I participated in the auction to gather materials for making dolls.
To gain the power I desired, I needed the remains of a powerful monster.
This idea came to me after realizing my inadequacies during the promotion evaluation.
‘If only I had enough strength, none of this would have happened.’
That’s why I wanted a doll.
I hoped to imbue it with talents I lacked.
Of course, even that thought had been influenced by Myra, but my resolve remained unchanged. Strength was the foundation of everything.
After forming a contract, I participated in the auction once again.
Various items were presented at the auction.
I carefully examined each one.
Since it was the final day, rare treasures filled the room.
In the end, I chose one among them.
***
My fingers fiddled with the card Miryeong had given me.
Picking the most expensive item here would undoubtedly bring immense profit.
However, I knew my limits.
Materials I couldn’t handle were worthless to me, no matter how expensive they were.
Moreover, selling what I bought was not an option, as Miryeong would surely notice.
I had to choose something I could manage.
After thorough consideration, I acquired the spine of Akuru.
Akuru was a high-level monster I had never encountered before.
It had the ability to continuously reshape its body and distort its surroundings.
It resembled a wolf but displayed features of other monsters as well, forming a peculiar appearance.
The item was brought in from outside the university and was considered rare.
When I saw it in the catalog, I immediately knew it was the one.
Its rarity made its price rise significantly, but I placed higher bids without hesitation.
After all, it wasn’t my points being used.
Eventually, I secured it and used it to create a doll.
The power within the spine was just as I had imagined.
I laughed uncontrollably when I saw the result.
When crafting a combat doll, my greatest challenge was its inability to withstand the output.
The magic heart I created couldn’t endure the magic of others.
This spine introduced a distortion to the magic heart. It allowed the doll’s heart and circuits to adapt to magic, enabling it to mimic the power of others.
However, I had yet to bestow a shadow upon it.
The doll remained incomplete.
Everything about the doll was semi-dependent on the spine, and its form continued to transform, tainted by it.
Bestowing self-awareness on this doll would result in another disaster like the Wraith Tree.
The self-awareness would fail to form, and the doll would merely become an appendage of the Shadow Tree.
Or worse, the doll itself might be destroyed.
Such was the immense power held within it.
Erasing those traces was essential, and that’s why I brought the doll to this dangerous place.
Stopping the flow of magic, even for a moment, was not an option.
I needed to consistently tame the spine with my magic, integrating it into the doll and erasing its traces as much as possible.
But now, it had all been taken away.
I watched as the doll walked ahead.
Standing about chest-high to me, it had a form reminiscent of what I imagined my professor might look like if they had grown.
The only difference was its pure white hair.
I sighed.
‘This isn’t what I wanted.’
I had envisioned a massive doll, like Goro, for ease of imbuing magic and configuring its circuits.
I also sought the intimidating presence such a form could exude.
That size was also the limit of what my magic heart could handle.
I had attempted forms like Cassian or Hwaryoung but couldn’t sustain them due to the heart’s instability.
For the past month, the doll had continuously reshaped itself.
Before entering this place, its robust body had nearly been completed, but now it had taken the form of a woman.
This change was driven by the heart within.
The heart had completely restructured the doll with overwhelming power.
The spine had become subservient to the heart in an instant, altering the doll’s internal and external structure into its current form.
I never expected the Mist Heart to be here.
While checking the warehouse list, I had felt a strange sense of familiarity.
A heart that consumes the mind… I was well-acquainted with its traits, and so I had my suspicions.
But I never expected it to be real.
I let out a bitter laugh.
I felt an odd connection to this heart.
Reflecting on it, the heart played a significant role in bringing me here.
I first thought of Mirror Worms because of the mist it emitted—a strange mist that disoriented everything.
To overcome it, I began communication through the Mirror Worms.
One event led to another, bringing me to the auction, earning my professor’s approval, and making me the warehouse keeper.
Eventually, I was dragged here.
It all seemed to trace back to that heart.
The doll stopped walking and turned to face me.
A faint smile lingered at its lips.
When our eyes met, it smiled brightly at me.
I flinched once again.
The doll’s soft and gentle expression on my professor’s face was unnervingly out of place.
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?”
It spoke.
“I said we’d meet again, and it actually happened.”
“So it seems.”
“Doesn’t this mean we’re bound by fate?”
It walked closer and rested its head softly against my chest.
I couldn’t move.
The mist around me held my body in place.
“So, how about opening this for me? I want to go inside. It won’t hurt.”
Its pale hand caressed my chest, mist seeping from its fingers, trying to burrow into me.
But it was repelled.
A golden shimmer rose gently before my chest.
The doll looked at it with a disappointed expression.
I swallowed hard and let out a bitter laugh.
This was the twentieth time this had happened.
Since the moment we first met, it had always targeted my heart.
The Mist Heart didn’t initially aim to inhabit the doll; it sought me.
It happened while I was fleeing from other treasures.
The mist suddenly engulfed me, and I felt myself dissolving within it.
But the key emitted a radiant light and stopped it.
The mist left me and seeped into the doll beside me.
It all happened in an instant.
Had it not been for the key, I would have died.
I recalled the inscription I read before entering this room.
“Only those who devour humans gather here.”
It nearly came true.
Looking down at the faint golden magic glowing from my chest, I realized why my professor had said I wouldn’t die.
The key provided just enough safety to prevent my demise.
In some ways, it was exactly what I desired—a minimum safeguard, guiding adversaries to realize cooperation was more advantageous than hostility.
That was my intent in crafting a combat doll.
But it was also the root of the problem.
The key protected me but didn’t grant the power to resolve situations.
And so, I remained at the mercy of the Mist Heart.
I leisurely surveyed my surroundings.
***
It had been three days since I met her.
It had been five days since I entered the room.
During that time, I managed to explore about half of this place.
This treasure chamber was a vast area made up of mountains and plains.
It felt as though a real location had been transplanted here.
However, there was no sign of any living beings.
It was clear that the treasures here had consumed everything.
Only faint traces of life from long ago remained.
While exploring, I occasionally encountered some treasures.
But my objective was nowhere to be seen, which was quite strange.
I looked at the doll.
It was walking away from me again, beckoning me to follow.
This time, we were heading to the northern edge.
I had already checked the west and south.
It was the result of following its whims.
All I could do was trail behind it.
There was no choice.
Whenever I tried to head elsewhere, it would subtly block my path.
It seemed unwilling to let me escape its grasp.
As we walked, I eventually reached the summit of a mountain.
The doll gestured toward a distant spot.
“Look, there it goes again.”
I followed its gaze and saw a massive hand.
It was the same one I had encountered up close before.
It was a grotesque being made of fingers, both human and monstrous, merged together.
Initially, I had been riding a tortoise to move around.
‘How else could I traverse such a vast area on foot?’
I only wanted to quickly locate my target.
In doing so, I discovered several treasures.
In this strange space, the treasures were freely roaming.
Most of them emitted no magic and remained motionless.
I should have been more cautious back then.
The reason they hadn’t moved was that they lacked purpose.
Just as the professor had written, they existed to devour life.
That hand was no exception.
It lay limp like a corpse, so I thought it was safe to observe from a distance.
But it sensed me and immediately sprang to life.
Its grasp crushed the tortoise’s shell like clay.
Thankfully, since it had only just awakened, its movements were sluggish, allowing me to barely escape.
Even after that, it kept searching for me.
The disturbance of its magic awakened other treasures, all of which began to pursue me.
Amid several crises, the tortoise was nearly destroyed and was now resting.
Without the key, even escaping would have been impossible.
At this distance, the hand should have been able to sense me.
The only reason it hadn’t yet was simple—the mist surrounding me concealed my presence.
That mist was why I couldn’t break free from the doll.
The mist trapped me but also protected me.
I watched as the massive hand moved away, heading west.
It had caught the lingering magic I left behind to distract the treasures.
Yet, despite the chaos caused by so many treasures running amok, there was no sign of the “Eye that Hung from the Stars.”
This contradicted what the Mist Heart had told me—that it would lead me to it.
“Have you still not found its location?”
I asked the doll.
It glanced at me before shaking its head and began moving again.
That didn’t make sense.
With this much commotion, the Eye must have awakened by now.
This meant one thing—the doll had been deliberately keeping us away from it.
Though I had only suspected it before, I was now almost certain.
Enough time had passed for me to piece things together.
‘I shouldn’t have let it realize my true objective.’
I sighed softly.
It couldn’t be helped.
The key protected my life but didn’t prevent it from reading my mind.
It had sifted through my memories of the past few days and realized I was after the Eye.
***
Afterward, it began behaving like this.
The reason it wasn’t leading me to the treasure was clear—it intended to take over my body.
If this continued, I would be stuck wandering around endlessly.
I needed to change the situation.
Looking at the doll, I spoke.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
“Hmm, about what?”
The doll turned gracefully and slowly approached me.
I met its gaze and said firmly, “Let’s negotiate. I suspect you already know where the treasure is. At this rate, neither of us gains anything. Let’s find a compromise.”
“Did you figure it out? How? Did I do something suspicious?”
The doll’s eyes widened in feigned surprise.
I smirked bitterly.
My suspicions were confirmed.
“I was only guessing before, but your words just now proved it.”
“Oh my, this happened before too. I’ve fallen for another one of your leading questions. How embarrassing.”
The doll chuckled softly, a hint of awkwardness in its tone.
Standing before me, it lightly tapped my chest with its finger.
“Fine, let’s negotiate. But as I’ve said, I want to get inside your chest.”
The doll smiled brightly.
I shook my head.
It tilted its head and tapped its chin in thought.
“Then what will you do? Without my help, you’ll remain stuck here. I, on the other hand, can keep wandering freely.”
“You’re aware there’s a time limit to this situation,” I replied, closing my eyes briefly.
It had read my mind, so it knew.
It knew I was here under the professor’s orders and that I needed to retrieve the treasure before the next lecture began.
‘If I failed, the professor would likely punish me severely, perhaps even to the brink of death, as a penalty for not completing the mission.’
She would then collect the treasure herself.
I might escape her grasp, but only barely.
The doll knew this too.
It seemed to deliberate briefly.
Looking at its face, which resembled the professor’s, I couldn’t help but think of Professor Irien.
I wondered what she was doing now.
She was probably watching over my situation, possibly laughing at how I was being restrained by a doll I had created.
I could almost hear her laughter.
Waiting for the professor wasn’t a good idea.
She had told me not to run away.
If I remained idle, she might simply leave me here.
So, I had to treat that as a last resort and find a new way forward.
“I’ll let you leave this place. In exchange, help me.”
I declared.
The doll’s eyes narrowed slightly.