Apparently, I’ve created a soul.

Honestly, it was a ridiculous thought, especially when I considered that the circuit I had made was outdated technology, something no longer even used on Earth.

If something as outdated as this could resemble a soul, then what about modern AI currently in use?

‘Well, I did think she was almost too human-like…’

Admiring the cosmic coincidence for a moment, I cautiously looked at Lucia, standing behind Dr. Kuroi. The world’s first AI. The first artificial emotion. The first artificial soul in an android.

"—It’s good to see you, Creator."

"…Right. You’ve been doing well?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

Despite having gained emotions and a soul, she didn’t seem to have changed much. Then again, quite some time had passed since I granted her emotions. It wasn’t as if realizing she had gained a soul now would make her overly excited.

However, it did seem like things were a bit awkward between her and Dr. Kuroi. Actually, awkward wasn’t quite the right word. It was more like the innocent awkwardness one would expect from two teenagers experiencing their first relationship.

‘No way, not at his age…’

I doubted Dr. Kuroi had gone his whole life without experiencing love. I brushed aside the impolite thought and silently wished them well. Of course, I kept those thoughts to myself, knowing that voicing them would undoubtedly cause chaos.

After exchanging a few words about souls with the two, I noticed Swalon and Dr. Seira approaching from a distance. Dr. Seira’s face immediately contorted into a scowl, as if she had seen something unpleasant, but perhaps because of Swalon’s presence, she didn’t storm off.

"Dr. Eight. Congratulations in advance."

"Dr. Swalon. What for?"

"What else? The ABC Award, of course. Granted, an award like that is no more significant than a neighborhood contest for people like us, but still…"

Even as a member of Scholar, having an award to show the public wasn’t a bad thing, Swalon remarked, offering congratulations as if my win was already a foregone conclusion.

I chuckled and gestured toward Dr. Seira standing beside him.

"It’s a joint research project with her. Shouldn’t you be congratulating her too?"

"Oh—Dr. Eight. You’re more ruthless than I expected. I didn’t think you’d feel that way."

"I told you this psycho isn’t normal!"

While Swalon expressed his surprise, Dr. Seira quickly spat out a curse. Just like during her interview, she had no filter. You could say her personality was as dirty as her tan skin.

Of course, I knew better than to make such jokes aloud in this world, so I simply glared at her in silence.

"…What? What are you staring at?"

"Oh, nothing. I’m just curious when I’ll be able to see something better than the paper I wrote. You did say you’d show me something superior, didn’t you?"

"Ugh—just, just give me a little more time! Do you think papers are written overnight?"

"They are for me."

"You lunatic…!"

After lightly deflating Dr. Seira’s ego, I started chatting with the other Scholar members. One of them always bowed to me like a religious fanatic, while the other hurled insults at me, but these were some of the most fulfilling times I’d had since arriving in this world.

Even though their knowledge was lacking compared to mine, their insight was incredible. With just a small clue from me, they were able to piece together a much larger picture.

"Oh, I see—that’s how it works…"

"Hmph. If I were researching it, I’d—"

"Do not doubt the words of the divine. Of course, if it were me—"

Behold.

Even Dr. Kuroi, who treated me like a god, didn’t question my words. This was the spirit of healthy scientific discourse—a proper scientific debate.

In the midst of our conversation, the topic of academic degrees came up. When they realized that I still didn’t have a degree, they were momentarily shocked. But Swalon, who was used to dealing with such matters, quickly provided a solution.

"Well, earning a doctorate with your current paper might be difficult. The committee members are rather stubborn. Even if you win the ABC Award, they probably won’t just hand you a degree. After all, there’s still some doubt about your achievements. Some media outlets are even suggesting you’re only a co-author on Dr. Seira’s paper because you’re her lover. Of course, I know that’s not true."

"Who are you calling a lover?!"

"I understand. In that case, I guess I’ll just have to write another paper."

Ignoring Dr. Seira’s loud protests, I mentally reviewed the papers I had written. The red pill, the stamina potion, and the magical girl outfits couldn’t be used since they were classified within Eblis Corporation. The toy circuits had already been used by Dr. Kuroi to create Lucia, so that was out.

I was left with only one option: the anti-gravity device installed in Eblis Corporation’s highly popular vehicles. But even that posed a problem…

"I assume I can’t submit a paper on something already patented by the company?"

"Unless the patent was filed under your name, no. If it was under the company’s name, then definitely not."

"Hmm… Then what should I do?"

"Don’t you have something unpublished? Like the topic you took the research funds for from Scholar?"

"Oh, that…"

Swalon’s words made me chuckle bitterly. The research topic I was supposed to be working on with the funds… Oh, right, that.

"I used that research funding for something else."

"What? You can’t just misuse funds like that…"

"What’s done is done. I suppose I could present the results from where I used the funds."

"No, you can’t just brush this off… What about my super-speed turbo engine…?"

"It doesn’t exist."

The billion-dollar research fund I had taken to study the super-speed turbo engine had been entirely spent on creating a gate to Arima’s homeland, Ardenia.

Which meant I had only one possible topic to present: proof of the existence of another world.

I briefly explained my findings and the topic I intended to present. As I spoke, the expressions on the faces of the three men steadily grew more rigid.

"—So, that’s what I plan to announce."

"…Dr. Eight. Are you serious?"

"I knew you were crazy, but this…"

"Oh, Lord…"

Seeing their shock, I tilted my head in confusion.

I wasn’t planning to reveal the gate to the other world—just the fact that another dimension existed. What was so shocking about that?

It wasn’t as if the existence of another world was a special thing. There were already demons, spirits, and enemies of the world crossing dimensions, after all.

Honestly, I didn’t understand what the big deal was.

[Dr. Eight successfully proves the existence of Heaven.] [Shocking announcement from the scientific community! The afterlife is real, and religious figures are moved to tears…] [The Pope rescinds the excommunication of the two doctors. “We should canonize them,” he says.]

Anonymous: So, the guy they were calling a fraud until recently just found Heaven? Hmm... ㄴAnonymous: “Hmm,” my ass. Do you really think the Pope would retract his statement if it weren’t legit? ㄴAnonymous: I read the paper, and it looks flawless, even recreatable. Some labs are already starting replication experiments. Anonymous: Who would believe this garbage? Anonymous: We already knew!!

Anonymous: Even if Heaven is proven, our lives won’t change.

I looked at the online articles and chuckled. I had expected the proof of another world to become a hot topic, as people had already known that such worlds existed, but now I had proven it scientifically.

However, I hadn’t anticipated it would lead to this.

Who would have thought that people would immediately connect the other world to Heaven and Hell? It almost seemed like the religious community, losing faith due to recent scientific advancements, had orchestrated this.

‘Well, they would have had plenty of reason to…’

It made sense for the religious community to panic at the idea of a mere scientist discovering the soul. According to them, all humans were made in the image of God, and everything about humanity was something God had perfectly created.

It was unthinkable that God’s creation could be questioned, much less understood by a mere human.

But I had discovered the soul and revealed it to the world. I had touched a nerve in the religious community.

If that were the extent of it, they would have simply dismissed me as a heretic. But when I went a step further and claimed to have discovered Heaven and Hell, the narrative changed completely.

Now, instead of being the spawn of Satan who dared to question God’s existence, I had become an apostle sent by God to bring humanity closer to Him.

‘Of course, what I found wasn’t Heaven or Hell…’

What I had discovered was not Heaven or Hell but rather a different world. A world where humans lived, where magic thrived instead of science, and where they worshiped their own gods, not ours.

Still, proving the existence of that world didn’t disprove Heaven and Hell, so I had no reason to argue against it. It’s always hardest to prove something doesn’t exist.

"Heaven and Hell, huh?"

It was a popular topic in my old world, but it carried even more weight here. Unlike on Earth, where the influence of religion had waned, Terra was still a place where the name of God carried significant weight.

Moreover, there were countless people who hoped that villains would go to Hell. After all, they couldn’t bear the thought of the villains who had killed their loved ones reincarnating or going to Heaven.

Look at that—another innocent soul, afraid of her fate, had come seeking answers.

"Sc-scientist…!"

"Yes, Aile. What is it?"

"Is-is there really a Hell? Do villains really go to Hell?!"

It wasn’t exactly the most appropriate question for someone building her reputation as a notorious villain, but I lowered my voice to tease her.

"Hell? Of course, it exists."

"Eek…! Th-then what should I do?!"

"What do you mean? You should work hard on your assignments, listen to your parents, and live a good life."

"Work hard on my assignments, listen to my parents, and…?"

As she repeated my words, Aile seemed to realize I was teasing her. She puffed out her cheeks and pouted, which was honestly adorable, even if it was such a typical reaction.

Aile, still expressing her frustration, stormed out of the lab.

"Th-there’s no such thing as Hell, right?!"

"Hmm? No, I’m telling you there is."

"There’s no way it exists…! I’m going to go torment some magical girls now! Just like a proper villain!"

With that, Aile dashed off, and I chuckled to myself. Just because I hadn’t discovered Hell didn’t mean I said it didn’t exist.

And really, demons existed in this world. If there were demons, there had to be a Hell, right? Even if it wasn’t exactly the same Hell people imagined, something similar must exist.

‘Well, no need to bring that up.’

As I watched Aile run off into the distance, that thought crossed my mind.

Come to think of it, Aile would probably thrive in Hell. Remember how she looked when I first met her? She definitely seemed more suited to Hell than Heaven.

Of course, I had no intention of letting her end up in Hell. If Hell really did exist and we were sent there just for being villains…

‘Even if Hell exists... I’d just pull her out.’

After all, breaking out of Hell’s gates was no big deal.