake!

Luckily, in a moment of panic, he had instinctively dodged and, in the heat of the moment, chosen to leave that world.

Staring up at the familiar ceiling and Aqua’s goofy face, for some reason, he began to relax.

Forget it.

Although his first crossing hadn’t gone perfectly, just catching a glimpse of another world’s scenery was satisfying enough.

“Kobayashi-senpai?!”

Kazuma Sato hurried over when he saw Kobayashi suddenly appear on the ground. “Kobayashi-senpai, you came back from crossing?”

“Yeah, I’m back.”

Kobayashi half-sat up while asking, “Kazuma, how long was I gone?”

“Less than ten minutes.”

“Really? Is the flow of time about the same?”

His greatest concern was the flow of time. If it differed between worlds, Kazuma and the others might have already defeated the demon king by the time he returned.

“Impossible, absolutely impossible.”

Kazuma insisted that it would be impossible for their group of misfits to have beaten the demon king so quickly.

“But I didn’t expect you to gain something in such a short time, senpai. That really surprised me.”

“...What are you talking about?”

“Huh?”

The two exchanged puzzled looks.

Kazuma pointed behind Kobayashi at the container. “Isn’t that thing what you brought back?”

Kobayashi quickly turned his head.

It turned out he had been leaning against the container’s outer wall, not the room’s wall.

Though called a container, it looked somewhat like a coffin designed for vampires, adorned with numerous gear-like mechanisms floating on its surface, exuding a mysterious, high-tech, cyberpunk vibe.

“What is this thing?!”

“Isn’t it a souvenir you brought back?”

“Not at all!”

Kobayashi and Kazuma exchanged questions and answers, quickly distancing themselves from the container. Even though they didn’t know what it was, caution was definitely warranted.

But they forgot one thing: the presence of a foolish goddess.

Aqua patted the container and asked the cautious pair, “Hey, how do you think we open this?”

“Wait...! What are you doing?”

Kazuma scolded sharply, “Get away from it! It’s dangerous, you idiot goddess!”

“Hah?! Stop calling me an idiot goddess all the time, you useless Kazuma!” Aqua seemed angry and slapped the container hard.

*Click!*

A soft sound rang out.

It seemed she had hit a switch, and the container began to transform.

“Ahh! I told you not to touch it! You idiot goddess!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“This is bad! Bad, bad, bad!”

Kazuma shouted as he grabbed Kobayashi, both terrified. Aqua, startled, quickly ran over and hid behind Kobayashi, peeking out from his shoulder.

Kobayashi was scared too, but seeing their fear strangely calmed him.

As the container fully opened, no monstrous creatures emerged.

After waiting a moment and seeing nothing unusual, the three cautiously approached.

Inside was a beautiful young girl.

Screws, cylinders, wires, springs, gears—countless mechanical parts surrounded her like funeral flowers.

The girl appeared about fifteen years old.

Her delicate features were doll-like and endearing, with rare silver hair as glossy as silk.

She wore a classic black dress, with slender limbs. The cool-toned clothing made her exposed skin look even more pale and translucent.

The only pity was that her eyes were tightly shut.

If she opened those lively eyes, she would surely add a vibrant color to the world.

“...Who is she?”

“No idea.”

Aqua whispered, “I don’t know who she is, but she has no heartbeat, no breath, and no soul.”

She gently touched the girl’s cheek with a hand full of compassion and tenderness, filled with holiness.

Kazuma hurriedly stopped her, “Hey, don’t touch her! What if she—wait, did you say she has no soul?”

“Yeah, she’s deceased. So Kazuma, keep your voice down and don’t disturb the dead,” Aqua said, adopting a solemn goddess demeanor.

She even began drawing magic circles, ready to purify the girl with sacred divine power to prevent her from becoming a zombie.

Suddenly, Kobayashi spoke up.

“She’s not human.”

Aqua froze.

“Hey, Aqua...” Kazuma looked at the goddess with disbelief. “What was that just now? Why are you pretending to be a goddess?”

“I’m a goddess by nature!”

“Uh-huh, ‘goddess.’”

Kazuma’s sarcastic tone genuinely hurt Aqua, who puffed out her cheeks and glared at Kobayashi with watery eyes as if blaming him for not letting her shine.

What she didn’t realize was that she had misunderstood from the start.

Kobayashi closed his eyes and used his skill to investigate, discovering that the girl inside the container wasn’t flesh and blood but composed entirely of interlocking gears.

Just like the scenes he had witnessed in the other world.

“She’s a mechanical doll.”

“Really?!”

Kazuma was stunned. He had never seen such a realistic android.

“Kazuma, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s definitely not what you imagine.”

“I get it, I get it. I would never touch Kobayashi-senpai’s doll—I have principles.”

Yeah, right.

Judging by his lecherous expression, he was definitely misunderstanding.

“Hey, come look, come look! You have to see this!” Aqua called out, pointing excitedly at the doll. “Look, it’s really all gears!”

Huh???

Before anyone noticed, Aqua had opened the doll up—literally.

She unfolded the doll’s body, revealing the intricate inner machinery.

“What are you doing, you idiot Aqua!”

*Splash leap + iron headbutt*

Angry, Kobayashi suddenly sprang up from the doorway, crossed three meters, and slammed his forehead hard against Aqua’s.

“Ow—!”

Aqua clutched her forehead in pain.

Kobayashi kept pressing her soft face with his hands. “Why did you open her up, you idiot!”

“Ow, ow! I just wanted to fix her!”

Aqua whimpered, “Don’t you feel a strong urge to repair something broken right in front of you?”

“Are you serious? You’re the water goddess, right?! You should know what happens when water touches iron! Even a child knows that!”

Kobayashi squeezed harder.

“Ow, ow, ow! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Aqua immediately begged for mercy, pouting pitifully. “But I really wanted to help fix her.”

Kobayashi did not doubt her good intentions or her many talents beyond her goddess duties, but given her scatterbrained recklessness, her kindness often caused trouble.

Especially with her inherent bad luck—one careless moment could ruin the doll.

Yet, they couldn’t just leave her as she was.

After a moment’s thought, Kobayashi sighed, “Fine, you direct me to fix her, okay?”

“Mm…”

Aqua rubbed her swollen cheek and nodded in agreement.

“Kazuma, you just... wait, where are you going?”

“I’ll wait outside first.”

After the doll was opened, Kazuma politely turned his back and headed for the door. “I told you, I won’t lay a finger on Kobayashi-senpai’s doll, so I’m leaving.”

Why choose this moment to act cool?

And I told you, she’s a mechanical doll, not a realistic one—you really misunderstood!

Kobayashi wanted to retort but held back.

After Kazuma closed the door, Aqua officially took charge of directing Kobayashi’s repairs.

“See that little hole?”

“Yeah, I see it.”

“Stick it in.”

“Huh?”

“I suspect the core is broken. Use this [screwdriver] to open her heart.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kobayashi had noticed an anomaly in the doll’s chest when he used his probing skill, and combined with Aqua’s comments, it was likely the core part of her heart was faulty.

Once opened—

“See that gear that stopped turning?”

Following Aqua’s finger, Kobayashi saw a tiny gear nestled at the very center of the heart.

“That’s it. Just wind it up again.”

“That simple?”

“Trust me, I’m a goddess.”

Kobayashi understood the principle that drawing a line might be worth a dollar, but knowing where to draw it was priceless—so he didn’t doubt Aqua’s skills beyond her goddess duties.

“But the parts inside are delicate. Don’t touch anything else.”

“I got it.”

Kobayashi hesitantly pushed the screwdriver in, so focused that nervous sweat began to bead on his forehead.

This time, Aqua got impatient.

“Can you hurry up?”

“What can I do? It’s my first time, okay?!”

The boy’s first attempt was cautious.

When he reached the core and gently turned the gear, it seemed to be infused with new life and began to move, setting the surrounding gears in motion as well.

The “heart” began to beat.

The opened chest and abdomen self-repaired, the intricate parts concealed beneath the girl’s exquisite curves. A vibrant breath of life filled her.

The mechanical doll had come to life!

“Fixed!” Aqua shouted joyfully.

Perhaps, to her, the satisfaction and achievement from fixing things far surpassed her work as a goddess.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Kobayashi quickly adjusted his expression into a gentle smile, trying not to appear threatening.

The doll opened her eyes.

He softly said, “Good morning, Miss Doll.”

“206 years. It took 206 years to repair me. Just a minor fault, really. Has the skill of clockmakers declined so much? It makes one worry about the future of the world.”

The girl’s cool, clear voice echoed softly, though she didn’t sound very friendly.

Meeting his gaze, Miss Doll stood.

“Allow me to introduce myself.”

Lifting her skirt slightly, she struck a simple yet elegant pose, bowing lightly. “Nice to meet you. I am Initial-Y Unit One, Ryuushi. Thank you very much for repairing me.”

——

P.S.: I really want to say something cheeky!