[Raccoon Man Beginning]
[Raccoon Man Beginning]
John Alian, commonly known as Dr. Alion, is someone whose name I've heard of even though I'm not really interested in this field. In some ways, he's more well-known than a Master User.
He is the #1 expert in the fields of Adversary Species, Dimensional Rifts, and Gaia Force research, and as I heard from the taxi driver, he is one of the three pillars supporting the US. I don't know his other achievements, but the only one I know is that he was the first to create a Dimensional Rift Detector in the early days.
That was in the textbooks, so I knew it.
Since the threat of Adversary Species is directly linked to survival, they provide basic education, but since it doesn't concern me, I usually zone out, so I rarely remember anything.
Anyway, Dr. Alion's achievement of creating the Dimensional Rift Detector during the Great Depression saved hundreds of millions of lives at the time. If there hadn't been a Dimensional Rift Detector, people wouldn't have known a rift was opening in the middle of the city and wouldn't have been able to escape.
All the Dimensional Rift Detectors used commercially until Sion sent the blueprints for the new model under the name Raccoon Girl were Dr. Alion's work.
"I meet him often, too. His personality is actually pretty decent. Plus, since he's a Master User, he can extract all sorts of data. That's probably the reason he wants to meet you."
"Well, I think it's something else."
If his business with me is 30%, his business with Sion... I mean, Raccoon Girl, is probably 70%.
Even the boss of the shadowy organization ATLAS coveted her, so expecting other scientists not to be interested would be like wanting a free lunch. Even if the general public doesn't know, people with access to classified information surely know.
"Well, this is the research institute where Dr. Alion is. Pretty big, right?"
"Whoa, I thought I was looking at a university. Just how many research buildings are there?"
"The fact that a certain percentage of the Adversary Species defense budget goes into this place isn't just talk."
The institute, which was as large as Columbia University that I saw yesterday, seemed to have several buildings just within sight. On top of that, some of them were shaped like high-rise buildings.
Seeing that it had facilities like parks within the grounds, not just research buildings, the welfare facilities seemed perfect too.
"Welcome! Did you have any trouble getting here? Did you eat? How's your condition?"
"Huh? Are you, by any chance...?"
The owner of the same voice I heard on the phone came out to greet us.
He looks like a pretty handsome young man. Even though he seems to be entering middle age, he doesn't look his age, perhaps because he has a baby face.
With light blonde hair and a good-natured smile, his greeting seemed more purposeful than purely well-intentioned.
"Ah! I am John Alian. Nice to meet you, Raccoon Man."
"Hmm."
I stared at his face for a while. I didn't get any particular feeling, but that's exactly why it bothers me.
"Thank you for coming all this way. Ah! Come to think of it, I've received the core of the Humanoid Hostile Species you entrusted and it's being kept safe. I'll probably start researching it soon."
"Putting other things aside, what's your purpose?"
"Shall we go inside the lab first? There are eyes on us here, so it's not the place to talk."
Just as I was about to follow him, Jacob called me over.
"Come out when you're done talking. I'll give you a ride. I'm going to go get my weapon serviced for a bit."
"Weapon service?"
"Ah! They also handle the production and repair of special firearms like the ones Thunderbolt uses here. That's what researching Adversary Species means, after all."
In modern society, researching Adversary Species means not only the technology but, above all, researching ways to kill them more effectively.
Force Users probably can't belong to the military, and it might not be possible for the military to make and give them weapons. So that's why the institute makes them.
Jacob headed to a different research building, and I went inside the institute with Dr. Alion. His stride as he walked briskly didn't look like a middle-aged man's at all.
Since he was in the textbooks when I was a student, he should be at least that old... isn't he too restless?
"Your personality is, how should I put it... quite something."
"Hahaha! I know my personality well. A bit of a geek, right? I know, but when there's something to research right in front of me, I can't control myself. I'm usually much more composed than this."
Wouldn't it be the same either way?
I haven't seen many talkative researchers... Sion said that people who research things tend to become quiet. She said it was mostly because of stress.
"Where should I start... First, let's talk about the newly appeared Humanoid Hostile Species. First of all, it's a completely new species that has appeared. There are no other similar cases."
"If even one or two of those guys had appeared in the past, the world would have been destroyed already."
If all the Humanoid Hostile Species that have appeared now showed up in one Dimensional Rift, that country would definitely be destroyed.
There might be an average, but usually, there are 4 Master-class Adversary Species. If they appeared, the country's Master User would be toyed with and sliced up in an instant, the city would collapse, and the country would fall.
The only way would be to drop a nuke, but Dimensional Rifts open in the middle of the city. There are many people, and even if you could endure the damage of dropping a nuke inside your own country, it would be impossible to take them down unless it was a direct hit.
Radiation? No, if things like radiation worked, the ones appearing in Japan would die even if you left them alone.
"Furthermore, its core is a Nonagon. Ah, do you know the classification method for Adversary Species cores?"
"The more angles it has, the higher it is, right? If it's a Nonagon... is it a nonagon?"
"Yes, that's right. It's the first Nonagon Adversary Species."
There's also classification by size, but at most it's small, medium, large, and if you think about the purity of the power that can be used, you have to look at the shape of the core.
I didn't know things like that before, but these days, I've heard so much from dealing with Adversary Species that I've come to know it too.
"But that guy, the purity is high so the specs are good, but since it's small, the Force Fusion Phenomenon ended quickly, right?"
"That's right! As expected! I'm glad I invited you! This is what I wanted to hear! This proves that the Force Fusion Phenomenon depends on the total amount of Raf Energy without the strength of the individual or the opponent! I can write a paper on this! I'll just throw it at the guys who are whining for me to publish a paper even though I'm busy with research!"
"You seem to have been through a lot."
"I'm a researcher! I'm sick and tired of people playing political games with factions and lines. I want to ignore them, but they're the ones funding me, so I can't. I'm going crazy."
What should I say... Dr. Alion showed a much more human side than what I saw in the textbooks.
Of course, the fact that this human side is the typical researcher figure who is stressed, pushed around, and worried about the budget is a bit of a childhood-ruining experience.
It's like the shock of being taught that the IMF was caused by the public's overconsumption, only to find out it was all a lie. Or the shock of realizing Empress Myeongseong wasn't the heroic figure I thought she was after seeing what she actually did.
I wonder if the textbooks have been fixed properly these days.
"Anyway, the purity of the Raf Energy coming from its core is higher than any Adversary Species core studied so far. And just by itself, it's causing physical phenomena to the point where haze is rising around it."
"That doesn't sound like a physical phenomenon, but more of a conceptual problem. Since it's a guy with conceptual resistance to begin with, it's not strange even if the core is like that."
".......!!!"
Dr. Alion's eyes lit up as he quickly grabbed both of my hands.
"A conceptual problem? By any chance, have you also grasped the origin of Raf Energy?"
"Isn't it negation?"
"Yes! That's right! Just because you're a Master User, I thought you were a good-natured fool like Thunderbolt, but you, Raccoon Man, are completely different. By any chance, isn't Raccoon Girl just a name, and it's actually you?"
"That's not it, Raccoon Girl is a different person."
It passed by too naturally, but Sion's nickname passed by. Seeing that Dr. Alion already knows Raccoon Girl's name, it's certain that there was a purpose behind it.
"Raf Energy is basically biased towards the concept of negation. That's why they basically have physical resistance, and the Humanoid Hostile Species that appeared this time also moved by negating gravity to create an anti-gravity effect, as confirmed by video. It's as if Gaia Force can create traits, so Raf Energy has the concept of negation. But do you know how a power and a creature that have the concept of negation from the beginning can exist at the same time and handle it?"
"In the end, using that power is the creature's will."
"Exactly."
Dr. Alion's eyes started to shine much brighter than before. Honestly, it's burdensome and scary.
"At first, I called you, Raccoon Man, to get data on a new Master User, but I didn't know you were someone I could talk to like this. If it's not rude, may I ask which university you graduated from?"
"I didn't go to university. A high school diploma is my entire academic background. Plus, my major was liberal arts."
"Oh my god! It would have been great if you had gone into research?! You have enough basic knowledge!"
"The science field doesn't suit me at all."
Liberal arts is me, science is Sion. We divided it like that based on what we could do, but we just don't touch the subjects we're not talented in because we know it.
Besides, the reason Dr. Alion and I can talk is purely because I know a bit more, not because I'm smarter than him.
If you compare the amount of knowledge between a genius in the Middle Ages and a high school student in modern times, the latter would have more. But in advanced parts, the former is better.
You don't accept that a modern person is less smart than a genius in the Middle Ages?
Well, go find someone who calculated the circumference of the Earth almost similarly without even having satellites. For reference, he's Greek.
"As the purity of Raf Energy increases, its characteristics become stronger. The completed form of the core would probably be a perfect circle. If an Adversary Species with such a core appears... even if all the Master Users on Earth gather, we might not be able to win."
"Ah, that's not it."
Because I'm here.
First of all, even if it's a Transcendent, it's meaningless if they're weaker than me. And if they come in a group instead of alone, that's also meaningless.
If such guys appear when I'm acting as Raccoon Man, I'm willing to deal with them. But I don't know when, but after I quit being Raccoon Man, there won't be any of that. Noble acts of sacrificing oneself while knowing clearly that one will lose are the words furthest from me.
"Hmm, first, let's solve the original purpose. Would you mind helping me with data collection a little?"
"Why should I?"
I came because I was invited, but I have no reason to cooperate. In the first place, I'm not a US citizen, so I have no obligation to do so.
"Don't you also have something to gain from me? If not, you wouldn't have come in the first place."
"Hmm..."
Come to think of it, it's not bad to have connections with influential people in the world.
Besides, there's something I want to ask.
So I decided to cooperate a little.
Dr. Alion wasn't a mad scientist after all. If he were, he would have been a criminal and locked in prison long before his research achievements.
Even if he seems to have a tendency to run wild, that's only limited to research, and that comes from passion, not because he's bad.
"First, a strength test. Please step on the platform over there and press the machine right in front of you. With both hands."
"Hmm!"
"......Oh my god!"
I put a little strength into it, and the machine broke with a pashak! No, isn't this a bit weak? A punching machine would be much better, right?
"Did you use your trait by any chance?"
"Uh, I guess so?"
"Even if you use your trait, to this extent... The strength of Hibiki-ssi or Yong Hwa-jeong-ssi, who have enhancement traits, wasn't like this..."
"Do you know all the Master Users?"
"Ah, they are special research data providers to me. Especially, I even went to China a few days ago and met Yong Hwa-jeong-ssi."
As the world's best scientist, he seems to have a wide network. He's different from me.
The strength test was skipped, and next, I received a running test at the park in front of the research institute.
"The circumference of this park is about 1 kilometer. I'll measure the time it takes for you to run one lap, so run when I signal."
"1 kilometer? Isn't it usually about 100 meters?"
"There are many people who can jump over 100 meters in one leap or take only 1 or 2 seconds... We set it to 1 kilometer because we also look at the minimum stamina for ability usage. Anyway, I'll start!"
As soon as Dr. Alion pressed the stopwatch, I ran lightly.
I only used the Force Field for physical enhancement and didn't fly, and I ran purely by stepping on the ground, so I was quite slow compared to usual.
It took about 3 seconds.
"3.22 seconds?!"
Kwagagaga!!!
The wind pressure caused by my running blew. Thin branches were broken, and leaves were blown away from the trees in the park, falling down.
"A speed almost equivalent to the speed of sound..."
"Is there no one among the Master Users who can break the sound barrier?"
"There is one person, but the majority cannot. Perhaps it's because there's no need to."
"Need? Ah, that makes sense."
Master Users, including Mr. Lee Gyeong-jin, have never fought anyone stronger than themselves or even someone similar.
People without goals lose their passion. Since they can't fight other Master Users anyway, getting stronger just means killing Adversary Species.
The level of Adversary Species has risen recently, so that need has arisen, but that's recent. Perhaps Master Users in other countries, excluding Asia and the US, are still like that.
"People are useless without a purpose. Goals and purposes make humans passionate and make anything possible."
"Do you have a goal too?"
"Of course I do, my goal is to create a world where things like Adversary Species don't cross over anymore."
It's also a goal that the majority of people want. Who would want to live under the threat of death? I don't want a Dimensional Rift to open next door to me out of the blue either.
If they could at least research a way to block Dimensional Rifts from this side, I don't know, but honestly, with current technology, the concept of space, let alone dimensions, is far off. It would take at least another 100 years.
I continued to take various other tests. Gaia Force capacity test, agility and dynamic visual acuity test, durability test, etc. Even though I didn't invest much time in one, lunchtime was slowly passing.
"Ah, the time has already passed like this. It's late, but would you like to have lunch?"
"You're planning to chat while eating anyway, so why don't we just have a cup of coffee and keep talking? I have something to ask too."
"It seems we both have a lot to talk about. Ah, there is a cafe on the first floor of the research building. I'll go buy coffee there."
Dr. Alion, perhaps because he's a good person, didn't make others do it and went down himself to buy coffee.
The aroma is decent, so he must use good coffee beans. While having a cup of coffee leisurely, I started to bring up the story.
"When you do research, stories come out from here and there, right?"
"Well, that's true. Places that want cooperation are better, and places that make threats in the name of cooperation give me a hard time too. Especially if it's government work, I have to say I can do it even if I can't, so the budget comes out, so I'm suffering a lot."
I know how to stimulate people's fear, but I'm not very good at interrogating. Especially if I can't use physical means.
Dr. Alion is an important factor, so even if I'm treated as a hero now, if I harm him, I'll be a criminal.
So let's ask straight to the point.
"Do you know about an organization called ATLAS?"
"Pfft!!!"
Dr. Alion sprayed the coffee he was drinking magnificently.
I dodged to the side and avoided the coffee that was about to spill on my face. If my wife had done it, it would be a reward even if it wasn't in this industry, but I have no interest in what a guy does.
After coughing a few times, Dr. Alion finally calmed down, wiped the coffee spilled on his clothes and the office desk with a tissue, and it became an atmosphere to talk.
"......It seems the story will be longer than I thought."
The eyes that looked curious changed. They were more serious and heavy eyes.
People with secrets always had eyes like that.
"To tell that story, I have to tell a story from a long time ago. It might be boring, is that okay?"
"It's a rule that you have to listen to a grandfather's old story even if it's boring. It's not because the story is fun, but because it has meaning in itself."
"I'm not that old yet to be called a grandfather, though."
You're good because you have a baby face. Seeing that some are white but have a baby face, and some are Asian but look old, in the end, race doesn't matter, and the best genetics are the best.
Dr. Alion started to tell his story slowly.
"First of all, one thing, you probably think that the Dimensional Rift you know happened for the first time during the Great Depression 20 years ago."
"Yeah, that's what I know... Is it different?"
"One thing is different."
He looked around. The room is Dr. Alion's office, and there is no one outside. I also widened my Force sense to see if there were any wiretaps, but nothing was caught.
It seems that his own office is too obvious to place a wiretap. It's more comfortable for us, so it's good.
"The first Dimensional Rift happened 23 years ago."