Ch.109It’s Not Medicine

# Enhanced Translation

A pool of red blood spread across the pristine white room.

After devouring the researchers, I understood many things.

This was one of the three laboratories used by Alphabet.

They were relocating because they feared Cage would become the ruler of A City.

The decision-makers of the laboratory, called executives, had left this place long ago.

[It was just an empty shell.]

It’s not that there was nothing to eat, but there was no important content.

With disappointment, I slowly chewed on the researchers’ heads.

Within the monster’s body, I searched for answers to my questions in the memories of decomposing humans.

The next laboratories to visit, where the researchers had moved, were in Cities B, C, D, and F.

The remaining facilities, monsters, and researchers were left behind for a single purpose.

That purpose was… potato-pig-sugar-squid-carrot…

[Hmm…?]

The researchers’ memories were strange.

D City no longer existed, and why were there three locations—B City, C City, and F City?

More importantly, why was the purpose a list of random foods?

As I wondered about this, an answer came from the researcher’s memory.

Dummy memory, a countermeasure against Meister’s ability.

It was a defense mechanism that overloaded Meister’s ability by covering dangerous information with various associated thoughts.

All researchers who might come into contact with Meister used this dummy memory technique to build obstacles in their memories.

So this is how they could block it.

As expected, Meister’s ability is garbage.

I sat down and peeled away the researcher’s memories, one by one, covered with useless things.

These memories were like tough meat that needed to be chewed for a long time, or fruit that took time to peel.

Factions divided into Numbers, Romania, and Alphabet.

Each laboratory developed different objectives over time.

Alphabet’s goal was to find a method to completely control monsters.

Ordinary monsters were too wild to control, while experimental subjects were too rational to control.

Therefore, the recent theory was to reduce the intelligence of experimental subjects to find a middle ground.

As a byproduct of this research, Alphabet specialized in manipulating the minds of humans and monsters.

“Hmm…”

After carelessly chewing and swallowing memories I wasn’t particularly interested in, I tasted another memory like dissolving a hard candy in my mouth.

At that moment, Gu Seo-ryong appeared through the torn-open door.

“Eek…! Hiiiii…!”

“Oh my? Honey, you’re quick as always!”

“Umyamyamya!”

[You’re late.]

Gu Seo-ryong lifted a researcher high above her head with both hands, twisting her body this way and that to avoid Sa Gu-gu who was charging toward the researcher.

Excited by the hunting game after a long time, Sa Gu-gu couldn’t contain her desire to eat humans.

“Nya?! Big brother ate all of this?! Gu-gu wants to eat too! Want to eat!”

After seeing the corpses in the room, Sa Gu-gu got angry and jumped onto Gu Seo-ryong’s head.

Gu Seo-ryong, who had been vigorously shaking the researcher to avoid Sa Gu-gu, wrapped her tail around Sa Gu-gu’s neck.

“Gu-gu, if you keep disobeying, no more pipi-kung.”

“Unya… pipi-kung…”

“I told you this isn’t food, so I can’t give it to you. When we get home, I’ll give you something delicious, so be patient.”

“Nyauu.”

As Sa Gu-gu pouted and sat down quietly, Gu Seo-ryong approached me and dropped the researcher with a thud.

[Why didn’t you eat him? Don’t you need his memories?]

“I already ate those you killed near the exit. I didn’t kill this one because I have a use for him, so don’t touch him either.”

After saying that, Gu Seo-ryong deeply inserted her finger into the researcher’s temple.

Memory manipulation.

“Ugh, ah, aaaah…”

[What are you doing?]

“This place is already an empty can. They were planning to move to another laboratory when they finished their work. I can find out which city they’re going to, but I can’t figure out where in the city the laboratory is hidden. So I thought I’d let one person live and plant him to make it easier to find.”

Hearing that, I searched through the memories and found that none of the researchers knew the exact location of the next laboratory.

They would naturally learn it through contact from the laboratory after arriving in the city.

We could eventually find it if we went to the city where the laboratory was located, but Gu Seo-ryong’s method seemed more convenient.

“As I expected, the researchers’ memories contain many interesting things… like how Alphabet was in A City, and that their goal was to control monsters.”

[So the other laboratories have different objectives.]

“Hmm, but the overall framework probably isn’t that different. It’s common for things to deviate slightly from their original purpose over time. That’s why factions form.”

[The original purpose…]

So, what was the original purpose of the laboratory?

I searched through the memories, but all the researchers here had joined the laboratory after the factions had already split, so they only knew about Alphabet.

To satisfy my curiosity, I’d have to devour researchers from other laboratories.

“By the way, you really are lucky. How convenient that Cage happened to stage a coup, cutting off all external communications?”

“The purge of government pigs.”

The derogatory term “government pigs” naturally came out of my mouth as I read the evil deeds committed by high-ranking government officials.

Right now, Cage was moving to kill all the incompetent rulers in A City.

Among Cage’s purge targets were those who had provided children to the researchers as experimental subjects.

A rare collaborator among high government officials, to protect this person the laboratory beef potato stew into pork curry…

Another dummy memory.

“Anyway… I brought you along thinking it would be easy to handle, but it’s even easier than I expected. It’s almost disappointing. Even for an empty shell, not having a single Despair-rank monster?”

[Isn’t that strange?]

“Yeah, it is strange. Despair-rank monsters… I think they were in this laboratory too.”

Gu Seo-ryong and I sat quietly, focusing on unraveling the memories.

This laboratory housed Despair-rank monsters.

Uncontrollable experimental subjects, monsters merely sedated with drugs.

Their current location was not in the laboratory, but in A City…

“Nyang? Mom! Is this a TV?”

At that moment, Sa Gu-gu, bored of sitting quietly, picked up an intact tablet from among the corpses and ran over.

“Gu-gu, do you want to play by yourself? Mommy’s busy right now.”

“I want to watch TV!”

“Haah… let me see. This isn’t a TV, it’s a device for controlling the laboratory’s system.”

Through the researcher’s memories, Gu Seo-ryong manipulated the tablet to connect to the surveillance cameras, which were the closest thing to a TV.

Most of the laboratory’s internal surveillance cameras had been destroyed and showed nothing.

Looking for something viewable, Gu Seo-ryong switched the screen to A City’s surveillance cameras.

[Waaaaa!]

[Kill them! Kill theeeem!]

Sa Gu-gu lay down beside us, wagging her tail and focusing on the screen.

A City was currently in the midst of a coup by Cage and the heroes.

Or more precisely, by Cage alone.

The incompetent rulers had hidden behind the army, and the soldiers were aiming their guns at the superhumans, showering them with bullets.

However, bullets were ineffective against superhumans.

Even for D-rank superhumans, bullets were merely painful weapons that caused bruises.

They lacked the lethality to kill superhumans.

[Hahaha! What do you think you can do with those outdated weapons!]

[Block them! Don’t stop firing! Hold them back!]

Among them, superhumans confident in their physical strength mockingly walked forward, deflecting bullets.

Some even caught flying bullets with their hands. Unlike the fear felt by the soldiers, the superhumans seemed to be playing around.

Then, Cage, who had been leading the superhumans, stepped forward and extended his hand, stopping the endless shower of bullets.

A translucent barrier of special ability—all the bullets fired in that brief moment were blocked and crushed against the wall.

[This is my ultimatum. Stop firing and drop your weapons.]

Cage spread his arms toward the soldiers, not the superhumans standing behind him.

[Can’t you see and feel it even now? The difference between humans and superhumans. We are strong. We have evolved into a different species from you.]

[So what’s wrong with superhumans leading humans?]

[Get out of the way! If they don’t open the bunker soon, who knows what they’ll do to the city’s systems!]

Despite Cage’s claims, the soldiers looked at each other and didn’t lower their guns. Cage sighed and lowered his arms.

[I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to accommodate you.]

[You made your choice.]

Cage lowered his helmet, covered in special ability armor, and pointed his spear tip toward the humans.

At that moment, just as a fog making it difficult to find the path of memory can be easily navigated with a guiding light, the memory blocked by dummy memories was pierced through.

“Gu Seo-ryong. I know why the researchers remained here.”

“I just figured it out too.”

The reason researchers remained despite moving the laboratory to escape Cage was for this day.

The researchers, who normally worked scattered throughout the laboratory, had all gathered in the white room because they had heard news of Cage’s coup.

They were preparing to watch something.

[Stop!]

On the screen, a human figure urgently jumped from a distance and landed in front of Cage.

Seeing him, Cage’s eyes twitched in surprise.

[…Professor Yeo.]

The identity of the human who appeared before Cage was Yeo Un-jae.

Following the memories of the researchers I had devoured and my desire to see what was happening in A City, I turned my gaze toward the tablet that Sa Gu-gu was watching while swinging her legs.

Gu Seo-ryong was also watching the tablet while pickling the researcher’s brain with drugs.

[Who contacted you to come here? Today of all days, isn’t this the day you never leave your house, no matter what?]

[What the hell are you doing! What is this…!]

[As you can see, I’m squeezing the pus out of this city.]

[Pus? You call this pus? Do the soldiers standing here look like pus to you?]

Cage sighed at Yeo Un-jae’s angry voice.

[When squeezing pus, healthy skin is also damaged. It’s an unavoidable sacrifice.]

[Then your method is wrong. If sacrifice is necessary to cut out rot, then it’s the wrong method! How can you not understand that!]

[Professor Yeo… after all you’ve been through, you still don’t understand? If we don’t cut it out now, the damage will only grow.]

[The soldiers are just hostages. Hostages through their families!]

[I don’t have time to play along with a hostage situation.]

[Jeong Ho-young!]

Yeo Un-jae called Cage’s name with a trembling voice.

[You told me I was wrong, that the idea of someone needing to be sacrificed was wrong, that no one should be sacrificed… You said you would show me! But why!]

[I simply realized that idea was also wrong.]

[What…?]

[It was an unrealistic thought.]

A cold silence, a momentary standoff.

The first to speak was Cage, gripping his spear.

Cage spoke as he passed by Yeo Un-jae, who was blocking his way.

[The conversation is over. Go back and continue comforting Yeoryeong’s soul.]

[My daughter, Yeoryeong, died for you.]

[…It was a necessary sacrifice.]

Yeo Un-jae opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking, conveying complex emotions that were palpable even through the screen.

[A necessary sacrifice?]

Flinch. Yeo Un-jae’s trembling hand stopped.

[Were the deaths of citizens devoured by monsters because of your choice, the deaths of soldiers who will die here, the people who have already died, and my daughter’s death all necessary sacrifices for you? Necessary for what exactly? Your power?]

[…Let’s stop wasting time. Step aside.]

Yeo Un-jae clenched his fist, emitting waves of special ability intense enough to be visible on the screen.

[You’ve truly fallen… you have.]

[Professor Yeo. What are you thinking?]

[I cannot stand by and watch you continue down this wrong path.]

Yeo Un-jae, having made up his mind, took a stance toward Cage.

[Do you intend to stop me by force? You are no longer a match for me.]

[Do you think so?]

[Even if you die by my hand, I have no intention of stopping.]

Yeo Un-jae took out a small vial from his pocket.

[How arrogant, to say that my confronting you is suicidal.]

The moment I saw the vial on the screen, the researcher’s memory revealed what had been hidden.

That medicine.

It’s not something like a stimulant that amplifies special abilities.