Monster Zoo # 1
Monster Zoo # 1
The Monster Zoo.
"Hm."
Just the name put me in a better mood. I caught myself nodding along.
This was bound to be fun. I mean, isn't it basically like this? They catch the weaker, smaller monsters and make an actual zoo out of them.
Sure, they're called monsters, but the weak ones aren't a threat. Plenty of people would take an interest in that kind of thing, so it makes sense they'd open a zoo to the public.
So, you know, on a weekend.
Mom and Dad bring their little kid, holding hands, to see the creatures from the otherworld. They look around, check out the exhibits, catch a whole show, then buy a souvenir and head home. Back at the house, the kid plays with the souvenir and happily talks with Mom and Dad about everything they saw today.
Picturing a scene like that just naturally lifts your spirits.
Even if the world is pretty brutal, I guess there are still wholesome spaces like that out there.
"It must be a really nice facility."
"It is. As Kim Geun-cheol says, it's a nice facility. It serves as a sort of hands-on monster experience center for cadets, a place where you can directly observe and neutralize captive low-rank monsters or captured monsterkin."
"Huh?"
"Hm? Is something unclear?"
"No, nothing."
Where did the heartwarming, beautiful, fun zoo go?
This is literally just an artificial hunting ground. We're supposed to see and kill captive low-rank monsters, and we can even eliminate monsterkin taken as prisoners?
Completely the opposite of what I was expecting. But now that I hear it, it does sound like a decent facility. You need actual experience hunting monsters to be more effective in real combat. Like I said, they really do a thorough job with the education here.
You could definitely call it an essential course for getting cadets accustomed to battle.
"At this place, you will see actual living monsters. Touch them. And neutralize them as part of your class. This is an essential curriculum designed to get you used to exterminating monsters, so try not to be too squeamish about it."
Even during that last field trip, they were raising F-rank Langsts. Humans really are natural-born tamers. The fact that we're even raising monsters says it all. Although, that makes you wonder why we never managed to domesticate zebras.
"Instructor?"
"You have a question?"
"Well, I get raising monsters. But do you also keep monsterkin?"
I was kind of curious about this.
"Those are prisoners captured alive during engagements. Well, unlike monsters, you can't exactly breed them, but there are many different species regardless. You can study them and learn their traits."
At that, my classmates let out quiet exclamations.
I was looking forward to it too, honestly.
I mean, monsters are basically otherworldly creatures. As long as they're properly restrained and contained, it shouldn't be that different from looking at weird deep-sea life. Although, directly neutralizing them would definitely be a special experience.
"Now that morning assembly is done, let's begin first period. Everyone, move to the gymnasium."
* * *
Morning class began.
The lesson was about using mana to perform standing high jumps. And you had to do them consecutively, maintaining a constant height the whole time. It's apparently a drill that helps with sustained, stable mana output.
Well, if this were the old me, I would've looked completely ridiculous right about now.
"Hup!"
But I've developed a decent feel for it now.
—Boing!
As I released mana and jumped, my body shot straight up vertically. Not a diagonal leap, no forward momentum. Literally a standing high jump.
What was the world record for this again?
Right now, I was over two meters in the air.
"Hoo!"
I landed lightly again.
And from that exact state, I used the same amount of mana as before and jumped again.
"Ngh."
But this time, I went about ten centimeters over. I'd used just a slightly different amount of mana. Still, without stopping, I kept the standing high jumps going.
At the start of the semester, the instructor had to walk me through the sensation step by step, but now I could do it on my own. If that isn't what you call growth, what is?
"Phew."
After a few minutes, sweat started to bead up.
I took a quick breather, put my mouth to the water bottle's spout and drank, and watched my classmates.
—Boing!
—Boing!
—Boing!
Everyone was keeping up their jumps, maintaining the height they'd set for themselves. They really were a lot different from the beginning of the semester. Everyone had gotten reasonably used to it by now. There wasn't a single person in the class who couldn't handle mana at all anymore.
"Geun-cheol. Taking a break?"
As I was resting, Si-hoo came over and spoke.
This one had been working hard too, but didn't show a trace of fatigue.
"Yeah. Just recovering a little mana. This thing uses up more than you'd think. Wears you out."
"That's exactly why you need to minimize it. You know how you expend mana every time you jump? Think about reducing that to the absolute minimum. Even with the same amount of mana, efficiency changes depending on your method."
That's a fair point.
"Yeah, I get the concept and all. Figuring it out is the hard part, though."
The more efficiently you use mana, the longer your combat endurance gets. It's basically like boosting your effective MP pool.
"I was actually thinking while I was jumping just now, about how to jump more efficiently, you know? But finding that sweet spot is no walk in the park."
"Mhm, yeah? Still, I'm sure you'll find it if you keep at it. So you just have to keep going."
"Yeah, guess I do."
"Geun-cheol. Want to do some mana-usage training with me tonight?"
"Sounds good! And after that, let's wreck the gym!"
Getting stronger, nice and steady.
* * *
And then, lunchtime.
"Hey, Dragon Sky. Want to hit the snack bar together?"
I offered the Ryu.
"I'm not going!"
But the guy just whipped his head around and snapped at me again.
"Dude, why not again? We even had dinner together yesterday."
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
"You're seriously the worst bastard...!"
"What's the worst?! Quit bothering me and get lost! You Taliban bastard!"
In the end, the Ryu chased me off. This son of a bitch. I was just trying to grab a Don-gapnaegi together and he dares to bail on me? This is unforgivable.
Anyway, when I got outside.
"Let's go eat already, Kim Geun-cheol."
"Geun-cheol. Let's go."
Leona and Si-hoo were waiting.
"Yo. Good morning."
And Yu-ri too.
"It's lunch, what do you mean good morning. What's the matter? So where are we eating today?"
"The dining hall, obviously. Were you planning to just fill up on unhealthy snack bar food again?"
"Well, I mean..."
"Anyway, let's hurry up. I'm starving to death over here."
And so the four of us headed for the student dining hall. I think this every time, but buffets are seriously the greatest thing mankind has ever invented. How is it possible that you can just go and pick out whatever you want and eat it, without even having to wait?
The instant I walked in, I let my joy explode as usual and grabbed a plate.
"Heh heh heh."
And as I was piling on a meat-centric menu.
"Kim Geun-cheol? Grab some vegetables too."
Leona, right at my side, said that.
Vegetables?
Did she just say “vegetables” right in front of me?
"Leona. You don't seem to get it. Meat tastes better than vegetables."
"Why are you stating the obvious like it's some profound truth? I'm just saying eat them for your health. Here. Cabbage and tomato slices. They're essential, so put some on your plate."
Leona personally put vegetables onto my plate!
"Ah, ah! Hey! You're getting tomato juice on the meat!"
"What are you, a child?! Eat your vegetables and stop being so picky while I'm asking nicely!"
Is she seriously my mom?!
"Tch!"
In the end, by Leona's command, I had no choice but to put veggies on my plate.
"Ha, seriously. When you're eating meat, okay? You're supposed to just eat the meat, and only the meat. Vegetables just cover up the flavor of the meat."
"Are you going to keep being picky?"
"No, Leona. It's not being picky. When you've got meat, you go all in on meat. You never know when you might not be able to eat it again. You gotta eat a lot while you can."
This is my personal philosophy.
Eat meat while you can.
"Huh? Not be able to eat it later...?"
But.
"Ah...! Th-Th-That's—!"
Leona suddenly hesitated.
"Sob! Kim Geun-cheol! You can eat this kind of meat whenever you want from now on, so stop making such a fuss about it! Why wouldn't you be able to eat it?! You can eat as much as you want! So eat some vegetables, I said!"
She yelled stuff like that. What's with her? The atmosphere got a little weird just now. So I gave her a reasonable "alright, got it," and Leona swallowed once and then said.
"Now... if you're done loading up, let's go to our seats."
"Sure."
"Come on."
Leona immediately guided me over to the table. Seriously, the more I see it, the more she gives me the illusion that she might actually be my mother.
Si-hoo and Yu-ri were already sitting at the table.
"Oh? Geun-cheol? What's the occasion? Eating vegetables and all?"
"Leona told me to."
At that, Yu-ri burst out laughing.
"Pfft. Hey. What is she, your mom? You eat veggies just 'cause she tells you?"
"Woo Yu-ri? Geun-cheol is, well, he's the kind of guy who can't do anything for himself if I don't look after him like this. This is the only way he's taken care of. What is he, a kid? Picking at his food."
"Whoa. Seriously, is she your mom or what?"
That's what I'm saying.
Anyway, I sat down and started eating. The fried chicken at our dining hall is seriously delicious. Nobody fries it as good as they do here.
"Kim Geun-cheol?"
"Yeah. What's up, Leona?"
"When you're done eating, come find me."
"Huh? Why?"
What's this about?
"Leona? What's going on?"
Si-hoo immediately asked Leona.
"It's nothing major. I'm going to make Kim Geun-cheol study again."
"Ah."
"Oh come on, Leona...! Let him rest during lunch break!"
How can you make someone study right after they've eaten?!
"I can't do that. Kim Geun-cheol cannot escape from me. Be quiet and just study. You learn all that from me and then bomb your score that badly? Until you reach a level I'm satisfied with, you're going to study every single lunch break."
I begged for mercy, but Leona spoke as firmly as if that mom-like attitude from earlier had been a total lie.
"This is insane! Leona! This is tyranny! I'm lodging a formal complaint!"
"Can you beat me?"
"No."
"Then quietly study."
"Nngh...!"
Is this really unavoidable?
So after I finished eating, Leona grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me off to the library, where I got a tutoring session from her.
Food coma was crashing down on me hard, but if I fell asleep, I'd be sentenced to the Jjamppong-type punishment. I absolutely could not fall asleep.
"Good grief, Kim Geun-cheol, honestly."
—Tap tap.
Did I doze off for a second? Leona tapped my forehead with her finger as she spoke.
"Are you not going to wake up?"
"Did I fall asleep?"
"You were about to."
"Leona. Please cut me some slack. The food coma's making it impossible to study."
Mercy!
"Well, whose fault is it you got a 68? Kim Geun-cheol, if you'd just managed a 70 average, there wouldn't have been any need for these separate study sessions. Hm?"
"I mean... I really did try my hardest."
I seriously regret this so much...!
"Quiet! Just solve the problems! You, Kim Geun-cheol, you have to try even harder!"
"Yes, ma'am."
This right here is karma.
* * *
And that's how the day of the Monster Zoo field trip came around.
Like usual, I packed a ton of snacks, gathered up, and boarded the bus. We departed for the area where the zoo was located.
"Ryu. My heart's actually beating faster thinking about going to the zoo with you, you know?"
"Cut the crap!"
"Pringle?"
—Shake shake.
I said, shaking the can.
"...If that'll shut you up, I'll have some."
The Ryu said it like he wanted some so, so badly.
This guy, seriously, he's so see-through.
