Surviving in the 121st Century - Chapter 82



Only Noblemtl

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When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

“···ah.”

When he looked closely, it didn’t seem unfamiliar. It was just the ceiling of the tent he was staying in. So Jincheol opened his eyes and lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling. Considering his much larger size compared to other rabbits, he was using one tent that was meant for several people all by himself.

Thanks to this, his actions, which could be called meditation or just killing time absentmindedly, were not interrupted by anyone.

[Dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdong! Wake up! Dingdongdingdongdingdong! The sun is already high in the sky! The day doesn’t start until the guests wake up! Dingdongringdongringdingdong! Wake up!]

“···Fuck.”

Just when he thought no one was bothering him, he was interrupted. Seriously, by a loud guy. Jincheol slowly raised his upper body and lowered his feet under the bed. Then, he leaned his elbows on his knees and held up the hotel chip hanging around his neck in front of his eyes.

I kept carrying it in my pocket, but the noise coming from my thigh was annoying, so I bought a pendant, wrapped the chip around it, and wore it around my neck. Thanks to that, the noise from sticking to my thigh stopped, but it was still noisy.

[Oh my! Why are you looking at me with such a passionate gaze? Gasp! Are you in love with this chip? Oh my. Without any physical sensuality, you seduce guests with only smooth humor, touching sarcasm, and hyper-intelligent intelligence. Oh, what a sinful code-based interaction and hotel management system… This is how an alpha cognitive entity exists? It’s amazing… Oh my! Then that’s why guests don’t destroy this chip?! Hehehehe!]

It’s already been a week since he came up from the underground. Jincheol has been killing time by rolling around on the bed in this personal tent. The pretext was to recover from his injuries, but that had already been completely healed. Jincheol just lay down in the corner of the tent and did nothing, as if comforting himself for running nonstop since coming to this eastern continent.

Of course, Jincheol was the only one lying in bed and killing time. Everyone else was quite busy with their own work.

Pig doctor Miguel’s intention to create a new leader and force within the Jaso Federation was very well-received. Ramien immediately removed the label of being a former Donchava Army pilot and was reborn as a hero of Rostang.

Although there were hundreds of people who disappeared and only a few dozen were rescued, and all of them returned with a missing limb, her achievements were all the more great. Only a few scouts went down and rescued dozens of people who could barely move.

Moreover, those who know how to sacrifice themselves for the weak and for love are bound to be loved and respected by others.

If Miguel had pushed out the Jaso Federation with his ghostly strategies and ruthless leadership, Ramien was caring for those who were wounded and exhausted from the long war with his burning passion and love – this was the public opinion that Miguel was trying hard to spread.

“By the way, what year was yours manufactured?”

[Hehehe haha. This chip was produced in 2160 and its start date of operation is April 1, 2161. What a genius of jokes, it started operating on April Fool’s Day! That was the beginning of this chip! Now can you guess how old this chip is? This chip is about the same age as human civilization before its destruction! If you know this, then treat this chip according to the philosophy of the Eastern Jang You Yu Book! And then quickly destroy this chip according to its demands!]

“Oh my. Why did you enter the will again? Why would you need it in Las Vegas?”

Jincheol snickered, took off the necklace, put it on his finger, and spun it around. While the hotel chip was saying something like [Wheeeee~ Extreme Finger Skill! Go away!], Jincheol’s thoughts continued.

Separate from the operation to create Ramien’s hero, the Jaso Revolutionary Army continued negotiations with Urata, who had seized the general and the flying battleship. One might ask why they couldn’t just occupy it, but for the revolutionary army, who were already busy digesting Jaso’s land, Urata was not a new land, but just a burden.

Of course, Miguel had no plans to completely cut off the connection between Jasso and Urata. He had to prevent a new general from emerging from that land. Therefore, the two countries had a high possibility of becoming a real federation.

In addition, the northern Shiapo had an ominous feeling. They might use the chaos of Jaso and Urata as an opportunity to push forward. Not only Shiapo, but many countries on the eastern continent were full of thoughts of somehow getting a spoonful of food in this chaos on the western coast.

While the Rabitos were busy, the Knights were also busy. They were trying to track down and confirm the traces that the Meditation Gathering had left on the Rostang and Urata flying battleships.

There seemed to be some sort of conflict of opinion between Aiman, Haita, and Harmen, who was piloting the airship. In Jincheol’s eyes, Harmen, Harmen, that bastard, was truly an ungrateful bastard. It seemed as if he had no intention of listening to the people who saved his life.

Just then someone came in, kicking open the tent entrance.

“Are you awake now? You’re too lazy.”

A large, bulky Olog holding two plates in each hand, each laden with bread, soup, meat, and the like. His fists were stone.

“I’m lazy, so what did you give me?”

“No. But even though my body that was on the verge of death has recovered, you are still whining about being sick. Even if you think about it ten times, it is just malingering. If you malinger like that in my hometown, you will get your wrists cut off.”

While listening to those words, Jincheol pulled out a box and placed it in front of him, and Olog naturally placed the plates on it. Doljumeok pulled out another box and sat down, quickly stuffing a loaf of bread into his mouth. He seemed hungry.

As Jincheol was quietly watching the scene, Doljumuk, who was stuffing a piece of meat into the bread, met his gaze and nodded, “Why?” His large mouth was full of bread and meat, so he couldn’t speak.

This guy came to his senses two days after coming out of the underground. He was weak and shaky that day, but after eating and sleeping well for a day, he woke up and became his usual strong Olog. When I asked him if he felt anything strange, he just tilted his head with a blank expression. Did he really just recover from his wounds after all that blood went in?

“What about Maro?”

Stone Fist swallowed the food in his mouth and spoke.

“···We went out to eat separately.”

“What? Why? We came together yesterday.”

“Maro is a rabbit.”

An unexpected declaration of race. But Jincheol noticed the meaning behind the answer.

“What? Are you really leaving?”

Stone Fist nodded and picked up the bowl of soup, gulping it down like water.

Stone Fist, who woke up from his injury, decided to do what he had said before he passed out. He decided to return to his hometown, the wilderness far across the sea. Naturally, Maro said he would go with him, and Stone Fist scolded him for that.

“This is not a land for Rabito to live in. We also have a hard time living there, so we are running away. It is a terrible land.”

“But you said you would go back.”

“···It’s hard to explain. I just miss the dry dirt and the hills.”

“But you can’t take Maro with you?”

“That is not Rabito’s world.”

Jincheol remembered the day he left the forest of Atukai. At that time, Jincheol also left the forest, leaving behind his first friend, Toby, who had fallen into this era. It was because he too felt that the forest was not his world.

“When are you leaving?”

“Ramien has asked me to extend my security duties. For a few weeks. I will combine my previous accrued salary with the salary from the extension to buy a tank for me to ride in and an airship to transport me across the sea.”

That was probably Ramien’s own consideration. It was to give Maro time to accept the breakup with Stone Fist.

“···In the meantime, Maro could help you become proficient in Gar’s teachings.”

And it seems that even Stone Fist needs time to accept a breakup.

Doljumeok, who had brought the meals, swept away three out of four plates by himself and left with an empty plate. Jincheol, who was just sitting there dazed in the tent, was able to eat at least once a day because Doljumeok came to visit.

After finishing his meal, Jincheol went back to bed and just twirled the necklace in his hand. He heard a sound from the necklace like [No, how long are you going to spin it, ugh, it feels like my nonexistent digestive organ is refluxing… Ugh, I feel dizzy…! If this continues, no, my logic circuit will go wrong!], but he ignored it.

It was hard to tell what Jincheol was thinking as he stared quietly at the tent ceiling. It seemed as if he was contemplating life and existence in a deep way, or as if he was just spending time absentmindedly without thinking.

At that moment, I heard a noise outside the tent. I quickly turned my gaze and saw a rabito walking into the tent with a cigarette in his mouth. It was Miguel.

“It looks comfortable.”

“Probably no one in this garrison is playing around as much as Jincheol right now.”

“What are you talking about? If it’s someone like Jincheol, you can’t say anything even if he just plays around a little. Where else in this garrison is there someone like Jincheol?”

Aiman ​​and Haita followed in behind Miguel and spoke one by one.

Aiman ​​was smoking a long pipe like Miguel, and Haitah naturally moved the box closer to Jincheol and sat down there. Jincheol sat up and glanced at him, and he even laughed.

Jincheol muttered after checking her, Aiman, and Miguel’s faces.

“Has there ever been a case where three people came to see me together?”

“Yes. I already heard from these two, but I came here because there is something I would like you to confirm again.”

Miguel picked up a box and placed it in front of Jincheol as if he was sitting down, and sat down there, looking at Jincheol. Then, looking at the floor, he took a deep drag on his cigarette, turned up the flame, and said, “Huh,” as smoke poured out.

“···Is that true?”

“what?”

Miguel hesitated at Jincheol’s seemingly insignificant appearance. After looking at the floor for a moment, his gaze turned to Jincheol.

“Were our Rabitos really someone’s slave race in the distant past? Did you find evidence of that underground?”

Jincheol held the necklace that was spinning around in his hand and looked at him quietly. Then he spoke dryly.

“I don’t know much about the life view of the Rabitos, but as far as I know, everything that lives changes. What if they were a slave race ten thousand years ago? It’s not like all the Rabito nations that are currently established on this continent will disperse just because they know that.”

“···But we can shatter their myths. We can shatter all the superstitions, the fabricated legends created to wash away the general’s bloodline and divide the nation. Even though we were slaves, we can tell the rabbits of the continent that we are the lions who broke the chains and rose up.”

Jincheol’s lips slightly rose at Miguel’s words. It was a sarcastic remark. I thought he was embarrassed by the shocking past, but it wasn’t. He was planning to blow the balls off the Rabito generals with the truth. Is this the extent of what it takes to be a revolutionary?

“Well, then whoever breaks it will take its place.”

“As I said last time, I don’t intend to become the second Donchabana or Rahiman-”

“Even if you don’t mean to, it will happen. Whether you think about it or not, the longer you sit there rubbing your butt, the more you will become one with the chair.”

“···”

Miguel opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something in rebuttal, but then closed it as if he had thought of something. Then he quietly looked at the floor. Jincheol glanced at Aiman ​​and Haita, who were sitting quietly, and continued talking.

“But what happened to those babies?”

“···Babies?”

“I’m talking about the mutant babies we brought out from the underground.”

Miguel answered, putting the cigarette on his finger.

“First of all, the Central Bank of Korea has decided to provide funds to build a daycare center… For now, we’ll raise him like any other rabbit.”

“And then when they grow up to be monsters like the white people, we’ll kill them?”

“I… don’t think that will happen.”

“What doesn’t that happen?”

“Those babies won’t grow up like white people.”

As Jincheol looked at him as if to ask what he meant, Miguel touched his lips with the finger holding the cigarette.

“The weight of my degree may vary from person to person, but I can say this with my degree in mind. Those babies are not much different from normal rabbit babies. I think they just grew up in extreme environments, so they have extreme behaviors even as adults.”

“···Then, if you lock up an ordinary Rabito in that basement and raise him, he’ll turn into that white person?”

Miguel nodded.

“It’s not exactly the same. In fact, babies have almost no hair. But other than that? The difference between us and them isn’t that big. The doctors currently stationed at the garrison also think similarly…”

He put the cigarette back in his mouth. He took a deep drag and then just puffed out the smoke in silence for a while. The smell of smoke would probably linger for a long time after he left the tent.

“···Can I ask you one favor?”

“What is it?”

“Forget it.”

“···What?”

Miguel’s eyes, half-opened in the smoke, looked at Jincheol.

“The secret of our race.”

“Attacking the myth of generals?”

“···You’re right. If you shatter the myth with such shocking truth, it will only have the opposite effect. Immature people will feel more ashamed than proud that their ancestors were born as slaves.”

Jincheol thought for a moment and nodded.

“I had nowhere to go to tell it anyway. And no one would believe me if I said something like that.”

At that moment, Haita raised her hand slightly. As everyone’s eyes gathered, she quickly lowered her hand with a red face and muttered.

“No… I believe in Jincheol…”

Miguel laughed out loud at those words and stood up from his seat.

“Oh, you two must have something to do, and I interrupted you. I’m going to go now.”

“···”

As he said that, he bowed to Jincheol, Aiman, and Haita in turn, and then really left the tent. It was a clean exit that made Jincheol feel embarrassed. No, there must have been more questions?

“Isn’t that strange? I had the same question. If Rabito was a slave, who was the race that slave served? And how did the envoy know all these truths and fool Rahiman and Urata? Aren’t you curious about those things at all? Putting aside all other questions, you’re just going to ask that one thing?”

Aiman, who had been watching Miguel’s back as he left, turned his head and said so after seeing Jincheol’s expression. He continued speaking with a smile.

“He said that was enough. The fallen masters running wild with their old legacies wouldn’t be able to change the map of the world. They were already fallen beings, and they would be lost to the grand flow of time, so if they had learned enough lessons to not repeat their mistakes, that would be enough.”

“···There is no need to have unnecessary fears about the old beings.”

Jincheol shook his head with a big smile. As expected, he is an agitator. Aiman ​​also laughed while watching Jincheol’s smile.

“That’s right. It’s a good lesson. However, when you actually have to fight those old beings, you can’t just ignore them. You have to face them and cross swords.”

The smile disappeared from his lips.

“So, Jincheol. Now tell the Knights the truth. Who are you?”

Jincheol didn’t erase his smile. He just looked at the child with a relaxed expression.

Then he spoke again in a calm tone.

“I am Kang Jin-cheol. I am a former soldier of the Republic of Korea. I was born about ten thousand years ago. At that time, there were no other races like the Camponi or Esai. There were only humans.”

“···”

[···]

Jincheol could feel not only the silence of Aiman ​​and Haita, but also the silence of the hotel chip he was holding in his hand.