Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: I've Found a New Playground
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Even as I issued the warning, deep down I was looking forward to it.
How would it react?
This kind of intellectual curiosity wasn't some new trait that had suddenly emerged.
Yeah. It was an original trait of "me."
I knew it full well.
That I was going insane right now.
That I was twisted and warped. That I was doing things the original me never would have.
But some things still lingered. My aversion to this body. And my principles.
Anyway.
The curiosity I'd felt was simple.
Even after seeing countless types of anomalies in that other world, this was the first one like it.
A tomato that eats people?
"Tomato....... Ahaha!"
I couldn't hold back the laughter again.
It was just too funny. And intriguing, too.
What would that tomato taste like?
But I suppressed that curiosity for now.
I could check it out if this guy ignored my "warning."
Sure enough, it seemed to have some intelligence, but would it listen? Or not?
Swish-.
At that moment, the tomato took a cautious step back.
Even as it did, the mouth it had aggressively flung wide open upon first sight was now firmly shut.
Its intent was crystal clear.
So I approached with a smile.
"Good job."
Then I patted it on the head.
The stem on top had to be the head, right?
Each time, the tomato shuddered.
I spoke to it like that.
"Don't open your mouth like that anymore. It's no fun."
Then I gave it a smile.
A tomato that was cute and funny with its mouth shut.
But if it opened its mouth?
It was way too gross. And I couldn't stand gross things.
I might just satisfy my curiosity on the spot.
Did that thought show on my face?
The tomato started trembling violently.
I must have scared it too much.
I'd only given it friendly advice.
"Don't worry. I'll be heading back soon. Go on back to where you belong."
At those words, the tomato hesitated before slowly backing away.
I called out to it again.
"I'll come play sometimes."
Then I winked.
By then, I was already back in my room.
To be precise, I hadn't actually left the room in the first place.
The shadows were all me, and I was the shadows.
"Hmm hmm hmm."
Lying there, I hummed a tomato song I'd once seen on the internet.
About thirty minutes after I returned.
Ding-dong-.
Jo Yuna came to visit.
I opened the door and headed to the visitation-room-like space.
"Ah, hi?"
Once again, Yuna's face was a mix of exhaustion and tension.
"Yeah. Hi, Yuna."
I greeted her warmly in return and sat in a chair.
She sat down with a creak, then asked cautiously.
"Um....... You went to the fourth floor, right?"
"Yeah."
"We, uh, made a promise last time...... didn't we?"
At her question, I smiled.
"I didn't go outside, though?"
"What does that......"
"Anyway. This whole area is one big giant birdcage, right? Being in this room or out there—is there really much difference?"
Yuna's face stiffened.
My words contained two pieces of information.
That they'd isolated the entire area around here.
And that the means of isolation involved some kind of "birdcage."
Still, our clever Yuna didn't ask any pointless, meaningless questions like how I knew.
"I see....... So, why'd you go to the fourth floor?"
"The Tomato looked cute!"
"Th-that......?"
She was hesitating a lot more than usual when she spoke today.
Bringing Joey had been about the same level of deal, but did it feel different somehow?
Ah! From their perspective, the Tomato was more dangerous?
I explained with a smile.
"People are scared of pit bulls, right?"
"Huh? Well, yeah."
"They're scary because a ferocious beast might hurt you. But hardly anyone fears a Chihuahua or a Maltese."
"......Because they can't hurt you?"
"More precisely, because the chance is extremely low."
As expected, Yuna didn't probe into the hidden meaning of the analogy this time either.
She fell silent for a moment, then quickly pulled herself together and took something out.
"Here. This."
"What is it?"
It looked exactly like a box of desserts!
"I, uh, got it from a famous patisserie. In case you wanted something besides cake."
"Wow!"
I really wanted to ruffle Yuna's hair a ton.
But I held back.
She'd freak out.
Instead, I smiled and said,
"I'll enjoy it!"
"Y-yeah, I hope it suits your taste. If it does, I'll bring more."
"Yeah!"
I thanked her and returned to my room.
Then, with a click, the box Yuna had brought appeared from a slot in the wall.
I opened it right away, and inside were dacquoise, macarons, and scones.
"Wow!"
They looked insanely sweet!
Even as I thought that, my hand dove straight into the box.
And a little while later.
I stared at the empty box and made a resolution.
"I have to keep being nice to Yuna from now on."
Yuna really was a good friend.
"Fourth floor cleanup complete."
"And the deployed personnel?"
"All returned safely without even minor injuries."
Baek Jincheol nodded and turned his gaze to the side.
There were numerous screens there.
Among them, the one that drew Jincheol's eyes was the feed showing the "Tomato."
Tomato.
Official designation: Crimson Whisper.
It looked like just a massive tomato on the surface, but its hazard rating was a solid Class 3.
Before they discovered the containment method of periodic personnel deployment, it had been Class 4.
"It's gotten awfully docile."
Yet now, it was locked in its containment chamber, not moving a muscle.
It usually stayed quietly in containment outside of "offerings," but when feeding time started, the entire fourth floor became its playground.
That was why they only stationed expendable humans up there.
They went about their duties oblivious to being sacrifices.
"Same as with Pierrot Joe. Can it exert strong dominance over anomalies?"
"Seems more like it's overwhelming them through sheer superiority of 'power.'"
"Yeah. Power, huh."
Jincheol rubbed his brow.
"For now, maintain the current containment protocol. It's clearly showing us goodwill. Any clumsy response could make it irreversible."
The Foundation did its utmost to contain dangerous anomalies.
If HQ willed it, they could probably erase the entire area around here.
The local branch was fully prepared for that already.
But they couldn't execute it.
For a simple reason.
What if it didn't get erased?
Would that entity still show goodwill then?
'An anomaly whose hazard rating we can't assess, that's extremely difficult—maybe impossible—to contain, going berserk?'
They might have to abandon the entire Korean Peninsula.
"How the hell did something like that pop up?"
"There are more than one or two of those, aren't there?"
"True enough. Sigh. I thought this was a backwater post, but somehow it's more exhausting than being at HQ."
Jincheol let out a sigh.
He hadn't known before joining the Foundation.
That Earth was this "fragile."
That a single whim could shatter it to pieces.
"What can we do? We've just got to do our jobs diligently. For now, have Team Leader Yuna focus solely on managing that entity going forward."
"Yes, sir!"
With that, the conversation wrapped up.
"I" half-listened and let it flow out the other ear.
It wasn't important anyway.
My attention was elsewhere right now.
"Is it? Or not?"
Far off.
Inside some abandoned building.
A group of people was visible there.
They looked completely different from those amateurs I'd seen before.
All wore what seemed like hazmat suits and were armed with rifles.
Rifles!
Had Korea legalized guns while I wasn't looking?
Well, Foundation folks carried them around easily enough.
But I'd never seen regular people walking the streets armed.
"Hmm."
In that case.
Were they with the Foundation—or some equivalent organization?
I kept observing them while handling other things.
Until they returned from that other world. And finally, after a very complicated process, entered some building.
It took a very long time.
Nearly 30 hours.
The exploration itself was one thing, but the return process was incredibly complex.
The Foundation relied heavily on certain special powers, but this group didn't seem to use much of that—their procedures were just intricate.
And shortly after.
"Hehe."
I figured out who they were.
Several clues gave away their identity.
Their attire. Their conversations. Various traits.
The boards described them as:
Unethical, purely profit-driven group.
Ideal trading partners as a result.
Corporation.
That's why I laughed.
Finding a new playground is always exciting.
Of course, I had no intention of leaving this one.
"This'll be fun."
I could enjoy both.