Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 75

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 75: The Test

──────

The test ended. The test papers vanished in the blink of an eye, then reappeared around King Sejong, floating in midair.

[It is time to grade them.]

King Sejong’s eyes darted busily over the papers before he broke into a broad grin.

[You fool! It is “jajangmyeon,” not “jjajangmyeon”!]

“Your Majesty, the National Institute of Korean Language recognized ‘jjajangmyeon’ as a standard word as of August 31, 2011.”

[...Is that so?]

King Sejong fell silent.

[You fool! It is “taekkyeon,” not “taekgyeon”!]

“Your Majesty, the National Institute of Korean Language recognized both ‘taekgyeon’ and ‘taekkyeon’ as standard words as of August 31, 2011.”

[...Aha! This one! It should be ‘sonnabal,’ not ‘sonnapal’!]

“In the third quarter of 2014, the dictionary entry was revised. ‘Sonnapal’ is now the standard word, not ‘sonnabal.’ Since both forms were not accepted, only ‘sonnapal’ is correct!”

King Sejong’s suffering continued after that.

“‘Yua yeongyang siljojeung’ was changed to ‘yua yeongyangsiljojeung,’ with the final two elements now joined.”

“‘Aekjasikguseong’ was also changed. It is now written with a space as ‘aekjasik guseong.’”

“‘Bakwisal’ was changed, and ‘bakwitsal’ is now the standard form.”

“‘Ilbanyongeo’ was changed to ‘ilban yong-eo,’ written with a space.”

Anomalies sometimes played word games.

They could deceive their opponents and lure them into traps with grammar and vocabulary, so an agent’s very first lesson was to properly learn the language of their assigned country. As a result, every agent was a master of dictation.

“These are all official rulings from the National Institute of Korean Language, which handles Korean spelling. They are the standard spellings.”

[...Please stop changing things!]

King Sejong cried out in despair and collapsed.

The Anomaly froze in that position and returned to being a statue. The agents let out sighs of relief.

“What a relief. Since it wasn’t the real King Sejong, it ended easily.”

『Exactly. It was an Anomaly born from students’ urban legends, so it couldn’t have been the real King Sejong.』

“If it had been real, there wouldn’t even have been spaces between words. We would’ve had to use obsolete letters, and all the words and speech would have been in Middle Korean.”

“Just imagining that is horrifying.”

『We’re lucky this is a high school. If this had been a college of humanities and social sciences with history, Korean literature, and historical studies departments, it would have created a ‘medieval King Sejong’ nearly identical to the real one.』

“Ugh! Don’t say such horrible things!”

The tension among the agents eased because the solution had been easier than expected.

Then the speakers in the schoolyard turned on.

[♬♪♬♩]

[Classes will now begin. All students in the schoolyard, please enter your classrooms.]

[Students who do not enter will have corporal punishment personally administered by the Head of Student Affairs.]

The announcement played over cheerful music.

“Anomalies born from Information Anomalies often give warnings before enforcing their anomalous properties.”

“And they often manifest those properties if the warning is ignored. Come on, let’s get inside.”

Kim Go-deuk led the way toward the main building.

A huge statue blocked their path.

[Ah, there is not much left of this book.]

It was the Girl Reading a Book, a white statue.

The statue turned the pages with a sorrowful expression. Each time, tears streamed down its face as it grieved in earnest.

[Once I finish reading this book, all students who have not graduated by then will die. Sob, sob! It’s so sad! But I have no choice but to read! I can’t do anything alone except read books!]

This was not an Anomaly they could leave alone.

Before anyone could say anything, another announcement began.

[One minute remains. All students, please move to your classrooms immediately.]

[59, 58, 57, 56...]

Kim Go-deuk pushed the agents forward.

“Get inside, all of you.”

“What? Then what about you, Master!?”

“I have to deal with that thing. Who knows what anomalous property it might trigger if we leave it alone? Just as it said, everyone remaining in the school could die without graduating.”

“But if that’s the case, we should all stay and deal with it together!”

“Were you sleeping during training? Didn’t I say that every Anomaly has a way to counter it? You find that method. And, disciple, why are you talking as though I’m certain to die?”

He bared his teeth in a grin. His healthy white teeth, restored after becoming an agent, gleamed brightly.

“Not entering a classroom won’t kill you. You’ll only receive corporal punishment, and a martial artist can naturally endure that much.”

“...You have to stay alive. We’ll finish quickly.”

“Ha ha ha! Of course! No martial artist enters battle prepared to lose!”

『Teacher Go-deuk! We’ll finish quickly and come back!』

The other agents all entered the main building.

Kim Go-deuk waved them off, then took his stance.

“One simply prepares for death and claims victory.”

[What? You’re gonna play with me? I’m so happy! Let’s play tag!]

“Fine. Is that what you want?”

[Yep! If you don’t chase me for a full minute, I’ll read the book!]

“I’ll play with you as much as you like.”

[Then let’s start!]

The Girl Reading a Book began to run away. Fortunately, she was not very fast.

‘I shouldn’t catch her. I only need to keep chasing her.’

The announcement was the problem.

[4, 3, 2, 1. End.]

[The Head of Student Affairs, who had been asleep in the student council room, has awakened.]

More precisely, he was worried about the Student-Affairs Head, but it did not appear right away.

‘I can still handle this!’

As he followed the Girl Reading a Book while keeping a suitable distance, something suddenly entered Kim Go-deuk’s field of vision.

[I think, therefore I am.]

A dark teal statue, its chin propped on one hand, spoke to him.

[You should think with me. Realize the principles of the world and become a philosopher.]

“Sorry, but this isn’t the time to cultivate my mental art, so I must refuse.”

[No, you must.]

The thinking statue rose to its feet and began pursuing Kim Go-deuk with its more-than-five-meter-tall frame.

[Those who do not think will be forced to think!]

“This is driving me mad.”

Considering the anomalous property of the King Sejong statue, if he were caught by the thinking statue, there was a good chance he would be forced into a thinking pose and stop moving.

[Hee hee hee! This is fun! I don’t feel like reading a book anymore!]

Then he would be unable to play with the Girl Reading a Book, and the agents’ lives would be at risk.

‘This is no time to hold back.’

Kim Go-deuk unleashed a technique.

“Heaven-Rending Fire Dragon: Water!”

Like a dragon that created a river of fire, tore apart the heavens, and swam through it.

His figure cut through the wind and caught the Girl Reading a Book.

[Ah! I was caught! Then I’ll change the rules this time!]

At that moment, the Girl Reading a Book vanished.

[If you don’t catch me within three minutes, I’ll read the book! I won’t enter the building, so don’t worry!]

Damn, teleportation?

Now he had to play hide-and-seek on top of tag.

‘The difficulty is high.’

That was not the end.

[O-re wa!]

From far away, the Yi Sun-sin Statue approached him, clad in armor and holding a sword, its eyes shining.

[I Sun-shimu desu!]

The moment it swung its sword, a long gash was carved into the schoolyard.

Kim Go-deuk narrowly avoided the attack, but when he saw that the collar of his clothes had been cut away, he gave a bitter smile.

“Was this school founded by traitors?”

＊＊＊

『Will Grandfather be all right?』

“He’ll be fine. Master is tougher and stronger than you can imagine.”

The agents who had entered the main building searched the area.

They found a way to end the situation through a notice.

[Graduation Requirements]

[Pass 6 Tests]

[Test Subjects: History (Not Taken) / Physical Education (Not Taken) / Art (Not Taken) / Mathematics (Not Taken) / Music (Not Taken) / Science (Not Taken)]

[Whether a subject is passed is shared by all students.]

[Once all six subjects are passed, every student in that grade will graduate.]

“So if we pass all six subjects, we graduate.”

『It seems to apply to all students.』

“Since it’s a high school, it probably assumes that every student in the same grade graduates together. But graduation... it must mean being freed from the Anomaly, right?”

『That is probably what it means, given the context.』

Kim Mi-ri suggested splitting up.

“Before Master gets any more tired, let’s divide into two groups and clear the subjects quickly. I don’t know if it will consider Master part of the same grade, but graduating could stop the Anomaly’s effects from activating.”

『Let’s do that.』

Kim Mi-ri’s group of six agents and Shin Yeong-mun’s group of five agents split up.

“See you later.”

『See you later.』

The locations of the tests were not listed. The two groups separated to search for them.

“That place looks suspicious.”

It was the only clean classroom in a school that was little better than ruins.

“Let’s go in.”

The instant Kim Mi-ri entered the classroom, she scanned the interior.

A cleaning supply cabinet at the back of the room.

Old wooden desks and chairs, and a green chalkboard that used chalk.

A poster on the bulletin board that read, “We are a water-scarce nation. Let us conserve water!” and another that read, “Let us drive out the Communists.”

“The style is old. Did people born in the eighties or nineties study in classrooms like this?”

“A classroom from the old days. There are fifty desks and chairs, so it may even be from before the nineties. During the baby boom years, classrooms were packed to bursting.”

An agent born in 1991 kindly added an explanation.

“That’s hard to imagine these days.”

“That was why corporal punishment was severe back then. There were so many children that they couldn’t be controlled without harsh punishment. Whole groups were punished too. Once, our entire class came in last place, so we were hit on the backside with hockey sticks...”

The agent stopped speaking.

Then the agent gestured for everyone to be quiet and pointed to a corner of the chalkboard.

[People Who Talked]

[Hong Seong-u 1]

Chalk moved by itself and began writing on the board.

[The history test will now begin.]

The agents sat down.

The moment they did, test papers unfolded before them.

[There are 10 questions in total. Pass by answering at least 5 correctly.]

[If even one person passes, the test will end immediately.]

The agents checked the first question.

[1. Become a member of the Korean Liberation Army and alter history. An alteration rate of 50% or more will be recognized as a correct answer.]

The instant they finished reading the question, the world changed.

“Chun-ja! You’re awake!”

“Oh, heavens! Thank you!”

“?”

People suddenly looked at her and cried out.

“Who are you?”

“You little brat! Don’t you recognize your own mother and father!?”

“Oh, no! Our daughter has lost her memory!”

After speaking with the people who called themselves her parents, Kim Mi-ri understood the situation.

‘So it’s August 29, 1910?’

She had become Park Chun-ja, born in Korea as the Japanese occupation began.

＊＊＊

Late at night beneath a bright full moon.

Just after midnight, when Sunday had begun, a group of people arrived in front of the quiet abandoned school.

“Why did that person drag us along like a water ghost? What is this?”

“Are you seriously afraid of ghosts? A former Marine is afraid of ghosts!?”

“I-I’m not afraid!”

“Hi, hi, everyone! We finally ended up here! One person was clearly supposed to be punished, so why does it feel like we’re all being punished too? Is that just me?”

About six people began filming with their own equipment.

Among them, someone far shorter than the others stepped forward.

“Ttyu...”

She trembled as she looked at the eerie abandoned school.

“Ttyu-ttai...”

BJ Ttyu-ttai.

Lee So-hee criticized her past self inwardly.

‘Damn it! I should’ve just refused to get on that ride!’

Her streaming persona was macho.

Of course, she could only say “Ttyu-ttai,” and she looked like a pretty young girl, so that contrast was a huge part of her appeal.

There was also the fact that she had outstanding Physical Ability despite not looking the part.

That she was incredibly good at drawing.

That she could sing nothing but “Ttyu-ttai,” yet had an excellent voice.

That she was exceptionally skilled at making music.

That she was absurdly good at games.

That she could only speak in Ttyu-ttai, yet her acting was first-rate.

She was a popular streamer beloved for her almost ridiculously wide range of talents, but even she had a weakness.

“Our Ttyu-ttai is scared?”

“That’s why you shouldn’t have made that bet. The video of you passing out after riding the 「Hell-Paradise Drop」 is still all over the internet.”

She was easily frightened.

Her current body had no resistance to fear at all. At Sarang Trading Company’s amusement park, where she had gone to carry out a punishment not long ago, she had pretended to be macho and ended up having to take on another punishment.

“So-hee, are you scared? Shall big sister hold you?”

Lee Ye-seul, her manager and older neighbor, approached with smiling eyes.

When she had been a man, Ye-seul would have been a beauty beyond anything she could have dreamed of. Now that she was also a woman, Ye-seul was simply an evil older woman who enjoyed teasing her.

“Ttyu-ttya!”

She protested.

Ghosts existed. What would they do if a real ghost appeared?

“So-hee, ghosts don’t exist. Ahaha! Why are you so cute?”

That was her philosophy: since she had experienced the miracle of a man becoming a woman, ghosts must exist too. Nobody understood it.

“You want to go in right away? As expected of our Ttyu-ttai!”

“But why did we come here?”

“We came to tag along and milk the views while pretending we couldn’t refuse.”

“Hey, why are you saying that out loud?”

Then a robotic voice came from someone’s smartphone.

[Ttyu-ttai Is Love]

[1,000 won donation]