Magic, of course, is a realm that cannot be defined through scientific methods, but as we’ve continued to see,
Even supernatural phenomena exist within a world that has physical and chemical substance. That means there is a point where magic and science meet.
It could be a physical location of supernatural phenomena, or it might be something else entirely. The gray area where magic and science intersect.
“In what way?”
“Since it’s humans or other intelligent species that awaken, the initial point of contact is naturally living creatures like people. If we dig deeper, we can see how the physical and chemical entities inside people interact with these supernatural phenomena.”
Dr. Ryoo nodded his head.
“An organ that utilizes mana. It’s probably the brain, isn’t it?”
“In truth, it’s probably more complicated. For example, Descartes thought the soul resided in the pineal gland. The organ that mystics call the Third Eye.”
I don’t particularly like mystical approaches, but since we’re talking about magic right now,
There aren’t many options to choose from.
Dr. Ryoo thought for a moment before speaking.
“We did observe development of the pineal and pituitary glands in the brains of Orcs and Goblins, didn’t we? Since they’re mana users. But as for the pineal gland or pituitary and other macroscopic structures, you can’t really approach them in a reductionist way by plugging them into a search engine. Neural tissues might be closer to Emergence… don’t you think?”
Honestly, I didn’t really understand.
To summarize in Korean, it means studying neural structures is harder than analyzing the base sequence of genes.
“Emergence.”
To be frank, when scientists start talking about Emergence, it just means they don’t know.
If you can’t figure it out and have no way of knowing, that’s when words like “emergent,” “Chaos System,” or “Butterfly Effect” start coming out.
“It’s a bit tough, right?”
“Well… It’s a shame we can’t culture the neural tissues of creatures with mana. If we could analyze them, we might find something useful.”
Culturing neural tissues, huh.
I glanced at Dr. Ryoo.
Culturing neural tissues is definitely difficult, but you can culture organs, not just tissues. In other words—
“We probably could culture them.”
“Hmm? How?”
I sat down and turned on my tablet.
A method to culture tissues that supposedly can’t be cultured. You know, that thing.
“Simply put, we can use Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to create an Organoid. That way, we can culture the neural tissue as we like and observe the supernatural phenomena.”
“You can make Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells? But we don’t even know what language their genes operate in, or what kind of organism it is.”
That’s fine. I figured it’d be similar enough.
Rather than being truly alien, I considered them a type of Parallel World species, so by studying the base language of their genes, there’d be overlapping proteins.
“Check if there are Yamanaka Factors in the experimental base sequence. I think there should be.”
“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that!”
The Yamanaka Factors are genes that regulate things like cellular self-replication and aging.
If you inject Yamanaka Factor genes into a cell, it reverts to a pre-differentiated state and becomes Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells that can turn into any cell.
Whether that works for organisms from another world would have to be tested, but if I recall, it should be possible.
All life on Earth, from microorganisms to blue whales, shares the same genetic language.
All tetrapods, from salamanders to elephants, broadly share similar hormonal systems.
“So, in other words, the molecular biology of creatures from a Parallel World might work with this kind of Chimeric Key. Try checking in that 8N5U database if the Yamanaka Factors can be applied to the otherworldly genetic material…”
“As expected of Dr. Lee.”
Dr. Ryoo sprang from his seat and disappeared out of the meeting room. I wondered if it really was that easily solved.
***
Dr. Ryoo looked away from the microscope.
He had finally found it. In the brain tissue of a high-class Goblin, the organ that appeared to control mana.
It wasn’t quite a discovery of the principle, but—
“Dr. Lee, come look at this.”
I peered into Dr. Ryoo’s microscope.
“I can’t tell what this is…”
It just looked like a clump of cells to me—almost like the cultured cancer cells I’d seen before.
“What is this?”
“Organoid. I remembered what you mentioned last time, so I tried making one using Goblin Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.”
I tried using the Seeker’s Trait Activation on the Organoid.
[Why did you distort the language of the cells?]
[Seeker Stat +30.]
[140/200 to Enlightenment Stage 2.]
I was momentarily absorbed by the Status Window message.
Ah, that’s it.
“That’s what I was talking about last time.”
“I didn’t think your specialty was in this field, Dr. Lee. But as you said, when I followed your instructions, it worked exactly as described.”
It was the method I used before regression.
Since neural cells can’t be cultured, I’d package them in organoid form—essentially living pseudo-organs.
Of course, making Organoids isn’t easy, so you start with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and differentiate them into the cell type you want. Admittedly, I’d gone through a lot of trial and error before.
It was also proof of Dr. Ryoo’s ability.
How many people can turn an idea into reality in just a day or two? Dr. Ryoo’s skills really were exceptional.
“But… is it possible for an Organoid to grow in a day or two? How did you do it?”
“Magic Stone.”
Ah, right.
If neural tissue of a living creature can influence its surroundings with mana, then it can probably be influenced as well…
Dr. Ryoo, arms crossed proudly, gazed down at his creations. As I said, it’s the realm of gods.
He had created something that, by mimicking the structure of an organism’s brain, could be affected by mana and, potentially, exert influence.
It was a chillingly dangerous field of research, but paradoxically, something like this might just become the thread that saves humanity.
“Well done.”
And just in time, since the monster emerging from Gate No. 3 was also a biological type, so this research was proceeding at just the right moment.
“Doctor, I heard the USFK Research Team is collaborating on this project. Did you secure them yourself, Dr. Lee?”
“Yes.”
“Oh ho.”
Dr. Ryoo gave a quiet exclamation of admiration.
***
“Coming by helicopter is really convenient.”
It pays to be successful. Only fifteen minutes from the Research Institute to Daejeon.
But there was no time to stand around being impressed. The third Gate was proving particularly tricky to handle.
I had come to Daejeon with soldiers from the Research Institute, as well as other researchers. This time, Dr. Kang was accompanying us.
A team had been dispatched to Incheon just in case, but the third Gate was certain to open in Daejeon anyway.
The Intern was sent as a precaution, just in case.
Still, this time we had another card to play: the Research Team from the USFK, dispatched to the Supernatural Science Research Institute.
“Greetings, Dr. Lee. I am Daniel Yeon, Chief Researcher of the Phenomena Research Team 1, US Navy Seventh Fleet.”
“Hello.”
Dr. Yeon took off his sunglasses. Judging by his surname and fluent Korean, he must be a Korean-American.
“You’re ex-Navy?”
“It’s a long story. The Army and Air Force assets have all been withdrawn to the United States. The only research teams free to operate abroad are Navy teams.”
Thinking about it, that made sense. Working with the USFK Research Team wasn’t something that happened before regression, after all.
“Dr. Lee, you think the Gate will open in Daejeon? Based on the city’s location or population?”
“Yes. It’s the fourth largest city in Korea and a decent distance from other Gates… so it has to be here.”
“But how do you know when it’ll open?”
The date the Gate will open?
We had repeatedly studied and reviewed the initial cases of Gates opening, for the sake of prevention.
“If we had done this, maybe we could have stopped it…”—we agonized over it so many times, the dates were burned into my memory.
I boarded the Research Truck brought by Dr. Yeon’s team. Money really is great… they even built something like this.
It was about the size and shape of a large container truck.
The inside of the Container was set up with a simple laboratory and something like a dissection room.
It looked like a mobile Research Laboratory.
“Our unit has a deep connection and history with Korea. During the Korean War, the unit from the Seventh Fleet’s Science Division discovered the Hantavirus.”
The Hantavirus is a type of virus discovered in the Hantan River Basin during the Korean War. If you catch it, there’s no cure.
I frowned for a moment.
“You should say ‘discovered.’”
“Ah. Yes, discovered.”
Couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.
But I had heard that story before.
“Anyway, let’s get ready quickly. From now on, let’s secure a landing zone for the helicopters and set up the Gate detection equipment.”
“Okay.”
Of all the Gates I’d seen so far, this one would be the toughest. Wasn’t this the site where the Tentacle Dragon had appeared?
***
The National Security Council and the Central Disaster Response Headquarters committee meetings had been held every single day since the Gate incident began.
In truth, the members of both meetings overlapped considerably.
With so many lives hanging in the balance due to the Gate crisis, opinions in the conference room often clashed fiercely.
Yelling and fighting had become a daily occurrence.
Today, the Minister of the Interior was fuming.
“Do you know what happened at 6 a.m. today? The Supernatural Science Research Institute told the police to direct traffic in Daejeon because it looked like a Gate might open, and they even moved armored vehicles into the city.”
The ministers exchanged uneasy glances. The National Security Council had become little more than a dogfight. They argued the day before, and the day before that, and now it seemed they’d be arguing again today.
“Yes.”
“Does that make any sense?”
It didn’t seem like a situation where it mattered whether it made sense or not. If a Gate really did open, there’d be no way to stop it anyway.
The Minister of the Interior continued.
“The director of the Supernatural Science Research Institute—this is a problem. Isn’t he just taking advantage of a national crisis to do as he pleases? Only a few days ago, he met with the United States Embassy all by himself, didn’t he?”
“That did happen,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs replied helplessly.
“And now he’s unilaterally telling the police and military what to do, talking about making an Awakened Association. How much longer are we going to just put up with this? We need to discipline him or replace him, don’t you think?”
The council buzzed for a moment.
What department does the research director belong to, should he be disciplined, or, given the good results, is there really any need for reprimand?
“Yes, you’re all making good points, but…”
The Minister of Defense let out a deep sigh. The volume of his voice drew the room’s attention to him.
“Are you familiar with wartime operational control authority?”
“Excuse me? Why do you ask?”
“This time, the military unit deployed to support the research institute in Daejeon is a US Navy research unit. Details are classified, but it’s a Navy team from the US Navy Seventh Fleet.”
“Then—”
“Since the US military is involved in the operation, to them it’s naturally a wartime situation. During wartime, operational control authority belongs to the ROK-US Combined Forces Command…”
“I see.”
“Well… You can file a complaint if you want, but there’s nothing procedurally problematic. It’s practically impossible for the Korean government to demand changes in a US-led operation.”
The Minister of Defense ended his remarks there.
With that, the National Security Council also fell silent.
There was nothing else they could do about this matter, and no reason to keep discussing it. It wasn’t a good idea to get in the way of something that was, more or less, moving forward.
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