Chapter 244
Chapter 244
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 244
Chapter Title: 102. The Gray Dystopia (3)
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Jeju Island was a perfect surveillance state.
Not only the internet, but even the most trivial aspects of daily life fell under the shadow of control and monitoring.
Walking the streets, you could spot surveillance cameras watching every corner.
Coincidentally, those cameras were Chinese-made.
They were the same notorious models I'd seen in China—ones that could recognize a person just from their face and track their every move.
Roll call was handled by those cameras too. They'd marked off frames on the open field in front of houses that the cameras could detect, and if you stood there, it automatically registered your attendance.
If someone skipped roll call, a government official would show up before lunch.
As oppressive as the pervasive surveillance was, the real hardship was the scarcity of daily necessities.
The Jeju government provided only half of everything.
Food and essentials were rationed just enough to keep you alive, and medicine was only available in small quantities through health centers.
To get more than the rations, you needed credits accumulated on the card issued by the community center—and earning those credits wasn't easy.
To build up a lot, you had to go to the front lines or take on elite jobs comparable to that.
Ordinary folks just scraped by on the meager rations of food and supplies they were given.
Fortunately, my card had 948,000 credits.
Considering a factory worker on 2 shifts, 10 hours a day, earned only 15,000 credits a month, it was an enormous sum.
For reference, a box of instant noodles at the mart cost 10,000 credits.
I felt personally slighted, but the Jeju government saw it as showing me their own kind of goodwill.
But having credits didn't exempt you from labor duty.
In this unfamiliar environment, time slipped by in a daze, and before I knew it, a week had passed.
"Are you Park Gyu?"
I headed to the job center next to the community center.
Like most officials here, the staffer looked barely into her twenties—a young woman.
"I looked at the resume you submitted before... um... it doesn't seem like you have any special experience?"
"......"
I was too tired to explain anymore.
On this island dominated by those lucky Awakeners I'd seen in Gaeseong, us old-school hunters were denied everything.
So there was no point arguing or raising my voice.
Here, I was just an outdated hunter, lagging behind the times.
The job center official rifled through papers and told me about possible assignments.
"I checked for jobs fitting your conditions, Mr. Park. There's one spot left."
"Where?"
At that moment, our eyes met.
The female clerk suddenly blinked rapidly.
Was she hesitating about something?
She cleared her throat and continued.
"A farm."
There was nothing more to say or discuss.
But before leaving, I pointed to a poster also up at the community center.
"What's that?"
It was a recruitment notice for forward base personnel.
Exempt from labor, study, and training, with free schedules and ample provisions.
I'd glossed over it at the time, but now facing assignment, it caught my eye.
The job center official smiled and answered.
"As you see. It's living at an outpost beyond the walls surrounding us. Spot a Mutation or monster, report it—that's about it."
She glanced at my record, eyes sparkling.
"You could do it, Mr. Park! If you're interested, contact us anytime!"
In that instant, I sensed it.
She knew exactly what my experience was, what kind of person I was.
*
The farm was in an area walled off separately from where I lived.
Basically the same concept as the beehives in North Korea.
Spaces divided by countless walls, each assigned a purpose, producing survival necessities and food within.
The concept was similar, but North Korea's beehives only occupied a city corner, while Korea's covered a third of the island—massive.
A stark scene showing the gap between North and South Korea.
I passed through thick walls said to withstand ordinary artillery and entered the agricultural zone.
Sure enough, lush green crops uncommon on Jeju grew vigorously in well-maintained fields.
Sprinklers whirred energetically everywhere, fresh irrigation channels flowed, and beyond the fields stretched endless rows of greenhouses.
"This is what keeps our throats fed. Two food zones total, but this one's the highest yield."
As I admired the refreshing scenery for the first time in a while, listening to the driver's words, a foul stench suddenly assaulted my nose.
The smell of animal dung.
And sure enough, beyond the green pastures, cows and sheep grazed leisurely.
Seeing them, I asked.
"No Mutations here?"
"Ah, we manage Mutations separately."
"Even so, isn't it dangerous?"
"Yeah, but we've got the know-how now. If a livestock animal shows Mutation factors, we isolate it immediately and send it to the Mutation farm."
"Mutation farm..."
"They're big and clever, but still beasts, and the meat tastes the same. Bigger size means more premium cuts like sirloin from one cow, right?"
The man at the wheel grinned at me.
"By the way, looks like you got assigned to the Mutation farm."
"......Yeah?"
"Yep, says so on the papers. You're Park Gyu, right?"
"Yes."
The man gave a pitying look.
"Well, no law says a bad posting means you'll die. Personnel shifts yearly—you can request a transfer after a year and go somewhere else."
Easier said than done.
Words are cheap.
"Here we are."
The electric car stopped and dropped me off.
"For going back, ride the commuter bus with the staff here."
The vehicle drove away.
Before me loomed a massive barn, easily three times larger than the others by rough estimate.
No guards, no passersby.
Only the horrific stench wafting from the barn.
I walked slowly to the entrance.
Woooong—
A bizarre murmuring came from inside.
The resonance differed from any animal I knew—likely Mutations.
They echoed one after another, like an eerie chorus.
Amid the grotesque droning, I climbed the stairs to the office.
A few people were inside.
A balding, bespectacled man turned, asking gruffly.
"Who are you?"
I was surprised for a moment.
At least in his forties.
He had some age on him.
Not just him—the people here were generally older.
Fifties, even some sixties.
"Assigned here today."
"Ah, yeah? One sec."
The man fiddled with the computer.
Not computer-savvy, he stared at the monitor forever before standing up late.
"Ah, it's real. Finally, a newbie!"
His name was Supervisor Han Chang-hee.
The barn manager.
As older folks watched, he gave me a brief orientation.
"As you see, it's a barn. But for special critters. Might be tough at first—they look like beasts we know but are totally different. But not dangerous. Perfect safety measures. Work's not that risky, just prejudice. In terms of sheer volume, way less than regular barns. You'll see comparing to regular farm workers."
Unlike his first impression, he was kind.
What can I say—he seemed to value me.
Not because he liked me, but because he desperately needed someone like me.
He eyed my face slyly.
"......You know roughly what Mutations are, right?"
"Yes."
"Ever seen one up close?"
"A few times."
"Good. They're dangerous, sure, but here they can't harm us. Perfect safety, like I said. They can't step one inch out—or their hearts stop!"
Han Chang-hee stood.
Time to see the barn.
I followed him out.
Along the corridor, he kept praising the barn.
"The more you know, the easier it is. But people always get scared, intimidated here. Just beasts."
"......"
"But slaughter 'em and you eat great meat. Large intestine! Tenderloin! Sirloin! Tripe! Stew cuts! Stuff yourself. Way better yield than regular livestock. Can skim more too."
At the corridor's end, a heavy iron door with a hatch blocked us in dim shadow.
Before it, Han Chang-hee opened the hatch and looked at me.
"One request..."
His beaming smile turned grave as he rolled his eyes.
Then, with a stiff expression I'd never seen, he glared.
"Whatever you see inside, forget it. Whatever you hear, ignore it. Best to think it's a nightmare."
"......"
A nightmare.
Did he know?
That I was someone who'd fled from nightmares?
Kreeeak—
The hatch opened, revealing the veiled Mutation breeding facility.
First impression: not much different from normal ones I knew.
Large central corridor, cells left and right, one beast per cell.
No different from enlarged regular livestock pens, as Han Chang-hee said.
"See? Nothing different."
We descended the stairs.
Then, something chilling happened.
The Mutations—mostly cows—turned to stare at us in unison.
That moment, I knew I'd never forget it, and it might replay in nightmares.
If that was all, it might've been bearable.
Woooong—
The cows made grotesque sounds.
The murmuring I'd heard outside.
"This shit again. Damn things! Mr. Park, just ignore 'em."
Han Chang-hee kicked the railing.
Clang! echoed, but couldn't drown the massive beasts ten times our size.
And that murmuring...
"?"
Slowly formed into something concrete.
Han Chang-hee looked at me.
"Ah, come on, ignore it!"
Beyond his frown, familiar words—words I could understand—pierced my ears clearly.
"Kill...... us...... please......"
"Kill...... me......"
"We...... kill......"
"Kill...... us......"
The cows were speaking.
Begging us to kill them.
Their eyes told it all.
The gigantic cows fully understood the human language they spoke.
Staring into hundreds of eyes amid their cursed pleas.
One Mutation cow captured my gaze like fate.
Tears streaming from its eyes, it pleaded.
"Kill me."
An iron chain pierced its chest, blood dripping into its flesh even now.
"......"
That day, I applied for forward base assignment.
*
The vehicle climbed the mountainside.
Slopes of Halla Mountain, one of the nation's sacred peaks.
Staring blankly at the summit piercing the sky, the officer beside me spoke up.
"Bad luck."
He eyed me pityingly.
"Of all the forward bases, you get Outpost 328..."
He read my resume, then asked.
"No criminal record... Got on someone's bad side up top?"
"Why do you think that?"
"First job's Mutation barn. Hate it? They ship you to the meat grinder spots."
He blinked oddly, asking.
"Anyone can see they're screwing you over, right?"
One suspect came to mind.
My classmate, Gong Kyung-min.
We'd parted badly.
He was probably high up in Jeju now.
So I tried not to think of him, never mentioning his name.
Like avoiding thoughts of Kang Han-min or Na Hye-in.
My own escape, but I knew.
"......"
It changed nothing in reality.
The military vehicle dropped me with my pack.
Looking at it, I asked.
"What's this?"
"Your food and ammo for a week, Mr. Park."
"Personal gear?"
"Yes."
"All for me alone?"
The officer nodded.
"You're the only one posted here."
"Really?"
Glancing at the outpost.
"What about predecessors?"
He shook his head with a sigh.
"Hope you're stronger than them."
I hoisted the pack up the steep incline.
Beyond my bobbing view, a weathered concrete building appeared.
"......"
Full circle back to a place like this.
I reconsidered the resolve I'd made entering Jeju.
Returning to the mainland.
Not easy.
No, an extremely tough path.
But.
"Hm?"
Something familiar at the entrance.
Abandoned long, half-buried in dirt, covered in dust layers—that machine I knew well.
"Obelisk?"
Satellite internet gear.
Pack on, I rushed inside.
Bloodstains lingered uncleaned, but couldn't stop my pounding heart.
A laptop— for upper command contact.
I flung the pack aside, maniacally rummaging the debris-choked wall.
"Ha!"
Grinning like a madman, I lifted the cable.
Internet connection cable.
Obelisk power off.
Precisely, unplugged by someone.
Long ago.
Before satellite internet went public, maybe.
I checked the Obelisk and connection.
It lit up.
Internet connected!
Feeling forgotten euphoria swell exponentially, I logged on.
"......"
I collapsed right there.
Dirt on my butt, bloodstains at my feet—didn't matter.
Couldn't see my face without a mirror, but in this moment, I must've looked happier than anyone.