Chapter 157
“Since we don’t know what any of the three places are, I don’t really have a preference.”
Lee Hoin muttered that.
“Underground city, machine junkyard, green hill…”
Kim Taekjin, who had been murmuring the keywords, spoke up.
“If I had to choose, I think going to a ‘city’ would be better. Since it has the name ‘city,’ it’s likely more civilized. If it’s more civilized, it should be easier to navigate.”
A fairly reasonable deduction.
If you had to pick one of the three, the underground city sounded best. It at least lived up to the name “city.” Lee Hoin seemed to recall Hermadion from before and hesitated.
“That place was a fortress, though. I think the hill might be better too… it sounds peaceful.”
Kim Taekjin immediately countered.
“There are no peaceful places. Isn’t that right?”
At that rebuttal, Lee Hoin was momentarily speechless.
—
[That’s a valid point. There are no peaceful places.]
[You’ll have to accept that.]
—
Lee Hoin already knew it too. In this world, “peace” was more of a trap… a false illusion. He knew that. It wasn’t that he said it out of ignorance.
‘He just picked it instinctively.’
Choosing something even slightly more comfortable or peaceful, it was basically a survival instinct.
“Then the city? I think the city’s better too. Hermadion was a fortress. Something with a clear, concrete label feels safer than something abstract.”
At my words, Lee Hoin nodded after some serious thought. He had half-ignored Kim Taekjin’s argument, but now he seriously considered mine. Watching that, Kim Taekjin raised an eyebrow slightly, gave an awkward smile, then shrugged once.
And just like that, the decision was made, we would head to Haegi.
***
—
[You have selected ‘Underground City: Haegi.’]
[Chapter 31, Underground City: Haegi ▼]
Why do underground cities come into existence?
Is it because the races living there don’t need ultraviolet light?
Unfortunately, no. Every being in this city requires ultraviolet light.
Then why do they live underground?
The answer is simple.
Every land carries a deeply rooted history of hatred and exclusion.
The continent where ‘Haegi’ exists has long been dominated by about 80% by what is called the “perfect race,”
the ‘Cheonsa Tribe.’
“Cheonsa” here does not mean 天使 (angel).
It is written as 天寫.
Heaven (天), and to copy (寫).
A race that “copied the heavens.” A race that imitated gods.
To such a race, wouldn’t all other races appear inferior?
Their very name implies they copied the heavens.
Those who fled from them went underground. That was the beginning.
A history of doing anything to survive.
Even if it meant giving up sunlight.
Now then, which race would you like to begin as?
[〉 Human Race
[〉 Chimera (Locked)
[〉 Weaver Tribe (Locked)
.
.
—
The only option available to me was “Human.”
That made sense. It wasn’t like I could transform into beasts or go berserk.
“For now, I can only choose Human.”
“Same here.”
Then Kim Taekjin, after staring at the options for a moment, said:
“I can choose not only Human, but also the Sul Tribe.”
The Sul Tribe was a race with dragonfly-like wings on their back and a faint glow across their bodies. Beyond their appearance, their defining trait was the ability to contract with spirits.
As naturally as breathing.
‘I don’t know the exact condition that allows someone to choose the Sul Tribe…’
Usually, around Chapter 30, people didn’t have anything particularly extraordinary. Perhaps one of Kim Taekjin’s traits aligned perfectly with that race.
‘There must be some overlap.’
Spirits.
And spirits definitely favored certain qualities… pure, transparent souls. The Sul Tribe was born with that kind of nature, so it wasn’t strange at all.
If anything, it would benefit Kim Taekjin.
“Then why not choose that? We don’t have any option besides Human.”
Kim Taekjin nodded without much hesitation.
—
[You have selected ‘Human.’]
[You have become the lowest of the lower class in the underground city.]
[Among the already inferior races left in this underground city, you are the most inferior of them all.]
[Run. If you draw attention, you might be killed!]
[Synchronization: 1%]
—
My vision shifted in an instant.
Lee Hoin and I opened our eyes in a corner of a plaza… back alley territory, where people’s eyes didn’t reach.
Beyond the alley, the outside looked surprisingly bright. The central plaza had an open ceiling through which natural light poured in. Above it, an artificial sky stretched so convincingly that it made you momentarily forget this was an underground city.
Artificial lighting filled the space. Even this back alley was faintly lit.
Lee Hoin frowned.
“…Lowest of the lower class?”
Ignoring him as he muttered the phrase repeatedly, I looked out toward the plaza.
All kinds of different races moved about… spider-legged beings, beastmen, creatures closer to animals than humans. Many looked like creatures straight out of fantasy.
Elves, trolls, goblins.
Most of them wore steampunk-style outfits, which felt oddly mismatched.
Then I turned back toward the alley.
A foul-smelling backstreet.
There, crouched figures gathered, races that were not “welcome” in the plaza.
Surprisingly, the majority weren’t humans.
They were chimeras.
A lion’s face, a humanoid torso, goat-like legs.
Chimeras with no consistent defining traits.
More than a race, they were closer to “mutations” or pets of the Cheonsa Tribe.
‘Most of the chimeras in Haegi were abandoned.’
Some could reproduce, but most couldn’t. Yet their numbers were still large. The reason was simple.
The Cheonsa Tribe viewed other races as inferior, but they liked aesthetically pleasing, obedient creatures displaying traits of other races.
Thus, chimeras became a trend as pets.
Those deemed “ugly” were discarded… thrown into the world’s trash heap.
And that trash heap was this underground city, Haegi.
—
[Not that surprising they’re discarded.]
[After all, they’re beings created by imitating racial traits merely as decorations or pets.]
—
That was true.
Chimeras were disliked for that very reason.
They combined traits of many races, but in ways that those races found offensive.
For example, someone might think long ears defined elves and give chimeras “elf ears,” but actual elves didn’t value long ears that highly; goblins had them too.
Elves instead prized sharp pupils; the sharper, the more beautiful.
The Cheonsa Tribe misunderstood these traits entirely.
And beyond that…
Chimeras were inherently submissive.
They needed someone to rely on to survive. They had no concept of achieving anything on their own.
They were born that way, everything about them designed to be obedient pets.
‘They’re abused by every race.’
As with all ruling classes, frustration trickled downward.
Since other races couldn’t oppose the Cheonsa Tribe, all that resentment naturally fell onto the chimeras.
Despite being living beings, they weren’t even treated as such.
Another form of hatred.
Humans were treated slightly better than chimeras, but…
‘Both are still confined to the back alleys.’
If we stepped into the plaza, within three minutes, we’d either be chased by guards or pelted with stones.
I scanned the surroundings, then pulled Lee Hoin into a corner.
“Put this on.”
I handed him a long robe I had prepared. Disguise robes were always useful, so I never sold them.
The heavy robe reached his ankles; on me, it dragged along the ground.
As I pulled up my own hood, I said:
“Don’t take the hood off.”
Like some cliché, no dramatic moment where the wind blows it off to reveal your identity.
I pressed it down firmly.
The thick fabric and heavy hood sagged forward slightly, blocking about half my vision, but it was manageable.
Then I stepped out of the alley.
“….”
Someone nearby glanced at me briefly, then turned away… clearly uninterested.
But what caught my attention wasn’t that person, nor the passing races.
“─!”
“─ -!”
Languages I couldn’t understand at all.
—
[‘Haegi’ is a rather unfriendly world.]
—
Damn it.
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