Chapter 200
In the grimoire Pnakotic, the Elder Things were called 'mysterious scholars.'
That's how much the Elder Things were interested in various elements and actively sought to identify them.
After understanding the principles, they would apply them to create new technologies or life forms. Such things were the true joy of the Elder Things and the only entertainment that never grew tiresome over time.
It was natural for them to show deep interest in him, a suddenly appeared alien species.
[Earth-Republic of Korea. Question, planet location?]
"I think it's probably hundreds of millions of light-years away from here... And it's not Earth-Republic of Korea, the planet's name is Earth and there's a country called Republic of Korea inside it."
[Concept revision. Earth. Question. Planet environment?]
"It's difficult to speak specifically about the environment. First, there are tremendously many people like me on one star, so I can't really say the environment is positive."
[Question. People. Meaning?]
"It's what we call our species on Earth. We also call them people or humans." [Understanding. Request explanation continuation.]
"Where did I leave off, ah. Anyway, while living, many pollutants are produced."
[Question. Pollutants. Production process?]
"Huh? Well, because people create factories and chemical substances to make things they need while living."
[Repeat question. Factory. Meaning? Question. Chemical substances. Meaning? Question. Explanation of things needed by people species.]
...But wasn't their interest too excessive?
They bombarded him with questions about every single word he spoke, making it impossible to talk.
Moreover, even though he was human too, his ability was insufficient to explain Earth from an omniscient alien perspective.
And since they were curious about even words he thought were ordinary, it was becoming increasingly bothersome.
Several hours after being discovered infiltrating by the Elder Things and barely making a peace agreement.
He was being dragged by them to explain about 'Earth' and 'Republic of Korea.'
They were almost ecstatic about the unknown planet they had never heard of.
Even when his legs hurt from standing and talking the entire time without anywhere to sit, and he eventually sat down on the floor, the Elder Things surrounded him and excitedly vibrated their tentacle bundles every time he answered their questions.
[Question. People species characteristics?]
[Question. Species growth process?]
[Question. Physical features?]
[Emotional information. Interest.]
"No, no. Wait a moment. Wait a moment."
Even sitting down, his stamina was steadily being worn away.
Even if he wanted to set a limit on the number of questions per individual, this one looked like that one and that one looked like this one, so he doubted whether he could count them.
At this rate, he would collapse before finding Yurik!
"People aren't very good in terms of physical durability, you know? If I'm active this much, my body can't move anymore."
[Question. People characteristics? Individual characteristics?]
"Usually all people are like that, but among them I'm particularly weak. Right now I need rest time."
[Understanding. Acceptance. Agreement. People species rest affirmative. Request items?]
"...Something fluffy? It would be good if there were blankets or beds where I could lie down."
[Question. Blankets? Fluffy? Species characteristics? Rest place essential elements? Individual preference?]
He was going crazy.
In the end, after explaining that 'unlike you, people don't have flight ability so they don't rest by flying up and sticking to the ceiling, but have the habit of lying down in soft places to rest,' he was finally released.
The Elder Things didn't have the blankets or beds he requested, so they seemed a bit flustered,
But soon they brought something like a pile of grass that had been unused somewhere and spread it out nicely.
It wasn't what he had imagined, but where was he anyway?
In this regression, he had been sleeping on the ground the entire time, so he lay down on the bed with tears of gratitude in his eyes.
He should rest just a little now.
While thinking this, when he turned his head, the Elder Things were keeping their distance from him, staying far away.
"Is there some problem?"
[Human rest scene captured. Observing.]
"...Don't you guys sleep either?"
[Explanation request, sleep.]
"Never mind... But if you watch like that, I won't feel very good."
[Alien species behavior observation opportunity. Observation request.]
He really was going crazy.
No matter how much it was him, he couldn't help but be concerned with alien life forms watching him.
In the end, he tried to ignore them and focused only on closing his eyes and organizing his thoughts.
How much time had passed?
After being quiet for a long time, he could hear the Elder Things chattering among themselves with small whistling sounds.
[Human. Rest behavior observation in progress.]
[No flight ability. Gravity in effect. Ground rest. Logic accepted.]
[Human physical durability decline. Rest necessity accepted.]
[Human movement absent. Similar behavior, life activity cessation.]
[Negative! Human life activity cessation negative!]
[This individual's communication redefinition. Human rest, similar behavior activity cessation. Human activity cessation negative, agreement.]
[Negative! Negative! Communication inadequacy improvement request. Human activity cessation negative!]
[Agreement. That individual's communication inadequacy improvement request. Human life activity cessation negative.]
Ah, so one was saying that him lying still like this 'looked like he was dead,' and the others were scolding asking why he would say such a thing?
They were ridiculous guys.
*
About three days since entering the giant city.
He was attempting cultural exchange with the Elder Things in his own way while searching for Yurik.
Since he had seen Yurik being captured by a Shoggoth, he needed to find out what kind of existence Yurik was to the Elder Things,
And since he was currently pushing the concept of being an 'alien species that crash-landed on the planet,' it seemed better to hide the fact that he had connections with Yurik.
Fortunately, the Elder Things he saw with his own eyes weren't as fierce or barbaric as he had imagined.
They were 'alien species' with their own civilization, possessing intelligence, behavioral patterns, and high sensitivity befitting an evolved civilization.
They had funeral culture, and meal times for nutrient intake existed. They were even developing something like cooking methods.
The way Elder Things communicated with each other, understanding each other's emotions and logic while developing opinions, wasn't much different from people.
Their intelligence was also high, so it was fascinating how their conversational abilities developed based on the information he shared.
If there were other shortcomings.
Their curiosity was too excellent and they all had high desire to explain mysteries.
[Question. Is it correct that humans have something called 'names' as one method to distinguish each individual?]
"Where did you hear that again?"
[Before two sunsets. Shared from another individual.]
"I must have told the story at some point. People call that 'names.'"
[Emotional expression, protest. Request rapid sharing of human culture.]
"People don't look exactly the same on the outside like you guys, but they still give each other something called names. Names have various meanings. It's not just simply to call individuals, but more... it contains hopes for that individual."
[Question. Hopes?]
"When a human individual is born, the human individuals in the role of caring for the new individual have hopes that the new individual will grow up healthy, or become an excellent individual."
He was going down to the 19th underground floor with one Elder Thing.
It was dark, but since ores were embedded in the corridors and walls, it wasn't completely invisible.
He had mentioned once that humans' senses are blocked without light, and this was a kind of consideration the Elder Things had done for him since then.
They were quite favorable toward him.
"They don't know whether it will come true or not, but they look at it that way. There's something called possibility. So they give names to the new individual according to those hopes."
[Understood. Does this individual also have a name?]
"My name is..."
He hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"...I'm called Yu Yesung."
[What are the hopes of other human individuals in the name?]
"The first 'Yu' indicates a group of similar human individuals, so it doesn't have much meaning. What was 'Ye' again."
19th floor. This seemed to be a storage for various minerals.
Minerals excavated while digging down the castle overflowed in each room. Unlike those embedded in walls or floors, these were ordinary.
They were probably something like iron ore.
Here too, no place suitable for confining Yurik was visible.
"Among Yesung, 'Seong' I heard means the character for containing and filling (盛). As for 'Ye,' I don't like it much, but I remember someone clicking their tongue asking why such a Chinese character was used in the name."
Was that person someone who read fortunes? His memory was hazy.
The Elder Thing's five split heads tilted toward him.
[Question. Does this individual prefer to be designated as Yu Yesung?]
"I'm probably used to that."
[Question. Does this individual prefer having individual designation methods for other individuals?]
"Are you asking me to give you guys names?"
[Affirmative.]
Wow. Not only had he gone back 1 billion years, but now he was about to give names like Duck-bae Chun-ja Mong-sil to alien species.
At this point, wasn't the world bullying him?
"Later. I'll think about it. By the way, until when will this city construction continue?"
[Topic change. Meaning is gentle negative. This individual has learned human language.]
"Haha. I don't like clever kids like you."
[Unknown estimated period until city construction completion. Reason, variable factors added.]
"Variable factors?"
[Tools created by this species. Negating hypnosis, escaping from control. 86 cases occurred so far and city construction delayed. Emotional expression, displeasure.]
If it was tools the Elder Things spoke of, there was only one.
The slaves they had created, Shoggoths.
In a way, from the Elder Things' perspective, it was natural not to speak of Shoggoths as living creatures or species.
Originally Shoggoths had no intelligence or ego.
They only had cruel instincts to eliminate something, and aside from that, they were nothing but giant, powerful jelly masses that could freely create forms.
The Elder Things used hypnosis to control these Shoggoths according to their purposes.
The strange woodwind instrument sounds spread throughout the city including the Shoggoth activity radius.
The instrument performance he had heard when first approaching the city was powerful hypnosis that made Shoggoths into slaves.
However, if there was one problem the Elder Things hadn't fully grasped.
Shoggoths were life forms, not tools. And all life forms evolve in some way.
Shoggoths that had been like giant single-celled amoebas could also start dividing to adapt to external environments after a certain point.
If that happened, controlling Shoggoths would become difficult, and eventually...
"Come to think of it, I've toured your city this far, but I've never seen Shoggoths up close. Won't you go see them together?"
[Emotional expression, concern. Possibility of tool control failure reoccurrence exists. Worry about impact on friendly relationship.]
"How about viewing from a distance? There were many tower-like things at the edges too. Can't we go there?"
[Consideration.]
Though he still didn't know the whereabouts of Yurik who had been captured by Shoggoths, if they became violent, there was a high possibility Yurik wouldn't be safe either.
Before the situation became uncontrollable, he needed to check dangerous parts in advance.
The Elder Thing briefly stirred its five heads before pointing them sharply.
[Safe distance securement possible. Acceptance, request accepted. Recommend upward movement action. Request this individual's accompaniment.]
He had no reason to refuse accompaniment.
Moreover, this Elder Thing had shown him favor by recommending they fly together.
Walking from the 19th underground floor to the 1st floor would be too terrible, so he naturally accepted.
The experience of being wrapped in large tentacles and transported wasn't very pleasant, but it was convenient to be able to go up to the 1st floor in just a few seconds.
When the Elder Thing landed on one of the towers at the city's edge, he could finally escape from the sticky tentacles.
"Are all those your tools?"
[Affirmative. Route establishment for material movement between new city and other cities.]
"You mean construction materials?"
He didn't know where the existing cities were, but it was truly a vast plan.
Looking like this now, roads were continuously being laid outside the city.
Shoggoths were each moving stones and wood five times larger than their own bodies,
And flattened ones were grinding down the laid stones while sweeping the entire floor.
Looking at it this way, they were nothing short of versatile.
While he was scanning to see if any of them were behaving strangely, he suddenly noticed a pile of stones not moving below the tower.
What was struggling to move stones impossibly large for a person to lift while continuously wiping sweat from its face was,
"-Yurik?"
It was young Yurik, who had become gaunt in the meantime.