Chapter. 10 Lead and silver coins (13)
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The world became like this and many strange things happened.
A teenage boy whose life was all about books, movies, and games picked up a gun, lost his father, and became a survival expert by digging, farming, and stealing in the jungle.
I wandered after losing my mother, learned how to live alone, and fought monsters that made it impossible to believe that everything from reanimated corpses were originally human.
I had a strange military family in my head, I made good friends, and even though I didn’t intend to, I was labeled a hero.
But I can assure you, I have never experienced anything this strange in my 24 years of life.
“We’ve known each other long enough to say, ‘Nice to meet you,’ right?”
“Uh, um, well… right.”
“Then it’s nice to meet you, that would be more appropriate. Nice to meet you, ‘professor’. I’m Speed Wagon, Dana Elisha Hyacinth. “You can call me Dana.”
He must be embarrassed to introduce his name with his own mouth, and his pure white skin blushes slightly as if it would stain when he touches it. He is a good friend of mine who has been with me on the online network for 5 years. It was truly, truly, my first time experiencing something like this.
‘Oh, it’s awkward. No, it’s gone beyond the awkward level and I’m starting to feel disconnected from reality!’
A white and clean bed and equally clean blankets. It was a bed for patients, so the upper part of the bed was raised so that the patient could lean back and raise his upper body. However, she was so physically weak that even the small movement of straightening her posture to lean back was difficult and she had to catch her breath.
Every time I take a deep breath, my feminine body is clearly reflected in the light blue thin hospital gown, so I don’t know where to put my eyes, but that is the friend I have relied on for the longest time in my wasteland life.
‘Oh my God. You’re being a bit playful. It would have been less shocking to learn that Ian was a legendary, decadent handsome man.’
[LOL Even though I am less than two years old, if I were to sit here and watch your life, I would definitely know that something is very wrong with it. LOL]
Even now, if I opened my eyes, I felt like this was all an illusion and a dream, so I closed them and opened them, but what was in front of me was Speedwagon, who was still adjusting his clothes with very feminine gestures.
——
– Speed Wagon: Is he an idiot? I dont understand?
‘You can call me Dana.’
[Are you an asshole?]
‘Dana-’
[Are you an asshole?]
‘Dana~’
.
.
.
.
——–
‘f*ck, there’s no match, match! How can that be the same person?!’
In my confused mind, I remembered Hyde playing Speed Wagon on an endless loop, and I heard him laughing heartily. No matter how much I try to talk to him, he doesn’t respond, and he’s really acting like a loser, flashing past videos and the video of Dana ‘Mr.’ from before in his head. This situation seems to suit his taste quite a bit.
In the end, unable to endure the silence, I responded to her greeting with a sentence so disorganized that it was difficult to tell whether she was talking or throwing words around.
“Hmm. Well… nice to meet you… everything. Dana. “I am the ‘professor,’ Professor Park.”
It’s an awkward sentence that even when you say it yourself, all you can think is ‘I want to die’.
“Puhup!”
But what came back was not an awkward silence, but a light laugh.
“Ah really. Professor, you must be feeling quite awkward? When I see you being uncharacteristically nervous. Or… is it a harsh tone that was deliberately prepared to match the clothes? “I heard it’s so popular in the dome, so I guess you’re thinking of starting a new trend?”
Dana gently takes my extremely awkward words and turns them into jokes to encourage conversation.
As a person who makes a living by speaking, I say, ‘I’m an expert!’ The same thought crossed my mind for a moment, but that wasn’t important right now.
They say conversation is the catch of language. Since the opponent threw a good ball towards me, I have to catch it well and pass it cleanly back to the opponent. What is the topic? Dom, attire, popularity. It’s not a bad topic. There are so many stories to tell. Come on, I’m talking about Professor Park! It shows the true worth of a man who can fool around the impregnable world of March with just his tongue!
Like when figuring out an enemy’s plan in GG, among the words that were running around in the back of one’s throat and saying that they were the correct answer, I chose the one that seemed the most plausible and threw it into the awkward atmosphere.
“The house… is really nice. “There is an atmosphere.”
“….uh? Ah, well. yes. “It’s a bit of an unusual place to live, isn’t it?”
“That’s right… I mean. It has a quiet atmosphere and is nice and quiet. Ha ha ha ha ha.”
“Ha ha ha ha ha.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
-Again, silence.
[Cow! Ah, the left wall! This is a home run that flies with great disregard for the opponent’s favor! A batted ball that goes completely off topic and flies in the opposite direction! Finally, a frown appeared on the sickly woman’s face! It was almost like an awkward reaction like ‘the weather is nice today’ ahhh!]
Inside, Hyde was beyond sarcasm and was glowing,
Dana in front of me… was frowning slightly and sighing.
“…Whoa.”
At that small sigh, what little confidence I had left was torn to pieces like leaves in a typhoon.
‘No, I can’t. Help me, Hyde…. Shift, help me…. Either legs or both arms! Whether it’s the heart. I’ll give you everything. So help me…’
[Ding! That’s the wrong answer, Professor Park! What you should do now is not lie down! How can I make this rawhide-like stiffness feel like soft velvet?]
‘Damn it, if it were as easy as it sounds, I’d be here chatting with you…’
[What if a person whose best advantage is being able to speak well can’t speak? I think I came to work, not to meet women! Just like with Senadis! The enemy is deceiving you with its beguiling appearance and voice, so try to hypnotize it like this!]
Not a conversation of reason, but a human-to-human conversation. It’s good. Conversation is also the field I am most confident in.
If Speed Wagon, that is, Miss Dana Elisha Hyacinth, had been a unique situation, it would have been possible to put it together. It’s business. As the leader of a caravan seeking information, I speak softly and neatly, focusing on business-like conversations! It would have been possible to treat him as a wasteland person versus an unusual survivor.
‘But with this mess… I just can’t do that!’
Look at this.
A woman with a pale complexion smiling softly while lying on a hospital bed,
Sitting in front of him was a man dressed like a 60s mafia. He even had an awkward paper bouquet in one hand.
Just by looking at the outside, I would immediately kneel down and say, ‘I wanted to tell you this before you left me.’ It looks like it should be a serenade of love.
That was the situation I was facing now.
Ian prepared by asking for measurements, saying, ‘Before a big deal, we all need to look like professionals in the trade.’ The problem was that this outfit reflected his old-fashioned tastes. It looked amazing, but since there were no chemical fibers, the suit was made entirely of cloth, so the end result was something that a milk mafia would wear during the Prohibition era. The guys who were high-fiving me with happy expressions behind me sent it to me.
Thanks to this, I became like a man who came to meet his lover in a very traditional and classic way.
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The atmosphere has already cooled down.
The moment I watched Ian, who I couldn’t see from a distance, jump over a pile of books with great enthusiasm, I thought to myself, “It would be easier if he came and made a mess.”
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow
The housing AI next to Dana stumbled and flew over, flashing a pure white screen in front of my eyes.
Crack, crack, crack.
– Speed Wagon: Was it awkward? I guess this is more convenient?
“….”
Crack, crack, crack.
– Speed Wagon: It’s been so long since I’ve met someone in person that I didn’t know how to treat them. sorry.
Familiar black letters floating on a pure white screen.
When I looked up, I saw Dana holding an old keyboard on her lap and slightly waving her hand.
‘….It’s really him.’
An ID that pops up in a chat window and a person typing it in real time. Only then did I become convinced that this woman was my friend, Speedwagon, who I was looking for.
Even though we are obviously at the same distance as before, I can’t believe that one small trick can make me feel so at ease. It was obviously a conversation that took place in a chat room, so there should have been more distance, but for some reason, it felt like an old friend had come and sat next to me.
“It was a bit… unexpected. The way you talk is the same. The same goes for what you say. “I expected a dirty, skinny, bearded bespectacled guy holed up in an alcove with dozens of radio receivers.”
– Speed Wagon: So, do you think it would have been better that way?
With the sound of typing, Dana combs her hair with awkward hand movements like an actress. I couldn’t help but laugh at that mischievous look.
“I really wish I could say that was better, but you’re so attractive that I can’t bear to say that.”
– Speed Wagon: ‘Damn it. It’s a good harvest.’
The words flowed out so softly that I wondered if I had said it well, and flowed to the other side in the melting air. A soft, wavy hair caught my eye along with a muffled laugh.
Cracking, crackling, crackling-
– Speed Wagon: Had a chronic illness since childhood. Since I couldn’t leave the hospital, the online world was everything to me.
“no wonder. He was connected non-stop to the point where he was called the ghost of the community. He used to live like that.
– Speed Wagon: Honestly, I want to do everything other people do, and I want to stop eating bad hospital food. Out of resentment, I once prayed, ‘If only the world were ruined.’ But it really was ruined. To be honest, I have also tried the ‘status window’ thing. It didn’t come out.
Tsk tsk tsk tsk-
It’s really strange. Now, with this ID called Speed Wagon, you can see Dana smiling slightly and waving her hand. With just a few sentences of conversation, the boundary between the two characters, Speedwagon and Dana, was broken down.
[Look at that. It’s this easy.]
‘I think this was entirely Ian’s problem. You stupid bastard, shy outsiders have their own way of talking. ‘A stork can’t walk like a stork.’
The moment I thought of the word ‘walk’, I, who had been sitting on a pile of books far away from Dana, stood up and started stretching my legs.
Tap, tap, tap.
It’s not that I became more confident or anything, it just became more natural. It’s funny that I’m talking to him from such a distance when the guy who jokes and chats with me every day and is anxious to find out if I don’t know something is right in front of me.
Crack, crack, crack.
I passed the staggering drone, crossed the library, and stood in front of my old friend. Looking at his slightly surprised eyes, he felt like he wanted to pick on the guy.
‘The way you speak matches your clothes. Then you should act accordingly.’
After standing in front of her bed, he politely took off his hat and bowed.
“It’s been a long time since I last met you, Dana Elisha Hyacinth Speed Wagon.”
Dana bursts into laughter at the paper bouquet placed on her keyboard with a playful tone. A smile formed on her lips as she took the bouquet and took a deep breath as if it were real flowers.
“I was only going to give it about 5 points because I went through such a difficult time, but since I did a good job of finding the flowers I like, I guess I could give it about 7 points. Mmm, the scent of a book. “It’s my favorite scent.”
“Well, it’s an honor for the family.”
Smirk.
Giggling!
We were both dumbfounded by the theatrical appearance and ended up laughing.
I heard a little commotion from behind and turned around to see my friends, who were talking about killing me out of frustration, pointing their fingers in our direction and shaking hands as if they had accomplished a big mission.
Even though it’s not the kind of relationship they think.
The online friend I met after 5 years was a much more special and pleasant friend than I thought.
****
-And, he was also an incredibly capable friend.
“Two teams of convoys moved from the Area 47 dome to the Area 38 dome in the past month… I don’t know about the second team, but I know what happened to the first convoy.”
Wow!
“yes! Instead of wandering aimlessly through the cemetery, the right thing to do was to visit her! “Where are they now?”
“….Genie?”
Giiiing-
At her call, the drone that was busily moving around and organizing books came to her side after a month.
“Did you call me?”
“Could you please upload a file of missing people who have been confirmed to be from the Dome?”
“Geek, geek – the file cannot be found. “Pa-pa-pa-file does not exist.”
“Oh my gosh, don’t do that, just look for it carefully. Last month – Missing person – Confirmed – Must be in the dome.”
“check. check. The file was found, found, found.”
“Okay, good job.”
The sight of the housing AI not finding the file, but having to be called by the owner to find it, was as strange a scene as this library.
Dana stroked the old drone, which couldn’t speak and didn’t know how to find any files, as if it were a pet, and showed us the images that appeared on the screen one by one.
“This one here, this one, and this one that you can’t really see because it’s just a silhouette. “These are all the photos my informants sent me.”
“I’m an informant… Miss Dana, are you sure you filmed this properly? No matter how you look at this…”
“You can just talk comfortably, Ezel. It’s not like we’ve known each other for a day or two. Yes, it’s a variant. However, I confirmed that they were all the same, including their builds, external features, and flaws in the equipment they were wearing. “These people are probably the first convoy that left your dome.”
“…Then can you send these photos to the inspection department? “It may be cruel to the bereaved families, but solid evidence is needed to determine whether the missing people are dead.”
“What if I pay the right price?”
Fit!
Dana suddenly turned off the screen she was watching and looked around at us with puzzled faces and said.
“Seven years since the destruction began. I had help from many people and lost them all. The reason I have been able to survive until now, even though I have no physical ability, is because I was able to seize information faster than anyone else, value it, and manage it. “It’s like tuning a delicate violin, not just selling, but calculating the changes that occur by providing that information.”
“Control the situation through information… A little creepy, huh? miss.”
“Thanks for the compliments. “Anyway, the iron rule I’ve always followed was to receive compensation for any information and to hide myself, but today I broke both of those rules.”
“….The reason is that?”
“Because circumstances put me on that violin. It has become a situation where the information I provide affects my situation. So, as a result of long-term observation, the coordinates were provided to a ‘professor’, a survivor with whom I was close, and who showed the most ‘good intentions’ actions.”
Dana, who spoke without wavering even under pressure from Ian, took a deep breath once more and continued speaking.
“If you want more information about the information you requested, the whereabouts of the convoy / what is happening in the area below 40 / the movements of the area 38 dome / etc., then I would like you to grant a few of my requests.”
dump!
At Dana’s words, Ian sat down nearby with his unique, bizarre smile on his face.
“In return for information… That sounds good. There’s nothing that makes you itchy like kindness that doesn’t cost you anything. Okay, let’s see how big the request is. “I told you in advance that if the unit price is not right, we can refuse it too?”
“No, I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to refuse. “Because that’s the kind of request.”
Ian’s face, which had been grinning the whole time, distorted slightly.
“…Can you take responsibility for that?”
“of course. “This is not a problem limited to me; it concerns everyone who lives here.”
Dana, who looked very tired, turned on the drone’s screen that had been turned off, played a video, and said.
“Happy Blinds. I want you to stop those fanatics. “All of my informants were also affected, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but… at least I got this one thing.”
Crackling-
A video with only video and no sound.
In the video, there was a man carrying a box the size of an adult’s torso and people dressed like prisoners who were rapidly turning into Type 2 mutants in front of him.
It wasn’t dead people. It has been transformed alive. Among them, unlike the common Type 2 variant, there were some with dozens of eyeballs and some with their entire upper body falling off, leaving only the lower body.
“wait for a sec. this….”
“Classification-wise, it’s a type 3 variant. Because it is different from Types 1 and 2, which maintained their human form. Looking at its form, it doesn’t seem like it will show as much power as the famous ones, but Type 3 is Type 3. “Regardless of its power, the fact that it behaves differently from the behavior of the mutants we know is enough to be threatening.”
Dana, who slightly quenched her thirst with water next to the bed, looked into the eyes of each of the group members and spoke strongly.
“What Happy Blind always says. I remember?”
“ [Technological civilization must disappear, and ultimately all older generations of humanity with memories of the past must disappear.]”
Dana nodded at Ezel’s words as if he were possessed.
“okay. “I think they found the answer.”
****
fantasy,
