Episode 242 The Butterfly Effect (2)
I quickly got ready and headed straight to the warp terminal inside the academy. At the terminal, a female secretary and a male attendant were standing side by side behind Media. The secretary was a face I had seen a few times before, and the man was my first time meeting him.
““Hello, Lord Cheon Geum.””
When the two men saluted me politely, I nodded back. I was used to such formalities by now.
“I’m sorry for bothering you so early in the morning, Geommaya… … .”
Media sighed deeply again and again.
“What is the purpose of going to Antarctica?”
I shook my head and asked. Because the destination was so shocking, I didn’t actually ask what the purpose was.
“Oh, that’s it.”
Media hesitated and fell asleep. It seemed as if she couldn’t open her mouth easily. At that moment, the secretary standing to Media’s left answered instead.
“I am sorry to ask, but let me tell you.”
My left eyebrow is crooked.
“I’m sorry to say that, but you can say it without saying anything like that. If the protocol is too excessive, it can be burdensome to the listener.”
“No, that won’t work.”
The secretary shook her head with stubborn eyes. The man next to her poked her in the ribs, but she continued to speak without flinching.
“I have met the hero of the Joaquin disaster, the youngest hero of the Seven Stars, the hope of humanity, and the Heavenly Sword. Even this courtesy is the minimum before the Heavenly Sword. If you ever ask me to be rude, I will commit suicide… …!”
“The main point.”
“yes.”
The secretary pretended to put her hands behind her back and fixed her gaze 45 degrees in front of her. She opened her mouth like a soldier reporting to his superior.
“As you may have heard from the principal, we are headed to the southernmost point of the Earth, Antarctica. Furthermore, the purpose of this sudden journey is to meet Victor Foy, the head of the Hero Association and the principal’s biological father… .”
“I’ll explain later. I’m the one who called you, and the person who’s sure to cause trouble today is my dad.”
Media brushed her hair back and dismissed the secretary.
“Ah, ah, no, Principal. I am the one who… … .”
“I’m already tired. So don’t make me say it twice, okay? Please.”
Media said, half kindly, half warning. The secretary bit her lip reluctantly.
“I will accept it.”
A thin stream of blood flowed out from between the secretary’s upper teeth. Media did not see it. Only the male attendant rolled his eyes with a nervous expression. It seemed that the secretary was higher in rank than the man.
‘By the way, this world is really convenient. You can go to Antarctica as if you were going to a local bar.’
I heard that on Earth, where there is no subspace warp, traveling to Antarctica is quite expensive. I heard that one of my first master’s wishes was to ‘go sea fishing in Antarctica’. The minimum cost is said to be around 30 to 40 million won. But we travel without paying a single penny.
‘The money is frozen.’
If that guy knew this, he’d be so sick to his stomach.
“As the secretary said, my father, Victor Poison, is currently living in Antarctica. That’s why we’re going to see him. I begged him to come to the Academy, but the old man said he’d get homesick the moment he left home, and he kept getting angry and saying he wanted to see you, Geomma.”
I was momentarily stunned. In these few sentences, there were already two surprising things.
The president of the association was living in Antarctica and he wanted to see me.
What should I be surprised about first?
Meanwhile, Media was mumbling in a bold tone.
“I really thought it was dementia. Oh man, but what can I do? It’s been decades since Victor Poison showed up. And it’s even more unusual for him to show up to see someone. It’s not like it’s normal.”
“okay.”
The Poison family is always in trouble whenever a member appears. What kind of family is this? Mediah’s tired voice sounds pitiful for no reason.
“But I thought it would be too shameless to call you on the weekend, so I called you on Monday morning. Oh, right. I almost forgot. Would you like to eat this before going into warp?”
Media handed me two pills. A red pill in my right hand, a blue pill in my left. A scene from the classic sci-fi film The Matrix suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Our destination is Antarctica. If we go there wearing just a padded jacket like that, we’ll probably freeze to death.”
“That may be true.”
Media cupped her thumb and index finger to pick up the pills.
“That’s why I prepared it! This red medicine here is a medicine with heat-radiating properties. It’s a medicine that traps body heat inside the body. To put it simply, if you have this one medicine, no matter what kind of cold region you’re in, you won’t freeze to death!”
She spoke powerfully.
“On the other hand, it is possible to maintain a constant body temperature even when going to a hot region.”
Long-term training is not possible in the physical world. Therefore, humans fall down one by one in the face of illness. Even superhumans who have to fight against demons are no exception.
The environment of the Demon Realm of Gehenna is harsh and dry. The weather changes constantly. In addition, a toxic element called magic floats in the air.
In this way, all elements of the devil torment humans.
The only way to build immunity to environmental changes and diseases is to adapt. Coincidentally, this also applies to magic power.
However, it was impossible to accumulate both, because magic and human physiology have completely opposite properties.
However, this does not mean that mankind would just suck its thumb helplessly. At least on Earth, humans are the apex of all creatures, occupying the top of the pyramid.
The brilliant scholars sought a method.
If I could do just one of those two things… … .
At the moment of choosing between the two, the research team chose the electronic-environment-and-disease-study. After that, they put their heads together and squeezed out their collective intelligence.
For the heroes of hope for humanity who fight against the demons.
In the battlefield and laboratory of Baektak, they fought their own war for many years.
And the fruit is this gorgeous, shiny, red-and-blue grain.
‘Fighting isn’t just for heroes.’
Each position is its own battlefield. Everyone is equally burdened with the task of the Great War.
‘But the nobles oppress and crush others just because they think they are superhumans. They want to solidify the privileges they have acquired.’
The only difference between a hero and an ordinary person is the presence or absence of protection, but that alone clearly creates a gap in status and treatment.
‘Those piglets who are completely ungrateful for the hard work of ordinary people.’
I think this is human arrogance, and I wonder if this is why the demons have been so powerful recently.
‘In a situation where even if we join forces, it won’t be enough.’
I smiled bitterly and looked at the media again.
“This blue pill prevents various diseases. By the way, Antarctica is an environment where most viruses cannot survive due to the extreme cold. But there are some that survive. What if you get infected by one of those? How many days would you be sick? If you were to catch a severe infectious disease, the whole world would fall into a pandemic.”
“So, does this medicine prevent all diseases?”
“That’s right, if you take it in advance, it can prevent 99.99% of diseases.”
“The people who created it are amazing. It’s a total panacea.”
Was it because of the existence of Gaho, or was it because it was 2034? This world’s scientific power was more innovative than that of Earth.
“It’s amazing. The unit price is a bit high, so it’s not yet widespread. But the research team deserves respect just for creating this medicine. In a way, they’ll save more people than our heroes.”
Media continues with a bright smile as if she is happy.
“And of course, our swordsman is deep.”
“yes?”
“Normally, I admire these drugs, but I don’t care about the people who made them. But you immediately thought of the research team. That’s why I praise you so much whenever I see you!”
What should I say?
‘It’s embarrassing.’
I feel like a newborn baby because I get so much support from just one casual remark.
I swallowed the two pills I was handed at once. After the foreign body feeling in my throat…
‘oh.’
I felt my arm. There were no visible signs, but I could feel it. The essence of cutting-edge pharmacology was spreading to every corner of my body.
Then the secretary, attendant, and media took turns taking it. The man clenched his fist and repeated it.
He shouted in an energetic voice.
“Oh… oh. This is the new drug Morpheus that I’ve only heard of… … . There’s a reason it costs 2 billion!”
I blinked. I thought I heard wrong. 2 billion?
“Excuse me. The pill we just swallowed was worth 2 billion?”
“To be exact, one party is 2 billion won, Cheongeom-nim. Since we took them at the same time, we would have swallowed a total of 4 billion won worth. Ugh- Thanks to Cheongeom-nim, I am able to enjoy such luxuries! Your name!”
I instinctively looked around. The secretary, the attendant, the principal, and me, the four of us… … .
I burst out laughing.
The money is frozen? No, it’s not.
We gulped down about 16 billion before we even started our journey.
If my first teacher had seen this, he would have held his stomach and laughed out loud.
“Fuck.”
* * *
We arrived at Antarctica almost as soon as we set off. To be honest, the word departure was meaningless. As soon as we set foot on the warp, we were at our destination.
“This is Antarctica.”
It’s pure white.
My first impression was like this. The upper part of the blank sheet of paper seemed to have been painted blue. Above the pure white horizon, mountain ridges rose up intermittently.
It was a fantastic scenery, like a scene from a dream cut out with scissors. The body temperature was also different, so it felt less real.
‘But it’s really not cold at all.’
Even though my breath and nose would blow out every time I breathed, my hands and feet didn’t get cold. Naturally, my fingers didn’t get cold or red.
‘The medicine is killing me.’
At that moment, I felt eyes on me and turned my head. In the distance, I saw a black and white flock struggling. It was a group of penguins. They were jumping into the sea, rubbing their bellies against the ice.
“What the-?”
A few of them looked at us and tilted their heads as if they sensed our presence. I thought their stupid expressions were quite cute.
One of the penguins broke away from my group. It waddled toward me, its orange flippers making alternating paw prints on the white floor.
Chop, chop, chop, chop.
I’ve heard that penguins are curious animals. They approach humans without hesitation when they first see them.
…but that penguin.
“Isn’t that too big?”
The male attendant said. As he said, he was of a different size. The secretary next to him muttered with a look of bewilderment.
“Emperor… Penguin… … ?”
I don’t think so.
Whatever the hierarchy, there’s no way that guy is a penguin, because he’s as big as a person.
However, it is too penguin-like to be called a demon. Moreover, it would have been strange for it to be hanging out with a group of penguins.
“… … .”
Until this moment, the principal had kept his mouth shut and said nothing. Even while remaining silent, his face only grew pale.
The penguin soon stood tall within arm’s length of us. The -76 degree Far East wind whipped between us and the penguin.
Phew.
The wind was chilling. The atmosphere was like a gun-toting scene in a Western movie. Instead of tumbleweeds rolling across the dirt, there was a blizzard.
Media frowned and let out a breath of white air. She spoke nervously.
“How about we stop joking around? How much more embarrassing are you going to do to your daughter in front of everyone?”
Swish.
The next moment, the penguin lifted both wings and grabbed the nape of its neck, then whined and twisted its neck from side to side.
The torso and head began to separate. No one could open their mouths at the strange sight.
Bbong-!
With a cheerful sound, the penguin’s head was pulled out. Then, like a Russian matryoshka doll, a new head sprouted inside. It was the face of a young man with green hair.
“Phuha!”
The young man breathed with a refreshing face, perhaps because he was stuffy. He shook his green hair and sprinkled sweat. In an instant, frozen beads of sweat fell to the floor.
The group of penguins who had been watching from afar were in an uproar.
“Keep on-! Keep on-! Keep on-!”
The way it flapped its wings and waggled its paws seemed to express its betrayal towards the human-faced penguin.
The most impressive reaction of all was that of a penguin who appeared to be a female. Her round eyes were filled with tears, as if she had been heartbroken.
Either way, the human-faced bird unzipped the zipper on its belly. This is the moment when birds evolve into primates.
“Victor Poison. He’s a marine biologist by profession, and a part-time employee of the Hero Association.”
The president of the association greeted the man with a penguin head tucked under his right armpit.
“Cheongeom, I’ve been waiting for you with bated breath! It’s been a century since I’ve felt this way, haha!”
“… … .”
It wasn’t all an exaggeration to say that I had been waiting with bated breath.
“I have prepared a gift for you, Cheongeom. You came all this way! It is a rare and precious gift, so I think you will like it.”
“Oh, yes… … .”
The association president had a sad smile on his lips.
“Okay! Let’s move for now. It’s a bit noisy.”
The president of the association took the lead and guided us. We followed him with unsteady steps. Behind us, the sobbing of a female penguin echoed throughout the Antarctic region.
