I Became an Illegal Cheat User

79 – 9th Expeditionary Force (3)

With her self-introduction, she extended a small hand toward me.

It was a gesture that clearly invited a handshake, and I was taken aback.

‘…Winry, is she the one asking for a handshake first?’

It made sense, considering the Winry I knew was…

‘What? A newbie? So what, who cares.’

‘You want me to make some equipment in exchange for materials? Is this girl out of her mind? Get lost!’

‘Hey, don’t talk to me, don’t come near. No, just don’t even look at me.’

She was someone no one could approach or befriend, except for Kali and Gray.

To put it nicely, she was a wounded cat with her heart firmly closed off.

To put it bluntly… she was just a brat with a bad attitude who had grown older.

Yet here was Winry, coming up to me first and introducing herself.

She was so different from the Winry in my memories.

‘Then there can only be one explanation.’

The difference between the Winry in my memories and the one standing before me.

It means that Winri was very close to her biological parents.

That I am the child of those parents.

“Hey, my arm hurts….”

“Oh…!”

Was I too lost in thought?

I snapped back to reality at Winri’s voice, which pierced into my ear.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe I’m here….”

I hurriedly apologized and took her small hand in mine.

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to apologize.”

As if she understood everything, Winri shook our joined hands with a smile I had never seen before.

‘With this level of friendliness, I could ask her to make me some equipment right now, not later.’

The reason I called Winri a quirky alchemist.

It was not just because she referred to herself as a machinist.

She could create equipment like an instructor at the academy.

And not just any creation, but ‘synthesis crafting’—combining items with items.

“…Unbelievable, Winri is welcoming a newcomer, and even smiling!”

Gray, who had been quietly observing from the side, looked at Winri with a shocked expression.

“The sun is rising in the west… no, is this a sign of the world’s end?”

I almost nodded at Gray’s words.

‘It is surprising.’

The way Winri was acting now was far removed from her usual demeanor.

“…Sister.”

Winri’s pale face flushed red.

It seemed she was aware that her behavior was different from usual.

“…He’s the son of Seongjin oppa and Ara unni. He’s not like the other kids we don’t need to worry about.”

Gray nodded as if Winri’s words made sense.

“Well, you were practically like a child of your sister and brother. Yujin must be special in some way.”

Still, Gray added, smiling gently as he softly ruffled Winri’s hair.

“Please pay a little attention to the other kids too. We’re all comrades in the same boat, after all.”

At those words, Winri glanced at me and nodded slightly.

“…Okay, I got it.”

“Yes, that’s a good girl, a good girl.”

As if praising a well-behaved child, Gray gently ruffled Winry’s round head.

At that, Winry, with a pouty face, swatted Gray’s hand away and said,

“Hey, I’m not a kid! I’m 25 years old, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. But what can I do? You’re just too cute.”

As Gray said this, she reached out her hand toward Winry’s head again.

“Ah, sis!”

Winry scrunched her face in annoyance and stepped back.

Then, she dashed toward the room she was staying in.

Seeing Winry like that, Gray hurriedly called out,

“Winry, don’t run! Walk! You’ll fall!”

But before Gray could finish her sentence—

“…Kyaah!”

Thud!

Winry tripped over the gown she was wearing and fell forward.

“I knew this would happen.”

Gray sighed and shook her head.

“…Hiiing.”

Her fair forehead flushed a bright red.

Tears welled up in Winry’s silver eyes as she touched her forehead.

Being an alchemist with physical abilities no different from an ordinary person, it seemed the impact of the fall was quite significant.

But perhaps the embarrassment outweighed the pain.

“Ugh… D-Don’t look at me!”

With her forehead as red as her face, Winry shouted at me.

Then she hurriedly slipped into her room as if to escape.

‘…How fascinating.’

In the game, Winry would always respond with “Get lost, shut up, look down” whenever I tried to talk to her, which was incredibly annoying.

But the real Winry felt so adorably cute, much like Asuka.

[Is that what people commonly refer to as tsundere?]

“That’s kind of the vibe, isn’t it?”

As I nodded in agreement with Terra’s words, Gray tapped my shoulder and spoke.

“Yujin, even though Winley seems like that, she’s still your older sister, so you can’t just treat her carelessly, okay?”

Ugh, that’s obvious.

She’s the one who’s going to upgrade my gear, so I definitely can’t treat her carelessly.

“Of course, I’ll treat her with the utmost respect, just like an older sister.”

“That’s our Yujin, always so kind.”

Gray nodded with a satisfied expression and ruffled my hair.

“Oh right, this isn’t the time for that.”

With a beaming smile, Gray’s hand shifted from my head to grasp my wrist.

“Yujin, let me show you to the room you’ll be using.”

With those words, I followed her lead.

We arrived at a room that was slightly larger than the others.

However, there was a nameplate on the door indicating the resident’s name.

And that name was none other than:

[Lee Sung-jin / Kim Ah-ra]

My parents’ names.

‘…I didn’t know there was a room like this.’

Even though it’s a game, I’ve been in and out of the base of the 9th Expeditionary Force countless times.

As such, I know where all the secret passages are and what is hidden within.

In other words, I can say I’ve never left a stone unturned.

‘Of course, reality and the game are different…’

This can only be called a ‘singularity.’

‘…From now on, any place related to my parents will be a singularity.’

I let out a deep sigh inwardly.

With the already tangled storyline, the twist of a singularity was just too much.

It was impossible not to sigh.

“Yujin, are you okay?”

Gray gently rubbed my shoulder with a worried expression.

As I stared blankly at the nameplate bearing my parents’ names, it seemed to me that the sight was quite precarious.

“It’s okay, noona.”

As I said this and tried to smile,

Gray’s concern only grew.

“…Yujin, it’s alright to say you’re struggling if you are.”

It only intensified.

No, I’m really fine.

It’s just that I’m feeling unsettled due to a peculiar situation.

But since I couldn’t reveal my true feelings, I could only nod awkwardly with a forced smile.

Seeing me like that, Gray sighed and said,

“…You must be that brother’s child; you never express when you’re having a hard time.”

‘Something feels strange.’

Should I say my heart feels tingly?

I scratched my head at this inexplicable feeling and grasped the doorknob.

At that moment, a mechanical voice from a small speaker attached to the nameplate echoed, just like the one I had heard in the parking lot.

– Entry not permitted.

– Not a registered resident.

– What is your purpose for entering the room?

Gray answered the question in my stead.

“Change of room resident and registration.”

– For that, permission from the captain and the lieutenant is required…, crackle!

The sound suddenly cut off.

I wondered if it was Terra who had done that, but—

[No, it wasn’t me. I haven’t done anything yet.]

Terra said it wasn’t her.

‘Then what, there’s only one person left.’

Just as I thought that, a voice came through.

– Yujin, since the resident change has been made, grab the doorknob again.

It was not the dry, mechanical voice, but the gentle voice of Winry.

I followed Winry’s words and grasped the doorknob once more.

Then the names ‘Lee Seong-jin, Kim Ah-ra’ engraved on the nameplate vanished.

[Lee Yu-jin]

My name was newly inscribed.

“……”

Gray stared blankly at the nameplate.

Her expression looked incredibly sorrowful.

“Are you okay, sis?”

This time, the question came from my lips.

At that, Gray turned her head toward me.

After gazing at me for a moment, she smiled faintly and said,

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

What’s this? I want her to express herself more.

But she doesn’t even show that she’s struggling.

Of course, I only thought that, never voicing it aloud.

Gently.

Gray patted my head without a word.

I lowered my head for her.

So it would be easier for her to pet me.

“You’re so good, so good.”

Gray’s trembling voice.

And the droplets falling to the floor.

I remained silent, without a word.

Simply receiving her gentle touch.

For a long while.

Until her mood lightened.

&

Click.

Finally, I stepped into the room.

“I wonder if she’ll be okay.”

I recalled Gray as she left the base at Callie’s call.

It seemed that my mood had improved a little with her gentle pat on my head, but her expression still bore traces of sadness.

Especially when I caught sight of the nameplate that had erased my parents’ names, I had almost made a face as if I were about to cry, if only for a moment.

“…Your parents must have been incredibly well-respected.”

The captain, the vice-captain, and even the finicky Winry.

To be cherished by everyone in the 9th Subjugation Unit meant they were truly remarkable people.

Thinking this, I glanced around the room.

White wallpaper with no decorations.

A bookshelf crammed with books and a desk that held only a solitary computer.

And the queen-sized bed that my parents must have shared.

I gently perched myself on the edge of the bed.

“Oh…, it’s quite soft, isn’t it?”

Not as plush as the dormitory beds, but still, with this level of comfort, I could probably get a good night’s sleep.

Nodding in satisfaction, I stood up from the bed.

This time, I moved toward the bookshelf to see what books were lined up there.

“On Magic Power, How Magic is Activated, Approaches to Magic… all books related to magic.”

I shook my head in exasperation and approached the desk.

[Master, there’s a small box under the desk.]

“…A box?”

I immediately checked beneath the desk.

Just as Terra had said, in the shadowy corner, there was a small box.

“It seems like they have an automatic cleaning spell here, just like in the dormitory.”

I had expected it to be covered in dust since it was hidden away in a corner, but the box was completely dust-free.

Since no one could enter except for the room’s resident, it made sense that a spell was in place.

However, one question lingered in my mind.

“…Did that sister know? That something like this was under the desk?”

The key that Gray had given me in the elevator descending to the base.

It matched perfectly with the keyhole of the box sitting atop the desk.

“Haah…, I don’t get it.”

Everything related to the ‘singularity’ only served to confuse me further.

With a sigh escaping my lips, I pulled the key from my pocket, feeling the throbbing in my head intensify.

“What could this be made of?”

A key made of iron.

It is as ordinary as any other key, utterly unremarkable.

Yet the key I hold now is anything but ordinary.

No matter how lowly rated an item may be, even a common stone found by the roadside can be appraised and added to the inventory using the system.

But the key Gray gave me… it cannot be appraised, nor can it enter the inventory.

“Could this also be a peculiarity related to my parents?”

I examined the key from various angles before inserting it into the lock of the box.

Without hesitation, I unlocked the box.

Click.

The sound of the lock disengaging echoed.

I cautiously opened the box.

“A note and… a key?”

Inside was a folded note and a key that looked similar to the one I had just used to open the box.

I pulled out the note and the key, my expression one of confusion.

Carefully, I unfolded the note.

[Go to the Grand Shrine.]

In neat handwriting, the note instructed me to go to the Grand Shrine.

“What could be there?”

Just like the side quest left by True Gaia.

And the handwriting, which seems more like my mother’s than my father’s.

Everyone is telling me to go to the Grand Shrine?

“Sigh… let’s not overthink this.”

I let out a deep sigh and refolded the note.

I’ll find out eventually; speculating now will only give me a headache.

So, I decided not to think about it to avoid the headache.

“This can’t be something that doesn’t go into the inventory, right?”

I took the key out of the box.

Then I opened my inventory, trying to place it inside, but…

“…This doesn’t go in either.”

Like the key that opened the box, the key inside did not enter the inventory.

[Master, what if you try putting it in the box?]

“Put it in the box?”

That’s… an unexpected idea.

Following Terra’s suggestion, I folded the two keys and the note and placed them inside the box.

Then, as I pushed it toward the inventory…

“…Oh! It’s going in!”

Unlike the keys that had only been repelled like magnets, this one slipped in without any resistance.

I immediately checked the information on the box.

[Unknown][1]

However, only the information stating “unknown” appeared; there was no information about the box or the keys.

And even though the infinite item feature was activated, the count remained unchanged, fixed at one.

“Still, this is something.”

I had been pondering where to store such an important item.

Now that it was in the inventory, how comforting it felt.

I closed the inventory with a beaming smile.

“What should I do now?”

Leaning back in my chair with my arms crossed, I stroked my chin.

Then the phrase “synthesis crafting” popped into my mind.

“I should go see Winry.”

Thanks to my parents’ reputation, my affinity had been built up quite high from the start.

If I ask her to craft something now, she would surely oblige, given that I’m providing the items and materials.

“…Wow, my mouth is watering.”

What should I synthesize to make a name for myself?

Just thinking about it filled me with delightful imaginings, and I stood up from my chair with a grin.

At that moment, Terra, who had been quiet for a while, sent another message.

[Master, I have a request.]

But this was the first time Terra had asked me for something.

I looked at the message with a puzzled expression and asked, “What’s the request?”

[This is a request that would be very helpful to my master.]

Tera said that.

[(´・᎖・`)]

And sent a significant special character.