Chapter 2: A Future Beyond the Endless Cycle

“You seem to be having quite a lot of fun these days, little friend.”

Ligormung muttered the words as he leisurely ate his meal, quietly looking down at Q-Type.

It was nothing particularly special, so Q-Type could have simply let it pass, but in that instant, it realized something.

That probably had not been a passing remark.

Q-Type could tell from those strangely calm yet thoughtful eyes.

He had noticed the sense of fulfillment Q-Type had recently begun to feel.

[You’re saying something rather obvious. I experience different emotions every day as well, so there are occasionally times when I am happier than average.]

“Well, that may be true… But that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about your recent tendency.”

[What tendency?]

“You just seem more complete despite having fewer functions than you used to. You don’t seem bored at all since you decided to live while relying on each other with Seohyun, do you?”

“I’m a diligent machine that takes good care of its patient, so I don’t experience boredom.”

“You know that’s not what I mean. It’s a question of freedom, not duty.”

As he spoke, Ligormung poked Q-Type with the tip of his foot.

Even though Q-Type knew that Ligormung’s guess was correct, it suddenly felt embarrassed.

It was as though the man had seen straight through its thoughts.

Q-Type was certainly weaker than it had been in the past, and it now had the clear limitation that the only person it could treat was Yoon Seohyun.

But from another perspective, those limitations meant that Q-Type had essentially escaped the obsession that it had to be ‘useful as a medical device.’

As long as Yoon Seohyun was alive, there was no possibility that Q-Type would ever become useless to him.

Ironically, because of that, Q-Type had become free from the obsession with being a ‘useful medical machine’ that it had carried in its heart for its entire existence.

Once it crossed the mountain of that obsession, it could see the next stage beyond it.

Not being together because Seohyun was a patient, but because he was a precious friend.

Not accompanying him for treatment and assistance, but sharing an ordinary life together.

As its master had said earlier, school was a place where one learned things, and the eternally immature machine was gradually learning how to mingle with ‘friends’ by attending school alongside Seohyun.

School was not merely Seohyun’s space.

It was also a place where Q-Type itself was learning about a new way of life.

“You have a life of your own now because you’re together with Yoon Seohyun, don’t you? It looks like you like that, so I just wanted to say it.”

Seohyun looked at Ligormung with a slightly surprised expression before breaking into a happy smile.

For a moment, Ligormung thought that the sight of that smile was pleasant to look at.

Then Q-Type became a little sulky at the fact that Ligormung had exposed feelings even Q-Type itself had not put into words.

‘Life after being freed really is enjoyable. But hearing Ligormung the Idiot say it makes me want to be contrary for no reason.’

The little machine had grown quite a bit, but there was still a stubborn and willful side of it.

Even though the old grievances between them had finally been settled, Q-Type still hated feeling as though it had lost to that man.

After pondering for quite some time about how it should respond to Ligormung, Q-Type was about to turn its monitor face-down on the floor when a thought suddenly occurred to it.

It wanted to be mischievous for once.

[If you ask me, the one who looks happiest and most pleased with his newly acquired life is actually Ligormung the Idiot. When Yoon Seohyun and I go to school, aren’t you planning to grab our master, rub yourself against him, bite him, and kiss him to your heart’s content?]

“Just as Taehyun said, this friend has learned some bad habits at school. I’m not planning on doing that first thing in the morning, all right? Even after I went out of my way to say something nice, it still acts so spitefully. It clearly has a long way to go.”

“Ligormung? What did Q-Type put on its monitor…? Hey, why did you suddenly turn your monitor over?”

Because of where he was sitting, Taehyun had not been able to see Q-Type’s monitor.

The moment he stood up, Q-Type swiftly flipped its monitor face-down before he could read the words.

Fortunately, when the little machine pretended not to know anything, the embarrassment became Ligormung’s problem alone.

“No, um, Master. That friend actually didn’t say anything. I must have been talking nonsense just now. Since you didn’t get to read it anyway, just pretend you never saw anything.”

“You’re lying. The way Ligormung suddenly became awkward about how he addresses me makes it obvious that thing said something. Q-Type just said something like a shameless pervert, didn’t it? Judging by that ‘first thing in the morning’ comment, it was obviously something along those lines.”

“You little bastard.”

As Taehyun exclaimed incredulously and glared at it, Q-Type quickly leaped onto Seohyun’s lap.

Q-Type did not particularly enjoy being scolded by its master, but seeing the Wraith’s face take on a rare, lukewarm blush was a sight worth savoring.

“Anyway, just pretend you didn’t hear it, Taehyun…”

Q-Type had never imagined that the man would be such an innocent novice when it came to things like this.

Delighted by the sight of the Wraith floundering, Q-Type rolled around on Seohyun’s lap.

Q-Type had no idea what Ligormung was like when nobody else was around, but whenever conversations like this came up in front of other people, the Wraith became terribly embarrassed.

It was amusing.

Even when Q-Type knew it was being mean, it wanted to tease him again and again because poking him produced such an immediate reaction.

“Q-Type, Ligormung went out of his way to compliment you, so you shouldn’t tease him and my brother. Even if the two of them are both so shy that they want to act proper in front of us, that doesn’t mean you should…”

“Hey, Yoon Seohyun! You’re the one having the most fun teasing us! You shouldn’t treat your brother like that!”

For the record, Seohyun also enjoyed teasing the two of them like this.

Perhaps Seohyun had developed a strangely shameless side after starting school.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing depended on how one looked at it.

Seohyun burst into a clear, angelic laugh before hurriedly getting up from his seat.

The human and the machine left for school as though fleeing from their extremely shy lover.

It was a relief that, thanks to what had just happened, Seohyun seemed to have completely shaken off his nervousness and fear.

Q-Type privately congratulated itself, convinced that all of this was thanks to it.

****

“Honestly, Q-Type still acts however it pleases from time to time… Anyway, I wonder if our Seohyun will do well on his performance assessment today.”

After Yoon Seohyun and Q-Type cheerfully set off for school together, Taehyun cleaned the kitchen with Ligormung while chatting about this and that.

Unlike before, when Taehyun had packed his schedule full of classes from early morning, he had gained a little more free time starting this semester.

On days like today when he had no classes, he could send his younger brother to school and spend the day doing housework or simply relaxing.

“He’ll obviously do fine. Whose younger brother is he? And besides, Taehyun, from what I’ve heard, this ‘performance assessment’ is about as difficult as the group assignments you sometimes do, isn’t it? Then isn’t it something you really don’t need to worry so much about?”

“It’s roughly similar, but are Seohyun and Taehyun really the same? At that age, even little things tend to feel much bigger. And Seohyun has been out of school for several years, so he must be even more nervous…”

“Still, don’t worry too much. Anyone would think you were a parent who had sent his child to the edge of a river.”

“That’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a pretty fitting metaphor.”

“Even though Seohyun isn’t a child, school isn’t a river, and you aren’t Seohyun’s parent? Seohyun will definitely do well. He has Q-Type by his side.”

“I’m always worried that adding another willful child to the mix will just lead to an even bigger disaster… But you’re right, Ligormung. Seohyun and Q-Type have managed to get through the past few months together just fine.”

As he reassured Taehyun, Ligormung poked the tip of Taehyun’s nose with the rubber glove covered in dishwashing foam.

Taehyun wiped the foam from his nose and lightly shrugged.

Well, Ligormung was not wrong.

After the dungeon incident had finally been resolved, Taehyun remembered how nervous and restless he had been when he first sent Seohyun to high school.

Seohyun himself had not exactly been enthusiastic about attending school, which had made Taehyun even more anxious.

At the time, Seohyun had wanted to obtain his high school diploma through the GED and immediately become a hunter.

These days, a GED was hardly considered a major blemish on someone’s record, and more importantly, Seohyun had said he did not think he could adapt well to school.

The very idea of entering a school after being away for five years and having to learn everything all over again had apparently frightened him.

If that was what Seohyun wanted, then perhaps Taehyun should simply help him do what he wished.

Taehyun had thought about it for a while, but Ligormung had been the one to argue against it.

– If he’s giving up on a choice simply because he’s afraid, I’d like you to reconsider.

– Seohyun is at an age when he can try all kinds of different experiences.

– …

– The GED is perfectly fine, but going to school, interacting with people his own age, and safely making mistakes and learning from them are experiences that can only really be had at that age, aren’t they?

– So I think it wouldn’t be bad for him to experience it at least once.

– He can give it a try first, and if he decides that school life really isn’t for him, couldn’t the three of us look for another path together then?

– Taehyun understood what Ligormung meant, but…

– And this is only an added benefit, but I think Seohyun going to school could actually help Q-Type quite a bit, too.

– …Huh?

– You mean it would help Q-Type?

– Why?

– That little friend has spent eternity wandering through an endless cycle without ever being able to grow.

– Now, couldn’t the machine also learn something together with you?

Q-Type itself had been furious with Ligormung for using someone else as an excuse, but…

In the end, after hearing Ligormung’s words and thinking about them for a long time, Seohyun decided to go to school.

At the time, Taehyun had been worried sick.

What if Seohyun was bullied?

What if they were pushing him too hard?

Taehyun had repeatedly held the boy close and told him that he could quit whenever things became too difficult, that he should simply think of it as an experience as Ligormung had suggested, and that he did not need to put any pressure on himself.

Yet once Seohyun actually started school, he adapted so quickly that all those worries seemed completely unnecessary.

The classmates Taehyun had feared might ignore or bully Seohyun because of his long academic gap turned out to be far kinder than expected.

And Q-Type, which Taehyun had assumed would ignore the school rules and run wild however it pleased, apparently knew exactly when it was safe to put its foot down.

Taehyun could tell even from the handful of videos Q-Type occasionally recorded as ‘important matters.’

Q-Type claimed that it had filmed them to verify whether Seohyun was being bullied by his friends.

But no matter how Taehyun looked at them, they were obviously chaotic high school life videos that could probably rack up quite a few views if uploaded as XTube Shorts.

There was something strangely touching and heartwarming about seeing Seohyun burst into a clear laugh whenever Q-Type, acting as the camera, rolled around, tumbled over, or got scolded.

“I think it was a good idea to go to school, hyung. At first, I decided to go because I thought it might help Q-Type, but now that I’m actually going, I think it’s helping me a lot, too…”

When Seohyun had said that one day in a slightly embarrassed voice, Taehyun had felt incredibly strange.

Seohyun was clearly doing well.

The timid, cautious younger brother and the boastful little machine that loved to show off had both managed to settle comfortably into school life after taking such good care of each other.

By now, Seohyun was probably enthusiastically practicing his presentation with his friends.

Taehyun sincerely hoped he was having a good time.

Just as he was thinking that, Ligormung finished washing the dishes in an instant and strode over to him.

“But now isn’t really the time to worry about other people, Taehyun.”

“…!”

“You should probably wash up and get ready soon if you want to leave on time. Don’t you think?”

Ligormung naturally placed a hand on Taehyun’s lower back and untied the strings of his apron.

He had not touched anywhere strange, nor had he actually taken off any of Taehyun’s clothes, but the position was practically indistinguishable from an embrace, which made Taehyun feel strange.

After hesitating over what to do, Taehyun imitated Ligormung and untied the strings of his apron before quietly stepping backward.

He was pretty sure this man had just said in front of Q-Type that he was ‘not planning to do that first thing in the morning.’

“Come to think of it, it is about time to wash up. By the way, Ligormung, you do realize that you only use that way of addressing me whenever it suits you, right?”

“Hm? I’m not sure what you mean. Anyway, let’s hurry to the bathroom. Want me to wash you?”

Ligormung’s shameless smile and the way he clung to Taehyun were both irritating and ridiculous.

Now that Taehyun thought about it, this man was actually even better than Q-Type at knowing exactly when he could get away with something.

Whenever Seohyun or Q-Type was around to see them, Ligormung would act proper and reserved, just as he had in the past.

But whenever there was nobody around and they were alone, he would immediately become soft and clingy, calling Taehyun by his name over and over.

Sometimes, he would even cling to Taehyun so shamelessly that it was almost embarrassing to watch.

‘You’re really funny, too.’

In the past, Taehyun might have found it frustrating.

But now he knew.

This man was much shyer than he appeared.

Sometimes, Taehyun even wondered whether the proper way to deal with him was to tease and provoke him enthusiastically like Q-Type did, drawing out his true feelings in the process…

“Forget it. I’ll wash up by myself. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with my body.”

“Do we really need something to be wrong with your body before we can shower together?”

“If nothing’s wrong with my body, you’re just planning to make something wrong with it, aren’t you? I couldn’t read what Q-Type put on its monitor earlier, but I’m sure it was about that, wasn’t it? Now that I think about it, that thing must have seen your ulterior motives and was trying to warn me.”

“…Our master really doesn’t hold back when it comes to saying things.”

Ligormung’s face flushed slightly as though he had just taken a direct hit.

Taehyun chuckled and went into the bathroom alone.

If he started showering together with that man, there was no way he would make it to his appointment on time.

Even if Taehyun initially resolved not to let things go that far, before he knew it, he would end up getting swept along by Ligormung’s pace.

In any case, he needed to leave soon today.

He had plans to meet up with his companions, who, just like him, were enjoying their peaceful everyday lives.

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