IBMTG Ch 1
by mimiDrifters of the Dystopian City
Human life remains strangely unchanging.
Even though Earth’s resources are depleted and the atmosphere is polluted, forcing us to live in dome-shaped Comfort Zones, we still commute to work, labor, return home, crack open a beer, and watch TV.
Staple foods have changed, but there’s still a tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) place in front of the academy and a beast-head soup restaurant thriving in the middle of the bar district.
Despite high-skilled jobs disappearing due to automation, the 3D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) jobs stubbornly persist.
At construction sites, workers wearing flimsy safety gear pile building materials onto hover carriers.
And prohibited drugs, traded in secret, are mixed, shaken, dried, and portioned by down-and-out individuals, usually without proper respirators.
This phenomenon is due to a simple economic principle: While machines can perform tasks more delicately, perfectly, safely, and quickly, using humans is overwhelmingly cheaper.
As a result, most of those in the Comfort Zone slums who have jobs are manual laborers.
After spending about 40% of their wages on food, they can somehow manage to rent a place and eke out a living.
It’s tight, but it’s a functioning life. Among the lower class, this is considered a decent existence.
On the other hand, if a criminal record is acquired, the life of not only the individual but also their family plummets.
In such cases, the only work available exists outside the Comfort Zone.
Greetings!
Location ▶ [Goryeo City]
Today’s Weather: Sunny/Dry
Humanity’s confinement to dome-shaped cities isn’t solely due to air pollution.
After the discovery of the mysterious energy source “Lambda Crystal Blue,” commonly known as Blue (Vlue), Homo sapiens’ lives changed dramatically.
Crystal Blue made most of the technologies we only dreamed of a reality. Humanity advanced by leaps and bounds.
Until the appearance of “Grotesqueries,” everyone dreamt of a fantastic future.
《Warning!》
A Level 2 Grotesquery, “Jaeger,” has been detected within a 100km radius of [Goryeo City].
If you encounter a Grotesquery, transmit an emergency signal according to protocol.
When human life became completely dependent on this powerful energy, monsters began to appear from the lands where Crystal Blue was located.
Faced with the endless hordes of “Grotesqueries” that respawned as quickly as they were killed, humanity finally retreated.
People gathered in lands where the shimmering crystals didn’t grow, built cities, and encased them in domes. Ironically, this was made possible thanks to Crystal Blue’s energy.
The levitating trains, the artificial suns warming the residential areas, the electricity powering the entire city—it all came from there.
Although they had to live apart from Crystal Blue, the energy was crucial for survival against the Grotesqueries, so someone had to venture outside the city to mine it…
Fortunately, human technology was more than capable of creating machines specialized for mining and transportation.
However, as mentioned earlier, it was cheaper to exploit humans than to operate machines.
Humans were piled up and trampled at the bottom of the city. People from the bottom rungs of society, each with their own stories, took on this task.
A daily wage exceeding 300% of the average, plus incentives based on output.
Countless lower-class individuals dove outside the Comfort Zone, seeking to quickly acquire a lump sum.
Mining the crystals, transporting them, and surviving, all while avoiding the Grotesqueries.
Jin Muhae was a veteran mercenary who escorted these perilous 3D operations.
Two days ago, he received a request from a city-affiliated company to search the outer zones where their employees’ signals had been lost.
It wasn’t a company that cared about the lives of day laborers, so the instruction was likely to check on the status of the Crystal Blue in the area. If he happened to pick up any energy packs they had filled, he could expect a hefty bonus.
He immediately boarded an airship and headed to the outskirts, 2,000 kilometers from Goryeo City.
Khan Lano, a zone where the rapid growth of crystals meant equally high danger, demanding constant vigilance.
After landing and searching for half a day, traces of humans began to appear.
“Bloodstains.”
For some reason, the expedition’s tracks were in a completely different location from the coordinates provided by the company.
The disturbed ground, broken branches, and scattered human blood suggested a major incident.
CME Exploration Request Report
Khan Lano
Presumed Grotesquery-related disaster
Bodies discovered [5/7]
Based on remaining traces in the zone, suspected Level 1 Grotesquery “Ville Lame”
Jin Muhae skillfully concealed himself and recorded the approximate information.
Then, he checked the surrounding area for life signs with his radar.
Beep – Beep – Beep!
In the distance, in the center of the disaster site, a human-shaped silhouette emitting heat and breathing was detected.
A survivor. He took out his equipment, kept his eyes forward, and slowly approached the open area.
As the radar indicated, there was a person there.
A young man, around 20 years old, standing blankly, looking at the sky.
As if sensing Muhae’s presence, the man turned his head and looked at him.
He had a clean, handsome face, unbelievably unscathed considering he had survived the disaster.
Moreover, ruby-red eyes and sclera devoid of even the slightest blood vessels, as if newly born.
His skin, showing not a single scratch beneath his tattered clothes, gave off a strangely eerie feeling.
As Muhae took another step closer, the man gave an awkward smile with a youthful face.
“A person.”
The man murmured, like a castaway seeing another human for the first time in a decade.