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A few days before the animal experiments began. The scholarship officer let out a short sigh over a table where the declarations unfolded.

“In a few years, Violet will become a walking Red Zone.”

“…Is that really true?”

As the words finished, Seijis put down the documents he had been examining.

I couldn’t fully understand the detailed theories or calculation formulas, but the implications of the research report were clear.

Destruction.

“What we see now is based on the most conservative assumptions. As Professor Bernike pointed out, some of the tissues and nerves that constitute Violet’s brain are similar to those of monsters.

Thus, if multiplication continues at this rate, the changes may accelerate beyond our predictions. Every time it takes a step, it will unconsciously twist the causal rates around it, distorting space-time.

It could even mutate all the intelligent beings around it into parts of itself.”

Albert’s deeply etched wrinkles around his eyes became even more pronounced.

“However, it will struggle to catch up with its own magical manipulation abilities. Moreover, it has absorbed the essence of an apostle. Depending on the situation, it might even use that power. Unconsciously, of course.”

“Is this why you called me? I thought you were quietly conducting your own research.”

Seijis clasped his hands together and quietly watched the two. Feeling the unspoken pressure from him, Yurik broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly gulped down a glass of water. Only Professor Albert remained calm.

“Yes, this issue is priority, but I’ve felt increased scrutiny from the Inspection Bureau and various public institutions in the academy city lately. When ordering equipment, processing documents, or contacting educational institutions, restrictions have tightened, and I constantly felt like someone was watching.

It didn’t seem to be from the clans, and even though we didn’t know what was going on, it looked like they had sensed something, didn’t it?”

“You knew all along.”

Yurik leaned back, almost dumbfounded by the nonchalant attitude of the scholarship officer, while Albert felt a sense of brazen disregard from that expressionless face.

With a shrug, the professor continued.

“So, I’m asking for your understanding in advance. I know you tend to be particularly sensitive about our student. Besides, you’re a person who digs too deep for an Inspection Bureau agent.”

The lifeless black eyes pierced sharply through the two researchers.

“Knowing that such a dangerous thing is underway, why do you continue to study Violet?”

The sharp accusation in the man’s words hung heavily in the air.

Yurik flinched at the tone but quickly steadied himself and responded with an unwavering voice.

“It’s for the people. If we can utilize Violet’s talents, we could awaken everyone without supernatural abilities. Is that all? We might also be able to establish a similar network among individuals. It would be a tremendous innovation! A way to make the world a better place…”

“The first Secretary-General of Luminexa likely thought the same. Who would have guessed that the atomic bomb created to defeat the monsters would be used in human civil conflict? Let’s recall the reason the Tea-TIME accord was drafted.”

Seijis shot back, unwittingly cynically dismissing the naive ideals.

The wounds left by the harsh realities of the future throbbed painfully, and he could no longer bear it.

“This and that are different. We—”

“Documents and confidential minutes obtained from MagnaVis also state that to prevent the coming crisis, we must accept a certain degree of risk and sacrifice.”

“…”

Yurik bit his lip and looked down.

Watching his reaction, the scholarship officer fell into thought.

There’s validity in that man’s assertions. Theoretically speaking.

And those dreamers, mesmerized by the twinkling stars, pulled them down to Earth, inciting catastrophic events.

The Federation created clone legions and planet-level self-destruction systems under the guise of security, while Restraid obsessed over creating massive doll weapons with the blood and sweat of thousands.

Obsidian Legion and the Federal Army’s Intelligence Department had developed plans for incapacitating superhumans, and MagnaVis was desperate to turn the Grand Mage into a demigod.

Arshitt conspired with aliens, weaving strange plots.

‘Even that Laplacian had good intentions!’

The scholarship officer, looking at the confused doctor with his head bowed, was suddenly overwhelmed by the impulse to reveal a dark truth.

What kind of reaction would this pure-hearted young scholar have upon hearing the truth of the interdimensional invasion a century ago?

The most horrific conclusions brought forth by pure goodwill and ideals.

‘The dreamers who aspired for equality must have thought like you when they opened the gates to another world.’

Unable to endure the increasingly tense atmosphere, Professor Albert interjected.

“Let’s calm down. Yurik is only acting with good intentions. Let’s not push him too hard. I know what you’re worried about.”

“Is it about the erosion issue?”

It was a dreadful thought. Something that even that witch didn’t possess.

In a vague fear, a chilling thought crossed his mind.

‘Rather than becoming a toy in the hands of those demons from another world, perhaps it would be a better choice for humanity to be assimilated by Violet.’

No. That must never happen.

Seijis flinched at the thought that brushed his mind.

He was aware that he had become excessively radical, but how had he even come to such a conclusion?

An act no different from euthanasia.

There’s no meaning in having returned to this time after overcoming such slim odds if that were the case.

‘Let’s not think like this again.’

The scholarship officer fell into silence. Albert, whom he deemed genuine, continued to explain with a relaxed smile.

“Don’t worry, a large-scale leak won’t occur. Our experiment is merely a mimicry of past methods of consciousness expansion. In the worst-case scenario, Violet’s collective consciousness connection is fundamentally isolated from the outside world. Unless directly connected, a major disaster won’t happen. It’s akin to how the flu virus doesn’t spread through cold.”

“Isn’t there the precedent of Polaris?”

Albert sighed at the sharp inquiry from the scholarship officer.

In that instant, the professor felt like a geologist confronting someone insisting the Earth was flat.

‘This frustrating friend…’

Clearly stated in the report.

“Did you read it properly? It should say there that what the MagnaVis guys made is a kind of electronic warfare device. A machine that indiscriminately spreads powerful jamming signals into the air.

You must have seen the size of the facility where Valefor and Sturgis planned to set up beneath the academy, right? In comparison, our experiments are no different from connecting a dial-up line to a closed, vast communication network. Oh, do you even know what a modem is?”

At Albert’s metaphor, Yurik burst into a smirk, but Seijis didn’t even move an eyebrow. The professor felt disappointment in his failed joke and went on.

“Anyway, if there’s no separate relay device, in the worst case, only the one person connected to the network would suffer. We’ve designed five safety protocols just in case.”

It felt somewhat more realistic and rational compared to the previous researcher’s explanation. Yet, suspicion did not dissipate from the scholarship officer’s face. Albert’s irritation began to rise.

“For heaven’s sake, what resentment do you harbor against humanity? Do you see my disciple as some indiscriminate meme attack weapon?”

Seijis countered without blinking an eye.

“Since you mention it, may I ask you one thing? Do you prioritize the results of your research over your disciple’s safety?”

In an instant, Albert’s face flushed red.

“What are you talking about? Of course, Violet’s safety is the top priority! Why are we doing this research? Peace in the world? Advancement of humanity? Those are merely by-products that arise naturally. The real reason? I can’t allow my disciple to become an uncontrollable gigantic magical calculator! Our duty is to help that child develop her abilities safely!”

After a moment of anger, it subsided into a deep sigh.

“Our first objective is to improve Violet’s ether perception ability according to her given talent and, furthermore, to treat any issues that might exist in her brain. Once that’s solved, potential rampaging issues of the future will also be managed, and utilizing her computational power becomes easier.”

Albert hung his head wearily, fatigue etched into his eyes.

“Is that all? As an Inspection Bureau member, you should know how crazy the world is. The reality is that both the Federation and clans are pulling various ploys behind the scenes. Monsters are becoming increasingly stronger, and there’s also that apostle, right? I was a hunter once. Our job is to hunt down the monsters that cross from the outside world.

Violet won’t be able to avoid this forever. Sooner or later, she’ll clash with the powers of this world and the monsters from other dimensions. That’s just her nature.”

The weight behind Albert’s words pressed down on the surrounding air. His concerns seemed more than just idle worries.

“As a former educator, I simply couldn’t sit back and watch. It’d be reckless to leave her unattended, and it’s appropriate to teach her so she can move toward a good direction. Isn’t it part of a teacher’s duty to awaken the talents necessary to face any tempest from the world? So she can stand proudly against the monsters that might invade from another world.”

Once his words ended, Seijis blinked in surprise.

He seemed perplexed by his earlier reaction and began to organize his thoughts.

They were undeniably working for Violet.

‘There wasn’t a reason to be this agitated.’

Was it due to the injury? He couldn’t quite explain why he felt so tense.

Upon reflection, it was puzzling. Although he hadn’t seen it in the future, the professor certainly had his own rational reasons for acting.

Given the awareness of risk and objectives, it would be sensible to monitor the research for the time being.

“I understand there’s no risk of erosion.”

“Glad to hear that. Then—”

As he was about to cease thinking about the erosion and assimilation issues, a lightning bolt suddenly flashed through his mind.

A thought surged up as if climbing through his spinal cord.

Seijis opened his eyes wide.

‘Why hadn’t I thought of this before?’

The reflexive question burst forth.

“Wait a moment, are you saying that if we assume there’s a relay device, it’s possible to assimilate a large number of unspecified individuals into the Violet Network?”

“I told you. To do that, we’d need to breach the closed network, expose it to the outside, and have a very powerful device and system that could inject ether waves into another person’s consciousness. Like the ether particle accelerator or the vision prism we had beneath Polaris. Even if I wanted to do such a thing, it’s impossible due to lack of money and time—”

“…So, it’s possible. I understand.”

The professor glanced skeptically at the man before him.

“…Scholarship officer. What are you thinking right now?”

**

Animal experiments started from the morning.

The aim of the experiment was said to be to prevent the subject from becoming our Violet during the consciousness expansion process.

The scene unfolding before my eyes looked like a scene from a sci-fi movie.

Several acrylic boxes connected to experimental devices, within which mice with tags on their ears were lined up.

“Recording starts. Time is 9 AM. The subject is 6 mice…”

Subject 1122 lay back in a chair with a helmet on. Five minutes into the experiment, an unexpected reaction occurred.

The mice in the acrylic cases started to tremble as if in anxiety.

And then, an unbelievable sight unfolded.

“Whoa! They’re walking!”

“Could it be that they’ve become Violet mice?”

“Maybe we can make animals intelligent!”

The mice looked around, tilting their heads.

With their bright red eyes, they cautiously examined their surroundings and seemed as though they had discovered a new world, walking on two feet within the acrylic boxes.

“Do you feel anything?”

“No, there’s no connection with the network.”

The two observed the mice with astonished eyes as they conversed.

“Indeed, the main effects of the network seem to apply only to highly intelligent beings. I doubt we can erode or create other clones from anything that isn’t human.”

“Still, their behavior has definitely changed. Has their intelligence increased…? We need to compare it to the control group.”

Perhaps influenced by the contact with the Violet Network, the mice behaved almost like small humans.

They walked about, rolled around.

When given a peanut, they stared at it blankly for a moment before happily wagging their tails and dashing over to grab it, sitting on the floor to eat.

“Shall we check the interactions with other subjects as well?”

“Let’s do that. For now, let’s start with the intelligence tests, as we can’t ascertain meaningful increases in intelligence by just looking at this… Violet! What are you doing?”

Before the words finished, subject 5442 lifted a large mouse from one of our enclosures and placed it inside the test subject’s cage.

“Let’s give them a friend!”

“That’s not allowed! That’s a fierce one we set aside!”

“Really? Eek!”

Suddenly, a pressure shot from the end of my fingers, as the struggling mouse bit me.

Though the Ether Protection blocked any injury, I was startled and tossed it aside.

The mouse fell beneath the test subject’s cage.

“Oh no.”

The test subject mouse, seeing the larger mouse, squeaked quietly, then opened its mouth and lunged at it.

In that instant, an unbelievable scene unfolded.

“Squeak! Squeak!”

The bipedal mouse saw the bigger one, leaping towards it like a mini martial artist, dropping a kick on top of the larger mouse’s head.

-Wham!

The impact startled the larger mouse, letting out a short scream.

The bipedal mouse danced around it as if it were dancing, kicking and evading, beating it up unilaterally.

Scenes from a martial arts movie unfolded in the palm of my hands.

“To think a mouse would fight like a person. We’re definitely filming this, right?”

“Of course. This is…”

Soon, the larger mouse was beaten and knocked out.

The bipedal mouse, standing atop the larger one, proudly put its front paws on its hips.

“Squeak!”

…

For a brief moment, the echo of victory faded, and the next moment, it began to tremble and collapsed.

The heroic bipedal figure from moments ago vanished, and the mouse resumed its previous clueless behavior, looking around in confusion.

“The effect lasts for 30 minutes, confirmed.”

“I never expected such results.”

We couldn’t help but feel our hearts pounding as we witnessed that scene.

“That animal has become a genius!”

“Indeed, our Violet is a genius!”

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