I am a mindless machine.

...The conversation (thinking) isn't over yet.

Indeed, Yunyou couldn't follow the (strategy guide) instructions, not out of a romantic notion like an anime fan who didn't want to break up the original love story (she was completely devoid of romantic feelings at the moment), but because, as a man, even with self-hypnosis, it was difficult for her to genuinely like Rick. And without genuine feelings, it was practically impossible for emotions to develop.

Moreover, she still doesn't know exactly what time of year it is. She can only deduce from the fact that the last update to the number of mechs in the database was 27,324 that she will experience the storyline at least in her lifetime. But beyond that, Yunyou has no other detailed information. She might never even meet Rick and the others before she dies.

(Note: At the end of Volume 6, the number of machine gunners was 2,745.)

Therefore, the girl has now decided to settle for second best.

Since perfect imitation is impossible, let's start with inferior imitation.

For the machine race... there's plenty of time.

The mecha girl landed on the ground and gently closed her eyes—for a full ten seconds.

Then, Yun You, a human, opened her eyes. A sweet smile appeared on her lips.

"Well then, let's try to infiltrate a human village first."

The girl spoke again, but this time it was no longer the obviously mechanical way she spoke before. Instead, her tone was full of emotion and perfectly controlled intonation.

She gazed in a certain direction and quietly said, "According to the calculations... they should be here soon, right?"

She was now in a former human village that had been easily destroyed by orcs. The wooden houses were smashed to pieces, and the ground was littered with debris mixed with human blood and wood chips. Corpses could be vaguely seen, but most of the flesh had been carried away by the orcs.

The petite girl took a deep breath, turned her gaze slightly, and quickly found a very secluded spot.

She ran into that place, curled up, and her expression changed to one of tears welling up in her eyes, every detail filled with fear and despair. She trembled helplessly.

Soon, just as she had predicted, the sound of very faint running could be heard not far away.

Although the owner of the footsteps had forced himself to calm down, his voice was still filled with panic caused by shock.

Chapter Seven: Successful Infiltration

Sizzle...

After a sound like a red-hot stone being thrown into water rang out, the previously dark cave was illuminated.

The person holding the torch was a middle-aged man.

He wore a cheap dust mask and roughly sewn leather clothing, full of rough edges, which looked extremely uncomfortable. However, for them, this was high-class clothing reserved for those who went out to explore (and risk their lives).

"(Water-burning stone—its characteristic is that it emits a faint light upon contact with water, it is quiet and pollution-free, recyclable, and easy to obtain... Apart from not providing enough light, it is indeed very suitable for humans.)"

Yun You looked at the middle-aged man walking in front of her, and the matching information automatically popped into her mind.

"Our settlement is just inside. You can relax a little now, Yunyou. It's safe here for now."

"...Um, thanks, Bart. But I'm fine now, don't worry about me... I'm not that fragile."

"Is that so? Then I underestimated you."

Hearing the comforting words from the middle-aged man named Bart, Yun You nodded gently in response. Tears still lingered on her face, but her expression was more resolute. Like a flower battered by a storm, though its petals were sparse and fallen, it still stood firm and unyielding.

When Bart saw the determined look in the girl's eyes, he chuckled softly, his gaze full of approval.

"That's true. After all, you're the daughter of that village chief. Of course you have that level of awareness... But you'd better remember this—my tribe doesn't keep useless people. If you're not of any use, then die."

"........I know."

"...Ha, sorry. You've just gone through something like that and I'm already telling you these realistic things... But you understand these things, right? After all, we can't survive if we don't do these things."

Bart gave a bitter smile, seemingly feeling deeply apologetic to the girl who had just been wiped out, whose entire village had been killed by the orcs, leaving her as the sole survivor. He sighed, ultimately reducing everything to a lament, "...This cruel world."

"........."

Yun You didn't reply; saying anything at this point would be superfluous. Besides, everything Bart knew was fabricated by her. Although she didn't feel apologetic rationally, there was no need to continue with unnecessary deception.

—Successfully infiltrating a human tribe—this was Yunyou's first step in her plan.

If you want to learn, it's much more reliable to find a teacher you can emulate than to just guess on your own. If you want to learn boxing, find a boxer; if you want to learn calligraphy, find a calligrapher. Similarly, if you want to learn about the mind, you should seek out other people with a mind. At least in this respect, Shubi in the original work is a successful example.

Actually, to be honest, young girls nowadays do have feelings.

Does this overturn the entire premise of the story (the absence of a heart)? No, it doesn't. Yunyou does indeed have a heart—but it's merely a remnant, a broken and incomplete remnant completely incapable of functioning.

For example... to start a car, you need gasoline, right? But the statement that you can start a car as long as you have gasoline is completely wrong. After all, you see, if you only have a few drops of gasoline, you still can't start the engine at all, right?

—This is Yunyou's current situation. She still retains the thoughts, emotions, and ways of thinking from her human days, but those things have been weakened to the extreme in the body of the machine race. They are practically useless.

This feeling was incredibly painful for Yunyou, truly unbearable. If it had never been there in the first place, it wouldn't have been so bad, but she had once possessed it! What she once had, she now lost!! If she still had feelings, she would surely burst into tears at this pain...

But now she can't even cry anymore; she can only shed fake tears to deceive others... and also to deceive herself.

So, how should we deal with this reduction? — The answer is, strengthen.

Enhance, consolidate, stack, resonate—through various means, bring the emotional intensity to its highest climax, so that the emotion can still be felt even if it is reduced!

"([Speculation]: If just one thing could cause my emotions to fluctuate to their original level, then the emotional blockade of the Machine Race would be broken—at least to the level of the Machine Race after the great war in the original work. This method is worth trying.)"

The girl thought to herself that after passing some fences that could protect them from wild beasts such as wolves, and winding and rugged roads, Bart and Yunyou finally arrived at this settlement that was disguised as a beast cave.

...

...

"Ah! Bart! You're back! That's wonderful—!"

After knocking on the wooden door in a specific rhythm, a young man excitedly opened the door, happily welcoming the middle-aged man's safe return.

"Yes, Forrett, I'm back."

Unlike the boy, Bart's answer was remarkably composed. He carefully removed the pelts covered in the highly toxic black ash to prevent them from staining his skin. He glanced around, his expression darkening considerably: "...Where are Tka and Nabi? Haven't they returned yet?"

"this......."

"Alright, I understand. You've all worked hard, go and get some rest." Bart sighed in frustration, finally understanding why the boy had shown such unusual excitement. He probably thought that all three of them, including himself, who had gone to scout the area, had been wiped out. However, he didn't say anything of self-reproach or comfort. He only needed to record the experience and mark the route they were responsible for on the map with warning symbols. Anything else was superfluous.

"...Hmm? Bart, who is this child...?"

Forrett noticed a petite girl wrapped in a large robe following behind Bart and couldn't help but ask a question. The girl was dressed entirely in white, but not in a cold, aloof way; rather, it was a warm, milky white. Her bright red eyes, snow-white skin, and everything about her were of the highest quality. Even though her clothes and hair were now disheveled and worn, it couldn't conceal the girl's inherent elegance.

There was nothing strange about his body.

Before Bart could speak, Yun You spoke up. She gave a slight bow, looked at Forrett with her beautiful red eyes, and parted her thin lips:

"Hello, my name is Yunyou... I will be joining this community starting today. Please take care of me."

Chapter Eight: Humanity Under Suffering

Time flowed by leisurely, and in this monotonous routine, time seemed to pass several times faster than usual. More than three months had passed since Yunyou joined this settlement.

These three months were more than enough time for her to integrate into this already small settlement. From what she understood, the settlement had about three hundred people (because the population was changing so rapidly, even the machine race found it difficult to give an exact number), with a balanced male-to-female ratio. They also raised animals and grew crops in areas with a view of the sky to ensure their food supply. It was a self-sufficient little society.

The girl was alone in a room in an extended cave within the settlement. The narrow cave was decorated with dimly lit fixtures, their flames flickering and crackling in the cold air blowing through the vents. Normally, it wouldn't be easy to see the complex symbols on the paper in front of her under such flickering light, but this posed no problem for Yunyou, who possessed an automatic visual adjustment mechanism.

The girl was still wearing the same somewhat worn light-colored outer robe she had worn before. Although the people in the settlement had suggested that she be given better clothes, she refused, saying, "This is the last remaining memory I have of the settlement, and I want to wear it until it's completely worn out." After all, this settlement was really poor, at least poorer than Riku's in the original work. The facilities were still at a basic level. The quality of the clothes was secondary; the main concern was that if they didn't cover enough skin, her identity would be exposed.

Although it's possible to use disguise magic to deceive humans who can't see spirits, any reaction from the spirits could attract external enemies (people who would interfere with the plan), so Yunyou didn't do that.

She now held an ink-dipped quill pen in her right hand, methodically jotting down various matters on a piece of paper, her small handwriting delicate and neat. As for the specific matters—the current writing mainly involved comparing simple words from other races with human vocabulary, essentially creating a vocabulary list. This settlement's heritage was incomplete; even if they obtained information from other races, they couldn't translate it. Therefore, when Yunyou said, "Our settlement has these heritages, and I've memorized most of them," she no longer worried about not being able to earn contribution points.

So Yunyou's current job can barely be considered half a teacher (knowledge transmitter).

"Yunyou-chan! You're working hard today too!"

Just then, the wooden door to the room was opened, and a lively voice broke the silence. A purple-haired girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, rushed in happily and clung to Yun You, forcing her to stop what she was doing. Yun You feigned helplessness and turned to the girl, who was now rubbing her cheek against hers, saying, "Funa... what are you doing here? Have you finished your homework for today?"

"Hmm! To be able to come and rub against Yunyou-chan as soon as possible! I, Funa, finished today's homework at superhuman speed! Hehehe~" The purple-haired girl named Funa proudly puffed out her recently developed breasts, saying this in a way that seemed to be seeking praise. Incidentally, she had already pulled Yunyou into her arms and was rubbing against her vigorously, her cheeks slightly flushed, and a suspicious liquid hanging from the corner of her mouth—she looked like she was on drugs... However, Yunyou cleverly kept her away from places that would expose her identity. This secret absolutely could not be discovered.

Fortunately, Funa has very low wariness towards Yunyou, or perhaps it's due to her personality, but so far she hasn't noticed anything unusual about Yunyou.

Funa is Bart's daughter—the daughter of the settlement's chief. When she learned of Yunyou's identity, Funa, who shared the same background and was close in age, was sent to try and comfort Yunyou, build a relationship, and perhaps extract some useful information. After a somewhat timid encounter, Funa completely fell in love with Yunyou, this little girl with a doll-like face and petite figure—because she was simply too adorable!

Although she's a bit aloof, you won't be met with resistance or glares if you get close, and her rare words aren't overly exclusive, so it's probably because she's not good at expressing her emotions. Plus, she knows so much and can teach everyone. This makes Yunyou's rating in Funa's heart almost perfect.

"...You really do have a talent for this kind of learning. For most people, that amount of homework would take at least a whole day." Yunyou calmly pushed away Funa's soft cheek as she pressed against her, assessing Yunna's situation in a calm tone: "It seems I can give you double the amount of homework from now on."

"Eh eh eh eh～～～～!?" Funa couldn't help but let out a cute wail, staring at Yunyou with a mournful look.

"Alright, your act is completely fake. Isn't this the reason you came to see me?" The girl tidied up the messy documents on the table and put them into her bag. "Speaking of which, it's almost time for class. Let's go to the classroom."

Yunyou is much more skilled at simulating personalities than Hugh in the original work—after all, she was originally a human and knows very well how a normal person should speak, behave, and express emotions. It's just that she can't feel it anymore, not that her memories have been erased.

So all she had to do was mimic her former self. Luckily, she wasn't the talkative type to begin with.

"Oh, okay! I understand, Teacher Yunyou!"

Funa chuckled in a pretentious tone, then followed Yunyou to the classroom.

Yunyou stepped out the door first, then looked at Funa with a puzzled expression and asked, "...Don't you resent your father? He made that kind of decision, you know."

"........Hmm?" Hearing Yun You say that, Funa paused for a moment before realizing what she was referring to. She gently shook her head and smiled, saying, "No, Dad wasn't wrong. In this world, it's just a natural decision. And everyone does it this way. Although Funa is a little annoyed, after all, Uncle Carter isn't handsome at all!"

—This settlement has a rule that once a girl turns sixteen (adulthood) and is no longer of any use to the settlement in other ways, she must immediately get married (to reproduce).

Funa was also one of those originally scheduled to get married. She had turned sixteen three months prior and was originally supposed to marry Carter, who had tragically died outside the city. Her marriage was slightly delayed due to Carter's death, but ultimately changed with the arrival of Yunyou.

Funa blinked her bright eyes and continued, "Funa doesn't have any particularly outstanding skills (like sewing, weaving, or raising animals), and she can't be trained from a young age like boys to conceal her presence and gather intelligence. So it's perfectly normal for her to get married as soon as she comes of age. After all, Funa is Father's (the leader's) daughter, and she has to contribute to this settlement!" After saying this, she even waved her little fist with great pride.

If Funa hadn't been discovered to possess the talent to learn other races' languages, that would have been her fate (future). Actually, Bart brought Yunyou back to the settlement with the same intention; even if Yunyou had no abilities—just having this body was enough.

It wasn't for reasons like lust; it was simply for survival, because otherwise, the species would become extinct. This is the necessary experience (method) for the human race to survive to this day.

Yunyou stared intently at Yunna, secretly using her Machine Gun ability to check on her physical condition. Objectively speaking, Yunna wasn't bad-looking at all. She had slightly wavy, light purple short hair, purple eyes that seemed to always sparkle with lively light, healthy white skin, and a slender, petite figure—

Yun You confirmed it: the girl wasn't lying, nor was she a fool indoctrinated with wrong ideas by the adults around her. She genuinely believed it from the bottom of her heart and was proud of it. In this kind of environment... there couldn't be any fools. Because fools couldn't survive.

"........You're amazing, Funa."

"Hmm? Funa got praised? Why? -- Can I have a reward? Like, maybe take a bath together or...!"

Ignoring the little girl who started rambling incoherently and whose face inexplicably turned red, the two finally arrived at the classroom after walking through a corridor.

Chapter Nine: Opportunities for Unexpected Outings