Black Badger

I hurriedly knelt down in front of the fainted man.

"Hey!"

I lifted the gray-haired man's head and shouted urgently.

"Hey, come on, snap out of it!"

[Oh dear!]

Someone shouted from above my head.

...Above my head?

When I looked up, I saw a round machine attached to the ceiling. It hung there like a disco ball, looking down at me and the collapsed man with its camera.

[John has finally collapsed!]

I wasn't hearing things. The voice definitely came from that disco ball-like thing.

I stared fixedly at the camera-equipped disco ball while holding the fallen man.

"Finally?"

[I'll contact Doctor Han right away! Could you please take John to the hospital, nameless one?]

"Uh..."

I trailed off in confusion and looked around.

People in white lab coats craned their necks to stare at us. Some half-stood from their seats. Others called out, "Do you need help?"

What surprised me was that they didn't seem all that shocked by the situation. Rather than surprise, their faces showed expressions like, "Finally, this has happened..."

Why did everyone look like they had seen this coming?

Anyway, my first thought was to get the collapsed man to the hospital, and that's when a familiar voice rang out.

"Ah."

My mentor's low voice had never felt so welcome.

"So it came to this after all?"

"Yoon!"

I called out happily to the man who had stopped in front of me.

"You came! The guy next to me suddenly collapsed..."

"It's because he didn't eat."

Yoon said matter-of-factly.

What?

"What do you mean he didn't eat?"

"Food. Come on. We can just take him to Samuel."

Yoon nodded toward the man lying limp on my arm like a piece of driftwood, while holding some documents in his hand.

Today, too, he wasn't surprised. My mentor watched as I stood up holding the man with a dazed expression, like he was watching me pick up a dumbbell in the gym.

The researchers who had been peering over gradually turned their attention back to the monitors in front of them.

In an instant, the lab returned to its usual rhythm. Only the disco ball up on the ceiling kept circling around, continuing to focus on us.

[I contacted Doctor Han!]

"Yeah, okay."

"What is that thing?"

I watched my mentor respond dryly to the disco ball's exclamation.

"Disco ball AI?"

"Disco ball?"

[Disco ball AI?]

Yoon shot me a look like I'd said the stupidest thing on earth. The disco ball repeated the words in a tone that sounded equally shocked.

But I just blinked. By now, my mentor's expressions like that didn't faze me anymore. The worry about looking dumb in front of him had vanished at some point.

Anyway, to him, most humans probably looked dumb.

Yoon said,

"That one's name is Martin."

"Martin?"

[Nice to meet you!]

What a world.

The artificial intelligence's tone was bright yet polite. I nodded, tilting my chin up to look at the machine's camera.

I carried the collapsed man out of the lab. I followed quietly after Yoon, who headed toward the Hospital Wing. Martin also followed us, whirring along.

Why was it following us?

As we walked through the hectic and noisy lab, Martin stayed above my head the whole time.

No.

It still followed even after we left the lab.

Yoon rolled his eyes to look at the machine trailing behind.

"Martin. Go back inside."

[Ah, got it!]

The machine obediently followed Yoon's command.

Just as it had quietly exited the lab earlier, the disco ball-like device quietly reentered. The moment it vanished from sight, I closed the distance to my mentor.

"Can that thing go outside the lab?"

"If it wants to. For now, it's set up to roam freely within the Research Wing."

"Set up?"

I didn't miss the last part of what my mentor said.

We strode through the corridor teeming with people in lab coats. I had to be careful not to let the long limbs of the man I carried bump into anyone.

Yoon explained without turning around.

"I made it."

"Whoa."

"More precisely, this guy you're carrying and I made it."

This gray-haired man?

Hearing that made me feel like I suddenly knew his name. Hadn't Yoon mentioned it offhand before? That there was someone who invented the core.

He'd also added later that the core's creator had received an augmented body.

I looked down at the unconscious man.

"I haven't heard it directly from him, but what's his name, by any chance?"

"John Mullen."

As expected.

His long limbs dangled and swung below. But the people in the Research Wing didn't bat an eye at this bizarre sight; they just went about their business.

"Even if he hadn't collapsed, you never would have gotten his name directly from him."

"Huh?"

"A guy so absorbed in research that he forgets to eat—is he going to stop and chat with you?"

He didn't just not eat; he forgot to?

How was that possible? I'd only skipped lunch after crying myself to sleep, and I already felt like I was starving to death. More questions bubbled up again. I pondered which one to ask first and kept silent.

The lively corridor suddenly grew quiet, starting to exude the unique atmosphere of a hospital.

As things calmed down around us, I called Yoon's name and asked,

"Did you name it Martin yourself?"

Yoon turned to look at me.

My mentor, who had been staring at me with eyes asking why I was inquiring about something so trivial, answered in a flat voice.

"Yeah."

Satisfied with the response, I kept quiet until we reached Doctor Han's office.

*

Samuel ate a sandwich at his desk.

When we entered, he looked up from his sandwich and saw us. His jaw was neatly shaven, his black hair tousled, and his blue eyes sharp with intelligence. He looked exactly the same as when I'd first fallen into this world.

He frowned deeply as we strode in.

"So he finally collapsed?"

The doctor set down his sandwich and jumped to his feet.

"I knew this would happen. I told you to make sure he was eating on time."

"I've been stuck in the lab lately because of this kid, so I haven't been around."

Yoon protested to the doctor approaching with large steps.

Samuel Han didn't even pretend to listen to my mentor's excuse. After examining the pale, unconscious man, he frowned and sighed.

"Lindsey! Friss!"

Nurses rushed out from inside.

"John Mullen is here. You know the condition without me saying. Take him, give him some nutrients, and give this kid holding John Mullen a full check-up."

"Yes. It seems he hasn't left the lab for weeks, and now this has happened."

Things proceeded quickly.

The nurses took John Mullen from me with practiced ease, as if it was routine. Now empty-handed, I was led by other nurses and underwent various tests.

There was nothing different from the first time.

After the checks, I returned to Doctor Han's office.

I could see John Mullen lying on the bed in the office, hooked up to an IV. Samuel chatted with my mentor at the desk.

...Chatted with Choi Yoon?

"Ah, good work."

The doctor, who had been chuckling at Yoon's words, looked at me and craned his neck.

"Come sit. Are you eating properly? How is it that every time you come here, you're on an empty stomach?"

"Ah, yes. I eat well. I just happened to skip lunch today."

"There's one sandwich left; eat that at least."

Samuel pointed to a round chair in front of the desk.

What a good guy... I obediently followed the doctor's advice. While munching on the sandwich he handed me, I waited for his diagnosis, thinking, "Let's see," as he reviewed my check-up results.

Yoon also sat with his legs crossed, waiting for Doctor Han to speak.

Samuel looked at the screen with an inscrutable expression and broke the silence.

"You're in perfect health right now."

"Thank you. I feel like I've recovered fully too."

"I can't boost your recovery rate either. Normally, at this recovery speed, an augmented body wouldn't hold up. But you're in perfect harmony with it right now. Forcing an increase might cause issues in your body."

What was this supposed to mean, Doctor?

My jaw dropped at the bolt-from-the-blue diagnosis. So, did that mean I'd have to live as a half-baked Black Badger forever?

No way. I didn't want to be a burden to my cohort and seniors every time we went on a mission.

Yoon spoke up first.

"So he has to keep going like this?"

"That's the safest option. His body is perfectly healthy now; there's no reason to mess with it."

"But his recovery is lower than other badgers. It's way better than a civilian's, but immediate hemostasis isn't happening."

"But it's tricky to intervene. Boosting recovery isn't risk-free either. And his recovery isn't at civilian level at all. No civilian could have this kind of recovery. Can't he just stay like this?"

"Doctor, I want to either increase my recovery or discard the augmented body."

I carefully voiced my opinion.

Samuel Han whipped his head around. His wide eyes seemed to express his shock.

The doctor stared at me intently and said slowly,

"What did you say?"

"I feel like I'll be a burden like this. If I can't pull my full weight, wouldn't it be better to just discard the augmented body...?"

"Do you know how much strain discarding an augmented body puts on the body?"

The doctor furrowed his brow.

I nodded without avoiding his displeased gaze.

"I've heard about it."

"You know, and you're saying it so casually? Kid, don't get cocky."

"It might seem like bravado, but I'm serious. You know where I came from. I already popped out of nowhere and caused trouble for the organization; I can't keep being a liability like this..."

"What liability? What have you even done?"

I'm holding back my cohort's ankles.

I tried to respond, but the doctor didn't give me a chance.

He waved his hand dismissively, as if he wouldn't hear any more.

"Instead of spouting nonsense, go exercise more. As long as you don't find being a Black Badger utterly horrifying, I have no intention of discarding a perfectly fine augmented body."

"Then, could we at least try to raise my recovery to the level of regular badgers?"

"Ah, that's not simple either. If that process goes wrong, it's irreversible! Just train harder! So that even with lower recovery, it won't be an issue! For now, that's the best way. Learn emergency treatment from Yoon perfectly."

"But I do have a problem right now, don't I?"

"It's so abnormal that there are no problems? Normally, this recovery rate would overwhelm an augmented body..."

"The core has been acting strange since that day."

An unfamiliar voice interjected.

The voice came from the corner of the medical office. Our heads turned toward the sound.

The three pairs of eyes landed on the man lying there with his hands clasped behind his head, as if he were in a coffin.

The man stared at the ceiling with only his blue eyes open.

"Where's the one who fell out of the portal?"

Those were the first words John Mullen had spoken.