Scientists Don't Lie!
I set my feet lightly upon the ground as the drones' propellers whipped the gas away from Baekho.
Wiiiiiiing—
Baekho hid the boy behind her back. Thankfully, she looked unharmed.
"You... what did you do to me? Answer me right now!!"
Oops. So she figured it out after all.
"Hiyohot! I didn't do anything particularly nefarious. If I had to put it into words, it was a simple experiment."
Last time, Sinnyeo had misunderstood me as a pervert. It hurt when someone twisted such pure intentions like that, so I needed to set the record straight.
"In Ultimate's case, the immune rejection was severe enough to cause cosmetic issues, but you can rest easy, Baekho! I've given you an UP—GRADED modification surgery compared to last time! Kihit!"
Get it now? I'm your savior! Feel free to thank me as much as you want!
"Well... I was worried because the surgery was interrupted by Sinnyeo's interference, so I came to check. That operation was incomplete, you see."
From the underside of the drone, forceps, scalpels, grinders, and all manner of medical instruments came sliding out in a gleaming cascade.
"Now then! Shall we resume the experiment? This Masat shall complete you as the ultimate living weapon! Hiyohohohot!"
In a way, this was the tale of Heungbu and Nolbu. I was the one who'd broken the swallow's leg and then mended it. Still, a favor was a favor. Hurry up and grow into an overpowered heroine so you can save me already!
Heh heh.
But Baekho's eyes flew wide, and she charged straight at me.
"Don't you dare! Masat! I'm not your toy!!"
The average civilian's fifty-meter dash clocked in at 7.3 seconds. Baekho closed the distance in a mere 1.3.
Oh? I only modified her internal organs. Her muscular strength has been enhanced too? How fascinating. I want to dissect her—
No! What am I thinking! I'm not a mad scientist! This is an act!
I didn't so much as flinch as her flying kick came screaming toward my face. The instant Baekho's boot smashed into my gas mask—
CLANG—
CLUNK!
A tin-can crunch rang out as sparks erupted. My projection vanished, and a half-wrecked drone crumpled to the ground in its place.
Baekho froze.
"Huh...?"
My hologram regenerated from one of the drones hovering near the boy.
Ziiing—
"Bzzt! Unfortunately, that was just my projection! Kishishishit!"
Last time I'd run into Sinnyeo, I had nearly died. I'd have to be insane to show up in person.
"You coward! Come out and fight me fair and square!!"
Baekho clenched her fists. Her will to fight was unmistakable.
"Hmm..."
The best way to calm a hero down was, of course, taking a hostage.
"Noona!!"
A claw shot out from the underside of a drone and seized the boy around the waist.
"Masat! You bastard!!"
Baekho charged in a fury. I simply raised my index finger, and that alone stopped her cold.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Come any closer and the boy's top and bottom halves go snip."
"Kh...!"
I smiled with satisfaction at Baekho, who stood trembling with her fists clenched white.
"Kishit! What a good girl."
I paced left and right with my hands folded behind my back, like a professor delivering a lecture to a hall of students.
"Ahem. I have no intention of forcibly modifying you, Baekho. Well... that's not really my taste, either. More than anything, I don't want you to hate me."
I let a sliver of genuine feeling slip through. Baekho waved her hands and snapped.
"Ha...? You experimented on my body and now you're saying you have no intention of doing it by force?!"
"Oh! That was an emergency, so it doesn't count! Ksss..."
Good. She clamped her mouth shut. The mood isn't bad. I just need to persuade her from here.
I reached a hand toward her.
"Baekho! Come to me. I can complete you as the strongest hero in the world!"
How about it? Tempted? The devil's whisper. This was prime steak-grade bait. Please, take it!
First I'd take Baekho to the Super-science Dungeon and raise her. Then I'd use her as a shield to escape Articetia's clutches. Well... if we spent enough time together...
Ahem!
Love might even blossom?
Anyway, please just get on board with my plan! Please!
Baekho placed a hand on her chest, her eyes welling as she looked away.
"...Fine. I'll go with you."
Then those emerald eyes snapped back and pinned me in place.
"But you let the kid go. I won't go unless you do."
Yes! She took the bait!
"Hiyohohot! Well, of course..."
Wait a second. Something about this picture is wrong. This makes me look like the villain!!
I approached Baekho and caressed her chin. Of course, being a hologram, my hand passed right through.
"Heart rate 170. Pupils fully dilated... I don't sense any sincerity in your words. I've changed my mind."
"What? Then... what about the kid...?"
"...Don't worry. I'll wrap the boy up nice and safe and send him home."
I turned my back with complete ease.
"Wait!"
Baekho burst straight through my abdomen. No matter how she tried to grab hold of me, she only passed through. It was a hologram. Attacking it a hundred times wouldn't do a thing. Her learning ability is lacking, I see.
I sent the drone holding the boy gliding into the air.
"Hero Noona!!"
"Wait! Noona will save you!!"
Baekho leaped after him, but another drone fired a net.
THUNK!
FWOOOOSH!
"Kyaah!"
Baekho thrashed on the asphalt. What a vivid performance.
"It's no use. That net is made of carbon fiber. You won't cut through it easily. Kihit!"
I drifted lazily up into the air. Technically, it was the drone that was flying.
"When you truly want me, come find me at the Super-science Dungeon."
I wiggled my fingers in a little wave.
"Well... you'll want me of your own accord soon enough. See you again shortly, Baekho. Kishishishit!"
Baekho writhed, trying to tear the net with her teeth.
"Masat! Stop right there! Just take me instead!!"
Phew. That had almost become a very ugly picture. A villain kidnapping a hero, and someone coming to the rescue — that was a cliché. And that villain always met the worst possible end.
But not this time! I had dodged the flag!
"Kihihihihihihit! Hit... hiiit..."
No, wait a second. I'm not even a villain in the first place?! Wouldn't it actually be better if I kidnapped Baekho and then got rescued together by another hero? If I were alone with Baekho, I might get a chance to explain everything without Articetia finding out!
Damn it!!
"Oh! Being too smart can be a problem, you know. Don't you agree, boy?"
The boy clung to the claw, trembling from head to toe.
"P-please don't kill me. Sob... I... I'm still young... there's so much I want to do... sniff... please..."
"Well now... do you think poorly of me too?"
I came to a stop above Seoul.
"This would have been even more magnificent as a night view. What a shame."
Only the tops of buildings jutted sparsely from the fog, like a city in the sky. A futuristic Shangri-La. Remodeling Orbis like this wouldn't be half bad.
"...Don't worry. The boy will return home safely."
"Really...?"
Has this kid been lied to his whole life or what.
I spun in midair and wiggled my hips in a little dance.
"Hoit! Of course! A scientist in pursuit of truth does not tell lies! Only facts! We pursue nothing but the truth! Hiyohohohot!!"
I stretched out a hand and pointed at the boy.
"So, where's home, kid? Uncle Masat here will take you there safely! Kishit!"
The boy fidgeted with the drone's claw and spoke carefully.
"Home is... Yongin. Mom told me to wait in the car while she went shopping."
He looked at me with teary eyes.
"Um... could you save my mom too?"
I looked down at Seoul, blanketed in gas.
"Oh... that's no problem at all. That gas is harmless to humans, so your mother should be just fine."
I folded my hands behind my back and sank into thought. After all this commotion, the heroes would gather in Seoul soon enough. Which would make Articetia hesitate to invade the city.
A perfect plan!
Heh heh heh heh.
I smiled with satisfaction and looked at the boy.
"Kishi! Very well. I'll transport your mother home as well. However!"
I raised my index finger.
"Nothing in this world is free. You'll have to pay the taxi fare, little customer."
"Huh? I... I already spent all my allowance this month..."
The boy looked ready to burst into tears, so I held out my palm. In it sat a parfait discount coupon.
"...?"
"Don't you worry! If you don't have money, you can just pay with your body!"
The boy gave me a thoroughly bewildered look.
After wrapping up my business, I dropped the boy off at home. Heh heh. A good deal.
I adjusted my gas mask and focused. A grimy sewer stretched out before my eyes, and a drone was advancing through a channel of filthy water.
"This feels like playing a VR game. Ksss..."
The original impact point of the hypersonic low-altitude missile had been here, underground. So I had no choice but to check on the target's condition.
The underground was even more saturated with gas than the surface — a fog so thick you couldn't see an inch ahead. Without thermal imaging and three-dimensional sonic sensors, the drone would have had a hard time advancing at all.
"Hmmm..."
The scenery captured by the camera was quite satisfying. Not just cockroaches — the corpses of maggots, dung flies, mosquitoes, and every other kind of insect lay scattered about. Everything piled up and floating in the filthy water was pest corpses.
"Hiyohot! At this rate, shouldn't I be collecting pest-control fees from the government?"
Once I got rescued by a hero, I could even go into this business. After saving the world from the coming apocalypse, of course.
I scrolled through the thousands of drone cameras scouting Seoul's underground. Then I spotted a human-sized object and stopped. I connected to that drone and projected my hologram.
"Ding-dong. Hello there. Are you alive?"
The cockroach Main twitched at the sound of my voice.
"Kh..."
The hollow-cheeked Main lifted its head. Its entire body was withered like a mummy run through a dehydrator.
"You... are a... servant of the... Mausoleum Temple..."
I fired the drone's coilgun. A tungsten round burst from my projection's forehead and buried itself in the cockroach Main's abdomen.
CRUNCH!
"GYAAAAAAAH!!"
The Main writhed and twisted. I wagged my index finger back and forth.
"Non, no, no. A mere servant? Music, cue!"
SNAP!
I snapped my fingers, and rock music blasted from the drone, roaring through the sewer. I wiggled my hips in time with the electric guitar's screaming riff.
"Hoo! Ha! My name is Masat!"
"Administrator of the Super-science Dungeon!"
"Lady Articetia's right-hand man! Yeah!"
Ow. I really sucked at rapping. Feeling awkward, I cleared my throat.
"Ahem. Anyway, this merciful Masat wishes to offer you an opportunity."
The cockroach Main gasped for breath and looked up at me.
"An opportunity...?"
"That's right. I'll let you live. In exchange... go to the Insect Lord and deliver a message."
I clasped my hands behind my back, craned my neck forward, and looked down at the cockroach.
"South Korea is Mausoleum Temple territory, so tell those mere bugs to stop throwing their weight around. Kishishishishit!"
I spread both arms and pointed down the passage.
"Now! Run along! Hurry! Opportunities like this don't come often! I'm sparing your life, so what are you waiting for?! Move already!!"
But the cockroach Main couldn't so much as twitch.
"Ah! Could it be that NeuroEX-9 has paralyzed your ganglia so you can't move? Oh dear... your heart muscle will stop soon too! Kihihihihit!!"
"Kh......"
The cockroach Main ground its teeth. That's right. Get even angrier. That's how my plan will fall into place.
"That's enough playing around."
I launched a hook from the drone and drove it into the Main's already-pierced abdomen.
"GYAAAH!"
"Hiyohot! Thank me! I am your savior, after all!"
The drone surged forward, dragging the Main along by the hook.
"GUUUUUGH!!"
"La-la-la!"
Well now... I did look forward to the Insect Lord's reaction.