Chapter 469: 467
Test Subject One suddenly clutched his head as if some kind of neurological disease had struck him. The agony twisted his features beyond recognition.
Desperate to relieve the pain, he repeatedly slammed his head against the wall.
Moments later, abnormalities seemed to spread throughout his entire body, and he collapsed to the floor, rolling around uncontrollably.
Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, everything stopped.
The subject had no idea what had happened to him.
Still, the electronic restraints binding him had abruptly disengaged. Naturally, his first instinct was to escape.
As he fled, however, he became increasingly agitated. His temper grew more violent until he seemed compelled to destroy something just to vent his frustration.
That reaction might have been understandable under the circumstances, but Test Subject One had originally been a relatively rational man.
His current behavior was completely out of character. It resembled an emotional breakdown, or perhaps one of his innermost desires had been magnified.
In his case, that desire was violence.
Kain turned his attention to another screen, which displayed Test Subject Two.
Unlike the first subject, this man grew hungrier with every object he saw.
Anything that looked remotely edible made him want to take a bite.
Food had deliberately been placed along his escape route. The setup was obviously suspicious and practically screamed that it was a trap, yet he ultimately failed to resist.
Perhaps he knew he was being watched and had no real chance of escaping. If so, he might have decided that he would rather die with a full stomach.
Once he began eating, however, something became unmistakably wrong.
He had clearly consumed enough food to become full, yet he still behaved as though he were starving.
The desire awakened within Test Subject Two appeared to be gluttony.
Kain shifted his attention to a third screen.
As for Test Subject Three...
The man was already weak-willed scum, but the person arranged for his test was what most people would cruelly describe as a fat pig. Even so, the subject immediately lost all restraint around her.
Naturally, "fat pig" wasn't referring to an actual animal that could be eaten. It was simply a vicious description of the woman's appearance.
Test Subject Three wasn't normally devoid of standards or aesthetic preferences, either. His lust had clearly gone completely out of control.
At that point, he was behaving like a pig himself, utterly shameless and stripped of all restraint.
There were several more examples, all involving Kain's experimental subjects.
Daemons in the Warp tempted and corrupted the projected souls of mortals, drawing out their innermost desires. Kain was now performing a similar operation.
Of course, this so-called temptation didn't involve whispering into their ears or verbally enticing them.
He was simply catalyzing and magnifying desires they already possessed.
Nor could he casually force anyone to lose control. His ability hadn't reached that level yet.
After deploying his Untouchable field, however, he could now distinguish between friend and foe instead of indiscriminately affecting everyone within range.
Allies could be added to a whitelist, preventing the field from affecting them.
When an enemy entered the field, Kain could exert a limited influence based on the emotions they were already experiencing.
If someone felt anger or agitation, or possessed a powerful urge to kill, destroy, or fight, he could catalyze those emotions.
Kain used his own bloodlust as a catalyst, feeding it into the target and accelerating the amplification of their desires.
Against an ordinary person, the process probably wouldn't succeed in a short period. It would take effect gradually, like a slow-acting poison.
The target would also need to remain continuously exposed to the Untouchable field.
Someone who was naturally impulsive, however, might surrender to those desires almost immediately.
That was what Kain had gained from this experiment.
Put simply, he had begun exercising a small portion of his authority within that four-dimensional darkness.
For now, he divided this newfound authority into three domains: Gluttony, Lust, and Wrath.
Those were the only three he could currently manipulate. Whether others existed remained unclear, perhaps because he had too few test subjects and the experiment hadn't lasted long enough.
These three had probably awakened first because of Kain's own nature.
Wrath seemed somewhat out of place for him at first glance.
However, despite having "anger" in its name, Wrath could be interpreted more broadly as a form of battle frenzy.
It encompassed the desire to fight, slaughter, destroy, and spill blood.
With that, Kain concluded his experiments for today, his second day since returning to this world.
A mother and daughter would soon be departing for Tokyo, and he would accompany them as their bodyguard to an afternoon meeting.
The purpose of the meeting was to determine the country's new leader.
In reality, the result was already a foregone conclusion. The meeting itself was little more than a formality.
The woman who had been the first to see through Kain's "gamer mentality" truly possessed extraordinary resolve. In such a short time, she had consolidated the entire country and was about to become its queen.
Still, no matter how certain the outcome appeared, some people would inevitably refuse to accept it. A few might cause trouble simply out of spite, while others could resort to more extreme measures.
Before long, the meeting was underway.
"Please escort Councilman Inoshita from the chamber."
He was the fourth councilman to be "escorted" out, and would likely be the last.
During the meeting, he had suddenly lost all composure and made a complete spectacle of himself.
Saya Takagi, the pink-haired girl with twin tails who had a rough idea of what was happening, stared at a certain someone with dead eyes.
Kain was definitely behind this.
After all, she had witnessed his experiments.
He was clearly using the councilmen present as additional test subjects. Fortunately, every person he targeted was already human garbage, and they had previously lacked a proper public justification for removing such trash from the government.
Now that they had exposed themselves through their own disgraceful outbursts, getting rid of them had become much easier.
Saya suddenly remembered something else, and her displeasure returned.
Kain would probably remain in this world for only another hundred hours.
Yet there were already so many women entangled with him in one way or another. After completing his surgery yesterday, he had spent all his time until this morning with a single person, Saeko Busujima.
The two of them had been alone all night.
Naturally, Saya was consumed by envy and jealousy.
Saeko was simply more special to him. Both of them were members of the Hyperdimension Channel.
Even beyond that unique connection, Saeko appeared to hold a higher place in his heart than the others. That meant his feelings for her were deeper.
The meeting soon came to an end.
From now on, the country's political center would also relocate to the territory controlled by the Takagi family.
After all, Saya and her mother controlled the supply of Earth Elixir. Anyone who refused to cooperate could simply have their supply cut off.
A minor disturbance broke out just as the meeting concluded.
One of Yuriko's political rivals suddenly launched an open assassination attempt against her.
The result was predictable. Kain eliminated the attacker in an instant, stunning everyone present.
The would-be assassin had survived the zombie outbreak and begun awakening his latent potential.
Outside the faction currently controlled by the Takagi family, he could be considered the strongest person in the country.
Yet Kain had crushed someone like that as casually as an ant.
That display would serve as an even greater deterrent to anyone still harboring dangerous ambitions.
Once the meeting ended, it was naturally time to leave.
Only Kain, Yuriko, and Saya had come to Tokyo. Traveling with such a small group was meant to demonstrate their absolute confidence in their strength and ensure everyone understood that the Takagi family possessed a devastating weapon like Kain.
In truth, Saya had another reason for insisting that only the three of them make the trip.
It had taken considerable effort to persuade her mother to agree. Yuriko had been willing from the beginning, but she still had difficulty setting aside her mature reserve.
"That's the one."
Kain was piloting an aircraft far beyond the technology of this era. Following directions from Saya, who was clearly plotting something, he landed outside a private villa.
They were no longer in Tokonosu City, but another city entirely. The villa was one of the Takagi family's properties in the area.
Saya claimed that she had left something important here during her previous visit and asked Kain to make a detour.
It was an obvious lie.
Kain knew she was lying. Saya knew that he knew. She also knew he wouldn't refuse, and that he was already anticipating whatever she had planned.
"Wait outside."
Saya wouldn't allow him to enter. She and Yuriko went into the villa alone.
Meanwhile, night gradually fell.
"All right. You can come in now."
Having already guessed what was waiting for him, Kain entered with a trace of anticipation.
Saya had placed glowing arrow stickers along the way, guiding him through the villa toward a particular room.
When he reached the door and opened it, the sight inside made him pause.
It was a hospital room.
The room itself wasn't what surprised him. The two figures waiting inside were.
Both wore theatrical nurse costumes, clearly chosen for playful effect rather than actual medical work.
"Does our patient require treatment anywhere?"
The two nurses spoke in unison.
Both voices carried unmistakable embarrassment. One possessed the alluring charm of a mature woman, while the other had Saya's lively, tsundere cuteness.