Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: No Friends
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I set off for the next test of Project Ark.
"Hmm~ hm."
The Princess was humming a cheerful tune, clearly in high spirits.
Is making a guidebook such a joyful task?
"Princess, why the sudden urge to make a guidebook?"
"To let people know about delicious things. Eating something tasty makes you happy, right? So, sharing info about tasty food is a way to make others happy too."
"Hmm. I see."
The Princess rattled off her explanation like she was preaching to me.
She looked extremely pleased.
"Why do you want to make other people happy?"
"Uh, well... That's..."
The Princess trailed off, lost in thought.
She soon parted her lips softly.
"It's a secret. If you promise not to tell anyone else, I'll let you in on it."
"Sure. I won't tell a soul."
Unable to resist my curiosity, I made a promise with the Princess.
The Princess beckoned me closer with her palm.
I leaned down and brought my ear near her mouth.
"I want to do good deeds to earn a 5th-grade card key."
The Princess whispered it softly, then straightened up as if nothing had happened.
She maintained an even more dignified posture than usual, looking a bit shy.
Meanwhile, I couldn't make heads or tails of what she'd said.
'Never mind wanting a 5th-grade card key for now. What does she mean, doing good deeds to get one?'
The Princess's logic was completely off the wall.
A 5th-grade card key was the Institute's highest security clearance, granting the utmost access privileges.
You had to be the Institute Director or hold an equivalent position to get one.
It wasn't something you earned by doing good deeds.
I quietly broached the subject with her.
"Why do you think doing good deeds will get you a 5th-grade card key?"
"Because I got a 3rd-grade card key for doing a good deed. If I do even more good deeds for more people, I'll get a 5th-grade one eventually, right?"
The Princess declared it confidently, as if stating an obvious fact.
She was thoroughly mistaken.
The 3rd-grade card key hadn't been given to her for any good deed.
She'd smashed every door in the Institute, so they'd handed it over to stop her from breaking more.
How had she come to this misunderstanding?
I asked carefully.
"What good deed do you think earned you that card key?"
"Hehe. Isn't it because I shared food with Uncle Cheolwoong?"
The Princess spoke with exaggerated leisure, as if she had it all figured out.
If I corrected her rashly here, things could escalate.
For now, I went along with it.
"Yeah, that's right. You really get it."
Suddenly, her abrupt behavior made sense.
The reason for her weird guidebook was to spread the word about tasty food as a good deed.
And the reason for the good deeds was to obtain a 5th-grade card key.
'But why does she want a 5th-grade card key in the first place?'
I considered asking but held my tongue, changing my mind.
It was obvious she'd come up with some other bizarre logic.
'Too bad her dream won't come true. You can't get a 5th-grade card key through good deeds.'
I didn't know when it started, but the Princess was firmly under this delusion.
Still, there was no reason to correct her.
'As long as she keeps this misconception, Project Ark will proceed smoothly.'
It would be helpful in many ways, so I decided to keep quiet.
As I sorted through my thoughts, one idea suddenly flashed across my mind.
'Hold on. Doesn't that mean she'll keep doing good deeds until she gets a 5th-grade card key?'
I'd stumbled on a way to easily make use of the Princess.
She'd keep performing good deeds until she got that 5th-grade card key.
From now on, I could probably manipulate her freely using it as bait.
'Ugh... I feel a little bad for her, but I have no choice but to keep the truth about the card key secret.'
The Princess walked on with an innocent smile, oblivious to everything.
'Sorry, Princess. No matter how many good deeds you do, you can't earn a 5th-grade card key.'
I offered a small apology in my heart.
We were almost at our destination now.
The goal of this experiment was to check if the Princess could consume an anomaly capable of communication.
If a chicken could talk, most people wouldn't eat chicken.
Would the Princess be able to eat an anomaly she could talk to?
I laid some groundwork casually.
"Princess, have you ever talked to an anomaly before?"
"Yes. Back when I was in the Backrooms, I often chatted with other anomalies. Some of them could talk."
"Really? That's fascinating."
Anomalies conversing with each other wasn't all that rare.
There were shadowy organizations formed by rational anomalies.
Still, the Princess was an anomaly that ate other anomalies.
I had trouble picturing her peacefully chatting with one.
"So, did you have any anomaly friends, Princess?"
"No. I don't have any friends."
A sharp, straightforward reply.
The Princess answered without the slightest hesitation.
I glanced down at her.
Her face was expressionless as always, but for some reason, it felt coldly detached.
"You just said you chatted with other anomalies sometimes. If you could talk to them, why weren't they friends?"
"Sehwa, you're so dumb. They're anomalies. How could I be friends with anomalies?"
The Princess looked up at me with a bored expression.
"Yeah, you're right. I didn't think that through."
I nodded slightly.
Suddenly, I recalled something she'd said before.
The Princess claimed she was from Earth and had spent about 10,000 years in the Backrooms before returning.
'Did she spend those 10,000 years all alone?'
An anomaly who believed herself to be human.
Thus, unable to befriend other anomalies.
The Princess sometimes seemed like an innocent child, and at others, she exuded a transcendent calm beyond the ages.
'No one knows if her words are true or false.'
Even if she really was from Earth, it didn't change the fact that she was an anomaly.
Anomalies were bizarre entities born in Level 0, possessing abilities that defied the laws of reality.
Many harbored hostility toward humans, but not all did.
Even if an anomaly didn't hate humans, all were subject to containment.
'Their very existence threatens reality.'
Iron Silence, contained at the Institute, was a prime example.
It was grotesque in appearance but capable of communication.
Yet its ability to corrode nearby metals made it a massive hazard to modern society just by existing.
The Black Princess was in a similar boat.
Fortunately, she hadn't gone berserk once so far.
But if the Princess ever lost her mind and rampaged...
'Who could possibly stop her?'
Such power wasn't something a single individual should possess.
The Princess had abnormal strength and abilities, so people treated her as an anomaly.
She saw herself as human and thus kept her distance from other anomalies.
'Straddling the line between human and anomaly. Is that where she stands?'
A wave of sadness welled up inside me, but I suppressed it.
The Princess was faintly smiling, looking forward to eating an anomaly.
'Everyone at the Institute treats the Princess as human. At least within these walls, she's one of us.'
So if she wasn't sad, I had no right to be.
Even if it was just following protocol.
Inside the Institute, the Princess was nothing more than an innocent little girl.
'Though her strength is a bit much.'
Thank goodness she wasn't spoiled.
Before I knew it, we'd arrived at our destination.
"You've arrived, Researcher Lee Sehwa. We've been waiting."
"Yes, hello."
I exchanged brief greetings with the researcher standing in front of the containment chamber.
"Hey there, Black Princess. Nice to see you."
"Hello."
The researcher waved to the Princess, who responded with a light bow.
It had been quite a while since the Princess started freely roaming the Institute.
People might still give her a wide berth, but no one panicked anymore.
"This anomaly's nickname for the Ark is 'Solitary Gourmet Who Is Not Lonely.' Ready, Princess?"
The researcher asked with a gentle smile.
"Hehe. I'm always ready to eat."
The Princess replied confidently.
We all entered the containment chamber of the Solitary Gourmet Who Is Not Lonely together.