"A Golem...?"

Lee Shin-Woo muttered as he saw the message informing them of the identity of the titan. He expected him to be an undead that had retained its reasoning, or a human that had managed to survive by hiding away in a dungeon, but not a Golem...

[Of course I am. How else could I retain my sanity within the Empire?] The Golem’s eyes lit up. [That's why I'm so interested in you two.]

He possessed human eyes, skin, face, and hair; everything about him looked human. If Lee Shin-Woo hadn't seen the message, he wouldn't have known that the man was actually a Golem.

[While I want to ask you more questions... The General would like to see you. Please come with me.]

"What are you going to do?" asked Jin.

"...Let's go."

Lee Shin-Woo couldn’t put his finger on the situation, but something was bothering him. It was the fact that the Golem's name was Guillotine Steelworker.

Based on the memories that dwelled within the Original Core, Arema Steelworker was the executive administrator overseeing the Golems. Was it mere coincidence that the Golem shared the man’s surname? Lee Shin-Woo didn’t think so.

Then it doesn’t matter if I’m meeting General Seagald.

The Golem bearing the name of Steelworker is a level 7 powerhouse. How about the executive administrator, Arema Steelworker? He would obviously be at an even higher level... Wouldn’t it make sense for Arema Steelworker to be the general the Golem was talking about? Lee Shin-Woo had definitely miscalculated.

I didn’t expect Golems to be making more Golems. I didn’t expect it, but…that would explain everything. Golems are impervious to the curse, and they don’t age. Still, it’s surprising that a Golem has developed an ego—an incredibly advanced one.

[Follow me and don't mess with the other doors on the way, or you may set off a trap.]

The Golem’s calm voice broke Lee Shin-Woo out of his reverie.

“Alright,” Lee Shin-Woo answered, while Jin gasped in shock and took a step back as he observed the doors lining the passageway.

Everything was so big that Lee Shin-Woo had trouble looking away. The passageway branched off into several roads, which then forked and splintered into more paths. Jin wouldn't have known any better, but Lee Shin-Woo could sense a mass of powerful mana at the end of each path.

Ha...

Lee Shin-Woo laughed. Now he understood why the level 3 and level 4 Golems were abandoned like they were nothing. Whatever resided within the rooms at the end of the paths could easily take down all the weak Golems Lee Shin-Woo and Jin had taken down before. They wouldn’t be losing anything by letting those lesser Golems get destroyed.

Lee Shin-Woo began to wonder what their mission was. For starters, It seemed clear to him that they weren’t on the Imperial Army’s side, which had almost all degenerated into undead...

[We've arrived.]

"That’s a big door," Lee Shin-Woo offhandedly remarked.

[Consider it an honor. It's not a door that anyone can enter whenever they wish to, aside from the knights that guard the general.]

The door lock looked similar to those of the Anti-Skull's secret facilities, and when Guillotine Steelworker placed his hand on it, a complex mana seal took shape to release the locking mechanism.

Lee Shin-Woo couldn't help but marvel at the way the door lock and the mana seal interacted as the lock delicately released. The complexity was worlds apart from the Anti-Skull's lock. Lee Shin-Woo felt like his mana senses had advanced just by watching the process.

[You probably won’t be able to do it easily even if you pay close attention to the seal; it’s something only Golems can do. Please go ahead. The general's waiting for you.]

"Haha."

For a Golem, he was quick on the uptake. Lee Shin-Woo simply smiled and followed him into the room.

The first thing Lee Shin-Woo saw was a huge table. Then he noticed the absurdly high ceiling. Finally...

[Lv8 Golem Zero - Golden General Arema Steelworker]

The Golem was more than six meters tall even while sitting down.

"Whoa..."

"Ugh."

[How peculiar.]

The general remained seated while examining the two of them. Then he slowly rose to his feet, his head almost touching the ceiling. Lee Shin-Woo was completely overwhelmed as he stared up at the Golden General Arema Steelworker at his full height.

He didn't match the Lv5 Treasure Eater in terms of size, but the quality and density of his mana were worlds apart from the Treasure Eater’s. In fact, it felt almost insulting to compare the dirty caterpillar with this man.

[I don't feel the curse from you at all. This space is filled to the brim with the despicable magic, yet it keeps bouncing off of you—neither a human nor a Golem, but an undead—Who exactly are you?]

"..."

Jin was frightened stiff by the Golem’s prowess. On the other hand, Lee Shin-Woo silently pondered how he should respond.

The Golem before him was powerful, and possessed a method of observing the flow of mana that far surpassed Lee Shin-Woo's own. He even thought and acted like a human. The fact that he was a Golem didn't matter right now. Lee Shin-Woo needed to assume that he was smarter than him in every aspect.

Can I just tell him the truth? Even the fact that we're heroes?

If the Golden General was hostile to the undead, it wouldn't hurt if they told him they were heroes. That would confirm they were on the same side.

But there was too much he didn't know about the Golems. He might end up giving away unnecessary information and getting both of them killed. If that's the case... Lee Shin-Woo licked his nonexistent lips before opening his mouth.

"Do you know... about Anti-Skull?"

This was the start of his lies.

[Oh? I didn’t expect you to know about the project. Were you a volunteer?]

As he thought, the general knew about Anti-Skull, which wouldn’t be a strange thing if he were one of the twelve generals like General Seagald, especially since he was a Golem that was immune to the curse.

But this is a trap.

Lee Shin-Woo concluded as he glanced at the Golem’s flashing eyes. He was moving and speaking in an extremely natural and human way, but he was a Golem. Lee Shin-Woo had been questioning whether the Golem was truly sentient from the very beginning. Doom would be his only end if he were so easily tricked by the Golem’s cordial behavior.

"Since you know about the project, I’ll cut to the chase. I'd made contact with them in the past, but they were conducting their experiments somewhere far away. We did not walk the same path."

[You've made contact with them...? Hmm, is that so.]

The Golem nodded, speaking as if he understood Lee Shin-Woo. Lee Shin-Woo hadn’t yet let his guard down. After all, the general was still suspicious of the two of them.

Well, it's only natural. Lee Shin-Woo and Jin had popped up several decades after the Empire's fall. How could the Golems possibly trust them when they just showed up and claimed to be part of an experiment almost no one knew about?

[You're not one of General Seagald's men?]

"We worked together with one of the men under his command. That was how we learned of the Anti-Skull Project, and we were involved to some degree... However, we've never actually met General Seagald in person."

[Indeed. It's not easy to learn about Anti-Skull. I'm curious which subordinate of General Seagald’s you’ve worked with, but... No, it's fine. Not even I know everything about Seagald.]

The Golem couldn’t refute his claims without evidence, especially since Lee Shin-Woo knew quite a bit about the Anti-Skull Project.

Mixing lies with truth was effective in making one more persuasive and convincing. That was why Lee Shin-Woo was able to keep his head high and hold himself with confidence.

[The administrator of that project must've been quite a renowned figure. After all, he had successfully created undead who could completely resist the curse or absorb it.]

"We're just lucky. Several people ended up dying. Although the experiment conducted on us had succeeded, we were put to a deep slumber for decades in exchange."

[I understand. The success would require luck that was akin to a divine miracle.]

"I agree. It's only natural that the two of us would be the only ones retaining our sanity. I’ve lost a lot of memories, and a lot of time had passed until we finally awoke. There were also many side effects we suffered from, but..."

Did he catch on? Lee Shin-Woo suspected as much when the Golem said it could be a divine miracle, but Lee Shin-Woo continued with his lies; he was so natural that words flowed out of his mouth like water. Arema Steelworker couldn’t help but hesitate, albeit only for a moment.

Then he nodded and said, [I apologize. I was overly suspicious of you and brought up some unpleasant memories. The interrogation ends here. We both share a hatred for the curse that permeates the Empire.]

"Of course. If it weren't for that curse, I wouldn't have ended up like this."

[...Agreed. How unfortunate.]

Is he also hostile to the undead? If that’s the case, should I let on that I’m a hero…? No, let’s keep that a secret for now. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

Lee Shin-Woo nodded inwardly in response. He'd figured out the general's stance while keeping his identity hidden. It wasn't perfect, but the Golem was level 8, and had been one of the twelve generals serving the Empire. Lee Shin-Woo would consider this a victory.

The moment he thought so, his Acting leveled up.

[You have fooled a target at an overwhelmingly higher level. Acting is now Lv8. Your lies will become truth until the moment you reveal otherwise.]

That wasn’t the end of it. Lee Shin-Woo continued to read through the messages, and his eyes widened in surprise.

[A Joker conceals everything about themselves and assumes false personas. There is no need for there to be a special reason behind your words or actions. That is what it means to be a Joker. All stats have increased by 5. You have fulfilled a part of the conditions to unlock the Joker's innate skill.]

It doesn't matter if there’s a good reason; just lie your way out of whatever you face... This is my type of skill.

If he deceived his opponent first, it would become easier for him to get out of any situation later even if things went wrong. He would just need to come up with another lie! The Joker’s karma was perfectly aligned with his natural instincts.

It felt like he'd found his calling, which pleased him. Arema Steelworker changed the subject then, going into what he had asked Lee Shin-Woo here for.

[I'm more surprised that you were able to acquire the credential of a general administrator than the fact that you are undead. It should've been impossible no matter how talented you are...]

"I was curious who the owner of all those Golems was. I also wanted to know your intentions. Luckily, I was able to create a forgery of the seal."

[It’s not something to be passed off as a joke. You should be more confident in yourself… More importantly, I want to know what your intentions are, but I suppose it's time for you to ask the questions now, huh?]

"I only have a few simple questions. After all, you’ve said that we share a common hatred for the Empire's curse."

[Hahaha! Alright, I'll answer your questions, brave skeleton. I have nothing to hide.]

Lee Shin-Woo’s polite but assertive response made the general laugh heartily. It was such a natural display of human emotion that Lee Shin-Woo could hardly believe that he was a Golem.

Immediately after, something shocking happened—the Golem that had been close to 9 meters tall at full height shrunk into a 2-meter tall giant!

[Most people...Seagald and Leofield included, knew this as a giant transformation skill, but it's not actually that. It's a technique to compress a Golems Body that could only be used by a high-level Golem. Were you surprised?]

"Yes..."

Lee Shin-Woo was stunned. He had thought it was only possible for the general to manipulate his size since he was a Golem, but there really seemed to be ways for regular humans to turn into a giant! Didn't that mean there existed a skill that would make such a transformation possible for him as well? His heart began to pound rapidly.

[Most of the Empire’s citizens wouldn't know, but the Golden Army established by Arema Steelworker had consisted of Golems from the very beginning. It was an army created to protect the Empire without hesitance. To that end, many knights’ consciousness were transferred into cores; this is the fruit of our numerous experiments.]

"...!?"

[Yes. Our goals may be different, but we're still similar, aren't we? We were both sacrificed for our experiments. As a result, we were also able to avoid transforming into the undead. It’s ironic, isn’t it?]

Hearing the shocking story of how the Golems came into existence, Lee Shin-Woo kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish, but then the Golden General said in a faraway tone, [The day after the curse struck, all living beings became undead. However, we were no longer among the living, and so we came out unscathed.]

Loyalty to the Emperor had been engraved into their cores, yet the Empire was gone, depriving them of a sense of purpose.

[Decades later, we still remained.]