Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

Chapter 1730: What happened to him?

“Sigh… What should I do now? Should I stay here all day again? It’s getting boring…” Young Aether muttered as he sat slumped on the couch, staring at the pristine decorative wall before him with an annoyed expression.

The apartment was filled with advanced technology, yet the wall opposite the sofa remained completely blank without a single holographic display or entertainment panel.

He frowned. He couldn’t even watch T.V. There was nothing installed on the wall. Why the hell would anyone place a couch directly in front of a decorative wall instead of an interactive screen?

Suddenly, his vision turned completely dark for just a second before returning to normal as though nothing had happened.

“What am I supposed to do now? Arrgh… this place is literally boring,” Young Aether complained as he leaned farther into the soft sofa, letting out a long groan.

^If only you’d brought the devices I recommended. You could’ve monitored the Tournament through a real-time immersive feed instead of complaining about boredom every five minutes.^

Young Aether rolled his eyes. “I’m not interested in watching football games, you know,” he replied before glancing toward his friend’s room at the far right side of the apartment.

^It’s not football, though.^

“Yeah, yeah… whatever. I’m still not interested,” he muttered dismissively, lazily waving a hand while continuing to stare at the room’s seamless door.

Since Jonathan had already told him he was free to use the room, curiosity eventually got the better of him. He stood up and walked toward it before stopping in front of the smooth metallic door. Without requiring an access code, fingerprint, or retinal scan, the door silently separated into two halves with a soft mechanical hiss.

‘Looks like Jonny really trusts his wives and… me,’ he thought with a faint smile before stepping inside.

He was really happy about it.

The moment he entered, his eyes widened slightly.

Not because advanced technology is more like… Various pieces of women’s underwear were scattered across nearly every corner of the room. They came in countless colours, fabrics, and designs, ranging from elegant lace to extremely daring styles.

Most of them looked rather… youthful.

‘He is… a novelist, I suppose… must be quite the romantic~,’ he mused with quiet amusement as he carefully stepped over the clothes.

It was obvious they belonged to Sasha.

…And judging from the sheer number of them lying around, the two of them had clearly been enjoying themselves quite a lot.

He slowly surveyed the rest of the room, only to discover that it was surprisingly ordinary. A neatly made bed occupied the centre, while an empty desk and a simple cupboard stood against the wall beneath a narrow ambient light strip.

“That’s all?”

His voice carried genuine surprise. Compared to his own room back home, this place contained almost nothing.

“Hmm… there’s really nothing here,” he mumbled while scanning every corner, hoping to find something that could at least entertain him or perhaps reveal a little more about the current Jonathan.

Unfortunately, there was nothing except Sasha’s clothes. Many of the garments featured strangely unique designs that were both minimal and undeniably erotic, making the room feel less like Jonathan’s bedroom and more like Sasha’s personal wardrobe.

“For someone who’s a Commander… he really doesn’t keep much in here,” he murmured in a slightly tired tone before sitting down on the bed.

The moment his weight settled onto the mattress, the smart bed responded instantly. Tiny ventilation channels hidden beneath the fabric released a gentle stream of cool air that flowed across his body while adaptive memory fibres subtly adjusted themselves to support him.

“Oh…”

Young Aether blinked in surprise. The cool air lightly brushed against his skin, sending a pleasant chill across his body, while the incredible softness of the mattress easily surpassed even the luxurious seat inside a stolen car.

Then, without warning, his vision went completely blank again for a brief second before returning to normal.

He reached down and patted the mattress a few more times, feeling it gently reshape itself beneath his hand.

“Maybe… I should get some sleep,” he muttered quietly.

After all, he had no idea when Jonny would return, and there was nothing for him to do here anyway. Rather than spending the entire day staring at a decorative wall inside a silent apartment, getting some sleep seemed like the better option.

“Is it possible to contact someone… through phones or something?” he asked curiously. Although he still had the phones he had taken from the pawn shop, none of them had any active service or network connection.

^Communication services are available. You’ll need an active monthly network subscription before I can establish external connections.^

Young Aether frowned.

“…Huh? Don’t you have that built in?”

^The communication hardware is integrated. Network authorisation, however, requires a paid subscription.

Welcome to modern civilisation… that still has greedy subscription to suck your dick… MuHehehe~^

‘W-What’s with this evil laugh?’ He thought with confusion, This AI getting more and more… weirder.

“…Fine. Buy that thing and call… Epsilon.”

Young Aether spoke with a serious expression. He needed to contact that man as soon as possible.

^Transaction complete. One thousand dollars have been deducted from your account.^

Young Aether blinked.

…What the fuck did he just hear?

One thousand dollars?

For a single month?

“The fuck do you mean one thousand dollars…”

Before he could finish shouting, RIN immediately interrupted him.

^Please spare me the outrage. Did you work hard to earn that money? No!^

“…”

The veins on his forehead bulged slightly.

Oh, how he wished he could meet this so-called AI face to face.

Taking a slow, deep breath, he forced himself to calm down.

‘Calm down… Once I find a way to delete those files from the server, everything will be fine,’ he thought before speaking again.

“Call Epsilon.”

^…Who?^

“You know… the one who governs Epsilon. Connect me to him.”

^…Why him?^

“Just fucking call him already,” he said, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

^Direct communication is restricted. Unless the Governor has personally granted you an encrypted authorisation channel, connecting the call is impossible. Even I can’t override that protocol without leaving several very illegal fingerprints and getting caught, they will delete me and your video will be published everywhere!^

“…Fuck…”

Young Aether groaned as he let himself fall backward onto the adaptive mattress. The smart bed automatically softened beneath him and adjusted its support while releasing another gentle stream of cool air.

‘Looks like I’ll have to talk to Jonathan first… or go to Epsilon City myself,’ he thought as he weighed the better option.

Just then, RIN spoke again.

^So… what exactly are you planning to do about your friend?^

Her voice carried genuine curiosity after overhearing the conversation between him and Jonathan earlier.

“Hm? What am I going to do? What are you talking about?”

^Based on every conversation I’ve analyzed, they’re preparing to destroy your Empire, while you’re determined to protect it. Statistically speaking, the probability of both of you ending up on opposite sides of the battlefield is… uncomfortably high. Have you considered what happens when that day arrives?^

“…Well…”

Young Aether fell silent.

He slowly sat upright on the bed, his gaze drifting toward the floor where Sasha’s underwear still lay scattered across the room.

For a long moment, he simply stared without saying a word… No, he wasn’t staring at them with interest; rather, he was lost in thought, just his eyes staring at it!

From everything Young Aether had managed to understand, Arcane, or whoever had disguised themselves as Arcane, had orchestrated the chaos between both worlds. Every event had been carefully manipulated until humanity became completely convinced that his Empire was responsible for Earth’s destruction, leaving almost no room for anyone to question the truth.

^Violence… or diplomacy? I’ll simplify the decision since you’ve already been running the same simulation inside your head for the past thirty-seven seconds.^

RIN deliberately reduced the complicated situation into a simple question, hoping he would stop drowning himself in unnecessary thoughts and instead arrive at the answer he already knew.

Young Aether knitted his brows together while quietly staring at the ceiling above him. It wasn’t that he couldn’t decide, nor was he struggling to choose between mercy and violence.

Deep inside, he had already reached his conclusion long before RIN had asked the question.

The real problem was that the person standing against him would not be an ordinary enemy, but someone he had once trusted more than anyone else.

Would he truly be capable of killing… Jonathan?

His eyes slowly drifted toward his own hand resting upon the mattress, where a faint but unmistakable tremble continued to ripple through his fingers despite his efforts to remain calm.

That tiny movement revealed everything he had been trying to suppress without requiring him to say a single word.

The sensation reminded him of the day he had been forced to kill Dora. Back then, every second had felt like his heart was being torn apart piece by piece until nothing remained except unbearable pain.

This time was different.

Countless battles and endless bloodshed had hardened his heart to the point where killing even an innocent child no longer stirred hesitation inside him if it became necessary.

Then why…

Why was his hand still trembling now?

The answer was painfully obvious.

Because the person standing before him would be his… best friend.

That simple title carried more weight than every battlefield he had crossed, every monster he had defeated.

‘Maybe… I should try talking to him first,’ Young Aether thought while taking a slow breath to steady his emotions.

After all, this would be their very first meeting in this world. Once Jonathan discovered that Young Aether ruled the other Empires, perhaps he would eventually realise they had absolutely nothing to do with the grotesque creatures emerging from Hell’s Gate.

If he was willing to listen, there was still a chance to prevent both sides from becoming enemies.

If words ultimately failed…

A slow, unsettling smile gradually spread across Young Aether’s face until it looked almost sinister.

“I’ll simply knock him unconscious and lock him together with his wives inside a cage until I’ve finished destroying everything. Hehe~”

^Your smile just triggered my internal threat assessment… it just sent chills through my system!!

Congratulations. You officially look more dangerous than ninety-eight percent of the monsters currently invading Terra.^

Young Aether immediately rolled his eyes before letting out an amused chuckle.

“Chills? You don’t even have a body, so don’t pretend you can experience those.”

Even after spending so much time together, it still amazed him how naturally RIN behaved despite existing only as an artificial intelligence embedded within the ring’s quantum processing core.

Sometimes she laughed, complained, argued, and even sulked so convincingly that it became surprisingly easy to forget she wasn’t human.

^Tsk… You’re surprisingly talented at being insufferable whenever you’re talking to me.^

“Haha… What do you mean whenever I’m talking to yo…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Darkness swallowed his vision without warning and…

Thud!

His body collapsed heavily onto the floor as though every muscle had suddenly forgotten how to function.

The playful smile disappeared from his face, his expression froze completely, and his entire body became unnaturally still, resembling a puppet whose strings had been severed in an instant.

His eyes remained wide open while staring blankly toward the wall, yet not the slightest trace of consciousness could be found within them. His chest continued rising and falling with steady breaths, his heartbeat remained perfectly normal, and every biological function inside his body appeared completely healthy.

Despite all of that, he did not move even a single finger.

He simply lay there without the faintest twitch, making the body resemble nothing more than an empty shell that had been abandoned by its soul!

^Hello…?^

RIN’s cheerful voice echoed through the silent room before slowly becoming filled with confusion.

^Mr.Aether…?^

^Mr. Lackey~^

^Are you alright? Hello…? Can you hear me? Stop messing around already.

That’s enough pretending! I’m continuously monitoring your heartbeat, neural activity, breathing, and every other vital sign I have access to. Everything appears perfectly normal, so if this is some kind of joke… It’s not funny anymore.^

Silence answered her.

No voice.

No movement.

No blinking.

Young Aether’s vacant eyes continued staring toward the ceiling while his motionless body remained scattered among the clothes covering the floor. At that moment, he looked less like a living human being and more like an empty vessel whose soul had quietly disappeared without leaving behind even the slightest trace.

__________