Monster Zoo # 2
Monster Zoo # 2
He seemed to want it so badly, so I handed him a whole can of Pringles. Ryu stared at the can as if dissatisfied, then skillfully popped the lid and started eating the fake potato chips inside.
—Crunch.
"Tch. Absolutely disgusting. What kind of taste buds do you need to enjoy this garbage?"
Look at this bastard's attitude.
—Crunch.
—Crunch.
—Crunch.
He's shoveling three at a time into his mouth, grumbling it's tasteless? Ridiculous. This guy cracks me up. Anyway, that's the Original flavor. I pulled out the Spicy one.
The dark brown can is pretty striking.
"Unless I was starving, I wouldn't eat this... Hm?"
"What? Why?"
"What on earth is that?"
"This is Spicy."
"...Spicy, you say."
Ryu stopped eating, squinted, and eyed the Spicy Pringles in my hand.
This guy... no way.
Is he after this one too?
"Seems they've made a range of tasteless varieties. Even just looking at it, it looks awful."
This lunatic.
"I must verify just how bad it is. Hand it over."
"Tch. Hey now."
"What?"
"This guy doesn't know the value of food. You're going to 'verify how bad it is'? Is that how you treat precious food?"
"Attitude this and that, I merely stated a fact."
"You can't eat with that kind of heart... So I can't give this to you. This Spicy Pringles."
"Ha! You tiresome brat, nagging me! First you offer, then you withhold! Which tune am I supposed to dance to!"
Just how much do you want to eat this, anyway?
"How much? Name your price, and I'll pay it."
Now he's even offering money.
"Argh, you bastard. You want it that bad? Fine, I'll just give you some, so be honest."
"I don't want to eat it, I just want to confirm how—"
"Yeah, yeah, you really want it. Here."
—Slide.
I scooped a reasonable amount into the lid and handed it over.
"..."
Ryu took the lid silently, dumped the Spicy Pringles into his own can, and then ate them one by one.
—Crunch.
"A needlessly stimulating flavor. Fit for commoners who chase cheap thrills."
"And yet you're gobbling them up like crazy?"
"Because while I'm eating, you'll shut up."
While saying that, Ryu absolutely devoured the Pringles. He never once met my eyes, just stared out the window.
Seriously, seeing this guy always cracks me up.
* * *
Finally, we arrived.
"Oh. Damn, this place is huge."
Stepping off the bus, a massive building welcomed us. The zoo was surrounded by a fortress-like wall, and even turrets were mounted on top.
Plus soldiers stationed there.
It felt exactly like a top-priority government facility.
"This is the Monster Zoo. Inside are live monsters and monsterkin, so look forward to it. They're all neutralized, so don't be scared. It's not us who should be scared—it's them."
Listening to the explanation, we followed behind the instructor like preschoolers on a field trip.
Soon the wall's gate opened. Inside, the main building appeared. The door here was built like an airlock.
—Hiss!
As we approached, the bulkhead opened with a hiss of steam. It felt like boarding a spaceship, and my anticipation grew.
"Whoa."
Right inside, we were greeted by monster models.
Life-size replicas of various low-rank monsters were on display.
"This is the model exhibit. Their names, weaknesses, and traits are written below. Read them. We'll have a short time to look around."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Nice!
Let's take a look!
"Geun-cheol, let's look together."
"Yeah."
"Come over here."
I immediately stuck to Si-hoo and started looking around.
But as I looked, these were all from our textbooks.
"Si-hoo, aren't these all from the textbook?"
"Yeah, seems like it. They're probably the commonly encountered ones."
"Right. That one there, we even caught it ourselves."
Anyway, the models are really well made. So good I'd definitely buy a miniature souvenir if they sold them.
While looking, Leona came over and said,
"F-rank monsters. You should be able to take them out in a single slash. Kim Geun-cheol? Think you can manage that soon?"
"Of course. F-rank is just food. Easy pickings."
And it's true. I've already killed F-rank monsters multiple times.
"Heh, your efforts paid off, then. Let's take our time looking."
"Let's."
At some point Yu-ri joined us. We walked through the exhibit hall, studying.
"Hmm."
But just the models are fun. They're real monsters, so it's interesting to look at. Yeah, this is what culture is. Would be fun with family.
"But that thing in the center, covered with a tarp—what's that?"
"Hmm? Maybe an unfinished piece?"
"I'll go ask. Instructor Lee So-ra! What's that thing in the center?"
"The center? Ah, something's covered. Let me check."
—Beep.
The instructor made a call. After a few words, some staff rushed over and removed the tarp.
—Whoosh.
And what appeared was...
"Ooh!"
An elephant-sized, insanely badass monster!
Its head, encased in a tough shell, looked incredibly hard, and the long fangs beneath were lethal. Its torso, massive as the head itself, resembled a bodybuilder's, and its thick forearms evoked giant clubs.
It looked like it could smash a building.
"This is a D-rank monster, Clustar."
The instructor began her explanation.
"To take this down, you'd need a tank cannon. Of course, a skilled Awakened can easily slaughter it with just a sword. This is one of the most common D-rank monsters in our country, so make sure you know how to handle it. D-rank monsters are the main enemy for rookie heroes."
"Yes, ma'am!"
We immediately looked.
"Si-hoo, can you take something like this?"
"Hmm... If it's one-on-one, I think I could."
"No way. Really? You'd take this elephant-sized thing alone?"
"I heard Clustar are slower than they look."
"Really?"
This guy's a powerhouse too!
"Leona? What about you?"
"I've never faced one, but I've looked into it. With my skills, I could definitely take it."
"As expected of Leona!"
That makes sense. If it's a bit slow, Leona could toy with it. Still, it's impressive. Taking down a monster like this with just a sword.
"Yu-ri, you?"
"You think I couldn't? This is just small fry."
"Hell yeah!"
Everyone's a total badass.
"Something like this. Nothing special."
"Ryu? When did you get here?"
"Shut up."
This lunatic, for real.
"Alright, that's enough looking. We're heading into the real zoo now."
"Finally!"
"Follow me."
We followed the instructor.
—Hiss!
Passing through another bulkhead, we entered a space full of glass walls.
"Whoa!"
And I was amazed.
—Screech! Hiss! Shriek!
Beyond the aquarium-like glass walls, all sorts of monsters were chained up, going berserk!
These prison-like containment rooms were crammed along both sides of the corridor!
"Good lord! So many monsters!"
"They've been collected by type."
Opportunities to see live monsters up close like this are rare. Our excited classmates dashed around, each stopping at their favorite spots to observe the monsters behind the glass.
"Ah. It seems the E-rank monsters are further in. F-rank monsters are too easy, let's go to the back."
"Uh, yeah. Okay."
Leona grabbed my wrist and pulled me.
Going deeper, the E-rank monsters appeared.
—Groooar!
They definitely looked bigger and stronger than F-rank. The one in this cell was called Pampuras, about my height.
"This guy's arms are long. Leona, how do you deal with this?"
"Ranged attacks are best. Spray it with a large-caliber submachine gun, or use an ability."
"We're melee DPS."
"That's why control is crucial for us. Look. When it swings its arm, you slice through it with a blade clad in sword aura, then close in and cut it apart."
Leona's lesson began. Since it wasn't a boring academic subject, I focused naturally. I simulated killing Pampuras in my head.
"Alright, everyone! Come here! I'll explain about monsterkin!"
"Monsterkin! Leona, let's hurry!"
"Yes!"
I went with Leona to where the instructor was.
"Look."
"Ooh!"
Behind the glass was a genuinely monsterkin-looking being: a bipedal creature with an ant-like head and an exoskeleton. The plaque identified them as an otherworldly intelligent lifeform.
—Chitter.
Their mouth, sprouting about ten crab-leg-like appendages, twitched busily as they stared at us, cowering as if terrified.
"They seem intimidated."
"Maybe they drugged them. Their name is Antillery. An E-rank monsterkin."
"Antillery?"
"Yes."
So this is a monsterkin.
As I understood it, if it has intelligence, it's a monsterkin. Otherworldly species capable of society and civilization are classified as monsterkin. Earth has quite a few cities of these monsterkin.
Especially in Former China and Russia, there are a lot of monsterkin cities. They're occupying ruined lands and expanding their power. Some of the truly dangerous ones have even formed 'nations,' not just cities.
"This one is an Antillery. Ranked as a low-grade soldier. You've probably seen them on the news. They're the ones obsessed with communism."
"Ah."
I remember.
"They weren't always like that, but at some point they embraced communism. They have a city near Beijing, the ruined capital of Former China. A fairly large one. They're constantly clashing with the Great Generals of China."
I listened to the instructor's explanation.
These ant-type monsterkin, obsessed with communism, actually live in a society resembling communism, and they're struggling to expand their power.
"You can see them in our country from time to time. They look ridiculous, but they're quite dangerous. They don't just breed monsters; they also use human weapons. Their main weapons are F-rank monsters called Chuhamb and AK-47s."
Crazy Red Ant bastards are shooting guns now.
Unbelievable.
"These commie Red Ant bastards use AKs, of all things."
"R-Red Ant... Pfft. Ah, yes. AKs, of all things. What a crazy world."
While joking with the instructor like that—
—Ding.
A familiar sound rang.
