1 time
Hassan, the slave of another world
001 –
Sanya, health comes first for people. The rest will follow as long as you are healthy.
This is what my father would say to me whenever he had the chance.
My father, Daesu, grew up in extreme poverty as a child, never having a full stomach and always suffering from illness.
They say that if you only eat one meal every few days, the sky will look yellow. When I think about that time, my heart still aches.
My father, who had suffered from hunger as a child, eventually opened a health center to fulfill his wish of eating healthily and to fill his stomach.
Health Center Mountains and Sea.
It’s a name that was created by combining my name and my father’s name or something.
As a result of eating and drinking all kinds of juices and extracts every day for several years or even decades.
My father became overly healthy.
He appeared on TV as a muscular uncle who was over 60 years old and could do 3/500, but that’s not the important thing.
Anyway, the problem was that you were not only eating all those weird foods, but you were also trying to feed them to me, your son.
Close your eyes and try it. It tastes exactly like shrimp. It even has the same number of legs as shrimp. It’s best to eat it alive.
Ah, no, it’s not moving!
What is this? Anyway, it’s boiled and made into a broth. Hold your nose and swallow it. Don’t taste it. Don’t ever taste it. Never.
Gwueeek-.
San-ah, this is a spicy stew that has received the energy of the mountain behind our house.
Guaaaak-! Guaaaak-!!
My son, you must have been so delicious that I can’t even describe it. No one else would give you anything, but I’m giving it to you because you’re my son, Inma.
Thanks to my overbearing father, I have eaten a lot and tasted a lot. I think there is no other guy my age who has tried as many variations of ingredients as I have.
When people hear my story, they often ask me what it tastes like.
Honestly, I had no intention of describing their names or tastes. Just thinking back would bring back memories of what I just ate.
Even without thinking about it, the smell of all kinds of things being squeezed and boiled at the health center always lingered in my nose, making it quite uncomfortable.
Bucking Smell-.
Now that I think about it, I really, really hated that particular smell from that health center.
It’s a smell that sticks to my body and forms an invisible protective film, trapping me.
If I had the ability to see smells, there would be a hazy green cloud surrounding me.
During my teenage years, when everything felt extremely sensitive, I had such a hard time with the smell that I even used up a whole bottle of Febreze deodorant a week.
Of course, I was just overreacting, and now that I’m older, it all seems like a memory.
Anyway, thanks to my father who was very strict and the strange foods, I grew up to be quite healthy for my age and never suffered from any minor illnesses.
“Thank you, Father.”
I bowed to where I thought my father was.
If I had grown up to be a weakling, a scrofula, I would have been rolling around on the floor of this underground labyrinth with those pale bones.
Underground labyrinth.
Yes, it is an underground labyrinth.
Some people may wonder why I, who live in the modern society of the Republic of Korea in the 21st century, am wandering through an underground labyrinth.
Actually, I’m really curious about that, so much so that I want to ask someone.
Of course, if you think about it, it’s not like there’s no way you can guess the reason.
*
That day was the day of my college vacation, and I was going down from Seoul to my parents’ house in the countryside.
It’s a sweltering heat. It rained a little the day before, so the humidity is at its worst, and it’s a horrible, sticky weather.
Feeling the uncomfortable sensation of my back and armpits being soaked with sweat, I walked to the taxi stand to catch a taxi.
I wish the taxi had air conditioning that was blasting.
“Over there, over there-.”
Just as I was about to grab the taxi door to get in, someone stopped me from behind and I instinctively turned my head.
Then, wasn’t there a tall and slender beauty standing there wearing a sky blue off-shoulder one-piece dress, almost as tall as me?
and-.
She had a clean appearance that seemed to burst with refreshing energy. She was a woman who would most likely be described as beautiful rather than pretty or sexy.
Are you a foreigner?
Blonde hair tied in a ponytail, blue eyes, and slightly long and pointy ears, but I guess that’s probably the typical foreigner look. Anyway, that wasn’t what was important at the time.
The most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my life called me over!
If you are a man, you will inevitably be confused in many ways, whether you like it or not.
“Who? Me?”
“Yes, you. Could you spare me a little bit of your time? A little bit would be fine.”
The Korean coming out of this foreign woman’s lips was smoother and clearer than that of an average Korean speaker, and it stuck in my ears.
I was a little nervous because I had a fear of English, thinking that I might have to ask for directions in a foreign language, but fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“What time?”
Since all I had to do today was to go home and unpack, there was no rush. So I was a little curious about what this foreign woman was trying to say.
“I’ll just take a moment. First, could you take a look at this?”
The woman took out a flat mechanical device from the shoulder bag she was carrying at her side.
The latest tablet that was advertised on TV and the Internet. Soon, after manipulating it a few times with my slender fingers, I was shown a video playing.
Ppushyong ppashyong-.
Brothers and sisters of the world. Can you believe that there is a single directional key in this confusing world? In our New Heaven Tabernacle Temple, we will find the bright side of life.
The video quality was as if it had been hastily shot in one day as a group project. But what was even more horrible than the video quality itself was the content.
The primordial palace chaos is the light of the new sky!
What the fuck.
Actually, I had a bad feeling from the moment I took the tablet out of my bag. No, I should have noticed it from the moment the woman on the street started talking to me.
This is fake.
It is also common for cults and heretics to use young, pretty women to lure men into their missionary work.
This can be seen as a very vicious method that mainly targets men who seem naive and uses their innocence to lure them down the wrong path. And surprisingly, it works well.
“how is it?”
After the video ended, a woman asked me a question. I tried to hide my disappointment and embarrassment and answered in the kindest voice I could.
“I don’t believe in this kind of thing. Take care.”
This is the Republic of Korea in the 21st century. A place with freedom of religion. We must first have the education to be kind to suspicious heretics and pseudo-religions.
But it seems my reaction was too weak.
“Hey, let’s go to the cafe and talk. The karma you have-, no, the virtues of your ancestors are so unique and heterogeneous. First, let’s talk about the ancestral rites and the estimate-.”
The woman suddenly grabbed my arm and started talking nonsense, trying to drag me somewhere.
A situation where a beautiful foreign woman is courting me so viciously.
I don’t know if I’ll ever see a case like this again in the next few decades, but why would it be a cult? This is not right.
“Let’s go over there. If possible, to a cafe with fewer people.”
No, where are you trying to take me?
A place with few people?
Suddenly I started to get scared.
I even had the thought that I would be dragged to a dark place, hit on the back of my head with a club, and then when I came to my senses I would be locked up in some kind of cult prayer house.
Or they might be sold to places like deep-sea fishing boats.
When I thought about it like that, I felt like I had to push the woman away.
“I’m busy. Our family already holds ancestral rites four times a year! Hey, put this aside.”
Kwuk-.
But perhaps because of the physique typical of foreign women, the grip that held my wrist was not usually strong.
I’m 179cm tall. After being discharged from the military, I had a lot of muscle mass, so I didn’t think I would be in a position to be dragged around by anyone. How can a woman be this strong?
“Hey, put this down.”
“What? What’s going on?”
“what?”
As I screamed, I felt the eyes of the people around me turn towards us. Only then did the woman open her blue eyes and let go of my wrist.
“Then, read this.”
Still, as if he still felt regret, he put a small booklet in my hand.
“Believe in the Lord of Chaos and be sure to be saved. None of us know when the time of the new heaven and the new era will come, so we must be prepared. Students especially.”
That was the end of this weird situation.
I turned my gaze away from the woman walking away and looked at the booklet in my hand.
All I see as I blink my eyes to calm my startled heart is a crudely designed cover and letters written in cursive script as large as a door.
『Brothers and sisters who are reading this. Take a moment to listen to the word. You too can enter the world of salvation. Let us all prepare for the time of the opening and shout “Long Live Chaos.” – The Tabernacle of the Testimony in the New Heaven.』
New Heaven Tabernacle Temple of the Testimony?
“What is this?”
New world, new order, heaven, etc. were common among pseudo-religions and heresies.
That’s why I don’t even think about reading any more of what’s written on the back.
I just crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can. It was a really weird thing to happen – I thought to myself as I got into a taxi.
*
… But now that I think about it, I should have read what was written in that booklet.
“Long live chaos!”
As I chanted the fierce spell, many letters began to appear before my eyes.
『Name: Hassan Lv. 7
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Stamina: 3
Task: 137
Status: The Curse of the Two Sas
“Hehe, shit.”
I guess I’m screwed.
It took me about two years to accept it.
2 years.
730 days.
The time when a newborn baby begins to walk and learn simple words.
The time when a clumsy and inexperienced trainee puts on his discharge uniform and leaves the battalion gate.
That means two years is more than enough time to change one person who has fallen into an unfamiliar place.
“Hey, Hassan, what are you laughing at all by yourself? Are you crazy? What do you mean by cheering?”
Sigh-.
Someone hit me hard on the back of my head, snapping me out of my thoughts. All I could see was a corner of a dark underground ruin.
Of course, without a single ray of sunlight-.
A place where the only sound is the damp sound of water drops falling from somewhere.
Grrr… .
At the end of the hallway, deep in the darkness, an unidentifiable, ominous panting is heard, sending shivers down my spine.
“I keep it up today.”
“Oh, yes, okay. I’ll be careful.”
I touched the back of my cold head and lowered my head as apologetically as possible.
The expression on the woman’s face, swaying in the torchlight, was so crumpled that she looked like a ferocious monster, but of course, she didn’t say anything like that.
“Do it right. If you let your guard down in the dungeon, you’ll be gone in an instant.”
“Yes, I will be careful, Lady Elfriede.”
“Okay, then we’ll be camping here today. Hurry up and make a campsite. And once it’s done, I’ll rub my shoulders and legs. I’m tired from walking all the time.”
“… Yes, yes.”
I glanced at Elfriede.
Like other adventurers, she wears tight leather clothes, has silver hair tied back in a ponytail, and has red jewel-like eyes. She has long eyelashes and cat-like, upturned eye corners – Elfriede.
She seemed very tired and irritable, so I had no choice but to make a tent and a fire, keeping an eye out for her to see if she would get even angrier.
Drumroll drumroll-.
He unpacks the heavy load he’s been carrying on his back all day and works hard to make a tent for four people.
But none of the four party members besides me are helping me, even though they are making a place for themselves to sleep.
Of course, I was a porter and chore slave for that mean girl who was a fairy or something.
slave.
Yes, slave.
Human beings who are forced to do inhumane labor 24 hours a day, deprived of their personal freedom and will.
In this world where the concepts of human rights or minimum wage do not even exist.
I was abandoned like an orphan in this strange, savage world, and after about two years of rolling around in all kinds of low places, I ended up being reduced to a slave.
“You’re so fucking slow. The sun’s going to rise outside. You need to get whipped to come to your senses. And the tent’s already pitched!”
“I will fix it!”
Shit, he’s the worst, he’s not even going to help me, but he keeps slapping me, and that’s why my body is always covered in scars and bruises.
“Hurry up! Hurry up! You lazy Samaritan. You have to be right to do your job properly! Yeah? That’s why you black-haired bastards-.”
Snap- Snap.
“Ugh, ugh! Oh, sh*t!”
still-.
Still, today’s whipping was less painful.
Of course, it’s not that Elfriede has a merciful hand and weakened the strength. It’s just how I feel.
Today, I could bear being beaten and being sworn at. The reason is none other than what’s in my pocket.
Well done-.
I desperately tried to keep the corners of my mouth from rising as I keenly felt the weight of the bundle of coins hidden deep inside my leather jacket.
If I could escape this underground ruin safely and receive even a small amount of daily wages.
Because I’ve finally collected all the thirty silver coins that I had planned to collect.
30 silver.
The money I saved by saving up my share of food and labor expenses during my one and a half years of slavery.
You can do so much with this money.
I can eat over a hundred bowls of soup without knowing what ingredients went into it.
It was also a price that could be paid for a barbarian slave with a healthy body and impressive black hair.
Perhaps someone with a keen eye might have guessed this by now.
I was going to buy my freedom with this money, through proper procedures. By buying my freedom, I would become an adventurer like those damned men.
If I rise in rank as an adventurer, I, a stranger, will be granted status. This inhumane life will come to an end!!
“Your hands stopped! You’re thinking of useless things again!”
“Whipping. Trouble.”
“Damn, you haven’t been hit yet!”
“Gegegege!”
Snap- Snap.
I’ll just endure it for today.
Just today.
Everything will change when we leave this underground ruins tomorrow.
I imagined tearing up my slave contract in front of that prickly, unscrupulous Elfriede’s face as I painstakingly placed her sleeping bag inside the tent.
[Work Review] Hello, everyone who has been waiting, and I am happy to meet all the new readers. Let’s start again!!!!
Noblesse is a light-hearted, non-serious show that you can watch once in a while when you have some spare time!!!!
