Ch.273Chapter 11. Resurrection of the Dead (3)

At that moment, somewhere on Earth.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Inside a laboratory lined with glass tubes filled with green cultivation fluid.

In a space larger than most small factory floors, a woman walks between the rows of glass tubes stretching from left to right.

Thud, thud.

Dragging her near-fluorescent green slippers, the blue-haired woman in a white coat flips through a paper research chart, pushes up her glasses, and grinds her teeth.

“Tsk. What a shame, what a shame.”

The woman clicks her tongue and taps her pen against the data in the documents.

“Customization is important, but right now we only have default avatars. Ah, this is so frustrating.”

The woman fiddles with her short hair that reaches her shoulders while continuing to grind her teeth.

The other researchers following behind her only exchange nervous glances as the woman stops in front of a glass tube larger and more massive than the others.

“Sigh. The cost of making just one of these is too much.”

Inside the glass tube floats what appears to be a golden-haired young woman curled up in the cultivation fluid.

Her vacant eyes are the same bright blue as the woman’s hair, but they lack any sign of life, as if her soul has departed.

“Dr. Jang?”

“Ah, yes!”

The man called Dr. Jang steps forward.

“‘Project Gold Wing’ takes priority over all other projects, you know that, right?”

“Yes, I know. Our research team is doing our best.”

“Best efforts are fine, but we need results first, don’t we? Compared to last month, it seems we’re still at a standstill.”

“W-well, that’s….”

He was a middle-aged man with hair half gone, and he could only squirm under the domineering attitude of a woman much younger than half his age.

“If you could just give us a little more time….”

“Time? Right. What’s today’s date in 2025?”

“…June 6th.”

“Right. June. Lord of Radiant Wings died before Christmas, so this project has been running for about 5 months now. That’s roughly over 150 days. Correct?”

“…Yes.”

Dr. Jang and the other researchers hung their heads low.

“How much budget has been spent in those 150 days?”

“…200 billion won.”

“Right. 200 billion. And with that 200 billion, this is what you’ve produced. This.”

Tap, tap.

The woman knocked on the glass tube with her fingers.

“It’s good that you’ve made something. Results? Excellent. It meets the purpose very well. Actually, you’re all showing very impressive results. Here, here, and here.”

Each time the woman pointed to the side, the lights behind the glass tubes flickered.

“These are perfect reincarnation vessels. Even E-rank ability users could reincarnate and inhabit these bodies. As long as they don’t leave Korea, they could continue living based on the natural mana recovery rate of Korean soil.”

Behind the woman, besides the golden-haired woman, numerous other women were curled up naked in cultivation fluid.

“Wow, really impressive. The default male and female models haven’t moved beyond the base yet, but these pretty girls here have hair and eye colors so varied it’s like some magical girl squad show. Well, I understand the chest armor since they’re E-rank.”

One peculiar yet common trait was that they all had small builds with modest-sized mana pouches.

“Once clinical trials are complete, they’ll be ready for commercialization. As expected of achievements made by the world’s most brilliant scholars. The chairman will be pleased.”

“Heh, hehehe…. You flatter us.”

Though they all had vacant eyes as if their souls had departed, they looked like they could move at any moment once a soul entered them.

“But….”

Crunch.

“Why are you only making flat-chested pretty girls over and over again?!”

When the woman’s face contorted like a demon’s, the researchers blushed and hung their heads even lower.

“You struggle so much to make one male model, but why are you all so eager to work overtime to create pretty girls?!”

“T-that’s…!”

“If all we have to offer humanity are pretty girl bodies, people will be so thrilled, won’t they?!”

Swoosh!

“I, Taotie, cannot tolerate such things!”

The woman, Taotie, threw the chart to the floor.

“Do you intend to turn everyone who resurrects after death into magical girls?!”

“T-that’s not it….”

“Then what!”

“W-wouldn’t the demand be highest for these…?”

Dr. Jang cautiously offered his opinion.

“Men might want to live as a different gender after death, and women would want to live as prettier, younger versions of themselves.”

“Oh? And so?”

“The reason our sample avatars have such variety in pretty girls isn’t because of our personal preferences, but entirely based on anticipating future consumer demand….”

“Isn’t it just because you all want to reincarnate as pretty girls yourselves?”

“…….”

The researchers didn’t answer.

“…Sigh. Seriously, isn’t this too much? As a fellow man, isn’t this going too far? Even I, as a woman, feel sorry for you.”

Taotie tapped on the glass tube where the blonde, blue-eyed girl slept.

“Even if they look female on the outside, couldn’t you at least attach male genitalia? Instead, you’ve gone and made more holes inside. What, are you planning to install some device in there?”

“W-well, rather than attaching a device, by creating a hole inside from the beginning, the texture and form of the….”

“Oh, you perverted bastards.”

At Taotie’s cursing, Dr. Jang and the other researchers could only scratch their heads and smile.

“Hey. You’re trying to resurrect men who died fighting for the world and humanity, and you specifically want to bring them back as blonde, blue-eyed pretty girls?”

“……W-we’re not dawdling or doing sloppy work. It’s just that the first successful case happened to be the small body in the back.”

“…….”

“P-please believe us. We’re always doing our best….”

“Really?”

“Of course. As researchers of the Syndicate, we are always giving our utmost effort.”

The researchers raised their heads proudly.

Their faces showed strong dedication, and seeing this, Taotie finally sighed deeply and picked up the documents she had thrown to the floor.

“Fine. Then show me some real results. Besides developing vessels for S-rank ability users, you need to match the gender first. Instead of upgrading female vessels grade by grade, develop male vessels too. How is it possible that female vessels have progressed to A-rank while male vessels aren’t even at D-rank? Hmm?”

“Well….”

Dr. Jang looked toward the other doctors.

It wasn’t intentional, but everyone on this team was exclusively “male.”

“…This is driving me crazy, seriously.”

Taotie covered her face with one hand.

“What will you do if Lord of Radiant Wings is on the verge of disappearing and there’s no male vessel available?”

“Well….”

The doctors pointed with their chins at the glass tube behind Taotie.

“Given the situation, we can’t be picky about our options.”

“Lord of Radiant Wings would surely adapt well to a female body without much trouble.”

“We could even add a maid outfit….”

“Good grief.”

Taotie closed her eyes.

“How did only such perverts end up in human vessel production research….”

Taotie gave up thinking about it.

* * *

“…A human body that you can possess with ability powers after death. That’s frightening.”

“Indeed. Research began in earnest after Lord of Radiant Wings’ death, so they probably have a prototype by now.”

It’s only been about 5 months, so even with abundant budget and motivated researchers, they’re still far from mass-producing prototypes.

“I guess you could call it an artificial human—a being that’s completely human except for the soul, which gets breathed into it.”

I pointed to Baek Seol-hee’s puppet doll behind the curtain.

“Everything that makes up the body is identical to a human. The body’s energy source would be mana instead of electricity, and mana would flow like liquid through the body instead of blood, but if I can move as I wish, wouldn’t that still count as resurrection in its own way?”

“It might not be your original body though.”

“That’s true for now. But when technology advances to the point where every household has backup data of their physical bodies, and they can be produced on the spot, things will be different, won’t they?”

If ability powers already allow teleportation through space, surely combining genetic engineering with superpowers will enable the creation of clone humans or something similar.

“That’s why we need to spread this instead—reincarnation vessels. We absolutely cannot let rumors spread about reincarnating by inhabiting fertilized eggs in someone’s womb.”

“……For people who die before the technology is developed, there’s really nothing we can do, is there?”

“That’s right.”

It’s a cruel thing to say, but the Syndicate has too many other concerns to worry about that as well.

“So always be careful. If people learn that the dead can be resurrected, it will cause unimaginable chaos.”

“I understand what you’re saying. But… about those reincarnation vessels, you said they’re exactly like humans, just without souls, right?”

“Yes.”

“If someone possesses one of those vessels, they’d have to live with that body….”

Ymir touched her own body and smiled faintly.

“If that body happens to be male, and if I died, and if the only available vessel was a male body, I’d have to live as a man, right?”

“……While it’s too early to determine what’s technically possible or impossible, if possession happens only once, then yes, you’d have to live in that body until it dies.”

“Wow, then.”

Ymir covered her mouth in surprise.

“If people are going to live in new bodies anyway, everyone will want to reincarnate as blonde, blue-eyed pretty girls.”

“…….”

A world full of TS reincarnated pretty girls.

Maybe such a world deserves to be hit by a meteor.