Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

There was no help for it; they fled headlong into the forest without even looking back. As for the prey they had just hunted down—are you kidding, they certainly didn't dare cross paths with the Ex-Machina.

"Recovery countdown: 10, 9, 8..."

The moment Xiu Er held the orb of light, an emotionless mechanical voice sounded clearly in her mind.

"7, 6... A new host has been detected. Beginning binding."

"Hm? This system can just switch hosts whenever it wants?"

Xiu Er had indeed considered taking the system from this corpse, and she had just done exactly that. After all, it was another possibility for survival.

But she had not expected to actually pull the system out of the corpse, much less have it preparing to bind with her.

Could systems really be pulled out so casually?

When she used to read those system novels, didn't all those systems seem far more impressive than this? Fictional cosplay.

Puzzled, Xiu Er glanced at the traveler's corpse beside her again.

Hmm... It had allowed its host to die so easily. It had even scanned the body and found no enhancements, nor any weapons. Otherwise, he would not have been hunted by a few Beastmen.

It seemed this system really was not very powerful.

"Binding successful. Host detected as Ex-Machina. The machine will automatically transform to adapt to the Mecha-Kai constitution."

As Xiu Er pondered this, the system had already completed the binding and begun evolving on its own into a form suited to a Mecha-Kai body.

Then, before Xiu Er's eyes, the orb of light merged into her hand and climbed up her arm, eventually gathering at her heart—or rather, at the power furnace of this machine body.

Immediately afterward, to her astonishment, the Spirit Energy in the conduits throughout her body vanished from her senses, replaced by an unknown golden energy.

"Unknown energy intrusion detected... Resistance failed."

This was an alarm from Xiu Er's own body.

But before the warning could continue for long, the system's synthesized voice sounded again.

"Host body has been taken over. Energy replacement successful. Otherworldly Energy fully charged."

This...?

Before Xiu Er could voice an opinion, the system acted on its own again.

"Beginning fusion. This unit will connect to the host body and accompany the host forever from this point onward."

Only then did Xiu Er vaguely sense that something had formed a connection with her.

What kind of feeling was that?

She did not know. Perhaps it was similar in nature to the group chat of the original Mecha-Kai collective.

"Dimensional Device construction complete. Connected to the host body."

At that moment, Xiu Er noticed that the flat expanse of her chest was wrapped in golden energy. After only a few seconds of condensation, a golden diamond-shaped crystal was embedded beside the Mecha-Kai core, right in the center of her chest.

"Modification complete. All readings normal. Host shows no adverse reactions."

"Dimensional Device fully charged."

After those words, the system fell silent.

Everything had happened within less than a minute. It had come quickly and gone just as quickly.

With the assistance of her Mecha-Kai body and its mechanical brain, whose processing power surpassed that of a human brain, Xiu Er immediately understood the situation.

As the system completed its modifications, all knowledge of its functions had been uploaded into Xiu Er's database.

Though she wore a poker face the entire time, her heart was far from calm.

"This is... insanely awesome."

After sighing, the young girl raised her head and looked up at the crimson sky.

No emotion could be seen in her inorganic eyes, but the hope of survival in Xiu Er's heart had greatly increased.

She had now found a way to survive.

"Time to say goodbye to this shitty world, even though I seem to have only just arrived."

"Unknown traveler, thank you for your help."

Unknown traveler: nm

"Dimensional Device, activate!"

"Dimensional Device usage detected. Beginning full-power operation."

The golden crystal in her chest began to glow, casting golden light before Xiu Er.

A Golden Gate appeared in front of her.

She could not see what lay beyond it, but it had to be better than this. Xiu Er was not worried in the slightest that danger awaited her inside.

Because she had already set the destination.

The moment the gate took shape, Xiu Er stepped through without hesitation.

As her body passed through the Golden Gate and she fully entered it, the gate rapidly shrank and vanished within a second, leaving behind no trace.

At that moment, only a human corpse remained here, and no one in this world knew what had happened.

Volume One: Machines and Spirits

First Dimensional Travel

Within a golden Space Tunnel.

"Whew, looks like it worked."

Countless streams of data flowed through Xiu Er's mechanical eyes. From the moment she entered this space, her body had automatically begun scanning its data.

"Stabilizing the Dimensional Channel. Please refrain from making unnecessary movements with the Dimensional Device until stabilization is complete."

While maintaining the channel, the system fused into her body also reminded Xiu Er of this.

"What happens if I do?"

Xiu Er would not court death by fiddling with the Dimensional Device at a time like this, but curiosity drove her to ask the system.

"According to this unit's calculations, if the host uses the Dimensional Device without authorization during stabilization, there is a high probability of triggering a spacetime disturbance, causing the destination to become a random world."

That sounded rather dangerous.

Xiu Er recorded the warning in her database to remind herself not to do that.

Looking around, she saw endless golden energy. Other than herself, there was nothing else.

The system merely continued reporting the progress of the stabilization work in Xiu Er's mind with its synthesized voice.

She wondered whether the system possessed its own consciousness.

But before Xiu Er could ask, the system immediately responded as though it had known in advance.

"Host inquiry detected. This unit does not possess a personality module. Everything is merely simulation. Please do not harbor unnecessary doubts toward this unit."

"This unit has completely fused with the host and will accompany the host until the end of time. Therefore, please trust this unit."

"Then what about your previous host?"

Xiu Er was naturally referring to the traveler from before. This system had originally belonged to that unknown traveler, but she had merely happened to pick it up afterward.

"The previous host died due to their own lack of strength after being attacked by inhabitants of another world. This unit has no comment on the matter."

"Furthermore, the previous host ignored this unit's warnings and acted without authorization, causing a spacetime disturbance that ultimately brought them to that world."

"Conclusion: this unit bears no fault."

Alright, so that person had simply gotten herself killed.

No matter what, randomly ending up in Game Life Zero had been pretty unlucky, especially as a human.

But Xiu Er herself did not seem much luckier. She had only been fortunate enough to pick up this system in the end, and all of it had happened because that traveler had recklessly sent the system there for Xiu Er to find.

At that, Xiu Er pressed her hands together and closed her eyes, offering her sincere thanks to that traveler.

Thank you, unknown traveler.

"Dimensional Channel stabilization complete. Beginning impact against the Dimensional Wall."

The next second, a violent shockwave came rushing from ahead.

"Codex Opening—No Passage."

This was a defensive Mecha-Kai armament. As it activated, a golden spherical particle membrane enveloped Xiu Er.

"Impact successful. Dimensional Wall crossed. New world successfully reached."

Just like that, Xiu Er used the shield to easily block the damage from the shockwave.

"Although the shockwave produced by impacting the Dimensional Wall is not entirely harmless, its threat level can be ignored."

"It can be confirmed that there will be no danger within a fully stabilized Dimensional Channel."

"Is that so?"

"Call it a personal habit."

"Confirmed. This record will be entered into the database. No further reminders will be issued regarding this matter."

"Connection confirmed. Channel stability is safe. Gate will open shortly. Please prepare."

When the system's notification ended, a Golden Gate identical to the one she had entered before appeared in front of Xiu Er.

Filled with excitement, Xiu Er lifted her foot and stepped into the gate.

"New world, here I come."

So the plot had only reached this point.

Looking at the purple-haired armored girl holding a greatsword before her, Xiu Er sighed inwardly.

Her lifeless mechanical eyes stared straight at the other girl.

Under that gaze, the purple-haired girl felt pressure and tightened her grip around the greatsword.

The surroundings were filled with the ruins of buildings destroyed for unknown reasons. Xiu Er stood atop a pile of rubble, looking down at the girl below.

With no clothing covering her, every mechanical part of Xiu Er's body was exposed before the other girl.

The armored girl raised her greatsword, its tip pointing directly at the inhuman being above.

"You... are you here to kill me too?"

Time returned to several minutes earlier.

After Xiu Er passed through the Golden Gate, she looked around and found herself high in the blue sky.

Date A Live was the destination Xiu Er had chosen for this trip.

There was no grand reason behind her choice. When making her selection earlier, it had simply been the first one that came to mind, because that anime had been her introduction to the world of anime.

After arriving in this world, Xiu Er learned of her abilities as a Mecha-Kai—

She could analyze and copy her enemies' attacks.

Naturally, that made the powers of this world's Spirits her goal. Then she began wondering: could she really copy the Spirits' abilities?

After all, they used an entirely different energy system. As she considered that, Xiu Er's curiosity steadily grew, leading to the task she set for herself next.

"Make contact with those Spirit girls."

By coincidence, while flying through the sky, Xiu Er detected a high-energy reaction.

A Spatial Tremor.

It was a disaster unique to this world.