96 – Jaehwan Tak
I doubted my ears for a moment.
I wondered if I had heard something wrong.
‘No, what……. Are you talking casually, as if you were talking about everyday life?’
I don’t know how to react to this.
It was more embarrassing than when she heard that Kim Young-ji was a demon king in her previous life. If Kim Young-ji had uncovered the truth of her step by step while investigating her background in advance, Instructor Tak Jae-hwan had suddenly jumped in without any warning.
‘Looking at them casually talking like that, it doesn’t seem like it was a secret at all…’
I had no intention of hiding it.
It was just a nuance that I forgot to say it because I thought it was not an important fact.
Why are there no ordinary people around me?
I don’t know if Baek So-ah, Seo Han-bit, and even Cha Yoo-ra will reveal that they are not human.
‘But should a homunculus be classified as a monster?’
If you think about it for a bit, it doesn’t seem like that.
If it were a monster, the iron rice bowl would have sensed it and taken precautions.
Anyway.
At the shocking remarks of Instructor Tak Jae-hwan, everyone including me was making stupid faces.
On the other hand, Instructor Tak Jae-hwan still had a calm expression. Instructor Tak Jae-hwan looked around at us standing there and said with a face as if there was something wrong.
“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s not the first time I’ve seen a homunculus.”
“Yes? It’s the first time I’ve seen it…”
Seo Han-bit replied as if it were absurd.
“Instructor Han Yumi is also a homunculus like me.”
Instructor Tak Jae-hwan then added another shocking remark.
I don’t know where to start with this.
Was the homunculus actually a fairly common species?
Enough to blend in casually with human society?
I wondered if my common sense was lacking.
Seeing that the faces of Kim Young-ji and Seo Han-bit were also stained with astonishment, that didn’t seem to be the case again.
—Then Juice-sama was also a monster like us? Somehow, it looked more like a monster than a human.
—Huh? Is Juice a monster?
Pingpingi and Kkaebi questioned the identity of Instructor Tak Jae-hwan.
“Uh… Should homunculus be classified as a monster? Aren’t you still human?”
Kim Young-ji tilted her head and asked back.
I also thought she was closer to a human than a monster like she said, but I wasn’t sure.
Of course, the question was immediately answered.
“···Humans are right. If it was a monster, I wouldn’t have been able to become a seeker.”
Instructor Tak Jae-hwan, who was looking at us pitifully, gave a definite answer. There is no need to doubt that you are human.
“Um… Come to think of it, if you are a person who has built a wall with studying history, you may not know it well. You don’t need to know much, but let me explain a little about the homunculus.”
For over 30 minutes, the class on the history of the homunculus was held.
***
The history of the homunculus was like this.
In order to block the monsters from the north, the Republic of Korea needed more seekers, so it mass-produced homunculus by borrowing the power of seekers who had the only alchemist job.
However, the creation of a homunculus was criticized by the world as an anti-human act, so further mass production was stopped.
And the World Explorers Federation put this kind of pressure on South Korea.
Their existence may harm human dignity.
So, dispose of all the homunculus you’ve made before.
Of course, the pressure was completely ignored.
Because the government has already classified the homunculus as a species that is neither a monster nor a machine, but an unequivocal human.
He made the choice to turn the whole world into an enemy, saying that he could not slaughter the citizens of his own country, who had personalities, like livestock.
I was slightly moved to hear that.
As it turned out, the actual purpose of the government was to use the homunculus as a biological weapon.
We poured military funds into mass production at best,
It would be a waste to dispose of it without even using it.
In this way, the government went ahead with the homunculus explorer training project that was originally intended to be carried out.
The homunculus that were born at that time reached about 1,000 people, including Instructor Tak Jae-hwan and Instructor Han Yu-mi, and all of them had 5 cost and had high job adaptability. The homunculus who grew up receiving systematic education at the homunculus training facility were put into the battlefield when they were 10 years old in human age.
The project was a success.
Homunculi were so outstanding that they were comparable to first-class or semi-special class searchers even though they were still young.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was the first-class contributor to stopping the northern monsters, and all of the thousand homunculus were recorded as war heroes in history.
Although, at that time, only five homunculus survived the war against monsters, and those five also suffered serious injuries and ended up sleeping in medical artifacts for over 30 years.
“Excluding me and Instructor Han Yu-mi, the other three are still asleep. Well, like us, he will wake up one day.”
Instructor Tak Jae-hwan and Instructor Han Yu-mi woke up 20 years ago, and they said that they were recognized for their contributions and gained human status, and that they were discharged from the military and academy, respectively, and acted as seekers.
As an aside.
It is said that most of the dungeons owned by Instructor Tak Jae-hwan were inherited. To the first-class alchemist who gave birth to him.
I asked why only Instructor Tak Jae-hwan drove the dungeon.
The answer that came back was spectacle.
“In the will, it was written that only male homunculi would inherit the dungeon.”
“Why?”
“The alchemist is said to be a male chauvinist. Of the five survivors, I was the only male, so he naturally dominated the dungeon.”
“Did Instructor Han Yumi say anything?”
“As soon as Han Yu-mi woke up, she was adopted into a wealthy family. She didn’t seem to care.”
I had a lot to say about the alchemist, but I held back.
In a way, he’s like Instructor Tak Jae-hwan’s father.
“Are you evolving more properly than that?”
Instructor Tak Jae-hwan looked at my guide book and asked.
FYI, I wasn’t just standing still and listening to the story.
Listening to the story, I evolved various monsters in my spare time, and the dungeon subjugation was still in progress.
“Yes. I also evolved Yongyong to a 4-star, and I think I can evolve it to a 5-star by finishing the next area.”
“Is that so? Then I just have to evolve Yongyong and return.”
Like this, the subjugation in the dungeon was slowly coming to an end.
Ah. And I’m the only one who really listened to what I just said.
Pingpingi and Kkaebi listened for about a minute and seemed to get bored, so they focused only on subjugating monsters.
Seo Han-bit listened intently, but she did not understand a thing. It was because of her lack of concentration.
‘I said that everything I’ve told you so far is close to common sense. We didn’t have common sense…’
Instructor Tak Jae-hwan said that if he had studied properly in high school, he could not have known history.
Seo Han-bit and Kim Young-ji seemed to be seriously neglecting their studies.
What am I?
Bing’s former owner was a guy who didn’t even go to school properly, so he couldn’t remember studying history like that.
‘Anyway, Instructor Tak Jae-hwan was a homunculus… That’s good news for me.’
I remembered the temporarily sealed skill.
Leatherface.
Not currently available,
If you take an artifact that temporarily drastically reduces your stats and drink alcohol with a high alcohol content, you should be able to fully manifest it.
‘The common feature of homunculus is that they do not have the emotion of fear. They said it was random if there were no other wealth emotions.’
Instructor Tak Jae-hwan.
I can easily overcome it even if I transform, so I decided to ask for help to analyze the cause of my illness later if I get a chance.
If you use it well without penalty.
It will be a useful ability when dealing with fake gods called writers.
***
After completing research and development of artifacts, Iron Rice Bowl was returning to the mansion with Cha Yu-ra.
─Tea assistant. I’m thirsty. Bring some Coke.
“Oh, yes! Hang on!”
Cha Yoo-ra, who became a faithful servant of the iron rice bowl, quickly pulled out a drink from the vending machine.
“Now here!”
─Isn’t this Coke Zero?
“Coke Zero? You mean Coke with a synthetic sweetener like aspartame instead of sugar?”
—That’s right. I usually just drink it.
“No, then let’s talk from the beginning…. I’m not even a gunsmith, how do you know that? Anyway, I’ll bring it back, so give me that Coke.”
─It’s done. Seeing the tea assistant’s face, this time I’m going to drink a special Coke.
“······Wait a minute. But don’t you gain weight because you’re a robot? Is there any reason to drink Coke Zero?”
—You mean it.
“Are you doing this just because you want to bet something on me?! Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you drink Coke!”
—Shut up. Before zeroing it out.
The two, who had become extremely close, entered the alleyway while having a small talk. It was a shortcut leading to Passasac Mansion.
In the meantime.
─·······.
“·······.”
The iron rice bowl and Cha Yu-ra stopped walking with their mouths shut at the same time.
It was a familiar alley because it was a street I always walked, but today I felt a sense of incongruity.
“Rice bowl. Isn’t something creepy?”
─I’m not sure, but I’m guessing something is there. Tea assistant, get ready for battle.
The two took a step back and each drew his weapon.
That moment.
The space in front of them began to distort, and a portal emitting black light was created in an instant.
Then, three dolls slowly began walking out of the portal.
Those who appeared were not human.
On the left is a red-skinned oni.
On the right is a Fallen Archangel with black and white wings.
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Lastly, in the center stood a dark-haired girl who looked like an iron rice cooker.
The girl who looked very unpretentious looked at the iron rice bowl and said hello with an expressionless face.
“Nice to meet you. Me in the past.”