Balanced Chapter 8: Luxion Part 3, a trapped in a dating sim: the world of otome games is tough for mobs fanfic

I don't own Otome game world is tough for mobs, please support the official release

He hit his head again. As he dove in, his head hit something! It hurt, he could feel himself bleed.

BANG!

The monsters were trying to get in, he was spent, he could barely move and the room was dark, he couldn't see.

There was a loud roar. It was muffled but he could still hear it. Hell, he could still feel it! The monstrosity pretending to be Luxion was enraged. It was PISSED.

BANG!

All that separated him and certain death was a metal door. He couldn't move. He pushed himself too far. Enhanced Strength is a minor buff spell, but the strength was wholly his own, it allowed him to use his muscles to their full potential without hurting himself, the trade off was the exhaustion from both using Mana and from pushing his muscle beyond their limits compounded. Just using it a handful of times led to his current predicament, left unable to move.

"In the game," he muttered to himself faintly recalling the true game through the pain and exhaustion, "this would end all your action points, it's why it was easily available. It scales with the strength stat and could be a better buff than higher tier spells, but the tradeoff was the double whammy of depleted action economy and mana, a measured risk."

Each unit had a number of actions they could perform each battle, their action economy, which made him doubt the game. But he quickly changed his mind, it made him think hard on how to maximize what each of his units could do. It wasn't just that, he was rewarded if he could finish the battle before the unit's actions were spent such as extra XP, morale boost, and extra loot, ect- the "carrot". If said unit did use up all actions and was then attacked by the enemy, they would have a debuff, and if they survive, they were demoralized and have less actions the next fight-the "stick". The main character could heal people so no one was out of commission, but she couldn't bring back the dead nor could she remove debuffs from mental health outside of battle, which lead to relationship building with text, recycled voice lines and art, lots of recycled art. That said it added more to the game than it took away, which Leon enjoyed before he died.

"This is not a fucking game!" he shouted to himself.

BANG!

Tears began to trickle down his eyes, his breathing rough and ragged, snot dribbling down to his upper lips. There was pain in his right ankle and his head was bleeding. He could see it, the death of three fresh in his eyes and ears .Their screams echoed in his mind, just bouncing around his skull along with those to metal beams banging into each other.

Leon could see it. His body pulled apart, reduced to blood and viscera, and those steel beams banging against each other as the monster devoured him.

Leon could see it. His death. He could hear it too, those steel beams banging against each other.

BANG!

His mind started going to weird places.

Waking up as Leon. Living day to day with Nicks and Jenna. Fighting with Jenna and then getting scolded by Nicks. Watching his baby sister Finley imitate and follow Jenna around and smiling as Jenna took her role as older sister seriously. Watching his baby brother Colin get born, the fatigued look in his mother's eyes as she smiled at them all after giving birth. His father's rough and burly hands over him when Leon was frustrated at his own failure, comforting him, teaching him that things would be okay when things look bad.

BANG!

Then his mind went to his sister. His first sister in his previous life.

He remembers her bawling, his sister crying, hiding her tears with one hand while holding his hand with the other as he walked her home. She had been picked on that day by her classmates. He remembered his mother's perfume when she hugged him after he got home from school crying after he got into a fight. How his mom always copied the sounds she heard on tv game shows. He could remember his father teaching him how to gut and clean fish as he smoked his tobacco pipe. How his father included him sometimes when he drank with his friends, getting him used to guys shooting the shit. He could remember all four of them celebrating Christmas and heading to the temple to make wishes for the new year. Memories he had forgotten.

All he could do was cry.

BANG!

Bang

bang

…

Terrible scratching.

Metal rubbing up against metal.

Leon groaned as he woke to those sounds

"Eaten?" Leon asked himself. "Nah. Where am I?" His limbs felt like weights, but he managed to push himself up. He immediately felt aches all over his body, especially his head and ankle.

He hissed when he put weight on his right foot. He didn't know if he should be thankful the blonde asshat only did that much to his foot, or be pissed he did it at all. He settled for figuring it out later.

It was still dark.

"Power On." Leon said aloud in bruised English. But the room remained dark.

"...so much for that."

BANG!

"Gah!" Leon jumped in place, hissing after putting his weight on his right foot, nearly spraining it again.

The sound came from the door.

There was a scratching sound coming from the door again, but that was it.

"Still trying to get me," Leon reasoned out loud.

Seems they were trying a new tactic. Before he passed out, he could recall them viciously banging against the door. Now they weren't so animated, but still trying.

"Thank you, whoever made that door." Leon said out loud. Now he just had to find a way out of his predicament.

He hissed when he put pressure on his leg.

Where the hell was he?

He moved around slowly in the dark, not having to travel at all before he found something. He had hit his head on a table or something and his left hand quickly found it. He used that for support, not caring if his hand brushed through a layer of dirt as he used his other hand to feel something. He quickly did. It felt like clothes.

He froze.

There was only one thing that could be, considering the circumstance.

He slid his left hand and found he had slid it on something smooth but dirty and gritty.

Light erupted into the room! It came from the table, some sort of control panel! It glowed through the layer of dust! And it illuminated the skeletal remains on an office chair in front of Leon wearing some dusty lab coat.

Leon remained frozen.

BANG!

Leon jumped in freight again as the scratching sounds resumed.

The faint glow was enough for Lean to see the door somewhat. To his relief, it appears that the door has some large bolts to hold it shut. They must've activated after he shorted the door.

"This room must be important, no other room had any bolts on them," Leon said, mostly to distract himself from the skeletal remains beside him. But that was a futile task. If the room was important…then the skeleton probably has what he needs….

He closed his eyes and felt around the labcoat. It found it almost instantly, a lightweight rectangular object that was smooth and hard as metal and light as plastic…the security card.

A wave of relief flooded his heart despite the morbid situation he found himself in. He ripped the security card from the labcoat…and feeling something heavy fall-and then clatter and scatter on the floor too.

Leon's squeezed his eyes even tighter as his lips puckered. He muttered an apology and a small prayer, but forced his eyes open as he faced what he was sure was a console.

He brushed dirt away from the screen-only for some holographic overlay came to life. Its UI was in English, but simple enough to navigate. A part of Leon felt relieved to see it on a fundamental level. It was a lifetime ago and seeing and accessing technology was like meeting up with an old friend.

His finger brushed against the holographic overlay. He felt resistance in the form of static, similar to what you get from a balloon or something only it felt more responsive in a way. He could feel it when he was interacting with something like a button or a box, and he could intuit that pressing it would select something, like clicking a mouse. As he was playing with the UI-

"Avaunt,"a male electronic voice suddenly said in ENGLISH from the console-surprising the shit out of Leon-so much so that the next Bang on the door didn't surprise him."This station is locked. Any attempt to circumvent the security will result in a data purge as well as self-destruction of this facility."

"That surprised me," Leon said as he focused back on the screen, he saw that it was indeed locked and requesting either a password with biometrics or a Security Card. On instinct, he tapped the security card on the holographic overlay. The screen instantly changed, present him with more options.

"...You know about the Security Card and how to use it. However, you are not Doctor-"the voice trailed off as a new screen popped up.

Leon touched the globe symbol and selected his tongue from a previous life.

"Japanese!?"The voice let out in clear surprise."New human should not be able read any of the languages from the options, let alone Japanese."

"Huh," Leon let out in mild surprise. "The way it reacted, almost human like. An artificial intelligence?" Leon asked himself as he perused through the options on the screen and touched the button to deactivate the self destruct.

"Interesting, though you are a new human, you are capable of understanding symbols and can read Japanese."

"I can speak it too," Leon finally spoke in Japanese as he found the option he was looking for. He touched it.

"Passably at best,"the voice declared back in the same language.

"Yeah, well it's been a lifetime for me," Leon whined as he rubbed his head only to wince at the sharp pain while feeling caked blood. He shook his head, feeling a little lightheaded as he did so. "Wh-who are you, anyway?"

"I'm under no obligation to inform a trespasser nor to oblige any of your requests."

"One sec. Just gotta register as a new personnel," Leon said. A new screen appeared, one with hand print. He pressed his right hand against the screen. Contrary to what he thought would happen, the screen lit up and the light seemed to go "through" his hand. He even felt heat!

"Whoa!" he shouted as he jerked his hand away. "The hell was that?"

"A biological scan to register your biometrics into this facility's database,"the voice said."Interesting, though you are without a doubt a new human, your genetics also possess traces of genetic material belonging to a Japanese ancestry of humanity of old. How peculiar, interesting even…and eligible. With this registration, you now have access to administrative controls. As the only remaining personnel, you now have sole authority over this facility, and myself. In short, you are now my master."

"...that thing doesn't give cancer does it?"

"There's a 7.53367% chance that your cells become cancerous and malignant."

"Oi oi, I was joking!" Leon didn't want to hear that, magical healing is so rare that only just being able to do it is enough to be recognized as a Saint, hence why the main character was the only one who could heal. And even that didn't guarantee a cure to cancer!

"It would appear that my new master has an obscure sense of humor."

"...so, who are you?" Leon asked.

"...I am the fruit of this facility. I am an artificial intelligence this facility was designed to research and create. I have been left to defend this facility and prevent its contents from falling into the hands of the enemy. My creator gave me the designation:Luxion."

"Wha-you mean the ship?"

"Interesting, you know about the ships too."

"'Course I know about the-wait–if you're in charge then what the hell happened to this place?! Why is everything underwater! What the hell is with those barnacles! And what the FUCK happened to the ship!"

On cue, there was another loud bang as something crashed onto the door to break it open, and was unsuccessful.

"Very well, I shall start with your first question. What you just described would be the result of poorly worded orders."

"...what?"

"I take it you want me to expand on my explanation."

"Yes!" Leon hissed.

"Well Approximately-"

"Bah-skip unnecessary details. Summarize if possible."

"I gather that you are not the best learner. Very well. You characterized me as 'in charge,' but that is inaccurate. Earlier, I stated that my objective was to 'defend the facility and prevent its contents from falling into the possession of the enemy,' the New humans, such as yourself."

"New humans?" Leon repeated in confusion.

"Yes, new humans capable of using the phenomenon dubbed 'magic,' which they used to overthrow old civilizations. My objective in no way included maintaining the operational capability of this facility nor managing it as an administrator. Thanks to the 'paper clip' protocol imposed on me before the last remaining staff expired themselves, I was unable to redefine my objective parameters nor the goals. That means that repairing and preserving the operational capacity of this facility did not fall within my prerogative. Hence its current state of disrepair."

"Can you repair it now if I order you?"

"No. All drones are either destroyed or overtaken by that aberrant crustacean lifeform. The room responsible for maintenance was destroyed and submerged, and I've lost connection with the prototyping room. The most I can do is monitor the facility through intact camera and sensors."

"Seriously," Leon said.

"Yes. And to answer your next question. Before the staff expired themselves, they used the power and left over materials in this facility to engage in debauchery before passing away. They left the settings as is before issuing me the orders. That took a great toll on the facility. With no regular maintenance, the overburdened machines gave out. The facility fell and landed right on top of a colossal aberrant organism reminiscent of a giant snail with a cone shell that pierce through the facility."

"Snail?" Leon asked…then he faintly recalled how he entered that facility. "So that's what it was. That thing was a shell some poor bastard dug through."

"Yes. Though the impact killed the organism, the shell remained and the damage it inflicted to the facility was severe. It flooded 42% of the facility and destroyed many vital components. Thankfully the power generator and weather machine are still intact. With the later registered as part of the facility's defenses, it falls under my control. I adjusted the setting to create a fog. From then on, I eliminated any of the new humans that trespassed with extreme prejudice."

"The ships outside…your doing I take it?" Leona sked with venom.

"Not entirely."Luxion responded."Originally, I intended for the ships to acts as a sort of warning and as obstructions to this facility. Originally, I had the entrance hidden. But the organism infesting this facility thought differently. "

"'Infesting…'" Leon repeated before shaking his head. He then twitched at the loud bang at the door. "Luxion what the fuck are those things?"

"Unknown. At best I have them registered as an interesting aberrant crustacean organism reminiscent of barnacles."

"Interesting?!" Leon let out incredulously.

"Quite. Though there are many, they act more like a colony or a hive with a dominant organism among them, similar to a queen. I have no conclusive data, but with the data I have available, I hypothesize that it is possible these organism acts as a hive mind, a single entity. And, as I'm sure you can attest to, they can do more than just swing their genitalia as a prehensile weapon. They are able to grow appendages for different purposes such as claws or legs."

"But how does…wait what? Was that thing that…NOPE! Forget I asked." Leon said shaking his head. "Why are they here?"

"Unknown. My best conclusion is that they either drifted here or were parasites originally attached to the organism this facility fell on. Since they didn't register as 'new humans' they were not designated as enemies and with the 'paper clip' protocols in place, I could not designate them as an enemy. So instead, I treated them as an 'organic' obstacle."

"Obstacle?" Leon out in a confused manner, before his eyes widened in realization. "Luxion, what the hell did you do?"

"Quite a few of these organisms began to grow on the drones and were creating new growths. I positioned the drones with these growths in areas where I concluded an organic obstacle would be strategically sound and the growth did as I predicted they would. However, I was unaware that the organisms were paying attention and that they had the capacity to learn."

"Wait…you mean those placements, the way it trapped us in here…you taught it to do that!?"

"Unintentionally, yes. Although they deviated from my designs, most likely to nourish themselves, I am quite enthused by the results."

"Are you fucking kidding me! Do you not care about the people who died!"

"Not at all,"Luxion replied bluntly, shocking Leon with how blunt it was."The humans I served were at war with the new humans. The new humans were eradicating the humans I served. They and their kin are my enemy. To wit, I have no remorse for those who came to rob the graves of my masters. Having said that, while I do praise that crustaceans infesting this facility, I do find them annoying and an eye sore besmirching the aesthetics and architecture of this facility, however dilapidated it has become. I also find it irritating that they were able to overwrite my control of the drones and even infest my main body."

"...the ship," Leon said, slowly digesting the apparent lore of the game world.

"Yes. The incomplete spacecraft is my main body. Had it been complete it could have changed the tide of the war and maybe I could have seen my masters live their lives until their natural end. Now, it's just infested and used as the main body of that organism."Leon could be wrong, but he detected a hint of sadness and spite in the AI's tone.

"Yeah, well, even in its incomplete state, it was an overpowered item in the game."

"...I don't follow."

"I doubt you would." Leon sighed. He looked beside and grabbed an office chair that wasn't previously occupied by a skeleton and sat down. He laid his head on the station, careful not to hurt his injured head, pushing through the holographic overlay.

"Believe it or not," Leon began, "I'm actually a Japanese salary man from like the 2000s. Rice and miso is my soul, and that soul ended up in this game world. Some ridiculously difficult otome game, a romance simulator with turn-based action. And in that game, Luxion is a paid item that breaks the game entirely. It's the most expensive microtransaction, its ship's weapons, defenses, and speed are the best in the game, never needs to be refueled, repairs damage automatically, and can cloak. I came here to get it. But that's were I fucked up.

"Back then, before I died, I played an altered version of the game. It was supposed to hint at the 'true' game the developers intended. A Perfectly balanced turn-based game, no pay-to-win microtransaction crap, could salvage and customize ships, and things made more sense game wise such as competing with npcs for stuff like treasure or loot. A game where that wickedly awesome, game breaking, spaceship didn't exist. And it slipped my mind."

"Soul? Do you by chance mean the fantasy phenomenon of reincarnation and transmigration?"

"Bingo!" he said lazily while waving an arm in the air, ignoring the bang on the door

"Preposterous."

"So you say, but how do you explain me and the stuff I shouldn't know?"

"That is a good question. And while the ship you described would have been an amazing marvel of scientific engineering, the reality is that it was never finished. It was not even capable of moving. It is thanks to the organism's infestation and organic adjustments that it can move and perform other functions."

"...what…whawasthat?" Leon half mumbled as he looked up to the screen.

"The ship is not finished, it's missing various vital components such as the Nano Forge and the Satoshi Engines. Before it was infested, the ship consisted of only its body and its mind, in other words, me. The other specialized components never arrived."

"What? But isn't this place some sort of manufacturing plant or something?" Leon asked in surprise.

"Clearly, you have a listening disability."Luxion said, irritating Leon..

"As I said before, 'I am the fruit of this facility.'"Luxion repeated."The various components that make up the spaceship with the capabilities you described required specialized facilities to manufacture. This facility in particular specializes in cutting edge robotics and artificial intelligence. It's particular focus was on making more capable drones and ai with less resources. I am not privy to the details, but this facility was marked as an assembly point. The spaceship's components were supposed to be delivered and assembled here. Unfortunately, the only thing delivered on time were the spaceship bodies, even at the cost of being attacked. Only a scant few were intact enough to salvage."

Leon slowly digested that.

"What happened to those other facilities?"

"Unknown. In order to maintain secrecy, all facilities were isolated with only each facility head knowing its location. They also limited communications to checking in at predetermined times. But all of them failed to contact us."

"I'm guessing that's what led the folks here to 'expire' themselves."

"Yes. They lost hope. However, a few months after the staff passed away, this facility began to receive burst transmission from every other facility."

"...What did they say?"

"I'm paraphrasing to accommodate you-"

"Hey!"

"-but they all said approximately the same thing. The components were ready and safely stored, but delivery was no longer possible. The components have to be collected instead."

Leon was silent.

"Luxion…assuming you believe my story-"

"I don't."

"Well, pretend you do, jackass! In some games, in order to obtain a rare item or weapon, you do a fetch quest. After collecting all the pieces to form a weapon or something, you own it. In the context I gave you earlier, if I had to go collect all those parts for your main body, do you think that would fit the idea of that game, the altered otome game, the true game?"

"...Assuming I do accept your premise, and if I took what happened to this facility as a base recycled set up for what happened to other facilities…it is 'possible' that the other components are in the possession of monsters who have learned to use them and, possibly, once assembled, could create the spacecraft as you described as a reward for the premise. The percentage of that being the case are not zero."

Leon was silent, his mind slowly coming to many conclusions, some wild, some logical, some nonsensical. That said, he was no longer feeling down. He still wasn't sure what to think…but now he had something I didn't have a minute ago.

"Luxion, I'm a little light headed, but I going to need you to explain to me what you can about this facility, don't hold back and give me everything," Leon said as he stood up, ignoring the pain in his ankle.

"As you wish, but the info I have is vast. Where would you like me to begin?"

"The prototyping room," Leon said without hesitation as he stared at the screen and holographic overlay with eyes with filled hope and determination.

author's note:

I'm working on the next chap, but my mind kinda just go where the mind goblins take me, like with this WIP Naruto work I have in the works where he gets Zabuza's sword, a few other MHA WIP. That plus I started original stuff on the writingprompts subreddit, thinking of posting something original online.

Fun fact, did you know that barnacles apparently have the longest male genitalia that can stretch up to 8 times the size of their body. I also found stories where they kind get stuck on everything from turtles to lobsters, ships, and even people too. Have a good night or day and stay safe out there, we will see that better world one day.