Chapter 1 : Dragging These Busted Legs

With a long mechanical hiss, the hatch of a machine resembling a cryostasis pod slid open.

“...Thank goodness. It looks like the repairs were successful.”

Wh-where am I?

Even if they are mass-produced models, we are dealing with the lives of girls who have barely reached their prime. If they could not be fixed, I would have no way to face the parents who trusted us with them.

I remember... collapsing at home...

“Lica-No.A! Stand up!”

Everyone else in the pods stood up at once.

“....?!”

My shock did not stem from the fact that all these girls shared the exact same face. It was because those faces were identical to the Lica series, an R-rank character from a gacha game I used to play.

Because of that, my reaction as a mass-produced Phantasm Girl—an entity supposedly governed by absolute protocols—was delayed.

“...Oh? One unit is not responding. And after I was certain the repairs were perfect, too. It is a pity... but we will have to dispose of it.”

In an instant, I was soaring through the empty air. Forced into a violent waltz by the gale-force winds whipping around me, I plummeted toward the earth and certain death.

“...! I am not... dying like this!!”

On instinct, I triggered the thrusters mounted on my legs. However, these were designed for lateral movement during combat; they lacked the output to maintain a steady hover.

Furthermore, I had no attitude control system. I had to physically force my thrashing body into the right position myself.

“Dammit... move!!”

Alarms blared in my head. A warning buzzer screeched, signaling that the thrusters were on the verge of overheating.

“There!!”

Exerting every last ounce of strength, I threw myself toward a mountain of discarded scrap.

The mountain of trash gave way with a deafening clatter as I crashed into it. I...

“Huff, huff, huff…”

Against all odds, I had survived with my body intact.

“This place is…”

Dustopia: The Paradise of Ash

In the world of the social game Hollow Memorial, this was the dumping ground where all the waste from the underground city of Paradiso ended up.

Scavengers spent their days picking through the mountains of treasure, eating literal slop bought with whatever coin they could scrounge together. All just to survive one more day.

“...Is this really the world of HoloMemo?”

I used a muddy scrap of cloth I found nearby to wipe the grime off the base of my right thigh.

‘Prometheus Industries: Lica-A37’

“...What now?”

First, I needed to figure out the timeline. My consciousness had been hazy, but there was no mistaking that the hostile entity that attacked me was a Burnatville. They only became active after the protagonist joined the military—the HMD, or Hollow Memorial Dolls—as a commander.

In other words, the main story was about to begin.

HoloMemo was a rarity among gacha games in that it featured multiple endings. The first major turning point would be...

“The fourth act…”

I have to support the protagonist there and guide them down the right path. Otherwise, Paradiso is headed straight for ruin.

“I need power.”

Even if I possess a sense of self, my physical performance cannot hold a candle to a genuine Phantasm Girl. I do not even have a special ability.

Think... remember...

“...Time to go.”

With a goal fixed in my mind, I began to drag my malfunctioning legs forward.

Everything was for the sake of the main characters' peace.