The Chronicler and the Madman

Naoe Jinnosuke's tone was somewhat amused:

"Speaking of which, I'd also like to know how you offended the Kitagawa Family?"

Beichuan?

Ayanokoji Atsuomi's pupils contracted slightly as he suddenly remembered a fact he had almost forgotten.

"Ha ha ha ha..."

He suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

None of the children in the White Room have surnames; none are fake or temporary.

Because Ayanokoji Atsuomi disliked these surnames.

He hated people who could get an advantage over him at the starting line just because of their surname.

Amasawa, Sakayanagi, Kanzaki...

These surnames seem to mock Ayanokoji Atsuomi's efforts over the years.

He suddenly remembered the afternoon a few years ago when he casually made the decision to inject that child with the medication.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi is the absolute ruler in the White Room.

So much so that he forgot.

Among those children who seem powerless to resist, the power of surnames.

Ayanokoji Atsuomi was no longer able to think about who had revealed the truth; he just found it absurd, so absurd that he couldn't help but laugh.

Liang was a child who could be molded by him at will.

But Kitagawa Ryo is not.

This is the cruelest reality for Ayanokoji Atsuomi.

Chapter 114: The Recorder and the Madman

"Today is September 13th, recorded by Suzukake Tanji."

A man's voice came from the videotape that was playing. Then, in the white room, the figure of a middle-aged man appeared. He slightly adjusted the angle of the camera and pointed it at himself.

If Kitagawa Ryo himself were there, he would definitely recognize that this man is Ayanokoji Atsuomi's assistant. Although Ayanokoji Atsuomi is indeed in charge of the White Room, he handles most of the detailed and complicated work, including curriculum development and the advancement of the special experiments for the fourth and Fifth Generation.

Of course, he is also a psychology expert who can tell stories.

Due to his overly radical ideas and fervent pursuit of extreme psychological experiments, Suzukake had long been excluded from the mainstream academic circle. However, the White Room needed just such talent when it was first established. In addition, after learning the inside story Sakayanagi Narimori deliberately distanced himself from the White Room project, which is why he was able to serve as Ayanokoji Atsuomi's assistant in the future.

Just as Ayanokoji Atsuomi harbors a secret, Suzukake also has her own hidden habits beneath her respectful facade during the day.

As a researcher in psychology and education, the stage of the White Room undoubtedly gave him the space to stretch his hands and feet. Experiments that he couldn't talk about or carry out in the past could all be realized here. Every piece of experimental data can be said to be a rare and precious one. Therefore, Suzukake could not suppress the excitement in his heart soon after entering the White Room.

He decided to secretly print out a chart of the daily experimental data from the White Room and record it visually every few months, storing his research reflections on his phone.

"I've been in the White Room for a few months now, and from what I've observed, Ayanokoji's father doesn't actually care much about the children in the White Room, but she's been very kind to me."

"I think this is a fantastic opportunity, after all, it's unlikely we'll find another facility like this."

"The human species is truly fascinating; I feel that almost every day since I came here."

"Little Albert's experiment has already proven that fear can be artificially cultivated after birth. Based on this, I began to try to stimulate their learning."

"Children are naturally curious about the world, and they automatically learn things they haven't been taught, but this is an unconscious and slow process, so I tried to start artificially accelerating it."

At this point, Suzukake paused, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water on the table, took a couple of sips, and continued:

"From infancy, I began to imitate the experiments of Little Albert I. I implanted mental conditioning into those test subjects because, in my view, mental maturity was my initial direction of development."

"If ordinary people want to become geniuses, they must put in more effort. If they can be accelerated during the early stages of others' development, this precious time will become the key to narrowing the gap between them."

"So, without them understanding, I forcibly accelerated the development of the test subjects through various punishments, making them aware of fear, physical pain, and mental anguish—using any method that was effective. I made them realize that if they couldn't learn or answer questions correctly, they would be punished; that was the key to making them understand."

"Of course, so far, many of the Fourth Generation have fallen behind under this kind of education, but only that child— Ayanokoji Kiyotaka— is different. He has shown exceptional learning ability, adaptability, and application skills, and his abilities are improving every day, with no end in sight."

After saying Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's name, Suzukake's expression changed; he rested his chin on his hand, looking thoughtful.

"While the other researchers at the White Room believe they can cultivate someone at the same level as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, in my view, this child is a complete accident, a more deliberate existence born from this distorted environment."

"His condition is more like a sudden mutation, an unrepeatable result."

"If the White Room Project is to be realized, we need to find another possible way out."

"Today is July 23rd, recorded by Suzukake Tanji."

The next video clip started playing automatically after the previous one ended. It seemed like almost a year had passed, but Suzukake's tone showed a noticeable fluctuation, revealing a hidden excitement.

Sure enough, Suzukake looked much more radiant this time than she did in the previous segment.

"We made a groundbreaking discovery today."

He swallowed hard, his face pressing close to the camera with slight excitement.

"I found a potential breakthrough in the Fifth Generation that could change our current predicament."

"That child's name is Liang, no, actually what his name is doesn't matter..."

Suzukake's sentences were somewhat disorganized as he began to ramble on about what had happened that day.

"The Harlow's Monkey Experiment was a psychology experiment that I was particularly fond of when I majored in psychology."

"However, in my opinion, the biggest problem with the Harlow's Monkey Experiment is that they only used rhesus monkeys with genes similar to humans, and failed to actually use human infants for the experiments."

"That's true. Back then, Little Albert's experiment drew opposition from a group of people, but scientific progress requires a pioneering and innovative spirit!"

"Just like the doctors of the Middle Ages, they were forced to steal corpses for human research in order to advance the field of anatomy."

Suzukake her head back, feeling at that moment as if her actions were perfectly justified.

"The Harlow's Monkey Experiment have never been some kind of heartwarming psychological experiment offering parenting advice..."

"A confined environment, a newborn baby, a mother in Cloth —I have a feeling that if this perfect experiment could be conducted... no, this experiment would be absolutely perfect."

Suzukake spoke, her face flushed unusually, and she waved her hand with great rapture:

"Actually, during all these years in the White Room, we haven't found an answer to the question of whether artificial geniuses can be created. But one thing has been proven: every child has a theoretical upper limit."

"My initial expectation was to use fear to suppress their potential, but as time went on, the fear actually disappeared."

"It's not a metaphorical disappearance, but a real disappearance. Along with the fear, other emotions also disappeared. The children of the Fourth Generation rarely show a willingness to communicate with others, especially Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. I can't even see any obvious fluctuations in his emotions."

"Along with their numbness comes their ceiling; as the difficulty of the tasks continues to increase, the elimination rate among the Fourth Generation increases almost every year."

As her emotions gradually calmed down, Suzukake stroked her chin and said:

"So after discovering that child in the Fifth Generation, I was reminded of the rhesus monkey experiments."

"Fortunately, Ayanokoji's father is someone who focuses on results rather than the process. In fact, that's exactly what attracted me to join the project. In a sense, he truly gave me complete freedom."

"So, I began the White Room version of the 'Harlow's Monkey Experiment'."

Suzukake gave a pale smile to the camera:

"And I believe it will succeed."

"Today is October 23rd, recorded by Suzukake Tanji."

Unlike the previous two videos, which were separated by a full year, the third video appears to have been separated from the second video by only three months.

As always, Suzukake adjusted the camera and began to narrate softly:

"This should be the third time I've recorded video."

"Before recording, I also took a look at the footage from the previous two recordings. Although everything mentioned could be found in documents and lab reports, the reason I made a record back then was to constantly remind myself not to forget the passion I had at that time."

"Thinking about it, I've been here for almost ten years."

"Because I might get tired of it later, I want to show my future self what my current passion is like, just like how Ayanokoji's father carved that quote about 'behaviorism' on his desk."

At this point, Suzukake revealed a confident expression:

"The experiment with the Fifth Generation is currently very successful. It was initially thought that the enrichment of their emotions would lead to a decrease in the efficiency of their ability enhancement, but Ryo's existence has been constantly pushing the limits of the Fifth Generation. They are like children striving to earn their mother's praise, and Ryo truly possesses rare potential."

"Using Liang as a model, we found individuals similar to him in the Fourth Generation."

"The opportunity to observe and capture was sparked by a smile."

Suzukake couldn't help but smile slightly as she said this, but quickly regained her usual seriousness:

"Aside from the Fifth Generation, among the Fourth Generation and even throughout the entire White Room, Xue was the first child who would smile on her own initiative."

"The essence of a smile is an expression made by the facial muscles, the orbicularis oculi muscle around the eye socket, and the corrugator supercilii muscle around the eyebrows, but it has been endowed with a series of connotations. No, it's not that it's endowed, humans are indeed creatures that can be healed by smiles."

"Through that smile, I saw in her the same Affinity and potential as Ryo."

"However, compared to Liang, Xue is still too inexperienced, even the smile that caught my attention has never been shown again on her own initiative."

"So I decided to place her next to Liang. Children of this age have a strong sense of imitation, and she will learn communication, comfort, and encouragement skills from Liang, and of course, a genuine smile."

"These are all abilities to love someone. To accelerate this process, we decided to make Xue fall in love with Liang. Through constant visual and auditory disturbances and stimulations, as well as psychological and behavioral suggestions, we artificially created this feeling."

"The experiment was a success."

"She 'liked' Liang, and she became a 'lovable' girl who 'could love.'"

"Today is May 30th, recorded by Suzukake Tanji."

Suzukake Tanji looked quite somber that day, and even started sighing in front of the camera.

Forcing himself to pull himself together, the man slowly began to recount the events of the past few days:

"Ryo left the White Room; she was taken away by the Sakayanagi Family."

"Although it's a pity I couldn't witness the complete death of this experimental subject who had given me so much joy, he was, in reality, a ruined child."

"A six- or seven-year-old child cannot survive in an environment where he is physically exposed to large amounts of addictive drugs and constantly brainwashed. He will die if he stays here, but he will die even faster if he leaves."

Even when death was mentioned, Suzukake Tanji's eyes and facial expression remained completely unchanged, as if he were narrating something insignificant.

"However, before the quilt was taken away, Ayanokoji's father asked me to do a DNA matching test."

"It's said that the sole heir of the Kitagawa Family might be staying in the White Room, so I matched them with the fourth and Fifth Generation based on their ages."

"They did find it. What surprised me was that the child was Liang."

"However, I didn't feel anything else at the time; I even felt a little bit of subtle pleasure."

"Just thinking about how I conducted these experiments on the only son of a chaebol family over the past few years..."

Suzukake licked her tongue, pursed her lips, and finally couldn't help but smile:

"I know the Kitagawa Family; they're a massive conglomerate that could crush me with a flick of its finger, but what does it matter?"

"The White Room has rejected too many children over the years. They were either sent back to their parents or sent to orphanages. But in either case, these rejected children are ruined, their spirits broken. Sure enough, Ayanokoji's father easily concealed this fact."

"There's nothing more fulfilling and interesting than this. After Liang leaves, there will be other test subjects. I've long been prepared to dedicate my life to this crazy plan."

Suzukake Tanji snapped his fingers:

"By the way, I also heard that the Sakayanagi Family and the Kitagawa Family have Marriage Contract spanning generations. If revealing the truth might affect the White Room, I really want to see if the Sakayanagi Family would accept such a child who is riddled with problems."

At this point, he suddenly whistled and reached for his phone to stop recording.

"To be honest, I really wanted to tell all this to the child I created on his deathbed..."

"He could have had a completely different life—"

"I destroyed it."

"So, these are some of the video materials retrieved from the home of the White Room Assistant, Suzukake Tanji."

"Although Ayanokoji Atsuomi quickly sealed off and destroyed all past experimental reports and data after the White Room was exposed, he probably didn't expect that his assistant would have such a habit."

"Of course, our police are also actively searching for more evidence."

Sakayanagi Arisu just stared blankly as her father negotiated with the police.

A few brief video clips barely sketched out Kitagawa Ryo's experiences in the White Room over the past few years.