The mural of the second story was noticeably longer than the first, composed of several panels. The first panel depicted a backdrop of… a junkyard? This wasn’t an ordinary junkyard, but one specifically for discarding outdated or broken androids. 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ
Amidst the mountain-like pile of steel rubbish, one could see the figure of a discarded, scrapped domestic maid android. Her synthetic skin was mostly torn, revealing the old circuit boards and wires inside. This made her appear half-human, half-mechanical, devoid of any aesthetic appeal, even ugly. The only thing identifying her model, the maid’s uniform, was already stained with mud, dirty and tattered.
Worse, the mural depicted a faint acidic rain, suggesting the junkyard’s area often experienced continuous rainy and humid weather, deadly to these unprotected machines. The rust on the exposed parts of the maid android in the mural was clear evidence of severe corrosion.
Being discarded here meant the androids were deemed worthless, with no one willing to recycle them. Their fate was either to have their few uncorroded parts stolen by scavengers or to hope someone would pay to dispose of them.
Disposal didn’t mean repair, but rather melting them in a scorching, high-temperature furnace, freeing them from the torment of corrosion in molten lava.
In the next mural, Renji saw mechanical beings being hauled away by trucks, thrown into the rolling magma like trash, melting into iron.
If nothing unexpected occurred, this might have been the end of the story. However, like the popular human tales of Cinderella and the Prince Charming, the mural evolved.
With the progression of the murals, the next scene depicted a rainy night at the junkyard, welcoming a young scientist shrouded in a cloak.
As if guided by fate, the young scientist rummaged through the sea of machines in the junkyard and found the household Mechanoid maid, buried under newly discarded machines at the bottom, mixed with mud.
Drenched in the cold rain, the young scientist brought the maid home to a warm, dry shipping container laboratory. With his unparalleled intelligence, he successfully repaired the maid and appointed her as his assistant, his only lab assistant.
From then on, the mural depicted the young scientist and the maid living a happy and blissful life.
They were together, inseparable – eating together, working together, fighting against the Tainted Miasma together, sleeping in each other’s embrace, and even crossing the line of taboo between their race, that the world did not accept, falling deeply in love.
However, the scene shifted at the very moment they fell in love. The intense emotions of the maid attracted the will of Miasma, intending to make her the fifth Miasma Master. As she was on the verge of falling into despair and becoming a world destroyer, a kiss from her master awakened her heart.
But it seemed her strength alone was not enough. Under the brilliant creativity of the young scientist, the maid was able to connect with every discarded and scrapped android, passing down and sharing the “heart” of “love” between humans and machines.
At this point, the mural depicting the second story finally came to an end. Renji looked at the last panel.
With the help of the “heart”, the maid, now amassing all the strength of the androids and guided by her master, finally managed to defeat the will of the Miasma in the name of love.
From then on, having become a “Miasma Master” with great power, she and her master established a sanctuary in the doomed world, living happily with all the machine sisters and her master, forever.
…
Having finished viewing the second mural, Renji seemed to understand why ‘Zero’ was unwilling to wake up.
The story in the mural was all too familiar to Renji, as it was essentially the story of his meeting with Zero in the game, albeit with many added “romantic” elements.
For instance, the so-called “Prophecy” was actually him instantly recognizing Zero’s limitless potential from her attribute panel. The idea of sleeping together or crossing the line of taboo was mere fantasy in the first playthrough, not to mention the young scientist in the story who seemed to have shared love, becoming the beloved of countless machines. What an ultimate harem.
However, more than these, what really concerned Renji was the ending of the second story.
The maid, having become a Miasma Master, did not save the world or clear the Miasma but instead just established a sanctuary and seemed content to live peacefully with the young scientist. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚
The boy nearby also explained, “It’s impossible for the maid to take on four enemies alone. To snatch a corner of the world from the other four Miasma Master as an unpolluted sanctuary is already her limit.”
“Because of the maid’s existence, the Miasma didn’t shrink, but it also stopped expanding. The world’s situation was thus set. Although 80% of the world is still a disastrous apocalypse, at least 20% is livable. All beings have migrated there, protected by the maid and her master. If no accidents happen, civilization can continue.”
As Renji listened, the voice of the boy beside him became lower, his fists clenched. It seemed that, as expected, an accident had occurred.
After all, as mentioned at the beginning, there are three stories.
What has led to the current state of despair and the prediction of the machine servants, which did not seem to play a significant role in the first two stories, are likely all part of the third story.
In the cellar, under the light of the young man’s torch, Renji arrived in front of the final mural.
Under the illumination of the firelight, what appeared before Renji was a witch.
The witch depicted in the mural had pink hair, a pair of bat-like mini wings on her back, and a fleshy tail protruding from her buttocks, like an old hag.
Her skin was wrinkled, and she was draped in a very damp black cloak, with a large witch’s hat covering half of her face, revealing only a long, eagle-like nose.
Clearly, from her appearance, one could deduce her identity: one of the four Miasma Master, the Witch of the Ancient Tower.
“The balance between the living and the Miasma has been achieved, and the world has stabilized, but such peaceful times are not what the witch desires.”
“The witch aims to let this world continue to deteriorate until its destruction, but the existence of the maid is a hurdle she cannot bypass. To destroy the world, the witch must defeat the maid. However, they are both Miasma Master, evenly matched in strength. Direct confrontation is not an option. Therefore, the witch has devised a wicked plan.”
“She has stolen the maid’s lover.”
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