Chapter 58
Chapter 58
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Mad Dog Training
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"You really have to use it?"
"Haha, I'm telling you. I even shared samples with you guys, didn't I?"
Roze chimed in.
"Yeah, it's pretty good."
"You don't even use it."
"What can you do about something being a hassle?"
Merdi snorted at Roze's response.
"Come here."
She pulled a sample from her bag and started applying it to Roze's face.
"No matter how confident you are in your looks, you need to start taking care of your skin now. You don't plan on living with artificial skin from 40 or 50 onward, right? Close your eyes."
"Okay...."
Once Roze squeezed her eyes shut, Merdi carefully spread it around her eyes without clumping.
After applying it all, she even patted her face to help it absorb properly.
Then she put the sample back in her bag.
"What? Why?"
"Nothing."
Merdi snapped at me again.
I shrugged.
No representative would be upset if the product model used the product because she liked it.
"It's time. Let's go."
I still hadn't told her the exact purpose.
I'd just tempted her by saying she could relieve her stress using Roze.
But I was confident she'd like it.
I led the two of them to the appointed sparring room.
Since it was a bit far, we used short-range flying boards [Floating Boards].
Jang was already there when we arrived.
"Is that her? Merdi, right?"
"You know her?"
"Yes."
He stared at Merdi for quite a while as he said it.
That was pretty unusual behavior, considering what he'd been like so far.
'Hmm....'
Well, unlike random nobodies like Runshin, there was no way he wouldn't know Merdi.
She was one of the four cadets representing Cradle of Heroes Academy right now.
Meanwhile, Merdi was giving Roze a suspicious look.
"That's the one you were talking about?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't he one of those cross-wearing weirdos?"
"He's tough."
"What if you accidentally kill him? I hate hassle."
She said it loud and clear right in front of him, without even hiding it.
Naturally aware it was about him, Jang replied calmly.
"That won't happen. Even though I lost to Roze, it's hard to believe there are two others my age who could do the same."
It was the longest thing I'd heard from Jang so far.
'Huh?'
I faintly sensed something like competitive spirit in that straightforward tone.
"Interesting."
Of course, Jang's remark provoked Merdi.
Merdi took a step forward.
That expression that naturally looked down on others.
In her hand, a sphere of electricity glowing white-hot pulsed as if ready to burst at any moment.
"You mean that seriously?"
"Yes."
"...Please, just don't die on me."
Roze grabbed me and pulled me back.
At the same moment, a fierce storm of lightning engulfed half the sparring room.
"If you die on your own terms, I'll really kill you."
The lightning sphere slammed into Jang.
Smoke billowed up as he instantly shifted into Transform state.
Lightyear Merdi's mad dog training session had begun.
*
"Ughhh...."
The plan was simple.
If he couldn't maintain his reason in Transform state, we'd force him to learn how.
Jang had said the only ways to regain reason were to devour the alien factor causing it or rampage until exhaustion.
But the latter was nearly impossible due to his healing factor giving him near-infinite stamina, so he'd relied on the former.
"You alive?"
"Yeah.... Sort of?"
But after the last incident, he'd discovered a new method.
Inflicting damage faster than his recovery rate.
"Man, that really blew off some steam. Good fun."
I'd seen hope in that.
Even the roughest thug shows 'good anger management' in front of someone stronger.
Similarly, if a greater powerhouse beat down the one in Transform state and kept them groggy, maybe they'd learn to retain reason.
"Hmm...."
Honestly, I still wasn't sure.
I'd only seen potential.
Jang agreed with the method, so we were trying it, but there was plenty of chance it wouldn't fully fix him.
"Still out of it?"
Roze poked at the charred Jang collapsed on the floor.
If not for the groans leaking from his mouth, she'd have thought he was a corpse.
"Come here for a sec."
I approached and poured healing serum down his throat.
The damage seemed too severe for natural recovery, and if he actually died like this, it'd be a big problem.
'As long as he clings to life, he'll recover somehow.'
Just keep him breathing.
Jang's healing factor was reliably cheat-level.
What worried me more was whether he'd keep participating in this brutal experiment after ending up like this.
'Went too far.'
I glanced at Merdi.
She'd clearly relieved her stress well.
She was even humming softly while checking her face.
"Huh? He's alive."
The healing serum was working.
Jang opened his eyes.
He still looked like a lump of carbon on the outside, but recovery smoke was rising thicker now.
After waiting a bit more, he could even speak.
......I thought I was dead."
"Don't worry. You're alive."
"I once wished for death. What a ridiculous state."
The aftereffects of Transform state lingered, his emotions plain on his face.
"Disappointed?"
"No. It makes me yearn for life even more. Your mercy, Lord."
"Hmph, what a devout Jesus freak."
Merdi scoffed.
I examined Jang's condition briefly, then lightly sprayed horn energy outward and asked.
"How's your state now?"
"...The beast within me howls. But it's trapped inside, and I feel no power from it."
"You see it as a separate self, huh."
He didn't answer this time.
I hadn't asked expecting one anyway.
'No.'
Actually, it was the question I was most curious about.
Jang in Transform state was essentially devoured by the alien factors dormant in his body beyond human limits.
Human consciousness vanishes, leaving only primal madness to rampage.
But why it targeted alien factors instead of humans, and why it manifested as hunger, remained unknown.
The important thing was there was no guarantee it wouldn't happen to me.
'Maybe one day....'
I looked inward at myself.
If I kept absorbing alien factors like this, would I become alien or human?
'What should I do....'
Should I stop now?
Even without 'Apply', my ability was still plenty useful.
'I'm fine for now.'
I reassured myself.
I'd overcome every side effect so far.
And it was unrelated to Jang's issue.
I couldn't discard such a huge advantage for an uncertain future.
Instead, I'd value it more carefully.
The worth I'd lose by abandoning my humanity.
The importance of that value.
"Can you keep going?"
"Are the others all this rough too?"
"No way."
"Good."
Merdi reacted to 'rough', but said nothing more.
'After turning him into this, even Merdi must feel a bit bad.'
She'd fried him good.
It was so bad that even Roze, who'd disliked him until recently, now pitied him.
"Anyway, I'll keep the secret. I stake my honor on it."
Transform was top secret in his current state.
And it would remain so.
Even if the Cross Federation cooperated with Humanity United, they'd maintain their own front lines ahead, so it'd clearly be used for propaganda without revealing the truth.
Or so I inferred from the original story.
'Things might change going forward?'
I wasn't sure what would happen if he controlled Transform.
The unique appearance? Amid all sorts of rampaging monsters, good media handling could cover it.
Done right, they might even push him to the front lines.
"See you again in two days, then."
We left the sparring room, leaving Jang—who could now move his upper body.
Next up was Saheem.
*
Jang got utterly crushed.
A total of twenty times against each of the four, multiple rounds.
At first, he never gave up the chance of victory no matter the opponent.
He'd even voiced confidence in winning.
But as the experiments repeated, he had to fully admit he was outmatched.
'Is the gap this wide?'
According to the original, the Miracle Generation 5 had equal combat power.
I'd set it that way myself, so it couldn't be wrong.
Matchups or condition could shift advantages, but basically equal.
But the experiments showed a clear gap.
Not one of them lost superiority over Jang.
'Have they grown that much?'
I'd only directly influenced Roze.
She'd grown while teaching me.
Plus, by applying alien traits to develop her body, she synced and observed my changes, adapting them best for herself.
Once Roze surged ahead, it triggered a chain reaction—the other four advanced like they were competing.
In a way, you could say I did it all.
"Hmm...."
I cleared my throat as I looked over the group, thinking that.
Not the best time to feel good.
The cause: the dire frontline situation.
The 4th defense line had collapsed as I'd predicted.
It held longer than the expected 3 weeks—nearly 5—but retreat was decided.
"So what happens now?"
"Luckily, the alien legion's advance slowed, minimizing damage. They'll have to link up with arriving reinforcements and form a new line."
"And the Drive Gate...."
"Obviously destroyed."
Drive Gates hugely impacted line maintenance.
Attempt AD Drive into alien-infested space without a set endpoint? Suicide.
"Sigh...."
Drive Gates were that crucial.
Recovering a lost one was near impossible, so they guarded them desperately no matter the cost.
"The interim defense line will be... yeah, the Triple Link sector, right?"
"No doubt."
Saheem answered.
The Triple Link sector—unusually close triple star system forming a small orbital cluster.
It provided major geographic advantage.
That's why development continued steadily despite planets unfit for humans.
The native faction with biggest influence there had dreamed of a logistics hub rivaling Earth.
Well, now it really was just a dream.
"No other sector can handle the alien offensive. Triple Link's logistics are best developed anyway, and it has the largest Drive Gate."
"Two years from now, we'll likely be there."
Barton followed up.
If they held the line until we became superhumans, Triple Link would probably be the fiercest battlefield.
As he said, we'd be deployed there.
The alliance's moves showed they were drawing the same picture.
The problem was the gap until establishing the new line.
From now until then, planets inside the 4th line's living zone would be engulfed in war flames.
Civilian casualties, societal collapse.
How well they managed that would decide the ongoing alien war's outcome.
"In a few months, we'll get our Core Weapons, right?"
Yoon Ji-hye spoke up.
Core Weapons.
Treasures turning cadets from exceptional individuals into 'superhumans' wielding massive war influence.
Without Core Weapons, even the strongest ability users couldn't survive brutal battlefields.
And only Cradle of Heroes Academy cadets faithfully completing two years qualified.
We were mere months from evolving from reserve superhumans to full ones.