Ch.272Chapter 11. Resurrection of the Dead (2)

The Syndicate Head can bind the souls of the dead to the earth.

This is called “Revival of the Dead (Soul),” and since there are no other methods of revival yet, we’ll simply refer to it as “Revival of the Dead” for convenience.

Several conditions must be met to use this ability:

First. The deceased must be an ability user.

To maintain a “spirit body” after death requires mana.

This mana helps maintain self-awareness and exert some physical force.

With S+ level mana control, one can even perform daily activities and combat abilities as they did in life.

Does this mean ordinary people have no chance at all?

Not necessarily.

It is possible for ordinary people too.

But can someone who couldn’t sense mana while alive suddenly sense it after death?

It might be possible by some miracle—a one in 6 billion chance—but for most, it’s impossible.

And they would simply vanish.

Therefore, those who can be revived through the Syndicate Head’s “Revival of the Dead” must be ability users.

Second. It must be done immediately after death.

According to the Syndicate Head, the golden time is 10 minutes maximum.

The Revival of the Dead must be used before the human soul leaves the deceased body.

Whether they rage “I’m not dead!” after dying or accept their death, they must be in a state where they can maintain self-awareness for revival to be possible.

Third. They must accept that their soul becomes pledged—bound—to the Syndicate Head.

The initial mana used to form the spirit body naturally comes from the Syndicate Head, and it’s the Syndicate Head’s ability that keeps the soul tethered to earth.

Measures are needed to prevent spirit bodies from recklessly possessing someone else’s body—or more specifically, to prevent them from targeting the Syndicate Head’s body.

That’s why the four executives, four villains, and four “dead S-ranks” revived by the Syndicate Head cannot possess the Syndicate Head’s body.

They understand why, and the Syndicate Head wouldn’t revive someone who would commit such betrayal in the first place.

Since they’re being revived as Syndicate executives, the Syndicate Head chooses people with personalities willing to dedicate their lives to the Syndicate’s world domination.

And the most important fourth condition:

The Syndicate Head can only perform Revival of the Dead once per year.

After first reviving Hundun by his side.

Then reviving Taowu, Taotie, and Qiongqi to create the four-executive system two years ago.

The most recent use was just before Christmas last year, when the Revival of the Dead technique was used on Korea’s S-rank, Lord of Radiant Wings.

These are all the revivals the Syndicate Head has performed so far.

Using it once consumes so much mana that he must lie in bed for a month.

Depending on one’s efforts, managing a life that’s always on borrowed time.

And what if after all that effort to revive someone, they deplete all their mana and vanish for strange reasons, or act against the Syndicate’s interests?

There’s no need to revive them.

There’s no reason to revive them.

Above all, if the dead remain bound to his body, someday one of those souls might try to take over the Syndicate Head’s body if they sense weakness.

That was the Revival of the Dead (Soul) until now.

But with my appearance, a new method has been created:

Revival of the Dead (Patriotic).

Unlike the Syndicate Head’s method which creates an immediate spirit body, this takes at least 10 months for revival.

But rather than existing as a soul, one is reborn with an actual physical body.

It should be called reincarnation of the dead rather than revival.

We established this theory.

But we haven’t proven it yet.

We created the theory but haven’t applied it in practice.

For one reason:

The “time” hasn’t come yet.

Even if we were to implement it, it would be impossible this year at minimum.

Because the Syndicate Head has no intention of using Revival of the Dead (Patriotic) this year.

So I was a bit surprised.

That if I died, Ymir would perform Revival of the Dead (Patriotic) for me.

…Though it would be self-reincarnation, born from myself.

* * *

“…So Ymir, you’d become my mother?”

“Yes. Come on, teacher. Call me ‘mommy.'”

“Wouldn’t ‘mama’ be more appropriate than ‘mommy’? Since I’d be reincarnated as a baby.”

“Baby? Ah, aah! That means I’d have to raise you from before you could even walk!”

Ymir, who had been excitedly building theories about revival, finally hit the harsh wall of reality.

“Plus I’d have to change diapers, breastfeed whenever you’re hungry….”

“If an adult is born with their memories intact, it would be humiliating enough to break their mental state.”

“Wow…. That would be exhausting. Should one live comfortably as an adult spirit body, or start over as a baby? At least until reaching a stage where you can function on your own as a baby, it would be absolute hell.”

“Obviously.”

That’s how all reincarnation stories go, especially those starting from babyhood.

‘No sane novel would spend more than one volume on a baby’s story.’

No reincarnation novel develops plot content from ages 1 to 5.

They all skip the hardships of childhood with something like “Seven years have passed since reincarnation. I can now speak, have learned to read and write….”

There might be a few chapters describing parental love, or in creepy cases, leering when a mother shows maternal affection, or training mana from babyhood by creating magic circles in the heart.

But after 6-9 chapters at most, they usually start acting like little adults and begin the main narrative.

That’s fiction.

But this is reality.

“If you’re born without memories, you’re just a soul in the same being, but a different person. If you maintain your identity as the same being, you need to keep your memories. Being reincarnated with a physical body comes with these issues.”

“That’s complicated…. What about sealing memories until age 7 and then awakening them?”

“Such convenient developments aren’t easily possible.”

Reincarnating through ability is already complex and difficult, and adding more conditions would make it increasingly impossible.

“Alright, Ymir. Now that you understand the difficulties for both the subject and caster of revival, let’s talk about ‘other people.'”

“…….”

Ymir swallowed hard and adjusted her posture.

If we’ve been discussing the theoretical aspects of this phenomenon, now it’s time to examine its social impact.

“Let’s say you can revive one person each year. What means and methods would people employ to become that one person?”

“…….”

“Money? Even the world’s richest person would immediately bring all their property deeds if they could be reincarnated with their entire fortune. That person might be happy, but what about others?”

“Humans envy and are jealous of what they don’t have.”

“Right. Ymir would whine about potentially becoming my mother. Not just whining, but out of jealousy for what others have that you don’t, you might try to drop a meteor on Earth.”

“Ah, I know about that.”

“…….”

I take a moment to wet my throat with coffee.

The decorative cactus with its blooming flower looks really pretty.

“Say revival is possible. Everyone in the world can do it. Assuming you can do it, and only two women worldwide can do it, how would people react?”

“…….”

“They might not say it openly, but they’d say things like: keep giving birth until you die. Until all the eggs in your ovaries are depleted, not giving birth to your own children but continuously birthing reincarnated beings.”

“…….”

Ymir’s expression turns cold.

“As if I’m some reincarnation production factory….”

“Exactly. But there could actually be people saying such things. On the dark web and such.”

“It’s hard to believe such humans exist. It’s truly disgusting to be the same species.”

“It’s hypothetical, hypothetical. Well… when the time comes, such people will appear.”

She looks like she’s barely tolerating the disgusting words because I’m the one who brought them up.

“Setting aside the underworld people who routinely oppress others, let’s talk about the brighter side. How many people would come with a child saying ‘Please save my mother who has cancer,’ or bring a dying child saying ‘Please reincarnate our child’?”

“Somehow hearing something positive after such a shock feels strange. Anyway, doesn’t it sound like you’re saying I must give birth because I can reincarnate the dead? Am I wrong to think that?”

“No, you’re not wrong. It’s natural.”

If anyone said such things, if anyone told the Syndicate Head “Reincarnate me as your son,” I would immediately go and smash their skull.

“So after much consideration, our Syndicate decided not to reveal this technology to the world. It’s top secret.”

The “self-reincarnation method” Yoon Hye-ra mentioned to Ymir was just something we decided to use among ourselves, after the Syndicate rules the world.

“All four executives want to live again. Even at the cost of suffering as babies, they all want to live with physical bodies.”

“…Ah! Now I understand. When the sisters said it feels good not just during patriotic times but also during ‘union,’ that’s what they meant?”

“Because they feel the sensation of being alive.”

Union, that is, when they possess my body.

Just feeling the sensation of moving a physical body by their own will makes them happy.

Of course, possessing me isn’t easy, and their sense of self can waver when it clashes with mine, and since the Syndicate Head won’t stand idle, union only happens in limited situations.

“So we decided to look for another method.”

I showed Ymir a color-printed picture I had prepared.

“…Is this a sci-fi fantasy game?”

“No. It’s real. In alchemy terms, it’s a ‘homunculus,’ and in sci-fi future fantasy terms, an ‘avatar.’ The core concept for both is ‘a human body that a soul can possess.'”

In the photo.

In each large cylindrical glass container, human-like beings float in green liquid.

“Someday, the Syndicate will release revival technology to the human world. Not immortality, but something like life extension. Taotie, one of the four executives, is researching this.”

In front of the glass containers, a blue-haired woman in a white lab coat is writing what looks like a research journal.

“The Syndicate plans to reveal this to the world when we eventually rule it. Life extension through new bodies. Spares that human souls can settle into. In simple terms.”

No need to think too hard about it.

“The Syndicate is creating realistic dolls capable of possession-reincarnation.”

If a dead person’s soul can dwell in a realistic doll with all human organs, that too could be called revival of the dead.

“We call them [Reincarnation Dolls].”

By the way.

The person who provided this idea.

Was me.