My 'System' Is Myself!?

The air in the laboratory seemed to have frozen.

Haruno and Kirari stood before Genichi, both wearing grim expressions.

They had spent three full days mobilizing every resource available to the Yukinoshita family and the Momobami Clan. They investigated the intruders' identities, backgrounds, personal relationships, and every other possible lead in an attempt to uncover the mastermind behind them.

But their efforts had produced nothing. It was like throwing a punch into a mound of cotton, with nowhere for the blow to land.

"You have the results?"

Genichi leaned back in his chair, idly twirling a pen between his fingers. A hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.

Haruno took a deep breath and placed a thick report on the table.

"We identified them, but the results are strange."

Genichi stopped twirling the pen and picked up the report, flipping through it one page at a time.

Photographs, names, ages, addresses, employers, social connections. Every entry was perfectly clear, and every detail was meticulously documented.

Yet it was precisely the flawless nature of that information that made Haruno and Kirari look so troubled.

Genichi read through the intruders' employment histories, and the corners of his lips curved upward.

"Their records are as clean as blank sheets of paper."

Kirari gritted her teeth.

"They're too clean. So clean that it's unnatural. We investigated every record from the day they were born until now, including elementary school, middle school, university, employment, and social circles. Every stage of their lives is flawless. There isn't a single inconsistency. But that very perfection is what feels wrong."

Haruno continued, frustration seeping into her voice.

"Ordinary people don't have such perfect life records. There should be blemishes. Failed exams, arguments with classmates, job transfers, moves, relationships, breakups. But there's nothing like that in their records. It's as though they were carefully designed to be tools."

Genichi set down the report and looked at them.

"So you couldn't identify whoever was behind them?"

Haruno and Kirari lowered their heads simultaneously.

"We're deeply sorry."

Their voices overlapped, filled with guilt and unwillingness to accept their failure.

Haruno's fingernails dug into her palms.

She was the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family. Although her family could not compare to the largest financial conglomerates, it still possessed connections throughout the political and business worlds.

Kirari was the head of the Momobami Clan and controlled most of Japan's underworld. Both legitimate and criminal organizations had to show her a degree of respect.

Working together, the two of them should have been able to investigate nearly any individual or organization.

Yet now, they could not even uncover the true backgrounds of a handful of intruders.

This was no longer merely a question of their capabilities. Their pride was at stake.

Genichi watched their dejected expressions, and the corners of his lips rose slightly.

"You can't be blamed for this."

Haruno abruptly raised her head and stared at him.

Surprise flashed through her eyes, followed by a glimmer of anticipation.

Genichi never comforted anyone without a reason. If he was saying this, he must already know something.

"Do you already know who's behind this?"

She understood him far too well. From his calm voice and the slight curve of his lips, she could discern far more than he actually said.

Genichi did not answer immediately. He rose, walked to the window, and turned his back to them.

His fingers tapped lightly against the windowsill, producing a steady rhythm.

"The Japanese government, of course."

Haruno's pupils contracted sharply.

Kirari's expression also froze.

The two women exchanged glances, each seeing the same shock and disbelief in the other's eyes.

"The Japanese government?"

Haruno's voice sounded dry.

"Are you certain?"

Genichi turned around and looked at them.

There was no emotion in his eyes, but Haruno could sense something hidden beneath that calm. It was not anger or concern, but a condescending contempt, as though he had seen through a pitifully insignificant trick.

"While researching those vengeful spirits, I developed several supplementary abilities."

His voice remained calm, as though he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.

"For example, I can read memories directly from a soul."

Haruno stopped breathing for an instant.

Reading memories from a soul?

What did that mean?

It meant Genichi could extract every secret from the intruders' souls. Who they were, where they had come from, who had sent them, and what their objective had been.

There was no need for an investigation, deduction, or any other complicated process.

It was direct, brutal, and effective.

"Those intruders were raised by the Japanese government from childhood."

Genichi continued speaking.

"Their souls bear the government's mark. They underwent ideological conditioning, military training, and intelligence instruction from the time they were children. They weren't ordinary spies, but invisible operatives specifically cultivated by the government. They had no real identities, no pasts, and no futures. They were nothing more than tools."

Kirari clenched her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"Why did the government infiltrate this place? What do they want?"

Genichi returned to the workbench, picked up a set of experimental records, and casually flipped through them.

"The reason is simple. First, I began searching for large numbers of people capable of seeing evil spirits. Then, a large number of test subjects disappeared. Anyone with even half a brain could recognize the connection between those two events."

Haruno's expression darkened further.

Of course she knew what he meant.

The volunteers, the failed subjects who had died during the experiments, and the bodies carried away in black bags. They had done everything they could to keep the matter secret, but no secret remained hidden forever.

It was impossible for so many people to disappear without attracting attention.

That was especially true of the government, with its enormous intelligence network and eyes and ears everywhere.

"The Japanese government has always known that evil spirits exist in this world."

Genichi's voice grew colder.

"In fact, they understand the threat even better than ordinary people because they possess information inaccessible to the public. The supernatural incidents, the inexplicable deaths, and the truths that were covered up. The government knows about all of them."

Anger flashed through Kirari's eyes.

"So they also know that we're researching ways to fight evil spirits? They know that we're creating Ghost Tamers? They know that we're saving this world?"

"They know."

Genichi nodded.

"But they don't care about saving the world. What they care about is who controls that power."

Silence fell over the laboratory.

Haruno and Kirari said nothing.

They understood exactly what he meant.

The government had not come to cooperate or offer assistance. It had come to steal.

Its leaders had seen Genichi creating Ghost Tamers. They had witnessed supernatural powers and realized that those powers could reshape the global balance.

They wanted a share. They wanted to seize that power for themselves and use it to strengthen their rule.

"So they sent people to infiltrate the research facility and steal our data."

Kirari sneered.

"Idiots."

"No, they aren't idiots."

Genichi shook his head.

"They're greedy. Greed has blinded them and convinced them that everything can be solved with money, authority, or force. They don't understand that some things are beyond their reach."

Haruno took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm.

"Genichi, what are you planning to do? Confronting the government is no small matter. They have the military, the police, and the resources of an entire country."

A glint flashed through Genichi's eyes as he looked at her.

"Confront them? Why would I do that?"

Haruno blinked.

"Then what are you…"

"If they want to steal my research, let them steal it."

Genichi spoke as casually as if he were commenting on the weather.

"If they want to replicate the Ghost Tamers, let them try. If they want to wield supernatural power, let them have it."

Haruno and Kirari exchanged glances, each seeing the same confusion in the other's eyes.

Genichi could not help laughing at their expressions.

"Do you honestly believe Ghost Tamers are that easy to replicate? Even if they obtained every last experimental record, they still couldn't create a single Ghost Tamer. They would only repeat my failures and send more people to their deaths on the operating table."

Haruno's eyes lit up.

She finally understood what he meant.

If the government wanted to steal the research data, they could have it.

Without Genichi's power serving as the project's core, those records were nothing but wastepaper.

The more the government tried, the more it would fail. The more it failed, the more personnel and resources it would commit. The more it invested, the deeper it would sink into the quagmire.

In the end, the government would discover that it had gained nothing at all.

(End of Chapter)

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