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“Drugs and torture, fear and awe, drops and amplification…”

Park Jinseong could guess what this researcher named Tom was claiming just from these keywords.

It was likely a method that would elevate people through pleasure and happiness brought by drugs while plunging them down to the depths of the underground through torture. Additionally, they’d likely mix brainwashing and a combination of down and up drugs to amplify awe and fear.

“Not entirely unfamiliar methods.”

Surprisingly, this wasn’t even a concept invented by this research institute.

Such methods could sometimes be seen in wicked and cruel secret organizations or cults.

Of course, in those places, they used it for brainwashing, but here, the methods themselves were the means, which made a slight difference.

While both approach people as resources or mere tools, if one had to choose a more vicious place, it would definitely be this research institute.

Their truly ‘resource’-based approach, seeking efficiency, reminded him of the Nazi’s practices back in the day.

“A request for an efficient torture tool… Hmmm. One must not become accustomed to pain, excessive bodily harm should not be inflicted, death must be postponed, and it should assist in the recovery of both body and mind while allowing the existence of the torture tool to be felt through the five senses… They really seem to have thoroughly examined this.”

It was a display of madness, wanting to utilize every ounce of expendable resource.

Of course, that wasn’t particularly wrong… but considering that this expendable resource is ‘people’ and that the method to acquire it is ‘torture’, one could truly say it reached the realm of insanity.

But then again.

Observing this relentless madness, an inevitable question arose.

“But what are they planning to use extracted emotions for?”

He could understand it being utilized in studies of fear and awe.

And it was clear that emotions were significant research materials, connected to some anticipated goals.

So then, what is that ‘goal’?

What was the purpose they were trying to achieve to such an extent?

“Anael.”

Until now, he couldn’t grasp it.

He could only see outlines.

But gradually, the darkness was lifting, and he could feel pieces of something immense beginning to show.

Park Jinseong thought this as he gazed around the lab.

『 On the Folk Beliefs of Primitive Peoples and the Cultures Conducted through Masks 』

『 The Faith Culture of Japan Viewed through Mikado and Tatari 』

『 Human Sacrifice and Cannibalism Practices in the East and the West 』

『 Superstitious Origins Seen in the Purification Rituals of Azeamoa 』

『 The Investigation of Torture and Pain through the Records of Sipe Totek 』

『 The Horror of Savage and Barbaric Peoples 』

A colorful assortment of books and papers lined the shelves.

Superstition, fear, torture, psychology, etc.

The titles of the books themselves revealed that this Tom fellow was diligent in his research.

Cruelly so.

With that thought in mind, Park Jinseong turned his back and left the lab.

And he quickly scanned the sizable space.

“Torture room, warehouse…”

Was it because of the research theme?

Outside the lab, the scenery looked almost like a gigantic factory.

A torture factory.

A factory that mechanically carried out torture.

But that factory was an old tale.

The space that once seemed to be filled with victims was now deserted, and even the torture room remained, with only a few blood stains and chunks of flesh left, merely proving the brutality that had occurred here, now entirely void of human presence.

“…Why is there no one?”

Strange.

The blood and flesh told the tale of research conducted here… yet didn’t it seem like time hadn’t quite passed? While decayed and dried blood or rotting chunks of flesh might explain it, the thin layer of dust in the warehouse was particularly significant.

The presence of dust indicated a lack of maintenance.

So then… does this mean the research institute hasn’t been managed?

“This isn’t a raid nor am I some undercover escapee. This isn’t a hurried evacuation; time naturally passed after people disappeared…”

Of course, one could easily chalk it up to a feeling.

It could also be a coincidence, or perhaps an incident unknown to Park Jinseong swept through and resulted in this situation.

But…

“My intuition tells me that the causality is intertwined with me.”

His instincts were speaking.

The intuition leading him here indicated that something about this place’s state was connected to him.

That he was an existence rooted in this causality, and everything before his eyes was a fruit borne from that connection.

It was telling him that.

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem like it will harm me too much, so I should take a look around.”

Park Jinseong began to move again, seeking to uncover this cruel research institute and the studies being conducted here.

Each floor’s lab was distinct, and the research conducted there varied as well.

『 To utilize emotions as a resource, one must solve a fundamental puzzle. That is, to store an entity with no shape or substance called emotion. However, the methods to do so were, truly, quite a conundrum…』

『 …Utilizing ghosts for emotion extraction has failed. Based on papers studying ghosts and collected case studies, it seems that the ghosts manipulating human emotions are not genuinely controlling emotions but are likely influenced by the thoughts that constitute their existence; thus, we have judged that there is no method to utilize this in our research… 』

『 …Human psyche and emotions remain largely uncharted territories, and finding leads on them is proving difficult. Therefore, instead of researching ways to store and use emotions, we should investigate ways to direct emotions… 』

『 …To artificially add direction to emotions, a method close to brainwashing must be used, but significant individual differences make it impossible to discover a pattern. More samples are necessary. 』

On certain floors, research was being conducted to direct emotions through brainwashing and drugs.

『 What are the minimum conditions for producing emotions? 』

『 …As seen in the recently attempted efficient poultry farming, where the cerebral cortex was removed from chickens while only retaining brainstem and homeostasis-related core functions, we know that by castrating and controlling any aspect that constitutes flesh, we can push efficiency to the extreme. In the case of the poultry farm mentioned, this method resulted in overwhelmingly superior space utilization, stability through the removal of variables, and significant cost reduction, thus proving immense efficiency. 』

『 …As suggested by this approach, with appropriate measures for shaping emotions, we could potentially achieve production with overwhelming efficiency… 』

『 …Therefore, at our research institute, there exists a necessity to rethink the ‘flesh’ which occupies space, incurs management costs, and creates unnecessary variables. If we could surgically remove everything except for the necessary parts or extract the brain for emotion production through electrical stimulation… 』

On certain floors, research was even being conducted to process human bodies or to utilize just extracted brains.

『 What is the minimum unit for producing emotions? 』

『 We understand that humans produce emotions, allowing for special actions. However, what are the minimum conditions required to perform these actions? 』

『 …Through special samples with dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia, we confirmed that even with mental issues or split identities, a sufficient amount of emotion can be produced. So, what are the minimum conditions for producing emotion, and what stages yield the highest efficiency? 』

『 …Traditional methods for splitting personalities have been effective. However, while we can merely split personalities, we cannot control them, leaving us at the mercy of chance in determining how many personalities will be generated or what kind will emerge. It’s clear that such variables are detrimental to research, and to control these variables… 』

On certain floors, research was being conducted even to split human personalities.

Park Jinseong observed these horrifying studies on each level, gaining clarity about what they were researching.

‘Faith.’

It wasn’t a foreign concept for Park Jinseong.

Wasn’t the first thing he did after returning to this timeline capturing a God in Japan? He even crafted that God into a vending machine, extracting divine power from it, making it an extremely efficient utility.

Utilizing the divine power through Shamaness Saigo Rise to create objects imbued with that power or divine objects was all par for the course.

‘Faith is built on fear, awe, and belief. And they seek to utilize this in a scientific, efficient, and controllable manner.’

Exactly.

This was a research institute aimed at creating a farm.

Turning people into livestock, extracting emotions, and researching how to process faith.

And that faith was directed towards none other than…

‘Anael.’

Artificial Intelligence.

 

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