The New Gate (LN)

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m glad you’re safe.”

Berett breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that everyone was safe.

With multiple gods and 08, it was quite a dangerous opponent even during the game era. Even Berett, who knew about High Humans, could not help but worry.

Since Berett was sent to Miraltrea before the full-scale battle began, he didn’t know the battle’s progress, so he must have felt rushed.

“I’m sorry to start this off so quickly, but I’d like to bring 08 in. Can you help me put him in the dock? I could do it, but it would be a huge drag.”

Shin asked Owl, who had come with Berett, if they could get the large doll into the dock.

He expected the core would be safe, but still wanted to avoid as much shock as possible.

“Leave it to me. That’s what I came here for.”

Owl raised his hand toward Miraltrea, and the side of the vehicle, which also served as a dock for large dolls, began to open. And from inside, dolls comparable in size to the 08 came out.

They were prototypes of dolls made before the 08 and their successors for use against divine beasts.

Although they were about the same height, their physiques were very different, and it was easy to see how they went through the process of being made until the finished product, 08.

Even though they were not the latest models, they were all dolls made for use against divine beasts. 08, which was huge to Shin and the others, was carried as lightly as if it were now just a person.

“I’ll start checking 08’s bodies right away. I’ll be using some of your equipment.”

“We already have everything ready for you. If there is anything you need, please let us know.” 

Behind Owl, who bowed his head, Mighty and the other dolls also bowed.

It was 08 who had run out of Miraltrea without permission and was fighting a battle, but none of the dolls had any kind of negative feelings.

Mighty and the α Series were relieved to hear that the core would be safe. The β-series showed feelings of dismay and exasperation at the battered and bruised appearance of the 08.

Regardless of the state of the core, everyone was happy that 08 had returned.

“The state of the core is… good; it can be repaired.”

The whole body was checked and details of the damaged parts are seen. The core was also damaged, but it did not appear to be serious as it was not directly damaged.

Shin operated the equipment with a familiar hand, and the way he used it didn’t change after entering this world. 

Once the doll was docked in an unconscious state, the rest was a piece of cake. The exterior was removed to expose the basic skeleton.

THE NEW GATE was a VRMMO-RPG classified as a fantasy game. 

The doll may look like a knight-like robot, but its structure was extremely simple.

It was not composed of thousands and thousands of parts as in science fiction works, but was almost completely made up of a skeleton and an exterior covering it.

Fingers and gimmicks moved thanks to the mysterious power of magic. There were almost no robotic elements, such as parts interlocking with each other or artificial muscles.

Some people have made something like that, but it was insignificant. What was important was the skill of the creator, the materials, and the blueprints.

“Enter core repair.”

When the exterior covering the upper body and chest area of 08 was removed, a white sphere about 30-cemels in diameter was revealed.

This was 08’s core.

Two cracks run across the surface of the core, which emitted a pale light. Shin moved close to the core and activated his skill by touching it directly.

But all he was doing was injecting magic power.

A player’s magic power had the ability to repair the core, and this was especially compatible with the blacksmith’s magic power.

This wasn’t set by Shin and the others, it was a game setting.

This sounded very convenient, but there were even metals that have the property of self-repairing. If the core could be repaired simply by sharing magic power, Shin had nothing to complain about.

By the way, if there was a small defect in the core, one could use an item to restore it, but if it were broken into pieces or severely chipped, one would have to replace it with a new one.

In this case, there were only cracks, so no items were needed.

The crack slowly sealed up, and in about five minutes, it was repaired to the point where one couldn’t even tell where the damage had been.

“The core should be good to go for now.”

The durability value has been restored to maximum. Now what’s going on inside, of course, will remain to be seen until the system is rebooted.

“The rest is the exterior, which, once again, looks terrible.”

Before the work was done, he had only lightly examined the core, giving priority to the core, so he had not looked at the details.

The head, torso, arms and legs. It was also great that the parts that could not be seen in the position before could now be seen. Since each part of the body was separated, every detail could be observed.

As expected, the body was in a state of disrepair.

The deterioration was so severe that at this point, one wondered whether it would be better to repair it or rebuild it anew.

Although there were spare parts, he didn’t want to restart the machine and have it go wild again, so he replaced the parts with prototypes with lower durability and power output.

“Then let’s reboot.”

The core was activated by priming it with magic power. The magic power permeated each part, and the parts that hit the eyes lit up.

“…did you repair me?”

“By the looks of it, it seems like you remember everything up until now.”

Each part is still connected to the dock, but if he wanted to disconnect it, he could do so by force.

But 08 didn’t go berserk, nodding at Shin’s question from a slumped position.

“It would have been better if I had just rotted away.”

“I’m not Reed, and to be honest, there’s not much I can do. I don’t even know if fixing you would have been good for you. But I thought I should tell you this.”

“What, now?”

Even if he went rampant, Shin wanted to tell 08’s name that Reed was supposed to give.

That’s one of the reasons why he listened to Schnee and the other’s wishes.

“Welberad.”

At Shin’s words, 08 slowly looked up. The light that had been so weak became a little brighter.

“That’s the name you were supposed to have. Just so you know, it was Reed who came up with it.”

“My, name…”

Since they were both working on the production, Shin had heard about the name he was planning to give from Reed.

“I don’t know the origin of the name, but I heard it means ‘the sword that serves the heavens.’”

It must be a pun on some word. The person himself said, “Heavenly Sword for short, isn’t it cool?”

Shin had a similar experience in naming a sword. He thought it sounded pretty good for a name for a piece of equipment used by the Reed of Rokuten. (TN: Rokuten means Six Heavens)

Upon hearing his own name, Welberad stopped moving, covering his face with his hands.

His face was not the type to change expression. Still, it looked like he was crying just from the gesture and the atmosphere.

Shin didn’t know what kind of emotions were swirling inside Welberad. However, he decided to leave him alone for now, and waited until he raised his face.

“Thank you.”

After a while, Welberad raised his face and said in a calm tone.

His sinking feeling seemed to have faded immediately after the reboot.

“It’s not like I did anything special.”

Schnee and her team were the ones who held Welberad in check, and the repairs, although time-consuming, were not impossible with Miraltrea’s facilities.

If anything, Shin was ignoring Welberad and fighting with gods —I enjoyed it a little, so I didn’t help you at all, or rather, it just added fuel to the fire?— He couldn’t help thinking that.

“Just telling me my name is enough.”

The name may have been engraved somewhere, even though it was still named by Reed.

Welberad seemed to be convinced that this was his name.

Even if he learned his name before the fight, it did not guarantee that he would have become docile.

“What are you going to do now?”

“After replacing my equipment, I will shift to standby mode. If you need anything, please call me anytime.”

The rampant behavior of a short while ago seemed to have calmed down.

For dolls, having a name given to their master seemed to change the state of their minds.

“Next time, I promise to do a job worthy of the name bestowed upon me.”

Like a knight pledging allegiance to the king, Welberad kneeled and bowed his head.

It’s alright now. 

Welberad wore a solemn and dignified atmosphere that made one feel that way.

~TNG VOL. 19 End~

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