Chapter 229 – 229. Let’s Build a Symbiotic Relationship With Monsters

“No. Mister. “You’re alive, right?”

“Ugh. It hurts.”

“I’m going crazy.”

Why does this person have a fist-sized radio stuck to his chest? Moreover, why is he still alive and not dead?

What is even more terrifying here is that the radio and the uncle are ‘combined’ with something exquisitely stitched together, rather than simply being stuck in ignorance.

It looks as if he has undergone some kind of surgery. It’s like having a very basic implant.

“Agape. Do you know what this is?”

[I’m not sure. It is not from the world I was in.]

“What?”

[Something else came into the mix. No, maybe something that was originally in this world came back. Hmm. I need time to think.]

Even Agaf said he was not aware of this phenomenon.

“Huh.”

[First… It doesn’t feel like something ancient or old. Rather, it is something that originated from human civilization. Hmm. Indeed. Is that so.]

“What do you mean?”

[Usually, these strange things have an old thing or ancient god that can be said to be their source. However, this… Should I say, it’s like a single piece of malice blooming in the chaos of human civilization. What did they say about this? For a moment. I think I might remember it.]

Something twisted created by the selfishness of an advanced civilization.

The devil of the radio world.

[It’s strange. We decided to call this a monster.]

“Monster.?”

[Okay. It is something unknown that occasionally occurs in rapidly developing civilizations. It can be said to be a product of the malice unleashed by intelligent beings. A kind of will combination. Specification itself is meaningless. Most of the time it is a mixture of things whose meaning is unknown.]

“Fuck. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

[Just feel it. From the moment you try to understand, you are already playing into the hands of monsters.]

“Really?”

[Okay. There are things called monsters, and all beings they touch are distorted in this way.]

“Huh.”

After listening to Agaf’s explanation, Junho felt even stranger.

What crime did this man commit in his past life?

A person who was semi-vegetated due to photosynthesis skills now has to live with a radio attached to his chest.

Well, is this a type of human whose final evolved form exists separately?

Are you aiming for a complete living thing?

It won’t work. From now on, I will have to force Junho to use all the physical mutation-related skills and items.

Since this has already happened, how about making the strongest creature?

Yes, this is romance.

It is one of the three goals that men are most excited about.

The first is to become the strongest man in history. The second is to get a lot of women. And the third and final one is to become the strongest creature.

‘I have achieved the first and second to some extent. I’ll give up the third one to you.’

Because it’s not good for me to monopolize all three major romances.

[Hey. You’re already human too.]

“Hmm.”

After roughly ignoring Agaf’s words, I slapped him in the face and woke him up.

Because we can’t let them sleep in this cold place forever.

“Ugh. Ahhh!!!”

“That’s me. “Calm down.”

“Huh! Haaa!!! Wow, the speaker head is me!! OMG!!! Let go!!! Shiibaaaaal!!!!”

Shows signs of insanity. What on earth happened to me?

I do not know. First, I pinched and twisted his philtrum to calm him down.

“Kwaaaaa!!!!”

Pinching your philtrum is an effective way to calm your mind. To be precise, it is a forced recovery of reason through overwhelming pain. This method is sometimes used to forcefully wake up a person who has fainted.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Ugh. How. What am I.”

Junho continued rambling for a while before finally coming to his senses.

“What on earth is happening?”

“I feel like I was attacked by a monster.”

“Monster.?”

“Yes. “It’s like a modern-day monster.”

“Huh. They were strange guys. Conversation doesn’t work either. It looks strange too. There was a speaker attached to the head… Your voice came out from there, so I reacted without realizing it and then stopped…”

“Imitated your voice?”

“Uh. When you called me I guess it was recorded.”

“Huh.”

But why on earth did the monsters contact this man?

Is there something you wanted to convey? The fact that he had a radio, rather than another object, planted on his chest in the first place was somehow meaningful.

Crackling.

And the moment I asked that question, a radio signal came out from the radio hanging on Junho’s chest.

“Ugh!! Why is this on my chest!!!”

“Calm down!”

Only then did Junho discover the radio stuck in his chest and screamed again.

Fortunately, the dark spirits are killing the zombies. Because the man screamed so much, all the zombies around him came.

[Try to tune the frequency. It seems like he’s trying to convey something.]

“What?”

As I’m calming the man down, Agaf tells me to tune the radio.

“Mister. “Just a moment.”

“Huh?”

I turned the dial on the radio that was stuck on his chest.

“Keueuuuuu!?”

As soon as the dial turned, the man’s expression became strangely distorted, and then he opened his mouth wide and started making strange noises.

“Chijijijijijik—“

It was like radio static.

“Crazy.”

Was this a radio powered by the man’s vocal cords?

Even in radio mode, the man’s pupils were dilated, as if he had lost consciousness.

Since I had already started, I had to see it through to the end, so I continued to tune in to the frequency.

When the frequency reached 101, proper sound began to be heard.

“Ah. De-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-deul-sip, nicaa, ca, ca-a. “C’mon.”

Several voices were heard overlapping.

It was like a list of words created by stitching together various broadcasts.

“I can hear it.”

I answered the radio.

I was wondering what they were doing, but they spoke to me first, so I decided to talk first.

I don’t know how to deal with it right now… I need to get some clues first.

“What did you want to say?”

“Right. Woo. We.”

“…”

“The foundation. House. Hometown. Nest. A place to return to. Loss. Lost. Extinction. Catastrophe. Civilization.”

“What?”

“A place that cannot be recovered. Dreaming of Nakhyang. Please take it back. Sponsoring children.”

“Fuck. What are you talking about?”

A commercial song from a public service announcement that I had heard somewhere was played, and the voices of the elderly, children, men and women poured out in a mixture.

And they spewed out short, disconnected words like crazy.

“Krrrrm.!!”

Moreover, tears poured from the eyes of the man who was handling this, and her face gradually turned red.

“Calm down first! “If this person falls behind, I will go to war with you.”

“Extinction. Extinction. Extinction. Ugh. Stop. Maintain equipment. Stopped working.”

Whisk.

The man collapsed.

“Chijijijik… Ugh.”

Noise also disappeared.

It seemed like the monsters had temporarily escaped from his body.

[Hmm.]

Agaf was lost in thought as he looked at the fallen man.

I tried to keep up with the situation without really understanding what was going on.

‘Extinction. What is extinction?’

They kept mentioning that something was missing. Also, hometown or home was emphasized.

What do you want to say?

[Maybe. I think these guys were parasites on human civilization.]

“Gisaeng?”

[Okay. Darkness created by humans. I was immersed in it and enjoying a cozy existence without responsibility… Then the house disappeared.]

“I can’t believe the house is gone. Ah.”

Now I finally realize what they are trying to say.

Their house.

“Darkness created by humans.”

[Okay. Internet. Network. Virtual world. The monsters who lived in the radio waves lost their homes. As human civilization collapses.]

“…”

It was something like that.

Strange. These guys are similar to monsters.

However, unlike monsters, these are beings that cannot exist alone.

To mankind, if monsters are bacteria, monsters are viruses. Monsters are people who need someone to cling to in order to survive.

Moreover, the background of its birth is due to the excessive development of human civilization.

“As humans walk the path to destruction, these people also follow the path to destruction.”

[Due to the nature of these things, they must be observed in some form in order to maintain their existence. Whether in the form of urban legends or through rumors. Otherwise, it has to leave a trace and be recognized by humans, either as a meme on the net or as a horror material.]

“Now that it’s become impossible… Are they contacting us directly?”

[Okay. These monsters lose their power the moment their identity is revealed. They forced themselves to appear in order to maintain their existence.]

An existence without responsibility. As humans disappeared, the monsters that existed without any effort to produce and consume by humans had no place to go and asked for help.

“That’s a funny story.”

[It’s actually a funny story. Miscellaneous things that thrive on human malice or feelings of wealth. It’s like finding a human only after the human disappears.]

“Should I ignore it?”

[No. Strange things are definitely helpful.]

“What?”

[What these guys need is a human who will recognize them, remember them, and consume them. In short… These guys are in a situation where they have to help humans to survive. The monsters that used to steal human souls as urban legends have now become a kind of twisted guardian deity. So let’s set up a negotiating table. This is your chance to recruit these guys.]

“Recruiting…”

[The triumphs of civilization left behind by mankind are everywhere. Computers, mobile phones, CCTV, televisions, radios, game consoles, etc.]

“Why is that?”

[Building the Internet with strange things.]

“?”

What on earth does this mean?

Why does Agaf have such a high level of knowledge about modern civilization in the first place?

[Studied. To be exact, I peeked into your memories.]

“Then you’re saying it’s based on my knowledge. How can you know better than me?”

[You can think of it as reconstructing your knowledge and making it mine. It went through some kind of upscaling process. Your knowledge is the foundation, but mine has become deeper.]

“Huh.”

For some reason, he seemed to know the Internet terminology well. When did you take a peek at my memory?

“I understand first. To put it simply, if we make monsters ours, we can use the Internet, right?”

[Okay. Because the monsters that have contacted us now are like internet ghosts. If you actively use them, it will definitely help your life.]

“Hoo.”

Is it possible to use a phone without any foundation as long as you have a terminal? This is a very good thing. Moreover, if you use these monsters well, you can probably use them as a means of attack.

[It could be made into a guardian deity.]

“You can turn an urban legend into a guardian deity. Just hearing what you say makes me so trustworthy.”

First, following Agaf’s advice, I decided to accept these monsters.

I think the reason these guys contacted us was because we were living the best life in this country.

“You mean we just need to create an environment where we can crawl in and live?”

[Okay. Rob the PC room. All you have to do is get a bunch of main bodies and supply power with a simple generator.]

“Okay.”

If evil spirits have taken root in Busan, urban legends have taken root in our base.

It’s smooth.

Maybe.