Chapter 39
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Friends from the Institute
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Nam Giseok sat blankly in front of the cabin.
Was this the lovesickness he'd only ever heard about?
It was heartbreaking that his and Yu Jia's tastes were a million light-years apart, but there was an even bigger problem.
They were different species.
Nam Giseok, who thought of her as a humanoid monster, sighed in despair.
Kim Nari, sitting next to him, noticed.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind, Uncle.”
“I do. But you don't look too happy either. Something bothering you?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Well... I'm from the Coconut tribe. I left that place. I think they'll send people to catch me.”
The research institute, he figured. Nam Giseok feigned ignorance and nodded.
He let out a dry cough, remembering he was once a Hunter who had come to capture Kim Nari himself.
“If I stay here, you'll be in danger too, Mister. So I have to go far away.”
His boss, in danger? Such a thing couldn't possibly exist. Nam Giseok laughed at the thought.
‘Looks like she’s planning to leave... Well, the boss seems to know what she's thinking. No need for me to interfere.’
Nam Giseok glanced at the pile of yellow ore stacked in front of the vegetable garden.
[Kim Nari. Move all of those to the front of the house. Then wipe each one with a dry cloth.]
Cheon Doun had ordered her to move them from the waterfall valley to the front of the house. He even gave the strange instruction to wipe the stones clean.
The surface would be cut away and disappear when they were rounded anyway. Wiping them was a completely pointless task. Yet, there was one reason he’d ordered it.
‘He must have given her a task to keep her from leaving.’
Once given a mission, Kim Nari wouldn't leave until it was complete.
Having figured out this trait, Cheon Doun had tied her down with a simple method.
‘By the way, should I ask Kim Nari for some of her hair? I heard that if you cover your head with liquid metal, your hair will grow back...’
Remembering something he'd seen on TV once, Nam Giseok shook his head.
It might look like hair, but it was actually a modified part of her body.
Asking her to cut it off would be like asking a person to cut off their arm. The thought made it impossible for him to even bring it up.
'And she's hiding the fact that she's a Machine Lifeform.'
He couldn't just ask a child who was desperately hiding her identity if she could share some of her liquid metal. That left only one option.
“Nari. I'm just going to see the boss for a minute. You'll be okay on your own?”
“I can. I am very good at wiping.”
Kim Nari said, scrubbing the yellow ore until it squeaked.
“Alright. Keep at it, then. I'll be back in a bit.”
He headed toward the waterfall valley where Cheon Doun was.
‘Someone like the boss must have a wide network of connections. Maybe he knows a skilled person who can make a hair-growth potion.’
The boss would surely be able to solve this problem.
Nam Giseok went to find Cheon Doun, filled with baseless confidence.
* * *
Cheon Doun turned to the siblings in front of the waterfall valley.
Here, the roar of the waterfall was loud enough to evade Kim Nari's auditory sensors.
Having brought the siblings here for that reason, Cheon Doun spoke.
“Sorry, but I have one more favor to ask. Stay here and keep an eye on Kim Nari until I get back. I gave her a small task, so she probably won't leave, but... you never know."
“We've got nothing but time, so we don't mind. You're going to pay a visit to the research institute that made Kim Nari, right?”
The quick-witted siblings had figured out where Cheon Doun was headed.
“Do you know where the institute is?”
“I'll have to find it. That's why I'm taking this guy.”
Cheon Doun looked at the Parrot-Poison Bird sitting in the corner.
The siblings laughed at the thought of him riding an eight-meter-tall bird. The imagined chaos was amusing.
“Then wear this. It should be helpful.”
Yu Jia took off the bone helmet she was wearing and handed it to him.
It would be a hassle if a commotion broke out and his face became known. This was to prevent that.
Cheon Doun didn't refuse and took the skull, putting it on.
“Ah, right. Pluck a few of your feathers for me. I'll give them to the alchemist on my way.”
At his words, the siblings each plucked three of their feathers and handed them over.
“Is this alchemist trustworthy?”
“He's not the type to betray trust. His stats are good, too. If handled well, he'll become an S-Class.”
“Is that really true, boss?”
Nam Giseok's voice cut in from the side. He had just emerged from the path, his face flushed with excitement as he looked at Cheon Doun.
“Ah, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop! I'm sorry. I just happened to overhear as I was coming... But do you really know a potential S-Class alchemist?”
“He's not S-Class yet. Just has the potential to become one.”
That was more than enough.
The alchemy class rarely produced high-ranking users.
If someone were to grow to S-Class, they would be the first in the world of alchemy to hold that title.
Wouldn't someone like that be able to create the perfect potion he desired? Nam Giseok clenched his fists.
“Boss, please take me with you. Please introduce me to that alchemist.”
“I have somewhere to stop by before we go there. You okay with that?"
"I'm fine with it!"
"Then cover your face. No good will come from you being recognized.”
Nam Giseok immediately took off his outer garment and tore it. He wrapped it tightly around his head, covering everything but his eyes.
With that, they were ready. Cheon Doun shattered a return stone.
“We'll be back.”
Cheon Doun entered the Gate with Nam Giseok and the Parrot-Poison Bird.
* * *
A plaza in the slums. A blue Gate opened there.
As it was a place where D-Class Hunters gathered, a Gate opening on the street was nothing special.
But this time, something was different.
“Why is that Gate so big?”
People stopped in their tracks as a massive Gate, easily ten meters high, opened up.
“That's crazy. At that size, it's as big as a naturally occurring Gate that spawns monsters.”
“But the Gate is blue. That’s one opened with a return stone.”
Amidst the crowd's murmuring, a giant bird poked its head out.
What emerged from the Gate was an eight-meter-tall bird. The onlookers turned pale and stumbled backward.
“A-a Parrot-Poison Bird...! It’s a Parrot-Poison Bird!”
“It’s a blue Gate! Why is a monster coming out of it!”
The D-Class Hunters and slum residents felt their legs give way under the Parrot-Poison Bird's oppressive aura. One of them spotted Cheon Doun and pointed.
“Th-there’s a person there too!”
“How is that a person! Its head is a monster’s!”
“No, look closely. He’s just wearing some kind of helmet. He’s a person!”
“Who cares! It’s a Parrot-Poison Bird! Run!”
Panicked shouts echoed from all around. Cheon Doun paid them no mind and turned to Nam Giseok.
“What's the name of the research institute that made the Machine Lifeforms?”
“Hanbit Research Institute.”
“Location?”
“Haebong Mountain. It’s on the mountainside. I've been there for a request, so I can guide you.”
At Nam Giseok’s words, Cheon Doun leaped onto the Parrot-Poison Bird’s back. Nam Giseok followed suit.
“Let's go.”
At Cheon Doun's single command, the Parrot-Poison Bird spread its wings.
It wasn't that it understood human speech. It simply sensed the pull on its feathers and took flight.
The bird shot vertically into the air. The gust of wind sent people tumbling to the ground.
Those who managed to get back up stared blankly at the flying bird.
“What did I just see...? A person rode a monster. Is that even possible?”
No one answered.
The people just stared, dumbfounded, at the receding bird.
* * *
Hanbit Research Institute, located in the mountains.
The researchers gathered around a table had grim expressions. In front of them lay a notice of a failed request.
They had entrusted the request to skilled A-Class Hunters, but it was a bust. On top of that, they had lost the liquid metal Mandragora.
"This is a disaster. How are we supposed to find the Machine Lifeform now?"
“Let's move to Plan B. We have to get it back. If we don't find it by the end of the year, next year's government funding will be...”
“Wait! What is that?”
A researcher pointed out the window. A bird was flying toward the institute.
If that were all, it would be a common sight in the mountains.
But the bird's enormous size, which seemed to defy perspective, made the researchers’ jaws drop.
“Wh-what is that? What kind of bird is as big as a dinosaur!”
“It's going to hit! Duck!”
Crash. With a deafening roar, the institute shook as if struck by an earthquake.
The giant bird's head smashed through the wall. The impact caused half the building to collapse, exposing the outside.
“A-a monster... It’s a Parrot-Poison Bird!”
A dangerous monster species listed in the guidebooks. The researchers stumbled back and fell to the floor. Some screamed and ran outside.
Amid the chaos, Cheon Doun calmly jumped down.
He looked around and gestured to Nam Giseok, who had landed behind him.
“Go through the building and set fire to every room. Burn all the data here, leave nothing behind. And don't speak.”
Nam Giseok had visited this place before to receive a request.
To prevent anyone from recognizing his voice, Cheon Doun ordered him to remain silent.
Nam Giseok nodded and created fireballs in both hands.
“W-wait. What are you... Who are you people! What are you trying to do!”
The researchers were horrified, but the fireballs turned into whirlwinds and scattered in all directions.
As the place was instantly engulfed in a sea of flames, they screamed and fled.
Cheon Doun passed through the lobby and went up to the second floor.
A sound that had been bothering him since he entered. He arrived at the room where it originated.
The door was locked, but a simple kick opened it.
“Just as I thought. I wasn't hearing things.”
Inside, chimera test subjects were locked up.
As it was a legitimate research institute, there were no signs of human experimentation. They were all in the form of animals or plants.
‘Their condition... They've maximized their resistance to demonic energy. Were they planning to use them to search for Kim Nari?’
Whatever the case, their bodies were strong enough to survive passing through a Gate.
Cheon Doun shattered a return stone.
He reached into the Gate and set the destination to the front of his house.
“Get in.”
At Cheon Doun's words, the chimeras tilted their heads. They didn't seem to have the intelligence to understand human speech.
As Cheon Doun approached, the chimeras fled to a corner of the room and cowered.
Their faint trembling clearly showed they were afraid of people.
Even at a legitimate institute, the treatment of test subjects was all the same. Cheon Doun looked at the chimeras before picking them up one by one and putting them into the Gate.
A struggling thirty-centimeter tree, a palm-sized ant, a walking fish.
None of them were normal, but Cheon Doun, who had grown up in an institute himself, felt no repulsion.
-Who, who are you?
As he lifted the last one, a fox, he heard a human voice.
-Who are you to us. If we go in there. What. What is there?
A specimen that had been given human-level intelligence.
Its speech was choppy, as if it wasn't used to talking, but communication was possible.
-Wh-who are you.
“Kim Nari's guardian.”
-Kim Nari? Who. Who is that?
“She's in there. You'll know when you see her.”
Knowing that 'Kim Nari' was an alias, he didn't bother explaining further.
‘Come to think of it, Kim Nari said her friends betrayed her during the ranking match.’
Kim Nari, surrounded by these small animals and plants, getting beaten up.
There was no way Kim Nari couldn't have stopped it.
And yet, betrayed by her friends, she must have just crouched down and taken it.
“Apologize when you see her. She cried a lot because of you.”
-Who. Who is Kim Nari...
“Your friend who lived with you. The metal lifeform.”
At Cheon Doun's words, the fox froze. Its eyes widened in surprise, and tears slowly welled up in its black eyes.
-You know that child?
“I do.”
-Did she cry, cry a lot?
“She did.”
The brimming tears could no longer be held back and fell.
-I-it was because I was scared. The researchers. They said if we couldn't, couldn't raise our rank. They would hurt us.
"Yeah. I understand."
-I. I bi-bit her. I have to say... I'm sorry. But she's not here. Gone. She left. I, because of me. I couldn't say sorry. She left.
The fox burst into tears and curled into a ball.
-I miss her. I miss her every day. So...
“Right. Go and apologize. That's all you need to do.”
Cheon Doun set the fox down in front of the Gate. He gave its rump a gentle pat, and the fox looked back at him.
It moved its mouth as if wanting to say something, but no words came out.
"Go on."
That one push was all it took. The fox found its courage and leaped into the Gate.
I'll tell her I'm sorry. I'll ask her to pet me like she used to. I'll lick her hand while I apologize.
Maybe she'll forgive me if I keep her warm with my fur when she sleeps.
Kim Nari's contemporary, the little fox, entered the Gate filled with hope.