NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 30: Chapter 30
Early one morning, when Bronya woke up, she found that Seele was gone from their room. For some reason, this made her feel a sudden wave of anxiety.
She grabbed her crutch and started searching for Seele. As soon as she stepped outside, she noticed a notification from the laboratory pinned to the door.
What's this? It was a notice from the lab. Why is it here?
Bronya continued her search, her mind in turmoil. Memories of the past kept flashing through her thoughts.
"Bronya, if the x10 experiment works, you'll be able to control matter at a subatomic level. But it's very, very dangerous. Seven children who tried it before have all died… Do you want to participate in the experiment?"
"Bronya… wants to try the experiment."
"You decided so quickly. Aren't you scared?"
"I'm scared. But if my data can make future experiments smoother... it'll be safer for Seele, right?"
That had been long ago, when Ms. Cocolia had explained the x10 experiment to each of them and asked if they wanted to participate.
"Bronya! We're going to the beach in two weeks, but I don't know how to swim... Do you?"
"Sure, I used to be a special forces soldier, so I've been trained for underwater explosives. My best record was holding my breath for four minutes and thirty-five seconds."
"Wow, that's amazing! Can you teach me to swim when we go?"
"Of course."
That was their promise under the stars.
"Ms. Cocolia! Seele's disappeared..."
Bronya searched the orphanage but couldn't find Seele anywhere. She decided to see Ms. Cocolia. However, when she opened the door, she froze—Ms. Cocolia wasn't in her office. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock.
Ms. Cocolia is always in her office, but now she's not… And there's no sign of Seele anywhere in the orphanage… And that experiment notice on the door…
Bronya felt like she knew everything now. She returned to her room, moving as if she were merely a walking corpse, and silently crouched by the door. There was nothing she could do…
While Bronya searched for Seele, Cocolia and Seele had arrived at the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia.
"Mom, this is…"
"The Sea of Okhotsk. We built the lab for the x10 experiment on the ocean floor. The water prevents Honkai energy from leaking out and hides us from Schicksal."
"I'm sorry, Seele. I wish your first time seeing the sea could have been under better circumstances. But we must go now."
Seele wasn't paying attention to her mother's words. Her thoughts were already carried far away by the sight before her.
Is this the coast where Seele and Bronya were supposed to go together? For her, it was the first time seeing the sea…
In her mind, she could imagine herself happily playing with Bronya at the beach. Both of them wearing cute swimsuits, chasing and laughing together. Bronya's laughter echoed… and tears welled up in Seele's eyes.
"Seele? What's wrong?"
"No… nothing… Let's go."
The happy vision shattered like a broken puzzle, its pieces slowly fading away…
The initial preparations for the experiment were meticulous. Seele, clad in a lab coat, was connected to numerous tubes and submerged in the experimental apparatus.
"The experiment is progressing smoothly," the operator reported to Cocolia. "This child's body has an exceptionally high adaptability to Honkai energy.
"She can already manipulate matter at the atomic level using Honkai energy.
"If we inject more, she may be able to control matter at subatomic and even quantum levels."
Although the experiment was progressing well, Seele's expression remained tense. Cocolia cared more about Seele than the experiment itself, but the importance of the experiment made it difficult for her to decide.
Finally, Cocolia gritted her teeth and gave a grim command.
"Continue the… experiment. Inject 3 more milliliters."
Seele couldn't tell how the outside world was reacting. All she felt was immense pain—her body both burning and aching, as if it were melting.
At times, it felt like something was constantly flowing into her body…
Just what would Seele become?
As Seele neared her limit, a light appeared before her, and Bronya's apparition emerged.
Seele tried to grab Bronya, but the apparition ignored her.
Ignoring Seele's repeated calls, the phantom Bronya slipped into a box—the one Seele used to hide in whenever she was scared.
Seele wanted to open the box and find Bronya. But when she touched the lock, another hand tightly clasped hers, stopping her.
"Stop. You can't go any further, Seele. The power inside that box, the strength of the Stigma, isn't something you can control."
Meanwhile, outside Seele's mind, alarms blared incessantly.
"Alert! The subject's Honkai energy reaction is rapidly increasing and has exceeded the controllable range!"
The metallic sphere in front of Seele, affected by the escaping Honkai energy, constantly shifted its shape, growing more menacing and terrifying.
"Seele… Dammit, stop the experiment now!"
Panicked, Cocolia ordered the operator to halt the experiment. However, she was informed it was already out of control. All they could do now was wait and see what would happen to Seele…
"Seele…"
Cocolia didn't know what to do and could only helplessly call out Seele's name.
The once-proud and invincible "witch" Cocolia now appeared utterly powerless and broken.
Cocolia had already lost her biological child, so she gave all the motherly love she couldn't give her own to Seele. Seele was her only salvation.
Taking revenge on Honkai and protecting the orphanage's children were Cocolia's sole obsessions. Though she loved all the children, none of them could compare to Seele.
Seele, with the power of a Stigma, was among those most suited for adapting to Honkai energy. Cocolia had never considered the possibility of Seele failing the experiment. Failure for Seele meant death. And without Seele, Cocolia didn't know what else she could live for.
But she had forgotten that she knew little about the Stigmata. She had brought Seele into this experiment, pushing for rapid progress and ordering the operator to inject more Honkai energy, leading to this catastrophic result.