Half a year of patient, deliberate effort had paid off — I'd managed to build a degree of trust with Gloria.
But then the organization's year-end party forced me to step away briefly.
And that was all it took for a complete disaster to unfold.
Drip… drip… drip…
From inside the containment cell, torrents of blood were seeping out of lumps of flesh that were barely recognizable as human.
Scattered among them were fragments that looked unmistakably like Black Cell hazmat suits.
Which meant those lumps were almost certainly the Lower-level Managers assigned to this cell.
The interior of the containment room looked like a scene straight out of a battlefield — a sea of blood and corpses — and yet, after seeing so many bodies over the past six months, had I simply gone numb?
What hit me now wasn't panic. It was a hollow, deflated exhaustion.
'Is this how it ends?'
I'd only stepped out for the evening, and Gloria had gone on a rampage…
I suppose life really doesn't go according to plan.
The plan was already in ruins, and now that I'd walked into the room, escape was impossible.
I'd clearly be joining those lumps of flesh soon enough.
With that calm acceptance of death, I walked toward Gloria.
And on the slim chance it might mean something, I offered an apology.
"I was far too late. I'm truly sorry."
"…………?"
She must have expected me to run — Gloria stared at me with unmistakable bewilderment.
But her next words knocked the breath right out of me.
"What did you do wrong?"
I never expected to hear that. Not here. Not now.
And the fact that she was asking it while drenched in blood made her look more terrifying than any ghost.
Still, I forced my voice steady and opened my mouth.
"Everything."
Unlike before — leaving Gloria alone for so long.
Not being there with her when she ate.
Not warning her that other people would be coming in.
Among other things.
I bent my knees to meet her eye level and slowly made my confession.
I was bracing myself for the judgment to come, just about to close my eyes —
When Gloria suddenly let out a scornful snort.
"You think I was angry because of you? That's a little self-absorbed, don't you think?"
"Is that so?"
"Whatever. Just hurry up and call those damn people."
Gloria shifted her gaze pointedly toward her soiled restraint suit.
I could just make out grains of rice clinging to the fabric.
That told me more or less what had happened.
'The Lower-level Managers panicked, all rushed in together, and ended up spilling the porridge all over Gloria.'
Either way — her reaction was sharp, but Gloria still struggled with emotional regulation, and after six months sharing a containment cell with her, I'd learned to read her blank expression well enough.
My sincere apology seemed to take the edge off her anger, and the atmosphere gradually shifted toward something like forgiveness.
Relief welled up inside me, but there was still plenty left to deal with.
Gloria kept shooting me looks that said she was uncomfortable, so I contacted the higher-ups immediately.
[ So what you're saying is… when the managers died, the emergency alert on their hazmat suits triggered automatically? ]
"That's correct, Director."
[ Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk — honestly, why did they have to spill the porridge and cause all this trouble… Anyway, Maxwell? You really did well this time. We should probably move Gloria to a new containment cell. ]
True to form for a villainous organization — human life was clearly a negligible concern.
*****************
Gloria was moved to a new containment cell and given a clean restraint suit.
Honestly, I'd expected that after causing this incident, she'd be bound up even tighter than before — but the Director made a surprising call.
"Nnnngh!! Finally, some room to breathe."
"I'm truly glad it suits you."
Not only were her legs freed — her arms were released entirely as well.
The reasoning behind this decision was straightforward.
"It took half a year, but to think you actually earned the trust of that insane little brat… Truly impressive."
"You're far too kind."
After all, hadn't I survived that carnage?
The Director had apparently decided the time was right — that we could now proceed with various experiments on Gloria.
"But one wrong move, and I'll end up like those Lower-level Managers, won't I?"
"That's exactly why you're here, Maxwell."
"Ah…."
Having apparently earned the organization's considerable trust, I was formally assigned as Gloria's dedicated researcher.
It was an incredibly dangerous post to be saddled with, but at least the experiments were mine to conduct however I saw fit.
On top of that, I received orders to gradually earn the trust of the other young test subjects as well.
The downside was that it meant less time with Gloria.
And now that her hands and feet were free, she still refused to eat unless I fed her — like a baby bird waiting for its mother.
I wasn't sure what to do about that, but in the end I decided to tackle it head-on, the same way I'd handled everything else.
"I believe Black Cell currently operates under the assumption that I'm befriending you, Gloria, purely for research purposes."
"Wasn't that the case?"
"Of course not."
I said it plainly, to her face — the part she'd most likely feel betrayed by if she found out later on her own.
Of course, what came next was the truth.
I figured it could serve as a buffer before I brought up the experiments.
But as she listened, Gloria's face suddenly twisted into a deep scowl.
I was wondering what on earth had gotten into her —
"…You've gotten awfully cheeky lately."
Out of nowhere, she told me not to come into the containment cell except when necessary or at mealtimes.
The thought process of a villain in the throes of adolescence was simply beyond my ability to follow.
***************
For the time being, I began the experiments on Gloria as the organization had ordered.
The objective was singular.
To explore methods of making her ability more powerful.
But the main story hadn't begun yet, and neither Black Cell nor any other organization had the faintest grasp of how abilities grew stronger.
What was accepted as established theory, however, was that intense emotion stimulated abilities — which was why test subjects were being put through experiments that bordered on torture.
When Gloria heard that experiments were about to begin, she looked very, very displeased.
Of course, since I'd been guaranteed freedom in how I conducted my research, I had no intention of following the experiment manual they'd handed me.
"So please, don't worry too much."
"…………."
The way her expression softened told me she still had that ability — the instinct to see through to the truth. No question about it.
I resolved to be even more careful with my words going forward, then set about drafting the experiment plan.
I'd be drawing from the hypotheses in the original work that had the highest likelihood of being correct, so the results should be reliable.
The problem was that this could make Gloria — already one of the most catastrophically powerful villains in existence — even stronger.
'That's a problem for later.'
If I didn't produce results, the organization would dispose of me. That came first.
Before diving into the experiments, I ran a baseline check on Gloria's physical capabilities.
Fortunately, Gloria complied with my requests to a reasonable degree.
Steel, iron — she bent them like clay, effortlessly.
I was marveling at how such tremendous force could come from such a small body, even accounting for her ability —
When I noticed Gloria watching me from beside me with the exact same expression I must have been wearing.
"Is something the matter?"
"…Nothing. Mind your own business."
She was genuinely difficult to read — I had no idea what was going through her head.
After that, I ran checks on grip strength, punching force, jumping ability, and more. I couldn't help but be impressed.
"As expected — you truly are exceptional, Gloria."
She really was the seed of the most fearsome villain in existence. Every stat was S-rank.
But when I complimented her, Gloria silently looked away.
Was she… embarrassed?
Still, I didn't push closer than necessary — she'd already drawn that line.
I moved on to explaining how the experiments would proceed.
"May I ask — how far are you able to consciously control your ability, Gloria?"
"Why are you suddenly asking something like that?"
"Just now, it looked as though you were using your ability unconsciously."
A person moves their fingers without thinking, but without specialized knowledge, they can't explain exactly how those movements work.
"In the same way, I believe an ability changes based on the user's self-awareness of it."
"Say it more simply."
"Suppose there's an ability user who can control fire. In reality, what they're actually manipulating is the speed of molecular motion. The moment they become aware of that true nature — they find they can now control ice as well, in ways they couldn't before."
To put it even more plainly: understanding the essence of one's ability is the first step.
Just how powerful would Gloria become if she truly grasped the nature of her own ability?
It was a future I found myself genuinely curious about.
After that, with some time left over, I ran checks to see whether she was affected by external energy sources.
Gloria was clearly annoyed, but she seemed curious enough to go along with it — exposing herself to infrared and ultraviolet light, among other things.
We were able to work through a variety of experiments, and before long, everything scheduled for the day was finished.
It ended so quickly that Gloria looked vaguely uncertain, as if she wasn't sure what to make of it.
Even so, when I brought her back to the new containment cell, she said nothing and simply climbed into bed.
I waited beside her until she fell soundly asleep.
***************
There was still plenty of time before Gloria's dinner.
I decided to take the opportunity to broaden my connections — and, as the Director had suggested, go see another young test subject.
Naturally, to prepare for the rampage incident that would come later, I needed to meet the most powerful and dangerous young test subject first.
I pulled up the file on the one I was about to visit.
[ Name: Liberty ]
[ Age: 11 ]
[ Gender: Female ]
[ Ability: Superhuman-type ]
[ Rapid Regeneration, Physical Enhancement, Wolf Mutant ]
[ Incident Record: Has attacked and consumed multiple researchers on several occasions. ]
[ Personality: Ferocious. Animal-level cognition. ]
Liberty was not an ability user — she was a mutant.
But after sustained experimentation by Black Cell, it was fair to say her intelligence had been reduced to that of a beast.
She was weaker than Gloria, yes — but her incident record explicitly stated she had consumed human flesh.
In the original work, she was one of the most horrifying villains, known for literally tearing apart one of the protagonist's companions.
One wrong move, and I could easily become her next meal.
I made the necessary preparations and headed straight to where Liberty was being held.
From inside the darkened room came the sound of an animal breathing — and then I spotted her: a girl with black hair and golden eyes.
The wolf tail and ears confirmed it. This was Liberty.
I was silently grateful for the muzzle strapped to her face.
"WOOF!!!"
Liberty lunged at me in an instant — but the chain leash around her neck and the shackles binding her limbs jerked her short, and the attack fell wide.
CLANK CLANK CLANK!!!
CRASH!!!
"Grrrrrrrr!!"
"Hff…."
It felt exactly like being locked in a room with a massive predator.
Either way, Liberty was on extreme alert — so I decided to take the same approach I had with Gloria, and simply give it time.
I settled down at a safe distance and waited. Gradually, Liberty's wariness began to shift into something closer to curiosity.
If I repeated this enough times, I'd probably be able to get a little closer eventually.
I stayed with Liberty until it was nearly time for Gloria's dinner.
When the time came, I went straight to Gloria's containment cell —
"You smell."
"Ah… what smell are you referring to?"
"Go wash up."
"Pardon?"
"I said go wash up. Right now."
Thanks to Gloria's silent but absolute insistence, I ended up changing my clothes entirely before the day was done.