Since Dalia’s room was the largest in the house, everyone decided to spend the night there.
Gustav and Lex still lay unconscious on the bed, showing no signs of waking up. Dalia was busy spreading sheets and old stitched rags across the floor so the others would have somewhere to sleep.
Near the corner, Ginna and Monica gathered water, food, and other emergency supplies. They wanted everything within reach so no one would have to step outside once night fell.
Laila moved around the room, placing the weapons and traps Luke had given her at carefully chosen spots.
Everyone had a job.
No one treated Luke’s warning lightly.
"Haah... it’s done."
Laila stepped back after tying a small alarm bell to the room’s only window. Even the slightest movement from outside would make it ring.
Dalia raised an eyebrow.
"Since when do you know things like this?"
A faint smile appeared on Laila’s lips.
"Staying close to a hunter teaches you a few things about survival."
Dalia frowned.
"But Lex is a hunter too."
Laila let out a quiet chuckle.
"Then maybe you aren’t that close to him yet."
"You...!"
....
Luke first went through his inventory, sorting through the traps he already had.
He had already provided his family with several emergency tools, including pepper spray, the emergency SOS reward he had recently obtained, and a taser gun he believed Ginna could use. He had handed them over some time ago, and his family still had them. There was no reason to spend more GP on those items for now.
His attention returned to the traps.
He had enough wire fencing to cover the entire perimeter of the house. He also had several spike traps that triggered when someone stepped within range. The spikes would burst from the ground without warning, capable of punching deep holes into anyone unfortunate enough to trigger them.
Then there were the spike bombs.
Once activated, they would explode and launch several small steel stars toward the intruder. Luke planned to mount them along the walls of the house, turning the entire perimeter into a dangerous killing zone.
He also had a few sticky traps. They were less destructive on their own, but they could cause an animal or human to stumble and trigger another trap.
Useful enough.
Now came the matter of his budget.
[Current Reserve: 1350 GP]
He had earned some and spent some, leaving him with only thirteen hundred and fifty GP.
Under normal circumstances, Luke would have considered that a fortunate amount to have on hand.
Right now, however, it felt painfully inadequate.
He needed more.
’No reason to cry over it now.’
He rubbed his hands together and began selecting the options.
The poison gas bombs immediately caught his attention. They were particularly useful because of how quickly the gas could spread.
There was just one problem.
"Would it reach my family too? And how many people can it affect? Also, how many orbs are there in a single funnel?"
[Host, the gas is quite heavy, so it won’t spread too far. At once, a single orb is enough to take down three to four people with high endurance. Each funnel contains ten bombs.]
Nice.
Luke could work with that.
"What about the range?"
[With the funnel as the center, the effective range extends up to a ten-meter diameter.]
[Furthermore, based on the targets’ heat signatures, the funnel will release the orbs in their direction rather than firing them aimlessly.]
Luke was impressed.
That was far more sophisticated than he had expected.
He did not hesitate before purchasing two funnels.
[200 GP deducted.]
He felt no guilt about the expenditure.
With two of them positioned properly, the entire yard would be covered.
Luke inspected the metal funnels. Each one stood roughly forty centimeters tall, with a wide opening at the top.
Just as he was considering where to place them, the system chimed.
[Place them underground and cover them with dirt. This will not interfere with their detection or activation.]
Luke nodded.
That sounded perfect.
Leaving the funnels exposed would have made them easy to spot, especially with their wide mouths. Burying them would conceal the traps without affecting their function.
Exactly what he needed.
Once he finished purchasing the funnels, Luke wondered where he should invest next.
There were several other traps available, including Absolute Darkness and Acid Rain, but somehow, the security bot kept drawing his attention.
It looked far too tempting.
’System... can you help convince me to buy it? I don’t want to waste five hundred points on something that a few men could simply fold.’
[Host, the security bot is designed to eliminate enemies one by one. Once you assign it a region to defend, the bot will use everything in its arsenal to prevent anything from entering the territory. It can deploy more than five weapons simultaneously. It also possesses basic earth and wind manipulation, giving it a surprising advantage that could determine the outcome of a battle.]
Luke’s hesitation faded a little.
That was more convincing than he had expected.
He crossed his arms and thought for a moment.
Then he sighed.
"Fuck it. Buy me an Armed Bot."
Soon, a silver radiance ignited before him.
In the next instant, a five-foot-tall wooden doll appeared in front of him.
It had stick-like arms and legs, a cowboy hat perched atop its head, and a crudely drawn face that looked as though someone had sketched it with a pencil.
"..." Luke stared at it.
System... please tell me this is a joke.
[Host, the doll possesses intelligence. You may test it.]
Luke exhaled slowly and raised his fist.
"Defend," he commanded.
And, surprise, surprise.
"Hmm?"
His fist met nothing but air.
The doll was standing a few feet away.
Luke smirked and dropped into a fighting stance.
"Hmm. Now defend this!"
He lunged forward.
His fist shot toward the doll’s face.
The doll tilted its head.
Luke’s punch skimmed past its wooden cheek.
"What?"
The doll stepped inside his reach.
Luke immediately swung his other fist.
The doll ducked.
A kick followed.
It hopped over his leg.
Luke spun and drove his elbow backward.
The doll bent at the waist, letting the strike pass inches above its head.
Thud!
Luke’s elbow slammed into empty air.
"You’re pretty damn slippery."
He rushed forward again.
One punch followed by two more.
His fists came in rapid succession, each strike faster than the last.
The doll kept moving.
A sidestep.
A duck.
A short retreat.
Then a sudden pivot.
Every movement was precise. It never wasted a step, never moved farther than necessary, and never allowed Luke to corner it.
Luke grinned.
"Fine."
He increased his speed.
Bang!
His fist tore through the air.
The doll leaned backward until its torso was almost parallel to the ground.
Luke’s fist passed over its nose.
Before it could recover, Luke stepped forward and swung his knee.
The doll twisted sideways.
His knee grazed its wooden torso.
"Got you!"
Luke immediately grabbed for its arm.
The doll slipped free.
Luke’s eyes widened.
It had rotated its wrist in the exact direction of his grip, escaping before he could tighten his hold.
He followed with a sweeping kick.
The doll jumped.
Luke’s leg cut beneath it.
The instant its feet touched the ground, Luke was already there.
A straight punch.
The doll leaned aside.
The yard echoed with the sharp sounds of fists tearing through the air and boots scraping against the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yet the wooden doll had not landed a single attack.
It simply dodged.
Again and again.
"You’re not even fighting back?"
The doll tilted its head.
For some reason, that tiny movement felt insulting.
Luke’s grin widened.
"Alright. Let’s see how long you can keep that up."
He surged forward once more.
This time, he attacked without pause.
His fists blurred.
The doll’s body moved like water.
It slipped between strikes, twisted around kicks, and turned every near hit into another miss.
Luke suddenly stopped.
The doll stopped too.
For a moment, the two stared at each other.
Luke wiped the sweat from his brow.
"...You’re annoying."
The wooden doll simply adjusted its cowboy hat.
Luke’s eyebrow twitched.
"Oh, you definitely did that on purpose."
Shaking his head, Luke decided to end the trial there.
The doll was definitely useful.
He had not gone anywhere near one hundred percent, and he had not used magic even once, but that was precisely why he was satisfied. The doll’s movements had been efficient, precise, and completely devoid of unnecessary motion. Against an actual intruder, that level of evasiveness could prove troublesome to deal with.
Luke stepped forward and rested a hand on the doll’s shoulder.
"Let’s give you a name... Hmm. Tony seems appropriate."
The wooden doll stared at him.
Naturally, it gave no response.
Luke then turned his attention toward the house.
"You need to defend this house and the people within it. Anyone try to go inside, deal with them as you deem right."
The doll followed his gaze.
It stared at the house for a moment before slowly nodding.
A grin spread across Luke’s face.
That’s more like it.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter