Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 47

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 47: Foundation Newcomer Training and Driving Training

──────

Four days had passed since my business at the Foundation ended, and I was still resting at home without even going to the office.

“I hope it gets here soon.”

Even if I went to work, I’d be too excited to focus, so I was better off staying home.

‘Who knew preparing the Forgotten Alchemist’s Potion Belt would take so long?’

They asked for my understanding, explaining that the Foundation considered it an important Anomaly. Since it was protected by multiple safeguards, retrieving it would take about a week.

‘Well, I can understand that.’

I hadn’t wanted the Forgotten Alchemist’s Potion Belt for no reason.

‘From the Foundation’s perspective, it’s an Anomaly that can avert danger simply by being stored away, and it can occasionally be useful.’

From my perspective, it could satisfy my intellectual pleasure, allow me to make useful things from time to time, and secure regular trades with the Mysterious Merchant. It killed three birds with one stone.

‘The wiki had so few experiment records that it left me wanting more. If I own it myself, I’ll be able to run all sorts of experiments, won’t I?’

I was already looking forward to it. I tried to pass the time thinking about various things, but perhaps because I was so excited, time crawled by.

‘I should visit some communities for the first time in a while.’

Nothing made time pass faster than online communities. While looking through the old ones to see whether any of my bans had been lifted, I found an interesting post.

[They say the Songnisan martial artist appeared in Busan?]

[Apparently he showed up near Geumgang Park in Busan!]

[But is that guy really a martial artist? Isn’t he just some old geezer?]

I immediately checked the most popular related post.

[Is it true that an old martial artist appeared in Busan?]

I heard he’s the old man from Songnisan who broke a natural monument with some weird move. Is it really Martial Arts? He didn’t cut it with a saw or something?

└Nope, there’s a video. It really is Martial Arts.

└Link[https://tjfakdlrjfgotjrgksmstkfkadmsdjqtrpTwl?]

└Whoa, it’s real?

When I opened the link, a video played of Kim Go-deuk, the martial artist from Songnisan, breaking a six-hundred-year-old pine tree.

[“Blood Flower Flame Cannon: Metal!”]

The pine split apart with a loud crack from a single punch.

The comments were complete chaos.

[Isn’t he just someone who trained his fists like Mas Oyama? Maybe the tree was rotten inside.]

[Nope, I went there since they still haven’t cleared it away. It wasn’t rotten. It’s a natural monument, so it’s heavily maintained. It had to be healthy.]

[Even if it’s real Martial Arts, isn’t that a problem? It’s fucking weak. Where’s the fist aura? The fist energy? Heavenly Demon Divine Art? Heavenly Demon Death Beam!?]

[For real, what kind of Martial Arts is that? Samjae Fist? Go eat some energy-circulation brunch.]

Then I found another post.

[One of the streamers living in Busan is streaming outdoors at Geumgang Park right now!]

This post had a link as well, so I followed it and watched the streamer’s broadcast.

[“Does a martial artist really live around here? The eyewitness account said he was somewhere over there.”]

[“Hey! Don’t walk so fast!”]

[“Seriously, Kim Mi-ri! Why are you so slow?”]

I heard a familiar name.

[“If you weren’t my sister, I’d really...”]

[“You’d really what? Want to die?”]

[“Ahem! I’m your boss right now, you know? Don’t want your daily pay? Huh? Huh?”]

[“You just wait until the stream is over.”]

There were five thousand viewers.

The viewers seemed more entertained by the two bickering than by the old martial artist. Just as they began teasing the pair, Kim Go-deuk suddenly appeared on screen.

[“Aah!”]

[“You scared me!”]

Kim Go-deuk had appeared as suddenly as a ghost, and the chat flooded with messages asking whether he was a real martial artist, whether he had used a movement technique, and demanding he interview him quickly.

[“Hoho.”]

Before the man could collect himself and start the interview, Kim Go-deuk spoke first.

[“What a fine young lady.”]

[“Pardon?”]

He wasn’t addressing the male streamer, but his older sister, Kim Mi-ri.

[“Your body is insignificant, yet your spirit is extraordinary.”]

[“Uh, what?”]

[“You have accumulated karma. No, you should have accumulated it. Yet the karma that should have gathered did not, leaving only an empty vessel. This is an elevation of your realm, and talent enough to open the Middle Dantian and Upper Dantian!”]

[“D-don’t come any closer!”]

[“How could such a thing be possible? Has a fate that should have lived thousands, no, hundreds of millions of lives been changed? Is that why the karma that should have accumulated did not, while the vessel remained?”]

The camera shook.

[“Young lady! Please become my disciple! With your talent, you will quickly open the Middle Dantian and Upper Dantian, then achieve the Six Divine Powers! Your body may be lowly, but your soul is of a different realm, so you will soon undergo a complete rebirth. That is no problem at all!”]

[“Aah! He’s a crazy old man!”]

[“Please! Inherit the true teachings of this old man’s Martial Arts, the Five Elements Divine Art! I beg you!”]

The screen shook several more times before the broadcast ended on Kim Go-deuk’s pleading face.

“Interesting.”

Would Kim Mi-ri really inherit his Martial Arts?

Would Kim Go-deuk be able to take her as his disciple?

Would Kim Mi-ri become stronger than Kim Go-deuk after learning Martial Arts?

“I’ll find out eventually.”

＊＊＊

-Seung-hoon, we’ll be coming to pick you up shortly.

On the fifth day of my boring routine, I received a message from Kim Dong-uk.

“It’s been a while.”

“I heard it would take a week, but the preparations finished earlier than expected.”

“Yes, it was all thanks to the efforts of the security team.”

I settled into the comfortable seat of the Foundation vehicle.

“Oh! We’ve also finished preparing for your driving training. What would you like to do?”

“Since I’m visiting anyway, I’ll take it at the same time.”

“Good choice. But please bear with us for today. The newcomer training hasn’t finished yet. Today is my day to serve as an instructor. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be on paid leave, so there won’t be any issue.”

“Would it be all right if I attended as well?”

“Hmm, it’s training on Cognition Alteration caused by Anomalies, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

I wasn’t an official agent, yet I would be attending newcomer training with them. It brought back old memories.

‘This reminds me of sitting in on university classes.’

Though I had formally asked the professor for permission, so perhaps I hadn’t really been sitting in after all.

‘That was fun too.’

Memories from that time played through my mind.

[“All right, that concludes today’s class.”]

[“Professor, I have a question before we finish. Plato’s theory of Forms resembles the concept of information in science. The philosophy of mathematics that emerged later is the same. Isn’t science more than a simple field of mathematical calculation, with philosophical concepts woven into its essence?”]

[“Hoho, that is an interesting opinion. What does everyone else think about this?”]

[“...”]

[“You know less than a student sitting in on this class. Tsk, tsk! By next week, write a report on Plato’s theory of Forms, another on the philosophy of mathematics, and one more on the relationship between philosophy and science.”]

The classes I attended always required reports, which made them so enjoyable.

‘The students protested too much, so I eventually had to stop sitting in.’

Ah, the cold cruelty of capitalism!

Where had the Korea that said a book thief was no thief gone?

“We’ve arrived.”

Lost in memories of the past, I realized we had already arrived at the Foundation.

“Would you like to take a look right away?”

“Yes.”

The lecture hall Kim Dong-uk led me to was no different from an ordinary university classroom.

“Observers should sit in the back row.”

About thirty minutes later, a large number of people who appeared to be new agents entered.

‘They come in all kinds.’

The Foundation did not discriminate by race or gender when selecting new agents.

‘They must all be exceptional. It is the Foundation, after all.’

A little later, Kim Dong-uk, looking as he always did, stepped onto the podium.

“Hello. I am Kim Dong-uk, and I will be giving the lecture on Anomalies and Cognition Alteration.”

When Kim Dong-uk operated the remote, a large screen lit up and the lecture began.

“Many agents will have heard about Cognition Alteration during training. Cognition Alteration refers to a type of mind-control phenomenon in which an object one perceives feels different from reality, or actually becomes different, yet one does not recognize the incongruity. It also includes physical changes that cause no sense of incongruity.”

A photograph appeared on the screen.

“There are two types. The first is Cognition Alteration caused by Mental Contamination. This is Cognition Alteration that occurs when a target’s mind is exposed to and contaminated by an Anomaly’s power. Its defining characteristic is that only the contaminated person’s perception is altered.”

It was a photograph of a man washing himself with tomatoes.

“This type can sometimes spread when Mental Contamination is transmitted through specific conditions or contact. It can also spread through documents, videos, sounds, and more, so be careful. You have received Cognition-Alteration Vaccines, so you can avoid most Cognition Alteration caused by Mental Contamination. But most does not mean all, so remain cautious.”

The next photograph showed Hawaiian pizza.

“Next is physical Cognition Alteration. In this case, an Anomaly’s power physically alters the target’s cognition, but no one feels any sense of incongruity. Vaccines are useless against this type of Cognition Alteration.”

“Then how can we prevent it?”

Kim Dong-uk answered one agent’s question.

“There is no method except stopping it before it happens. Sephirot searches for these types as a top priority alongside humanity’s extinction, so you do not need to worry too much.”

“Um, then why did you show us a picture of Hawaiian pizza?”

I was curious about that as well.

‘Hawaiian pizza.’

Wasn’t it a food mocked across the world as disgusting pizza with pineapple on it?

‘Though Korean communities had overused it so much that the meme had practically been declared dead.’

Wait, surely not...

“I knew someone would ask that. Hawaiian pizza is disliked by most people worldwide. But did you know that until fifty years ago, everyone loved Hawaiian pizza?”

Kim Dong-uk changed the screen. Each time he did, another unbelievable photograph appeared.

‘Incredible.’

Americans laughing as they all ate piles of Hawaiian pizza together.

Soldiers laughing while eating Hawaiian pizza in trenches.

People delivering Hawaiian pizza to an orphanage, while children laughed happily as they ate it.

“That’s impossible!”

There was even a photograph of Italy’s prime minister officially establishing Hawaiian Pizza Day as a public holiday, with Italian citizens cheering in celebration.

“This is an insult to pizza! Don’t make me laugh! Those are edited photos! Stop talking bullshit!”

“They are not edited. They are photographs the Foundation barely managed to preserve during the Cognition Alteration.”

Kim Dong-uk continued his explanation.

“Fifty years ago, the catastrophe caused by our failure to stop the Anomaly named I Hate Pineapples! is still remembered as one of the Foundation’s greatest mistakes. I would like to explain in greater detail, but we are short on time. You may access information on it in the archives.”

“Instructor, then what about mint chocolate...?”

“Mint chocolate is not Cognition Alteration. It is simply a food people are naturally divided on.”

An agent who appeared to be from England lowered their hand dejectedly.

“Next, we will examine a case involving an Anomaly that began operating while the Foundation suffered major losses three months ago, ultimately engraved Cognition Alteration upon Earth, then disappeared.”

An illustration from a game appeared on the screen.

“A hero-shooter FPS centered around aliens that secured Game of the Year, the highest award in gaming, only three days after release.”

A muscular red bald alien.

A slender alien holding a revolver.

An alien that looked like a giant vacuum cleaner robot.

“A game that captivated tens of millions of gamers worldwide, reaching one hundred million concurrent players.”

The screen stopped on an illustration of a Black woman with purple permed hair, wearing sunglasses and throwing knives.

“Yet due to the Anomaly named Reward, public perception of the game was driven into the ground, and history was altered so that it was believed to have shut down after only two weeks.”

Among the new agents, those knowledgeable about games stared at the screen in shock.

“I will now explain, in chronological order, the Cognition Alteration that caused the greatest game in history, an unparalleled masterpiece, to become an object of ridicule, as well as the danger of Cognition-Alteration Anomalies.”

＊＊＊

Kim Dong-uk’s lecture was enjoyable.

“I can’t believe that game failed that way...”

“Haha, it was actually released seven years ago and even had world championships?”

“And Korea won for five consecutive years? There were photographs too.”

“But I can’t believe it was changed through Cognition Alteration into a game that released three months ago and failed within two weeks.”

I could hear the game-loving agents talking.

‘How strange.’

The lecture had been interesting, but the Foundation’s functions were even more fascinating.

‘Everyone is speaking their own language, yet I can hear it all translated.’

When I asked Kim Dong-uk about it, it was naturally the power of an Anomaly.

“It is the power of an Anomaly called the Foundation Stone of the Tower of Babel. Unfortunately, it only works inside the Foundation, so agents working outside must learn at least five languages.”

That day, I had drinks with Kim Dong-uk after the lecture and went to sleep in the accommodations he had arranged.

“All right, shall we go for your training?”

“I’ve been waiting.”

On the way there, Kim Dong-uk brought up our drinks the night before.

“Seung-hoon, you said you worry about your surroundings while driving, right?”

“Isn’t it only natural to be cautious in case an accident happens?”

“That is true, but from what you told me, you pay attention to too many things.”

He had a point.

“You constantly check the rearview mirror and side mirrors, watch out in case something comes out from parked vehicles, keep an eye ahead, keep an eye behind you, and so on. There were so many things you mentioned last night.”

“But...”

“If you worry about too many things, won’t that make you worse at it?”

We arrived at a building as we talked.

“Please go inside here.”

When I opened the door inside the building, another city spread out before me.

“This is a special space called an Independent Dimension. I asked the researchers to rent one. Since I’m an agent directly under the Administrator, I can use all sorts of things.”

“Oh...”

“We built a city and set up roads, so it should feel like actual road training. And, most importantly, the vehicle is...”

At the place Dong-uk led me to, there was an ordinary-looking car.

“It may look ordinary, but it is actually safer than a tank. The metal absorbs one hundred percent of impacts.”

“That really is a safe vehicle.”

“Unless it gets hit by dozens of Scud missiles, it will never break. Naturally, the passengers inside will be safe too.”

I got into the vehicle. It felt very unfamiliar to hold the steering wheel again after so long.

“So, today’s first lesson! Lee Seung-hoon, you are too tense. Your habit of always being on guard against accidents is what brings accidents about. You know what I mean, right? When you worry so much about something that the very thing you worried about happens.”

“You mean shooting myself in the foot and asking for trouble.”

“Yes, so here’s what I’m ordering you to do.”

Kim Dong-uk fastened his seat belt.

“Step on it as hard as you can. Forget safe driving and floor it to shake off the pressure you feel about driving.”

“As hard as I can...”

I fastened my seat belt as well.

“You have never driven like that before, have you?”

“No.”

“Take this chance and try it! Release the beast within you! Imagine you are a racer, then step on it as hard as you can!”

“As hard as I can.”

I had never done anything like that before.

“The beast within me.”