Galaxy Martial Temple - Amusement Park Kidnapping (Part 3)
The amusement park was incredibly fun. When overwhelming technology, utilizing all kinds of holographic devices, was used solely to extract dopamine, there was no way it wouldn't be fun. An adventure among holographic stages that made me feel like I had stepped into a real animation, and characters that seemed alive and moving rather than just people in mascot suits, made even me—an adult in a child's body—feel a flutter of excitement.
Given the era, highly realistic virtual reality games did exist, but no matter how much electronic signals tricked the senses, they still couldn't compare to actually moving one's physical body. In fact, the realistic virtual reality technology that could trick even true physical sensations was considered to have been perfected in the 35th century, about 1,500 years ago. However, due to legal restrictions arising from various incidents and accidents, modern, popularized virtual reality technology had fallen behind actual reality.
Curious about what kind of incidents they were, I had looked them up. Indeed, a mass shock-death incident at a high school and cases of children jumping from high-rise buildings because they couldn't distinguish between reality and virtual reality were certainly enough to warrant legal restrictions on VR. Of course, they said that if you went to the Sapa star systems, where they couldn't care less about international law, you could experience truly realistic virtual reality. The problem was that in seeking such realistic VR, there was a high risk of becoming addicted to electronic drugs.
"Whew, I'm tired."
Having fun and running around had left me a bit exhausted. Since most people learned internal cultivation methods as part of their compulsory education, a significant number of the amusement rides required physical exertion. There were rides where you just sat still and enjoyed the thrill, but most of those had height restrictions. On the other hand, things like the carousel weren't exactly my taste. As a result, I ended up choosing rides that could be enjoyed without height or age limits, and those mostly required physical movement.
As I sat down to rest on a bench beneath a giant statue of Mally Mouse, Siwoo spoke.
"I will go purchase some sports drinks. Please wait here."
"Yeah, I'll rest here."
Sitting on the bench, I drew internal energy from my dantian to restore my physical stamina. While meditating to absorb environmental Qi and fill the dantian had to be done in a safe, quiet place with as few people as possible, simply using stored internal energy to recover stamina didn't matter. In the first place, martial arts existed to draw upon internal energy for combat, so there was no way drawing energy from the dantian would be dangerous just because people were around. If it were that dangerous, one wouldn't even be able to fight using internal energy.
As I sat resting, a cute little girl walked up to me. She looked like she would grow up to be an incredible beauty. Isn't it dangerous for a child that pretty to wander around alone? What if she gets kidnapped? Just as I was thinking that, the child spoke to me.
"Excuse me, did you learn Blue Wood Cultivation too?" the girl asked, casting anxious glances around her.
"...I did. But how did you know that, little girl?"
"Little girl?! You're a little kid too!" The girl flared up at my words.
Ah, right. I was a kid too. Since Siwoo didn't treat me like a baby, I often forgot that I was at an age where being called a toddler or a baby was more natural than being called a kid. Of course, that was probably because I didn't act like a baby at all.
"True, I'm a kid too. So, how did you know I practiced Blue Wood Cultivation?"
"Because you're leaking Qi waves so openly."
Ah, is it because I used my internal energy to recover? I must have leaked Qi waves because I was still unskilled at concealing my energy. But she sensed that in this massive crowd? What kind of kid was she?
"Are you lost by any chance?" At my question, the girl flinched.
"I'm not... lost."
Not lost, my foot. Her anxious behavior made it obvious to anyone that she was a lost child.
"The lost child center is about three hundred meters that way, but..." I couldn't exactly tell a child who looked about three years old to go there by herself. "I'll take you to the lost child center, so sit here and wait a bit. I have someone with me too."
"Huh? Okay..."
The little girl hesitated before sitting next to me. The bench was high enough to reach her chin, but having practiced martial arts, she hopped up onto it without any trouble.
"Do you know your parents' names and phone number?"
"I know my parents' names! ...But what's a phone number?"
"Do you know what a phone is?" At my question, the girl shook her head.
Ah, does a three-year-old not even know what a phone is? Then again, phones in this era weren't in the shape of 21st-century smartphones, so even if she saw her parents using one, she might not recognize what it was. Most electronic devices were embedded in the form of holographic IoT, and smartphones were often set so that the screen was invisible to anyone but the user for security reasons.
"The thing on your wrist is a phone."
Around the girl's wrist was a small, band-like bracelet.
"It's the same model as mine." I showed her the band-type smartphone on my wrist.
As a side note, Siwoo had blocked all internet services on my smartphone except for calls and texts. It was to prevent a three-year-old like me from visiting strange websites, meaning I could only use the internet in visible areas like the living room. While it was frustrating for me, it was a wise choice for realistic parenting. A normal three-year-old lacked the knowledge and experience to judge what was appropriate. Well, to be fair, a normal three-year-old would just watch children's animations on a smartphone rather than surf the web or go shopping. Still, she had promised to unlock internet services once I entered elementary school, so I only had to wait three or four more years.
"Here, press this part of the bracelet briefly."
When I pressed the button on my band, the girl followed suit and suddenly gasped in surprise.
"A screen popped up in front of your eyes, right?"
The brooch pinned to her chest, which was paired with the band, must have projected a holographic screen visible only to the owner. I disabled the privacy mode and showed her my screen.
"See this phone receiver icon? Press it. No, with the hand wearing the bracelet."
The band acted as a controller for interacting with the holographic screen.
"Once you press it, a contact list should appear. What does it say there?"
"Mom, Dad."
"Tap the person you want to call. No, I said tap it with the hand wearing the bracelet."
"I pressed it. Oh! It's making a strange sound!"
The girl was startled by the sudden dial tone. Of course, I couldn't hear it.
"Oh! Mom? Where are you? Where are you speaking from?"
The call must have connected, as the girl kept looking around in bewilderment. I spoke to her.
"Tell her we're on the bench under the Mally Mouse statue in Zone G."
This saved me the trouble of dragging her all the way to the lost child center.
The girl repeated what I said and conveyed that her parents were on their way here.
"Thank you! A phone... what a fascinating device!"
"Well, is there anything that isn't fascinating at our age? By the way, did you hang up?"
"Huh? Hang up?"
"...No, never mind. Since you're lost, it's probably better to keep the call active."
The girl flared up at my words. "I-I'm not lost!"
"Sure, sure. Of course you aren't."
As I brushed it off, the girl pouted, then suddenly let out a smug, slightly creepy chuckle.
"Fine. Since I'm the adult here, I shall show some magnanimity."
"An adult?"
When I gave her a look that clearly said You?, she pouted again. Her emotions were written all over her face.
Come to think of it, she spoke quite logically for a three-year-old. Normally, a three-year-old wouldn't use difficult words like 'magnanimity,' right? Or would they? I didn't know since I had never had a three-year-old around me. I did have a younger brother back home with the body and intelligence of a gorilla, but even if that powder-faced Triceratops of a bastard was dim-witted, he was still a high schooler, so surely he used his brain more than a three-year-old. ...Or did he?
"By the way, you said you sensed my Qi waves earlier, right? How did you read my Qi waves in such a crowded place?"
One of the things I had learned while practicing martial arts was that everyone unconsciously emitted Qi waves. Even though it was a weekday, this was an amusement park, so with countless people walking around—including martial artists working part-time jobs—the Qi waves felt like a chaotic jumble.
At my question, the girl spoke as if it were nothing. "The attributes of internal energy differ from person to person and martial art to martial art. You just have to distinguish them."
Gathering internal energy in her hand, the girl released a wave of Qi. "Since I practice Blue Wood Cultivation like you, I emit this clear, refreshing energy. Look over there—that acrobat practices a Daoist martial art, so his energy is tranquil. That person over there practices a Buddhist martial art, so it's heavy. And that woman has practiced Ice Qi Gong, so her energy is chilly."
After chattering away like that, the girl suddenly gasped. "Ah, you probably don't understand even if I explain it like this. Hmm, how should I put it..."
"No, I get it. That person over there has a hot and active Qi wave, so did they practice a Solar Qi Gong?"
Now that the girl was pointing them out one by one and explaining the properties of the flowing Qi waves, I could roughly understand. It was still difficult to sense Qi waves because of the crowd, but if I focused on each person individually, I could make them out.
At my words, the girl stared at me with wide eyes. "H-How...! Your physical constitution is clearly average at best—no, you're a downright dunce...!?"
Wow, what a rude brat! She had some nerve saying that to the benefactor who had just helped her! Even if it was true! Even if Siwoo, who was teaching me, also sighed in secret! Did I really have to hear that from a rude kid I just met? As my brow furrowed, she seemed to realize her rudeness and apologized.
"I-I'm sorry. I was just so surprised."
"It's fine. It's true that I have no talent; my Qi sensitivity is just sharp."
"No, but looking closely, you seem to be building an incredibly solid foundation that's far beyond your age. Physical constitution is merely a talent that allows one to reach a certain level quickly; it isn't what's truly important. In fact, those who rely solely on their innate talent and neglect the basics will hit a wall at a certain realm. But those who build a solid foundation, even with a poor constitution, will never stagnate."
After offering what sounded somewhat like an excuse, the girl suddenly stared at me intently and marveled. "By the way, who is your master? You're still young, so you should be in the middle of building your foundation, but your foundation feels like you're constructing a fortress. You could have easily moved on to the next stage long ago, yet you're still reinforcing the basics."
"...You can tell just by looking? What, are you some master who achieved rejuvenation or something?"
Dumbfounded, I asked, and the girl panicked.
"Ehehe! Y-Yeah, indeed. How would I know? It's just a hunch, a hunch!"
Her strange panic felt out of place. Did she reincarnate like me? No matter how I looked at it, this was not the behavior of a three-year-old. Sensing her own slip-up, the girl quickly changed the subject to gloss over her words.
"Seeing as you practice Blue Wood Cultivation, you must be from the same family. What's your name? My name is Cheon So—!"
"Urgh!"
Suddenly, two men wearing pulled-down hoodies, cute headbands, and character masks—looking for all the world like regular park visitors—appeared out of nowhere and covered our mouths with handkerchiefs. There must have been a sleeping agent on the handkerchiefs, as an overwhelming drowsiness washed over me. When I finally woke up from my slumber, I found myself in a dark, dingy place that looked like a boiler room.