Surviving in the 121st Century - Chapter 92



Only Noblemtl

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The Doljumeok’s tank had no turret, so its overall height was roughly 2 meters. Although there was no exact measurement, Jincheol estimated it to be about the same height based on his own height.

And based on the height of the tank, if we were to guess the height of the giant snail shell that remains in front of us now, it would be at least 20 meters. If we consider the width from left to right and the round shape, it would be so magnificent that anyone looking up from below would feel it. Even though the lower part was buried under the ground, it was still that big.

Jincheol burst out laughing because he was so dumbfounded. What on earth is this?

“···Mother of Vengeance.”

Snow, who came up next to Jincheol, also had the same thoughts. She, too, was looking at the shell with a puzzled look like Jincheol. Unlike Jincheol, she was a resident of the 121st century, but had she never seen a giant snail shell like this?

Jincheol shouted while pounding the tank’s armor plate.

“Hey! Come out and explain! What is that?”

At that shout, the stone fist holding the joystick popped its head out.

“What is it? It’s Hokon.”

“Hokon?”

He looked at the shell that Jincheol and Snow were looking at with a dull gaze. In the distance, a giant snail was crawling alive and moving, and in the shell that was near them now, there was no living snail. Only the shell remained.

“He came down particularly far south and died. It may be a bit unusual, but the Hakon itself is not that unusual of an animal.”

“You don’t find that interesting? Do you think a snail that size makes sense?”

“Why? Why doesn’t it make sense when there is evidence of it moving like that?”

“···”

Oh, this kid. Jincheol was speechless for a moment. Doljumeok was right. Saying it doesn’t make sense is meaningless. Because a real snail tens of meters tall was crawling far away, alive. It wasn’t a forest full of grass and water, or a coast, and on a land where you could only see dry dirt and rocky mountains, such a huge snail was crawling like a lie.

“It is indeed unusual. Hakon has never come this far south. Hakon usually lives in Barun Hoyd.”

“···Where is that?”

“It is a land far to the northwest. A land of poisonous clouds from which Tolkhan left in his chariot, Kapchakku, long ago. A land of death, where deathly storms and chaotic lightning strike. Of course, that is what they say, but there are still many Gars living there. If you are from there, Haakon will be a familiar, if not welcome, friend.”

Stone Fist, who had been talking, noticed Snow’s blank expression and smiled with the corner of his mouth slightly pulled to one side.

“The Esai always say that their Sun Temple is the most beautiful and great structure in the world. But the children of Gar all know how foolish that is. True beauty and greatness come not from such crude buildings, but from the wonders of nature. The Esai, confined to their narrow city, will never understand.”

“···”

Instead of answering, Snow just stared at the snail’s shell. This kid, he’s even sarcastic about his selective wisdom. Jincheol let out a hollow laugh and looked up at the giant shell again. The inside of the shell was faintly illuminated by light, and he could see the strange rainbow-colored glitter.

“Then, as we go further into the land of Olog, we will see shells like this more often···”

“No, that’s not true.”

“Why? Giant snails don’t die easily?”

Doljumeok tilted his head as if he found Jincheol’s words strange.

“You keep saying ‘snail’, but that’s Haakon. I don’t know what a ‘snail’ is, but it’s not Haakon. And Haakon lives a very long time, but after death, it leaves no noticeable traces.”

“You say it leaves no traces? If what I see before my eyes isn’t a trace, then what is it?”

“Hakon’s back shell completely crumbles before three months have passed. His dead flesh also melts into the dry ground and does not last more than two weeks. I have only heard of it, but it is said that the melted flesh seeps into the ground and creates a world of small insects and animals.”

At those words, Jincheol, who had been quietly looking at the shell, suddenly got down from the tram. Then, he started walking towards the shell with brisk strides. Doljumeok stopped the tram, sat in the driver’s seat, and stared blankly at his back. Snow also stared at Jincheol’s back without saying a word.

Jincheol, who had come so close to the shell, could really feel a strange moisture from under the ground. Even though his senses had become more sensitive after waking up from a long sleep, he could barely feel it, but a very faint moisture was rising from under the ground mixed with sand and gravel.

Jincheol crouched down and lightly picked up the sand and rocks with his hands. The dry ground, with no trace of moisture, crumbled in his hands. However, when he went down to a depth of about the width of his palm, the situation changed. Sticky, moist soil began to appear somewhere.

Jincheol, who was fiddling with the dirt, suddenly realized that the AI ​​chip on his chest had been quiet until now. Why did the guy who said that his limits had disappeared become quiet?

“Why are you so quiet? Are you speechless when you encounter a strange ecosystem ten thousand years later?”

[Well, I’ve seen plenty of strangely transformed creatures underground over the past ten thousand years. I’ve even talked to them, so it’s not that surprising.]

“···then?”

[I was just thinking. Could it be that the appearance of such gigantic gastropods, unprecedented in Earth history, was the result of an unprecedented shock to Earth’s ecosystem from past human civilization? Of course, it was a different kind of shock from meteorites or previous mass extinctions. Not only were they forced into extreme environments, but they were also forced to mate and compete with chimeras injected with a never-before-seen life code… It’s not at all strange that life pushed to extremes would give birth to such strange organisms.]

Even this guy with a stone fist is saying difficult things. Jincheol raised his head with a big smile. As he got closer, the light transmission from the shell that he had seen earlier and the resulting rainbow colors became more apparent. For some reason, it was a color that seemed to captivate those who looked at it.

“···”

Jincheol, who had been blankly staring at the light, soon shook his hands and stood up. Then he returned to the tram, got on, and spoke to Doljumeok, who had stuck his face out.

“Hey, then it would be fun to see those snails and Hokons running wild? Even if they just press down on Siol and Nabal with their bodies, they’ll all be torn apart.”

At Jincheol’s words, Doljumeok looked at Jincheol with an expression of displeasure.

“···If you ever meet another teacher, don’t say things like that.”

“Why again?”

“Aren’t you saying you’re going to use Hokon as a weapon? That’s too cruel for such a gentle animal.”

“Ah, harsh?”

Jincheol almost slipped from the position he was climbing. Doljumeok continued talking calmly despite seeing Jincheol’s bewildered expression.

“No one can make Haakon angry. Even if someone hits him with a cannon, he will simply try to get away and will not fight back until the moment of his death. Because all their anger and hatred has been stolen by the heavens.”

“Heaven steals away anger and hatred?”

Doljumeok saw Jincheol come up and started to move the tank again with a rattling sound. Doljumeok’s voice grew louder along with the engine’s growl.

“Long ago, Haakon also had anger and hatred. At that time, they could tear the earth apart and destroy mountains with the power they had. However, the heavens, fearing that power, devised a scheme to steal Haakon’s hatred, gather it into clouds, and draw out his anger and throw it as lightning. The heavens’ scheme worked, and Haakon no longer felt anger or hatred toward anyone.”

The tank crossed the rough wilderness, leaving long tracks. Its tracks also included the gigantic Haakon, which was far ahead. Stonefist was deliberately approaching Haakon.

“However, Hakon’s power was much stronger than the heavens had imagined. Eventually, poisonous clouds of hatred filled the sky, and lightning bolts of rage struck the earth. The animals that originally lived on the earth died, unable to overcome their hatred and rage. When there was no one to serve them, the heavens also died. The beautiful earth died.”

The appearance of Hakon, who was moving slowly as the tank ran, also grew larger. The bizarre nature of the mollusk made its size overwhelmingly large, creating a strange sense of dynamism and tranquility at the same time.

“Then Tolkan broke the rock of the dead land and stood up. He borrowed the rock he had broken and one of Haakon’s shells and created the primordial chariot, Kapchakku. He burned all living beings and left the land of poisonous clouds. Haakon’s hatred was great, but the world was greater, and when he left the land of death, a breathing land appeared. Life began to live again.”

Something huge moved from the side of Hakon’s head, which was moving slowly. It was Hakon’s antenna, like a building pillar moving. There was a dark spot in the middle of the huge mass, but it was so huge that it looked more like a natural object than an eye.

As I was overwhelmed by those eyes, the voice of the stone fist rang out.

“The Hakons lost their anger and hatred, but they did not forget their compassion for other animals. That is why they took off their back shells and lent them to Tolkan. So that other animals could leave the land of poisonous clouds. So we, the children of Tolkan, should be grateful to Hakon…”

The horn-like antennae of Hakon stared intently at the tanks passing by. It did not seem like it was going to do anything, but rather seemed to be simply interested in the moving being.

At that moment, Stonefist stopped the tank. He pulled out of the driver’s seat, exposed his upper body over the tank, and looked at Haakon.

“···Of course, this is just a story made up by the adults to prevent the children of Gar from hunting Hakon and eating his meat out of hunger.”

Jincheol and Snow’s eyes, which were looking at Hokon, turned towards that stone fist.

“The flesh of the Haakon is very tasteless. It is mushy and when cooked, it is too tough to chew. It does not smell when alive, but after death, it has a very bad smell. It is difficult to obtain the flesh because it melts in two weeks. However, sometimes, there are those who obtain the flesh. The land is vast, and the Haakon wandering around it is very conspicuous.”

“Why can’t I eat hakon meat?”

Did he feel something from the gaze of the stone fist looking at him? Or was he just curious about the ant-like beings that had stopped around him? Hakon, who had been moving slowly, also stopped and turned his giant tentacles and eyes towards him.

“Hokon’s flesh is delicious, but someone who eats it will surely die. It is unclear whether this is the last curse left by Hokon, or if it is simply the lingering poison from the land of poison clouds. But someone will definitely die. That is why Hokon is respected and not hunted. I do not know which came first. Was he respected because of the legend, or was he respected and the legend was born because of the curse of flesh?”

After looking at Jincheol, Doljumeok, Snow, and the tank for a while, Hokon soon lost interest and turned his tentacles back to the front, then began to move forward slowly. A large footprint was left behind after Hokon passed, incomparable to the one left by the tank.

The giant snail, Hokon, slowly but steadily advanced towards the northwest. And the Stone Fist’s eyes followed Hokon’s back, looking into the past.

“···Let’s go too. If we’re lucky, we might be able to meet Garhana today.”

The stone fist that had been following the back of Hokon for a while then put itself back into the driver’s seat. Then, with a roaring engine sound, the tank began to move. Soon after, the tank passed the slow Hokon and began to head towards the desolate land.

The sky is as gray as the dry land. In the pale sky where not a single cloud can be seen, only the yellow burning sun shines down indifferently.

Looking at the sky and the earth, Jincheol felt bewildered. Could people live in a land like this?

Fortunately, the land that seemed to be filled with death soon turned into a land where dry grass grew here and there. Cracked and broken slabs of rock and their fragments were scattered like pebbles, and the yellowish-brown dry grass swayed pitifully in the wilderness wind.

The slabs of rock on the tank’s tracks were broken and crumbled. If anyone wanted to chase after Jincheol and his party, it would be easy. They would just have to follow the tracks.

As the caterpillars continued to crush the rocks into small pieces, the ground that had been dry for a long time began to become damp. Soon enough, green grass began to appear, and Jincheol, seeing this, sat up and looked at the distant horizon. At the end of his gaze, a thin stream of water was flowing in a meandering manner. It was a river in the plains.

Stone Fist, who had discovered the river, turned the tank’s steering wheel. The tank began to move upstream along the river.

After that, as we went over the gentle hills and hills, it wasn’t long before we began to see traces of people. Traces of fires, simple wooden houses, and traces of caterpillar tracks.

And as we followed the trail and went over a small hill, we could see a group of tanks in the distance and people milling around there.

As Jincheol squinted his eyes upon discovering them, the stone fist stopped the movement of the tank. Then, he pulled himself out of the driver’s seat and climbed onto the tank like Jincheol.

“Why are you stopping? Aren’t you going to meet those people?”

“If it had been a meeting between Gar and Gar, we could have shared food and information without much danger. But now there are only three of us. And Esai is with us. If we approach without thinking, we will simply attack and eat them.”

Ah. These guys are not picky about what they eat. The Olog that Jincheol first met also tried to eat the camponi of the Atukai tribe.

“Hey, then isn’t it dangerous to just stand here like this?”

“···If they were just wandering Ologs who left Gar and wandered around, they would try to eat them without discrimination. However, if they were true children of Gar, they would first try to find out who we are.”

Not long after, Jincheol and Doljumeok’s chariot was also discovered on the other side of Gar. Soon, something seemed to be making a noise, and three or four people riding something began to run towards this side.

Jincheol tilted his head as he saw the animals they were riding.

“Is that a cow?”

It had two large horns, a thick neck, a wide nose, and large nostrils, making it look like a cow. However, it had much longer legs than Jincheol knew, and it could run well even carrying people. The way it ran and formed a line also looked like a horse. It was an animal that seemed to be half cow and half horse.

They came close enough to hear my voice and shouted loudly.

“I am Shogi, the daughter of Shogiant! If you are a guest, you must reveal your identity, and if you are a thief who covets food, you must risk your life!”

At that voice, Doljukkim also stood up on the chariot and shouted.

“I am Galtharul! I will be treated as a guest!”

At the shout of Stone Fist, the Ologs who had been looking up from the bottom of the low hill began to slowly approach. They looked at Stone Fist, Jincheol, and Snow on the chariot and made bewildered expressions.

“What? Those nobles came all the way to the north? This is strange.”

They were amazed at Jincheol and Snow, but Jincheol was also amazed. The animals they rode, whether cows or horses, and their naked appearances, yet adorned with various ornaments and strings, were all amazing, but the most amazing thing was the Olog standing in front of the three Ologs and looking in this direction.

Unlike Doljuk or the other two Ologs behind him, this Olog was a bit smaller in size, and his muscles weren’t as bulging as if he had been drugged. Of course, even those muscles were worthy of winning a bodybuilding contest in the 21st century, but he was still much better looking than the other Ologs.

Above all, the Olog had long, braided hair.

“I will clarify again. I am Shogi, daughter of Shogiant. The other two nobles, please also state their names.”

Sho-o-gi. She was the first female Olog that Jin-cheol met.