This Institute Is Mine!

I hummed a little tune as I walked, tapping my staff against the floor.

Clang!

"Hmm-hmm-hmm! La-la-la!"

Clang!

"La-la-la-la-laaa!!"

Clang!

"Ta-daaah!"

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magnificent opera. Singing really did make the time fly.

Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers stood waiting to receive me, their faces pale and grim. Someone swallowed hard.

But hang on. Heavy machine guns I could understand — but field artillery? A KH179 155mm towed howitzer. They were actually planning to fire that thing inside a bunker? Were they trying to bring the whole place down? A toy that dangerous could crack the walls with nothing but the sound of the blast.

Therefore... con.fis.cate!

"Hiyohohohohot! It's Massart Magic! Hup!"

I extended Protocol Cane. Plasma flashed from the crystal orb, and a coil-wrapped sphere rose into the air.

Wiiiiiiiiing—

The instant current surged through the nano-spin coil—

"Wh-wha?! My gun!"

"What the hell?! Fuck!"

"Grab the howitzer!!"

Grab a howitzer being ripped off the ground by a magnetic field? That thing weighed several tons.

Clang!

Clatter-clatter-CLAAANG!

Rifles, grenades, bayonets — even the towed howitzer — all slammed against the sphere and stuck fast.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you so very much for enjoying this surprise event!"

I stepped one foot back and bowed like a gentleman. Not that any of it was particularly surprising. A superconductor-cored nanocoil fired a powerful magnetic field in concentric circles, and every metal component in the vicinity got pulled in. Simple principle, really.

"But Massart's show is only just beginning! Ksssssss."

I aligned the superconductor-generated magnetic field to a nano-scale frequency and vibrated the metal parts apart until they disassembled. The powdered nanomachines reconstructed themselves into a colossal rocket fist — a giant's knuckle, floating weightlessly on magnetic levitation.

"Getting hit by my little knuckle sandwich is going to hurt quite a bit. So. What will you do?"

Soldiers stripped of every weapon they had. I'd crushed their will to fight... no. I'd made combat itself impossible. Well? What now, Battalion Commander?

"Hey, Yo! Don't you worry-worry, Boy! Model Citizen Massart will present ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you with a genius, groundbreaking set of options!"

I folded down my raised index finger.

"One: get compressed right here to a thickness of one nanometer!"

The battalion commander's face went white.

"Th-that's..."

Come now. You have to hear a person out to the end. I slowly folded down the middle finger I'd been holding up at him.

"Two: go rescue your comrades who are currently enjoying paradise in the back."

I thrust my hips back and forth.

"A soldier's death, or two hundred and eighty lives. Hoo! Ha! That choice rests entirely in your hands, Battalion Commander! Kihihihihihit!"

The battalion commander clenched his teeth until they creaked. Then, at last, he bowed his head.

"Second Battalion, all units move to rescue First Company! Second Company, take point!!"

Each unit filed past me in crisp succession. The unified stamp of military boots rang out — stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp! The battalion commander paused as he passed.

"...Thank you for sparing my men."

I wagged my index finger left and right.

"Non no no. You were never my target to begin with! Meaningless combat is the absolute pinnacle of inefficiency! Ooooh! It gives me the chills!!"

The battalion commander — Lee Seonggun — smiled a bitter little smile.

"I can never understand what goes through a Main's head. Heh..."

No. You really should understand. I'm not a Main — I'm a human being?! Hey! You need to understand that before you leave!!

He'd already vanished around the corner. Sigh...

Well, as a soldier who had failed his mission, his promotion was probably a lost cause. But he'd been a good superior to his men.

Anyway. Shall I ring the doorbell?

Blue-white flame erupted from the rocket nozzles of the fist.

FWOOOOOOSH!

A knock on the blast door, just like that!

KABOOOOOM!

The blast door crumpled inward. As a fellow scientist, I knew perfectly well what they feared most — having their fragile true bodies exposed. Well. Here I am!

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Your great pioneer, Lord Massart, has arriiived! Pweeeee!"

No response? One more!

BOOM!

KABOOM!

KABOOOOOM!

I pounded the blast door with the rocket fist again and again. It had been designed to withstand a nuclear bomb, so of course this wasn't going to punch through. This was just the intimidation phase anyway.

Time for the next step.

I disassembled the robot fist and recovered the nanocore. I could have simply taken the blast door apart, but completely crushing their morale was what mattered. In other words: hack the door's control system. Plant the realization that even the technology they were so proud of was powerless. Heh heh heh.

So I extended Protocol Cane and prepared to hack — when the blast door suddenly rose upward and opened.

Huh? They already gave up? That's no fun...

Wooooong! Clank!

A face I hadn't seen in a while. Shadow Assassin came rushing out in a panic and flung herself against my legs.

"Ma... Lord Massart! I opened it! I did! I did good, right? Hehehe! Hehet!"

Like a dog wagging its tail. The way she smiled through her tears was somehow... grotesque.

Guh! Who the hell broke her this badly?! She'd been a cool hero back at the Super-science Dungeon — and now she was this far gone! She must have been subjected to horrific experiments at the Hero Plus Research Institute!

I scooped Shadow Assassin into my arms and patted her back.

"Ooooh! Shadow! You have nothing to worry about now! Justice Main Massart has come to save you!"

"Thank you. Thank you so much... sob..."

She was so overwhelmed she couldn't even finish the sentence.

"There, there. You've been through so much! Come back to the dungeon with me! Hongryeon will be delighted, I'm sure! Hiyohohohohot!"

Shadow used to heap praise on Hongryeon back at the dungeon. When had those two gotten so close, honestly.

"...Eek!"

She trembled in my arms. Aigoo... you poor thing. I should take her back and have Hongryeon brew her some herbal tea. Chamomile was good for calming the mind and body, after all.

That was when an old man among the researchers watching me turned a key and smashed his fist down on a red button.

CRASH!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The institute director roared.

"I'd rather be annihilated with you than let you steal our research!!"

I grabbed Shadow Assassin's cheeks and forced her lips open, answering through ventriloquism as if a puppet were speaking.

"Kihihihit! Well now! Research? Just what exactly have you been researching?"

The warning sirens cut out. A fleeting silence hung in the air — and then, on every monitor, a mini Massart shook his head from side to side and launched into a squat-and-poop dance.

Nothing but grotesque laughter, pouring from every screen.

"...Having reviewed your research records!"

I took Shadow Assassin's hand, danced a few steps, then let go. She flopped onto the floor.

"Kyaa!"

And then I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"It's just shit! Shit! Poo-poo!! A stinking, incomplete failure, isn't it?!"

The researchers stared at the mini Massarts filling their red-washed screens and clapped their hands over their mouths.

"When did he even hack us...?"

"I didn't sense anything at all..."

The moment I physically infiltrated the institute, every machine in the place might as well have fallen into the palm of my hand. Heh heh heh.

"Hero Plus Research Institute?"

I shook my head.

"Mmm. Non no no no."

I wagged my index finger, then fired plasma at the wall and carved letters into the concrete.

I walked on with my hands clasped behind my back.

"Hiyohohohohot! This rank is far too generous for the likes of you!"

I grabbed the institute director's name tag and ripped it off.

"Ghk!"

Smoke curled upward, and the words Institute Director Massart burned themselves into the metal.

"Yes! Now it's found its rightful place!"

I sat in the chair and crossed my legs.

"A new director has been born — aren't you delighted? Super Genius Massart is your director, you know?"

On hundreds of monitors, mini Massarts burst into thunderous applause and cheers. Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!

The researchers began clapping with stiff, frozen smiles. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap!

I laced my fingers together in satisfaction.

"Hmm. Hmmm..."

The researchers' personal information floated up across my HUD. Harvard. Seoul National. University of Tokyo. The University of Paris. Prestigious alma maters as far as the eye could see. Impressive bunch. No wonder they'd never given me a second glance.

But things were different now. These talented people were welcoming me like this, weren't they?

I pulled a syringe from the inner pocket of my lab coat — a perfect copy of the original.

"Which little genius developed this?"

The old man — the former institute director — asked through clenched teeth.

"What is that?"

I turned the syringe around.

"It says BM-21! Ah! How rude of me! With presbyopia, you might not be able to see it!"

I snapped my fingers. Snap! Photographs of the syringe plastered themselves across every monitor. The old man frowned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and looked around at the researchers. Seeing them all shake their heads, he said belatedly,

"We know nothing about that."

"...Oh? Even though 'Hero Plus' is written right here in plain sight?"

The old man furrowed his brow and fell silent.

Alpha's report. So he wasn't lying, at least. He genuinely seemed not to know. Then what was this? The institute's name was written right there on the thing. Was someone trying to frame them?

That was when the frosted glass door of the office opened. A short-haired woman appeared, her lab coat billowing behind her.

"I made that."

The former director shook his head at her.

"There's no need for you to sacrifice yourself, Dr. Seo! Stay out of this!"

Red lipstick. Curled eyelashes. Black hair swept diagonally down to cover one eyebrow, the other side tucked behind her ear. A woman whose sensuality was on full display, her pale neckline bared for anyone to see.

Her name was Seo Aegyo. Looking up her information, she also served as a specialist physician for the Association.

I waved a hand and dismissed the HUD.

Alpha's report. Look at that self-assured expression. That was clearly the face of someone telling the truth.

I stood and approached her. What's this? Her cheeks were flushed crimson.

A state of extreme excitement. Which meant...

She's furious at me? Heeeh? So you know too? That I lost it over the White Tiger incident. Then she must see me as a rival.

Plasma flashed from the crystal orb of my staff and slammed into a researcher's computer. In that instant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the machine's body disintegrated into powder and transformed. A mechanical snake, coiled in chains, dropped with a thud.

Ssssssss—

It slowly wound itself around Seo Aegyo's entire body.

"Nngh!"

"You've got quite the nerve! I commend you!"

But I couldn't retaliate in front of a crowd. It would ruin Massart's image — and then it'd be that much harder to clear up the misunderstanding later. I grabbed Seo Aegyo by the hair.

"Slurp! Well then... shall we have some quality time, just the two of us, Miss Aegyo? Kihihihihihihihit!"

"KYAAAAA!"

I dragged her into the office. That was when a courageous male researcher came charging in with a chair raised over his head.

"Let her go!!"

But that was as far as he got. What happens when a scientist's bare body is exposed? It's just over, that's what. The robot snake coiled tightly around him.

"Nnngh! Massart! You perverted bastard! If you so much as touch a fingertip of Miss Aegyo's—!! I won't let you get away with it!!"

The name on his tag: Kim Danshim. Don't tell me he likes this woman? Aigoo, tsk tsk. What terrible taste. Of all the people in the world, he had to fall for a mad scientist who'd participated in human experimentation?

I shook my head and stepped into the office. A light tap of Protocol Cane against the glass partition, and the iron among the office supplies disassembled, covering every inch of glass with steel plate. Soundproofing complete.

I flung Seo Aegyo onto the floor.

"Hngh!"

The robot snake released her restraints. Iron filings swirled up from the floor, and a steel chair slowly rose into being. I sat down lightly and crossed my legs.

"Hmmm... before we begin the trial, let's hear the defendant's excuse first."

I was about to ask about White Tiger and the drug, but Seo Aegyo cut me off.

"Lord Massart!!"

Without even standing, she crawled across the floor and seized my shoe.

"Haa... ha... my Lord Massart..."

What? What's with this woman all of a sudden?

Seo Aegyo rubbed her flushed cheek against my shoe.

"I knew it the moment I first saw your work. That giant of a man you unveiled in Seoul. That was Ultimate, wasn't it?"

Now her slender hands were caressing my thigh, slowly climbing higher.

"And after that, replacing White Tiger's body with implants — that was you too, wasn't it?"

This woman... she even knows I modified White Tiger's internal organs?

Past my abdomen, Seo Aegyo traced slow circles on my chest with her index finger.

"So how was it? My work...? Fusing a Main's factors into White Tiger's DNA..."

Honey seemed ready to drip from her enraptured gaze. The moment her hand climbed toward my gas mask—

"A collaboration with Lord Massart... mmph?!"

I shoved my fingers into her mouth and plugged it shut. Saliva dripped down her chin.

"Hnnngh! Nngh!"

"That will do. I've heard quite enough of your confession."

I pushed my fingers down to her throat and forced her to her knees.

"Urgh! Hueeek!"

Warm gastric fluid soaked my hand, but I paid it no mind. It was a clone's hand anyway. I brought the gas mask's filter canister close to Seo Aegyo's ear.

"Then you understand what it means... that you laid your hands on my work."

I dropped my voice as low as it would go and whispered.

"You know what that means, don't you, Miss Aegyo."