I’m kneeling with both of my hands on the ground breathing unsightly.

pierced through my chest. There’s no point in calculating, I’ll certainly die of blood loss like this.

“Kugh…..”

“Don’t joke with me….”

conclusion.

I raised my head after making my decision. A throne could be seen far away. It didn’t have even a

And a beautiful queen sat on that throne. Mechanical doll ever so close to a human being.

Still shaking, I stood up. I might die if I tried the jump with this body but it didn’t matter.

“I’ll come and get you for sure Eve!!”

To the point where there was no point in counting anymore.

Is defeated again,

Even so, I start again.

4

He must have fallen asleep without realizing.

through the hood that covered most of his head.

“You were asleep for around one mealtime.”

squint. Add saw a silhouette standing high above him. He was slightly taken aback but didn’t let it

“Why are you standing up so high?”

“You never know when enemies might appear right? I’ll be able to see further if I’m up higher.”

only known him since yesterday.

probably make her likeable by most people. But Add wasn’t too fond of her.

“Huh…..?!”

course, she would lose balance if she tried to do that while standing on end of a standing spear.

Flustered, Ara fell towards the ground. But contrary to her scream, she quickly performed a single

Still, she looked quite shocked as she was blushing and breathing fast. Ara’s face reddened even

“T, that was so mean Mr.Add! I was keeping watch while Mr.Add slept!”

5

Receiving Add’s blunt remark, Ara confirmed her own attire then breathed a sigh of relief. Her

“Were you making fun of me just now?”

Annoyed, Add replied accordingly and started to walk forward. Ara recovered her spear and

They shouldn’t need to go out of their way to be cautious since the two of them were standing in an

‘Well, you never know…’

Seeing Ara become amazed as she watched the Dynamo fly around made him feel a bit better.

creation gave him some pride as a developer.

“Others will be moving as well. Let us hurry so we don’t fall behind!”

“They are mere bandits. Others will be fine fighting on their own.”

Ara looked surprised but Add was serious. Bandits here were all weaklings; there was honestly no

Even Add by himself. No, even this clumsy girl alone could defeat all the bandits in this area and

“All we have to do is look out for any that try to escape.”

surroundings again. Add assumed that the entire mission should have been resolved by now but

These bandits were weaklings that he could take care of with just one hand. That was why Add was

‘Hm?’

Why did I assume bandits in this area would not be a problem again?

conclusion that he wasn’t mistaken.

“Pardon me?”

After replying bluntly to Ara, Add moved forwards while pushing away the tree branches in his way.

having to fight her. Her aura and her ordinate posture… she was a person you couldn’t

Bam!

Ara cried out when she was hit by one of the returning branches that Add had pushed aside to get

front of her.

“….”

Add stared at Ara impersonally for a moment then turned around to continue moving forwards. It

there was a good reason for Add to include himself in this group.

They were right now in the middle of their first mission to defeat the Ruben’s bandits.

“Haa, Hiya!!”

Even though the fight was 1 versus 15 and she was surrounded by bandits from left to right, Ara

8

their gaze at such a spectacle.

But her teammate Add was watching her fight while yawning. It was 1 versus 15 because Add didn’t

“I defeated everyone!”

could even graze a piece of Ara’s clothing. Ara withdrew her spear and looked around with a

All of Ara’s attacks were non-lethal attacks utilizing only the shaft of her spear. So these bandits

“What should we do about these people?”

“But our mission was to defeat the bandits…. Would it really be okay to leave them be?”

Ara nodded although she was still unsure what Add had meant. It almost seemed like she didn’t

‘….Huh what’s with this boring reaction?’

purposely bring up the issue.

“Oh, it’s been a while since got to move this much so it felt refreshing! It was quite thrilling and fun!”

She’s not getting the point.

wasn’t going to be very cool but let’s try directly provoking her.

“Were you able to rest well Mr.Add?”

“…..”

angry if your squad member did not do anything while you did all the fighting?

“Is she stupid? Or just really strange….?”

“It’s nothing. We move forwards. Their boss should be deep inside the forest.”

look back at Ara while moving forwards through the path that looked like it had been used by the

Ara was still looking around the surroundings nervously. It seemed the issue of Add letting her fight

‘…..is she an idiot?’

mind to prepare for a case when she became an obstacle in the future….but it was futile.

“What do you mean? Did more bandits appear?”

something was off whenever he stared at Ara. It made him uncomfortable to face her…. he still

For now let’s just remember that she’s an idiot who doesn’t even know how get angry.

“Where? We should hurry up and go help!”

Ara tried to hasten herself but Add’s steps didn’t get any faster. Ara staring confusingly at him

“There might be other ambushes so we have to be careful.”

10

off all his attention towards her.

When Add and Ara leisurely moved forwards for about 50 meters, they finally came upon an open

stood a girl with the impressionable silver hair.

emotions. Even Ara who had tried to run over to her was startled for a moment.

After walking up close to her to the point where he could tell the emotions from her eyes, Add

“Kukuk”

An unpleasant expression passed through the girl’s face for an instant in reaction to Add’s laugh. But

An ability to read other person’s emotions or intentions just from a laugh and output an appropriate

This machine was so infinitely close to a human. The ultimate Nasod!

“….”

asked the girl. Anyone could tell with a single glance that bandits weren’t able to touch a single

“There’s no problem.”

voice.

other side of the field.

“Huh?”

Upon closer look…. Two people were facing off in the middle of the field. One was a boy with red

They both looked extremely exhausted because they were both panting heavily without making a

“Y, you’re not too bad old guy!”

They were taking a slight break from their intense fight to recover their stamina. But the boy’s

boy was at a disadvantage.

But even before she could take three steps, gears that were floating around Eve flew in and blocked

“Ms.Eve?! Our comrade is in danger! We have to go help fast!”

“But he looks exhausted.”

seeing Ara hop in anxiety.

“But….!”

Amongst the current El Search Party members, that boy was the youngest and consequently the

“Or could you possibly be saying that that brat is strong?”

Ara’s words trailed. She also seemed to realize that the boy’s skills were nothing to brag about.

was a trained martial artist. She could tell the difference between strong and weak.

“You don’t have to intervene.”

Even Eve agreed with Add for some reason. Oh, she’s rather easy to talk to? Add felt uplifted

“Because I don’t think he’ll lose.”

Ara looked honestly surprised but Eve just continued to stare at the boy with an unwavering gaze.

“Kukuk, really? That’s totally not how I see it.”

a flawed judgement and proposed a counterargument.

up his sword.”

of reaction so he sneakily sent his Dynamo forward.

“I told you to observe.”

Provocation that hadn’t worked on Ara worked on Eve. Eve turned her head and stared at Add

“I don’t think he will lose.”

“What kind of bet?”

Just when Add was about to bring up the terms of his bet, the boy gathered his breath and stood up

“Alright! That’s enough break! Come at me Banthus!!”

The boss of the bandits, man called Banthus, also gripped his weapon and fixed his form. The break

13

Eve’s gaze averted from Add and returned to the red haired boy. Red haired boy didn’t realize that

The boy looked tired but he had a smile on his face.

Ara and even Add was slightly surprised. That young boy defeated the tens of bandits lying down

Eve told them while still staring at the boy.

Add looked at Eve who continued to stare at the boy.

“Here I come!!!”

“Bring it on!!”

powerful force. With their difference in size, even getting grazed by Banthus’s attack will be fatal for

“Ha!”

moment when Banthus made a victorious smile…..Elsword changed the beat of his steps and threw

Thud!

expression now shrouded in fear, Banthus hurriedly tried to pull his sword up and turn around. But

“Flame Geyser!”

“Uwooh! T, this is? magic?!”

Banthus had expected to defend against a sword attack. He widened his eyes and tried to back up.

“Kuu kaagh!”

panted. Elsword also looked very tired because he just performed an overburdening front roll

It was clear who had won.

“Don’t make me laugh. I was just playing around and got caught off guard.”

fight. Elsword shook his head in annoyance while leaning his sword against his shoulder.

“Do you really think I’ll hand over the El to you guys after all the trouble I went through to get it?”

course if there is a next time.”

“Go!!!”

Surprised, Elsword instinctively swung his sword to hit the target.

Elsword was sure he defeated all the other bandits! But… the target wasn’t human. He had first

It was a Nasod.

No time to think. He must dodge the Nasod’s attack. Elsword quickly moved out of the way but the

tackling.

Elsword dodged left and right while swinging his sword. But Elsword was too exhausted to deal

“Kahahahaha!!”

“Stop right there!”

already in front of Elsword by the time he noticed it charging full speed towards him.

“That was pathetic!!”

struck the Nasod multiple times to fling it away from Elsword. The Nasod convulsed and exploded

“I could have beaten it by myself.”

Eve, who had just saved Elsword gave her cold evaluation. Elsword was about to protest that he

Others also saw him getting helped out of danger. It was embarrassing.

“It was nothing.”

against the Nasod that appeared afterwards.

“No, it was really impressive! You’ll become stronger in no time like this!”

Ara and Elsword were having this kind of conversation. But Add wasn’t listening.

Add squinted his eyebrows while picking up the Nasod’s fragments.

16

“Strange. A mere bandit commanding a Nasod? That should not be....”

That was clearly a mistake.

enemy appeared. He could already feel various presences on other side of those bushes.

“Kukukuk, it doesn’t matter. I’ll figure out after destroying them all.”

couldn’t expect anything from Elsword who was already too exhausted.

“Who’s a brat?! Don’t look down on me!”

Furious, Elsword tried to get up but he had no strength left to do so. Add didn’t give an eye to

“What will you do? You can stay with the brat if you want.”

Judging by her cold response, Eve must have realized Add was making fun of her. But that kind of

A normal machine, a normal Nasod could only make singular simple decisions. However, Eve

“Then come with me. Let’s enjoy sweeping through them all. Kukuk.”

Add wasn’t even slightly startled when enemies appeared out of the bushes. He instead increased the

Nasods.

Nasods. After making short work of 10 Nasods by himself Add looked behind him.

“Explosion Impact!!”

her. Ara who was beside Elsword also easily dispatched the Nasods coming up behind her with a

“This is too boring…”

Add sighed and examined the remains of the Nasod Miners.

“Examination, kukuk. Shouldn’t we figure out why these things were working with the bandits?”

concern.

functional structure.

they couldn’t have carried out orders unless someone had instructed them…. Not having cogitative

Add was pondering bunch of possibilities then all of a sudden…. he grinned. The ground was

“Kukuk. Now this is more like it.”

Eve must have realized the abnormally too as she moved in besides Add. While staring at Eve’s

“Isn’t Nasods destroying other Nasods fratricide?”

He had poked a bit to see if Eve would get disturbed but there was no particular reaction. Come to

her express any emotions.

“I don’t need something so unnecessary.”

Eve sharply cut off the issue. Add was honestly surprised this time. No way. She can even lie? Add

“Let’s stop the small talk here. Something annoying seems to have arrived.”

through the forest, destroying all the trees in its path was the culprit that had ordered the ambush

It was a Nasod Driller.

such a primitive weapon. Only problem here was that it was commanding bunch of Nasod

“I’ll take care of the drill; you take care of the others.”

“Stop nagging. Kukuk, There’s no way I’d get beaten by them.”

as a response.

Upon Add’s command Dynamos expelled energy to shatter the space and destroyed a portion of the

Witnessing that their boss was damaged, all the Nasod miners charged at Add.

Eve made copies of her gears and fired them at the miners. But there were too many to filter them

Add still managed control his Dynamos in response.

Alternate space opened up around Add and all the Nasods charging at him stopped at once. This

meanwhile.

19

only on him. Just when Add was about to close the alternate space for his next move, he heard a

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Field.

Booom!!

and encased Add with an explosion.

Add could hear Ara raising her voice from far away but didn’t turn around to look. He had managed

arms he used to cover his face were still hurting.

It was a mistake brought on by lack of information. Did they not use self destruct earlier

Just who could have come up with that kind of plan?

That piece of junk spinning its drill loudly came up with this kind of psychological plan? Add

attacking again.

towards Add. There were too many things to pay attention to.

He’ll get caught up by self destruction if he took out the miners carelessly! Add was focusing on

“Explosion Impact!!”

Eve must have gotten to the same conclusion as Add because she was handling them from a

way more Nasods jumping out of the bushes than the two of them could defeat.

“I don’t know. We have to retreat!”

themselves but there was no answer to them if they attacked in such massive numbers.

“Retreat? Kukuk to where?”

Eve who had suggested the idea couldn’t respond. They couldn’t flee to town with all of these on

them if it became a long chase.

sides. Nasod driller charged in with its drill facing forwards through the newly created gap.

attack… Add and Eve was occupied with so many things that the Driller’s appearance put them in a

“Ugh?!”

attempted to dodge by using low flight but…

In a ridiculous turn of events Add and Eve’s bodies collided with one another. It was a disaster that

watched out for each other’s trajectory.

Eve who had the smaller stature couldn’t withstand the impact and was thrown off her feet. Nasods

If their tackle worked that was fine. If Eve resisted they’d just self destruct!

21

in front of him. Some of the miners were destroyed to the point where they couldn’t self destruct,

I’ll get swept up by the explosion if I don’t dodge.

But Eve was behind him right now. Without additional thoughts Add put all the Dynamos in front

He’ll be able to mitigate some of the physical shock using the Dimension Distortion mode.

Boom! Boom! Add shouted as all the Nasod miners self destructed in a chain reaction. The shock

Other Miners must have thought this was a great opportunity because Add who had been dodging

in towards Add and self destructing.

“Hurry! Get up!”

“Why didn’t you just leave me and dodge?”

Of course Add didn’t protect Eve from the explosion out of good will.

such a masterpiece get damaged.

Boom! Boom! The barrier was shaking from the explosions even as two of them talked. They won’t

Blocking physical shocks wasn’t even Dimension Distortion mode’s main feature in the first place.

“Listen carefully. I’ll stop defending on the count of three. At that moment, use the strongest attack

22

to attack with his Dynamos again it required 1 second of idle time. Leaving 1 second of idle time

“It’s possible.”

Enormous shock that he hadn’t felt before ran through the Dynamos.

Nasod Driller was now drilling into the barrier. It must have judged that self destruction of the

Dimensional Distortion won’t be able to handle an attack stronger than the previous attacks.

Add was doubtful if Eve could really be able to take care of all the Nasod Miners and now also the

he had no choice.

“One, Two!!”

tearing wind sped past across their ears…..and everything went silent.

Not only the Nasod driller, but all the Nasod miners that were trying to throw their bodies to break

but quickly used this chance and changed from the Distortion mode into Normal Mode.

“Hey, are you guys hurt?”

must have been her doing.

But it looked like the duration wasn’t very long because all the ice flew off as the Driller’s drill

23

because all of the Nasod miners started to charge towards Rena. Nasod Driller will face Add and

Add raised his voice without realizing it himself.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

and Eve changed her direction and started run sideways. Without slowing down, she fired an arrow

fired.

away by the wind.

them get close to her.

“…..You don’t have to.”

came from behind Add as he stood stunned with surprise.

Eve moved forwards and made a swing with her whip.

was able to wrap around the Driller with ease and hit it directly with chain of explosions.

But its drill was still spinning and judging by how there was a red orb of energy forming in front of

“Too slow. Void Field!!”

couldn’t dodge, Add stretched out his hand towards the Nasod Driller that was still trying to gather

“I’m much faster!”

25

inside that space got shattered as well. But it didn’t end with just one shattered space. The space near

Nasod Driller that was now unrecognizably broken.

A giant explosion was created.

El Search Party members decided it was too late to go back to town and prepared to camp outside

The gang set up a campfire and sat around it. Only Add was sitting away from everyone by himself

He had a drill fragment in his hand. Because it had exploded into so many fragments there was

“Hmph…”

mere bandit had a hidden army of Nasod Miners and also a Nasod Driller?

why was he still a petty bandit?

As Add was muttering to himself someone who was sitting near the fireplace stood up.

Rena asked as she came near. But Add impertinently asked Rena to confirm something.

“If you’re talking about Raven he went to escort the captured bandits to town. It might take some

“Kukuk, too bad. That left arm was nice to look at.”

26

“….”

“This is a fragment of that Nasod we fought earlier. Don’t you think it’s strange?”

“The request we got was to retrieve the El that bandit called Banthus stole. But Nasods appeared all

“Hm. I guess you’re right.”

him but how could she be so easygoing?

“Raven is going to ask about the Nasods when he gets back to Ruben so you shouldn’t have to

“….Kuku, I wasn’t worried. I was just frustrated because it didn’t make sense.”

themselves. El Search Party was comprised of bizarre individuals but Rena felt the most reliable

Not only was her fighting skill was great, but she also had great judgement.

“Ah, come to think of it you were protecting Eve earlier right?”

Without realizing it himself Add glossed over the question that was abruptly thrown at him. Rena

“Eve doesn’t show her expressions too much but she must be thankful to you. Try talking to her

“….You act like you know a lot when you’ve only known her for a day.”

Rena&Raven and Elsword&Eve. For Ara and Add everyone here were new faces.

Thus Rena had only met Eve yesterday. But the way she spoke felt like she knew everything about

“Girls around that age are complicated. I know you’re interested her but this big sis is gonna to

Rena poked Add’s forehead with her fingertip. Rena was misunderstanding completely but it was

Rena smiled and was about to head back to the campfire. She forced Add to promise something

“Girls will now go wash together. You better not peep. Got it?”

I’d just do more research If I had such time.

remained.

disheartened face across the campfire.

Following Add’s gesture a single Dynamo flew in front of Elsword’s nose. Because of the Dynamo

“What are you doing? Put it away!”

Add laughed as the Dynamo spun in circles around Elsword.

“Kukuk.”

at him in anger so Add sighed in response and spoke.

“Who’s sulking?”

“I knew from the start you’re a type that speaks out everything on your mind without thinking. But

If Rena was here she would have obviously stopped this quarrel. But all the girls had left to bathe.

There were only two of them right now.

“….”

Elsword’s reaction.

Elsword and Eve already knew each other so Elsword could become an obstacle when Add

too fond of Elsword. In Add’s eyes Elsword was too young and always acted rashly without thinking.

“Hmph, you finally get your place.”

sword tightly and shouted.

“…..”

towards the forest. Add asked instinctively.

“I’m going to train. Don’t follow me.”

pointed out how weak he was.

Elsword was weak, young and most of all… stubborn. Add couldn’t see how Eve had managed to

“Sigh…..”

Add also got up. It was boring alone so he was going to take a walk while thinking about his future

Of course, towards the opposite direction of where Elsword went.

this didn’t worry Add. He could just send out his Dynamos to do a terrain scan.

He arrived at ‘this age’ and somehow managed to join a strange group called the El Search Party. He

ended up finding masterful mechanical doll called Eve.

be a Nasod that’s superior to her.

Add instinctively murmured as he thought of Eve. But he had to admit, it definitely won’t be an easy

anatomy…. The main problem was the Core.

Core got damaged.

Not only that. As Add had witnessed today, Eve’s battle capabilities were rather impressive. Even

“The others are a problem too…”

that. If Add attempted to steal Eve’s Core which was basically her life then tried to dissect her body,

Moreover, the two of them were way stronger than Add. The feat Rena had displayed earlier today

“I need someone on my side…”

Eve?

Add was dumbfounded by his own thought process but this was the only conclusion he could get

“Well I guess I could use her as bait. Kukuk.”

By obtaining Eve and analysing her, Add will be able to improve his tech. Which in turn will greatly

“For now let’s bide for the right time….”

stopped. Dynamos were sending him a signal that they had detected a human presence.

They should have captured all of the Banthus’s bandits and Raven should have escorted all of them

“Well fine…. Something useful might come out of this.”

bandit. Add started to follow the Dynamo’s signal.

He could hear the sound of river flowing.

Wait a moment! Rena took all the girls with her to take a bath. Add just recalled this fact but the

There’s no way someone would still be bathing alone.

Unlike the confident way he spoke, Add quietly reduced the sound of his footsteps as he climbed

It was extremely unlikely, but he didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings. It was for the future.

perfect execution of his kidnap Eve scenario! It’s not like he was particularly interested in female

31

while climbing down the hill. This was a mistake!

Normally he’d continuously scan the area with Dynamos so this wouldn’t happen. But the rock Add

His left feet flew into the air. Then as he lost balance his right feet flew into the air as well.

It turned out so that Add had just lunged himself off the cliff. Add was tremendously shocked but

Add desperately brought the Dynamos close to him much as possible.

could succeed before he crashed into the ground.

Add clenched his teeth and quickly moved his Dynamos. He was able to succeed by leaving 30cm

“Phew…..”

because he was too deep in thought….

It wasn’t bad since he used the mistake and turned it into a good result. While Add was reeling

“It was a perfect night to bathe alone so I was befriending the moon…… but a boy fell from the

It was a voice of a girl. Add instinctively swung his Dynamos and turned around. His face stiffened.

“……”

32

the moon…… but a boy fell from the sky.”

She was someone he’d never met before. Add froze in place after seeing naked female body for the

mind.

extra skin. To sum it up it was a well trained body that overflowed with feminine charm.

“Whara?”

The girl spoke in a composed manner without trying to hide her body. This should have been an

The girl in front of him was….. Ara Haan. The same unreliable girl who possessed exceptional

But this white haired Ara had an oddly disturbing feeling about her. Her personality had changed

“Who are you?”

stare longer?”

Add’s face reddened after he realized what he was doing. He quickly spun around while putting his

“Kukuk…..”

‘Just what…. Is that?’

did startle him quite a bit too! But the more important issue was that this Ara was completely

individuals.

34

wondered if the odd sense that something was off whenever he saw Ara could have been this…..

question! After confirming that the sound of splashing water behind him had stopped, Add peeked

“Why are you still not wearing anything!?”

Still naked, white haired Ara was looking towards the night sky staring at the moon. Sure it was a

“….Hurry up and wear something!!”

laughed in amusement and the sound of moving water was heard.

should comply.”

Add was aggravated inside but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was pledge to himself

“Ah but it is such a waste to not view the stars.”

Add shouted but he couldn’t feel any movement from Ara behind him. Add finally remembered

She must really be viewing the stars.

Was she not embarrassed being naked with a guy in front of her? He couldn’t imagine this was the

the fact that she was wearing shorts.

The questions grew in his head and the time was passing by but there was nothing Add could do. He

no choice but to control his temper and wait for Ara to wear clothes again.

Add waited. It felt like he’d become a stone.

silence now that they could talk face to face, But Ara laughed first in a low voice.

“Kukuk. Was it your first time seeing a female’s body? You were so embarrassed that you looked

“….”

“What are you?”

“…Don’t lie to me.”

individual right now. He couldn't explain but he was sure of this fact.

“Who are you and what did you do to me?”

my charms? This is troublesome indeed.”

Dynamos started to exert energy in response to Ara’s mischievous retort. He had to know about her

“Then shall we stop the foolery here?”

“This is Ara Haan’s body but as you can see I’m not Ara. I am frost fox Eun who accompanies Ara.”

Girl who revealed herself as Eun waved her 9 tails as if to show Add.

lending Ara my strength from time to time. This form is called the Celestial Fox mode.”

“….Did a demon take over her body?”

girl’s body however it wanted.

normally only lend my powers and do not dominate the body. Ara specially lent her body to me

“…..”

Dynamos.

was Ara Haan’s business.

It didn’t really matter to Add but she might turn out to be a hindrance to him later on. He had to

“Bathing. Even if it wasn’t with my own body, I wanted to try it personally. So Ara kindly distanced

“……”

compared to Add’s secret.

“I’ll say it right now; it doesn’t matter if you reveal this to the others. So it’s useless trying to use this

“…..I didn’t think about that.”

become completely different if this weird thing is with her. This fox called Eun felt elderly and

“Well then let’s just go….”

camp. But Add shut his mouth abruptly.

Eun was staring at him with an extremely mournful gaze.

introducing herself a moment ago.

“I’ll lend you my strength.”

Add was overcome for a moment by the heart wrenching expression that Eun just showed him. He

he couldn’t let her push him around.

“So that you can obtain Eve in your hands”
Eun made a proposal that Add definitely couldn’t refuse.