***
One day, gates opened and monsters poured out.
Faced with a powerful enemy, humanity was helplessly swept away.
But after a long, hard-fought struggle, humanity found an answer.
The technology created by studying the monsters that poured out.
Weapons made with this technology, called ‘Gate Engineering,’ worked effectively against the monsters.
The pinnacle of that technology was the powered suit.
And now, through the voluntary cooperation and collaboration of the graduate students (slaves) belonging to my lab, an object that brought together all of humanity's technology was born.
Today was the day to announce that culmination.
I confidently faced the Minister of Defense before me and opened my mouth.
“First, it can take a direct hit from a nuclear explosion and be fine.”
“That’s in theory, right?”
“…”
“Professor Kim? This is theoretical, right? You didn’t actually try it, did you?”
Sorry, I just got curious… Still, my conscience made me use one scheduled for disposal, not an official military one.
Maybe because it was defective, it was a lot more powerful than the original.
However, the moment I said this honestly, I felt like the Minister of Defense would grab me by the collar and shake me, so I ignored it and continued my explanation.
“The concept is a wearable battleship!”
“Does that mean it’s that sturdy?”
“Of course not. Could you really call it a battleship then?”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“It can break through the atmosphere on its own.”
“…”
“It can also travel between stars on its own.”
Of course, I tested that too. It took one minute to get to the moon.
Seeing that talkative old man unable to close his mouth was incredibly satisfying.
“It can withstand the pressure of a black hole. If there’s a white hole on the other side, it can pass right through.”
“…Theoretically, right?”
“Of course!”
What was he thinking, that I would throw the one and only prototype into a black hole?
This guy has no sense. No sense at all.
“Furthermore, in emergencies or during normal times, it can form an imaginary space to hide, store, and recharge. We call it the ‘Dimensional Hangar.’ This technology…”
“Wait, hold on!”
“What’s the matter? I still have a lot more to explain.”
“No, it’s just… I’m having trouble keeping up with what this thing actually is.”
“I understand. We felt the same way after we completed it.”
The Minister seemed to be contemplating something, pressing his temples firmly before he spoke.
“No, that’s not what I mean. What we requested was a combat suit for ground operations… So why are we talking about breaking through the atmosphere and black holes?”
“Isn’t it a good thing if the specs are outstanding?”
“Well, yes, but… this is on a whole different level! A whole different level!”
“Wouldn’t it be great to lightly slice up monsters with those ‘different level’ specs?”
“…”
Perhaps because it was a sound argument, the old man shut his mouth again.
If he was going to shut up so easily, why did he keep interrupting?
“Anyway, to explain a bit more about the durability…”
“No, that’s enough of that. That, uh… explain those ‘different level’ specs that can ‘lightly slice up monsters.’”
“Then I will move on to the armaments.”
What should I start explaining first?
There were quite a lot of armaments since I had crammed in all sorts of things.
Combining the built-in weaponry and external equipment, there were 136 in total.
Since it was a prototype, I ended up cramming in every single weapon I could possibly fit.
It would probably take days to explain them all, so it seemed best to just explain a few of the main ones.
“First is the high-mass blade, which you could call its main armament.”
“It looks ordinary on the outside.”
“If you’d like, I could make it with a bit more character…”
“No, it’s great! Just as it is!”
Why is he so pleased? I could just grind up the design major graduate students (slaves) a bit more.
Well, performance is more important than design anyway.
“It may look like this, but its performance is anything but ordinary.”
“When you say it like that, it makes me a little nervous…”
“What’s there to be nervous about! The performance is guaranteed!”
That guy looks like a bear, so why is he so timid?
This won’t do. I have to make him clearly recognize its performance before he says something strange.
“First, the special feature of this weapon is that the mass of the blade can be compressed infinitely, increasing its cutting power indefinitely…”
“Wait! Infinite? Is that possible?!”
“Theoretically. In theory.”
“Right? The word ‘infinite’ is just a bit… well. Never mind. Continue.”
“Yes! Not just the cutting power, but the weight of the blade itself, as its name suggests, has a theoretically infinite mass…”
“Then can it even be lifted?”
“Of course! However, a minor drawback is that if you drop the sword, it could dig straight through the ground and pierce the inner core…”
“That’s not a minor drawback, that’s a serious problem!”
“Haha, it’s all theoretical, of course. There are safety features, too. To explain it to you technically…”
“Haaah, that’s enough. Move on to the next one.”
It seemed he didn’t understand what I was saying, but I figured he wouldn’t get it even if I explained in detail, so I decided to move on.
“The next armament is the Aether Particle Cannon. This is already being used as the main cannon for our military’s tanks, so you’re well aware of it, right?”
“Yes, finally an ordinary weapon.”
“Come on, but if it were a truly ordinary weapon, would I be explaining it to you like this?”
“Ah, ahh…”
I said that to mean he shouldn’t worry about the performance, so why is he clutching his head?
Making me worry about his already sparse forehead.
“The official name of the armament is the Wide-Area Aether Particle Cannon. It fires 181 aether beams simultaneously.”
“Simultaneously?”
“Yes, simultaneously.”
“But how, with only one barrel?”
“To explain that, I’d have to explain the theory of the Aether Particle Cannon itself…”
“Skip it and move on to the next.”
Well, if he says so.
“The rate of fire is 0.0001 seconds.”
“That’s fast.”
“No questions this time?”
“None.”
“I see. Then, next…”
“Wait. I understand that the prototype you’ve all built is incredible. But are there no drawbacks?”
This guy suddenly hit the nail on the head.
In fact, there was a huge drawback. To be honest, that was part of the reason I’d been running my mouth.
Well, it’s not like I could keep it a secret forever.
“There is a drawback. Since it’s such a high-spec machine, its operational time is a bit short.”
“I see. It’s true that even if it’s theoretical, the specs are excessively high.”
“Since it’s a prototype, there were many different things to test.”
I laughed awkwardly.
The Minister laughed too.
After about five minutes of laughing like that.
“So, what is the operational time?”
The Minister’s expression suddenly turned serious as he asked me with a grim look.
I had nothing to hide, so I looked him in the eye and spoke confidently.
“Five minutes.”
“What?!”
“After a 128-hour charge, it can operate for five minutes.”
Although its performance reached a transcendent level by mobilizing all of humanity's existing technology and even applying research that had only existed in theory,
unfortunately, I couldn't manage the fuel efficiency, so the operational time became extremely short.
But what could I do?
I couldn't just give up on breaking through the atmosphere, could I?
And if you can break through the atmosphere, you should be able to travel between stars!
“Gasp!”
However, the Minister of Defense (prospectively bald), unable to understand the heart of an engineer like this, grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.
And I hadn't even gotten to mention that I'd spent about 30 times the original budget to install a strong AI's tactical AI.
<><><>
“…and that’s what happened.”
I told the story of what happened today to the graduate students (slaves) in the lab.
At that, my faithful Slave No. 1, the lab assistant, pushed up his glasses and asked,
“Did you tell him that the mass-produced model’s performance would be reduced to 1/30th, and its operational time would increase drastically?”
“No, he started freaking out the moment he heard the operational time, how could I explain that? Anyway, that guy’s timidity is a real problem. That’s why he has so little hair.”
At my words, the assistant let out a short sigh and said,
“Please make sure you explain it to him later. If you don’t, our research funding could get cut…”
Come to think of it, this kid was also a very stiff and proper type, wasn't he? I thought he'd look good with red hair and suggested he spruce himself up and dye it, but he wouldn't even tidy his hair, let alone dye it.
“Alright. I’ll be sure to explain it later. Anyway, let’s get this party started to celebrate the successful presentation.”
“Not to celebrate finishing the prototype research?”
The lab assistant blinked his eyes innocently.
Anyway, these guys have been toiling under me for years, and they still don’t know how the world works.
“Assistant.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know what happens when the research is finished?”
“What happens?”
“The next research begins.”
The lab was thrown into a crucible of madness.
“What next research! Let’s just eat and drink ourselves to death!!”
“Drink!! Drink! Just drink until you die of alcohol poisoning, Professor!!”
“You bastards!! Stop!! Are you really trying to make me drink myself to death?!”
Watching the guys frantically forcing alcohol on me, I thought to myself quietly.
I wonder if these guys even know that I hid the prototype’s true performance from them, too?
And that was my last memory on Earth.
<><><>
My vision was blurry.
On top of that, the sensations in my body felt strange.
All I had was two sips of beer, so how could I have lost consciousness and my body be in this strange state?
‘Where am I?’
I was definitely in the lab, running data calculations after a small party to celebrate revealing the prototype to the world, wasn't I?
‘Could it be… a kidnapping?!’
It was awkward to say it myself, but I was a rather well-known engineer.
The creator of the weapon known as the powered suit, and the foremost authority in this field.
Because of that, I had experienced a few kidnapping attempts before, so I wasn’t that flustered by this situation.
So I figured I would just respond calmly and wait for rescue….
“Ung-ae. U-eh-eh-eh?”
A sound like a baby’s babbling flowed out of my mouth.
No, was it really babbling?
I carefully moved the arm that wouldn't move.
A tiny hand came into my blurry view.
‘What is this?’
No matter how I looked at it, it was a baby’s hand.
Was it possible with current human technology to turn the body of a man in his late 30s into that of a baby?
‘Or was it? Did they transplant just my consciousness into the body of an artificially cultured child?’
Where on earth did this technology come from?
An unknown technology… despite the situation, my interest as a scholar was piqued.
If this could be put into practical use, it could be utilized in various ways, such as adjusting the bodies of retired soldiers and redeploying them to the battlefield.
Although it was a technology in a different field from my own, it was, without a doubt, a marvelous level of technology.
“U-eh-eh! Bbya-ah!”
But admiration was one thing.
If they had this kind of technology, they could have at least put me in the body of a teenager, when the brain is most developed and there’s some autonomy over the body’s movements!
The body of a baby that can’t even handle basic communication?! You demonic bastards!
“Bbya-ah-ah-ah!! U-eh-eh-eh-eh!!”
As I screamed (?) wildly in a fit of rage, a blurry human figure appeared beyond my hazy vision.
‘Is it the kidnapper?’
Or the engineer who realized this unknown technology?
My blurry vision started to adjust, and the other person’s appearance slowly came into focus. I strained my eyes with all my might and glared at them.
“Are you awake?”
She was a woman with long, platinum-blonde hair, dressed in unique clothes that looked like something a medieval noble would wear.
“What bad dream did our little baby have to make you cry so much? Mommy’s here, so don’t worry.”
Our little baby?
A bad dream?
Wondering what this nonsense was, I felt bewildered, but the woman lifted me carefully into her arms with a loving gaze.
And only then did the scenery around me come into view.
“…!”
Sunlight pouring in through the open window.
A gentle breeze drifting in.
And the landscape visible beyond it was that of a high castle, the kind one might see in medieval Europe, a world away from modern times.
‘Don’t tell me this is an isekai reincar…’