Surviving Among the Anomalies - Chapter 79

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

◈ Surviving Among the Anomalies ◈

Chapter 79: Return to The Good, the Strange, and the Dog

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『Fucking Ghost! I crossed over here because of your ability!? Damn it! Brace yourself! I won’t go easy on you like Ghostbusters!』

『Aaaah! Please spare me!』

Having grasped the situation, American Lee, a former cowboy and fervent Republican supporter, aimed his shotgun at Shin Yeong-mun.

『U-Um! Do you happen to know Lee Seung-hoon?』

『What? You know that guy?』

『Y-Yes! I’m acquainted with Seung-hoon!』

『Hmm. Then I’ll let this one slide.』

Fortunately, Shin Yeong-mun sensed something oddly reminiscent of Lee Seung-hoon in American Lee’s face, and his quick thinking led to a dramatic reconciliation.

『Still, I’m going to destroy this goddamn school. Ghost stories? Some delusion Democrat brats would like has finally caused a disaster.』

The Foundation agents had gained a fine ally.

“Is everyone all right!?”

『Yes, we’re fi...』

『Fuck!』

American Lee saw Kim Mi-ri and cried out in shock.

『What the hell is that old hag!?』

“Pardon? M-Me? Yeong-mun, that’s an Anomaly, right?”

『Um, yes, but it’s connected to Lee Seung-hoon, so it should be on our side. Probably.』

『Good Lord! Grandma! No! It’s worse than that! You look young, but your Origin is damn ancient! Are you a witch?』

“N-No, I’m not!? I’m twenty!?”

“I think the time Mi-ri experienced while solving the history questions has been included.”

『Hoo. Fine. It’d be stranger if there were normal humans around that guy.』

The agents with Kim Mi-ri and the agents with Shin Yeong-mun reunited and joined forces.

“What? The External Special Advisor is Original?”

『Of course. Though it’s a separate existence now, so don’t treat the two as the same.』

“A-Anyway, thank you for helping us.”

『It’s the duty of a great American to kill shitty bastards, so there’s no need to be formal.』

With American Lee in the lead, they explored the school.

In addition to the tests, various Anomalies attacked them.

『Blood! I need more blood!』

『Would you like red toilet paper, or blue toilet paper?』

『If you focus on Korean, English, and math, you can come first in your class!』

The school held many ghost stories besides those supervising the tests. They blocked the agents’ path at every turn, but...

『A double-barrel shotgun is the true tool of exorcism.』

A single blast from American Lee’s shotgun reduced every one of them to dust.

『I’m not soft like Ghostbusters. Isn’t true exorcism about shooting ghosts dead instead of locking them up?』

How was that even possible?

It was incredibly difficult to harm Anomalies, yet he disposed of them easily with a shotgun.

『Let’s keep going like this.』

The agents began to see hope.

『I’ll kill every last one of them.』

＊＊＊

『It’s truly beautiful.』

The Art Teacher admired the picture Lee So-hee had drawn.

As though entranced by it, she could not take her eyes off it.

“So-hee, did you go to an arts university?”

“Ttyu-ttai.”

“She says no.”

“Then is it talent? Wow, I didn’t know you could draw something like this.”

Even those with no eye for art could not help but admire it.

“It feels like the first time I saw the Mona Lisa.”

“I feel the same wonder I felt when I saw Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

Those who knew even a little about art stared at the picture with enraptured expressions.

“You were working as an internet streamer with talent like that?”

“Ttyu-ttai.”

“She says her dream is to become the greatest in the streaming industry.”

“...Are you sure you’re actually translating? It doesn’t sound like it.”

Their chatter was brief.

The Art Teacher came to her senses and smiled brightly.

『With talent like this, I’ll let all of you live. I’ve never felt this good in my entire life.』

“T-Ttyu-ttai!”

『From now on, keep drawing pictures for me.』

“...Ttyu-ttai?”

With those words, the art room door shut.

『Spend the rest of your lives drawing here.』

The drug had worked so well that they had soared far beyond the passing line.

『S-Silver-haired, red-eyed beautiful girl, amazing!』

At that moment, Lee So-hee heard an unfamiliar voice by her ear.

『She’s totally kawaii! I ran here because American Lee scared me, and now I’ve met a kawaii girl! This is the best luck ever!』

No one else reacted, as though they could not hear the voice.

Lee So-hee cautiously turned toward the sound. A person was inside the metal ferrule of the brush she held.

“T-Ttyu-ttai?”

『Even your voice is cute! Don’t be surprised! I’m a gentleman!』

A gloomy-looking man with a thin build and strange manner of speaking made his glasses gleam as he asked,

『But... is this true?』

“Ttyu?”

『I looked into your Origin. Were you originally a man, then gender-swapped?』

How did he know that!?

Startled, Lee So-hee stammered.

“T-T-Ttyu-ttai.”

『Gasp! It was true!』

He understood every word Lee So-hee said.

『Good Lord! A silver-haired, red-eyed, gender-swapped loli beauty actually exists! And she’s even a streamer! You’re totally a web novel protagonist!』

『What is that?』

Though he had been speaking quietly, perhaps he had been too loud.

The Art Teacher noticed and approached them.

『There’s something strange here, isn’t there?』

『What’s your name?』

“Ttyu-ttai.”

『So-hee-chan! Even your name is cute! But is that thing bothering you, So-hee-chan?』

『What is that disgusting way of talking? Come here! Right now, I’ll...』

Lee So-hee nodded vigorously.

“Ttyu-ttai!”

『Then I’ll take care of it!』

At that instant, the Art Teacher vanished.

『Isekai Truck, complete.』

The person inside the metal ferrule waved a book.

『It was supposed to be a gift for Original, but I used it here! What a waste, but I had no choice for So-hee-chan!』

“D-Ddyu?”

『Want to know what this is? It’s this kind of thing.』

He showed her the book’s cover.

「A Book for Those Who Want to Transfer to the Otherworld, Part 5: Wuxia」

It had a strange title.

『I found this in a defunct library’s storage room! This one doesn’t roll dice. Instead, it comes with a one-time agreement that forcibly transfers any target you choose to a wuxia world!』

“Ttyuuuttaai.”

『You’re incredible! Most people wouldn’t understand, but you accepted it right away! A true role model for gender-swapped beautiful girls!』

The others had noticed his existence by then as well.

『No need to whisper anymore! Then I’ll introduce myself!』

The man gave a stylish greeting.

『Watashi is Satoshi! Nice to meet you, So-hee-chan!』

＊＊＊

『Damn it!』

『Urgh, that hurts!』

Kim Go-deuk gasped for breath. He was so exhausted that he could not even breathe properly.

『That hurts!』

『Hmph! What kind of hide-and-seek involves hitting people!?』

He had sacrificed his life. Still, he had failed to defeat either the Reading Girl Statue, which freely teleported, or the Yi Sun-sin Statue, which was far tougher and stronger than the other statues.

‘What a pity.’

He had wanted to see his disciple’s growth.

Would he accomplish nothing like this?

『Damn it! It’s over!』

『I’m going back to reading! Idiot!』

A martial artist had to live without regrets.

Death had always been near, so one had to live without regrets to leave without attachment when death came suddenly.

‘I have regrets.’

He had wanted to watch his disciple grow.

Instead, he would not only fail to see that growth, but also rob his disciple of the chance to grow under a master.

‘At the very least, the Girl Reading a Book...’

There would be no more opportunities.

His Innate Qi had run dry, and his life was like a candle about to go out.

‘Is there no final burst of brilliance?’

The Yi Sun-sin Statue was approaching to cut off his head.

『Woof!』

That was when he heard an impossible sound.

The bark of a puppy.

『Woof woof!』

A stubby puppy had taken up residence in the Yi Sun-sin Statue’s bronze sword.

‘Have I gone mad?’

That thought lasted only a moment. By the time he came to his senses, he had already been pulled into a barren land.

“Woof woof!”

“Goodness, what a bizarre affair. I knew all kinds of monsters ran rampant in a world with things called Anomalies, but was such a stubby puppy truly a reaper?”

For some reason, he could understand the puppy’s words.

“Yes, I’ll go now.”

After crossing the desolate land, he arrived at a lofty place with a sheer waterfall and cliffs.

“Woof!”

“That is my Origin?”

“Woof woof!”

A sword rested atop the cliff.

It was badly corroded, on the verge of breaking at any moment, but as the puppy diligently licked it, it gradually began to recover.

“Goodness.”

The rust fell away, its missing edge returned, and it took on a lustrous gleam. In the end, it became a magnificent precious sword.

“There is no finer divine weapon.”

Kim Go-deuk pulled the sword embedded in the ground.

“This is my Origin.”

As he looked at it, emotion swelled somewhere deep inside him.

“My life.”

He had pursued martial prowess for his entire life.

Martial Arts were fictional things that did not exist in modern society.

Everyone had mocked him, but he believed in Martial Arts. He trained and trained again until he achieved them himself.

“My path.”

Yet how could anyone always keep the same resolve?

At times, inner demons came for him. He had doubted his path hundreds of times and regretted it tens of thousands of times.

“My future.”

If only he had had a master.

If only there had been people who walked the path before him, he could have learned from their mistakes or found peace of mind in them.

Kim Go-deuk had nothing like that. He was the first martial artist and the first challenger.

“Ha ha.”

Even the unshakable mind he had cultivated through an Internal Energy method could not restore a heart already scarred.

That was why he had thought that, if his heart had an Origin, it could never be beautiful.

Yet his Origin was an excellent divine weapon, and his heart was a scenic place where immortals might enjoy elegant leisure.

“My life was not in vain.”

The worries and concerns of the first challenger, who had no one to acknowledge him, vanished as if washed away.

Once they disappeared, Internal Energy raced through his entire body like crashing waves, accompanied by indescribable joy.

“Hmm.”

His Middle Dantian and Upper Dantian opened.

His Internal Energy circulated through the two dantians, granting it a purity beyond words.

“So this is enlightenment.”

When he opened his eyes again, only an instant had passed in reality.

‘My body feels light.’

All the Innate Qi he had lost had recovered.

His Internal Energy was incomparably purer than before, and even the same amount now felt as heavy as a thousand gold pieces.

“Ha!”

Kim Go-deuk saw his own reflection in the blade of the approaching Yi Sun-sin Statue.

His face had become thirty years younger. He now looked to be in his late forties or early fifties.

“Rejuvenation? Bodily Transformation? It isn’t complete.”

His hair, now black, fluttered as he assumed a stance.

“Blood Flower Flame Cannon.”

He thrust out his fist.

“Metal.”

Pure Internal Energy compressed the world at the tip of his fist. The gathered energy twisted space as it condensed again and again, surpassing its limits before finally taking physical form in the world.

“This is...”

Internal Energy the color of a crisp blue autumn sky burst forth with the compressed space.

“Fist Qi.”

『What?』

Those were the Yi Sun-sin Statue’s last words.

The bursting Fist Qi struck the statue, reducing it to dust in a single blow.

“Whew, I’m still not used to it.”

After loosening up once, Kim Go-deuk grinned.

“Then shall we go catch the Girl Reading a Book?”

＊＊＊

‘Is this the place?’

I had given the matter much thought on the way to the clubroom.

[The nurse’s office has always been the source of ghost stories!]

The nurse’s office was not the center of the ghost stories.

When I entered the main building again, the nurse’s office was the first place I visited, but nothing happened there.

[Of course, what I intend to make won’t be limited to just one...]

Second, Dr. Janus must have created only one Anomaly.

[This time, Family Zoo is collecting a new rare animal, so I intend to create an animal to submit to them!]

Family Zoo probably had no limit on submissions, but quality mattered more than quantity if he wanted to win an award.

There was no reason to make several when making one perfect Anomaly gave him a better chance. Combined with his earlier words, it was highly likely that one powerful Anomaly was creating Derived Anomalies.

[I came to retrieve it because today is its expected birth date. It’s easiest to tame right after it’s born.]

Third, the Anomaly would be born today, and it was easiest to tame right after its birth.

‘What remains unclear is the meaning of the nurse’s office and how he tames the Anomaly after it is born.’

He had not implanted an instinct to obey him as its creator.

[I don’t know when the stalker might disappear, and if I miss the right time, it’ll be difficult to tame it. I’ll have to create a new creature somewhere else.]

He had said that even he would find it difficult to tame after time passed.

‘He could have made it that way if he wanted, but perhaps the budget was too small.’

Before long, I reached the floor where the clubrooms were gathered.

As I walked down the corridor, I quickly found the place I wanted.

[Urban Legend Club]

[Outsiders prohibited!]

I opened the door and entered.

Sarang-i activated.

『Lee Seung-hoon, connection to the outside has been established.』

“Sarang, find one thing for me.”

『Yes, please tell me.』

The only way to survive among Anomalies was to gather information.