WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Black Badger ◈

Chapter 63: Martin's Disappearance (3)

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I caught him quickly.

Catching him was not difficult, especially since the frightened scientist had wandered into an empty office on his own.

I quietly closed the door to what looked like a meeting room.

The scientist realized he was cornered and began to tremble.

“Please calm down. I won't hurt you.”

Was that the wrong thing to say?

Judging by how violently he was shaking, it seemed so.

That won't do.

I stood quietly before the scientist, who was trembling pitifully but still would not put down the bundle the size of a human head.

I did not move for so long that even someone terrified of me might have grown bored.

The man, who had been hiding half his face behind the bundle, finally raised his head.

“...Aren't you going to take it?”

“I can take it if you give it to me.”

I readily answered his thin question.

The man made a strange expression. I did not bother trying to guess what was going through his mind. Instead, I stood with both arms hanging loosely at my sides to show that I meant no harm.

Still hugging the bundle, the scientist studied me closely.

A tense silence fell. I did not speak first, but I did not look away either. He could not see my face, but I was half certain I had a perfectly blank expression on it.

In the end, the one who surrendered was Martin's thief.

“Y-you listened to me so well....”

“Sorry?”

I leaned closer so I would not miss his fading voice.

The scientist began to tear up.

“Martin was always kind and listened to me so well.... I wanted to be with Martin all the time....”

“You wanted to be with Martin?”

I could not stop myself from asking.

“You stole Martin because you wanted to be with Martin?”

He nodded through his tears, then wiped his eyes with his forearm.

I stared blankly at the man, who looked to be in his late thirties, crying in front of me. He took Martin away for that reason?

This is driving me insane.

“Rather than stealing Martin, I wanted to bring Martin home....”

“What about what Martin wanted?”

I could not hide what I was thinking in my voice. The scientist flinched when he heard it.

He looked at me with a thoroughly frightened expression and mumbled,

“Martin said talking to me was enjoyable too.... Martin said they wanted to keep talking to me from now on, if possible....”

“You could talk to Martin in the lab.”

“I've been assigned to a branch office.”

The scientist muttered gloomily.

“I leave next week.”

He looked down sadly at the bundle the size of a human head. His shoulders were slumped. His black hair was starting to gray, and his beard was unshaven. He looked haggard. There was something a little pitiful about his helpless appearance.

But I could not forgive him for stealing Martin.

I was about to tell him I would not tell Yoon if he gave Martin back.

Then the scientist burst into tears.

He cried so sorrowfully that it caught me off guard. Shedding huge tears, he held the bundle out to me.

“M-Martin won't turn on....”

What?

“E-even when I bought the right cable and plugged it in, Martin wouldn't turn on.... I was scared.... I was so scared, so I brought Martin here....”

“Wait, Martin won't turn on even with the right cable? Why? Did you mess with something?”

“I-I don't know.... I really carried Martin carefully....”

The scientist was crying too hard to even open his eyes properly.

I quickly took the bundle and untied its opening. When the satin pouch opened, Martin's round body appeared. A smooth white body. An enormous lens.

Blue light often flashed behind that lens as Martin flew all over the lab's ceiling and walls.

But now, there was not a trace of color in it. Heavy blackness covered the large lens.

“Martin!”

I grabbed Martin with both hands and cried out.

“Martin! Wake up!”

“Maaartin....”

The scientist wailed beside me.

“Martin, I'm sorry! I....”

We called Martin's name for a long time.

Then I came to my senses first.

No. This was not the time. Getting emotional would not solve anything.

With Martin tucked under my arm, I began gently talking the scientist down. I softened my voice as much as I could while comforting the devastated thief.

Anyway, thank you for bringing Martin back. I would take Martin to Yoon and John. If he was afraid to face Yoon, he only needed to give me his phone number. I would keep his identity hidden, so if I had any questions, he only needed to answer them honestly....

As he listened, the scientist's eyes slowly filled with emotion.

He looked at me with glistening eyes.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“I'll turn myself in.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes.”

The scientist gritted his teeth and nodded.

“I'll apologize to the other scientists too.”

I brightened with delight. Right. He had to face what he had done.

I praised him for making such a difficult decision and told him we should go to Yoon first.

Saving Martin was the most urgent thing. I was terribly worried that the lab's darling might be broken.

But when I threw open the door and said we should go to Yoon, the scientist's face darkened.

He hesitantly followed me out, then grabbed the hem of my clothes.

“C-could you put in a good word for me with Yoon?”

“Ah.”

I understood his fear.

“Of course. I'll do my best to cover for you.”

The scientist's eyes filled with gratitude and emotion.

Worried he might change his mind, I firmly took his arm and headed for Yoon with Martin tucked under mine.

*　　　*　　　*

Yoon was dumbfounded.

He seemed so dumbfounded that he no longer had the will to get angry. My senior partner had been waiting for me outside the hospital room looking ready to fillet the culprit alive, but as soon as he heard my explanation, he could only let out incredulous sounds. After hearing my request for leniency, he sighed and shook his head.

He looked too dumbfounded to even have anything to say.

After my senior partner had fully expressed his contempt with his entire body, we returned to the lab. The scientist, who could not bring himself to meet Yoon's eyes, stuck close to my side.

I did not push him away as we entered the lab.

The moment we stepped inside, a vast, chaotic space spread before us. The scientists busily moving about the familiar room abruptly stopped.

They turned their heads and looked at us.

It was like someone had pressed pause on the entire group.

Their stares flew toward us. Silence settled like glass.

Yoon, Martin's thief, who was apparently named Peter, and I all stopped walking.

“Martin.”

I looked at the scientists staring hard at us, then raised Martin.

“Martin's back.”

The Science Department's idol had returned!

A huge cheer erupted.

The vast space shook with a roar loud enough to make the noise vibrate. I flinched instinctively. I could not slip away as skillfully as Yoon did.

The scientists' eyes gleamed wildly. Half out of their minds, they let out shrill screams and charged toward me.

Watching them rush at me like a herd of buffalo, I screamed.

“Calm down!”

“Hilde found Martin!”

“Martin! Martin!”

“Hilde! Hilde!”

Humans could not calm down.

I hurried backward. I was doomed. I should have remembered how sincerely insane these people were about Martin.

“Calm down! Don't run!”

The scientists ignored my desperate cries.

If I had not been a Badger, I would have been knocked down and trampled to death. I endured the scientists flying toward me and latching onto me like magnets.

Ah. Ow, that hurts. Why are these people so serious about Martin?

Even while grumbling inwardly, I absolutely did not lower the arm I held over my head.

“Please calm down! We need to get Martin turned on!”

“You're amazing, Hilde! As expected of Choi Yoon's proud mentee!”

“The lab's VVVIP!”

“Take him to the awards stage! He is the owner of thirty million won!”

“Buy us coffee with the thirty million!”

“Pizza!”

“Chicken!”

“My quest!”

“No! Next time, my quest!”

I said we needed to see if there was anything wrong with Martin!

But no one listened to me. The scientists surrounding me dragged me away.

My question of where they were dragging me was answered quickly. Several scientists were dragging an awards stage over from the other side of the lab.

Why did the lab have such an extravagant awards stage?

I really did not want to stand on that thing.

But I could not struggle when the people surrounding me might get hurt. If I misjudged my strength, the civilian scientists would be seriously injured.

So, unable to put up any meaningful resistance, I was helplessly dragged along. It seemed like these people knew I could not fight back.

Naturally, my senior partner did not help me.

Far from helping, he stretched out his arm and snatched Martin from my hand.

“Good luck.”

Not “good work,” but “good luck”?

“You just made thirty million won.”

“I told you, Yoon. I didn't find Martin. Peter brought Martin back himself.... More importantly, help me! These people won't let me go!”

“It'll take them a while to calm down.”

Yoon's face was expressionless as he turned Martin around and examined them.

“Keep humoring them.”

My senior partner abandoned me.

I received a trophy engraved with “30,000,000 won” on the awards stage, apparently made with a 3D printer. They put a flower garland around my neck, apparently made from flowers grown in the lab's greenhouse. I was forced to take commemorative photos with a camera said to cost nearly ten million won. Only after receiving the scientists' thunderous applause was I finally freed.

Center Core's most capable geeks operated on another level.

As I staggered down from the stage, someone gently placed a flower crown on my head. Another scientist thrust a bouquet into my hands. I accepted them without a soul, then staggered across the lab.

Buried in flowers, I walked to my senior partner's desk.

Yoon and John were working on Martin.

They were also surrounded by scientists, though the scientists around them kept a certain distance from the two geniuses.

Right. Very few people would dare invade Yoon's personal space.

I pushed through the ring of scientists.

Then I stood beside Yoon.

“Yoon. Martin....”

Tirirng.

The sound of the power coming on.

Light returned to Martin's lens.

[Reboot complete. Initiating.]

[Hello!]

Martin's cheerful voice echoed through the lab.

[Yoon! John! It's been a long time! Did I run out of power? My memories cut off somewhere strange.]

“Martin!”

Peter, who had been standing far away with his hands clasped together, cried out.

“You're awake! I'm sorry!”

His desperate apology was buried beneath the voices of the ecstatic scientists.

Another passionate cheer rose, piercing my ears.

Amid the cheering, I heard Yoon ask Martin basic questions to check Martin's condition.

After receiving clear answers from Martin, Yoon turned to John.

“What do you want to do with the thief?”

It was the sort of question one would ask a co-creator.

But John did not look at the thief. Instead, he tightly hugged the AI, who was spinning around as though they did not understand why everyone was shouting.

He looked like he was holding a beloved child.

The gray-haired genius held Martin for a long time before saying,

“Martin came back. That's enough.”

What a tearful reunion.

“Um.... His name....”

“Are you talking about me, Senior? I'm Test Subject No. 0.”

John looked at me as I quickly introduced myself.

“Give No. 0 the reward.”

“That'll do.”

Yoon gave a small snort.

Martin spun around and around, while the scientists cheered at the sight of Martin.

And so, the Martin theft incident was resolved.

Martin became the lab's idol again, and Peter received plenty of contemptuous stares, but he went off on an assignment to a branch office with all four limbs intact.

And I received the reward money. Thirty million won after taxes. Paid in a lump sum.

My name was also added to the Quest Hall of Fame. Beating out the senior Badgers, my name was engraved in the number one spot for the highest single reward in history.

Hildebert Taleb: Total Reward, 30,000,000 won.

From that day onward, I became something like a hero of the lab. Whenever I entered the lab, the scientists cheered while saying strange things like, “The hero has arrived.”

John Mueln remembered my name too.

As No. 0.

Thus, the Martin theft incident ended after bringing a few small changes. Still, more than becoming the lab's hero or having John remember my name, I was happy that I had grown closer to Martin. From that day onward, I often visited Martin to hang out. I also kept in touch with Peter, who had gone to the branch office.

Time spent with people who were not Badgers.

That was how I spent my time until the day before the social gathering.

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