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‘Still, it does feel oddly human…’

Just as I was marveling at the astronomical coincidence that transcended the universe, I cautiously looked at Lucia, who was standing behind Dr. Kuroid. The world’s first artificial intelligence, equipped with the first artificial emotion and the first artificial soul—an Android.

“─Nice to meet you, Creator.”

“……Yeah. How have you been?”

“Thanks to you, I’m doing well.”

Despite having gained emotions and a soul, she didn’t seem much different than before. After all, a good amount of time must have passed since she obtained those feelings. There was no reason to make a fuss over realizing she had a soul now.

However, she appeared to be a bit awkward around Dr. Kuroid. No, to be precise, it wasn’t just awkwardness. It was the sort of charming awkwardness you’d expect from teenagers just starting to date…

‘Wait, how old is this guy anyway?’

Could it be that Dr. Kuroid hadn’t experienced love at that age? I pushed away the rude thought that crossed my mind and silently blessed the future of the two of them. Of course, if I voiced it out loud, they would most definitely create a scene again, so I kept it to myself.

As we engaged in various discussions about souls, I noticed Swallon and Dr. Shira walking over from afar. Upon spotting us, Dr. Shira frowned as if she had seen something unpleasant, but she didn’t leave, perhaps due to Swallon standing next to her.

“Dr. Eight. Congratulations in advance.”

“Dr. Swallon, for what exactly?”

“For winning the ABC Award, of course. Though for us, that’s no more than a local contest level.”

Even though he was a member of Scholar, he remarked that having just one award on display wouldn’t be too bad, as if my win was already confirmed.

I let out a hollow laugh and pointed to Dr. Shira next to him.

“It’s a joint research with her, right? Aren’t you going to congratulate her?”

“Oh—Dr. Eight, I didn’t expect you to be this cruel! Did you really think that?”

“What did I tell you? That psycho isn’t mentally stable, you know?”

Amidst Swallon’s surprise, Dr. Shira quickly let out a curse. I had seen her do this before during interviews; she had a penchant for rough language. One could say her personality was as rough as her skin color.

Of course, I knew such jokes wouldn’t fly in this world, so I kept my mouth shut and simply glared at Dr. Shira.

“……What’s with that look?”

“Oh, nothing… I was just curious about when I might see something far superior to my thesis that you said you’d show me.”

“Ugh—C-come on! You think theses just pop up overnight!?”

“I sure thought mine did.”

After lightly putting down Dr. Shira’s ego, I exchanged various talks with the members of Scholar. One treated me like a cult follower when we met, while the other was a total psycho who cursed at me—but it was probably the most fulfilling time I’d had since falling into this world.

Just because my knowledge had its limits didn’t mean their wisdom diminished; they were insightful enough to paint the bigger picture with even just a tiny hint from me.

“Oh, indeed—that’s quite an interesting take…”

“Hmph. If I were to study, I’d do it differently—”

“Don’t dare doubt the God! Of course, if I were to—”

See? Even Dr. Kuroid, who half-regarded me as a God, couldn’t refute me.

This was a sound scientific spirit and a proper discussion among scientists.

While chatting, the subject of degrees came up. The three of them were momentarily taken aback realizing that I still didn’t have a degree, and accustomed to such matters, Swallon provided a suitable solution.

“Well, it’ll be hard to get a doctorate with this thesis. Those committee members have such rigid minds. Even if you win the ABC Award, they won’t grant you a degree immediately. Moreover, your achievements are under suspicion, right? Some media even insinuate that you’re Dr. Shira’s boyfriend, which is why you’re a co-author. Of course, I know that’s not the case.”

“Who says I’m this punk’s girlfriend!”

“I understand that. So, I guess you’ll have to write another thesis, lightly speaking.”

Ignoring the loud Dr. Shira in the background, I started recalling the papers I had written so far. Things like red medicine and energy drinks, and Magical Girl uniforms couldn’t be used in the Evil Organization context. Toy circuits were out too since Dr. Kuroid had already used them to create Lucia.

Only one idea came to mind. A anti-gravity device that is currently popular in vehicles from Evilus. However, this would be problematic too…

“Submitting a paper based on a patent already released by a company wouldn’t work, right?”

“Well, unless you patented it under your name at that time, if it’s under the company’s name, it wouldn’t.”

“Hmmm… Then what should I do?”

“Aren’t there things you haven’t released yet? The topic you got funding for from Scholar.”

“Oh, that—”

Hearing Swallon, I couldn’t help but smirk. The research I had intended to do with the funding from Scholar… Ah, that one…

“I ended up using that research funding for something else, though.”

“What? No way, you can’t misuse it like that…”

“I’ve already spent it; there’s nothing I can do. Then I guess I’ll just present what I researched with that funding.”

“No, seriously, that’s not how this works… What about my super-speed turbo engine…?”

“That doesn’t exist.”

I had blown through the $100 million research fund meant for the turbo engine all on creating the gate to Arima’s hometown, Ardenia.

So, that meant the only topic I could present was this: proof of the existence of another world.

I briefly explained what I discovered and the topic I planned to present. The faces of the three became increasingly tense.

“─Instead, I’ll present this.”

“……Wait, Dr. Eight. Are you serious?”

“This psycho… I knew he wasn’t mentally stable, but…”

“Oh, God…”

Looking at the flabbergasted trio, I tilted my head in confusion.

I was just going to reveal the fact that the other world existed, not that I’d openly showcase the gate leading to it. Why were they so surprised?

Isn’t it pretty normal that the other world exists? In a world where demons, spirits, and even enemies crossing dimensions exist, after all.

I really couldn’t understand it.

* * *

[Dr. Eight. Successfully proved the existence of Heaven.]

[Shocking announcement in the scientific world! The afterlife is real, and the religious community is bursting into tears of joy…]

[The Pope cancels the heresy proclamation he made against the two doctors. “They should be canonized,” he announces.]

Anonymous: So, you’re saying the guy who was called a fraud until recently found Heaven? Huh…

ㄴ Anonymous: Huh, I can’t believe it. The Pope must have been out of his mind to retract what he said!

ㄴ Anonymous: I read the thesis, and theoretically, it looks flawless. He even made it replicable, and already several research labs have started replication experiments.

Anonymous: So there’s not a single fool believing this, right?

Anonymous: We already knew!!1!

Anonymous: Even if Heaven is proven, our lives won’t change.

I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at the internet articles. I thought proving the existence of the other world would be a hot topic. After all, it scientifically verified the existence of a world that people already knew about.

However, I never expected it would lead to this kind of conclusion.

Could they really jump straight to thinking about Heaven and Hell? With the recent advancement in science, it seemed like the religious community might be pulling strings out of desperation.

‘Well, there’s plenty of reason for them to do so…’

It was only natural for the religious community to rave when a mere scientist claimed to have discovered a soul. All humans are modeled after their God. Thus, everything about humans is said to be a perfect creation of the Divine.

It should be beyond doubt that their grace touched upon us. Therefore, it was unthinkable for any human to interpret it.

But I discovered the soul and announced it. I touched the reverse scale of the religious community.

If it had ended here, they could just treat me as a heretic and ignore me. However, if I further claimed to have discovered Heaven and Hell, the story would take a complete turn.

From that moment on, I wasn’t just the son of Satan who dared to question the existence of God; I was now viewed as an apostle sent by God to establish a more familiar connection.

‘Of course, what I discovered isn’t really Heaven or Hell…’

What I discovered was not Heaven or Hell but a typical other world where humans live, where magic advanced over science, and where they believe in their Gods rather than ours.

Of course, just because I discovered that world doesn’t prove Heaven and Hell don’t exist, so I wouldn’t go flaunting it. The hardest thing in the world is to claim something that doesn’t exist.

“Heaven or Hell, huh?”

It was a topic that always drew attention, even in the original world, but it was even more so here. Unlike Earth, where the notion of God plummets, here on Terra, God’s name still holds significant sway.

And at the same time, there are way too many people wishing for villains to go to Hell. They couldn’t stand the thought of the villains who killed their loved ones reincarnating peacefully or going to Heaven.

See? There’s even a scared little lamb seeking their fate coming over.

“Excuse me, scientist…!”

“Yeah, Aile. What’s up?”

“I-is it really true that Hell exists? I mean… Do villains go to Hell!?”

As a burgeoning villainous magical girl, she didn’t seem like the appropriate person to be asking this, but I carefully lowered my voice to tease her.

“Hell? Of course, it exists.”

“Hii…! What should we do then!?”

“What’s there to do? Just study hard, listen to your parents, and live a good life.”

“Study hard, listen to my parents…?”

As Aile, who was just mimicking my words, realized I was teasing her, she puffed her cheeks and started to pout. Even that typical response was so cute.

While she was trying to express her frustration, she suddenly shouted and rushed out of the lab.

“Hell can’t possibly exist…!”

“Huh? It does exist, though?”

“There’s no way that can exist! I-I’m going to go bully some magical girl today! Just like a villain!”

As I watched Aile run off in a hurry, I let out a hollow laugh. I never said Hell didn’t exist; the fact that I hadn’t discovered it didn’t mean it was absent.

Besides, demons exist in this world. If there are demons, how could Hell not exist? It might not be the Hell that people here envision, but a similar world likely does.

‘Well, it’s not like I need to explain all that.’

I thought to myself as I watched Aile’s figure disappearing into the distance.

If I were to argue it out.

Aile seemed like she’d do just fine even if she went to Hell. Just remember how she looked the first time I saw her. Doesn’t she seem more fitting for Hell than Heaven?

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’d let her fall into Hell for real. If such a place does exist, and because we’re villains, and if that’s the reason we’d end up there…

‘No matter how real Hell is… I can just bring her back.’

That’s right; if it’s just about stomping through hell’s doorway, then that’s child’s play.