NoveLight ™
"Thanks to our little one, I’ve been to places I never thought I’d see."
"With time to spare before our placement, why not get a part-time gig here?"
"I don’t have a zookeeper certification."
"You don’t really need that… ugh, that was a slip of the tongue, please save me!"
On the way to a large zoo in a major park in Seoul, Lorentina was coughing and choking as she sat next to Logan on the free park bus. The reason was simple: she had made a joke about working with the zoo animals and ended up getting a hefty dose of reality for it.
A DroneCam hovered above, broadcasting the scene in real-time. Though it was in Russian, the streaming service provided live interpretation and translation into English, and viewers were enjoying the translated content that popped up at the bottom of the screen.
Both of them had amused expressions, but knowing the strength behind that arm could have easily broken a human neck sent a shiver down my spine. I called out to Harmony, who was sitting quietly next to Lorentina.
Just then, Minah hurried over and sat next to me, chattering away.
"If it weren't for you, I would have been squashed between those two."
"I figured that would be the case. Anyway…"
They certainly liked to joke around a lot.
Meanwhile, the bus was quite noisy, and the cause was obvious: us. It was no surprise that many families were visiting the zoo, and the children often lacked a concept of respecting others' space.
This led to several instances where you’d hear:
"Wow, look! A snake! Mom! There’s a huge snake over there!"
Naturally, the expressions of the parents with those kids turned pale. This was understandable, considering that laws regarding manifestors in Korea were quite strict. I hadn’t mentioned my status before, and at this point, I was under the same kind of identity protection program that the U.S. offers.
In essence, if a manifestor with a troublesome personality existed, they could easily use the current situation to put others in a tough spot—though I wasn’t insane enough to act on that.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed that this little one had no major aversion to snakes, so perhaps I could tease her a bit.
───Swoosh.
"Whoa, I’m being taken away!"
"Oh, oh…."
"That kid is lively."
I gently wrapped my tail around the child’s waist and carefully lifted her. Instead of being scared, the adventurous little girl’s eyes sparkled with excitement. As I lowered her gently back towards her parents, their expressions shifted between amusement and confusion.
With the tip of my tail, I tapped her head, warning her not to run away next time, before returning to the outside view. Sure, Logan had caught a few stray glances from time to time, but it wasn’t a significant problem since most kids tended to freeze when faced with foreign languages.
If I tried to strike up a conversation in English, there were generally two kinds of reactions. The first would keep speaking Korean until Logan pretended to hit them, and they would scurry away behind their parents. The other would stammer a bit, then yell, "Mom! A foreigner!" before running off in a panic.
Spectre, however, was an exception.
"No one’s coming near me, unfortunately."
"Well, aside from the sharp teeth, they probably think you’re just a unique foreigner."
Christopher Lorentina, with a shark motif.
She didn’t have fins or gills, and aside from the sharp teeth, I honestly didn’t know what her motif was, but she definitely gave off a distinct "shark" vibe, albeit still somewhat ambiguous.
In any case, Lorentina might just look like a pretty foreigner, and not necessarily a manifestor. But she was busy trying to communicate earnestly with Harmony, so it didn’t seem to bother her at all.
I had a feeling Harmony’s English skills and comfort with the language were both improving.
As we continued, the bus came to a stop.
It was time to take the lift up. There wasn’t anything particularly special about it, and the two special forces members with us grumbled that a fast rope for escape would have been much quicker.
The first place we visited was the Eastern Pavilion. It primarily housed reptiles. The reason I chose it was simple: it was the building closest to the Sky Lift terminal. It was said to have yellow anacondas, reticulated pythons, and New Guinea crocodiles.
"A snake is going to see other snakes."
"Is there no aquarium?"
"Good question."
We entered amid trivial chatter.
Since many of the creatures were sensitive to temperature, the Eastern Pavilion resembled a massive indoor zoo.
After passing through the entrance and several informative displays, we entered what resembled a swimming pool. Of course, the animals inhabiting this space shaped the entire environment and interior accordingly.
In any case, around this time, I felt it was the right moment to reveal another unknown characteristic of manifestors—
───!
"Whoa, the crocodile is crying!"
"It’s moving, it’s moving!"
I realized I could understand the sounds made by reptiles to some extent.
To clarify, I didn’t actually hear them speaking; rather, I could interpret why they were behaving in certain ways more clearly. This was evident as I approached the crocodile that swam closer to me.
It snapped its jaws together, emitting a low-frequency rumble. The sound resembled a toilet flushing. Its gaze was locked onto me.
Interpreting its intent wasn’t difficult.
‘What are you doing over there!?’
No, it wasn’t like that.
If you came in with a crocodile tail like me, wouldn’t you be safely released back into the human world? Its hair would be green, and its strength off the charts… I was lost in such absurd thoughts when it sent me a signal asking for help. Of course, there was no way that could happen.
Waving my hand to signal it to go away, the crocodile dove back into the water, seemingly dejected.
Surprisingly, it was indeed a hobby.
But that wasn’t all. The presence of various reptiles indicated that there were snakes as well. Just a little further down, I spotted a glass enclosure amid the rocks. Inside, of course, were snakes, each in its own little space.
Naturally, as I approached, they all pressed their faces against the glass.
Moving their heads back and forth, they scrutinized me, and some even tapped the glass with their heads.
"If you don’t mind, could you please help me out from here?"
As if that were possible.
Shaking my head, they all retreated to the far corners, as if disappointed. As long as they got fed, that was all that mattered, little guys.
Going deeper inside didn’t change much either, as the same was true for the indoor area housing the yellow anacondas. In a small space located near the exit, a large, lethargic reticulated python lay sprawled out, measuring several meters long.
Of course, getting closer changed the dynamics.
"Wow, it’s looking over here now that you’re approaching, Yujin!"
"Good heavens…."
It must have sensed my vibrations.
I knelt down to meet its gaze. The snake, after tapping the glass with its head, peeked at the exit, giving me what could only be interpreted as flirting—though it wasn’t particularly assertive.
By turning its head outward, it seemed to be asking if it wanted to go out, and the snake shook its head in response. Then, it flicked its tail against its body, implying that it was content enough to stay since it was well-fed.
It was fascinating to understand such body language.
"What’s the snake saying?"
"Well, it’s probably having a moment of self-reflection."
"Come on, you can tell what it’s thinking just by looking at its face! Spill it!"
What can I say?
It felt like I was creating potential future visitors for the zoo.
Of course, there was still plenty of zoo exploration left.
"Polar bears must be extremely rare, even in a large zoo."
"If you say it’s here…."
"I’d kick it if it were here."
"Okay, joke. Just a light joke. Anyway, look, someone else is coming over."
Having exited the indoor Eastern Pavilion, we were now strolling around in a more relaxed manner.
The place was packed with tour buses and visitors. Though it was quite entertaining to see animals not normally spotted, unfortunately, today wasn’t entirely ordinary. Most animals, aside from hippos, lions, and tigers, seemed to be quite tense.
As we slinked around, herbivores like the gazelle looked over at us and bolted to the opposite side of their enclosures, while even the giraffes and ostriches were busy fleeing. The meerkats and mountain goats were no different.
And it wasn’t just that—lions and tigers were on high alert as well.
"Wow, they’re really on guard."
"Bears seem quiet, though."
"They’re pretty much the same type."
True to those words.
The only animals that weren’t too wary of Logan were the bears. They approached out of curiosity, glancing over at him and tapping the glass with their paws while even bringing their food to place in front of the glass.
Of course, our senior responded with a frown, and the bears soon left, looking a bit dejected.
Then, the conversation continued.
"Suddenly, I’m craving barbecue for dinner."
"Let’s ask our little one to handle it."
Dinner was indeed a major issue.
Meanwhile, Harmony and Dice had somewhat peculiar expressions. According to them, there were certain animals they wanted to see, but they all fled, which was disappointing. However, they didn’t seem eager to wander off on their own, so I made do with half-hearted attempts to comfort them.
"There are polar bears, green anacondas, and sharks here, so you’ve seen quite a bit already."
"That’s quite a bit of comfort, though… well, it’s not bad. Plus, you three will get to see animals even after leaving the zoo, so that’s a win too."
"Don’t let her convince you, Dice."
"Ugh."
In any case, that was secondary.
If I had to say something, it was unfortunate, but that wasn’t the only problem.
As the five of us casually roamed the zoo, suddenly, we heard quite a ruckus coming from over there. When I looked up, I saw a couple of staff members with ID cards around their necks rushing towards us.
Not knowing what was going on, I just stood there watching when one of the zoo staff, panting a bit, finally managed to speak.
"Um, excuse me… could you tell us where your next destination is?"
"We're thinking of heading toward the Marine Pavilion."
"Oh… understood."
"Is there something wrong?"
The following words could be somewhat unpleasant to hear: the animals in the direction we were heading were reportedly quite stressed. This was an answer I had never imagined. Thankfully, bears and reptiles weren’t overly concerned, but it seemed herbivores were having a bit of trouble.
They requested that we refrain from moving toward the small animal exhibit, as it could cause some disturbances. Of course, they also mentioned that our tickets would be fully refunded due to the inconvenience.
As I pondered how to react to this, Harmony chimed in from behind.
"It’s all because the people here are too strong."
What can I say? That statement held a lot of truth.
Anyway, even though our time at the Marine Pavilion was drastically shortened, we still caught a glimpse of the seals from a distance. Logan and Lorentina didn’t get a proper view, but they didn’t seem too bothered. If they had locked eyes, the seals might have felt their first taste of existential threat in the zoo.
After all, there were two predators around.
With that, after getting our refunds, we headed back.
As we made our way back from the zoo, we couldn’t help but burst into laughter at how absurd everything had been.
"Thanks to our little one, we’ve had the most bizarre experiences… I’m pretty sure we took this bus up here, but should we call this a case of ‘karma’?"
"Haha."
As I said, the world truly was a strange place.
It was filled with things you could never have imagined.