Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 14

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 14: Dial TV for You

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Dial TV for You was not a popular Anomaly. No one would like a randomly appearing Safety-grade Anomaly with only a one percent chance of being useful each turn.

[Our first story. Dial TV for You News has resumed after five years. During that time, our main broadcasting station was kept in an old rural warehouse, leaving us without a single viewer. However, we have successfully returned to the world thanks to Mr. Lee, 25, who lives in Gyeonggi Province.]

An Anomaly's popularity and the length of its wiki page were directly proportional. The information on Dial TV was so sparse that what had already been mentioned was practically all there was.

‘Sometimes an Anomaly's creator adds to the wiki, but Dial TV's creator never did.’

Maybe they had made it without much thought and been selected by luck.

Or perhaps, back when the game was still indie, they had supported it and received the chance to pitch an Anomaly to the developer, but had no ideas and threw something together.

Or maybe the wiki really did contain everything.

Still, now that this Anomaly had become real, it was far more fleshed out than I had known.

[All of us at Dial TV would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Lee, 25, who lives in Gyeonggi Province.]

For example, there had been no direct description of it having a will of its own like this.

The announcer beyond the screen looked at me and thanked me. Its face had only a mouth and ears, making it grotesque, but its voice and manner of speaking were as crisp as a real announcer's.

‘Both the wiki and the game only said it predicted the future through news reports. This is more interesting than I expected.’

I sat on the sofa, watching the news with swelling anticipation.

[Our second story. Tomorrow, a Seven-Headed Snake will appear near Chunyeosan. Two-headed snakes are born from mutations, with odds of one in one hundred thousand, and their chances of survival are very low due to their deformities. If that is the case for two-headed snakes, there is no need to mention how miraculously slim the chances are for a seven-headed snake to be born and survive.]

Like a weather forecast, the news naturally predicted the future.

[However, this Seven-Headed Snake has overcome adversity admirably and has lived for three years beneath an umbrella-shaped rock halfway up Chunyeosan. Despite being an albino, which puts it at a disadvantage in the wild, it has survived to this day, leaving the academic community unable to hide its admiration.]

Halfway up Chunyeosan. An umbrella-shaped rock. An albino Seven-Headed Snake.

I summarized the news in Notebook in My Head.

[Our third story. Alden & Sweets Pharmaceutical Company in the United States has succeeded in developing a diabetes treatment. Having begun development ten years ago, the company will complete its final clinical trial in one week and apply for FDA approval. One month from now, it will receive final approval and supply the diabetes treatment worldwide.]

Alden & Sweets Pharmaceutical Company in the United States. Development of the diabetes treatment succeeds in one week. Sales begin in one month.

[Our fourth story. In two weeks, a shop in Seongnam will begin selling exceptionally delicious twisted doughnuts. We sent a reporter to taste them in advance. Let's take a look. Reporter on location?]

The screen changed, revealing someone with a microphone for a head.

[Yes, this is Reporter Reporter on location. I heard Bocheon Twisted Doughnuts here in Seongnam sells incredibly special twisted doughnuts, so I came out to see for myself. Sir, what makes the twisted doughnuts here so special?]

The owner appeared onscreen beside a twisted doughnut. Neither looked particularly special.

[Well, when it comes to our twisted doughnuts, we don't use ordinary glutinous rice! First, we grow our own glutinous rice, and we use water made by melting ice shipped directly from Antarctica!]

[Wow! Is that true!?]

[Yes! We grind that glutinous rice into flour, then melt Arctic ice to make the dough!]

Footage of the Arctic and Antarctica appeared onscreen.

[But it doesn't end there! To add a nutty flavor to the glutinous rice flour, we dry protected longhorn beetles, grind them into powder, and mix them in! But it doesn't end there! For your health, we add water infused with dried wild ginseng! But it doesn't end there! For delicious, healthy frying, we add abalone, pufferfish, pollock, and sea cucumber to the oil! Fish oil that's good for both taste and health, pouring right out!]

Various seafood flashed across the screen.

[But it doesn't end there! We dry fingernails and toenails pulled from living humans, grind them into powder, and coat the twisted doughnuts with it! But it doesn't end there! For the final touch, we finely slice human livers and coat the twisted doughnuts with them instead of sugar!]

[Wow! That's incredible! What does that mean?]

[Human fingernails and toenails represent the past a person has lived through. We use memories of the past as toppings, and human livers have represented life since ancient times, haven't they? By using livers as toppings too, you get both memories and vitality!]

[They look really delicious, but unfortunately, I don't have a mouth, so I can't eat them.]

[Hahaha!]

“…….”

Was this a prophecy? Or did Dial TV turn people into that?

[Our final story!]

I didn't know. For now, all I could do was write down the news.

[Mr. Lee, 25, who lives in Gyeonggi Province, will be trapped in a terrible dream one month from now. Producers who put on wonderful performances set in dreams will kidnap ninety-nine ordinary people, including Mr. Lee, and hold a battle royale in which they fight each other to the death within a dream.]

Footage appeared again.

[Everyone will join forces to resist the producers, but unfortunately, the oblivion within the dream will cause them all to forget who they are. They will become nothing more than actors, and a terrible event will unfold as they kill one another.]

It was my ID photo.

[The winner will be Mr. Lee, 25, but the producers will come to like him too much. He will become a professional actor, unable to ever escape the dream.]

One month from now.

[This has been Announcer, the announcer of Dial TV for You.]

I was going to fall into an eternal dream.

＊＊＊

There was a concept called a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It was the theory that hearing a prophecy and acting to avoid it eventually caused the prophecy to come true.

“Are Dial TV's prophecies self-fulfilling? Or can they be avoided?”

To find out, I checked the information from the news one by one.

‘This is the place.’

First, I climbed Chunyeosan.

“Excuse me, may I ask something? Is there an umbrella-shaped rock halfway up Chunyeosan?”

“There is. Go a little farther up that way, and you'll see it.”

“Thank you.”

When I reached halfway up the mountain, I found an umbrella-shaped rock just as the hikers had said.

‘It looks like a long umbrella.’

After waiting for the hikers to thin out, I checked beneath the rock.

“Found you.”

There was a white snake with seven heads, flicking its tongues in fury at the invasion of its home.

“Come here.”

I swiftly grabbed the snake and placed it in the sack I had brought.

‘An albino Seven-Headed Snake. This will make good material.’

On the way home, I stopped by a pet shop and bought a reptile enclosure and food.

“Let's live at my house for a while.”

I fed it, spent time talking with Shingu Hoerang, and eventually received the text message I had been waiting for.

“It’s ready.”

It was a message saying that my account for trading U.S. stocks had been opened.

‘Alden & Sweets Pharmaceutical Company.’

The company existed. Its shares cost one dollar each, unbelievably cheap for a pharmaceutical company.

“I should look into it more.”

After checking foreign newspapers, internet articles, and information about the company's founder, I understood why the price was so low.

[U.S. Powerball winner Alden Garrison receives 340 billion won in a lump sum.]

[Powerball winner Alden Garrison establishes pharmaceutical company.]

[Alden Garrison says, “My mother died from diabetes. I want to become a source of hope for diabetics.”]

[Alden Pharmaceutical Company faces financial trouble, no results for three years.]

[Alden Pharmaceutical Company merges with Sweets Pharmaceutical Company, changes name to Alden & Sweets Pharmaceutical Company.]

‘It hasn't achieved any significant results since it was founded.’

But one month from now, everything would change.

I considered buying the stock immediately, but put it off because I had something else to do.

“I need to spend some money.”

Just in case, I cut up the gold bars in the basement and sold them to several gold exchanges. I sold small amounts over several days, so it would be difficult for anyone to notice.

“We've arrived.”

[The next stop is Moran, Moran Station. The doors will open on the left.]

Finding Bocheon Twisted Doughnuts was not difficult.

[Rating: 1/5. It tastes fucking awful. It's hard to make twisted doughnuts this bad.]

[Rating: 1/5. I succeeded at dieting after eating this! The moment I ate one, I lost my appetite for a month and didn't want to eat anything else!]

[Rating: 1/5. I used to be a bread girl, but after eating this, I became a rice boy.]

It was famous for its Google and Naver ratings.

‘This is it.’

Bocheon Twisted Doughnuts looked ordinary from a distance. When I got closer, though, there was a fierce argument inside.

“You can't go!”

“I'm serious! You don't believe your husband?”

I hid beside the shop window and listened to the argument inside.

“Is that supposed to make sense? You want to go to Antarctica? Stop talking crazy!”

“I had an inspiration! An inspiration for making incredible twisted doughnuts! The first step is getting Antarctic ice!”

“What kind of lunatic melts Antarctic ice to make twisted doughnuts?”

“Me!”

It was exactly as the news had said.

‘There's still time before the predicted date, but he's already making moves.’

He probably had a lot to prepare to make those special twisted doughnuts.

‘What would happen if I left him alone?’

Getting Antarctic ice, Arctic ice, longhorn beetles, and things like that was extremely difficult for an ordinary person. Under normal circumstances, the owner of Bocheon Twisted Doughnuts would be likely to fail.

‘But that would only be true if he were ordinary.’

He was currently under an Anomaly's influence.

‘He'll make it happen no matter what.’

He might even become an Anomaly that went beyond human limits and made impossible things happen.

His wife was trying to stop him directly, but it was useless. Then I would have to use another method.

One idea came to mind. I opened the shop door to try it.

“You bitch! If I make those, this shop will...”

“Excuse me.”

“Y-Yes, welcome.”

“I'd like to buy this shop.”

I placed the bag I had brought on the counter and opened its zipper.

“Will this be enough?”

“What?”

＊＊＊

South Korea was a country governed by law, but sometimes money let you skip a lot of things.

“Yes, the final confirmation is complete.”

For example, the reason I wanted to buy the shop.

Or negotiating an agreement between both parties over the sale.

Or giving them time to clear out the shop.

“With this, the shop belongs to Mr. Lee Seung-hoon.”

“Thank you for your work.”

“Oh, thank you so much, young man.”

I bought the shop with a real estate agent and lawyer present.

Including the real estate commission and legal fees, I spent a total of 100 million won. It was an old building, so it had not cost that much.

‘I should remodel it once everything is over.’

Since I had bought it, I might as well use it when I needed to.

“Lower it slowly.”

Outside, the sign workers I had called while the contract was being finalized were taking down the twisted doughnut shop's sign. Once it had been completely removed, I looked at the grumbling former owner.

“Damn, if I'd made these twisted doughnuts, I could've earned even more money than this.”

He had refused to sell until the end, but I met his wife separately and arranged the contract. By the time he found out and came running, she had already signed it.

“Seriously, I didn't want to sell.”

I approached him and asked, “I heard earlier that you were going to make twisted doughnuts with Antarctic and Arctic ice.”

“You heard that?”

“Do you still want to make them?”

“Of course!”

The former owner looked confused.

“Of course... Of course not. Why would I make something like that?”

The news had introduced a shop that made special twisted doughnuts.

The shop, not the person, was at the center of it. So I made sure it was no longer a twisted doughnut shop.

“What’s with you? You made such a damn fuss about wanting to make them.”

“Did I?”

The news could no longer come true. This proved it for certain.