Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 45

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 45: Mutant

──────

“Thank you! Thanks to your cooperation, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, we can now learn in advance when Destruction Grade Anomalies that threaten the world will approach or appear.”

Seong Yu-ra bowed her head in thanks.

“No, it’s for humanity. It wasn’t anything special.”

“There are many people in this world who cannot do that. That is why we operate in secret, without revealing ourselves. Yet you gave us an Anomaly that could have fulfilled your personal desires.”

Putting aside her gratitude, I asked how much the Foundation’s strength had increased.

“Now that Sephirot has been restored, can it detect every catastrophe that threatens Earth?”

“Previously, it could detect all of them except under exceptional circumstances.”

“What sort of exceptions?”

Seong Yu-ra explained the exceptions Sephirot had been unable to detect.

“First, Constellations. They cannot be detected until they create an Avatar and begin acting in earnest.”

“So that was how the Foundation was caught off guard.”

“Second, demons. All Anomalies classified as demons are presumed to possess Destruction Grade power, but they can deceive causality, so Sephirot cannot detect them. However, we have confirmed that they have no intention whatsoever of destroying humanity, regardless of the power they possess, so they have been rated Danger Grade.”

“Is there a third?”

“The third is an Anomaly skilled at concealing itself. However, such cases are extremely rare, as most Destruction Grade Anomalies possess powerful wavelengths or have an enormous effect on causality.”

From her explanation, it sounded as though I no longer needed to worry about sudden destruction, but there was one flaw in her words.

“When you say ‘previously,’ that means it can’t do that now.”

“...Yes. Having lost most of our strength, Sephirot must now simultaneously handle interdimensional interference and defense, surveillance, and the management of Anomalies the Foundation is containing or excluding. As a result, the precision of its observations of humanity’s destruction has fallen by roughly twenty percent. We expect it to occasionally miss things.”

“Hmm.”

She spoke with a grim expression.

“You needn’t worry. We are not an organization that relies solely on Sephirot. Sephirot is only a supporting Anomaly. You do not need to worry about the threat of destruction.”

That accomplished everything I had come to the Foundation for.

“And please accept this small gift from the Foundation, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon.”

Seong Yu-ra handed me a book and a small plastic ID card.

“What is this?”

“First, the ID card proves that you are a special collaborator of the Foundation.”

My photograph and some text were printed on the plastic card.

[Name: Lee Seung-hoon]

[Rank: External Special Advisor]

[The Foundation guarantees in its name that the above individual is a special collaborator of the Foundation and an External Special Advisor devoted to humanity.]

[Humanity Protection Foundation (Seal)]

It was so simple and ordinary that I wondered, ‘Wouldn’t it be easy to forge if someone knew it existed?’ Still, since it belonged to the Foundation, some special technology or an Anomaly’s power that I didn’t know about had probably been applied to it.

“What can I do with this?”

“You may use facilities operated by the Foundation free of charge or request the dispatch of Foundation agents when needed. We will inform you of the Foundation’s facilities and contact methods shortly.”

Next was the booklet.

“This is the catalog of Safety Anomalies held by the Foundation, as promised. Please look through it and let us know if there is an Anomaly you want.”

“Understood.”

“Contrary to what was stated in the contract, you may select two. This is not merely my personal opinion. All of the Foundation’s Administrators agreed to it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

I immediately opened the booklet. It contained various Anomalies, some I knew and some I did not.

‘The Foundation is supposed to possess and contain countless Anomalies, so they could exist even if they never appeared in the game.’

One Anomaly immediately caught my eye.

“I’ll take this first.”

“「Void Pocket」, then.”

It was written in the book, but she gave me a more detailed explanation.

“It is a Derived Anomaly of one called 「Void Fish」. The Void Fish was a solar-system-sized fish that devoured everything. It was rated Destruction Grade, and though the Foundation observed it, we failed to contain it and destroyed it.”

“Is this part of it?”

“More precisely, it is an Anomaly made by processing the remaining fragments. It is a pocket that can hold an infinite number of objects, and its owner can take out any desired item without limit.”

“What happens to the weight of the objects inside?”

“No matter what is placed inside, its weight will not increase beyond its base measured weight of one kilogram. Will you choose it?”

“Yes. Please.”

Golden Omnipotence Corporation only used gold as currency in its transactions. Any worthwhile item, though, required gold by the ton, making transactions extremely inconvenient until now. This would solve that problem.

‘What should I pick next?’

As I continued turning the pages, I found the second thing I wanted.

“Forgotten Alchemist’s Potion Belt.”

I never expected it to be here.

“I’ll take this one.”

＊＊＊

“Contact me whenever you have time for driving lessons! I’ll have everything ready to fit your schedule.”

“Understood. Get home safely.”

I was alone with Kim Dong-uk on the way home. Seong Yu-ra could not come with us because she was handling Foundation work that had piled up before Sephirot was restored.

“Ah! Next week won’t work, though. We have training for new Foundation agents all week.”

“Then I’ll arrange it for after that.”

“Haha! Thank you! I’ll be going, then!”

Kim Dong-uk disappeared with his vehicle. I kept watching his car enter the roundabout, but at some point, it vanished as though it had blended into the world.

‘Hmm.’

In truth, my left eye had been unable to perceive the vehicle at all from the moment it entered the roundabout. Only my right eye could see it.

‘Cognition Alteration? Something like that?’

In any case, I returned home and washed up immediately. The schedule itself had not been long, but it had been packed with experiences, leaving me fairly exhausted.

-Quack!

“I should sleep early.”

Before going to bed, I took out the items I had placed in my coat’s inner pocket.

‘「Human」, and the tumbler.’

I placed the Bead on my desk, then examined the tumbler’s surface while considering where to put it. The stainless-steel surface gleamed like a mirror.

“!?”

Inside were two people and a dog.

『Hey! Original! Fuck! Why did you take so long to take us out?』

『Didn’t you take way too long, y’know!』

『Bark!』

Ah, I knew who they were.

“Clones?”

＊＊＊

『You recognized our identities right away. As expected of the Original.』

A Westerner with yellow sideburns reaching down to his chin held a thick cigar between his teeth. He lit it with the crisp sound of a Dupont lighter, took a deep drag, and puffed out smoke.

『That’s right. We are You, though we’re Clones.』

“But you’re very different.”

Cowboy clothing straight out of the movies.

The words [Make America Great Again] printed on his shirt.

Macho muscles covering his body, a shotgun slung over his back, and a face that resembled mine but looked more Western and fierce.

『Ha! Of course we are! All Clones identical to You were deleted when the Mirror Dimension was destroyed! We weren’t deleted because we’re a little different from You!』

I thought I understood what had happened.

“So you’re Mutants created through the Square Root Law.”

『All right! As expected of the Original! We understand each other! I am the version of You that was born in America! Call me American Lee!』

『Cough! It reeks, y’know!』

『That one is Satoshi. He is the version of You that would have been born Japanese.』

『Put out the cigarette, y’know!』

If I had been slimmer, shorter, smaller, and had hunched shoulders, I imagined I would have looked like the Clone called Satoshi.

『Hey! The problem isn’t the cigarette! It’s the way you talk and that fucking T-shirt!』

『What’s wrong with my shirt, y’know!』

His T-shirt was covered in various anime characters.

『Big-Eyes-Monsters! They give me the creeps every time I see them!』

『Mind your own business, y’know. They’re all my brides.』

『Phew. I really don’t like another me.』

『Bark!』

『I had forgotten this one. This is Seung-gyeon. They were named after you. They seem to like the name.』

The Welsh Corgi, whose tail had not been docked, wagged their tail happily upon hearing the name.

“Haha.”

I had felt strangely sad when I parted from the Clones before.

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

『Yes, Welcome.』

『Nice to meet you, y’know.』

『Bark bark!』

This felt nice.

＊＊＊

『If the Foundation finds us, they will try to contain us somehow. That is why we were hiding on the surface of your tumbler.』

“You can move around freely?”

『Anywhere there is a reflective surface! The others could not, but we can. This must also be because we are Mutants.』

My body was exhausted.

『Eek! Don’t put your arm around me, y’know! You’re heavy, y’know!』

『Hey! What is wrong with you? You are me in the end!』

“The way you talk, your attitude, your clothes, they’re just a stereotype people use online to mock otaku. Real otaku are ordinary people. Even if you are an otaku, that appearance is strange.”

『Not everyone is like that, but I am, y’know! The fact that a stereotype exists means someone was actually seen like that, y’know! If its existence has been proven, that means I could be like this too, y’know!!!』

“Sorry, don’t get worked up. I was wrong.”

『It’s fine if you understand, y’know!』

My mind, though, was enjoying itself.

『Hey! You! Broadcast the United States presidential election right now!』

“Are you curious about the U.S. election? Want to watch it together?”

『Heeh, aren’t politics only something online right-wingers care about, y’know...』

『Bark bark!』

They were not perfectly identical to me, but I was speaking with new versions of myself that existed within the realm of possibility.

“Trump won.”

『YES! YES! Make America Great Again! Make America Great Again! Fuck you PC! Fuck you Feminism! Fuck you liberal! HEE-HAW!!!』

『Aaaah! Don’t shoot guns, y’know! It’s scary, y’know!!!』

『Bark bark! Bark!』

Where else could I have an experience like this?

“There’s a hole in the ceiling. I think your gun made it. You can affect the outside world too? Can’t you come out?”

『If we could, we would have left long ago! You are a little Stupid.』

『We can interfere, but we cannot leave, y’know.』

『Bark bark!』

“So you became Anomalies as Mutants and gained abilities.”

I would probably never have an experience like this again.

“If I had been born in America, would I become like you? If I had been born in Japan, would I become like that? If I had been born a dog, would I become like that? I don’t think so.”

『Then what do you think, y’know?』

“Part of the genetic information within me awakened. You are the other forms I could have been born as.”

『That makes sense. DNA contains information about one’s ancestors. Was a Westerner hidden in your Asian DNA?』

『W-wait! Then what is Seung-gyeon-kun, y’know! What on earth were our ancestors doing, y’know!』

『What!? Holy Shit!』

“It’s only a hypothesis. You might be versions of me from parallel worlds. You could also just be random mutations.”

Sadly, fun times always came to an end.

『It is Good-bye.』

『I should go too, y’know.』

『Bark bark!』

They were not me. They had clear identities of their own and goals they wanted to achieve.

『For a great America, I will bring peace to the world. I will save ordinary people harmed by those damn Entities with my Double Barrel Shotgun. That is what a great American must do, and the duty of the world police.』

American Lee’s goal was to save ordinary people harmed by Anomalies.

『I will find the Otherworld Transfer Guidebook Series, y’know. I will find it and tell Seung-hoon-kun, y’know. Then I will find people who wish to transfer to the Otherworld but have not seen advertisements for the guidebooks, and guide them! That is what I want to do, y’know!』

Satoshi’s goal was to find other transfer guidebooks and lead people who wanted to transfer to the Otherworld, but did not know they existed, to me.

『Bark bark!』

“Did you understand?”

『Never.』

『I don’t know, y’know.』

Judging by Seung-gyeon’s eager expression, Seung-gyeon clearly had something they wanted to accomplish as well.

“Goodbye, everyone.”

『See you again!』

『Farewell, y’know!』

『Bark bark!』

And so the other “me”s left.

“It’s quiet.”