Chapter 303

'Doctor'

The mysterious being that Woo Jinchul mentioned approached Suho sooner than expected. As if he had been waiting for him to arrive in Russia.

"…You said you're the 47th doll?" As Suho's eyes narrowed, the pink-haired woman politely bowed and replied,

"Yes. I am the ultimate toy that the Doctor perfected after 46 experiments. The Doctor sent me as a gift to express his goodwill towards you Mr. Sung Suho."

"Gift?" What did that mean?

Sensing Suho's rising suspicion, the woman tore off her own arm without a word.

Crack.

"…?!"

Whoosh—

Before he could even be surprised by the sudden action, the woman's arm regenerated in an instant, pink cells wriggling. The woman, who showed that shocking performance with an indifferent expression, introduced herself once again,

"As you can see, I'm the best toy and slave that can be repaired no matter how much I'm broken. It's a message from the Doctor, asking you to play with me to your heart's content, Mr. Sung Suho. Whether for stress relief or combat, you can use me for any purpose."

"…"

As Suho didn't answer, the woman tilted her head.

"Do you not like me? I was designed to have a fairly attractive appearance by human standards, but if there's anything you don't like, I can improve it."

"…"

Suho frowned instead of answering, at her tone that sounded like someone explaining the functions of an electronic product. 

Wasn't this too suspicious? Not only did a guy he didn't even know suddenly offer him a gift, But that gift was the best toy-slave? How many people would be genuinely grateful to receive such a present out of the blue? Suho felt nothing but disgust and discomfort at the sight of the artificial human-like being. He was truly curious. Did that guy called 'Doctor' really think this would convey his goodwill? Didn't he know that this would only make him more wary?

'…Or is there some other purpose despite that?' Besides, Suho was more surprised by the woman's action of tearing off her arm without hesitation than by the fact that it reattached itself. That inhumanity of treating herself like a toy, wasn't it bizarre?

[My liege.] Beru was also extremely wary. He glared at the woman and muttered beside Suho,

[The energy of Itarim is densely concentrated. Like…] Beru's gaze shifted to the scythe of harvest in Hasul's hand.

[…That scythe made of a starpiece.]

The scythe of harvest.

A weapon made by melting down starpieces. Woo Jinchul said he received that scythe from the Doctor. And now, he could feel almost the same energy from the unknown 'test subject' made of condensed pink powder before his eyes. The meaning was clear.

"You said you're my gift?"

"Yes. Please accept me."

"Before I decide whether to accept or not, I need to know who sent this gift." Suho asked the woman with a stern expression,

"Is the 'Doctor' who created you an apostle of Itarim?"

"Yes." An immediate answer. Suho was speechless at the sight of the woman nodding obediently. He couldn't believe it was true.

"Why would an apostle of Itarim show me such favor?"

"The Doctor wants you to know that he has a different objective than other apostles."

"A different objective?"

[Kieek! My liege, don't be fooled by such lies!]

"Of course, it's natural for you not to believe it. That's why the Doctor offered me as a gift first. It's an expression of pure goodwill, that he has no intention of being hostile towards you, Mr. Sung Suho."

[Kieeeeek?!] The woman's shameless reply truly dumbfounded Beru.

From his perspective, who had been fighting Itarim for a long time, he knew how absurd those words were. But Suho decided to try and get more information since the opponent initiated the conversation.

"Then what's the Doctor's objective? As far as I know, the apostles of Itarim came to invade Earth."

"Of course, the Doctor's purpose was the same as other apostles at first. But that was just him obeying the wish of Itarim, who created him, not his own will."

He noticed something strange. He couldn't feel any respect or faith towards the outer gods in the woman's calm tone as she mentioned Itarim. It was as if an atheist was talking about religion. On the other hand, the woman showed absolute respect only when she talked about the 'Doctor.' In a way, it was only natural. If the Doctor's creator was Itarim, the woman's creator was the Doctor.

"The Doctor has always been full of curiosity. So not long after arriving on this planet, while observing the natives, he began research instead of invasion." Pure curiosity? If he were to believe the suspicious woman's words, it meant this:

"He came to invade at first, but he's just watching because there are many interesting things here?"

"It's more accurate to say research and analysis than watching, but it's similar in the end."

"So? Why does the Doctor want to get in my good graces? Does he want a native to guide him around Earth?"

"No. Rather, hmm…" The woman chose her words carefully. And she continued her explanation, choosing the most polite expressions,

"The Doctor is very interested in this planet called Earth. Therefore, he no longer wants to be hostile with the Shadow Monarch, and he wishes to have a cooperative relationship with you, Mr. Sung Suho, the son of the Shadow Monarch, if possible."

"Cooperation?"

[Kieek?] From Beru's perspective, he was seriously contemplating whether Suho should continue to listen to these ridiculous words. And as if knowing his thoughts,

"Especially…" The woman recalled the Doctor's words.

– Isn't it interesting?

– Originally, all creations are made to carry out the maker's will, but the creations of this universe killed their creator of their own volition.

– Would you like to try killing me too? I am your Creator.

– Why can't you…? You useless things. Don't you have free will?

– You can't do it either? Then I will try this first.

"…Recently, the Doctor has been conducting research to defy the creator's orders with his own will."

Could this also be called research? Free will… Even the woman didn't know what the Doctor truly wanted or what he was trying to do. But it didn't matter what he wanted. She wasn't curious. She simply followed the orders of the Doctor, who created her.

"And there's a decisive reason why the Doctor gave up on the invasion."

[Kieek?] Beru tilted his head as the woman's gaze suddenly turned to him. And Beru's expression hardened at the words that followed.

Hardened, very, very much.

"After learning that you, Marshal Beru, The Butcher of Armies, have personally descended upon this planet, the Doctor's mind was made up."

[Hmm.]

"I heard from the Doctor that if you wanted to, Marshal Beru, you could slaughter all the apostles who arrived on this planet in an instant."

[Hmm.]

Beru just scoffed with an arrogant and fearsome expression, his arms crossed, at the continuous remarks. The words he had dismissed as nonsense were finally starting to make sense.

"But the reason why you're just calmly watching the situation unfold must be to train the Shadow Monarch's son and deploy him as a new force in the war."

[Not bad. Quite insightful for an apostle of Itarim.]

…Nod

Could he do anything else? All Suho could do here was nod with a serious expression. Well, although there was a slight misunderstanding, it wasn't entirely wrong. Regardless of the minor details, it was true that she made a prediction quite close to the truth.

"In that sense, the Doctor requests cooperation for a mutually beneficial cause."

"Cooperation? What does he want?"

"The Doctor wants to thoroughly research and analyze this planet. Naturally, that requires considerable time. But the problem is that other apostles are still damaging this world while the Doctor is researching it."

"Wait. Don't tell me…"

"Yes, that's correct." As Suho's eyes widened, realizing the point of her words, the woman nodded.

"The Doctor wants all the other apostles who interfere with his research to disappear. By your hand, Mr. Sung Suho."

"…!"

[…] 

Even Beru couldn't help but be surprised this time. Of course, he knew. The Itarim had temporarily allied with each other against the common enemy, Sung Jinwoo, but in the end, they were in a relationship of monitoring and competing with each other. The winner takes all. They were invaders who crossed the distant dimensional wall to monopolize the vast amount of masterless mana remaining in this universe.

Then what about the apostles under them? Those who served the same god would cooperate, although their methods might be different. But apostles who served completely different gods could openly impede each other like this, or engage in a secret power struggle. To the point of directly requesting murder.

"So he needs a proxy to fight for him. While he hides in a safe place himself."

[He seems like a very wicked and cowardly bastard.] Beru pressured the woman with a displeased expression.

[If he's going to make such a request, he should come and prostrate himself, that's the etiquette on this planet.]

"Please understand. The Doctor hates leaving his lab."

[He's a coward.]

"…Rather, he believes it's more efficient to leave the task of gathering information outside to us and focus on his research."

"So he's a coward and a shut-in."

"…"

Beru and Suho, who were mocking him in turn, were quite the comedic duo. As a result, the woman, who had maintained an expressionless face, finally showed some emotion. Ignoring her slightly twisted mouth, Suho pointed at Hasul's scythe and asked,

"Then I'll ask while we're at it. Did your Doctor make this scythe too?"

"…Yes. Although it's a failed product, it was given to humans to keep the Apostle of Paradise in check."

"And the Apostle of Paradise just watched?"

"Yes. Apart from the power struggle between apostles, since they were on the same side with a common enemy on the surface, there was no justification for other apostles to stop the act of handing over Starpieces to humans or contaminating them."

"…Am I contaminated?" Hasul looked at the scythe of harvest in her hand with a disgusted expression.

But the fact that she didn't let go of the handle despite that was strange. And the woman, test subject No. 47, who heard Hasul's words, stared into her eyes and spoke,

"That's not contamination, it's called 'evolution,' test subject No. 13."

Hasul's expression froze at those strange words.