Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Foundation Newcomer Training and Driving Lessons
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Four days after wrapping up business at the Foundation, I was still holed up at home, skipping the office entirely and just taking it easy.
"I wish it'd come sooner."
Even if I went in, my heart would be racing too much to focus on work anyway, so staying home was the better call.
'Who would've thought preparing the "Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt" would take this long.'
They'd told me it was a high-priority entity at the Foundation, with multiple layers of security measures, so it would take about a week just to retrieve it—and they apologized in advance.
'Well, that makes sense.'
It wasn't like I'd asked for the Forgotten Alchemist's Potion Belt on a whim.
'From the Foundation's perspective, it's an entity they can just store away to avoid risks, and it might even prove useful from time to time.'
Of course, from my standpoint, it satisfied my intellectual cravings, let me craft handy items now and then, and paved the way for shady deals with periodic transactions—a true triple win.
'The wiki had so few experiment logs it left me hanging, but owning it myself means I can run all sorts of tests, right?'
I was already looking forward to it. I tried killing time with random thoughts, but my excitement made every minute drag on forever.
'Guess it's time to hit up the communities for a bit.'
Nothing makes time fly like the communities. I checked my usual haunts, wondering if any bans had lifted, and spotted something fun.
I immediately checked the most popular related post.
Clicking the link played a video of the Sogeumsan martial artist, Kim Go-deok, snapping a 600-year-old pine tree.
One punch, and the tree cracked open with a sharp snap.
The comments were going wild.
Then I found another post.
This one had a link too, leading to the streamer's broadcast.
A familiar name popped up.
Viewer count: 5,000.
The audience seemed more entertained by their bickering than the martial artist grandpa. As they teased the duo, Kim Go-deok suddenly appeared on screen.
He popped up like a ghost, and the chat exploded: real martial artist? divine movement technique? interview him quick!
"Heh heh."
Before the streamer guy could recover and start the interview, Kim Go-deok spoke first.
"You're a fine young lady."
"Pardon?"
He wasn't addressing the streamer, the guy on camera, but his sister, Kim Mi-ri.
"Your body may be frail, but your spirit is extraordinary."
"Uh, what?"
"Karma weighs heavy on you. Or rather, it should have. Yet the karma that ought to have piled up never did, leaving only an empty vessel. This signifies a rise in your realm, a talent to open the middle and upper dantians!"
"S-Stay back!"
"How is this possible? A fate that demanded thousands—no, billions of lives to fulfill... Has it been altered? Thus, the due karma never accumulated, yet the vessel remains?"
The camera shook.
"Young lady! Become my disciple, I beg you! With your gifts, you'll open the middle and upper dantians in no time and achieve Body Unification! Your flesh may be weak, but your soul's realm is unmatched—you'll shed your mortal shell swiftly, no issue there!"
"Eek! Crazy old man!"
"Please! Carry on my martial arts, the Five Elements Divine Art! I implore you!"
The feed shook a few more times, ending on Kim Go-deok's pleading face.
"Quite the spectacle."
Would Kim Mi-ri accept the martial arts legacy?
Could Kim Go-deok take her as a disciple?
Would Kim Mi-ri end up stronger than Kim Go-deok after training?
"I'll find out eventually."
-Seung-hoon, we'll come pick you up soon.
On the fifth day of idle routine, a message arrived from Kim Dong-wook.
"Long time no see."
"We were told it'd take a week, but you finished early."
"Yes, all thanks to the security team's efforts."
I sank into the plush seat of the Foundation vehicle.
"Oh! And regarding the driving lessons, everything's set. What do you think?"
"Let's do it while you're here."
"Smart choice. But can you spare just today? Newcomer training isn't done yet, and I'm teaching today. Tomorrow onward, it'll be paid leave, so no issue."
"Can I sit in too?"
"Hmm, it's about entity-induced perception alteration, so you should be fine."
Not an official agent, but auditing newcomer training? Old memories surfaced.
'Feels just like crashing college lectures.'
Well, technically, I'd gotten professor permission back then, so not quite crashing.
'That was fun.'
Flashbacks played in my mind.
Every class I joined demanded reports. So fulfilling.
'Though the students complained so much I had to stop auditing.'
Ah, capitalism's cruelty!
Where did that Korea go, the one that said book thieves aren't thieves?
"We've arrived."
Lost in nostalgia, we'd reached the Foundation.
"Want to observe right away?"
"Yes."
Kim Dong-wook led me to a lecture hall—no different from a university one.
"Observers, take the back row."
After 30 minutes, presumed newbie agents filed in.
'Quite the diverse bunch.'
The Foundation's recruits spanned races and genders.
'Must all be top talent. It's the Foundation, after all.'
Soon, the familiar Kim Dong-wook took the podium.
"Greetings. I'm Kim Dong-wook, handling the lecture on entities and perception alteration."
He clicked the remote, and a large screen lit up as the lecture began.
"Many agents have heard of perception alteration in training. It's when our perception of a target feels—or actually becomes—different from reality, yet we don't notice the dissonance. A form of mind control, or seamless physical change."
A photo appeared on screen.
"There are two types. First: perception alteration via mental corruption. Exposure to an entity's power corrupts the mind, altering only the victim's perception."
A man washing with tomatoes.
"This can spread like contagion under conditions or contact—via documents, videos, sounds. Beware. You've had the perception alteration vaccine, so most mental corruption is avoidable—but 'most' isn't 'all.' Stay vigilant."
Next photo: Hawaiian pizza.
"Next: physical perception alteration. The entity's power physically alters perception, with no one sensing wrongness. Vaccine ineffective here."
"Then how do we stop it?"
Kim Dong-wook answered the agent's question.
"Prevent it before it happens. Sephirot prioritizes these alongside humanity's extinction threats—no need to worry much."
"Um, instructor, why show Hawaiian pizza?"
I wondered that too.
'Hawaiian pizza.'
The gross pineapple abomination mocked worldwide?
'Korea's communities overused it into meme oblivion, basically a death sentence.'
Wait, no way...
"Expected that question. Most hate Hawaiian pizza globally. But get this: 50 years ago, everyone loved it."
He advanced the slides. Unbelievable photos flashed by.
'Amazing.'
Americans piling and devouring Hawaiian pizza, laughing.
Soldiers in trenches grinning over it.
Nursery kids and donors hoho-ing over Hawaiian pizza.
"No way!"
Even Italy's PM officially declaring "Hawaiian Pizza Day" a holiday, with cheering citizens.
"That's pizza blasphemy! No joke! Photoshops! Bullshit!"
"Not edits—photos the Foundation barely preserved amid perception alteration."
Kim Dong-wook continued.
"Fifty years ago, failing to contain entity 'I Hate Pineapple!' caused a catastrophe—the Foundation's lingering shame. Details in the archives; time's short."
"Instructor, what about mint choco...?"
"Mint choco's just polarizing by nature, not perception alteration."
A British-looking agent sulked, lowering his hand.
"Next: three months ago, an entity wreaked havoc while the Foundation recovered, etching perception alteration on Earth before vanishing."
A game illustration appeared.
"A hero shooter FPS starring aliens—GOTY in three days."
Red bald buff alien.
Sleek revolver alien.
Huge vacuum-robot alien.
"Millions of gamers worldwide obsessed. Peak 100 million concurrents."
It stopped on a purple-perm Black woman in shades hurling boomerangs.
"But entity 'Reward' tanked its perception—service ended in two weeks."
Game-savvy newbies gaped at the screen.
"The greatest game in history, a cosmic masterpiece—now mocked. I'll detail the timeline of perception shifts and the entity's dangers."
Kim Dong-wook's lecture was a blast.
"Who knew that game tanked like that..."
"Haha, it launched seven years ago? Even had world tournaments?"
"And Korea won five straight? Saw the pics."
"But perception alteration rewrote it to 'launched three months ago, shut down in two weeks.' Unreal."
I overheard game-loving agents chatting.
'Fascinating.'
Lecture was fun, but the Foundation's tech impressed more.
'Everyone's talking their languages, but it all translates.'
Asked Kim Dong-wook: entity's power, naturally.
"Entity 'Foundation Stone of the Tower of Babel.' Pity, only works inside Foundation—field agents need five languages minimum."
That day, post-lecture drinks with him, then crash at his arranged quarters.
"Ready for training?"
"Been waiting."
En route, he brought up last night's drinks.
"Seung-hoon, you said you watch surroundings too much while driving?"
"Anticipating accidents is basic caution, no?"
"True, but you mentioned monitoring too much."
Fair point.
"Rearview constant, side mirrors, parked cars, front, rear—your stories piled up."
"But..."
"Overfocus backfires, right?"
Our destination: a building.
"Head inside."
Opening an inner door revealed... a whole city.
"Independent dimension—special space. Borrowed from researchers. As chief director's direct agent, perks."
"Ooh..."
"Streets, roads all set—feels like real driving school. And the star: the vehicle."
A normal-looking car waited.
"Looks ordinary, but safer than a tank. Metal absorbs 100% impact."
"Truly safe."
"Survives dozens of Scud missiles. Passengers untouched."
I climbed in. Steering wheel felt foreign after so long.
"Lesson one! You're too tense, Seung-hoon. Constant vigilance invites accidents. You know—overthinking makes it happen."
"Self-fulfilling prophecy, scratching an itch till it bleeds."
"Exactly. Now, my order."
He buckled up.
"Floor it. Ditch safe driving—stomp it to shake off the fear."
"Floor it..."
I buckled.
"Never done that, huh?"
"No."
"Try it! Unleash your inner beast! Imagine you're a racer—stomp!"
"Floor it."
Never once had I...
"Unleash the inner beast."
I hit the accelerator.
"Unleashed."