Chapter 195; Alchemist
In front of the hotel.
Merino and the Building Creator's bright voices echoed against the cave walls.
"Yang yang yang!"
[Hehehe!]
The two were currently playing tag near the hotel.
At first, the Building Creator couldn't even take a single step outside the building.
However, after several short outings with Merino, they had slowly gained confidence.
Now, there was no trace of fear.
They were running around excitedly, enjoying the fresh air outside.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones on this outing.
[It feels like I’m looking after children, even though both of them are older than me.]
[Pii. I want to play tag too... but Dad told me not to take my eyes off Merino, so I have to hold back.]
[Guard duty. Ssssuuuhng.]
Kinogine Arachne.
Blood Jellyfish Princess.
Black Magma Slime.
The three SS-rank beings were always present as guardians.
Additionally, for safety, many rabbit staff members, including Madam Rabbit, followed Merino and the Building Creator, acting as escorts.
"Yang yang yang! Try and catch me-yang!"
[Hehehe!]
As they ran around excitedly—
Thud!
"Yang yang?!"
An unexpected collision occurred.
Merino's small shoulders flinched from the impact.
She lost her balance and stumbled.
Thud—!
The cold floor of the cave scraped against Merino’s palms.
"It hurts-yang..."
[Uh, uhh...?]
The Building Creator, who had been brimming with joy just moments ago, suddenly sharpened their gaze.
Wearing a face full of concern, they quickly approached Merino and carefully helped her up.
[Uhh... Merino, are you okay?]
The Building Creator's eyes were teary.
As if they were about to burst into tears.
"Yang yang... I fell, so it hurts-yang..."
The Building Creator supporting Merino.
Merino letting out a small groan while being helped up.
Their gazes naturally turned upward at the same time.
And at that moment, both of their expressions stiffened.
"Oh ho. So it really was another world."
"See? I told you. It wasn’t an error in the management system. It seemed more likely that, for some reason, they got caught in a dimensional portal and ended up in another world. There’s no way there would be an error in the life management system we created."
"Well... the other ones died, and their life signals disappeared completely. But only one faint life signal remained, and even their corpse couldn’t be found. That didn't make sense at all."
The three figures who had suddenly appeared were exchanging words as they looked down at Merino.
Their skin was made of a semi-transparent material.
Like spiderwebs, red veins and various organs faintly showed through from within.
A characteristic of their species.
Merino Ula’s homeland, Ovisland.
The dominant race of that world—‘Alchemists.’
"We kept failing to track and pinpoint the coordinates, so I thought we were wasting our time... but I never expected our last attempt would succeed."
"It seems like the dimension we’ve arrived in is quite a high-level one. That’s why tracking was so difficult."
"More importantly, the fact that she’s still alive despite drifting through another world... what a relief. Though I have no idea how she managed to survive with such a fragile body."
The reason the Alchemists had come looking for Merino.
It was because every last one of the sheep beastmen of Ovisland had died.
The sheep beastmen, who lived as livestock.
Even those waiting for production.
It was impossible to create new sheep beastmen again.
Because all records on them had been completely erased.
This, by the way, was part of a carefully planned strategy by other planetary species to wipe out the Alchemists.
Sheep beastmen were one of Ovisland’s core resources.
By secretly infiltrating Ovisland and systematically eliminating key resources one by one, the plan was to shake the foundation of Alchemist civilization.
"Anyway, with this, we can mass-produce the sheep beastmen again. Losing all the data on them was a real headache."
"This is truly a stroke of luck. At least one specimen is still alive."
"It was sheer fortune that Merino Ula got caught in that dimensional portal."
The Alchemists let out a sigh of relief and simultaneously reached out toward Merino.
At that moment—
A silver thread flashed, slicing through the darkness of the cave.
It was Kinogine Arachne’s silk.
Kinogine Arachne swiftly and precisely spun her silk, wrapping around Merino and the Building Creator as if embracing them.
Then, in an instant, she pulled them behind her.
[Father, some strange people suddenly appeared in front of us.]
Kinogine's cold gaze was directed straight at the unfamiliar figures.
Merino looked at the Alchemists with a flustered expression.
"Hoeeng..."
Kinogine relayed the situation to Kang Geon through a crystal.
While Kino was explaining—
The Alchemists glanced at Kang Geon's monsters, but they quickly lost interest and shifted their attention back to Merino.
"Was that entity's name Merino Ula?"
"Yes, that's correct. It was clearly recorded in the management system."
They smiled kindly.
Then, once again, they reached out toward Merino.
"Merino Ula, rejoice. We, your masters, have personally come to retrieve you."
"Don't be afraid, come here. We have come to save you."
"Let us return home."
If it had been an ordinary sheep beastman—
They would have shouted, "Yes, master!" and run straight into the Alchemists' embrace.
But Merino Ula was different.
Setting aside the fact that she was a mutant sheep beastman—
After coming here and living with Kang Geon, she had realized what true freedom was.
That was why Merino Ula responded like this.
"N-No, I don't want to-yang."
"...What?"
"I don't want to lose my freedom-yang..."
"You don't want to lose your freedom? What do you mean by that?"
The Alchemists furrowed their brows.
They couldn't comprehend the situation at all.
A sheep beastman, nothing more than livestock of Ovisland, was defying them—
And not only that, she was even talking about freedom.
From their perspective, it was as absurd as a farm chicken demanding rights from its owner.
"You... You never gave me freedom, not even once-yang... You said you were giving me freedom, but that wasn't real freedom-yang. When I came here, I realized it...! The so-called freedom in Ovisland was fake-yang!"
Merino Ula poured out her honest feelings in a trembling voice.
Seeing her like this—
The Alchemists sighed and shook their heads.
"It seems she must have suffered a severe head injury while passing through dimensions."
"Don't worry. We just need to brainwash her again."
"Exactly. There's a brainwashing device implanted inside all the livestock."
One of the Alchemists raised their hand.
Then, they snapped their fingers.
It was a gesture to activate the brainwashing device.
However, nothing happened.
Merino Ula simply blinked at them.
"......"
"...What?"
"This is strange...?"
They snapped their fingers again.
Yet, Merino Ula remained unaffected.
Of course, that was natural.
The brainwashing devices implanted in all livestock from birth in Ovisland—
Had already been erased.
Thanks to Melody Fox's buff.
As the Alchemists, now slightly flustered, continued snapping their fingers, the monsters, who had been watching them with disdain, spoke up sharply.
[Hey, ugly old men. Our Merino said she doesn’t want to go with you.]
They had already pieced together the relationship between the Alchemists and Merino.
[Stop pestering her! Pii!]
[Ssssuuuhh...!!!]
Kinogine Arachne.
Blood Jellyfish Princess.
Black Magma Slime.
Even after seeing those three SS-rank monsters, the Alchemists showed no fear at all.
It wasn’t because they possessed greater power.
They simply couldn’t grasp how strong those monsters were.
"...Those oddly shaped creatures must be the friends Merino Ula made here."
"This is not your concern. Merino is our child. In other words, we are both her masters and her parents."
"Merino, you must be confused because of your head injury, but you will be much happier with us than with those strange creatures. If you return to Ovisland with us, we will grant you all the freedom you desire, so stop resisting and come here."
Since the brainwashing wasn't working, one of the Alchemists decided to try coaxing and persuading Merino.
Sheep beastmen were fragile creatures.
If handled incorrectly, they could break.
Of course, if she continued to refuse, they planned to take her by force.
Ideally, they wanted to recover her in perfect condition.
But if necessary, a corpse would suffice.
A corpse would take a bit more time to analyze, but it wouldn’t hinder their goals too much.
[Uhh... Yangyang, are you going back to your homeland...?]
"I'm not going back-yang! I like it here-yang! And I'm no longer a Drifter; I officially belong to Gauntlet-yang! My only parent and master is Gauntlet-yang!"
Merino’s resolve was firm.
She had no intention of listening to anything the Alchemists had to say.
She simply shut them out.
[Did you hear that, old men?]
[You’re nothing to Merino now! Pii!]
[Sssuhh!]
【Pururu】─ NTR ㄷㄷ
【Hwang Mir】─? Why NTR all of a sudden?
【Pururu】─ Watching the Merino scene right now.
Kinogine Arachne respected Merino’s decision.
If she had wanted to go back, she wouldn't have stopped her.
That was also Kang Geon's will.
However, Merino had made her choice—
Not because she was tamed by Kang Geon, but because she had thought it through for days and made her own decision.
After Merino declared her stance—
Madam Rabbit and the rabbit staff surrounded the Alchemists.
Madam Rabbit glanced at Kino and asked.
[Kino-nim. I heard the conversation between you and Gauntlet-nim through the crystal. Should we capture them as per Gauntlet-nim’s orders?]
[Father said to capture them for now, but if you feel like killing them, go ahead. We can just revive them anyway.]
[Understood.]
Hearing this, the Alchemists scoffed.
The Black Magma Slime looked somewhat strong, but they thought the rest would be easy to defeat.
“This is troublesome.”
“They don’t know their place.”
“This is a waste of time. Let’s just kill them all and take Merino Ula by force.”
Just come at us all at once.
One of the Alchemists was about to say those words when—
Among the many rabbit staff members,
One rabbit stepped forward and spoke first.
[Those pieces of trash will be handled appropriately by me, the hotel’s cleaning manager. Everyone else, please relax.]
The Alchemists scoffed again.
That weak-looking rabbit wants to take us on alone? Are they serious?
Out of everyone here, that one clearly looks like the weakest small fry.
The Alchemists’ gazes turned cold as they looked down at the rabbit staff member.
Their eyes were filled with scorn and ridicule, as if looking at a lowly creature.
[Ah. Madam Rabbit, they won’t die even if I cut them in half, right? Horizontally, not vertically.]
[That shouldn’t be enough to kill them.]
[Understood. Then I’ll cut them in half.]
Tap.
The rabbit staff’s footsteps echoed against the cold floor.
“It seems the creatures of this place don’t know their place.”
“They lack self-awareness.”
“This world may be a high-level dimension, but even here, foolish creatures exist.”
The Alchemists continued speaking arrogantly.
Then, moments after they finished talking—
The rabbit staff member vanished from their sight.
“Kuheok…!”
“Ugh…?”
“Keu, keheok…!”
Screams burst from their throats, echoing through the cave.
First one, then two, then three—
Like dominoes, the Alchemists collapsed in an instant.
Their bodies, as if sliced by a razor-sharp blade, were cleanly severed at the waist, with their upper and lower halves scattered across the floor.
[It’s done.]
The rabbit staff member reappeared.
She elegantly wiped her hands with a white handkerchief.
【Pururu】─ Oh… she’s strong too…
【Hwang Mir】─ Sugoi…
【Bubble Bubble】─ Even the rabbit staff are all S-rank.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she naturally blended back in with the other staff members.