Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

Author: Red Maple Leaf in the Wind

Synopsis:

For unknown reasons, the unlucky Xiu Er transmigrated into Game Life Zero and became a Ex-Machina. Game merchandise

After realizing his situation, Xiu Er began struggling to survive this Hell Instance.

Fortunately, whether by luck or something else, he came across a corpse—a transmigrator's corpse—and obtained a system from it!

"New host detected. Binding successful. Welcome to the Dimensional Travel System. Would you like to activate the Dimensional Device?"

"Is that even a question?"

Faced with his only chance to survive, Xiu Er activated the system without hesitation.

"Dimensional Shuttle, activate!"

Volume One: Prologue

Prologue One

Where... was he?

The sky was dyed red. The land had been ravaged by the ceaseless wars between races, and the air was thick with the scent of war. Gray snow drifted down from the sky.

Two strangely colored moons hung overhead. Every sign indicated that this was not the familiar Earth from the boy's memories. The boy stared blankly at the scene before him, his inorganic eyes shifting back and forth.

Standing upon this ruined land, everything around him felt so unreal.

Who was he?

He remembered. His name was... Xiu Er.

Why was he here? This was not Earth... Had he transmigrated?!

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Xiu Er finally came back to his senses.

The instant he did, the boy immediately felt that something was wrong with his body. It did not feel like before.

Lowering his head instinctively, he saw a completely naked, flat body. Aside from patches of flesh-colored skin resembling that of a human, mechanical traces covered him from head to toe. The machinery inside his body was clearly visible beneath his armpits.

"I... this is..."

He spoke unconsciously in shock. Yet despite the panic in his heart, his voice came out strangely calm.

At this point, Xiu Er had no idea what he looked like. As he lowered his head, blue-purple strands of hair fell into his view under gravity.

There were mechanical wings of unknown function mounted on his back, along with an unknown mechanical construct on his head.

Touching the mechanical device beside his face, Xiu Er finally realized that he was no longer human.

However, before he could begin to feel depressed, an explosion rang out from nearby.

It jolted Xiu Er awake from his self-doubt over no longer being human.

He abruptly raised his head. His camera-like pupils contracted as he made out the distant scene: unknown airships cruised through the sky, endlessly attacking the forest below.

At this rate, they would soon reach him. Not good! The instincts he retained from his days as a human urged Xiu Er to leave this dangerous place immediately.

Compared to becoming nonhuman, his life was still more important.

Xiu Er, who valued his life, stopped dwelling on the matter and immediately fled in the direction away from the fleet.

He had no idea how long he ran, nor did he care.

He only stopped after making absolutely sure he could no longer see those things.

At some point, Xiu Er had entered a forest.

But that did not matter. As long as he was far away from that dangerous place, it was enough.

Now that he was out of danger, Xiu Er's tense emotions gradually eased.

Then, he made an awkward discovery.

He seemed to be lost.

But since he was already lost, panicking would not help.

Left with no other choice, Xiu Er eventually stopped beside a small stream.

"Come to think of it, although I know I transmigrated and became a robot, I still don't know what I look like now."

There happened to be a stream beside him. At the very least, he could use it to see what he looked like now.

I shouldn't look terrifying, right?

When he had touched his face earlier, Xiu Er had only known there were mechanical components on it. Although it felt somewhat hard—as expected of a robot—the shape of his face had at least felt fairly human.

After preparing himself mentally, Xiu Er approached the water's edge, and his appearance finally surfaced in the reflection.

Blue-purple hair that reached the ground hung loosely around his body. A pair of golden, inorganic eyes stared straight at the water. The face of an expressionless young girl appeared in Xiu Er's field of vision.

She had a doll-like, beautiful face. Aside from the inhuman mechanical construction, she was absolutely Xiu Er's favorite type from his previous life.

The two tail-like tubes on his back swayed uneasily. There was also the circular processor positioned on either side of his head, as well as the triangular mechanical components where his ears should have been.

"Ha."

"Looks like I've come to the world of Game Life Zero after all." Game merchandise

It would be impossible not to feel upset about becoming a Ex-Machina and arriving in this Hell Instance.

Xiu Er let out a pained sigh.

Only after clearly seeing his appearance did Xiu Er confirm his situation.

Game Life Zero was an anime from the world before Xiu Er transmigrated, and he had become one of its races—the Ex-Machina.

As for why he was certain it was Game Life Zero, this environment was simply nothing like the main story. It was definitely the setting of the movie.

According to the original setting, the Ex-Machina possessed bug-level abilities that allowed them to analyze and replicate enemy attacks.

This ability caused all other races to tacitly agree never to proactively provoke the Ex-Machina; as long as you did not attack them first, they would not attack you. However, the moment you launched an attack against a single Ex-Machina, you would draw the aggro of the entire Ex-Machina collective.

But Xiu Er's current state...

"So, have I become a lone Ex-Machina?"

According to his memories, the heroine of Game Life Zero was also a Ex-Machina. She had been kicked out of the collective for seeking "a heart," and her name was later given as Schwi.

"Then why did this happen to me?"

The instant he raised that question, data streams began flowing through Xiu Er's mechanical eyes. Game merchandise

Tch, there was no record. How strange.

"But from another perspective, doesn't that mean I'm also a Ex-Machina with a 'heart'?"

Although he had become a Ex-Machina, his way of speaking, personality, and memories were all still his own.

That alone was a blessing amid misfortune.

At present, Xiu Er did not know how far the plot had progressed, but if he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to begin struggling.

But what should he do?

Find the protagonist?

Indeed, if he found Riku, the original male protagonist, he might be able to blend into Riku's tribe and wait for the plot to end.

But leaving aside the fact that finding a single human in this world would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, humans did their utmost to hide from other races. Moreover, Xiu Er could not even be sure that any human he found would happen to be Riku.

Besides, if he wanted to hide until the story ended, he did not necessarily have to find the protagonist.

Then what should he do? He had already checked his armaments. Aside from the functions inherent to the Ex-Machina and some functions he had developed himself, he possessed nothing from any other race. He had none of the Forest Spirit species' equipment, nor things like Pseudo-Codex: Yan Long Xiao.

Xiu Er was currently a blank slate with only Ex-Machina-developed armaments. He stroked his chin as data streams continuously calculated in his eyes. Every method indicated that lying low until the end was the optimal choice.

Although he was a combat-type model with comparatively greater fighting power, he had no copied armaments. Furthermore, as a lone Ex-Machina, surviving in this world would be especially difficult. Just as he was about to make up his mind, a disturbance came from a certain direction.

"Ha! Let's see where you run now!"

Squelch—!

"Ah!!!!!" A heart-wrenching scream entered Xiu Er's ears, accompanied by the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh.

?

Xiu Er looked toward the source of the sound. He sensed an enormous amount of unknown energy there, drawing him in...

Prologue Two

When Xiu Er arrived, all he saw was a human corpse.

The Beastmen who had killed the person were still there. They had not fled.

Whether out of courage or excessive fear, the three of them stopped moving in unspoken agreement upon seeing Xiu Er and recognizing him as a Ex-Machina.

They probably believed that as long as they did not attack Xiu Er first, Xiu Er would not attack them.

Were they unwilling to give up this food?

Humans were included in the Beastmen's diet. On this hopeless land, no race took humans seriously. Some did not even know that a race called humans existed.

Humans possessed no spiritual adaptability and could not use any Magic. In this world, humans were the weakest race. There was not even a term for "human"; most other races did not know such creatures existed.

Above humans were the Beastmen.

Ignoring the frightened three Beastmen, Xiu Er walked straight over to the corpse.

As he stared at it, several strings of data suddenly flashed through his eyes.

Hmm?

Was there something inside this person's body?

In Xiu Er's eyes, a huge amount of unknown energy existed within the corpse.

Curiosity rising in his heart, Xiu Er crouched down and moved closer to the body.

This action alarmed the Beastmen nearby. They began whispering among themselves as though discussing something.

"Dete... host death... exec... retrieval..."

A broken, intermittent voice entered Xiu Er's mind. At that moment, he seemed to understand something.

Could this be a transmigrator? One with a system, too?

Seeing the modern clothing on the corpse, Xiu Er became completely certain of his guess. Humans in this world would never dress like that.

A bold idea appeared in Xiu Er's mind.

But the situation was becoming urgent. Based on the information he had just heard—

After this transmigrator's death, the system might retrieve itself automatically.

There was no time. Without wasting another thought, Xiu Er calculated the system's location. Once he knew it, he raised his small hand, and then...

Squelch—

Xiu Er's hand plunged directly into the corpse.

Got it!

As Xiu Er withdrew his small hand, a glowing spherical object was tightly clenched within it.

But to outsiders, what Xiu Er held in his hand was the corpse's heart!

The Beastmen became confused.

Why had this Ex-Machina dug out the corpse's heart?

However, no one could answer that question, and they did not want to know the answer.

They only knew that the Ex-Machina wanted the corpse.

Then there was nothing they could do.