Field Trip # 4
Field Trip # 4
"Hey, asshole! What the hell—you ate all of it!"
"Ha!"
At my protest, Ryu Cheon-hwi turned his head toward the window and shouted back!
"Complain about this, complain about that! Now you're complaining because I ate it! You're the living definition of a Taliban, you absolute bastard!"
"This son of a bitch eats it all and then gets mad at me!"
"I'll buy you as much of that junk-food crap as you want later! So shut up!"
"There's nothing to eat right now, goddammit!"
Three meals a day, my ass...! A potato chip right now is worth way more than a potato chip in the future!
"Ahem. Ryu Cheon-hwi? And Kim Geun-cheol. Keep it down."
"Ah, yes ma'am."
"Tch."
Instant suppression complete.
Come to think of it, we were being pretty damn loud.
"Kgh. Freaking insane."
Anyway, with that, the Pringles were completely gone. I was planning to snack on them at a nice, leisurely pace until we got there, but this Ryu bastard went and devoured the rest.
The actual perpetrator just stared out the window.
Little shit.
I'll let it slide since he gave me the cola.
—Swipe.
First things first, I pulled out a tissue and grabbed the fallen chips.
"You...! Don't tell me you're so starved that you actually intend to eat chips off the floor!"
Ryu shouted, sounding utterly incredulous. What the hell, this lunatic thinks I'm some kind of bum.
"Eat them? Who's eating them, dipshit. I'm cleaning up the trash."
"Suit yourself."
"Already doing it, thanks."
I stuffed the trash into the Pringles can, sealed the lid, and put it back in my bag. Gonna be a long ride with nothing to munch on. So I pulled out the cola instead.
—Psshh!
And I sure as shit am not giving any to Ryu.
With that resolution firmly in mind, I put the opening to my lips and chugged... Ahhh. The taste of carbonation. I'd deliberately stuck it in the freezer for a bit when I got up and washed up this morning. It still had that chill, so the flavor was absolutely phenomenal.
"..."
But.
I could feel Ryu's stare from beside me.
"Yo. Ryu."
"Stop calling me whatever you feel like."
"You see, this right here... is the cola you gave me last time. A very tasty and refreshing cola."
"And your point?!"
"Just saying. Thanks."
Yes.
I sucked down that cola with great relish right next to Ryu. No, seriously. Why is messing with him like this so goddamn fun.
"How disgustingly you drink!"
With that, Ryu Cheon-hwi turned his head completely away and shut his eyes. Man, what a hilarious bastard. Why is this guy so funny? Every time I look at him I feel like I'm gonna die laughing.
Anyway, I closed my eyes too while sipping my cola.
* * *
"Geun-cheol. What on earth did you and Cheon-hwi do to end up fighting again?"
"Could you please keep it down on the bus? Grown kids fighting over potato chips? Really?"
The moment we arrived and got off, Si-hoo and Leona came over and said that.
"What? We made a little noise right after we left, but we were quiet after that. And it wasn't a fight. We were just talking."
The beginning of a trip is always a little noisy.
Nobody falls asleep right away.
"I suppose that's true."
"Heh heh heh, Ryu Cheon-hwi is freaking hilarious, though. I was eating potato chips and he kept smacking his lips next to me, right? So when I offered him some, he got all pissed off. That's why we got a little loud."
"Cheon-hwi was smacking his lips? Geun-cheol. Don't bullshit me."
Si-hoo said, narrowing his eyes.
"No, I'm serious. Go ask him yourself."
"If I talk to him, he'll just ask if I came to start something. Anyway, Geun-cheol. Let's line up."
"Yeah."
We got into formation immediately.
So this is the entrance to the monster farm, huh.
"But damn."
I was imagining something like a barn or a chicken coop, but this is just a huge-ass corporate building.
"I was picturing a barn or something, and there's a giant building here instead."
"Right? I'm a little surprised too."
So they're raising F-rank Langst monsters inside this place.
"All right, everyone. Today we will be touring this Langst farm. See to it that you do not cause a commotion once we're inside. We'll be entering now."
Instructor Lee So-ra exchanged a few words with a farm representative, and with that, we made our way into the facility.
—Clomp, clomp.
At first we just followed the guide's directions. The interior looked like an ordinary corporate office. In any case, we took the stairs down underground, passed through several bulkheads, and what emerged was—
"Whoa...!"
An underground farm, literally!
"Oh my god!"
A sight practically straight out of The Matrix! Pig-sized moth-type monsters with their wings restrained, tubes jammed into their mouths and rear ends, wriggling—and all sorts of bizarre machinery latched onto their Dust Sacs, extracting dust!
What the hell kind of dystopian farm is this!
Has human science and technology really advanced this far!
"Ohh! This is too horrible, wow! Too grotesque, I can't take it! Too terrible!"
"This is a truly unpleasant space...!"
Over there, Brian and Ken were clutching their heads, and Si-hoo, standing next to me, was grimacing too.
"Still, they're raising them quite efficiently, aren't they? It looks completely hazard-free. I'd say this is a model farm."
"Uh, Leona? Aren't you kind of too tough? You're totally unfazed by a dystopian sight like that?"
Leona's seriously fascinating when you really look at her.
"Hohoho, dystopian my ass. You think something like this is going to rattle me?"
Going by appearances alone she's got that aristocratic young noble lady style, but she's got nerves of steel and she's boisterous as hell.
"Farms of this sort are actually fairly common here. The Langst gives us dust, sure, but there are also farms that harvest monster carapace. It's often used to make protective gear for the Awakened."
Leona explained.
"Although, naturally sourced materials are still better."
"Natural materials are better?"
"Isn't that obvious? The only things you can domesticate as livestock like this are F-rank monsters. Trying to raise a high-rank monster? Impossible. That's exactly why high-rank monster materials sell for so much."
"Ohh, is that how it works?"
I'd heard that high-rank monster carcasses sell for quite a bit. That's why Awakened folks have so much money.
And in special cases, you can sometimes obtain condensed Dimension Metal from inside a monster's body—something about dimensional shields coating them during dimensional travel creating it inside them at low probability... or something like that. I don't know the details, so pass.
"Right, right. Cadets. May I have your attention for a moment. What you see over there is the F-rank monster known as the Langst. We use the dust extracted from those creatures to manufacture bullets and the like."
As if this were routine, a representative came out and started explaining things to us.
"Hmm."
I'd already heard the explanations. I focused on appreciating the Langst beyond the glass wall.
—Squirm.
Those were real monsters. Definitely different in appearance from Earth lifeforms... It really drives home that this is a different world. This world is secretly pretty dystopian too, huh.
Anyway, we toured the farm facilities like that while listening to the representative's explanations.
"The era in which monsters are used as industrial materials has arrived. The authorities are currently devising plans to domesticate E-rank monsters as well. Should that come to pass, major changes in the market..."
This is actually interesting.
"Instructor Lee So-ra, ma'am."
"Kim Geun-cheol? Do you have a question?"
"Is there a gift shop here or anything?"
"Of course. It's by the exit, so don't worry."
"'Kay."
Gotta buy at least one cheap souvenir.
* * *
Like that, we moved between sectors and carried out the field trip. At first it was limited to observing the Langst through the glass wall, but as we went deeper inside, we got to enjoy other attractions too.
"All right, then! This is the shooting experience corner you cadets will enjoy the most! Ammunition manufactured from materials produced by our company! Use it to blast the Langst to bits! Shoot 'em all dead!"
The guide announced with high energy.
The place we'd arrived at was a shooting range.
"Ohh. Shooting, huh."
"Shooting...!"
Shooting booths were lined up in a row, each booth with a standard-issue rifle tethered to it. And where the targets ought to have been, shriveled-looking Langst were strapped down instead.
"Everyone. Calm down. You'll each get to fire one magazine. Line up by number, starting from that end. Go."
"Go!"
"Go!"
The excited students rushed over to the booths en masse and stood ready. Who on earth wouldn't love getting to shoot a gun? Man. Shooting, though. This is gonna be fun, isn't it?
"Uh, excuse me? Mr. Guide?"
"Yes? Cadet? How can I help you?"
"Is it okay if we just shoot those things and kill them?"
"Of course. Those Langst are discards that can no longer produce dust. They have to be disposed of anyway, so as part of that disposal we're providing this shooting experience for your class, cadet."
"Ohh... Seems like a company with remarkably thoughtful consideration."
"Ha ha ha. Thank you."
The guide laughed at my compliment.
Fascinating stuff, I'm telling you.
"Now, commence firing. If anyone turns their muzzle the wrong way, you'll be in serious trouble, so shoot only the Langst and kill them."
Soon, under Instructor Lee So-ra's supervision, the shooting began.
—Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt!
—Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt!
—Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt!
"Kwee-eee-eeek!"
"Kwurrrrk!"
"Kurrrrrrk!"
Gunfire and monster shrieks rang out together. Looking closer, flesh and blood were splattering everywhere, and gruesomeness aside, it looked fun as hell. I wanted to shoot too, and fast.
"Listen while you fire, all of you. You will also be learning marksmanship from now on."
Marksmanship, huh.
"Heroes, as it happens, often carry large-caliber submachine guns and the like as secondary armaments. Rather than waste time grappling with low-rank monsters along the way, it's more efficient to handle them quickly with a firearm and save your strength for the high-rank monsters."
That makes sense.
It's a lot more convenient to just shoot a low-rank monster dead than to charge in and slice it with a sword. Clear out the small fry with guns and then carve up the main target with a blade—that's the standard hero combat doctrine.
"Are you all finished? Next numbers, take your positions. Go."
Now it was my turn.
"Heh heh heh."
Standing in front of the firing lane, a strange excitement welled up inside me. I'm actually getting to fire a gun? At monsters, no less? Sure, I'd fired plenty of rifles in the military, but that was always under strict control, aiming at paper targets.
I've never done real shooting like this.
—Whirrrrr.
—Thoom!
Just like bowling pins, the Langst corpses were collected, and fresh discard Langst descended from above. Disposable livestock that had lost their dust production capacity.
—Clack.
While watching them, I swapped in a fresh magazine and chambered a round. This thing has a satisfying heft to it. Weight-wise, it feels a little lighter than a K3, though.
"So this is standard-issue Korean military equipment."
Really futuristic-looking. Either way, it's heavier than a K201, so it's probably a piece of shit. Anyway. I shouldered the rifle, aimed at the Langst.
—Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt! Brrrrrt!
And just ripped right into them!
"Whoa!"
Who knew that hosing down a target with an automatic rifle on full-auto could be this much fun! First time in my life mag-dumping an actual firearm!
"Kwee-eee-eeek!"
Under my dazzling fire, the F-rank monster Langst was literally torn to shreds, turned into rags. This is the power of modern weaponry! A low-rank monster is no match for a standard-issue rifle!
"Now, I trust you've all seen the power of firearms clearly. Always remember, when dealing with low-rank monsters, firearms are exceedingly efficient. This instructor's recommended equipment is a large-caliber submachine gun."
"Yes, ma'am! Understood!"
So heroes run around with an SMG in their left hand and a sword in their right?
Imagining it, that's cool as fuck.