Reincarnated as a Haunted Machine

Chapter 23: Alive Again



Darkness stretched endlessly in all directions, but eventually, a distorted spread of light began to fill the machine's vision.

He felt disoriented, seeing he was no longer in the stone forest. He tried to look around, but quickly discovered that he couldn't turn his neck. His vision was fractured, as if he were peering through broken spectacles.

Eventually, he managed to make sense of what he saw. He found himself confined to a glass case within some kind of... workshop? He could see similar cases throughout the room, each containing all sorts of interesting things. Many of the displays contained weapons or armor. Some held strangely shaped skeletons of unknown creatures and others held new artifacts he couldn't identify.

'Something is wrong. Where am I?'

----

[Name: -]

[Race: Haunted Machine]

[Class: -]

[Level: 8]

[XP: 18/320]

[HP: 1/20]

[MP: 1/10]

[STR: 1]

[AGI: 1]

[DEX: 1]

[INT: 10]

[GP: 2]

[SP: 6]

Skills:

[Soul Corruption]

[Active Regeneration]

----

A memory flickered into his view, a memory of endless cascades of flesh. A torrent that couldn't be stopped... His body was in shambles. It seemed he had been reduced to scrap by an inexplicably massive stampede of noctic abominations, but that didn't explain where he was now or how he got here.

At that moment, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy doors opening somewhere. The machine could clearly hear the sound of footsteps and conversation. Several people had entered and began to collect and move various items. Someone was barking orders while the rest worked like ants to collect whatever things they came for.

The room became emptier and emptier. Other glass cases like his were rolled out of the room. Perhaps this place was merely storage.

'Then, these must be display cases.'

Everything nearby was going too. The bizarre humanoid skeleton of black bones in the case beside him was rolled out. The set of illustrious armor across from him was taken too. The room continued to be emptied of the displays one-by-one until only he remained.

Finally, a man stopped in front of him. He wore a white shirt with baggy sleeves, fine slacks and a vest with a gold chain that undoubtedly connected to a timepiece in the vest's pocket. Large round spectacles greatly enlarged the appearance of the man's eyes. The glasses were thick, as was necessary for heavy vision correction. The man appeared rather smart, and perhaps even arrogant. His frame was light, but he carried himself with poise and confidence.

The spectacled man gazed into the shattered optical lense of the demon's corpse, admiring the beast once more before ordering it's relocation. He stared for a moment before uttering a string of words while wearing a saddened expression. But after another moment, the spectacled man gave the order, and the machine was taken away as well.

It seemed his days of being hauled around weren't over yet.

---

Morale was rather low for the Gentle Dog party.

They were in a tavern back on the surface now, but no one could deny that the expedition was mostly an incredible failure. Everything had been going smoothly up until they were attacked by three cooperating Lizardmen.

Elaine grumbled as she complained, "Everyone knows Lizardmen are extremely territorial. Why would three of them work together anyways?! It's completely against their nature!"

Her habit of gesturing while talking was still in effect, yet the wooden mug in her hand managed to retain her drink through the sudden movements. Even if it were to spill, everyone preferred her to wave a drink around instead of her staff. The odds of her accidentally casting a spell were lower this way... Right?

Everyone in the group had their own thoughts on the expedition.

Cole, the marksman of the group, was rather grateful for this past expedition. Sure, a lot of things went wrong, but he managed to start dating Elaine. He was seeing through rose-tinted lenses and he knew it, so he didn't voice his opinion since it could upset the others.

Aizen, the hooded bladecaster, had conflicting emotions. He had fallen in love with Elaine long ago, but never made a move bold enough to gain her attention. Thinking back on the expedition, he remembered when the marksman made his move. At that time, they were carrying the large, metallic corpse of a labyrinth demon. However, the body had gathered rust and had been creaking nonstop in the party's cart. The mage couldn't stand the noise, so they stopped to clear the rust away. That was when the quiet marksman placed his hand on Elaine's, and everything else was history. Aizen still felt frustrated just thinking about it.

Aizen cut a large bite of seared mutton, stuffing it down the hatch. He held some resentment towards Cole for that move, but he couldn't deny that the marksman was a rather upstanding guy. After all, Cole helped him with valuable spell crafting lessons while they stayed in that safe haven down in the labyrinth. Aizen couldn't decide if Cole was a rival or a friend.

Bellum, the burly guardsman, felt concerned over the love triangle. He was the leader of the group, so it was natural that he perceived everyone's feelings. Bellum was a tanker who depended heavily on his muscle, but he didn't fall into the musclehead stereotype like so many others. He was built like a bear, but was extremely observant too.

Bellum took another bite of his meal, not saying anything. In the end, he was just glad no one died. The duelist had come close, after all. He was still recovering, so they would have to make a few expeditions without him for a while. As he finished his meal, Bellum sighed. They had some heavy losses due to this past expedition. He had to plan the next one better. They would be a man down, so he would have to plan a safer route that didn't go as deep. And of course, he had to decide how they wanted to make money on this one. Hunting in the Lizardman territory was absolutely off the table. Perhaps they should focus on harvesting mana crystals? That was a good idea. They were out of holy crystals, after all. Besides, they might get lucky and find a rare kind to sell.

Bellum leaned back in his chair, thinking quietly to himself while Elaine rambled drunkenly in the chair beside him. He rocked back and forth, balancing the chair on its back legs.

They would need to make a good amount of money on the next expedition if they wanted to be ready for the upcoming auction.


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