The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

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The award ceremony has concluded. The numerous scientists who had been blocking my path with icy glares, after exchanging a few words about their research topics, seemed to have finally understood my true feelings, retreating with tears in their eyes.

It was great to have exited the ceremony without any issues, but it seemed that some of my comments had shocked people quite a bit.

[“I have no interest in ordinary people. I don’t need such an award.”]

[—The genius who even blasphemes against the gods. Let’s learn about Dr. Eight.]

“Science, you see, the era of relying on a single genius has come to an end. Yet, people don’t even realize that…”

“Oh, in that case, what do you think about Dr. Eight, who received the ABC Award…?”

“He’s a fraud! I can guarantee it! A genius doesn’t just pop up overnight; they produce steady results over time. That guy didn’t just fall from the sky… It’s definitely manipulated by Evilus Corporation to create their brand image…”

On TV, the internet, and social media, my comments from the award ceremony and my existence have been the talk of the town. Watching it all, I feel that the pursuit of dopamine is the same whether on Earth or here.

Even with superpowers, beast-eared humans, heroes, and magical girls around, people still seek stimulation. Perhaps it’s because of such nonsensical beings that they react even more sensitively to provocations…

I glanced out the window.

“So quiet…”

If this were Earth, by now, a protest group demanding the truth would be screaming outside Evilus Corporation’s building—but this is City E. The entire city is subjugated to Evilus Corporation. Naturally, no such protest group could exist here.

There’s a chance that a protest group formed outside could come to City E… but those capable of organizing a specialized protest group are likely groveling before us, meaning the possibility of such a group forming here is effectively zero.

Could South Korea send a protest group to America just because they didn’t like something? It’s impossible, both in capability and justification.

“…Don’t you feel frustrated, Scientist?”

“Huh? About what?”

“Well— even after receiving such a grand award, people only curse at you like that…”

Ayle said, trembling slightly. The words spilling from the news seemed to fuel her anger as if she were the one hurt. Given her delicate nature, it must be a tough thing for her to be this angry.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at Ayle’s trembling form. So what if the whole world is cursing me? The support of a single person beside me is far more significant than the insults of a million strangers.

Sitting down next to Ayle, I gently patted her shoulder. Every time my hand touched her trembling shoulder, she flinched.

“Uh, um—?”

“Thank you, Ayle. I feel better because of you.”

“Uh, ah, uuh…?”

“But don’t worry too much. The people beside me are more precious than a thousand such fools.”

“Hyik, uuhik, hic—!”

Watching Ayle’s hiccuping as if she were about to cover her mouth completely, I remembered one thing.

“Um… by the way, Ayle?”

“Yes, yes-hik!”

“It seems you’ve gained weight… Not exercising lately?”

The moment those words slipped out, Ayle, who had been hiccuping, froze and glared at me with fierce eyes. It looked like she could stab me with a sword if she had one…

Startled, I subtly averted my gaze and cautiously stood up, opening my mouth.

“…How about I make a weight-loss drug?”

“…No thanks. I’ll lose it myself.”

“I can even make it so your belly fat turns into chest…”

Ayle, who had turned away and shown clear signs of sulking, seemed overly tempted by those words. She cautiously looked at me and asked.

“Th-then… I’ll overlook it this time, based on the scientist’s goodwill…”

“Sure…”

“Please make it…”

“You’re definitely asking me to make it…”

“Shut up!”

Yelling at me, Ayle stomped off, and I stepped into a corner of the laboratory to create the requested weight-loss drug.

* * *

A society supporting the greatest geniuses who blaspheme even the gods. The secret membership organization known as Scholar.

As a member of Scholar, I truly enjoy numerous benefits that are beyond words. This remains true even now, as several cities have become wreckages and Evilus Corporation has essentially become the world’s largest corporation.

“Ahahaha—! I didn’t expect you to say that! Isn’t this guy just a total nutcase?”

“Don’t act flippantly before the gods.”

“Why is this old man acting like this again? Did he eat something wrong…?”

Still maintaining my membership with Scholar, I recently received a call request from them. It wasn’t a general call to gather everyone for a society meeting, but rather a summons from one of the members.

I realized for the first time that there’s a right to summon among the members. Of course, it’s possible to decline, but since it’s rare for one Scholar member to call another, Dr. Swallon advised me that it would be best to participate.

“Do you know what happened during the last summons? That time…”

“Ah— this old fogey just goes on and on with boring stories. Do you think this kid would find that interesting?”

“Of course! The history of science is always interesting, no matter how many times you revisit it!”

The Scholar member who summoned us hadn’t arrived yet, so we passed the time chatting among ourselves.

Considering everyone’s time is priceless, if the topic brought by the summoned member doesn’t pique our interest, the backlash they receive would be significant. They might even get kicked out of Scholar…

“Ah… have you all arrived…?”

Before long, a woman with dark circles under her eyes cautiously entered the room. Given the nature of her profession as a scientist, she likely doesn’t get out much, yet her dark skin color revealed her ethnicity.

Her skin color was similar to that of an Indian if we were to compare her to Earth. Introducing herself as A.E.A. (Scholar Number 7, which I had never seen before), she quickly got to the main point, as if time was precious.

“Though not everyone has gathered, I think we can somehow manage… Please look at this—”

Beep—.

A.E.A. transmitted something onto a massive monitor, displaying a completely black background for a while. As everyone looked at her expectantly, she calmly operated the remote, signaling us to wait briefly.

After a moment, the black screen began to shrink, with objects gradually appearing around it, including self-luminous lights and radioactive materials.

At that moment, I had yet to realize what this was, but after some time, the video on screen shifted to A.E.A. holding a camera.

“Did you see that…?”

“What’s that? A new trash can?”

“A new dimension… not from this universe, but from another universe…”

At that moment, all the Scholar members, including myself, looked at A.E.A. in disbelief. Of course, everyone probably had different reasons for their skepticism. I was astounded that someone could find another universe with the world’s current technology, while the others doubtfully questioned the possibility itself.

Regardless, as A.E.A. faced our disbelieving gazes, she immediately cut to the chase, without further explanation or justifications.

“Originally, I intended to monopolize this information… but that’s no longer feasible… Do you see this in my hand?”

A.E.A. said as she held up a marble. With no light emanating from it, it was confusing at first, but it was actually the radioactive material from the earlier video.

As people slowly realized what it was, they began to step back in shock, while A.E.A. casually stroked the surface of the radioactive material with an indifferent expression.

“It’s fine… The atomic activity… well, the motion of this substance has completely stopped…”

“…What do you mean, completely stopped?”

“Precisely why I called you all here… I didn’t know either…”

Taking a deep breath, A.E.A. finally began to share the information she managed to gather.

“That universe… is probably one that has already perished… in other words, a universe where all motion has ceased…”

“Big Freeze…”

“Oh, that would be a fine way to express it…”

A.E.A. exclaimed excitedly at my words before naming the universe she discovered “Thermal Death” and cautiously warned us.

“In a world where everything has perished… it has begun to spread death to our world…”

“…What?”

“So… I can say this…”

Bowing her head suddenly, A.E.A. uttered words of apology.

“I’m sorry. It seems I opened something that should not have been opened.”

Upon understanding A.E.A.’s words, all the Scholar members fell silent.

So, it meant that because she opened the world of death, the decay was reaching out towards this world.