Chapter 1
One day, a gate opened, and monsters poured out.
Facing a mighty enemy, humanity was helplessly swept away.
However, after a long and bitter struggle, humanity found an answer.
They developed technology by researching the monsters that emerged.
Weapons created using this technology, known as “Gate Engineering,” proved effective against the monsters.
The pinnacle of that technology was the powered suit.
And now, with the voluntary cooperation and collaboration of the graduate students (slaves) in my lab, a product that combined all of humanity’s technology was born.
Today is the day to unveil that masterpiece.
I stood proudly before the Minister of Defense and opened my mouth.
“First of all, it can withstand a direct nuclear explosion without any damage.”
“In theory, right?”
“….”
“Professor Kim? You mean in theory, right? You didn’t actually test it, did you?”
Sorry, I got a little curious… But, to be fair, I didn’t use military-grade materials, just something set to be scrapped.
Maybe because it was defective, it turned out a bit stronger than expected.
However, the moment I admitted this, the Defense Minister in front of me would probably grab me by the collar and shake me, so I continued explaining, ignoring it.
“The concept is a wearable battleship!”
“That means it’s sturdy?”
“No, not just that. Otherwise, could you call it a battleship?”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“It can break through the atmosphere on its own.”
“….”
“It can even travel between stars on its own.”
Of course, I tested it. It took about a minute to reach the moon.
Seeing that chatterbox speechless made me feel quite proud.
“It can also withstand the pressure of a black hole. If there’s a white hole on the other side, it can pass straight through.”
“…In theory, right?”
“Of course!”
What kind of crazy person would think I shoved the only prototype we had into a black hole?
This guy has no imagination. None.
“Moreover, in an emergency or during peacetime, it can create a virtual space where it can hide, store, and recharge itself. We call it the ‘Dimensional Hangar.’ This technology….”
“Wait, wait!”
“Why? I still have a lot more to explain.”
“No, I just… I can’t keep up with reality right now.”
“I understand. We felt the same way when we finished it.”
The minister seemed to be deep in thought, rubbing his temples before speaking.
“No, what I mean is, we requested a battle suit for ground operations, so why are we suddenly talking about breaking through the atmosphere and black holes?”
“If the specs are outstanding, that’s a good thing, right?”
“Well, yes, but… This feels like it’s on a whole different level! A whole different dimension!”
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could slice through monsters with these next-level specs?”
“….”
He couldn’t argue with that, so he went quiet again.
If he was going to stop talking so quickly, why did he interrupt me in the first place?
“Anyway, let me explain more about its durability….”
“No, that’s enough. Let’s hear about those next-level specs that can slice through monsters so easily.”
“Well then, let’s move on to the armaments.”
Where do I even start with this?
I packed so many features into it that there are a lot of weapons to go through.
Including internal and external equipment, there are 136 weapons in total.
Since it’s an experimental model, I stuffed every weapon I could think of into it.
If I tried to explain them all, it would take days, so I should probably just highlight a few key ones.
“First, we have the high-mass blade, which is considered the primary weapon.”
“At a glance, it looks ordinary.”
“If you’d like, we can make it more distinctive….”
“No, no, this is perfect! It’s great as it is!”
Why is he so happy about that? I could have had the design students (slaves) work a bit harder on it.
Well, design aside, performance is more important.
“It may look ordinary, but its performance is far from it.”
“Now that you say that, I’m starting to get nervous….”
“There’s nothing to worry about! The performance is guaranteed!”
This guy looks like a bear, but why is his courage so tiny?
Alright, I need to make him recognize the suit’s power before he starts saying anything weird.
“The special feature of this weapon is that the blade’s mass can be infinitely compressed, increasing its cutting power indefinitely….”
“Wait! Infinite? Is that even possible?!”
“In theory, yes. In theory.”
“Right? Somehow, the word ‘infinite’ just feels… well, anyway, keep going.”
“Yes, sir! Not only can the cutting power increase infinitely, but the weight of the blade itself, as the name suggests, can theoretically become infinite…”
“Then can it even be lifted?”
“Of course! The only minor drawback is that if you let go of the sword, it could burrow into the ground and penetrate all the way to the Earth’s core…”
“That’s not a minor problem, that’s a serious issue!”
“Haha, it’s just theoretical, of course. We’ve installed safety measures. If I were to explain the technology behind it…”
“Haah, that’s enough. Move on to the next.”
It seemed like he didn’t understand what I was saying, but I doubted he’d get it even if I explained in detail, so I decided to move on.
“The next weapon is the Ether Particle Cannon. You’re already familiar with it since it’s used as the main gun on the army’s tanks, right?”
“Finally, a normal weapon.”
“Oh, but if it were truly normal, I wouldn’t bother explaining it like this, would I?”
“Ah… ah…”
I was trying to reassure him about the performance, but why was he holding his head like that?
His already thinning forehead looks even more concerning now.
“The official name of the weapon is the Wide-Area Ether Particle Cannon. It fires 181 beams of ether simultaneously.”
“Simultaneously?”
“Yes, simultaneously.”
“But there’s only one barrel, how?”
“To explain that, I’d need to go into the theory of the Ether Particle Cannon itself…”
“Skip it and move on.”
Well, if you say so.
“The firing rate is 0.0001 seconds.”
“That’s fast.”
“No questions about that?”
“Nope.”
“Alright then, moving on…”
“Hold on. I understand that the prototype you made is amazing. But are there any drawbacks?”
Suddenly, he got straight to the point.
In fact, there is a major drawback.
Honestly, that’s why I’ve been rambling this whole time.
But I can’t avoid mentioning it forever, can I?
“There is a drawback. Since it’s such a high-spec item, the operation time is a bit short.”
“That makes sense. With specs this high, even in theory, I can see how it might be over the top.”
“Yes, there’s just so much experimental work involved.”
I chuckled awkwardly.
The minister laughed too.
We both laughed for about five minutes, then—
“So how long is the operation time?”
The minister, suddenly serious, asked me with a grim look.
I had nothing to hide, so I met his gaze and answered confidently.
“Five minutes.”
“What?!”
“After 128 hours of charging, it can operate for five minutes.”
We pooled all of humanity’s current technology, incorporating research that had only existed in theory to create something of transcendent performance.
But unfortunately, we couldn’t improve its fuel efficiency, which resulted in an extremely short operation time.
But what could I do?
I can’t just pass on the ability to break through the atmosphere, right?
And once you break through the atmosphere, you should be able to travel between stars, shouldn’t you?
“Ugh!”
The Minister of Defense (future bald man), unable to understand the mind of an engineer, clutched his neck and collapsed.
I hadn’t even gotten to the part about how we spent 30 times the original budget to install a high-level AI for tactical purposes.
“…So that’s what happened.”
I shared today’s story with the graduate students (slaves) in my lab.
Then my loyal slave No. 1, the lab assistant, pushed up his glasses and asked.
“Did you mention that the mass-production models would have 1/30th of the performance but a significantly longer operation time?”
“How could I explain that when he was flipping out about the operation time? That guy’s so timid; no wonder he’s losing his hair.”
At my words, the assistant let out a brief sigh.
“Please make sure to explain it eventually. If you don’t, they might cut off our research funding…”
Come to think of it, this kid’s really by the book, huh? I even subtly suggested he dye his hair red since I thought it would suit him, but not only did he refuse to dye it, he didn’t even bother to tidy it up.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll explain it later. For now, let’s just have a party to celebrate the success of the presentation.”
“You mean to celebrate the end of the prototype research, right?”
The assistant blinked innocently.
These kids have been working under me for years and still don’t understand reality.
“Hey, assistant.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know what happens when research ends?”
“What happens?”
“The next research begins.”
The lab was thrown into chaos.
“The next research? Screw that! Let’s just drink ourselves to death!!”
“Drink up!! Drink! And drown in alcohol, professor!!”
“You brats!! Stop it!! Are you seriously trying to drink me to death?!”
As I looked at the ones pushing drinks at me like crazy, I quietly thought to myself.
I wonder if they realize I even lied to them about the prototype’s performance.
And that was my last memory on Earth.
* * * *
My vision was blurry.
On top of that, my body felt strange.
I only had two sips of beer, so how could I have passed out and be feeling this bad?
‘Where am I?’
I clearly remember being at the lab, holding a small celebration with the researchers after revealing the prototype to the world and then crunching the data.
‘Could I have been kidnapped…?’
As arrogant as it may sound, I’m a pretty well-known engineer.
I’m the creator of the powered suit weapon and the leading authority in the field.
Because of that, I’ve faced kidnapping attempts before, so this situation wasn’t all that surprising.
I figured I’d just calmly wait it out and expect a rescue, but…
“Goo-goo. Gaa-gaa?”
A sound like baby babbling came out of my mouth.
Wait, is this really baby babbling?
I cautiously moved my arm, which felt stiff.
Through my blurry vision, I saw a tiny hand.
‘What is this?’
No matter how I looked at it, it was a baby’s hand.
Could current human technology turn the body of a man in his late 30s into that of a baby?
‘Maybe not? Did they transplant my consciousness into an artificially grown infant body?’
What kind of technology could this be?
Unknown technology… despite the situation, I felt a spark of curiosity as a scholar.
If this could be put to practical use, it could have vast applications, like adjusting the bodies of retired soldiers and redeploying them on the battlefield.
Though it wasn’t my field, this was undoubtedly an extraordinary level of technology.
“Gaa! Gaa-goo!”
But admiration aside.
If they have the technology to do this, couldn’t they at least have put me in the body of a teenager, where the brain is more developed and there’s some autonomy?
But an infant’s body where I can’t even communicate? You devils!!
“Gaaah!! Gaa-gooo!”
As I cried out in rage (?), a blurry figure appeared through my hazy vision.
‘Is that the kidnapper?’
Or maybe the technician who brought this mysterious technology to life?
As my vision slowly adjusted, I began to make out the figure’s appearance, and I glared as hard as I could.
“You’re awake?”
It was a woman with platinum blonde hair, wearing what looked like medieval aristocratic clothing.
“What kind of bad dream did my baby have to cry like this? Don’t worry, mommy’s here.”
My baby?
Bad dream?
What on earth was she talking about? As I pondered in confusion, the woman gently picked me up with a loving gaze.
It was only then that I started to notice my surroundings.
“……!”
Sunlight streaming through an open window.
A gentle breeze drifting in.
And beyond that, a view of what appeared to be a medieval European castle, far removed from the modern world.
‘This… could it be… a reincarnation in another world…?’
