80
Ch.80 The Smoke of Hope
Meister.
A term used to refer to a master who has reached the pinnacle of a certain field. Before the monsters took over this world, that word did not belong to just one person.
But in this era, when people say Meister, they mean only one person.
The irregular hero of A-City—Meister.
She, who bore the unusual name Nam Kyung, had created countless things for humanity: autonomous construction drones, equipment for fortifying cities, underground factories for food production, monster warning systems, numerous suppression drugs to safely imprison villains, healing fluids to aid treatment, various new materials, high-performance prosthetic limbs…
A living, breathing over-technology—a genius who truly lived up to the title.
That was what many believed.
At least, until it was revealed that she was a superpower human with a unique ability.
"She's here."
"Meister is really coming."
"She’s actually coming? This is my first time seeing Meister…"
"Well, that makes sense. These days, even photos of Meister are restricted, so no one knows what she looks like."
A top-secret piece of information, unknown to the citizens of W-City.
When the train—carrying not a single civilian—arrived at W-City’s station, all the heroes present (except those away on patrol) straightened their postures.
The first to step off the train were Electress and three heroes from A-City.
Next, about a hundred soldiers armed with shockers—non-lethal firearms designed to subdue non-monster threats—followed.
It was an excessive escort for just one person, yet the heroes of W-City still felt it was far from enough.
Because inside that train was the one woman in this era who was truly untouchable.
The hope of the monster age—a scientist and inventor hailed as humanity’s savior.
To the heightened senses of the heroes, she smelled like a corpse on the verge of death.
And then, a pale-faced woman stumbled out of the train.
"Ugh… Blegh—"
"Ah!"
"A-Are you alright?!"
The moment Meister arrived in W-City, she vomited as soon as she stepped off the train.
Seeing this, the heroes tried to approach her—but the soldiers and A-City’s heroes immediately flared their abilities in warning.
"No approaching Meister."
"Huh? But she’s throwing up—"
"No. Leave her be. She’ll calm down on her own."
No approaching beyond a certain distance—a rule that seemed to apply even to A-City’s heroes and soldiers, as they all hesitated when Meister moved.
From a small bag at her waist, Meister pulled out a large water bottle that shouldn’t have fit inside. Strangely, the bottle was sealed with a plastic wrap and a tamper-proof seal.
As if that weren’t enough, she waited until Electress scanned it with a long, rod-shaped device before finally breaking the seal.
"Hngh… Glug… Glug… Glug… Pwah…"
After rinsing her mouth and drinking, Meister clutched her forehead, swaying unsteadily.
"Hah… Hah… S-Sorry… It’s been so long since I last rode a train…"
"You rarely leave A-City, after all."
"Anna… Long time no see… How long has it been…? I can’t remember…"
Meister pulled out a stick with a hand-shaped attachment from her bag. Yoo Anna hesitated before grabbing the fake hand and shaking it.
An unbelievably awkward handshake—but Yoo Anna was already used to such things.
"S-Sorry to bring this up right after meeting, but… Should we go over the schedule first?"
"I’ll brief you on W-City’s itinerary: Observation of brain cultivation and implant surgery, inspection of production facilities, server connection status check, and if possible, contact with the Black Cat. That’s all."
"Should we go see the implant surgery first…? Is that alright, Anna?"
"Yeah. The excision of the brain infected by the parasite is already done. The implant surgery will start soon."
"Okay, then… Excuse me…"
With a weak voice, Meister pulled out a long rod, wheels, footrests, and various tools from her bag, assembling them into an electric two-wheeled vehicle.
As Meister rode off on the device—once famously known as a Segway before the monster age—the soldiers quickly formed a defensive formation around her.
"Isn’t this a bit excessive?"
"No… Well, this is normal."
"It’s Meister we’re talking about."
"Still, doesn’t this stand out more? And the fact that all the heroes had to come out…"
"It’s Meister."
Passing through the boundary of District 0 (where civilians were forbidden) and District 1, Meister entered the underground roads leading to the hero headquarters.
Even at her speeding pace—which was just slightly faster than a normal person’s walk—the heroes and soldiers had no trouble keeping up.
"Anna, your skin looks much better… I’m jealous… Is it thanks to the Black Cat?"
"Honestly? Yeah."
"So jealous… I saw a photo of the Black Cat. So cute… I wish I could borrow those cat paws too…"
Leaning tiredly on the handlebars, Meister dozed off before suddenly jerking awake. She then pulled out a sealed disposable pill case and a food pack from her bag.
After Electress scanned the food and medicine, Meister sucked down the pills and a thick, porridge-like substance.
"Ah… Sorry for eating while everyone’s working… But if I don’t eat now, I’ll pass out…"
"I feel bad in many ways…"
"No, it’s fine… I was curious too…"
What Meister had just consumed was a stimulant and an energy pack—essentially biofuel packed with condensed nutrients.
Knowing the unique penalty of Meister’s ability, Yoo Anna apologized, making Meister laugh awkwardly.
"The parasite consumed and replaced parts of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and temporal lobe… Areas heavily related to superpower human abilities. How was Baal able to draw out the abilities of infected bodies? That’s also curious, but if we can restore the brain, it’ll be a huge help for government research… Right?"
"Research… You mean that?"
"Yes. The artificial heroes project. Since human experimentation was banned, progress has been difficult…"
An inhumane research project that began after the Monster Weaponization Plan was scrapped.
The heroes of W-City flinched in unison, recalling the horrific dissection reports of countless low-level heroes.
"...I can’t approve of that kind of research."
"But it’s necessary… No matter how much we increase birth rates, humanity’s numbers keep declining due to monster attacks, and the number of heroes is shrinking proportionally. Ah, sorry… I keep saying insensitive things in front of heroes…"
Her voice devoid of emotion, even Electress narrowed her eyes sharply. Meister awkwardly laughed and apologized.
Then, one of the soldiers escorting her spoke up in a firm tone,
"It’s a sacrifice for humanity. What Meister proposed was merely the dissection of low-level heroes. Thanks to that, we’ve gained a deeper understanding of hero abilities. The dissected heroes would surely be grateful to Meister."
"How about you shut up, you ability-less loser?"
Electress crackled with electricity, and the soldier immediately tensed and fell silent.
In the awkward atmosphere, Meister followed Yoo Anna’s guidance into the medical ward.
Today, the high-tech treatment room—usually filled with injured heroes—was packed with civilian patients.
"Meister has arrived."
[Meister… Apologies, but greetings will have to wait. We’re currently checking the compatibility of the cultured brains.]
[All cultured brains show no abnormalities.]
In the observation room overlooking the entire operating theater, Starlight handed Meister a microphone. Meister pulled out a sealed disinfectant spray from her bag and spritzed it before taking the mic.
In a weary voice, she addressed the surgery team,
"Please confirm the surgical order once more: Hippocampus, temporal lobe, prefrontal cortex. The culture fluid will accelerate wound regeneration, so don’t make mistakes during excision… We can’t afford to ruin the samples."
[…Beginning surgery on the patient.]
[Commencing operation.]
The doctors and medical robots of W-City synchronized as the brain implant surgery began. Meister plopped down in front of the large observation window, sipping a drink as she watched.
"Their surgical skills are impressive… I’d love to take a few back to A-City…"
"We’ll make the request to W-City."
"Meister, W-City is short on doctors."
"Ah… Is that so? Then I guess I can’t take them…"
The soldiers reacted even to Meister’s unconscious muttering.
Before things could get uncomfortable, Starlight intervened, making Meister sigh regretfully.
[No. 1, hippocampus secured.]
[No. 2, hippocampus stabilized.]
[No. 4, no abnormalities.]
"If I knew the implantation success rate would be this high, I wouldn’t have made implants for everyone…"
This surgery was primarily meant to test the viability of the cultured brains. If it failed, mechanical implants would be inserted to assist neural functions.
Just as everyone thought they might not need the implants—
[No. 6, temporal lobe unstable.]
[No. 3, prefrontal cortex not adhering properly.]
"Hmm… No. 6, prepare the implant. No. 3, inject 3 nanograms of culture fluid. Is that possible?"
[Did you say nanograms?]
"Ah… You don’t have the equipment for that here… No choice, then. Use a needle to poke and suture the gaps in the brain, like stitching."
Meister provided the solution, and the doctors swiftly carried it out.
Watching this, Yoo Anna felt conflicted.
There was no denying that Meister was helpful.
She was just… Hard to deal with.
[Surgery complete. Good work, everyone.]
[Good work.]
"Full recovery will take about 12 hours… Yawn… Good work, everyone."
With the surgery over, Meister yawned and pulled out a movement drone shaped like a stretcher from her bag, handing the remote to Electress.
Electress accepted it with a complicated expression as Meister curled up on the small, bed-like drone.
"I’ll be sleeping, so wake me up when we reach the production facility…"
"You’ve worked hard, Meister."
"Haaah…"
As Meister fell asleep, Electress operated the remote, making the drone hover slightly off the ground.
Walking beside Yoo Anna, Electress muttered,
"Tch… What an annoying woman."
Behind them, the heroes of W-City followed Meister’s drone, whispering among themselves.
"Is that her ability?"
"What a bizarre power…"
Bzzzt…
From the sleeping Meister’s heart, waves of energy endlessly flowed.
Even in her sleep, Meister was using her ability.
The energy radiating from her was barely C-rank—no, even weaker.
Soon, upon arriving at W-City’s underground production facility, Meister stretched and woke up, saying,
"Hmm… The accessible data on artificial heroes has increased."
"Congratulations, Meister!"
"...Tch."
The soldier and Electress had polar opposite reactions.
Meister’s ability—self-named Dimensional Archive—allowed her to search an unknown entity while asleep, receiving interpretations of observed information.
An ambiguous, hole-riddled power.
"But… I don’t understand what it’s saying… Sorry…"
"You’ll learn in time! You can do it, Meister!"
This flawed ability was the spark of hope that kept humanity from being annihilated by monsters.
At the same time, it was like the last wisp of smoke from an extinguished flame.