Academy’S Gumiho Is A Magical Genius [EN]: Chapter 271

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius – Episode 271

Academy Gumiho is a Magical Genius 271

Take the Bait (1)

Squeak!

The crippled mouse let out a powerful cry.

Even if it was just the sound of a mouse squeaking, there was something unnatural about it.

“Is it a success?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions yet. This is only the fifteenth experiment.”

“Hey. We almost succeeded in the fourteenth experiment, so it’s natural to have expectations!”

The empty area near its foot wriggled.

Soon, the mass of mana injected through the syringe began to fill the creature’s deficient body. The method was quite different from simple recovery or regeneration.

“It has to succeed this time. Do you think it’s easy to find a mouse born without a foot? And the price of carefully selecting individuals with high mana sensitivity is skyrocketing.”

“We have plenty of money anyway. Look at how much we received from the board of directors for research funds.”

“Exactly! We’ve already used half of that money! It’s only natural to be careful.”

It had already been a week since we received the research funds.

It was a long time for me, but far too short for Emilia.

The difference arose from our differing perspectives.

I was trying to produce results in a week.

On the other hand, Emilia was looking at a minimum of one month, or even more than a year in some cases.

However, I bought that time with money.

I purchased a large number of strange devices that were difficult to use in other experiments, modifying them so they couldn’t be recycled. By not saving money, the experiment had landed on a plausible trajectory in just one week.

Of course, we had used half the money, but considering we had almost reached the target, it wasn’t a bad result.

Squeak! Squeak!

The mouse cried out powerfully.

The mouse, which had grown a foot where there hadn’t been one before, couldn’t hide its awkwardness with its newly formed limb. Nevertheless, the mouse scurried around in all directions, trying to get used to its foot.

So far, so good.

The problem was…

“Huh? Why is its abdomen suddenly rupturing…?”

“…Another failure. We only need to replenish the deficient body and organs, but it keeps replicating unnecessary organs.”

Before we knew it, the mouse’s belly burst open, and it died.

When we cut open its belly, the major organs, including the heart, had doubled.

This is really troublesome.

It was difficult to transplant or sell these multiplied organs.

These aren’t real organs, but rather a concept closer to artificial flesh, like a prosthetic.

It would take a long time to adapt, and it would be more beneficial to discard these artificially created organs than to transplant them to others due to the risks.

“Um… Let’s think positively. At least this time, we didn’t end up with four lungs or testicles splitting into eight.”

“Is that something someone who was just obsessing over needing to succeed no matter what should be saying?”

Emilia comforted me when she saw I looked upset.

“Still, well, you’re not wrong. At least we succeeded in the original goal. We just need to figure out how to suppress the doubling of organs.”

“And in the process of figuring that out, other problems will arise.”

“…You’re not wrong, but you keep jinxing it. Emilia, you’re my assistant. Please shut your mouth unless we’re having an important conversation.”

Immediately after the failure of the fifteenth experiment.

We plunged into the sixteenth experiment.

Each time we conducted an experiment, money disappeared as if pouring water into a bottomless pit, but there were still materials left. We could try two or three more times with this.

“This time, please keep the reagent magnification at 1.4x.”

“1.4x? I think it would be better to lower it to 0.8744x. Isn’t that the margin where the organs won’t double?”

Based on the previous failure, I adjusted the contents of the syringe.

I made the concentration stronger than before. Emilia questioned whether it was too strong, but I didn’t intend to succeed with the next attempt.

“It’s to obtain data. What’s the point of adjusting the reagent magnification to the margin? We’re failing so frequently that we can’t even succeed once.”

The experiment I was conducting was an unprecedented challenge.

First, originator, pioneer.

The words sound nice, but conducting an unprecedented challenge was like finding a needle in the dark. This experiment required numerous negative examples.

So, I made the drug more potent and experimented on the mouse.

Bang!

The syringe exploded the moment the contents were injected.

Not the mouse, but the syringe.

“…Did the internal pressure suddenly increase?”

“I saw it. The tip of the syringe needle gradually deformed and couldn’t withstand the pressure, so it burst.”

“Is this for real? Even the mouse is still alive.”

“That mouse. It seems we need to dissect it a bit.”

The expected result was the growth of organs or body parts.

On the contrary, the mouse was fine.

The mouse used in this experiment was born with a fragile skull.

To clearly understand what kind of chemical reaction would occur if injected near the brain, we attached all sorts of testing devices to its body. The results, along with the explosion, fell into a labyrinth.

Because the electrodes attached to the mouse along with the syringe also exploded.

The testing machine wasn’t damaged, but we couldn’t record the reactions happening inside its head at the moment the electrodes burst.

There’s only one thing to do in this situation.

“Let’s see, oof. Do we need a knife and a microscope?”

“Not at all. We can do this much without taking those out.”

Slicing, slicing.

A sound like cutting an apple was heard inside the lab.

It was the sound of an intangible blade slicing the mouse’s skin and fur, the precise blade slowly proceeding with the dissection without touching the mouse’s life.

The mouse couldn’t even squeak as it was sliced alive.

“The organs are fine, and there’s nothing wrong with the bones. Is the only change in the brain? But there seem to be too few byproducts for that.”

“Here! There’s something like a relic!”

“A relic? A relic in the body of a mouse that isn’t even a monk?”

No physical changes were identified.

So, should we analyze the brain? I was starting to think about cutting off the mouse’s breath and making it comfortable, but this changes things.

The best way to study the brain is in a living state.

It mustn’t die.

I was going to eliminate the mouse’s pain as a last resort, but Emilia found something strange.

A hard lump of carbon.

A lump similar to the relics [cremated remains believed to hold spiritual significance] left after cremating a monk’s body.

It didn’t seem very important, but upon closer inspection, something was off.

“What is this? A bone?”

“It seems thicker than a mouse bone.”

“It also looks like a trace of a skull that wasn’t fully formed… It’s a bit subtle.”

I wondered what it was and cut it in half.

Then the halved piece reattached itself.

“What is this?”

The reattachment wasn’t important.

The fluidity contained in this small piece.

That captivated my eyes.

‘If I can freely guide this fluidity.’

Somehow, it will work.

Inspiration flashed in my mind.

I immediately started the seventeenth experiment, and this time I led the experiment solely with my own power. I modified everything from the combination of drugs to the concentration and the injection site.

The next mouse was congenitally missing three feet.

I injected the drug into its body.

I didn’t inject it three times just because there were three missing body parts.

Just one injection.

With that, its body began to change gradually.

Flesh grew roundly in the empty area near its feet.

Bones and nerve bundles grew from the center, filling the flesh.

“…It’s done.”

“It’s already done? Already? Why?”

“Stop chattering and contact the board of directors. Tell them that the experiment is showing progress, so we want to start recruiting applicants.”

“Ugh, let me rest a bit too. I haven’t slept a wink since two days ago and have only been mixing solutions in the lab.”

“Hurry, go, and contact them.”

“…Damn boss.”

I succeeded in the seventeenth experiment.

The experiment’s meaningful results had already started to emerge from the fifth experiment, but who would have thought that a successful case would come out in just seventeen attempts.

I hurriedly kicked Emilia out of the lab.

While she went to contact them.

Tired, I slumped into a chair and pondered.

‘With this, I have prepared the minimum tools to draw on a wide canvas.’

All these experiments were for my personal exploration and to bring one person onto the stage. It would be nice to make a lot of money in the process, but even if the result was a failure, it would be enough if I could catch just one person.

‘Now, Elder 8 will take the bait on her own. Even if I don’t spread the rumors, that greedy woman won’t be able to take her eyes off the bait.’

Elder 8 of the Cheonho Baekga [a powerful clan].

She was overwhelmingly older than the other elders, and her obsession with power was immense. I heard that it was caused by the suffering she endured as a member of a collateral branch in her childhood.

There are hardly any people left who can prove her past, as she is already over 80 years old, so there is no proper way to confirm the facts.

‘Elder 8, Baek Mi-hwa. At the age of 14, due to her father’s rebellion, she lost her mother and younger sibling before her eyes as the family of the instigator. Afterwards, she resented her father and strived to become a useful person rather than the daughter of a traitor. Despite being an old woman without any backing or power, her contributions were recognized, and she was appointed as an elder six years ago.’

─Where did you get such information?

‘A diary. It contains everything from the major and minor events of the family to the name of the puppy raised by the head of the family 200 years ago. It’s filled with all sorts of things, so it’s good to read when swallowing up a family.’

But that was also something that didn’t apply to me.

The diary left in my mindscape.

It looked no different from an ordinary diary, but the contents contained within were more extensive than combining dozens of ordinary encyclopedias.

The diary was a comprehensive record of the knowledge that ‘Baek Seung-woo’ had learned and realized while living.

It was truly a treasure trove of knowledge.

‘Even the same content is recorded from multiple perspectives, making it easy to distinguish between the true and the false.’

Information related to high-ranking people and money is mostly distorted.

Minor information aside, truly important information is worth more than money. That’s why the diary cross-validated even minor details with various sources. The circumstances were true.

The contents of the diary were an invaluable treasure trove for me, but they were like daggers that cut off the breath of my enemies.

─So, what good is that?

‘Elder 8 is old. Oh Mi-ra is an old fox who has reached a relatively high level, but she still lacks refinement. She can’t be completely free from aging.’

─You’re thinking of exploiting her desire to become younger?

‘I won’t just stop at exploiting her. I will fuel her desire. As desire grows, the field of vision narrows, and thoughts become dull. Occasionally, there are people whose vision and thoughts are broad even when their desires are great, but unfortunately, she is not such a wise person.’

My purpose in using Elder 8 was simple.

To have her sow discord and cause chaos in the council of elders. Afterwards, I would bring down Elder 8 and induce a power struggle among the elders. If I secretly stab and subdue them from behind while their vision is sold, everything will be over.

It was really simple and straightforward, but the plan was excessively vast.

It would be a precarious tightrope walk, like drawing a picture on a canvas that was so large it seemed like it would tear at any moment.

But what will surely come into my grasp at the end will be sweeter than any liquor. I was already looking forward to that moment.