“What happened to Serika after that?”
“…I don’t know.”
‘To be precise, I couldn’t know.’
The day after we parted ways with Serika, the villa complex we had ransacked for two days had, as expected, turned into a den of monsters due to their hierarchy battles.
“Does this mean we can’t enter the villa complex anymore?”
“Yeah… We could force our way in, but honestly, it’d be closer to suicide.”
“Understood.”
Even in broad daylight, when the monsters were usually less active, the sounds of battle echoed relentlessly from inside.
The stench of blood stung my nose just from getting near, and unidentifiable chunks of flesh littered the ground.
‘So, naturally, avoiding such a place was the smarter choice.’
‘Losing a good looting spot was disappointing, but I didn’t regret it.’
‘This whole mess happened because I’d obliterated a Queen-class monster that day, but if I hadn’t killed it, we would’ve been the ones to die instead.’
‘So, well… call it the law of nature.’
‘Or maybe a turning point of fate.’
I was nodding to myself, lost in these thoughts, when—
Click… chk-click…
“Huh?”
For the past week, we’d been hunting wild animals around the motel to prepare for any unforeseen situations.
Food was still a crucial part of survival, after all.
Levi had been using the same blade she fought monsters with to butcher animals, so the meat always ended up charred black.
This time, I’d even made her a bow so she could hunt properly, but…
1…R…S…4…1…R…S…4…1…R…S…4…
“…What is this?”
It was around 6:30 AM, my usual wake-up time.
I’d just gotten up for my morning hunt and was scouting the area around the motel when the TV in our room—which I’d left on standby—suddenly started spitting out a strange sequence of numbers and letters.
“Letters… and numbers?”
“Yeah, this is…”
“Levi? What is this?”
“Sir. To you, it may just look like random letters and numbers, but this is an emergency coordinate code from R.P.M.”
“A coordinate code?”
“…Ah, right.”
Now that I thought about it, this world had that kind of “content,” didn’t it?
Though it was now a VR-turned-reality, back when it was just a game, emergency coordinate codes would occasionally pop up on terminals during third-person exploration.
Following them would lead to valuable items, like quest rewards, or—if you were lucky—a new ally.
It was a pretty common trope, but maybe because I was no longer an android and had become human, I hadn’t even recognized it as a quest signal.
‘My 20,000 hours of hardcore gaming experience would be crying right now…’
‘Well, whatever. If this really was an emergency coordinate code, then checking it out was the right move.’
“Levi, how’s your condition lately?”
“Sir! I’ve been training nonstop since that day at the villa complex when you stepped ahead of me!”
“Hahaha…”
***
A week ago, to persuade Serika, I’d rushed ahead of Levi, the android.
The plan had gone smoothly.
Serika and I had formed a good… relationship, and Levi had returned to base without a scratch.
But ever since that day, Levi’s demeanor had noticeably changed.
She didn’t express it outright, but subtle shifts in her tone, movements, and gaze gave her away.
It was probably… guilt.
An android designed to protect humanity had, that day, been protected by a human instead.
That must’ve wounded her pride.
And rightfully so—Levi was from R.P.M.’s 4th Unit, the division that underwent the most combat training.
For someone like her to lag behind a human, even for a moment, must’ve weighed heavily on her.
“This time, I’ll prove my worth!”
Since that day, Levi had made it a habit to head straight to the rooftop every morning.
In the predawn hours, when the monsters were still sluggish, she’d swing her blade alone in the cold air, repeating the same motions over and over.
There was something desperate yet beautiful about it.
Her movements were machine-precise, yet tangled with human emotions—anger, regret, resolve.
Every morning, I could feel it all in her training.
‘Maybe Levi wanted to forgive herself.’
And now, she’d been waiting for a chance to unleash that pent-up frustration in real combat.
“So, sir. Do you plan to follow the distress signal?”
“Yeah, that’s the idea.”
“May I ask why?”
“Well… if someone sent a distress signal, they’re at least likely to be on our side, right? Plus, sending a signal like this requires electricity.”
Even in the game, terminals or any devices wouldn’t work without power.
Meaning, if someone had sent a distress signal, they had access to electricity—and that might solve our power supply issues.
“So I’m thinking we should check it out.”
And… more than anything, a distress call meant someone was in danger.
I didn’t want to sit locked in a room and let androids like Levi or Serika die fighting for humans.
When I finished explaining, Levi nodded.
“Understood. Then let’s depart.”
Once again, she was my steadfast knight, ready to fulfill her duty.
“I finally made it outside. But the moment I did, ironically, I was immediately faced with a crisis.”
“‘But… how are we supposed to find the coordinates?'”
“‘Usually, you’d locate them using a holographic map.'”
“‘Levi… do you have something like that?'”
“‘No. That kind of equipment is usually issued to the 5th Unit—the elite squad…'”
“‘…We’re screwed.'”
The distress signal had come through.
The exact coordinates had been transmitted.
But the biggest problem was something else entirely.
We had no way to actually find those coordinates.
‘Now that I think about it, in games, these kinds of coordinate hints usually take over a month to decode before they’re useful.’
‘This is bullshit.’
‘They gave us coordinates, but no map.’
‘Hell, we don’t even know where we are right now. How are we supposed to navigate to those coordinates?’
This was absurdity at its finest.
‘How the hell are we supposed to get there?!’
Just as I was screaming internally in frustration—
Ding.
“‘Huh?'”
“‘Chanwoo?'”
“‘Got it. Let’s go.'”
“‘Huh? S-Suddenly?'”
[Coordinates: 1RS4]
[Guidance initiated.]
The coordinates Levi mentioned appeared as a semi-transparent window visible only to me.
Then, a holographic map resembling a world map automatically unfolded, neatly displaying the route we needed to take.
“‘Um… Chanwoo. Are you sure this is the right way?'”
“‘Yeah. Just trust me. I just pinpointed the coordinates.'”
“‘Ooooh! This is what it means to be human! Your abilities never fail to amaze me!'”
“‘Hahaha…'”
It was an incredible ability.
The problem was, even the person who activated it had no idea how it worked.
Anyway, according to the world map, the distance we had to cover was…
“‘…50 kilometers?'”
The distance itself didn’t seem like much, but the real issue was what came next.
The unexplored areas ahead were shrouded in dark, murky fog, meaning the actual terrain could be far more treacherous.
This was a ruined city long abandoned by humanity.
Roads were broken, buildings had collapsed, and at night, monstrous creatures roamed freely.
’50 kilometers… At best, it’ll take two days. At worst, maybe four.’
‘Of course, we had no car.’
‘Even if we did, starting the engine would be a death sentence.’
That’s why in Doll of the Stars, using vehicles was a last resort—only when death was imminent.
Running was also forbidden.
If you wasted your stamina and couldn’t move when you needed to escape, that was it. Game over.
So we decided to move at a leisurely pace.
To prepare, we first needed to pack four days’ worth of food.
“‘Alright, let’s head toward the distress signal!'”
“‘Ooooh!'”
***
Since even Levi’s chest-valley inventory had its limits, we split the food evenly between us.
The handmade backpack, crafted from the hides of animals we’d hunted over the past week, could carry up to 20 kg.
Inside mine was a solid stash of smoked venison.
And in the worst-case scenario…
We still had ‘Levi’s breast milk.’
“‘Levi, did you pack the poisonous mushrooms?'”
“‘Yes. Maintaining your body temperature and psychological stability are top priorities, even during missions.'”
That’s our knight for you.
Just looking at her made me smile.
She was cute, reliable, and… well, just so Levi.
‘In that spirit, I figured I’d give her nipples plenty of attention today and make sure her milk was flowing.’
With that thought, I walked forward with light steps—until…
“Chanwoo. I have a question.”
“‘A question?'”
It was rare for her to speak up first, so I turned my head in surprise.
Levi was tilting hers slightly, more than usual.
“Do you remember that abandoned building’s upper floor? Where the android named Serika disappeared?”
“‘Yeah. I remember.'”
“There… I found an unidentifiable, white, sticky liquid.”
“Huh?”
My mind went blank for a second at the sudden description.
“That liquid… had an exceptional taste.”
“‘Taste?'”
“Yes. To be precise, my sensory readings recorded a 97% satisfaction rate.”
‘She’s talking about my cum, right?’
“A very similar scent has been repeatedly detected around your lower body. Yes, repeatedly.”
“Ah… that’s…”
I desperately avoided letting my gaze drop as I fumbled for an answer.
But Levi showed no signs of picking up on my discomfort.
“I’m curious about the exact mechanism by which this ‘sauce’ is produced.”
Her golden eyes sparkled with pure curiosity.
‘Or was it hunger?’
‘…Surely not lust?’
“Even if you’re still investigating, that’s fine. If possible, could you allow me to taste and analyze it directly?”
“‘Levi, that’s… um, well…'”
“This request falls under exceptional circumstances during missions and immediate action is recommended.”