I Shall Issue the Sortie Order

Three months had passed since Ultimate died.

I looked down at the laboratory through the control room's magic mirror. His corpse lay stretched across the operating table.

A madhouse that refused to accept death. Grinders chewed through bone, splicers knitted flesh, and mechanical arms stitched organs together in a grim, unholy symphony.

A hard, feminine machine-voice rang through the control room.

Creator, huh...

Even I had to admit it was astonishing how far I'd come in just three months.

"Begin, Alpha."

Alpha, an AI built on a quantum supercomputer. One of the few colleagues I actually had.

At my command, a violent current surged through Ultimate's corpse. The body twisted and convulsed on the table, seizing against the restraints.

"Did it work?!"

My heart hammered against my ribs. Could it be...?

The current cut out, and the corpse sagged limp once more.

"Hah..."

A sigh slipped out of me.

"I can restore the body all I want, but the brain won't come back. Why the hell not?"

I had upgraded every last corner of the Seocheon Power Plant into the Mesath Super-science Dungeon. A bunker-type dungeon built to withstand the earth pressure two hundred meters underground. A lithium nuclear fusion plant that ran on seawater. Artificial skin, muscle, and skeletal structures, all developed from scratch. And still, the dead did not rise.

"How does Articetia even bring the departed back?"

I was clutching my head over the problem when the control room's automatic door hissed open.

A maniacal laugh tore out of me on reflex.

"Kihihihihihit! Just a little longer and it will be complete! I shall evolve every hero to befit this world!!"

I've gotten so used to this act that I feel sorry for myself. Truly, truly sorry...

Sigh...

Hongryeon entered carrying cake and herbal tea.

"Master Mesath. I have heard that sugar is most efficacious in clearing the mind and body. I pray you take even a brief moment to soothe your weary heart."

Her voice was as clear and luminous as jade. But a faint chill clung to the end of every word, and it sent a crawl down my spine. Leave it to a virgin ghost to sound like that...

"Hiyohohohot! Glucose is the sacred energy source the brain requires to function! Impeccable timing, Hongryeon!"

Watching her bow her head, I felt a strange swell of emotion. Researching Ultimate's resurrection had gone hand in hand with developing an artificial human body, and the Hongryeon standing before me now carried not a single remnant of the old mannequin. Carbon-nanotube muscle shifted faintly in the hand that set down the plate. Her unbound reddish-brown hair spilled back in a wave, and something like emotion seemed to flicker in those crimson, camera-lens eyes.

"This maiden knows not where to put herself before such praise."

A faint mechanical undertone still colored her voice, but it was far more natural now.

Holy crap... this isn't a maid. This is an idol. She looked like one of those celebrity posters people hang on their walls.

I looked away for no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good reason. Alpha had designed her based on descriptions of how she'd appeared in life, and the result was absurdly beautiful. Hadn't they said she was a young lady from a noble house? Someone this gorgeous, never even married, and she'd ended up a virgin ghost somehow...

I shook my head in pity and turned back to Ultimate.

"How is the body treating you, Hongryeon? No trouble on the neural side?"

Hongryeon closed her fist, then opened it again, hesitating. After a moment, those proud lips parted.

"This maiden feels as though the breath of her living days has returned to her once more."

"Hmm..."

I pretended to ponder... and secretly mashed the remote control hidden in the pocket of my lab coat like a man possessed.

Come on! Please!! Forced shutdown! Cease operation!

None of the commands I'd programmed in did a thing. Building a perfect replica of a human brain had been impossible, so I'd inserted one fabricated from a quantum computer. Under normal circumstances, Alpha should have been able to interfere and operate Hongryeon. But the instant she possessed the body, the entire system went dead.

Damn it! If it weren't for Hongryeon, I could have slipped away in secret!! If anything, I'd only strengthened my own warden.

"Hyat! How fascinating! The design method is identical, and yet the results diverge so completely! Kiheet! This is the kind of research that makes life worth living! Kishishishit!"

I folded my arms and laughed. Hongryeon gazed at Ultimate as she spoke.

"It would seem the difference lies in the presence or absence of a soul."

"Ohh... a soul, you say?"

"Just so. All life possesses both flesh and soul... but a soul that has left its body vanishes from this world after three days."

My cheek twitched. Was it something like the Buddhist idea of attaining nirvana? Damn it. So no matter how much I restore the body, I can't bring him back.

But Hongryeon added one more thing.

"However, Lady Articetia can summon even the departed whose three days have passed, and resurrect them in this world as Mains."

My eyes lit up for a single instant, then dimmed. I'd barely escaped the Mausoleum Temple, and now I was supposed to crawl back in and beg the Lord of the Underworld? Have I lost my mind?

"Does Master perhaps fear imposing upon Lady Articetia?"

Hongryeon glanced at me as she said it.

No. Not even a little. I could impose on her a hundred times and not lose a wink of sleep. I just don't feel like walking myself to my own grave.

"Kishishit! Lady Articetia has gone to the trouble ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of testing this one's abilities. I can hardly afford to disappoint her!"

Hongryeon smiled, faintly.

"Is that so...?"

She slowly reached a hand toward Ultimate.

"This maiden's power cannot dare compare to Lady Articetia's or Noir's, but possessing a body with the remnants of a soul is within my means."

The lenses of her eyes adjusted, scanning Ultimate from head to toe.

"Whenever you command it..."

Huh? For real?! If you had an ability like that, you should have said so from the start!!

My eyes flew wide, and I pulled Hongryeon into an embrace on the spot.

"Ooooh! Hongryeon! I believed in you! As expected of Mesath's chief assistant! Excellent! Absolutely magnificent!"

Her lens-pupils dilated and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠locked in place.

"Now! Let us begin at once! A great challenge, hurled in the face of God himself!!"

But Hongryeon did not so much as twitch.

"Hongryeon...? Are you listening to me?"

Only then did she bring her lenses back into focus and speak.

"This technique demands a high degree of concentration. I would be most grateful if you would step away for a moment."

Oh. Well. You could've just said so.

I spun away like a ballerina, putting a polite stretch of floor between us.

"My apologies! Now then — grant a soul to the body this Mesath has created! Hiyohohohohot!"

In that instant, I caught something translucent slipping free of Hongryeon's body. It was too faint to make out clearly.

Ultimate lurched on the operating table, convulsing. Then he stretched both arms over his head and sat bolt upright.

Did it work?!

"Uoooorgh!!"

His strength was so monstrous that a single punch shattered the ceiling. The whole room shook with the impact.

"Ultimate!"

I pressed myself against the control room's magic mirror.

"Have you truly been fully resurrected at last?!"

A hulking frame that nearly reached three meters. His skin had gone a deathly blue, veins swollen beneath it. A bolt was twisted into his temple, and metal suture marks ran across the region of his heart. They were the scars of my experiment, but what did that matter? He was alive. That was enough.

My joy lasted all of three seconds.

"Me! Hungry! Food!"

Something was off. I switched on the microphone.

"Do you remember... who you are?"

Ultimate only bellowed.

"FOOOOOOD!!"

The shout spiderwebbed the magic mirror with cracks, and then the whole pane shattered.

Hongryeon threw herself in front of me at once.

"Master Mesath. This creature is mine to handle. I beg you, withdraw to safety."

She wanted me to run?

Hmph.

I smiled, slow and thin, and patted Hongryeon on the shoulder.

"No, no. Hongryeon, you are the one who should stand behind me."

I stepped forward instead. Ultimate charged.

"FOOOOOOD!!"

I didn't so much as blink.

"Down."

That single word dropped Ultimate where he stood. He pitched forward and slammed into the floor with a force that shook the room.

I hopped through the shattered control-room window and walked up to him. I planted a foot on his head, bent at the waist, and looked down.

"Kishit! Kihihihihit!! Ultimate. You. Your intelligence is completely shattered, isn't it?"

An unexpected result. But if anything, I had hit the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠jackpot.

"Excellent. A thoroughly satisfying outcome!"

I had built Ultimate's body. Which meant the body's control rights belonged to me.

Hongryeon drew up beside me and bowed her head.

"This maiden congratulates you on the creation of your first Main as a Dungeon Lord."

Wait.

She was right. I had just created a Main, hadn't I?!

No, no. There are such things as good Mains in this world. And if there aren't, I'll just make one!

I clapped twice.

"Alpha! Search for active battlefields between heroes and Mains. Immediately."

Hongryeon spoke up in a rush.

"Master Mesath. Surely you do not intend to take the field yourself..."

"Is there a problem, Hongryeon?"

"I fear it may escalate into a territorial dispute with the other Seven Dungeons."

The Seven Dungeons sat at the very peak of the Main Association. I belonged to the Mausoleum Temple, which meant a misstep here could spiral into all-out war.

But if they wanted to tear each other apart and self-destruct, that was fine by me! Besides, opportunities to go outside were vanishingly rare. So I would use this as a pretext to call the heroes for a rescue.

A perfect plan!

I caught Hongryeon by the chin and twisted my face into the most grotesque grin I could manage.

"Hongryeon... this is an order from the dungeon's supreme administrator. A machine merely carries out its commands. Do you... understand what I'm saying?"

My heart was pounding. The only card I had left was pulling rank, which was why I hammered so hard on the fact that I was the dungeon administrator. Please. Please let this work on my warden.

Fortunately, Hongryeon lowered her eyes.

Yes! When it came to throwing your weight around, nothing beat pulling rank!

A mechanical arm descended from the ceiling and handed me a gas mask.

"Kishishishishishi!"

I strapped the mask on and laughed like a lunatic.

Frankenmate would hunt Mains and level up, and while we were at it, I'd get myself rescued by the Hero Association! If things went well, they might even pin an SSS-Class badge on me, or hand me a laboratory director's post.

My dazzling debut — and the turning point of my entire life!

"Hss! Well now... I do believe I'm looking forward to this. Kishishishit!"