The Transmigrator (3)
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of nuclear fusion? Plenty of answers might pop up, but the one you’ll hear most often is probably this: nuclear fusion power generation. The idea of boiling water with fusion to spin a turbine—like trying to make a stone axe with a plasma cutter. A brilliantly primitive concept. And yet that same primitive idea produces a monstrous power plant capable of generating more than four times the output of a decent nuclear fission station.
But the nuclear fusion reactor in my heart was slightly different from the ones the world knew about. While ordinary fusion plants generated electricity, the reactor inside my chest generated mana. I had no idea what the underlying principle was, but the miniature sun at the core of my reactor emitted mana instead of electricity.
And that was exactly why I was stuck in this facility.
“So the country wants to extract the mana my ability produces, right?”
You understood correctly.
The enormous quantity of mana my body produced must have looked like an irresistibly tempting resource to the big shots running this country. I could understand why. The director had told me—without exaggeration—that the mana generated in my heart could replace the entire nation’s energy supply. No country would want to leave that much power sitting unused. So the intention to extract the mana from my body made sense.
However…
“But banning me from going outside… isn’t that a bit much?”
When I teared up and whined, the director cleared his throat, sounding awkward.
Well… what if you leave and get kidnapped by another country? There are plenty of lunatics out there who would rather destroy something than let anyone else have it.
“Still, locking me away for thirty years is too much!”
The moment I shouted with wet eyes, my face drained of color. I slapped both hands over my mouth. Even if he was kind to me, the director was the head of this entire institute. The contract my previous self had signed contained a clause giving him the right to punish me. I carefully glanced toward the speaker.
I’m sorry, but what cannot be done cannot be done. Whining changes nothing.
His voice was as kind as ever, yet a degree colder. I nodded, mouth still covered.
If you understand, that is enough. Do you have any other questions?
“No… nothing in particular.”
There were a few more things I wanted to ask, but the mood wasn’t right for innocent questions, so I shook my head.
I see. Then rest. We begin mana extraction tomorrow.
“…Understood.”
The director said nothing more. A dry beep sounded as the speaker disconnected, and silence filled the room. But silence can sometimes be terrifying. Face pale, I burrowed under the blankets and muttered quietly.
“My research institute life is doomed…!”
On my very first day here, I’d already gotten on the director’s bad side.
“Sigh… This is quite the dilemma.”
After cutting the speaker connection, Wilhelm rose from his seat with a heavy sigh. He was the one who had pushed that child into this place… yet here he was, feeling guilty that the child he himself had imprisoned could never leave. A truly contradictory emotion. He knew it was evil. He felt the guilt. And yet he still committed the act. He would probably be dragged off to hell when he died.
Still, this is my duty.
Even so, Wilhelm was the director of this institute and one of the pillars supporting the nation. The work he did influenced the lives of two hundred million citizens. Hell or no hell, he had to fulfill his role.
“I’ll have to apologize to Miss Plea later.”
Her face had gone deathly white—probably frightened by his attitude. He would need to soothe her properly afterward.
“I’ll bring the next set of documents.”
“Please do.”
It had already been a full month since I entered this facility. I’d worried that shouting at the director on the first day would make my life here miserable, but he turned out to be far more magnanimous than I expected. He never punished me or did anything unfair.
He might have been sulking, though—he hadn’t spoken to me directly since that day. That didn’t mean the speakers installed throughout the facility stayed silent. After that incident, the voices coming through them belonged to the researchers, not the director. Cold, businesslike voices.
From what I gathered, it had been their job from the start, but they had used the director’s authority to speak with me first out of curiosity.
Today’s mana extraction is complete. Return to your room and rest.
“Yes…”
The instant the researcher finished speaking, the glass tube I was inside opened. It was the same tube my body had been floating in when I first woke up in this world. I hadn’t realized it at the time, but this was the device that extracted my mana.
“Ugh…”
The moment I stepped out, a wave of exhaustion crashed over me and a groan slipped out.
This is seriously exhausting…
It had been a month since the extractions began, yet I still couldn’t get used to the crushing fatigue that followed. When I told the researchers I was too tired, their only reply was a cold statement that it was a natural side effect of having mana pulled from my body. The fact that these people could completely ignore a cute little girl begging for relief meant they had clearly forgotten how to be human.
“Phew… I feel a little more alive now.”
Dragging my limp body like overcooked bean sprouts, I collapsed onto the bed in my private room and let out a sigh that sounded exactly like a tired middle-aged salaryman. It really wasn’t that different from a father coming home after a brutal day at the office. Fifteen hours trapped in the extractor having my mana sucked out, then crawling back to my room exhausted—yeah, pretty much the same thing.
“Ah, I’m starving. Wait, is today Wednesday…?”
I rubbed my grumbling stomach and checked the electronic calendar on the wall. Wednesdays were special meal days—chicken or hamburgers instead of the usual tasteless rations. The calendar confirmed it was Wednesday. I cheered internally and patted my hungry belly.
Soon the steel hatch in the wall opened and today’s special meal slid through. On the tray were a salmon salad and perfectly crisped hash browns. For a special meal it was surprisingly high-class. I grabbed the utensils and devoured everything in record time.
“So good!”
You certainly eat with gusto.
“Director…?”
I gulped down the food I was chewing and turned a trembling gaze toward the speaker. It felt like the company president walking into the cafeteria and complimenting an employee for eating heartily. I had no idea how to respond, so I just nodded like an idiot.
I’m glad to see you enjoying it. I took special care when ordering today’s meal.
“Uh… thank you?”
No need to thank me. There was that uncomfortable moment last time… and starting tomorrow the work will become somewhat more demanding, so consider this a small compensation.
The “uncomfortable moment” had to be that incident. “I’m sorry for shouting back then…”
Hm? I didn’t mention it to receive an apology from you, Miss Plea. I simply wanted to encourage you to keep doing your best.
Doing my best from now on…? The experiments were already exhausting—what else were they adding? Anxiety made my fingers fidget. The director gave a warm, grandfatherly chuckle as if to say there was nothing to worry about.
There’s no need to be so anxious. It won’t harm your body. On the contrary, it will be beneficial.
“If you say so…”
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. The director told me to sleep well and ended the transmission. The contract did explicitly forbid any actions that would cause permanent damage to my body, so I didn’t think much of it. I rubbed my full stomach and fell into a deep sleep.
The sigh I thought I heard from him at the very end of the call was probably just my imagination.
The next morning—
—Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
The alarm rang earlier than usual. I frowned, instinctively wanting to mumble “five more minutes” like I used to, but then I remembered the electric shock function and shot upright to turn it off.
“Ugh… is this alarm clock broken? Why is it going off so early…”
It is not broken. We had to move up the wake-up time for today’s experiment.
“What do you—”
Enter the extraction chamber.
I pouted at the researcher who cut me off and only said what he wanted, but I still obediently stepped into the glass tube.
Today we will administer the Mana Activator. This is to increase the efficiency of future mana extractions, so keep that in mind.
Mana Activator? I felt like I had heard that name somewhere before… The familiar term made me tilt my head, but the researcher clearly didn’t care about my confusion. Red gas began to fill the tube I was standing in.
With a sharp hiss, the gas quickly rose until it reached my head.
Inhale.
Following orders, I took a deep breath. The red gas rushed into my lungs.
A stinging pain flared up.
“Ugh…”
The sudden pain made me cough violently, but the agony in my chest refused to fade. Instead it swelled larger and larger. Just as I began to realize something was very wrong, the source of that earlier sense of déjà vu hit me like a truck.
Mana Activator… Don’t tell me this is the original version of the improved Mana Activator from the game?!
Improved Mana Activator
An improved version of the mana activator developed long ago in a certain research institute. A high-grade product that has completely eliminated the original side effects.
Of course that wasn’t the whole story. While exploring the closed laboratory map in the game, players could find several more entries about both the improved and original versions. One of them described the side effects of the old formula.
Old Mana Activator – Side Effect
Pain proportional to the user’s total mana capacity.
My coldly rational brain sounded every alarm it had. Reason screamed that something was wrong and that they needed to stop the Mana Activator immediately. But the only thing this delicate young body could produce was not a logical plea—it was a scream soaked in pure agony.