Continuing his train of thought about registering the work of interest, Laika ended up giving the white-clad Hero a strange nickname.
With a bitter laugh, Laika rose from the recliner.
He never even dreamed that the odd thing nestled between Iris’s legs would move on its own.
Lost in lewd fantasies, he lay down on the bed, pondering how he could make her happy on the approaching promised day.
***
The next day, at Abellus’s Laboratory.
He sighed inwardly as he reviewed the profiles of the clinical trial participants.
Since recruitment was limited to Awakened individuals, all wore Transformation Suits, but none matched what he was looking for.
There was a white-clad Awakened, but he was male.
‘This isn’t easy. I thought using the Hero App would catch someone instantly.’
Since this Laboratory was under J Corporation, posting mission requests on the Hero App wasn’t difficult.
While Abellus couldn’t post personally, if commissioned through a major corporation, nothing was impossible.
‘Why… why is this happening…?’
As he suspected, the white-clad Hero must have recently awakened their power.
In Gyodam City’s slums, there was a tavern frequented by criminals, where most information about Heroes gathered.
Even there, no one had heard rumors of a Hero who emitted a machine from between their legs—until a delinquent, whom Laika had once used as a toy to relieve stress, mentioned it.
So, Abellus had thought that the rookie white-clad Hero wouldn’t miss a highly paid clinical trial mission.
He was terribly mistaken.
Many applied for the clinical trial through the Hero App, but the white-clad Hero, that woman, was nowhere to be found.
Glancing briefly at the white-clad man, Abellus imagined his pants tearing and something coming out—then gagged.
A gruesome, horrifying vision he wished he could unsee.
‘She has to be a woman. No matter how I look at it… the Transformation Suit is set immediately upon awakening.
If someone stays an Awakened long enough, they might forgo the suit for personal costume preferences, but if that were the case, rumors about the machine-emitting Hero would’ve spread long ago.’
Abellus gave a bored expression and instructed his Assistants to begin the clinical trial.
They led the participants to the prepared rooms.
Since there was no white-clad Hero, Abellus, as Laboratory Director, saw no reason to participate personally.
He ordered the Assistants to safely conclude the trial.
If the target didn’t appear, they planned to proceed with a cold medicine clinical trial.
The drug used would be a copy of an existing medicine, so side effects were extremely unlikely.
Naturally.
After all, the mission request was posted under J Corporation’s name, so they couldn’t recklessly harm the participants—at least not openly.
‘There will always be a few curious ones. Especially those newly Awakened—they tend to get cocky, trusting their abilities.’
He had called in many Heroes with a high reward; he couldn’t let it pass without some gain.
If an unavoidable accident happened, it wasn’t the Hero App’s concern.
Those who sought missions through the Hero App knew full well they might risk their lives.
The terms and notices of the Hero App clearly stated: “All missions involve risk, and unless pre-specified, damages from accidents will not be compensated.”
‘Big money always comes with a price.’
Time passed, and the clinical trial ended without incident.
Abellus leisurely sipped coffee in his office after receiving a report by phone.
Suddenly, he keenly detected hurried footsteps approaching down the corridor.
A knock followed shortly after.
He told them to enter, and a sweating Assistant stood up abruptly to report an unexpected accident.
An accident he had hoped for, though unintentional.
“After the clinical trial ended, one participant left the lab and entered the Forbidden Zone.
We realized the escape late and pursued them, but it’s been confirmed they are deceased.”
“Hmm, the trial was over anyway. So this happened while they were going home… Cause of death?”
Though he already knew, Abellus asked.
One of his Villains disguised as a civilian Assistant had lured the participant into the Forbidden Zone.
The Assistant in front of him reported the facts without suspicion.
“The corpse was found in the Seventh Room, where poison gas is emitted. It appears to be death by poisoning.”
“A pity. Industrial espionage to steal the lab’s secrets, perhaps? Keep the body in the Monster Storage Room.”
His tone was flat and monotonous, like keeping a bottle of whiskey at a cocktail bar.
The Assistant clenched their teeth, trying to maintain a neutral expression.
Goosebumps crawled over the arm hidden beneath his white lab coat.
That was a human death, yet he reacted so coldly.
No matter how you looked at it, Abellus was no ordinary person.
Perhaps something had been missing from birth, despite his brilliant mind and Awakened power.
Maybe humanity itself.
Several unexplained accidents had occurred in the lab before, and each time, Abellus reacted with the same calm demeanor.
At this point, some suspected a deep connection between Abellus and the accidents, but everyone stayed silent to avoid ending up screaming victims themselves.
There were grim rumors that anyone who leaked information about the lab ended up as monster food, and sometimes staff were found ripped in half by monsters while caring for them.
Entering this lab was easy, but leaving was not.
Some Assistants, lured by money, ignored the dreadful rumors and came in, only to face strange projects and terrifying monsters flicking their tongues.
They endured several unavoidable accidents and tried to resign—until hearing that a colleague who resigned was found at the lab’s entrance, limbs torn apart.
That day, Abellus gathered the Assistants and informed them of the death as if announcing the dinner menu.
“Helveros must have been hungry on his walk. A pity, really.
Peter eats instant food too often and lacks nutrition.”
Helveros was one of Abellus’s cherished Chimera Monsters.
The pity was not because of the resigned Assistant’s death, but because Helveros was eating such nutritionally poor food.
It was hard to believe these words came from a human.
After emphasizing that this was another unavoidable accident and they should always follow lab rules, Abellus ended the meeting.
Was it really an unavoidable accident?
The same question rose in everyone’s minds.
No matter what, it was chilling how Abellus reacted so casually to the death of someone who was just in the same space not long ago.
Everyone but Abellus went pale.
The shock of a colleague’s death was one thing, but Abellus’s indifferent response was far more terrifying.
‘The heavens are heartless. Why does such a madman have a brilliant mind and Awakened powers?
Are ordinary people just meant to die?’
What kind of power did Abellus have?
Not long after joining the lab, he had revealed to the staff that he was Awakened—he said it himself.
No one knew what abilities he possessed.
Dangerous incidents often occurred while handling monsters, but he never used his powers, relying only on J Corporation’s monster defense tools.
Occasionally, when he subdued a rampaging monster by hand, it was clear he possessed tremendous power.
No doubt, he possessed chilling skills fitting his psychopathic nature.
His violet eyes shone dangerously beyond the silver rim of his glasses.
Like a true psycho, even his eye color was rare purple.
Feeling the intense interrogation in that gaze, the Assistant snapped out of their thoughts and bowed quickly.
“Yes. We will keep the body in storage.
But… some of the remaining participants who haven’t gone home are unsettled.”
“Hmm. What’s there to gain by staying?
They walk right into the limbs of monsters like it’s nothing, then make a fuss over a minor accident.
At that rate, they’ll only become monster food, not Heroes. Ha ha, kekek…”
Abellus grabbed his belly and laughed heartily for reasons unknown.
His swivel chair creaked as he shook with amusement.
How could he react like that when someone had died?
The Assistant gritted their teeth once more to hide their unease and cleared their throat.
“…It’s just because someone died. Is it alright to send them home like this?”
“Hm, no. Tell the Heroes we’ll give them extra pay.”
“Extra pay for everyone except the Hero who had the accident?”
“Yes. But ask them to leave a good review on the Hero App in return.
Tell them not to spread unnecessary rumors.
We finally managed to post a mission on the Hero App; we can’t let it end as a one-off.”
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