đźź Chapter 34:
After the battle ended and Haizen figured everything out, he approached the old man — now lying helpless in the body of the beast. Aiming to fix our situation, Haizen raised his sword and pointed it straight at the old man's neck.
"Alright, monster. You know what's going on here. Talk."
The old man couldn't move a muscle, so he had no choice but to confess.
"Ever since I was a child, I was talentless-completely incapable of crafting proper skills.
Everyone mocked me, treated me like a failure. But I wanted to prove myself... to show the world that I wasn't worthless. So I turned my focus to something else: creating strange objects from rare materials I gathered from all over the world.
Eventually, I developed cubes capable of switching the bodies of humans and animals. I created them so I could trap humans here, in this dungeon, while I controlled their human bodies-it was much easier to manipulate animals than people. And with that, I could wield the magical skills that once belonged to their human selves. That was how I thought I'd finally find power... until you ruined everything, swordsman."
"I'm not interested in your life story, stupid monster. Just tell me how to fix this."
"Cheh, annoying swordsman. You see that hawk over there? It has a magic cube. With it, we teleported here from my home. Give it to me, and I'll send us back."
Viteco had brought the cube himself and handed it to Haizen.
"Thanks, horse. So this is the magic device, huh? All I have to do is press this button?"
"What else do you expect? It's just a cube with a button."
Haizen pressed it, and in an instant, we were all transported to the storage shed in front of the old man's house. The sheer size of the beast's body destroyed the small shed completely.
"Gaaah! My shed!"
But this wasn't the time to mourn. Viteco, Carrotou, and Argos began searching for the item that could return us to normal. The old man mentioned that if we couldn't find our specific cubes, there was a purple one that could work as well.
"If you can't find your own cubes, look for a purple one. It can restore you too."
Of course, with all those cubes around, finding that one would be almost impossible… until I suddenly felt something brush against my leg. I looked down — a purple cube. Oh, that was fast.
"Guys, no need to keep searching. I found it — right at my feet."
"Koko, nice work! You really are good at finding things."
"Who are you calling Koko, rabbit? It was literally right in front of me."
The three of them gathered around to press the button and finally return to normal. Argos looked thrilled — probably because he was tired of kids playing with him. Viteco pointed his hoof.
"Go on, the one who found it should go first."
So I was first, huh?
"What an experience it was being a rooster… I've suffered so much. First, that farmer tried to cook me, then—"
Carrotou cut me off halfway.
"Just press it already. You're not the only one who suffered."
"Alright, alright."
I pressed the button. A strange light surrounded me, my consciousness fading as everything turned dark. Then, I blacked out completely.
---
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was… the entrance of a cave? No, wait — the dungeon entrance!
[Welcome back, foolish user. You've returned.]
That annoying voice and screen… the system was greeting me again after so long.
"Did you miss me, system?"
[Who would miss someone like you? I just couldn't stand having a dumb rooster in this body any longer.]
"Oh, you mean Koko. The hens must've missed him, huh?"
Back to my situation — I was tied to a massive rock, surrounded by a mountain of dead monsters. I had a pretty good idea who caused this, but I wanted confirmation.
"Hey, system. What happened here? Why am I tied up, and what's with all these corpses?"
[You already know, so why ask?]
"Oh, come on, just explain."
[It was the bald swordsman. Who else?]
"Yeah, I figured that much. But what was he doing here? And why tie me up— wait, actually, I think I know that part. But what about these monsters?"
[What do you think? He leveled you up.]
"What?! Really? But how? My mind was being controlled by a rooster!"
[Each time he killed a monster, he put the sword in your mouth. You'd twitch around, biting the blade, and he'd place wounded monsters in front of you. Technically, you delivered the finishing blow. It was surprisingly effective.]
He actually did that… What a ridiculous method — but since it worked, I can't complain. I wonder how much I leveled up.
"So, what's my skill level now?"
['Factory' skill level: 20.]
Amazing! That's the same progress I made in eight months of grinding! I wonder what I can build now.
"You're finally awake, idiot."
The voice came from behind — Haizen's voice. So I'd been out for a while.
"How long was I out?"
"About six hours."
Six hours? That's pretty long. I wonder how the others are doing.
"How about Viteco, Carrotou, and Argos?"
"They woke up a while ago and left the village. No reason to stay anymore."
Wait, what? If they woke up earlier, why did I only wake up now?
"Why was I the last one to wake up?"
Haizen scratched his head, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Well, when the rooster was in your body — after we killed all those monsters — I gave you a sedative so you wouldn't run off."
A sedative?! So Koko must've been that annoying, huh. I wonder what happened to the old man.
"What about him? The old man — what did you do with him?"
"He joined their group. The leader offered him a spot."
"Wait, what?"
"I get your confusion. But apparently, the horse guy — their leader — was impressed by the old man's skill with those devices. And the old man was moved by the recognition, so he agreed."
Wow. Didn't expect that from Viteco after everything the old man did. Guess all it took was a little appreciation to change him.
"They told me to give you their regards. Said even though you were useless, they were glad to have met you… Koko."
"Ugh, they still call me that?! Fine, whatever. I wouldn't mind seeing them again."
My stomach growled — I hadn't eaten since I got here.
"Alright, untie me. I'm starving."
"How about we go fishing? There's a lake nearby."
"Good idea."
Haizen untied me, and we headed toward the lake he mentioned. If all this was the old man's doing, then what about that fish drawing? Was that part of it too? Maybe he ditched that idea — it was a dumb one.
We reached the lake, made a fishing rod out of sticks and string, and used worms as bait. After about an hour, we caught a decent number of fish. Then, before we noticed, another one of the old man's cubes was floating in the water.
"What the— how did one of his cubes end up here? Was he planning to turn into a fish or something?"
"Hahaha! Imagine if someone actually did turn into a fish in this lake."
"Hahaha! That'd be even sadder than me as a rooster."
Suddenly, one of the fish we'd caught jumped toward the cube and pressed the button. Moments later, Haizen's fishing rod started pulling hard.
"I don't believe it—what a big fish!"
Oh, no. Please don't tell me… It can't be what I'm thinking. Haizen pulled with all his strength — and what came out of the water was… well, what do you think?
A human.