Chapter 224

Not long ago, the fake skin of Lagus was far more repulsive, and the surface of his face was melting grotesquely. Chunky clumps of data fell continuously.

Perhaps it was all due to being in a fictional world; the splattering sound was not vividly replayed, but the visual impact alone had enough power to make most people want to flee in disgust.

Especially if it was mimicking the appearance of an acquaintance or a beloved family member until just moments before!

“Tsk….”

Swish, swoosh.

Her hand, seemingly annoyed by the stinging pain of being hit more than her collapsing outer layer, approached me as if she was trying to scrutinize the attitude I was displaying as I turned my arms a few times in an awkward manner.

Since time immemorial, the eyes have been said to be the windows of the soul, so perhaps she was curious about what kind of thought processes led me to act with such certainty to call it quits on this nonsense…

“……Hmph!”

But I simply sat there.

Leaning comfortably against the undismantled table and chair, I had my chin resting in my hand, concentrating my gaze on the area where her eyes were expected to be as her face drew closer. I sneered at her.

It wasn’t that I had given up… Rationally, within this virtual space, how much chaos could we possibly cause each other? At most, it would be about scaring and posturing.

If she had the intention of harming me from the beginning and I was oblivious to the external circumstances, there was no way for me to counter it.

While I needed to avoid a futile fate of being too uncooperative against an enemy in control, getting unnecessarily scared and walking away empty-handed would likely lead to a darker future.

By leaving her alive without killing her, and with my consciousness gradually recovering, it was clear she must have some sort of desire to try and communicate.

Thinking that I had nothing to lose… Isn’t it just better to face her boldly? Huh?

What if I end up being tortured? Am I just going to take the risk while preparing countermeasures for all those horrific 23rd-century torture techniques?

Ah…

Hmm…

When cooperating, wouldn’t it be better to help with some vigor?

Considering where I had collapsed, I had almost certainly been taken by Exatech, but I believed that the big corporate types wouldn’t make mistakes due to petty grudges… Please.

“…This damn girl.”

Aside from the dizzying imagination that struck me in the middle.

How many minutes had I been engaged in this staring contest – if glaring at the bubbling brown protein foam could truly be called a staring contest!?

I had made my intention clear that I wouldn’t open my mouth carelessly unless there was a proper conversation, and finally, the sludge declared its surrender in the contest of wills.

A sound like “Wooong…!” echoed, as if the air around us trembled when the power to the high-frequency electronic device was turned on.

From the boundary separating her and me, wicked lights soared, beginning to render the distorted figure once again.

In an instant, the shards of information transformed into a light swirl and gathered, finding their positions.

Since her sharp tone and hysterical falsetto had reminded me of a somewhat high-pressure office woman, I was relieved that it didn’t stray far from what I had anticipated, despite her mechanical parts being strewn across her body as an Exatech employee.

No… Was it really a relief? Even though we hadn’t officially spoken yet, I could already feel her sharp personality leaking through.

Swish!

The woman in a lab coat skillfully swept her hair falling forward back behind her shoulders and confidently took a seat across the table.

While moving, her burning gaze directed towards me made it seem like she had some enormous regret… Could you at least tell me what it is? Huh??

“I’ve conducted so many brain stabilization procedures, but how is it possible for you to react so negatively to external electromagnetic waves even in an unconscious state? The precise test results state that you are pure, with almost no impurities, yet I’m starting to doubt everything.”

“…….”

It seemed she hadn’t given up or stopped the psychological warfare. Just from her casual comments before even introducing herself, she was already shaking my mental state as if it were just breathing.

‘Brain stabilization procedure’ and ‘precision test’… I had a rough idea based on what I had experienced so far, but her word choice solidified the fact that someone was indeed in my head, sending chills down my spine.

Would it be more accurate to say my heart felt tightened? If I needed to breathe, I would definitely experience shortness of breath.

“I am Electra Nephela, the head researcher overseeing the 70th independent research facility of Exatech and its affiliated facilities. From now on, you may call me Mrs. Electra, as you’ll be seeing me regularly. Oh, and you don’t need to introduce yourself; I’ve already run a background check… Anastasia?”

“……Thank you, I suppose.”

What was this? The hints being dropped so readily made me feel foolish for contemplating how to carefully approach in order to obtain information about the current situation while giving what I needed.

Is she a significant emotional type? Or is it that there’s nothing that can change now that it has come to this?

I hope it’s not the latter. Do I really have to confront the cruel reality I’d rather not speak of?

“Um, Mrs. Electra? Am I… supposed to be in that… test tube?”

“……?”

Honestly, it was a question I barely managed to extract, pulling all the courage I didn’t have to voice it out loud.

Ignoring what had already occurred wouldn’t erase it, but at least I could postpone the impact.

However, after a moment of blankness, she responded with cheerful laughter as if my efforts were unworthy of acknowledgment.

“Pfft, haha…!! You’re a lot funnier than I expected! You, a hacker mercenary, believe that if you’re captured by Exatech, you’ll only be brain-extracted and preserved? Do you even know how much it costs to keep the central nervous system extracted and healthy after being saved from the flesh? Huh??”

Bursting into laughter, her loud, piercing voice made my head throb.

She seemed to express that her face was all flushed from laughter, continually fanning herself dramatically.

At least I was alive… Relief finally surged within me, so it wasn’t just a joke; I was incredibly tense. I wondered if I had ever been this stiff in my life.

As the saying goes, when I closed my eyes for a moment and replicated the technique of distancing myself from the inner world, I felt that all my limbs were intact. It was clear I was bound on something akin to an operating table.

Unlike an ordinary person, who might find it difficult, I had been accustomed to entering or forcibly waking from a Trance State, so I saw no reason I couldn’t secure an escape route. Ugh…!!

But it was too early to be at ease. First, I’d have to continue the conversation, worried I might arouse suspicion if I cut it short, so I added an extra question to keep Electra from getting too relaxed.

“Then… is there really a significant difference…?”

“….”

Then, suddenly, her mouth, which had been singing cheerily, closed, and a desolate smile spread across her dry lips like the earth splitting.

“If the child hadn’t been purely pure, she would have certainly died by being subjected to brain transplants with the risk of document alteration by Mr. Gibson, who lost his temper while penetrating into the Neural Link! Fortunately, she can now serve as a growth sample for the long-term observation project that was in need of an empty spot. You can be happy about that.”

“Um… Thank you very much?”

“♪”

For some reason, she looked at me quietly, as if waiting for a response. When I answered with a sense of disbelief, Electra finally presented a look of satisfaction. It seemed only right.

In fact, now that I’ve come this far, I already had half a notion, but I began to understand why Leonar had treated her as a troublesome woman!

“I thought you’d be an uncontrollable vixen… but this naive child has made things a bit less stressful. Now, choose: Do you want to explain in a way that assumes you know why we are doing such acts and live out your days dreaming good dreams? Or would you rather experience only selected nightmares and burn through your remaining lifespan?”

“…Well, if I cooperate actively, will you let me act like the head of a corporation, even if it is in this awkward virtual reality?”

As I mocked the inferior quality of the hallucination, her brows furrowed aggressively.

To me, it felt like quite a light jab. Was the honest feedback so irksome that it had to be tolerated?

“Oh, don’t compare it to outdated technology like Augmented Reality (VR)! Isn’t it more efficient to help the brain wander through prettily packaged memories rather than dealing with the sense of incongruity arising from artificially implementing the countless inputs and outputs?”

“I’ve never wished for such a nonsensical world of ‘what ifs.’”

“Everyone, deep down, hopes for a satisfactory tale, you know? For instance… anyone who has had a family, in some form or another, secretly yearns to relive those joyful childhood memories forever.”

After that, Electra muttered something along the lines of, ‘But in your case, we’ll have to gradually adjust your brain’s connection stability, which is strangely low due to your twisted mental world.’

As expected, she fundamentally differed from the monstrous political entities I had encountered several times.

She seemed like a scientifically-minded type, distinct in her viewpoint? The way she clumsily threw out threats or terms of exchange as bait was simply awkward.

To a degree, she had practically admitted that she knew nothing about me aside from my identity.

Well, considering what she had witnessed, the relationship between Aaron or Show could have leaked out, and more deeply, the flood of unmanageable knowledge regarding game lore or past lives could have spilled out without any chance of her being secure enough to ask for news about a lover.

…No, to be honest, I was unsure about what exactly Leonar wanted me to reveal.

What lie did he tell me? The incident that turned him into an enemy occurred long ago; was there a background to his dramatic life story that sank like a reluctant man harboring unspeakable murderous intentions deep into the underworld?

Before I make a decision regarding whether or not to collaborate with Electra to avoid being angry, I need to understand why these incoherent words were coming from both sides.

If I played my cards right, I might inadvertently resolve the misunderstanding just by being caught in between this situation.

“So… Leonar said that Mrs. Electra conducted a body reconstruction surgery without his consent… Did she perhaps have malicious distortions involved…?”

Here, I tried to confirm the possibility of an innocent charge as politely as possible, while making an effort not to offend. I approached with this mindset, and to the utmost seriousness.

I even straightened my previously idle posture at the virtual table! Just like a professional consultant!!

But our self-proclaimed Mrs. Electra completely disregarded my expectations.

“Of course! Who else but me, blinded by love, would transfer his brain to a hundreds of billions worth of cutting-edge body while dangerously rigging documents!?”

“….”

If possible, please call the police quickly. She isn’t just any troublesome woman; she’s a dangerously insane one! Ah!!