An invitation from Scholar arrived. It was for an exchange of scientific knowledge, and the timing was perfect. It was a great opportunity to report on the billion-dollar research I’d previously completed and to present my findings on soul research while defeating the enemies of the world.
A few days later, like always, a vehicle showed up in front of the Evilus Corporation. Leaving the excited Vira, who was delighted about an unexpected vacation, behind, I got into the vehicle solo and headed to the association.
Upon arriving at Scholar in the all-too-familiar black vehicle, the members who had arrived earlier greeted me warmly.
“Dr. Eight.”
“Chairman.”
“Haha-! Please don’t call me that here. I’m just member number 3.”
The head of the parapsychology research society, Swallon, Scholar No. 3, scratched his cheek awkwardly. I shook his hand warmly and then looked respectfully at Dr. Kuroid, who stood behind him.
Upon making eye contact with me, Dr. Kuroid, as if seeing a deity, gave an awed expression, and cautiously bowed.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Eight.”
“Yes. Long time no see, Dr. Kuroid. How’s Lucia doing?”
“She’s doing well, creator.”
Feeling a bit awkward interacting with them, I quickly finished the greetings and looked around, asking the chairman.
“─Dr. Swallon? Is it just us today?”
“No, we have one more person. Someone Dr. Eight might know…….”
“Someone I know?”
I pondered if there was such a person among the Scholar members when a bronzed-skinned beauty walked out from inside the Scholar headquarters.
Unlike a typical scientist, she exuded health, but her face was marked with a frown as if something unpleasant had happened. Her relatively wrinkle-free frown implied she was either young or diligent in her skincare—a sign that she might not be top-tier as a scientist.
“─Was it you?”
“Pardon?”
“Were you the one who sent the email?”
“An email… Ah, then you’re Dr. Shira?”
“Seems like it.”
Taking a thesis out from her lab coat pocket, she revealed a paper on soul research I’d sent her via email.
Having not even a basic degree and being certain I’d be ignored if I submitted it myself, I sent it to Dr. Shira, who was also researching souls. If I used her name, maybe people would listen to it once.
It seemed she was quite impressed by the thesis. She had it printed, after all.
“Did you write this?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Why, why send it to me?”
“Since it’s not my usual research area and I don’t have a degree, I’d get ignored if I submitted it. So, I sent it to Dr. Shira, a fellow Scholar member.”
“……You want to borrow my name? Submit it as joint research?”
Hearing her words, I tilted my head in confusion and replied.
“Joint research? Not at all─you can submit it as your solo research.”
“It doesn’t matter─?”
“Yes. If it’s such research, I can just write another….”
Before I could finish my sentence, Dr. Shira began tearing the thesis to shreds. Her hands were filled with fury.
She spent a long time ripping the paper, and when that wasn’t enough to calm her, she began stomping on the scattered paper pieces.
“You, damn, son of a─!”
The thesis was ruthlessly sullied. Watching, I felt a slight trauma. What if it had been the thesis I’d burned the midnight oil for over a month to write? The thought made me shiver.
Luckily, the paper wasn’t my graduation thesis, nor had I spent a month on it, so I could barely remain calm.
“─You damn bastard.”
“……Why the sudden profanity?”
“Are you that confident in your research? Does the world look like it’s filled with morons, with you as the only genius!?”
“Uh…….”
Of course, I didn’t think that way. It’s like a modern math graduate student traveling back to sneer at Newton, Gauss, or Pythagoras.
But however she interpreted my hesitation, Dr. Shira flipped me off and shouted.
“Screw you. You stupid bastard.”
“……I didn’t think that way.”
“Just wait. I’ll come up with something better than this garbage thesis of yours. Got it?”
Dr. Shira vanished somewhere as she said that. As I was observing her retreating figure, Dr. Kuroid, who had quietly watched our conversation, snuck up and whispered.
“My Lord… This time, it seems you were indeed wrong….”
“Please stop with the deity talk….”
Honestly, I wondered if writing a paper for free was such a crime. Where I came from, professors demanded far worse.
But seeing Dr. Kuroid’s reaction, I realized it─I had indeed been in the wrong this time.
* * *
“Haah…….”
Inside the vehicle on her way back to her research facility, after leaving Scholar, Dr. Shira smoked cigarette after cigarette. The vehicle quickly filled with smoke, but neither she nor the driver seemed to mind.
Instead, the driver concernedly asked if something was wrong.
“Are you alright, Dr. Shira?”
“……I’m fine. Just focus on driving.”
“Yes. My apologies.”
After arriving home with little conversation, she discarded her smoke-drenched clothes and headed straight to the shower.
The shockingly cold water from the showerhead startled her. Despite trying to cool her heated temper with the icy water, the irritation and anger in her head didn’t subside easily.
‘What? You can write that level of research any time?’
Thinking about it again made her anger flare. Had she had less patience, she might have punched the bathroom wall with her fists. But she possessed enough restraint and wasn’t foolish enough to punch a solid wall with bare hands, so such an incident didn’t occur.
Returning to her study post-shower, Dr. Shira immediately sat in her chair and stared at the thesis she had written. Honestly, it was a mess.
It was after she saw his thesis. The curse of knowledge. Once aware of the answer, the questions seemed embarrassingly simple. And simultaneously, how flawed her answers were.
‘……That bastard.’
Her craving for a cigarette surged. But she resisted her urge with superhuman patience and began revising her thesis. She tried her best not to think of Eight’s thesis.
After hours and hours of work, she finally completed revising the thesis. It was a major improvement from her initial version.
Yes, just like the thesis someone had sent her on email.
“Ah, damn…….”
Upon rereading, it read like a cut-and-paste of Eight’s paper. Essentially, it was plagiarism. But she couldn’t help it. When dealing with a fixed-answer topic, when they’ve already published the correct answer, it inevitably looks like copying.
This time she couldn’t hold back. Deleting the thesis she had painstakingly written, Shira lit a cigarette and instinctively began clicking her mouse. Hovering, it clicked on Eight’s thesis file on her desktop.
Its perfect, eloquent solutions washed over her mind.
‘Ah…….’
‘A Summary on Souls’. How bombastically titled. It felt like a prank after knowing she was invested in this research area. But it wasn’t.
There wasn’t a trace of exaggeration in the title. It merely stated the facts plainly, a realization she came to after only two sentences.
Her own research’s misdirection was evident, like a pioneer wandering in the dark had effortlessly made it to the goal.
“Damn, genius…….”
Sighing loudly, Shira exhaled smoke with a bitter smile. She had risen to this position, hailed a genius along the way, but she never expected to encounter another barrier here.
Staring at the thesis, she carefully navigated to a manuscript submission site. She felt a wicked desire to trouble the creator of this paper.
‘What? It’s okay if it’s solely my research? He claimed no one would believe him without a degree?’
Shira submitted the paper as joint research, placing Eight’s name in the front and hers at the back. Thanks to her reputation, the paper’s views quickly soared.
No doubt, news would break out immediately today. And she would ensure it would.
“You’ll be stuck researching under me for life now.”
He must be held accountable for stealing her life’s work.
Musing to herself, Shira giggled softly.
* * *
[Breaking News: Dr. Shira, a renowned figure in biological research, has successfully proven the existence of souls and……]
[The religious community is labeling this research as heretical, excommunicating Dr. Shira and her fellow researcher, Dr. Eight for─]
[Academics are showing tremendous interest in the enigmatic Dr. Eight─]
[Dr. Shira has labeled Dr. Eight as “The person who stole my life”—……]
“Hm?”
While eating ramen in my laboratory, I perked up upon hearing my name on TV news. I confirmed it was really my name on the screen.
……Why’s my name there?
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but one thing was certain.
“Better eat quickly….”
Ring-ring-ring-!
As the boss called, I swiftly worked my chopsticks.
The more I ate, the better.
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