105 episodes
(Author’s note: The description of episode 104 that no magic is flowing in the amputation area has been deleted, and only the content that the leg is necrotic has been corrected. Sorry for the confusion.)
I told Nakamura, who came to Korea’s Ceron Research Center with Nakamura.
“Let’s start with tidying up. You want a bridge that doesn’t interfere with combat?”
“you’re right.”
“Is that leg absolutely hopeless?”
“It continues to rot quickly.”
It means that the necrosis is progressing rapidly.
“What does it look like?”
At my words, Nakamura said with a determined expression.
“All you have to do is fight.”
Appearance doesn’t matter, so you want legs with good performance.
To be honest, it’s not very difficult to make a good performance bridge.
I promised not to make it with a human, so I made a skeleton leg as similar to the existing leg as much as possible, then pulled out the morale of the other corpse and shoved it into it like crazy.
The question is, how do you move that leg?
“In order to fight, you have to be able to move your legs naturally… haha, how do you implement this?”
In a complex combat environment, you need to be able to move your legs as freely as Nakamura, who even has instantaneous acceleration.
“Hmm.”
After thinking about it for a while, Baek Sang-ho pulled the cart and came inside.
“President, we have brought them all.”
What Baek Sang-ho brought was none other than the prosthetic legs sold in the market.
I had no knowledge of prosthetic legs, so I was instructed to get it for reference.
“For now, Nakamura, I have made an appointment at a famous hospital in Seoul, so please try again. do you know Will you be able to save your legs?”
The prosthetic leg is always the next best thing, and the best thing is to save the leg.
Nakamura said with a look of not expecting much from my words.
“Will it be cured?”
“I’m trying to do it, if it doesn’t work, it’s unavoidable. I need time to research anyway, so I’ll pretend I’m being deceived and go get treatment.”
In the end, Nakamura nodded her head with a dissatisfied expression and said.
“All right.”
“I parked the car outside, so you can get on it right away.”
So when Nakamura went out, I took out the prosthetic legs that Baek Sang-ho had brought and said.
“Now, shall we start researching prosthetics in earnest?”
*
I bought all types of prosthetic legs from the low-end prosthetic legs sold in the market to the highest-quality prosthetic legs tailored to each person and analyzed the principle of operation.
Inexpensive prosthetic legs put the center of gravity under the legs and automatically droop when the legs are lifted.
“It is a method that automatically recognizes the movement of the floor and the wearer through AI and sensors and moves accordingly.”
“Then what if I do something radical that is different from usual? For example, suddenly turning around.”
“At least the prosthetic leg is a prosthetic leg, so up to that level of function…….”
Robotic prosthetic legs using AI and sensors.
It’s not bad, but the limitations are clear.
At least it helps to make walking look natural.
“Isn’t there such a thing? A prosthetic hand or leg that operates by reading brain waves or nerves.”
“There is, but it is still in the testing phase.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know the details, but I can read the brain waves, but there is too much noise to make an accurate interpretation.”
“Hmm.”
I thought for a while and said.
“Isn’t there anything better?”
“Yes, once commercialized, that’s about it.”
The level of prosthetics is worse than I thought.
“This is a pain in the butt.”
I was thinking of making a prosthetic leg by combining it with a robot, but at this level, it doesn’t help at all.
“At the end of the day, reading people’s will is the problem.”
A prosthetic leg that reads a person’s will and operates according to that will.
Then an idea comes to mind.
‘horsepower? Shall we use magic?’
If you can read the will, it doesn’t matter if the medium is brain waves or nerves.
‘If a magic circle is engraved on the prosthetic leg and moves according to the movement of the magical power… Wouldn’t this be the case?’
The most realistic alternative to Nakamura, which is an SS-class and can freely manipulate magical powers.
This would be possible
But I feel sorry.
“It would be nice if it could be used by the general public if possible.”
If only magical power is used as a means of controlling the prosthetic leg, it will become a prosthetic leg that can only be used by SS class members.
If possible, you should make it available for anyone to use.
How good it is to show illusions with Ceron Land, and break down the difficulties of reality with Skeletons.
Although you won’t make a lot of money with this, you’ll definitely get one image.
“Hmm.”
But no matter how much I think about it, I can’t come up with a proper way.
“Let’s just bump into each other.”
I said looking at Baek Sang-ho.
“I’m going to do a prosthetic test on people with leg pain, so please recruit some volunteers.”
*
When they recruited prosthetic leg testers and were given a condition that they would support a prosthetic leg if the test succeeded and a significant reward was attached, test applicants flooded.
I started the research in earnest with the applicants so recruited.
First of all, the first test was a prosthetic leg using the skeleton’s driving algorithm in reverse.
The human body does not move individually, but the whole body moves in harmony.
Using this, the skeleton’s driving algorithm is applied, and when the normal leg moves, the prosthetic leg automatically moves with an algorithm optimized for that movement.
A man then takes a step forward with a normal leg wearing a skeleton that covers both legs like an exoskeleton.
Then, it detects the movement of the normal leg and moves the prosthetic leg according to the algorithm.
“Oh oh!”
The man smiled brightly and said.
“This is the best! There is almost no discomfort in walking!”
The words of a man who seemed to be very satisfied.
But I wasn’t at all.
“…this is not going to happen.”
It moves according to the algorithm according to the movement of the opposite leg, but there is no problem when the same movement is repeated.
However, if you take a special action, such as stopping suddenly or turning your body, the continuity is broken and an unnatural posture appears.
Thanks to the balancing algorithm, I don’t fall, but it’s well below what I expected.
Of course, this is enough to satisfy a man who has only used prosthetic legs on the market.
“Uh-huh. How can you climb the stairs so easily?”
I looked at it and said with a sad expression on my face.
“There is a possibility for the general public, but there is no option for combat.”
I said looking at Baek Sang-ho.
“Proceed with the second test.”
The second prosthetic leg was a kind of modified unmanned control skeleton that created a magic circle on the teeth and directly manipulated the prosthetic leg according to the contact surface and strength of the upper and lower teeth.
The man wearing the second prosthetic leg presses the operation button and then rubs his teeth up and down to control the leg.
Then his legs moved slowly, but in the end he could not even take a single step and immediately fell down.
It can’t be easy when you try to control everything you naturally control like breathing with your teeth.
But this time the man was satisfied.
“Wow! Oh my gosh. A prosthetic leg that can be manipulated as desired!”
What the hell kind of world have you been living in to be so happy with something like that?
I said looking at the man.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s all right! I’ve lived without my left leg for nearly 10 years, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a prosthetic like this!”
The man said with a face full of hope.
“With these prosthetic legs . . . we will be able to live a little more comfortably.”
“okay?”
To be honest, this is also a failure by my standards.
You can walk much more naturally if you master the manipulation using your teeth.
‘Am I being too greedy?’
For the general public, the prosthetic leg made now is overwhelmingly superior to the already commercialized prosthetic leg.
So, I think the most realistic is to make a prosthetic leg that moves with magical power and give it to Nakamura, regardless of whether it can be used only with SS grades, while the general public is satisfied with it.
‘Let’s do a little bit more. Try a little more and if it doesn’t work, just go with the original plan.’
That’s when I was about to put it down halfway and proceed with the experiment.
“Ugh!”
The man who had been smiling brightly after taking the test suddenly shook his body and said:
“The left and left heels are big!”
uh?
Taking off his prosthetic leg, his left leg is open and empty, and a man scrambles for his left leg.
“Heel hurts!”
what is this sound.
Heel hurts without all of the left leg below the knee?
The embarrassing situation that the missing part hurts.
I urgently told the medical staff who came to assist me with the test.
“Why are you there? Does your missing left heel hurt?”
Then the medical staff said with a bitter expression.
“It’s fantastic.”
“Illusion? What is it?”
“To put it simply, the brain is making an illusion.”
The medical staff looked at the man’s chart and said.
“All nerves lead to the brain, and the brain makes decisions. However, the nerve transmission in the area that was lost as it was cut was cut off and it became a bad nerve. And then the brain mistakenly senses those bad nerves as pain or itching.”
“Is there no cure?”
“There is no cure. We can only live in hopes of easing. But this person… has already been experiencing phantom pain for 10 years. oh Fortunately, mitigation methods are written on the chart. Bring a mirror!”
At that, another medical staff brought a mirror and reflected the man’s right leg.
“Come on, Sang-wook. This is Sangwook’s left leg.”
“Wook. Whoops.”
“Move your toes slowly.”
Then, as if familiar, the man slowly moved his right toe.
“The left toe moves.”
What is it doing?
You say you call your left leg while illuminating your right leg?
“This time, the left knee…”
The man who looked in the mirror for a moment and moved his right leg said with a smile.
“It has improved a lot. thank you sir.”
“no.”
The medical staff returned after taking such urgent measures.
“Didn’t you just show your right leg in the mirror?”
“you’re right. It’s called mirror therapy. It’s a kind of self-suggestion that sends visual information to the brain that the left leg is okay. It may seem funny, but it’s one of those treatments that people find really effective.”
The man himself knows it well.
That leg is the right leg, not the left leg.
But just sending it to the brain as visual information relieves pain.
“her.”
By the way, have you been suffering like that for 10 years?
If you feel pain and itching in an area that is not there, there is nothing you can do about it.
At best, the only treatment method is to give an optical illusion with a mirror.
In Ceron, such wounded people are often thrown away right away, so I didn’t know because I had never seen them properly.
“Whoa.”
Originally, I was going to try and dry it a little more, but I’ll have to try harder.
“Okay, then the next test… huh?”
But wait a minute.
The brain is weak at visible visual information to the extent that symptoms can be alleviated simply by giving an optical illusion.
You said there was a phantom pain?
It’s a pain in a place that doesn’t exist, so it’s a phantom pain, right?
I said with my eyes shining.
“What will happen if you go beyond mirrors and use real illusion magic?”
Illusion magic that disturbs the optic nerve and shows the scene I want to show.
If you show it as if a real leg was created with that magic, wouldn’t you be able to deceive not only the brain but also the patient himself?
“Ohh?”
Then, of course, the brain will recognize the leg that was shown as an illusion and try to move it, right?
I said to Baek Sang-ho, who was waiting next to me.
“Did you say that brain waves are difficult because it is noisy?”
“That’s right.”
“Who did you hear from?”
“I consulted a university research team that studies brain waves.”
“okay?”
Wouldn’t it be possible to amplify brain waves just as painless torture is possible by activating pain sensation to the extreme?
“Are you sure about your skills?”
“I heard it is the best in Korea.”
“Then please call me again. I have something I want to ask you.”
*
The brain engineering professor greets me with a bright smile.
“Welcome, Chairman Han.”
“Nice to meet you, Professor Wu.”
“You say you are interested in our research.”
I nodded and said.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“haha. That’s really good news. Our research team is currently conducting research on manipulating various objects using brain waves, and considerable progress has been made.”
As soon as he met me like that, the professor narrates the research results first.
It’s something I’ve seen often.
Securing research funds is the number one task for professors.
I listened to the professor for a while and nodded moderately, and when the professor finished speaking, I began to ask serious questions.
“So, when will it be possible to commercialize a prosthetic limb using brain waves?”
“. . . prosthetic limbs.”
“Yes.”
“Can I be honest?”
“Please speak.”
“It’s still a long way off.”
The professor said with a calm expression.
“Current EEG research has reached the level of using EEG to control drones and robots.”
Five?
So, isn’t that a lot of progress?
“But that’s just reading a very, very simple brain wave that is about moving back and forth. EEG is a mixture of various information from neurons in the brain. Of course, brainwaves continue to change even in a brief moment of conversation like this. Even each individual has different characteristics of EEG, so it is virtually impossible to completely catch only the nerve response of a part of the body with only that wave.”
hmm.
“In the end, the surest way is to have a person perform a repetitive motion and find a specific EEG that is emitted for each action.
for a moment.
Are you saying that you can’t interpret brain waves because you can’t use body parts that have already lost the problem?
Then, isn’t it enough to trick the brain and the patient as if using illusion magic to utilize body parts?
“Besides, have you seen it? People sitting on EEG analyzer on TV. They have EEG sensors all over their heads and measure EEG, in order to measure EEG as deep inside the brain as possible. However, in the end, it is measuring the brain waves inside the head from the scalp, so the accuracy is bound to decrease. Even doing this is inaccurate, and we need to scale it down further to commercialize the prosthetic leg.”
That’s enough to amplify the brain waves.
The professor tells me to give up, but the more I listen, the more likely it seems, right?
I said with a smile.
“What if there was a way to solve all of that?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The problem right now is that we have to find a specific brain wave that comes out every time because we have to do repetitive actions, but isn’t there a part where we can do repetitive actions? Each individual’s brainwaves are slightly different, so it is meaningless to analyze other people’s brainwaves alone.”
“you’re right.”
“Then, shouldn’t it be possible to temporarily create a body part for a person without a leg or arm to see it move and amplify the brain wave to measure it?”
Then the professor said with a puzzled expression.
“Aside from the brain wave amplification, it makes temporary body parts? even moveable? If that’s possible, what are you going to do to make a prosthetic arm?”
“There is something like that.”
Then the professor suddenly pulled out his legs from under the desk and rolled up his pants.
Then I saw a prosthetic leg.
“If there is such a thing, I will run to it first.”
The professor himself was the person who needed the prosthetic leg the most.
rather good
It’s my job, so I’ll be more passionate about it.
I looked at the professor and said.
“If you answer my question, I’ll show you exactly what I’m talking about. Is it possible to compare and analyze the EEG generated by making a temporary body part and then moving it to the normal EEG?”
“At least it will be overwhelmingly more likely than it is now.”
“OK.”
I got up from my seat and walked up to the professor.
“Take that leg off for a moment. Please roll up the pants on the other side as well.”
The professor then takes off his prosthetic legs with a look of doubt.
‘Can we make the right leg look the other way around?’
I slowly covered the professor’s eyes with my hand, then said.
“Come on, let’s attach a temporary bridge from now on.”
And I, who created a magic circle and cast illusion magic.
“I’m going to get my hands on it now. Then you will see the left leg. But you must not move. Did you know?”
“What the hell is that…”
“Just feel it. Are you off?”
When I let go of that, the professor said with a puzzled expression.
“I didn’t feel anything, but what do you mean by feeling?”
“Look at your left leg.”
And the moment the professor turns his eyes to his left leg.
“uh······?”
said the professor, astonished.
“My, my left leg!”
When the professor saw his left leg embodied by illusion magic and tried to get up from his seat, I stopped the professor and said:
“Come on, calm down. If I move, I may not be able to use this leg again.”
The professor shuts his mouth tightly and stands still.
“From now on, if I count to three, I will raise my left thumb. One, two, three.”
At the same time as counting the number three, he uses illusion magic to make it appear as if he is raising his left thumb.
Then the professor said with tears in his face.
“Ooh, move. I moved my toes now!”
A professor who mistakenly thinks that he has moved.
“Okay, this far.”
The professor’s legs disappeared like a mirage when I snapped my fingers.
The professor said, touching his leg with a bewildered expression.
“What, what? my legs! Where did my legs go?”
“I just showed my legs as an illusion, my ability. I mean, it’s not real. But is it real?”
The professor came to his senses at those words, but he still spoke with a puzzled expression on his face.
“You said it was a fantasy? Did your thumb really move?”
“It was precisely made to look like it was moving.”
I went back to my chair and sat down.
“Isn’t there a possibility if we make an illusion by directing it as if it is actually moving and then measure the EEG output from it and compare it with the original EEG? And I came here because I was curious about a non-specialist. How are you, Professor?”
I said with a smirk.
“Is this possible?”