The camera of Cipher—I couldn’t take my eyes off of Tsukasa-oniisan’s every move.
“Wait, what, huh… whoa!”
When he compressed a large rock in his hand, I couldn’t help but let out a sound. I could speak since the system wasn’t voice-activated, but I was so overwhelmed by excitement that I wanted to share it with someone. Yet, there was no one around, so I flailed about by myself.
‘…I had a feeling something like this might happen, but… that?’
No matter what he said, I found myself thinking it was cool. Usually, lines like that feel like they’re meant to tease, but this time I was like, “What does that mean!? I need to know!!”
I had become a fan of him, just from seeing two of his skills.
‘Cipher, can you see anything? …Cipher?’
‘Y-Yes. That’s the ‘Summoning Trap’.’
Telling myself it was to support him more, I switched Cipher’s control to semi-automatic mode.
‘—Detecting an unidentified attack.’
“(What…!?)”
That message didn’t come from me—it was automatically generated by Cipher.
Dolls are programmed with the principle of ‘self-preservation,’ and when they’re on automatic control, they won’t act as a shield for others.
Yet, I manually controlled Cipher and shoved my brother out of harm’s way. There was a massive impact, the camera shook, and alarms blared everywhere. Cipher’s right arm broke.
‘…Master… Retreat… Scroll…’
That, too, was Cipher’s automated voice. I couldn’t speak, my body was trembling, and all I could do was stay frozen in place.
It wasn’t a close call—it was well past that. My pulse had shot up into dangerous territory, and the nurse alert in the room had gone off.
“…Run… Tsukasa-oniisan…!”
On the camera, I saw him facing the direction of the attack, protecting me—protecting Cipher.
I thought he was going to die, and at that moment, I felt my consciousness slipping away.
I had always thought that I wanted to become an explorer once I got better. Looking at dungeons through the doll’s eyes felt just like a game to me, and I had fun.
But it wasn’t a game after all. I realized how naive I had been, how the people who accompanied the doll had always been risking their lives.
After this incident, they might not let me take part in any more tests.
The thought that I might never be able to see my brother again was truly heartbreaking—but then.
Through my tear-blurred goggle display, something even more incredible appeared.
The invisible attack of the purple slime—Ballon—became visible.
And once again, he compressed it, turning it into something like a small coin.
“…Amazing… this person is truly amazing.”
I used to think there was no need to remember his name. Now, I felt so ashamed of myself for ever thinking that.
Cipher’s speaker connection was faulty and in the middle of automatic repairs. Still, I desperately wanted to say it myself, so I forced out a voice.
‘…Master… Thank you… so much…’
The voice that came through the speaker was terribly broken and faint. But thankfully, the damage wasn’t too severe, and I was able to move again soon.
Cipher’s arm was broken, but I felt like maybe I had managed to help him a little, and tears welled up again.
It no longer felt like a test; I felt like I was entering the dungeon as one of his comrades.
