#402
Glasses (Illustration Present)
Isekai Research Institute.
This is a national research institution in Japan where the country’s top scholars gather, and it’s currently working on the core research of the bidirectional gate project.
Driving my Bugatti Chiron, which was parked at the hotel, I arrived at the institute and immediately barged into the office where Saori was.
“Hi, Hi?! Deok-Sung?!”
Zing.
As soon as the automatic door opened, what caught my eye was a bespectacled beauty, Ishihara Saori, busy curling her messy red hair while wearing an oversized white gown that completely covered her arms.
“I heard you completed the equation.”
The bidirectional gate.
Even though it’s called a bidirectional gate, the fact is that it’s a technology to stabilize a passage between different universes, so the difficulty level is extraordinarily high, and I was already aware of this from Saori.
Throughout the process of developing the bidirectional gate, the auxiliary technologies that emerged, like magical particle accelerators, have already raised the civilization level of Earth-2, a world in a light novel with a modern level of civilization, by a notch.
According to Saori, once the bidirectional gate development is complete, warped navigation and interstellar travel, which had only been discussed in theory, might become possible.
Right now, it sounds like a distant future story, but that’s what they say.
Hearing my words, Saori’s face turned red as she nodded.
“Y-Yeah. I completed it.”
She said while still fussing with her messy red hair.
Behind her, I could see walls plastered with my merchandise and posters.
I’m not some idol!
No matter how many times I see that damn poster, I can’t get used to it.
I don’t understand why she still puts that up.
“I’d like to hear the details.”
True to her character as a reclusive 4D genius girl scientist, the blackboard was covered with incomprehensible equations, and the desk was messy with stacks of papers and coffee.
“Oh, that. I’ll explain it now. First, I started the research based on the research materials left by Messiah and the world gate spell. The process of forming the passage between the two universes had already been covered in Messiah’s world gate spell, so it wasn’t difficult, but the method to minimize spacetime error and to maintain the passage stably was missing from Messiah’s spell. That’s only natural; Messiah’s goal was the fusion of the two worlds, so stable, long-term maintenance of the passage wouldn’t have been his concern. But since Deok-Sung’s goal is different from Messiah’s, the equation I mentioned earlier was proposed to first find the most essential dimension coordinate calculations and methods to minimize spacetime errors, and to find those solutions, we needed dimension observation values from both this universe and the parallel universe, so…”
“Well, the stable, long-term maintenance of the corridor probably wasn’t a priority. But since Duksung-chan’s goals differ from the Messiah’s, what’s essential first is finding the calculations for dimensional coordinates and methods to minimize spacetime discrepancies, which brings us back to the equation I mentioned earlier. To solve it, we need observational dimensional values from both this universe and the parallel universe, so…”
Saori launched into a technical spiel the moment I tried to talk.
Honestly, being a humanities major and not exactly on speaking terms with math, I barely understood 80% of what she was saying.
“…Actually, although the World Gate the Messiah opened is closed, recent observations from the Plain Radar revealed that the rift connecting to Earth-1 hasn’t completely disappeared. Right now, there’s still a slight connection between Earth-1 and our world, Earth-2, through that thin rift. Of course, with a rift that small, not even animals can cross it. The only thing we can send across is information! Anyway, it’s been proven that once a gate is opened, it can’t be closed forever. To put it simply for you, Duksung-chan, a severe wound may have healed, but the scar remains forever, affecting us. Our research team recently succeeded in extracting dimensional observational values through that thin rift. We substituted those values into the equation to find the solution! Duksung-chan!”
*Thud.*
Saori clapped the table, her eyes sparkling.
The light from the bulb in the dim research lab reflected off her glasses.
As a fourth-dimensional scientist character, she was exceedingly passionate about her area of interest.
“So, can we open the gate right now?”
“No, the theory is complete now. There’s still the commercialization phase left, and we need to conduct stability tests to ensure it’s safe for actual people to cross. We can’t exactly use my beloved Duksung-chan as a test subject, can we? Besides the technical issues, we also need research outcomes from social sciences, humanities, and political diplomacy on how to handle the civilizational exchange between our world, Earth-2, and that other world, Earth-1.”
Saori raised her index finger, looking quite pleased.
I could sort of understand this part.
So, the tech development is done, but it’ll take some time to commercialize.
But research on civilizational exchange, huh?
“Is that why they’re talking about creating something like a Human Federation or whatever?”
Hearing her reminded me of the matter I had casually discussed with Han Seo-Jin yesterday.
A coalition of all nations globally, centered around me, the Messiah.
Was the purpose of the revamped UN to prepare for interactions and exchanges with Earth-1?
Saori nodded at my question.
“Yup! That’s it! Of course, since I’m a science girl, I’m not too familiar with those humanities studies, but the world’s top scholars are working on it, so you don’t have to worry, Duksung-chan!”
Hee hee hee.
Saori giggled and chugged an energy drink sitting on the table.
I noticed the dark circles under her eyes had grown darker.
She looked like she hadn’t slept all night.
“Good job.”
I reached out and patted Saori’s head gently.
“Ugh… Duksung-chan… If you keep petting me like that…”
As I ruffled her still-unkempt, messy hair, Saori’s body shuddered slightly.
Her face turned bright red.
“Is this really all it takes for you to be embarrassed?”
I pulled her closer with my hand.
Saori’s face, nestled in my embrace, flushed even more.
“Th-that’s…”
“I’m just getting started with what I have in mind.”
Through her glasses, Saori’s red eyes trembled.
She smelled like a delightful body wash from her recent shower.
“Saori, you’re not mentally prepared yet… Plus, this is the lab…”
“Since you did well, I’m going to reward you now.”
“W-wait a second… Deok-Sung-chan… Hah?! Kyaaa! H-huh… Haaang…♥”
I pushed Saori, wearing her gown, down onto the mattress on the floor.
“Ugh… Deok-Sung-chan… It hurts, uh… Aah… Don’t take off my glasses… Huh…”
As I had my way with Saori, I removed her glasses.
Without her glasses, Saori’s bare face was actually quite pretty.
As she continued to be overwhelmed on the mattress, her face turned as red as her hair color.
She covered her face with both hands as if washing it dry.
“Honestly, you look prettiest without your glasses.”
“…Th-that’s cheating… If you tell me that, Saori… I’ll… uh… I feel weird… My head feels fuzzy… Ugh…”
Hearing my words, Saori shook her head and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Ugh… So, am I not pretty without my glasses?”
She asked while looking at me.
Suddenly, I remembered her character setting.
As a light novel heroine, she was definitely prettier than most celebrities, but due to her habit of not dressing up, her self-esteem was surprisingly low relative to her looks.
Her asking if she was pretty, saying she wasn’t ready, and even her hair being straightened by a curling iron when we first met were all extensions of that personality.
Instead of answering her, I silenced her with my lips.
“Mm…”
Saori made a sound like she was swallowing air.
Our tongues tangled, producing a squishy noise.
I could feel her body trembling against me.
Pulling away from the kiss, I said, “No. You’re beautiful. You stand out against anyone else.”
Wham.
Saori’s face flushed even deeper from my words.
She hugged me tightly and said, “Hold me a little more… Deok-Sung-chan… Love Saori a bit more…♥ Huh! Ahh!”
I continued to indulge in Saori right then and there.
Soon, the lab was filled with heated cries.
*
After the whirlwind passed.
Saori slowly opened her eyes.
“Ugh, how long did I sleep…?”
She scratched her messy hair.
Due to her recent research, she had essentially forgotten her home and had been living in the lab, fully immersed in her work day and night.
Her sense of time had long since vanished.
“Glasses… my glasses…”
She fumbled around her head and found her glasses and put them on.
As her blurred vision became clear, she looked around the room.
She looked around, her clarity returning.
“Deok-Sung-Chan?”
There was no one beside her.
Saori bit her lip.
She wrapped a white gown over her naked body.
“Uwoo…”
Saori let out a low gasp, hugging her knees with her arms.
At first, it was definitely fan love.
But now, it had evolved into a crush over time.
She liked him.
She wished he would be by her side a little more.
“But that can’t happen.”
Saori wiped away the tears that had slipped out with the sleeve of her gown.
She was well aware of her situation.
Unlike the other heroines, she didn’t have many points of contact with him, nor did she attend the same academy.
It was simply a one-sided crush; he had generously accepted her feelings.
She had no room to complain.
Even if it meant waking up after a hot 15 rounds of relationship to find he wasn’t beside her.
As Saori lifted her head, she caught sight of a mirror.
Her reflection stared back at her.
A beauty with messy red hair and glasses, but she thought of herself as plain.
Along with that, the white gown barely covering her rather sizable chest.
“But still, Deok-Sung-Chan said I was pretty…”
Saori recalled what had happened yesterday.
She had always thought of herself as plain and incapable of getting dressed up.
She believed her looks were significantly overshadowed by the shining beauty of other heroines, even her friend Haru.
But he had said that she was pretty just the way she was.
He had told her she wasn’t any less beautiful compared to the other heroines.
Even if it was just empty praise, Saori appreciated his kindness.
“Deok-Sung-Chan. So sweet… Hehe…”
Saori smiled while hugging her knees.
His absence didn’t feel so lonely anymore.
Even if they were physically apart, she had definitely received a lot of love and affection from him yesterday.
So it was alright.
“If I don’t keep researching…”
Gathering her composure, Saori stood up.
The bilateral gate development he entrusted to her was something she had to make successful.
Just as she was thinking that…
The automatic door opened with a whir.
Saori turned her gaze to the door.
There he was.
“What’s up? You’re awake?”
Kim Deok-Sung spoke as he placed a convenience store bag on the desk.
Seeing him, Saori’s face turned red.
“W-what’s going on, Deok-Sung-Chan? I thought you were gone!”
She thought he had left.
She had felt okay with that.
But he hadn’t left after all?
Thump.
Saori’s heart raced.
“I haven’t left yet… But more importantly…”
Suddenly…
Deok-Sung grabbed Saori’s wrist.
“You’re just in a white gown over your naked body; are you trying to provoke me?”
“T-that’s not it… Deok-Sung-Chan! W-wait a second… Ugh! I still have to continue the research… Ahh! Haaang…♥”
As she denied his words, Saori found herself in his arms, starting to pant.
It didn’t take long for the laboratory to heat up once more with excitement and passion.
