Tame the Dog with Food
A woman of utterly dubious origins whose very identity was impossible to pin down: Seo Yura. Just looking at her outfit was suspicious enough, but the way she kept glancing at me with that sly little smile creeping across her face? Starting from there, everything screamed red flags. Her bizarre attire was something I'd never seen in my life, making me question if she even belonged to this era. Especially that white coat, with a glossy black compression suit underneath emitting faint blue circuit patterns that flickered dimly across its surface—it made it impossible to guess what kind of person she was.
At this point, I half-expected to be on a special effects movie set. It felt exactly like stumbling into some hero's underground secret bunker base.
"Whoa... This is the first time I've ever talked to a guy this close up..."
"..."
"You're really handsome... Slurp slurp..."
Since I stayed silent for a while, she started sucking on her finger, staring at me like she was entranced. Up close, she definitely seemed like she was from this world... but with the extreme gender ratio of 1:9, women often gawked at me like this whenever I got near. Like I was some exotic creature.
"Um... Yura-ssi?"
"Huh, yeah?!"
Yura, who'd been boring holes into me with her gaze, jolted at my question. Her eyes locked onto me like a startled cat curling up tight.
"Y-Yura-ssi, you're the one who saved me, right?"
"Huh?! Y-Yeah, that's right! I saved you. With this antimatter particle beam—pow pow pow!"
It was a simple question, but she got so excited her gestures went overboard. That... antimatter particle whatsit? I had no clue what it was, but I got the gist.
"Hehe! This genius here poured her blood, sweat, and tears into making this device to exterminate the Monsters (Goei). Oh, it only works on ones with flesh or physical bodies right now... but s-soon, I'll wipe them all out. Ahem!"
"...Exterminate the Monsters (Goei)?"
"Ah... You passed out, so you didn't see? It's dangerous around here. I'll show you later..."
Wait, she had a weapon that could take down Monsters (Goei)? Was she serious? ...Well, if not, I'd be dead by now. The tech I'd seen so far seemed credible enough.
And then a name flashed through my mind. Right, Lee Seoyeun... What happened to the girl who'd been with me?
"Uh, hold on. Yura-ssi, did you see anyone else nearby? A girl a bit shorter than me... She was wearing a combat vest."
"Huh? Oh? A g-girl? Didn't see anyone like that... The drones only spotted you when I scouted."
She's not here, then. Sigh... If she was going to get saved, we should've been together. I'd shoved her out the window fully expecting to die, but I was the only one rescued... Still, she was nimble. She must've escaped fine. No doubt in my mind she'd survived somehow.
Grrroooowl—
How long had it been since I last ate? Just as I tried to sort through my tangled thoughts, my stomach started churning like it was screaming for mercy.
No wonder—proper meals were out of the question, and even water had been hard to come by. I couldn't keep imposing like this...
"Hungry, huh?"
"Y-Yeah... It's been a while..."
"Hmm..."
Biting back my embarrassment, I shot her another pleading look. Food was a life-or-death matter right now. Even canned stuff would've been a godsend. No way a place this nice and spacious lacked something to eat. Groveling was fine; in a world like this, your gender was currency.
"Anything you wanna eat?"
"Pardon?"
"You must be starving. What do you want?"
Wh-what do I want? The question caught me so off guard I was speechless. I'd be grateful for scraps, but she was handing me the choice? This was an apocalypse—you ate whatever got tossed your way.
Her words shattered that mold completely, leaving my mind blank.
"Uh... um... Just a can of beans or something..."
"Huh? No canned beans here... I mean real food."
"F-Food..."
No cans? Then what did she live on? Without that, survival was...
"Rations?"
"???"
"Protein blocks? C-combat rations..."
Her expression grew more puzzled by the second. No way she didn't have those either? What answer was she fishing for?
With a heavy sigh, she finally spoke, like it pained her. "I'll handle it. Just rest."
"Ah... Okay..."
She turned and left the hospital room. As she walked away, sensors activated, and the glass door slid shut smoothly.
She was back in under ten minutes, wheeling a wheelchair. She helped me into it. This place really had everything.
"Looks like I overdid it—too much to carry all at once. Comfy?"
"Yes."
"Your legs are dragging. Lift 'em up proper."
"..."
We headed out. Crossing the threshold revealed a long, endless corridor stretching into the distance. What the hell is this place? If there was an underground secret research wing for aliens, it'd look just like this. Insane setup. Where did the power come from? Who maintained a facility this massive?
Too many questions—I didn't even know where to start.
As we rolled straight ahead, I glanced left. Beyond the translucent reinforced glass: purple artificial lights. Hydroponics? Fresh veggies grew in neat rows, impossible to find outside.
And those round things... what? Floating drones scanning leaves with beams from their eyes, tending veggies with pincer arms. Dr-drones? This tech was way ahead of its time. I'd never seen anything like it.
"Cool, right? All my creations! New seed strains modified to thrive in this crap environment. Doubled the growth rate from before."
"..."
"Anyway, let's eat."
I didn't even know how to react anymore. All my struggling to survive felt stupid now. Survivor camps? No need. This was paradise—no threats, just comfort. Plenty of reason to stay. Assuming the owner allowed it...
Come to think of it, I hadn't seen a single person. Despite the vast space, robots and drones were everywhere—no humans in sight.
"By the way, Yura-ssi. No people here?"
"People? It's just me."
"Huh? All this space, by yourself?"
"Yeah. You're the first to set foot here."
Alone? With this tech and setup? She was even more incredible than I'd thought. You'd need a team for a place this big. Even with AI these days, who the hell was she?!
Questions piled up endlessly. We arrived at our destination, my head spinning with confusion.
The heavily sealed door slid open on sensors, and an incredible aroma hit my nose.
M-Meat?!
The sweet, primal scent of roasted flesh stirred my deepest hungers. A smell I'd given up on forever invaded my sinuses, firing every neuron in my brain. So savory it seeped into my lungs, threatening to shatter human reason.
I couldn't believe my eyes when we arrived. A feast fit for kings. Meats, seafood—everything covered the table. Beyond twelve-course banquets or royal spreads; enough to break the legs of ten tables. Saliva pooled in my mouth, overflowing. More shocking than anything I'd seen.
Steak, whole roast pig, caviar, cod roe pasta, pork belly, bulgogi... Too much. More than fingers could count. Could I really eat this?
Normally I'd question where it came from, but my brain short-circuited. Starvation... my instincts screaming to stuff my face. Every cell howling.
I whipped my head back and forth, eyeing the food and Yura alternately, panting like a dog awaiting its master's command. If I had a tail, it'd be wagging like mad. I couldn't hide my excitement.
"Um... You kept asking for weird stuff, so I prepped everything I could... That okay?"
Okay? This was a banquet. I'd lick the plates clean if she let me bury my face in them.
"Eat up before it gets cold."
Permission granted. Nothing else registered after that. "Eat slow" or "calm down"—her protests from behind fell on deaf ears. Nothing could stop me.
I shoved utensils aside and devoured handfuls. When I snapped out of it, I'd barely cleared a fraction of the spread. Half of half, at best.