EP.29 Train (2)

 

“The train you’re looking at now is a structure made up of five cars, each with a width of 1 km, a height of 1.5 km, and a length of 7.7 km.”

 

─What the heck?

 

“When I looked it up, it’s exactly 350 times the size of a typical steam locomotive. So, it’s a train made for a person who is 700 meters tall.”

 

The same specifications as the ‘kitchen.’

 

This applies to Hives around the world.

 

It’s one of the deep-sea secrets that Oceanos hasn’t uncovered.

 

Well, that’s that. The viewers watching the broadcast couldn’t think about the specifications of the Hong Kong Hive.

 

Of course, they couldn’t. No one could take their eyes off the train in front of them.

 

It was so massive that it looked like a giant wall.

 

If Parang hadn’t told them it was a train, they would have thought it was a wall.

 

“It’s the second-largest Hive in the world. The largest one is in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.”

 

Actually, saying “in the Mariana Trench” is incorrect.

 

It’s more accurate to say that the Mariana Trench itself is a Hive.

 

Parang’s voice was as calm as ever when she said, “I’ll visit there someday.”

 

“Isn’t it grand?”

 

Viewers wondered if such a simple word as ‘grand’ could truly summarize this sight.

 

Well, for Parang, who came down regularly to manage it, it was almost like home now.

 

She had even thought about wiping out all the monsters here and turning it into an underwater base.

 

She failed at the stage of bringing in construction materials, though.

 

Anyway, Parang planned to thoroughly search this train over the next three days.

 

On the first day, she would explore cars 4 and 5, on the second day, cars 2 and 3, and on the last day, car 1.

 

During this process, she planned to broadcast every detail of the ‘train.’

 

There were no creatures in the ‘train’ that could launch mental attacks through the monitor.

 

Most of them were monsters that overwhelmed their opponents with sheer size.

 

The larger the Hive, the stronger this tendency.

 

Monsters that were stuck in a corner and occasionally ventured out had to use all sorts of tricks to keep their prey, but here, food came right into their mouths.

 

In any ecosystem, those that try hard to ‘bewitch’ their opponents are the lowest in the hierarchy.

 

Monsters that tried petty tricks were inevitably meals for the larger, more ferocious ones.

 

Having finished her explanation, Parang set the course for the broadcast.

 

“Then, let’s go in. Starting from the top car.”

 

The ‘train’ seemed to be positioned horizontally, but it was actually slightly tilted, with the front lower than the back.

 

Given its length of 38 km, even a slight tilt resulted in a 5 km height difference between the front and back cars.

 

That’s why she referred to the direction as ‘up’ rather than front or back when entering the train.

 

And with a 5 km height difference, the monsters inhabiting the area were vastly different.

 

She calculated that it would be beneficial for the broadcast to have more impactful monsters appear as they progressed.

 

Parang increased her speed toward the first car of the train.

 

─If they’re all big, at least there won’t be anything too creepy, thank goodness.

 

─Are you new here?

 

─A newbie, huh?

 

─A newbie, indeed.

 

“You must be new here. There were quite a few viewers who had such brave thoughts.”

 

Not anymore. After someone suggested a brilliant idea in the community, viewers who watched Parang’s broadcast regularly kept oil paper nearby.

 

It was to quickly cover the screen if needed.

 

Some viewers hoped for an automatic filtering system while watching the 360-degree rotating screen.

 

However, Parang and Silo agreed on showing everything as it was to discourage viewers from getting too comfortable, so they had to reluctantly keep their oil paper handy.

 

Anyway, Parang arrived at the rearmost part of the train.

 

It seemed like there were originally more cars behind, as the connectors between the cars were violently torn apart.

 

Whether they really existed or it was just a pretense, she didn’t know.

 

In any case, Parang entered the train boldly.

 

The chat reactions weren’t explosive.

 

─Wow.

 

─What is this?

 

A few short and sporadic messages popped up and then stopped.

 

The viewers were too focused on the interior of the train to even think about chatting.

 

They felt like tiny people in a giant’s world, riding a train.

 

The water inside the Hive was abnormally clear, with a deep blue tint, but clear enough to see from one end of the car to the other.

 

So, they could take in the entire view of the train at a glance.

 

Luxurious-looking chairs covered in fine fabric, checkered carpets, a snack cart in one corner.

 

The elegant wooden tables, which had clearly been underwater for a long time, showed no signs of decay.

 

It felt like stepping into a scene from a Western movie. Ringing the stylish bell on the table would summon a waiter with a towel draped over his arm to take your order, and you could almost hear the shouts of Indians chasing on horseback outside the window.

 

Of course, this was assuming there were no monsters infesting the train.

 

The train had literally become a city of monsters.

 

Thousands of glowing white lights, possibly eyes, under the seats.

 

Starfish covering the windows.

 

Coral reefs and anemones larger than the monsters themselves growing in the seats.

 

Whales leisurely swimming above, along with jellyfish of the same size.

 

Familiar and unfamiliar monsters swimming gracefully in various places.

 

All illuminated by a soft, deep blue light.

 

The familiar space, strange colors, and bizarre items combined to make it feel like stepping into a disturbing dream.

 

Parang gave the viewers time to fully appreciate this eerie space.

 

So she moved slowly, like on a sightseeing tour, wandering around the train.

 

Of course, her speed was a bit faster. No monster would pay attention to her just because she moved quickly.

 

No lion would waste energy catching a mouse when gazelles and buffaloes were roaming in front of it.

 

Whether the mouse was fast or slow didn’t matter to the lion.

 

So Parang could comfortably wander around the Hive and show the viewers the sights.

 

Of course, she wasn’t just playing the role of a tour guide.

 

Duuuu-

 

‘Still not caught… Is it not in this car…?’

 

The electronic sound coming from her chest.

 

It was equipment given to her by Silo to find the bodies and artifacts of the Slayers.

 

It worked by tracking the signal from a locator injected into the Slayers’ blood.

 

The blood of an awakened being was quite special, rarely leaving the body.

 

Even as their bodies were being transformed into those of gods, the blood stayed firmly in place.

 

Parang couldn’t help but be impressed by Silo for extracting her blood.

 

Anyway, if a Slayer’s corpse was nearby, the device, which looked like a jewel under her neck, would beep and flash, signaling like a metal detector.

 

It could scan up to a 200-meter radius around Parang.

 

But no matter how much she wandered around the train cars, the device remained silent.

 

Of course, Parang didn’t expect to find what she was looking for in the first car.

 

She had to explore all five cars for the broadcast anyway.

 

Still, not finding what she was looking for was quite frustrating.

 

It was like wanting to watch TV but finding there was no remote control.

 

That mildly annoying and irritating feeling.

 

Parang knew how to relieve stress in such situations.

 

She charged at a dumb-looking monster swimming nearby.

 

The Bambaspis, whose only crime was being next to an irritated Parang, looked at her with startled eyes.

 

#

 

“Die, trash. Disgusting. Get lost.”

 

The usually gentle and kind Parang was uttering terrifying words as she slaughtered the monsters. Not just fish, but crustaceans and mollusks too. She hunted one, then moved to the next nearby monster, repeating the process.

 

And unlike her usual self, who would provide detailed explanations about the monsters, she only spat out words like, “Die. Filthy. Dirty. Lowly,” as she cut down everything in sight.

 

Of course, it wasn’t because she was a terrible person who would destroy everything just because she couldn’t find the remote control.

 

Parang actually wanted to conduct a high-quality monster-hunting broadcast with detailed explanations.

 

However,

 

─More, more, more!

 

─Wow, today’s broadcast is amazing.

 

─Yum, yum, why is this so good, yum, yum.

 

─Ddu, ddu, ddu, ddu, ddu, ddu, ddu…

 

The reaction was so explosive that she couldn’t stop.

 

Here’s how it started.

 

Parang, charging at the Bambaspis with a bit of annoyance, paused for a moment.

 

She usually aimed for a high-end restaurant vibe in her broadcasts, slowly cooking and explaining each monster she caught. (At least, that’s what Parang thought.)

 

But now, she was swimming furiously to butcher the Bambaspis out of anger.

 

She paused her swimming to explain. She had to explain.

 

But coincidentally, there was nothing to explain about the Bambaspis!

 

It was just a slightly dumb-looking fish that had grown larger, with nothing special about it.

 

So Parang explained it as it was.

 

“This is a monster called Bambaspis. It’s just a larger version of the original species, with no special abilities.”

 

Then, the annoyance she felt earlier surged up, and she let out a few more words.

 

“It’s useless, worthless, and pathetic. It would have lived its whole life with that dumb expression, so I’m doing it a favor by ending its pointless life.”

 

The chat exploded. The viewers loved it.

 

Seeing that, Parang had an ‘Aha!’ moment.

 

She decided to occasionally say harsh words since the viewers liked it, but she still felt bad about being rude to the viewers who enjoyed her broadcast.

 

It would be less guilt-inducing if the viewers liked it, but not all of them did.

 

So she was wondering what to do when she thought,

 

Why not say harsh words to the monsters?

 

She experimented by catching a few more nearby monsters and saying harsh words, and the reaction was explosive.

 

This way, Parang made the viewers happy, the mysterious group of harsh-word lovers got their reward, and other viewers could enjoy watching the monsters being swiftly and satisfyingly cut down.

 

A utopia where no one gets hurt except the monsters. Yoo Parang, where are her limits!

 

Of course, Parang was currently struggling to control her itching mouth while slicing through the monsters.

 

‘Ah, I need to explain this. Ah, this one is really dangerous.’

 

“Inferior species. Trash. Don’t mess with humans.”

 

But due to inertia, she kept on berating them.

 

It was good, but she thought she needed to moderate it. She decided to do it just for today and then seal it away for a while.

 

But when should she stop?

 

She had already butchered 10% of the monsters in the first car. It was time to hold back.

 

Just then, a timely donation popped up.

 

─ ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 1213 won! –

 

[ It’s getting a bit boring just watching you slice through monsters. Can you show us something scary? ]

 

It was a rude message, but Parang smiled.

 

It was because of the oddly specific amount of 1213 won.

 

December 13th. Oceanos’ founding day.

 

Which one of the five could it be? She’d have to ask later.

 

Whoever it was, they did her a favor. She decided to treat them to something nice.

 

“Something scary? Sure.”

 

─Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.

 

─Who are you, damn it?

 

─Why are you happy about this?

 

─Aaaaah!

 

─The host’s switch has been flipped, we’re screwed, hahaha.

 

─Teacher, we’ll do better, please spare us this once.

 

“No.”

 

With a faint smile, Parang dove under the passenger seat.