A Genius Gamer Reincarnated into a Hero’s Family Chapter 296

Genius Gamer, Reincarnated into a Heroic Family Chapter 296

Garden of Life (5)

The research facility built in the Garden of Life was much larger and more expansive than I had expected, so it took a whole day to see everything.

I didn’t even look at everything in detail. There were a lot of things I just passed over due to time constraints.

‘It’s the culmination of modern magic engineering.’

It was quite strange to see such a state-of-the-art magical tool being used for research in such a remote place.

Usually, secret groups of magicians who conduct research in the forests like this tend to do so in old machines and unclean facilities, even if they receive support from nobles.

But Kaladan, Kaladan. While building a research institute of this size in such a remote place, no information was leaked to the outside world. It didn’t even seem to be discovered by Duke Kal-El.

‘… … Or, you may already know but just sit back and watch.’

It was all right. Harang wanted to grab what he could before Duke Kal-El found out about what was happening here.

In particular, the technology to artificially create a body with a soul, which can be said to be essential, had to be obtained.

To do that, we needed a way to convince them.

‘He won’t be shaken by being caught here. Even if you threaten to report him to Duke Kal-El, he won’t show much of a reaction. Even if he gets caught, he’ll probably have plenty of ways to deal with it.’

Then, you just have to reveal something that should never be revealed.

What secrets are hidden here?

I looked closely at the Morning Star, but I couldn’t find anything particularly special. It’s likely that the laboratory was hidden in a thoroughly hidden location, beyond magical technology.

‘If that’s the case, it’ll be a little harder to find.’

It’s not that I’ve never done an undercover investigation before.

He trained in pure physical strengthening, mastering the art of hiding his aura within his body as much as possible and moving stealthily.

In fact, when I was attending Arniel Magic School, I would secretly harass all kinds of teachers in the middle of the night.

However, this place is an exception.

Since there are knights of 6 stars or higher watching at intervals of several meters, no matter how quietly you move, you will inevitably be detected. If you have learned the art of hiding your appearance, it would be different, but even Harang has not learned such a skill.

‘This place is so thoroughly protected by magic that it’s difficult to hide yourself with magic.’

It wasn’t for nothing that Baidal showed Harang around the lab with such a confident expression. He was confident that his secret would never be revealed.

‘I think I’ll have to stay a few more days to get the feel of it… ‘

At a time when even Harang feels a little lost.

“Um… … Prince Harang.”

Taniya whispered quietly from behind.

She was shivering slightly and had a pale expression on her face, as if she had a cold.

I thought that his condition was not good because he had to go through the rough jungle with a body that was only slightly stronger than the average person, but the reality was different.

“… … I have a bad feeling. It seems like there are a lot of resentful spirits here.”

At Taniya’s words, Baidal’s shoulders flinched. Harang captured the scene without missing a beat.

“Is that so?”

Unlike 21st century Earth, the existence of ghosts is not that surprising here.

Because the existence of ghosts has been proven for a long time. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t afraid of ghosts.

There is a very famous tale about a ‘demon knight’ possessed by a ghost 300 years ago who brought down a castle.

“An evil spirit. That’s strange. Don’t evil spirits like that reside in people who hold a grudge against them, or in places like that?”

Since Harang had some knowledge of sorcery and Taoism, it was not difficult for him to infer what had happened just by the fact that there were many evil spirits.

Baidal said with a laugh.

“You seem to be very scared, young lady. An evil spirit? There is no such thing, so don’t worry. It’s just a feeling of nothing, so don’t worry.”

Harang shook his head at him.

“No. There’s no such thing as feeling bad. As far as I know, this person is the world’s greatest shaman and sorcerer, and he’s more of an expert on ghosts than anyone else in the world. Even more so than you or me.”

“… … !”

Baidal pursed his lips.

If someone else had said that, I would have just ignored it, but when Harang Paul Caladan said it, I couldn’t just ignore it.

‘The world’s greatest sorcerer?’

But Baidal laughed.

I’ve heard that there is a group of people who know a lot about ghosts and can exorcise them.

Even so, he’s still just a stone-thrower living in a shack that’s about to collapse.

‘Ghosts can be defeated even with a sharpened sword. It’s impossible to figure out something just by feeling and seeing a little bit. Sorcery? Isn’t it something worse than a wizard?’

In reality, it was natural to ignore witchcraft because it had no physical effect and did not have much influence on the world.

Even Taniya, who could be said to be the best in the world, was at a level where he couldn’t properly deal with a single thug.

But their ‘intuition’ was real.

The ability to predict what events will happen and what will happen in the world.

And, he was more insightful than anyone else in figuring out what terrible disasters had occurred in the past.

“It’s late tonight. It would be difficult to leave the jungle. Would you like to stay overnight?”

“Yes. I find this place interesting, so I’d like to visit again tomorrow.”

“Hehe, you are most welcome. It seems like the researchers are also very happy thanks to your outside knowledge.”

“I’m glad it helped.”

As Harang supported Taniya and the knights guided them back to the lodging, Baidal snorted.

‘No matter how great a feat one may have achieved at a young age, in the end, one is still just a child.’

Harang’s insight will never allow him to find out what is happening here or what secrets it holds.

Baidal left the lab and headed into the forest. At 7:51 p.m., the dense jungle became a place where sunlight skillfully illuminated the forest, creating a sort of magical circle with faint glows reflecting off the leaves and rocks.

If you walk along the set rhythm there, a hidden space will appear, and this is the ‘Secret Garden’, which can be said to be the real essence of the Garden of Life.

As I approached the center of the forest with my backpack on, I saw something like a manhole hidden among the leaves. As I stepped into it, my body slowly descended like an elevator.

The place we arrived was a neat and clean laboratory with bright lights on.

However, the view beyond the lab window was not at all neat.

-Kkaaaah!

-Help me! Please save me!!

The inside of the facility, with red and black bloodstains splattering in disorder, was filled with horrific scenes. There was a human with six arms being eaten by a human with a giant dinosaur’s snout, and there was also a human whose skin had been turned into wood, unable to move, just breathing and rolling his eyes.

Despite seeing such a horrific scene, Baidal continued to enter the room without any concern. The horrific sight here was nothing more than a fragmentary experiment on what would happen if someone’s body was given another soul.

The real exhaust experiment was located at the innermost part.

OMG! The lab door opened, and the director of the lab appeared.

The director of the research institute, who was only 1.3 meters tall and had a stooped back, pushed up his glasses and made a displeased expression.

“You couldn’t get any more test subjects?”

“It’s currently being transported. Director, Merticol. We need to handle the test subject with a little more care.”

“Anyway, weren’t we supposed to bring in primitive tribes from remote islands or the remnants of a war-torn nation? Why is it so hard to get those?”

At the words of the research institute director, Merticol, Baidal frowned slightly but shook his head. In the end, he held back his anger, thinking that their research would be helpful to the Twelve Sword Elders he served.

“Are you making any progress?”

“Tch, it’s still too much. Do you see?”

At Merticol’s words, Baidal went inside. Inside, a small mannequin-like thing, like a child, was lying on the laboratory table.

It was a body so perfect that it could be called the ultimate embodiment of modern magic engineering, without eyes, nose, mouth, or even reproductive organs.

A mannequin without a single hair appears ordinary on the outside, but the moment a soul enters it, facial features and hair, which can be considered symbols of that soul, as well as genitals that determine gender, begin to grow.

But there is a problem.

It is the ultimate embodiment of perfect magic engineering, so no soul can handle this perfect mannequin.

Because there are at least thousands, if not tens of thousands, of properties intertwined, it is impossible for one soul to handle them.

So the research that is currently underway is to massacre a large number of humans, coalesce them into a single object, and then crush and coalesce their egos.

Any being with hundreds of souls or one ego would be very powerful and could handle that mannequin.

“… … Even if you succeed in that way, wouldn’t it be far from the immortality that contains the soul of the living?”

Merticol laughed at Baidal’s question.

“That’s why the article is so pitiful. The most important thing is to leave behind a case of success, even if it’s just once. Even if it’s hundreds or thousands of souls, if you can just move an artificial body, you can move on to the next step. And since you’ve shown results, won’t the higher-ups support you with more research funds?”

“… … .”

Baidal was unable to say anything despite the remarks dismissing the article.

Although Baidal was a 9-star knight who could not be ignored even by the kings of other countries, here he was nothing more than a dog guarding the house.

“Finally, it’s almost finished.”

As the director of the lab snapped his fingers, the door at the back opened, revealing a glass window.

Inside, a huge stone statue stood surrounded by a shamanic circle, and a terrible number of spirits were writhing about there.

“What the heck is this… … .”

“They’ve invited a wandering exorcist. Since this is a garden full of spirits, they probably need someone who’s good at handling spirits. The magicians seem to be afraid of that, but I see dreams and hope there.”

“What are you doing with those souls?”

“Didn’t I tell you? We’ll unite as one. And we’ll put it in this mannequin. Well, it’ll take some time to do it safely… … .”

While Merticol was saying that, someone wearing a shaman’s robe poked his head out from behind. The man, who looked very haggard and thin, approached with a frightened expression and trembling.

“Oh, this is a big deal, Merci.”

“What now?”

“A sorcerer has come here. Ah, it seems that she sensed the ‘pillar of the ghostly aura’ that I erected. T, if a sorcerer is this sharp… … It must be that woman! That damned bitch from Moonlight Village! She came here again to exorcise all the souls I’ve collected!!”

“Calm down.”

Merticol was also very embarrassed, as he had never seen the capable exorcist act like that before.

“Rangel. Who on earth is that woman talking about?”

“Don’t you know? There’s only one shaman in Moonlight Village!”

“How do we know that!”

While Merticol and Rangel were bickering, Baidal frowned and asked back.

“Is that shaman by any chance named Taniya?”

“Yeah! That’s right! Tania! That damn bitch! This is a big deal, this is a big deal! Every soul is going to be exorcised! And not only that, this whole place is going to get busted.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can never enter here. Didn’t you use magic and sorcery to set up a special barrier? And even though you’re a famous exorcist, it took you a long time to capture a single ghost. It wouldn’t be any different for her, would it?”

“Different! Different! That woman is a monster. A monster who can control thousands and tens of thousands of ghosts and evil spirits with her fingertips! Although she is naive and lives by suppressing her power, if she makes up her mind, she can instantly subdue the spirits of this research institute from afar.”

Things got weird. Exorcist Rangel started convulsing more and more, and finally he fell to the floor, clutching his head. He looked extremely frightened.

Baidal looked at the rock called the Pillar of Guipcheon. The sight of hundreds of evil spirits flying around, screaming, was terrifying.

‘A barrier made with magic and sorcery… … .’

Certainly, Harang Paul Caladan was said to have great talent for magic, and according to Rangel, Taniya was also a great sorcerer.

In that case, it wouldn’t be strange if this barrier could be broken through once its location is discovered.

“… … Then how about we hurry up a little?”

“what?”

“I saw earlier that the woman was not in good physical condition and seemed to have been exhausted while passing through the jungle. I need you to finish your research before she regains her strength.”

“No, you want me to finish research that took hundreds of years right now?”

“Director of the research lab. Wasn’t that ‘achievement’ you were talking about something that was right in front of us? We just had to gather those evil spirits and put them in a doll?”

“That’s true, but who knows what might happen if we try to crush our egos without completely crushing them.”

Merticol looked at Rangel as he said that.

“Ha, we can do it. We just have to force ourselves together and seal the evil spirit in a rock. Are you sure you want to do it?”

“I guess I should. If that sorcerer bitch up there is really that great.”

Unfortunately, he is Harang Paul Caladan’s colleague, so he cannot be harmed carelessly.

If so, it’s a quick decision.

“Taniya. Before that sorcerer regains his strength and comes to his senses, complete the research quickly. Tonight.”

Baidal’s eyes shone fiercely.

He had no intention of ruining his research by allowing such little things to interfere.