The Walking Corpse
The moment Gloria began to control her powers more skillfully inside the Special Lab, several pairs of eyes were watching us from outside the room. It was about time to wrap up the experiment anyway. If things went wrong, someone would have to clean up a corpse, so I stepped out to give them a warning.
That was when I ran into a group that looked like mostly new recruits. This place was where dangerous test subjects came and went. One wrong move and they could die. So why had these baby chicks wandered in here?
Sensing something off, I watched as a male researcher suddenly stepped forward. Just by looking at him, it was obvious he had a lot of complaints about life. I could already guess what he was about to say, but I greeted him first.
“My name is Maxwell Gray. And you are?”
“Marlon Brown.”
As expected from his face, he was the type of researcher who spoke casually to someone he’d just met. Of course, this was all within my expectations, so I asked what he was doing here.
“It looks like you’re leading these new recruits, Marlon. May I ask what brings you here?”
“Obviously, we came to see the test subjects who represent our future.”
So they were here to observe ultra-high-risk subjects like Gloria? They looked like people visiting a natural history exhibit, hoping to see something dead. I kept listening. Apparently this group were Marlon’s juniors. To put it simply, this idiot had been recommended by his underlings and had come here as part of building his own faction.
‘People are the same everywhere, huh.’
Even a villain organization had people willing to stake their lives on office politics. By the way, I had already earned the nickname Walking Corpse, so everyone treated me like I didn’t exist. But not only had I survived for a long time, I had even achieved the miracle of getting quite close to Gloria. So it seemed Marlon had chosen me as his target for some political maneuvering.
And Marlon had the perfect justification to attack me with.
“Is this place a kindergarten? And your research is way too slow.”
Just as I expected, I was being publicly humiliated in front of the new recruits. It was a simple political move—tear someone else down to lift yourself up. But apparently Marlon hadn’t considered how I would respond.
“You’re absolutely right.”
“Huh?”
“Just as you said, Marlon, it’s true that I’ve essentially done nothing in the past six months.”
I hadn’t survived corporate life once or twice. The best way to deal with people like this was simple. Like the saying that you shouldn’t argue with a fool, just tell them they’re a hundred percent correct and be done with it. If you let it slide like that, the one who started the fight ends up looking like the petty one. It’s a kind of magic.
But because things weren’t going according to his plan, Marlon overplayed his hand.
“Among the high-risk test subjects, Gloria is an incredibly powerful superhuman. For the sake of scientific progress, we need to conduct much more intense experiments.”
“For example, what kind of experiments are you suggesting?”
“Hah, is the so-called genius of the century relying on someone else’s help now?”
“Researchers at Black Cell like you, Marlon, are all outstanding talents. Your advice naturally becomes blood and flesh for the rest of us.”
After that, a verbal sparring match—not quite an argument—continued between Marlon and me. Of course, since I kept calmly letting everything slide, the mood among the juniors watching from behind gradually grew strange. In the end, Marlon, who hadn’t gained anything, declared that he would conduct the experiments himself and stormed off.
Watching the back of that idiot walking away, one thought came to mind.
‘Wow… so this is how other people see me.’
I wondered if that researcher named Marlon would be able to survive in this Black Cell. His name would probably be erased within a year. Anyway, the conversation with that guy had dragged on too long.
I hurried back into the lab to apologize to Gloria, but the kid had an expression like she had just watched something incredibly entertaining.
‘She must have watched our quarrel with her clairvoyance.’
That meant she had seen Marlon’s ugly behavior in real time. Just to be sure, I asked for her impression.
“Lady Gloria, what did you think of the Walking Corpse?”
“He’s really stupid.”
It was an answer I couldn’t help but agree with.
Because so many new recruits had joined this time, the inside of the organization was extremely chaotic. It felt like a major accident was bound to happen, so I decided to warn my junior, Amano, as well.
“It does seem like the atmosphere is a bit strange lately.”
“That much, huh… Amano? Is there any particular rumor going around among the new recruits?”
“Umm… there are tons. For starters, they say the senior researcher named Marlon has been making all kinds of deals with the Director.”
So the Walking Corpse I met last time had latched onto the Director. Even though he was a villain, I suddenly felt incredibly sorry for the Director.
After hearing various stories from Amano, I later told Gloria the news as well, since something big could blow up later. But as expected, the kid had zero interest in what was happening outside.
After that, I ended up sighing inside Liberty’s cell.
“Haa… Liberty, if only everyone could be like you.”
“Huff huff huff… whine?”
By now she had mostly stopped playfully scratching me. We had become quite close. As I watched Liberty trying to sleep right on my lap, I was smiling bitterly when—
Creeeeak…
A low-ranking administrator wearing a hazmat suit entered the cell for cleaning.
“Researcher Maxwell?! I’m truly sorry for disturbing you!”
“Don’t mind me. Please go ahead with the cleaning.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Liberty was currently purring on my lap. This was the perfect opportunity for the administrator to clean the cell safely. But the moment the administrator got close, Liberty woke up. She immediately let out a low growl as a warning.
Hearing that sound, the administrator quickly retreated to the opposite wall. I stroked her head, and Liberty calmed down. Still, because she truly hated hazmat suits, she continued to watch the administrator with wary eyes.
Fortunately, since I kept holding Liberty the whole time, the cleaning finished very successfully. I was greatly satisfied that the air in here had become much cleaner, but Liberty seemed to dislike that her nest had been tidied up and kept whimpering.
In the end, to soothe her complaints, I stayed inside the cell and continued petting her.
It was almost time for dinner. Since I had to be clean when I went to Gloria, I needed to get up now. Liberty looked very reluctant to see me leave the cell. But perhaps because I had practically lived in her cell like I did with Gloria, she seemed to know I would come back soon. She wagged her tail and saw me off.
After returning to my room, taking a proper shower, and going to Gloria for inspection, I fortunately passed on the first try this time. But that joy was short-lived. I almost reached out to stroke Gloria’s head like I did with Liberty. It was a relief that she wasn’t paying any attention to me at all, but I would have to be more careful next time.
Pulling my loosened mind back taut, I brought over the meal tray. In the past, I only had to feed her nutritional porridge, but thanks to my request to the Director, Gloria now received much better meals. Seeing how satisfied she looked, I thought it was truly fortunate—though from the feeder’s perspective, it was extremely, extremely uncomfortable.
‘So this is what they mean by suffering because you asked for it…’
I was trying to think of it as groundwork for the future when—
Beeeeeeeeeep!! Beeeeeeeeeep!!
Suddenly, emergency alarms blared throughout the entire facility. I had been feeling uneasy, and sure enough, an accident had happened. Gloria, whose dinner time had been interrupted, looked extremely displeased.
I first got permission from the now-hostile Gloria, then immediately called the control room to find out what was going on.
“So Researcher Marlon is dead, and a test subject has escaped.”
All personnel have evacuated. Researcher Maxwell, please remain in a safe location until the situation is resolved.
The Walking Corpse had become a real corpse. When I told Gloria, she let out a small snort. It seemed her mood had improved somewhat.
“That guy really went out in style.”
“You can say that again.”
However, Gloria remained completely indifferent even to the news of the test subject’s escape. In fact, even though she could have destroyed all her restraints with her own power at any time, she didn’t seem to want to leave this place. I was genuinely curious about the reason, but there was a saying that curiosity killed the cat for a reason.
Anyway, since she had finished eating, staying here any longer would only put silent pressure on her. I stood up to evacuate. But then I received a completely unexpected offer.
“Don’t leave right now. You can stay here for a bit.”
“Hmm? Are you serious?”
With an indifferent expression, Gloria said I could stay until the situation was resolved. I never imagined I would receive such kindness from her. But—
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!
Suddenly, an even higher-grade emergency alarm rang throughout the facility. What on earth was happening one after another?
The next development left me stunned.
Clang!!!
The door to Gloria’s cell opened automatically. It was probably the work of the test subject who had escaped this time. First, I gave my thanks.
“I never thought Lady Gloria would save me. Thank you so much.”
“…Useful guys should be kept alive.”
Gloria, who hated anything bothersome more than anything, must have helped simply because the hassle that would come if I disappeared later would be annoying.
The fact that the extremely dangerous Gloria’s cell had opened meant every other cell had opened as well. But since Black Cell’s collapse was a story for much later, it meant this current commotion would be suppressed.
Even as the urgent footsteps of test subjects could be heard from outside, I stayed relaxed with Gloria. Then an entirely unexpected situation occurred.
Suddenly feeling a gaze, I checked the cell door and saw a very familiar pair of golden eyes staring this way.
‘It’s Liberty?!’
Ah, why didn’t I think of this?! While I was in shock, Liberty—who had even had her muzzle removed—came running toward me. She threw herself into my arms, wagging her tail furiously. When she immediately sank her teeth into my shoulder, I felt a bit nervous, but it seemed she was just playfully biting.
But that wasn’t the end of the problem. Feeling an incredibly intense stare, I slowly turned my head. There was Gloria, looking extremely, extremely unhappy, frowning as she glared at Liberty. And then—
“This smell…?”
“Whine?”
I had a feeling today was going to be full of many, many things.