The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

When I opened my eyes in the morning, I was met with the sight of Vira wrapped in the same blanket as me.

I froze in shock.

Vira, locking eyes with me, let out an awkward laugh and scratched the back of her head.

"Ahaha... I really messed up, huh?"

"...It would seem so."

"Well, we’re both adults, so these things happen. No big deal! Besides, I don’t even remember last night, so—"

"It was my first time."

"Uh... huh? W-Wait, hold on! I-I’ll try to remember it right now!"

Eight pulled the blanket over his head, sighing in despair, while Vira—who had also lost her first time—floundered in panic, unsure of what to do.

At a glance, it almost looked as if Vira was the man and Eight was the woman.

Seeing him sulking, Vira resorted to the ultimate technique that men were supposed to love.

"D-Do you... wanna touch my boobs?"

"No, thank you. And honestly, that line doesn’t have much effect when you say it."

"...You little shit—! What’s wrong with my boobs?!"

At that moment, Vira recalled the considerable size difference between herself and the other women around Eight.

Infuriated, she lunged at him.

Their bare skin pressed together in a heated struggle.

For a brief moment, Vira hesitated and gazed up at Eight.

Likewise, Eight looked down at her.

Both of them had just woken up, still completely naked.

They were adults in their prime, and their bodies were honest about their desires.

And this time—

It wasn’t an accident.

On the way back to the lab after their... second encounter, they ran into Aile.

As soon as she spotted them, Aile lit up with excitement and waved energetically.

"Scientist! You’re back! Where have you been all this—"

But mid-sprint, she suddenly slowed down, tilting her head as if something felt off.

Her pace grew sluggish until she finally came to a complete stop just a few steps away.

Standing before them, her pupils quivered wildly as she glanced between Eight and Vira.

Seeing this, I put on my best innocent smile, as if wondering what was wrong.

Sniff, sniff—

But Aile completely ignored my act and stepped forward.

She buried her face into Vira’s chest, inhaling deeply.

Then, as if confirming something, she pulled back and turned to me.

She didn’t lean in quite as close as she had with Vira, but she still moved near enough to take a good whiff.

A moment later, her expression twisted in disbelief.

Her already trembling pupils trembled even harder.

"...Same smell."

"Uh, what?"

"You and Vira... you both have the same smell."

We were caught.

I turned to Vira as if asking What do we do?!

Vira glared back as if saying Why are you looking at me?!

Watching our silent exchange, Aile immediately grabbed Vira’s wrist.

Then, without a single stutter, she fired off her words.

"I’ll be borrowing her for a bit. Scientist, you go ahead."

"Uh... huh? W-Wait—"

"Vira? We need to talk. ...Don’t even think about running."

Vira struggled against Aile’s grip, but there was one crucial fact she had yet to realize—

Aile was no longer a weak otaku who spent all day watching anime in her room.

After absorbing the Flower of Malevolence, she had become a living weapon capable of wielding magical girl powers at all times.

For someone like Vira, who had only trained her body a little, escape was impossible.

Dragged away half-screaming, Vira vanished into the distance.

I could only offer a silent prayer for her soul.

Of all people...

She just had to be caught by her.

With a bitter smile, I returned to my lab.

The terminal I had been agonizing over yesterday still sat there, untouched.

The device that could reveal the truth about my identity and Terra’s past.

Yesterday, I had been plagued by hesitation, unable to decide whether or not to activate it.

But now, all my doubts were gone.

Not just because I had lost my virginity, but because Vira’s words still echoed in my ears.

"So what if it’s fake? Even if you’re artificial... does that erase the memories we made together?"

She was right.

I might be fake.

My memories might have been fabricated.

My life, my past, my loving family, my devoted friends, the youthful days that had colored my world blue—

All of it might be a lie.

But—

Even if my past was false, that didn’t mean the memories I created now were fake.

Even if history itself had been rewritten, the experiences I forged with my own hands were real.

This was my true self.

"Let’s go."

I was no longer afraid of being a fraud.

The terminal activated, and the New Washington’s computer began gathering data from all across Terra’s orbit.

It analyzed the materials humans had reconstructed and used that information to infer their original state.

It traced the lost history of Terra—one that had vanished without a trace.

First, Eight glanced at what had happened the night before.

"Ugh—! Okay, skip this part. Faster."

He immediately fast-forwarded through that event.

Then, time accelerated.

In the blink of an eye, centuries flew by.

Still not enough.

His destination was millions of years in the past.

The scenery around him flashed in and out of existence.

Dense forests sprouted and vanished.

Meteors that had fallen to the ground reversed their trajectory, soaring ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ back into space.

Time rewound.

And then—

Everything vanished.

Stunned, Eight hesitated.

What the hell...?

Had the simulation glitched?

Just as he started to doubt the results, a fleet of ships appeared in the distance.

They halted right before him.

At the vanguard were the terraforming vessels of the Earth Empire.

They began forming a planetary core, reassembling nearby atoms to create a mantle and crust.

In mere moments, a planet was born.

Next, they shaped continents and oceans atop the newly forged surface.

They even constructed a satellite to regulate the tides.

Then, they scattered seeds across the land.

And the moment those tiny seeds touched the ground—

They transformed into humans.

Watching this unfold, Eight realized the truth.

These were the ancestors of Terra’s humanity.

They were Earthlings—created and scattered across the planet.

"So far, nothing surprising..."

But then—

After deploying so-called "Guardians" across the planet, the fleet immediately fled.

Almost as if they were terrified of being watched.

The ships vanished beyond the simulation’s boundary.

With them gone, the focus shifted back to Terra.

The newly born humans should have been empty husks, devoid of knowledge.

Yet somehow—

They immediately began to function.

They hunted.

They gathered.

They farmed.

The evolutionary path that had taken Homo sapiens millions of years—

They had skipped in an instant.

At this rate, it wouldn’t take them more than a few thousand years to develop a full-fledged civilization.

"What the hell? That doesn’t make sense for a planet that’s supposed to be millions of years old..."

Humanity flourished.

With physical abilities and supernatural powers vastly different from Earthlings, they easily hunted other animals, restored fruit-bearing trees to produce an infinite supply of food, and, in some cases, even engaged in perverse, deviant acts with certain creatures.

Watching the birth of beastkin, Eight couldn't hide his confusion.

There were far too many humans.

Without any natural predators, they were breeding at a terrifying rate.

Yet, they never reached a population limit.

The freshly created planet overflowed with life energy, and their supernatural abilities allowed them to generate infinite food and water.

At this rate, wouldn't other species go extinct before humanity did?

But soon, Eight realized why humanity had perished.

"Ah... of course."

There was a shepherd that managed this flock of humans.

They were called the Guardians.

At the forefront stood Mr. Clear, and he scowled at the sight of humanity's unchecked growth.

Then, nuclear explosions erupted everywhere.

Eco-friendly nuclear explosions.

There was no way a newly formed agricultural society could withstand the scorching power of the sun itself.

In an instant, the human population plummeted.

And as their numbers dwindled, the survivors became more and more violent.

The humans who had once used their powers to infinitely grow fruits or regenerate livestock dwindled.

Meanwhile, those who could survive the Guardians' extermination or wipe out rival tribes increased.

Of course, beastkin played a major role in this evolution.

With their overwhelming physical abilities, they became the long-absent natural predators of humanity—creatures that forced humans to fear once more.

This probably wasn't the outcome Earthlings had hoped for.

They had expected a civilization like their own to bloom, not a world overrun with bloodthirsty war addicts.

"...And now, it's about time."

The first Adam appeared.

A man dropped from the empty sky, landing with a dull thud.

Wearing a vacant expression, he looked around in confusion.

Eight rewound and replayed this moment over and over, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact origin of Adam's arrival.

It was a limitation of the simulation.

As "perfect" as it was, it couldn't track information that had come from beyond the planet.

"...He really does look exactly like me."

The first Adam, born from nothing, was a perfect replica of Eight—just as Mr. Clear had claimed.

A graduate student in a white lab coat.

A scientist, meant to guide humanity.

If Earth’s plan had gone as intended, humanity should have entered its medieval era by now.

They should have been at the stage of accumulating knowledge, preparing to reach a technological singularity.

Adam was likely meant to accelerate that process.

But unfortunately—

Humanity had failed.

They were still nothing more than savages.

Swinging broken stones and sticks, sprinting across the open fields like wild beasts.

And most importantly—

They were aggressively hostile toward outsiders.

"Ah, nice to meet—"

"UGYAAH—!"

Before Adam could even finish his greeting, his skull was shattered.

The savage who had crushed his head grinned as he stripped the corpse of its strange clothes.

Watching this unfold, Eight let out a hollow laugh.

It was a rare experience, seeing someone who looked exactly like him die right before his eyes.

It wasn't a particularly pleasant feeling.