Chapter 273: Resurrection Of The Dead (3)
Chapter 273: Resurrection Of The Dead (3)
At that moment, somewhere on Earth.
Rumble.
Inside a laboratory filled with glass containers brimming with green cultivation fluid.
In a space larger than an average small to medium enterprise factory, a woman walked past the rows of glass containers on either side.
Thud, thud.
Wearing nearly fluorescent green slippers, a blue-haired woman in a white coat shuffled along, flipping through paper research charts, adjusting her glasses, and gritting her teeth.
“Tsk. What a pity.”
The woman clicked her tongue and tapped the data in the charts with a pen.
“Customization is key, but for now, we only have default avatars. Ugh, so frustrating.”
She continued to fidget with her shoulder-length hair and gritted her teeth again.The other researchers following her exchanged uneasy glances as she stood before a larger, grander, glass container than the others.
“Sigh. The cost to create just this one is so high.”
Inside the glass container was a girl with golden hair, curled up and floating in the cultivation fluid.
Her vacant blue eyes matched the woman’s hair color but lacked any sign of life.
“Dr. Jang?”
“Y-Yes!”
A man called Dr. Jang stepped forward.
“‘Project Goldwing’ takes top priority over any other project, you understand?”
“Y-Yes. Our team is giving it our all.”
“Giving it your all is good, but results should come first, shouldn’t they? Compared to last month, it seems like we’re still stagnant.”
“T-That is….”
He was a middle-aged man with a balding head, who could only cower before the much younger woman’s authoritative demeanor.
“Just give us a little more time….”
“Time? Alright. What day is it in 2025?”
“…June 6th.”
“Right. June. Since Gwang Ik Gong died before Christmas, it’s been about five months since this project started. That’s roughly over 150 days, right?”
“…Yes.”
Dr. Jang and the other researchers hung their heads low.
“How much budget was spent over 150 days?”
“…200 billion won.”
“Right. 200 billion. And what we’ve created with that 200 billion is this. This.”
Tap, tap.
The woman tapped the glass container with her finger.
“Creating it is good. The results? Very impressive. It fits the purpose very well. You all have shown excellent results. Here, here, and here.”
As she pointed, the lights behind the glass containers flickered.
“Perfect resurrection dolls. Even E-class ability users can live in these bodies if they stay within Korea, relying on the natural mana recovery here.”
Behind her, besides the blonde girl, there were numerous women, all curled up naked in the cultivation fluid.
“Amazing, really. While the default male and female bodies still haven’t moved past the base, these cute girls look like something out of a magical girl squad, with their varied hair and eye colors. It’s blinding. Well, the chest armor being E-class, I understand.”
The common point was that they all had small physiques and modest mana pouches.
“Once clinical trials are over, they can be commercialized immediately. Truly outstanding, the work of the world’s best scholars. Even the Chief will be pleased.”
“Heh, hehehe…. You’re too kind.”
Though their eyes seemed vacant, they looked like they could move if their souls were just inserted.
“But….”
Crack.
“Why do you keep making cute girls with flat chests!!”
As the woman’s face twisted with rage, the researchers blushed and bowed their heads even lower.
“You complain about creating a single male body but go crazy working overtime to make cute girls!”
“T-That’s because…!”
“Are you thinking that people will enjoy it if all the bodies we supply to humanity are just cute girls!”
Shrrk!
“I, Docheol, won’t allow this!”
Docheol threw the chart to the floor.
“Are you planning to turn everyone who resurrects into magical girls!!”
“T-That’s not the case….”
“Then what!”
“Isn’t there the most demand for it…?”
Dr. Jang cautiously suggested.
“Men will probably want to live as another gender after death, and women would want to live in a prettier, younger form.”
“Oh, so?”
“The various cute girl avatars are not due to our preferences, but to anticipate future consumer demand….”
“You just want to resurrect as cute girls, don’t you?”
“…….”
The researchers didn’t answer.
“…Sigh. Seriously, aren’t you guys too much? As a fellow man, isn’t this too much? Even I, as a woman, feel pity.”
Docheol tapped the glass container holding the blonde girl.
“Even if the outer appearance is female, you could at least attach male organs. What are you planning by adding more holes inside? Put some equipment in there?”
“N-Not attaching equipment, but forming the texture from the inside….”
“Ugh, perverts.”
In response to Docheol’s swearing, Dr. Jang and the researchers could only scratch their heads and laugh awkwardly.
“Hey. You’re trying to resurrect a man who died fighting for the world, and you want to bring him back as a blonde, blue-eyed girl?”
“……It’s not that we’re slacking off or doing a shoddy job. The first successful case just happens to be the body behind you.”
“…….”
“Please believe us. We are always doing our best….”
“Really?”
“Of course. As researchers of the Secret Society, we are always doing our utmost.”
The researchers lifted their heads proudly.
Their faces shone with a strong sense of duty, and seeing this, Docheol sighed deeply and picked up the materials she had thrown on the floor.
“Alright. Then show some real results. It’s fine to have bodies ready for S-class ability users, but we need to match the genders first. Instead of upgrading female bodies grade by grade, develop male bodies as well. How can female bodies be at A-class, but male bodies aren’t even D-class? Huh?”
“Well….”
Dr. Jang looked at the other doctors.
Although it wasn’t intentional, everyone on this team was male.
“…This is driving me crazy, seriously.”
Do-cheol covered her face with one hand.
“If Gwang Ik Gong is on the brink of disappearing and we don’t have a male body ready, what will you do then?”
“Well….”
The doctors pointed their chins towards the glass container behind Docheol.
“Given the situation, it’s not like we can be picky.”
“If it’s Gwang Ik Gong, he will surely adapt well to a female body.”
“Even a maid outfit….”
“Sigh.”
Docheol closed her eyes.
“How did only these perverts gather for the human body production research….”
Docheol gave up on thinking.
“…A human body that can be possessed with the power of an ability user after death. It’s terrifying.”
“Yes. It’s a field that began in earnest after Gwang Ik Gong’s death, so there should be a prototype by now.”
It’s only been about five months, so even if there’s plenty of budget and enthusiastic researchers, it’s too soon to be mass-producing samples.
“Whether you call it an android or something else, it’s about putting a soul into a body that is human in all aspects except for the soul.”
I pointed to Baek Seol-hee’s ice doll inside the curtain.
“The components of the body are all the same as a human’s. The energy source for the body would be mana instead of electricity, and mana would flow through the body like a liquid instead of blood, but if I can move as I want, isn’t that a form of resurrection?”
“It might not be the original body.”
“Right, for now. But if technology advances to the point where every household has a backup of their body data, and it can be produced instantly, it will be different.”
With ability users able to teleport freely, genetic engineering and superpowers combined would surely create clones or whatever.
“So we should spread this. Rebirth dolls. The idea of reincarnating in a fertilized egg inside someone’s womb shouldn’t spread.”
“…For people who die before the technology is developed, there really is no other option.”
“Exactly.”
It’s a harsh and cruel reality, but there were too many things the Secret Society had to worry about.
“So always be careful. If people find out we can resurrect the dead, it will cause unimaginable chaos.”
“I understand. Um… but that rebirth doll, you said it’s identical to a human? Except for the soul.”
“Right.”
“If I possess that rebirth doll, I have to live in that body….”
Yumir touched her body and smiled faintly.
“If that body is male, and I die, and the only body available is male, then I’d have to live as a man?”
“…Although it’s too early to say what’s possible or not with technology, if possession is a one-time thing, you’d have to live in that body until it dies.”
“Wow, then.”
Yumir covered her mouth with her hand, surprised.
“If people live in new bodies, everyone would try to reincarnate as blonde, blue-eyed girls.”
“…….”
A world full of TS-reincarnated cute girls.
In such a world, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if a meteor hit it.