บท 22: Mysterious Enigma Super Grunt

"Let me personally tell you how this works~," the mad scientist Victoria "Mad Star" was talking toward the large screen that displayed an unusual-looking grunt in the observation room. Every scientist in the room, including the observation room's staff and her scientist lackeys, could only watch in silence. They weren't sure how to react to their head scientist obsessing over the unusual grunt.

"This is your orientation, Grunt No. 703," she continued her conversation with an unusual grunt, seemingly oblivious to the stares she was receiving from all her underling scientists or simply ignoring them altogether. Most likely it was the latter, given her apparent infamous reputation and somewhat whimsical attitude. Thus, they couldn't exactly object or comment on what she was doing right now for fear of being on the receiving end of her whims.

One thing to note from seeing their boss's interaction with the unusual Grunt No. 703 was the fact that she looked like she was enjoying their conversation. Some even thought that she was like a high school girl in love, but of course, they would never mention that to her directly.

"I see..." The unusual Grunt No. 703 spoke to Victoria via the observation drone controlled by her. They all saw how this grunt was acting cautious and a bit aggressive toward their boss, which was equal parts unnerving and bewildering. They couldn't believe that a newly recruited grunt was able to talk to Victoria "Mad Star" as if they were on equal ground. Even the scientist lackeys who had been with her during the Orientation opening ceremony had been baffled by the unusual grunt's aggressive attitude toward her.

The two scientists that had moved aside for her were also witnessing their head scientist with a disbelieving expression.

"Uhm... sir?" One of the two scientists nudged the side of the senior scientist, "What's the deal with this newly recruited grunt? What's so special about this guy?" He inquired again to the senior, who previously did not get an answer because of the sudden entrance of their head scientist Victoria interrupting their conversation.

The senior scientist was silent for a bit, still staring at their head scientist conversing with said new grunt, Grunt No. 703.

"Testing one-by-one? How inefficient and time-wasting!" Said the head scientist Victoria suddenly exclaimed out loud to the display monitor, which, of course, meant toward the grunt displayed on it. The senior scientist could only grimace at the sight while rubbing the bridge of his nose, seemingly trying to ease the headache that he was getting from the whole situation. She even continued into a passionate monologue about the importance of this Orientation obstacle course to the grunt.

"Sir...?" The junior scientist asked his senior scientist with concern.

"Grunt No. 703..." The senior scientist started, while still rubbing the bridge of his nose, "He is an enigma..."

"An 'enigma'...?"

"Yes, an enigma," he confirmed once again to his junior scientist. "The record of his enhancement procedure... Grunt No. 703 had displayed an unusually high affinity toward the modifications bestowed upon him," the senior scientist explained.

"High affinity...? What do you mean, sir?" the junior scientist asked with equal parts interest and worry.

The senior scientist didn't answer the junior scientist directly. Instead, he rummaged through his white lab coat and then pulled out his tablet. With a quick flick through the data, he browsed the extensive records of the newly recruited grunts, stopping at the entry for the so-called 'enigma' grunt, titled 'Subject No. 703.' Handing the tablet to the junior scientist, he directed his attention to the page containing Grunt No. 703's enhancement data.

Taking the tablet hesitantly, the junior scientist began to absorb the detailed reports on the procedures undergone by 'Subject No. 703'. As he delved deeper into the data, his eyes widened in astonishment at what he discovered.

"What the hell...?" the junior scientist muttered in disbelief over what he was reading. "40 percent increase in muscle mass... 65 percent increase in bone density... 25 percent increase in red blood cell production..." He kept muttering the data as he read from the tablet, each piece of information making him more bewildered. He then looked back toward his senior scientist with a concerned expression.

"Sir...!" the junior scientist called out to his senior colleague. "What the hell are all of these data...!? All of them exceed every grunt's enhancement affinity we've ever done!" He tried to argue with the senior scientist, noting how Grunt No. 703's enhancements surpassed their previous grunts' enhancement affinities.

The senior scientist didn't answer his junior colleague's question and instead was preoccupied with staring at their head scientist, Victoria. She was still conversing with the grunt in question, but she had already finished her intense monologue. Her tone was now... softer?

"Didn't you say you were going to impress me?" she asked Grunt No. 703 with a serious tone. Every scientist in the observation room was shocked to see their head scientist suddenly acting a bit meek. The way she asked that was as if a girlfriend were asking her boyfriend about the promise he made to her...

But... they all realized that this was all just a manipulation from her, goading him to do her bidding.

Then, another surprising thing happened: Grunt No. 703 suddenly let out a loud laugh, seemingly amused by the earlier question Victoria had asked him. They were all taken aback by his reaction, which was shown and heard through the large observation equipment. Even their head scientist Victoria was confused by his laughter.

They had all thought he would be either appalled, annoyed, angry, dismissive, or even oblivious to her goading. But instead, he laughed heartily and jovially. Everyone began to assume that maybe there was something wrong with his head as a side effect of the enhancement procedure.

After laughing for quite a while, he then looked back at the observation drone. "That's right, I did say that. Thanks for reminding me, boss!" he suddenly thanked their head scientist, even calling her 'boss' to boot.

Victoria, who had been slightly taken aback by his sudden change of behavior, followed along with his jovial attitude. "That's right, grunt. Do your work properly~. Reach the end of this orientation obstacle course and prove yourself worthy as one of Lord Max Brain's grunts!" She commanded Grunt No. 703 with an excited tone, mimicking his enthusiasm.

"You got it, boss!" Grunt No. 703 acknowledged her command, giving her a thumbs up, then dashed away into the Orientation obstacle course, leaving behind the observation drone.

All of them, except for Victoria, were left dumbfounded by the sudden change in interaction between Grunt No. 703 and their head scientist. It never occurred to them that this unusual grunt would easily comply with Victoria's whims, given his initial aggressive attitude toward her. Though, maybe there was something more behind this compliance of his...

(Un)fortunately, their suspicion would have to wait as they all saw his parameters on the large observation monitor.

"40... 50... 60... 70 kilometers per hour!?" One of the scientists read out loud the running speed of Grunt No. 703 as he quickly approached the obstacle course.

"His running speed still keeps increasing...!" Another added, seeing the speed parameter was still rising, albeit slowly.

"That's outrageous... You would think his huge figure would fit more of a strength type, but he is running even faster than our previously recorded fastest agile grunt..." Another scientist stated, revealing the few archetypes of their grunt soldiers.

The other scientists began to clamor with each other over the prospect of Grunt No. 703's capabilities. Meanwhile, the two scientists who had been discussing the grunt's unusual enhancement procedure results were silent. They had already predicted what Grunt No. 703's parameters would be based on the data they had seen about him.

"Sir..." The junior scientist called out to the senior scientist, "Who is he...? Was he someone famous?" The junior scientist queried about Grunt No. 703's identity before he applied for Max Brain's Grunt recruitment.

"His identity...? That's..." The senior scientist was about to answer his question, but...

"An enigma." The head scientist Victoria suddenly interjected; her voice could be heard by everyone in the room, garnering their attention. "He is an enigma, not just because of his capabilities, but even his origin." She added. She then gracefully tapped a few keys on her large observation equipment. Another window of information appeared on top of Grunt No. 703's parameters. All the scientists in the room looked at the new data that was revealed in the new window... and they all were shocked by the revelation.

Subject No. 703

Identity: NO DATA

"No data...!?" They all read the information in the window, revealing that Grunt No. 703 had no data regarding his identity or his origin. Not only that, the origin identity window had a rectangular box where there would typically be a photo before the subject underwent the Grunt Enhancement procedure, but... there was none for him...

The head scientist Victoria brought over a nearby armed swivel chair that had been used by the junior scientist. She sat down on it, then slowly turned around toward the other scientists.

"No name, no birthday, no birthplace, no previous home address, no family relation, no past job history, no record of education, not even a simple mugshot. No identity. Nothing." She crossed her legs as she casually leaned back in the swivel chair. She showed them all a malicious grin filled with her desire to unravel the mystery behind this unusual grunt.

"Grunt No. 703 is an enigma." She stated once again to all her scientist underlings.