Chapter 44: The Talents I Raised (2)

Gate Incident, Day 30.

Why am I still working at the Supernatural Science Research Institute?

Honestly, there were plenty of easy ways to survive.

It wasn’t difficult to find a way to make money or rise in the world, either.

But still.

“I’ve finished writing.”

Staying at the Supernatural Science Research Institute gave me the best chance of saving the world.

Besides, it was here at the Supernatural Science Research Institute that I could dig into the secrets of the Gate.

The research I couldn’t complete before regression.

Even if it sounds strange, I wanted to know why these things were happening, how they worked, and how to respond.

It wasn’t just about fighting, but solving problems with purpose.

That’s why I’ve stayed at the Supernatural Science Research Institute all this time.

I gazed absentmindedly at Mangkomi, who had buried his head in the bowl.

Mangkomi was frantically gobbling up the dog food.

Ryoo watched Mangkomi with fascination from the side.

“It’s not dangerous, right?”

“It’s my summoned creature. It’s not dangerous.”

Mangkomi blinked several of his eyes.

As if to show off, he lifted the bowl, and Ryoo brought over another bag of dog food.

“The Tentacle Dragon isn’t a dog, so I guess there’s no risk of overeating.”

Crash.

Ryoo poured another huge heap of dog food into the bowl.

Mangkomi, as if waiting for it, buried his head in the bowl again and munched away.

Ming Ming had been able to transform into its mature form from the very first day after regression.

Honey Combo was still incomplete, but could transform into something like a mature form. About the size of a large ostrich.

Mangkomi, perhaps because he hadn’t eaten enough yet, or maybe due to a lack of time and battle experience, still couldn’t transform into a mature Tentacle Dragon.

“Until then, I’ll just have to keep taking care of him and feeding him.”

“The more I watch, the cuter he gets. At first, I thought he looked really gross, but actually…”

“I know, right.”

Ming Ming, lying down, opened one eye.

Mangkomi, having emptied the food bowl again, bounced around the area.

“Reminds me of the lab beagle I saw once.”

“Did it die?”

“It was for an experiment with disease induction and drug testing. The control group all died. The test group all recovered and were adopted.”

“I see.”

Ryoo glanced at Mangkomi.

“Still, this is much easier on the mind than doing research where people’s lives are on the line.”

“Ah, I’m going to the mechanical engineering lab. Ryoo, do you want to come? There’s something I need to make.”

Ryoo nodded.

I was thinking of making a new weapon.

This time, I needed a new weapon that hadn’t existed before regression.

We headed to the Supernatural Science Research Institute’s mechanical engineering workshop.

Now that we had enough Magic Stones and equipment, I could consider making new weapons.

There was something that had been bothering me since regression.

“I worry that the researchers on the ship might all get hurt. On the other hand, there’s also the problem that non-awakened researchers, especially the senior researchers, can’t easily enter the field.”

Ryoo entered the second Gate with me.

I did have the confidence that I could control the situation, but even then, there were some truly dangerous moments.

“Really?”

“True. There were some pretty dangerous times.”

Dr. Kang didn’t seem to think much of it, tilting his head casually.

But to me, it was a pretty serious problem.

I’d seen the senior researchers of the Supernatural Science Research Institute die before regression.

Maybe that’s why it felt even more real.

“I never want to go through that again.”

This time had to be different.

The senior researchers and my colleagues needed to be able to face the threats of the Gate and the Traitors properly.

I showed Dr. Kang the rough blueprint.

Ryoo looked over my shoulder at the schematic on the screen.

“A small robot.”

I nodded in response to Ryoo’s question.

Based on the machines that came from the second Gate, I was going to make a support robot for fieldwork.

A relatively simple structure, like an exploration drone or worker robot.

“It’s just as you see.”

“So you want to mass-produce robot units for field support and use them in emergencies?”

“Yes.”

“But… can you really make that out of Steel Spider material?”

Dr. Kang spoke up beside me.

“Well… it shouldn’t be too hard. It would have been tough before, but now we’ve got Magic Stones and plenty of parts from the second Gate’s machines.”

I couldn’t let it turn out like before regression.

I started working with Dr. Kang.

The exploration robot’s frame used the Steel Spider’s skeleton almost as-is, but the Magic Stone was separated and a separate computer unit was attached.

Its functions were to detect danger, move cargo, monitor the surroundings, and record data.

Of course, it wasn’t armed.

It goes without saying, but most robots built in the Institute could be armed.

I just hadn’t done it yet. If the situation required it, of course I would.

Ryoo, lips pressed together in concentration, was dismantling the Steel Spider specimen nearby.

That was today’s core material.

“Pineapple had language and video analysis modules, right?”

“It doesn’t actually analyze video in real time. It just records it, and any video to be analyzed gets chopped into one-second segments.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“The exploration robot won’t have language functions. Just think of it as an automatic vacuum cleaner.”

That’s a limitation of the processor.

Pineapple was a huge robot, almost bigger than a human, so it could be packed with features.

But the exploration robot was different.

I pondered for a moment.

“Doctor Lee, what do you think?”

“If the goal is bodyguard and support, the exploration robots should act as nodes, each forming part of a collective intelligence that can solve problems. Centered around the principal.”

Simply put, rather than giving each robot independent decision-making power, we should make them move in swarms, centered around the researcher.

“That does sound like a more efficient method.”

“Why?”

“It’s not just about computer performance. If the robots start making conflicting decisions, or moving and chattering however they want, it becomes very difficult to respond properly…”

“True enough.”

Tools need to achieve their purpose as efficiently as possible. Any function beyond that can be more of a hindrance.

We worked with the machinery for quite a while.

After a few hours, we finally produced a result.

It would be unpleasant to keep calling it Steel Spider, so for now, I’ll name it Hamster.

It was shaped round enough to resemble a hamster, after all.

“Does it work properly?”

“For now.”

Dr. Kang set the robot down.

The Hamster robot followed Dr. Kang, but whether it’d be truly useful was uncertain.

We couldn’t be sure until it was actually deployed.

Either way, another Gate would open in a few days, and the Gate Worshippers would stir up trouble again…

No need to wait too long.

Regrettably.

***

I left my fellow researchers and returned to the office, where I sat down.

Today’s work had run longer than expected, so I was tired, and there were issues I needed to ponder alone.

As I sat quietly, Ming Ming climbed onto my lap.

Before regression.

There were a total of seven Grade 5 or higher abilities active in Korea. At least, those recognized by the Hunter Association.

“Ming.”

I remembered almost all their stories.

Ming Ming nibbled on candy from the desk, smacking his lips, while I wrote down their names without paying him any mind.

These are the people I need to keep an eye on now.

First, the Puppet Master. Name: Baek Hyewon.

President of the Hunter Association.

We’d worked together on operations several times even after regression.

Before regression, she died around day 1400, during the battle in Seoul.

Back then, the Association collapsed before the Institute.

“You remember the President, right?”

“Ming.”

Ming Ming nodded.

In our past lives, we’d been at odds due to differing positions, but after regression, I’d been careful from the start, so there was little to fight about.

Thankfully, there hadn’t been many issues this time.

Most problems were solved smoothly.

In fact, thanks to my help, the President had been able to grow much more quickly and efficiently from the start.

Next is the Holy Knight. Also known as the Black Holy Knight.

Name: Baek Ji-soo.

One of the heroes of the Hunter Association.

Betrayed due to political issues within the guild.

After several incidents, he became a Traitor wishing for the end of human civilization. But not this time.

Rather, due to the battle at Kaesong, he’d been able to level up quickly.

And then the Astrologer. That’s Dr. Wi, currently at the Institute.

Someone who could use magic to predict possible futures.

One of the reasons the Supernatural Science Research Institute had survived 1500 days before regression. She died around when Seoul fell.

Before regression, she’d been a strategic asset of the Hunter Association, but this time I’d managed to bring her to the Institute.

That makes three so far.

People I’ve met directly since regression, whose whereabouts I know, and whom I can deal with if a problem arises.

“That’s three resolved.”

Which means there are still four unresolved.

I tapped the notepad with my pen, and Ming Ming tilted his head.

“Where are these people and what are they up to?”

The remaining names were as follows.

Saintess.

A rare support type, a Hunter with healing abilities.

As strong as she was, she survived almost to the end, but still died fighting in Seoul around day 1400.

Great Magician.

Korea’s strongest mage-type Hunter.

Also became a Traitor.

Because of that lunatic, around day 200, I’d had to fight a Fallen Angel in Mars.

Looking at the list, I don’t know why there were so many who turned traitor.

Dealing with this person was a major ordeal.

Druid. Also called Caretaker.

An awakened one who controlled monsters and beasts.

He didn’t become a Traitor, but was a double agent for the Gate Worshippers from the beginning.

The seventh and last was…

Known as the Crow.

Aside from occasionally appearing at the Hunter Association building or at mission sites with his face completely hidden, little was known about him.

Suspected to be a long-range awakened one.

I’d only planned to take a short break.

To be honest, just thinking about these Grade 5 awakened ones made my skin crawl.

“Traitor, weirdo, useless one.”

My goal from now on was to manage them properly before they caused trouble.

Some of them probably hadn’t even awakened to S-rank yet.

Not all of them were S-rank from the start.

Anyway, that was the list.

Next, the one I should contact is the Grade 5 awakened Saintess.

If I move now, I might be able to recruit her into the Institute.

If not, at least I should leave an impression on her and help her raise her level quickly.

At the same time—

This time, unlike before regression, it seemed necessary for the Institute to directly employ more Hunters.

Even if the circumstances had to line up, in the age after the Gate incident, the Hunters held the greatest power.

At Kaesong, a Brigade-level Monster Legion occupying the city had been completely wiped out by just me and the Holy Knight.

“Ming Ming, what do you think?”

“Ming!”

Let’s make a plan.

A way to approach the high-level awakened ones and ask for cooperation.

What kind of person was the Saintess…?