The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

When global warming became a pressing issue, humanity faced unprecedented heatwaves, record-breaking snowstorms, and various other meteorological anomalies. Yet, these phenomena only signaled that something was amiss with the planet.

Such sudden and severe impacts were unheard of.

No one foresaw the onset of a third ice age.

No one imagined an abrupt apocalypse.

It was the same in this world.

What the hell is this...

Staring at the snow-formed wall—a veritable barricade of snow—I let out a dry chuckle and tried to push it aside. Yet, the sturdy barricade didn’t budge, as if mocking the strength of a grown man.

I had been struggling for a while, attempting to dig into the snow, when a sharp voice sounded behind me.

"Step aside."

"W-What—?"

Instinctively moving out of the way at the overwhelming presence in that voice, I watched as Gallum adjusted his stance and delivered a punch. True to his reputation as an S-class villain judged solely on his physical prowess and martial arts skills, Gallum effortlessly smashed through the snow wall that had resisted all my efforts.

They say water cannot be compressed, but it seems snow doesn’t quite follow the same rule.

The snow had been so compacted it turned into something resembling spherical cocktail ice. Beyond the broken barricade, I could see snow pouring in incessantly through the shattered glass of the building’s front doors.

"As expected."

"Did you figure something out?"

"Isn’t it obvious? This isn’t natural."

From the perspective of someone who had lived through global warming on Earth, this was neither a result of climate change nor technological developments. It wasn’t just my Earthly intuition speaking; as a scientist, I reached the same conclusion.

Even in an actual ice age, snow wouldn’t fall like this. Ice ages occur when the Earth is covered in ice, not because of an overwhelming amount of snow. Snow alone doesn’t lead to an ice age.

Such an event simply cannot occur naturally. It’s impossible. And what that means is straightforward.

"This situation has a culprit."

"Oh..."

Whether that culprit was a villain, a supernatural entity like a demon, a fairy queen, or a spirit, or even an anomaly from another world like me or Arima, I didn’t know.

What was certain was that this event was artificially caused. And if it was artificially caused, then it could also be stopped by artificial means.

"So? Who’s the culprit?"

"That’s what we need to figure out now."

"What? I thought you’d already deduced it with that genius intellect of yours."

"What am I, Sherlock Holmes...?"

"And what’s that supposed to mean?"

Dismissing the topic with a wave of my hand, I got back into the elevator. Now that it was clear this wasn’t a natural phenomenon, it was time to address the situation.

I didn’t know who the culprit was yet, but one thing was certain.

You’re screwed.

They had messed with all of humanity. Not just me, but the entire human race.

Heroes, villains, magical girls, fairies, demon worshippers, dragons, elves, shamans serving supernatural beings—all manner of superhumans in this world...

The culprit had declared war on all of them. Naturally, I believed this situation would be resolved soon.

"What kind of crap situation is this now?"

"Is it villains again?"

"Bring out every resource we’ve got! Move it!"

As the scientist predicted, humanity quickly realized this situation was anything but natural. Even if it were natural, the severity was undeniable—snow filling a building lobby several meters high?

If it were natural, it would still warrant an urgent task force. Humanity acted accordingly.

Mayors convened, assembling top experts from every field and pooling resources from every city. They temporarily used their combined power to reduce the weight of the snow falling globally. Shamans revered for their supernatural insights and meteorologists specializing in extreme weather were summoned to locate the source of the blizzard.

It didn’t take long for all those efforts to amount to nothing.

"There’s... no source."

"What? What nonsense is that?"

"This blizzard seemingly appeared out of nowhere, like a superpower. Predicting its trajectory is impossible..."

"─Even our generals are baffled? Usually, this kind of thing happens due to external interference, not natural causes."

Empowered by science and theology, city leaders concluded that the event was artificially induced. They immediately began a search for the culprit, employing various experts—from profilers speculating about the criminal’s psyche to superhumans capable of solving mysteries.

Yet, neither group yielded results.

"Profile someone who’d create a blizzard to bury the entire world in snow? Are you serious?"

"What an elaborate excuse for incompetence. What about you?"

"...Hmm, this is strange. There are too many potential suspects."

"Too many suspects? What do you mean by that?"

"In other words, everyone here is a culprit."

The superhuman, whose ability was to identify culprits, caused everyone present to shudder. Could it be that these people had unknowingly conspired to end the world?

Fortunately, the superhuman quickly clarified.

"Emily, who’s trembling while clutching a doll, is a culprit. Bob Kentucky, selling goods on the street, is a culprit. The guard standing outside protecting us is also a culprit."

"This is no time for jokes."

"I’m sorry, but my ability states as much. At least several billion people in this world are responsible for this event."

The superhuman explained that their power, while revealing culprits, provided no explanation for the cause or process—only the end result.

If there had been one specific culprit, they could’ve sent heroes to apprehend or eliminate them. Either way, the problem would’ve been resolved.

But if billions of people were culprits? If every single person on the planet was to blame?

With no way to kill or apprehend all of them, the situation spiraled into chaos.

"Billions of people are all culprits? What kind of—"

"Does it matter? We’re all guilty! What have you all been—"

"Of course! How many people are too busy to even meet each other’s eyes? Doesn’t the fact that billions are culprits tell you anything? This must be a conspiracy we were all unknowingly roped into—"

As arguments erupted, the mayors turned in unison to a secretary who had suddenly burst into the room. The collective glare of the most powerful city leaders made the secretary flinch and step back instinctively.

Recovering quickly, the secretary held up a smartphone.

"Communication is restored! Mayors, we can now contact the outside world!"

"Suddenly? How is that possible with the snowstorm still raging?"

"I... I’m not sure yet..."

"Impatient as always. You should’ve figured that out first!"

As one mayor berated their secretary, another grabbed the phone to contact the one person who might have answers—the military commander.

[Commander Jin Kay, reporting.]

"What’s the situation? Why is communication suddenly restored?"

[Let me explain. A dragon suddenly appeared and breathed fire on the blizzard, momentarily dispersing it and enabling communication.]

"...What did you say appeared?"

[A dragon, sir. I know it sounds unbelievable, but—]

"And where is this dragon now...?"

[It vanished after breathing fire. We lost track of it. Apologies.]

Hearing about a dragon, the mayor let out a disbelieving laugh. A dragon? The kind of creature that only exists in fantasy films?

Believing such a thing was hard enough, but accepting that it had cleared part of the blizzard was even harder.

Why not just claim that the snowstorm was caused by the Ice Princess from a children’s cartoon?

Recalling the animated movies his daughter often watched, the mayor found the idea oddly plausible. After all, wasn’t this already a supernatural event involving billions of culprits? Who’s to say a fantastical being wasn’t behind it?

"Hysteria. I told you not to go outside recklessly."

"But why, Dad! That thing dumped snow all over my house!"

"I’m not Dad; I’m your brother! And it’s not crap; it’s snow. Snow forms when moisture in the air condenses—"

"Found it."

Back in the lab, I fiddled with the AI, analyzing the blizzard and narrowing down the most probable scenarios.

Eventually, I reached a conclusion.

The culprit of this crisis, and how to resolve it.

The problem is...

I looked out at the snowstorm raging beyond the window. Venturing even a single step outside could mean freezing to death in the biting cold and relentless blizzard.

Cracking the window open slightly, I extended a hand into the storm, only to retract it immediately, shivering.

"Maybe I should just... not go."

It was too cold.

The danger outside was no exaggeration.