< Chapter 91: Four Divine Beasts (1) >
In the original world, they were widely known as the deities of the East Asian regions that governed the directions and seasons, but their perception in this world is vastly different.
Four disaster-level monsters.
Known as the worst monsters that devastated China.
Named “The Four” due to one appearing from each of the four directions – east, west, south, and north.
With their strength surpassing that of disasters, they were deemed god-like, hence the suffix “God.”
Thus, the proper noun “Four Directional Gods” was born and is still faithfully recorded in history books.
“…That’s obviously White Tiger.”
I frowned, still being wooed by Goldie, looking at the white tiger, White Tiger.
That appearance, the overwhelming feeling I felt earlier.
And even a speed close to the speed of light earlier. It’s definitely White Tiger himself.
“But wasn’t White Tiger vanquished? 100 years ago.”
“…True.”
The Four Directional Gods will reappear in a major monster rampage incident that will occur about a year later.
The reason is unknown.
Whether the Four Directional Gods did not die 100 years ago,
Or whether they had offspring.
The details were not described.
And I didn’t find that fact strange. I just accepted it.
After all, incidents happen suddenly.
Just as there’s no one wondering ‘Why is a typhoon coming?’ when a typhoon comes, a sudden appearance of a disaster-level monster is just accepted with ‘Oh, I see.’ by the reader.
Anyway, that White Tiger is now flaunting in front of my eyes.
It was a tremendous sense of incongruity.
“But doesn’t White Tiger seem too small in size?”
“Indeed.”
Come to think of it, compared to the White Tiger described in the original work, this White Tiger is dozens, hundreds of times smaller.
“Is it still a cub?”
Does that mean it will gradually grow here, and a year later, become a massive monster that destroys the world?
Then, there’s a high probability that the other three are also inside the monster park.
“This is driving me crazy.”
I scratched the back of my head.
I don’t know what to do.
Considering what White Tiger will do in a year, it would be good to deal with it right here.
The problem is that there’s no way to handle it. I saw that speed earlier. I couldn’t even see the afterimage.
If White Tiger rushes to bite my neck, I will have to say goodbye to my upper body and neck.
“But it looks very different from the White Tiger I know.”
Ha Si-yeon stared blankly at White Tiger.
Goldie was doing all sorts of courting behaviors.
So sweet that it almost looked like pink energy was swirling around.
“It doesn’t look like a brutal monster that killed tens of thousands….”
“…Indeed.”
The White Tiger I know is just a ruthless butcher. Without blood or tears, destroying everything in sight, and slaughtering any living creature instantly. The worst monster.
“Nyaaang~”
“Kroong.”
Despite Goldie’s cold response, the continued pursuit doesn’t seem like the worst murderous monster at all.
Watching the two tigers squabble, I unknowingly thought.
“…Is it not White Tiger?”
I don’t know.
It’s too complicated.
“But what should we do?”
“What?”
Si-yeon pointed at the time.
“5 minutes left.”
“…Ah.”
That’s a problem too.
There are about 5 minutes left to exit.
Since we can’t take the monsters here out, we must inevitably leave or release them.
Looking at it now, it’s not going to leave Goldie.
“…What should we do?”
If we try to separate them for no reason, will it get angry? If it hits us with its front paw while saying, ‘Don’t touch my love!’ Ha Si-yeon and I will have to walk hand in hand down the road to the underworld.
…Should we wait here for the employees to come and do something?
No, even if the employees come, can they do anything about White Tiger?
“Kroong.”
Goldie tilted its head slightly, looking at us, and then, with a determined expression, nodded.
“Kroong.”
It mumbled something to White Tiger.
Then White Tiger answered with a serious look and nodded slightly.
Then it turned its head slightly, glanced at me and Ha Si-yeon, and walked towards me.
I was momentarily startled, but it didn’t seem to want to attack.
Soon, White Tiger came up to my nose and offered its neck.
Specifically, the mechanical device on its neck.
What should I do with this?
While tilting my head, Goldie approached me.
“Destroy that?”
Goldie nodded.
“…I don’t know if I can destroy it. Let me see.”
That’s when I reached for the mechanical device on White Tiger’s neck.
Click-
Something like a lock opened, and the mechanical device began to unlock.
And soon, it lay on the ground.
…What?
Why did it come off?
I looked up from the mechanical device writhing on the ground.
“First, let’s take this off….”
White Tiger had disappeared from sight.
“…Did it vanish?”
* * *
“Goodbye.”
We left Monster Park behind and moved on.
We didn’t report about the White Tiger. It was uncertain, and it seemed like we should investigate a bit more before reporting.
“I’m tired.”
Either way, I’m mentally exhausted, maybe because I was too nervous at the end.
“Me too.”
Ha Si-yeon was walking weakly beside me, holding the ‘Baek Cheong’ that she received as a prize.
Thanks to that, she was making a very strange expression, half fatigue, half joy.
“Nyaa~”
Goldie seemed fine.
Come to think of it, it seems like he didn’t even recognize the White Tiger as dangerous.
“Goldie, did you know from the start? That the White Tiger didn’t intend to fight?”
“Meow.”
Goldie nodded slightly.
So, he knew in advance that the aggression was a plea for help. Is this something only ‘tigers’ know?
“But Goldie, you seemed to dislike her earlier?”
Goldie closed his mouth with an odd expression as if to say, it’s not my style.
“What’s Goldie saying?”
“He said she’s not his type.”
“Why? She looked pretty.”
As Ha Si-yeon said, the White Tiger looked beautiful in appearance.
Of course, it doesn’t compare to our Goldie. Anyway.
“Meow.”
It was then that I heard a cat’s meow from my feet.
We slowly looked down.
“Oh. Who’s this? Very cute. Have you fallen for Goldie too?”
A white cat was wagging its tail at my feet.
The black pattern between the white fur was attractive. It doesn’t seem like a stray cat as it has some dignity.
“White fur with black patterns?”
A familiar sight.
No way, I thought, shaking my head slightly.
That’s when it happened.
Tap-
Goldie jumped out of my arms onto the floor and meowed softly.
“Meow.”
Then, he stood chicly in front of the white cat.
“Nyaaa~”
The white cat then let out a joyful meow and clung to Goldie.
A scene I’ve seen many times before.
A scene I saw just 20 minutes ago was unfolding in a smaller size.
“…Are you by any chance the White Tiger?”
The white cat, White Tiger, who was rubbing its face against Goldie’s face, looked up at my words.
“Meow!”
Then, it meowed defiantly, as if to say, don’t interfere.
Suddenly, I recalled the scene where Goldie conveyed something to White Tiger before disappearing.
Could it have been telling it to come find us later?
Does that mean the machine I broke was a device that trapped it in Monster Park?
… I didn’t just release White Tiger into the world in some crazy act, did I?
* * *
That night.
After returning to the accommodation, I was bombarded with questions from my roommates.
Things like, “How far did you go with Ha Si-yeon?” and “Did you kiss?”.
I was completely drained by the time I had denied everything.
Ha Si-yeon was probably receiving the same torrent of questions in her room. It would be as bad if not worse for her than for me. She’s the type of person who somehow makes you want to tease her. She’ll probably be teased all night long.
I express my sympathy.
Right now, I’m sitting on a quiet bench nearby.
“Meow.”
“Meow.”
With two cats, or rather, small-sized tigers.
―So you’re with the monster that looks like White Tiger now?
“Yes.”
Maiden’s astonished voice came over the receiver.
―And that White Tiger has transformed into a small cat like Goldie?
“Yes.”
Maiden clicked her tongue, saying, “Huh. Really.”
“Maiden, what should I do?”
―What should you do? If it really is White Tiger, you must subdue it.
“That’s right?”
I looked down at Goldie and White Tiger. They’re playing very well. White Tiger seems completely smitten with Goldie.
Goldie seems slightly reluctant but not entirely disinterested.
“But I’m not sure if this is really White Tiger.”
―Hmm. If the sense of intimidation you felt is true, there’s a high chance it is White Tiger. Only a monster of White Tiger’s caliber could freely reduce and enlarge its body.
Maiden paused for a moment.
―But no matter how I look at the video you sent, it doesn’t look like the ferocious White Tiger from history…
“…That’s what I’m saying.”
That’s why my head hurts.
Even if it is White Tiger, it’s a problem. How can I kill something that follows Goldie around like that, saying it likes it?
―Hold on. That white tiger, you found it in Monster Park, right?
“Yes? Yes.”
―…Hmm. Monster Park. Beast Master…
Maiden seemed lost in thought.
I waited patiently.
After about a minute passed.
―Kid, this is purely my hypothesis.
Maiden seemed to have organized her thoughts.
―The Beast Master, that damned old man, might be the culprit.
“…What?”
Suddenly?
―First, to explain from the beginning, Beast Master, Edith Reston, is more of a researcher than a superhuman.
“…A researcher?”
―Yes. He manipulates monster genes to improve them.
That’s the kind of improvement?
―It wasn’t widely known. I know it because I’m at this level. People usually think Beast Master’s specialty is related to monsters.
I thought so too.
―Anyway, that crazy old man, who was obsessed with monster research, asked for my help about five years ago.
“What kind of help?”
―One of the monsters he was researching escaped, and it was crucial to catch it. He asked if I could help him capture it.
“…One of the research monsters?”
Something smells fishy.
―Yes. Back then, I just thought it might be a safety issue within Monster Park. But now that I think about it, something seems odd.
Maiden began to logically explain the strange events of the time.
From inconsistencies in the stories to suddenly changing one’s words at the end, there were many such cases, she said.
In the end, he said it didn’t matter since they were bound to die anyway, and closed the case.
It’s definitely suspicious.
―And the most suspicious thing is that there’s a record that the old man bought equipment made from the byproducts of the Four Divine Beasts in China 10 years ago.
“Equipment made from the byproducts of the Four Divine Beasts… their genes must be in it?”
―Exactly. Doesn’t it seem off? Equipment of the Four Divine Beasts bought 10 years ago. A monster that escaped 5 years ago. And the monster you met today that looked like the White Tiger.
My eyes widened.
―That old man. Isn’t he making the Four Divine Beasts in the lab now?
At that moment, everything clicked in my mind.
The monster rampage that will happen a year later starts in Australia.
There were descriptions of slightly different appearances from the Four Divine Beasts recorded in history.
If the Beast Master had newly created the Four Divine Beasts, different appearances would make sense.
Above all, there was a description that the Beast Master died after that incident.
“I think Maiden’s hypothesis might be right.”
―Right?
It’s certain.
I never thought I’d find the culprit here.
“Meeting the White Tiger must have been fortunate.”
This is all thanks to Goldie.
If this cursed tiger hadn’t drawn out the White Tiger, I wouldn’t have known this information.
I affectionately stroked Goldie’s head, and Goldie happily roared.
“Meow!”
Then my hand was knocked away by the White Tiger. It looked at me as if to say, how dare you touch my master?
Thump.
My wrist joint turned with a dangerous sound.
Fortunately, there was no injury, but I could only grimace, holding my wrist.
“Ouch! You white cat…”
It seems that unlike Goldie, the White Tiger hadn’t reduced its strength completely.
Goldie looked at my wrist and immediately confronted the White Tiger.
It looked as if saying, how dare you hurt my brother?
The White Tiger looked sulky.
“Pfft.”
Their behavior was so cute that I couldn’t help but laugh.
―Why?
“It’s nothing. They’re just playing cutely.”
―That’s lame.
Maiden snickered.
―So what will you do?
“What do you mean?”
―You’re not the type to just leave such an unprincipled lab alone, are you?
“Well, that’s true.”
The unethical research is a problem, but the result of that research being a monster rampage is the bigger issue.
If it can be stopped, it must be stopped.
“First, we need to investigate.”
I have to investigate just in case it’s not true.
―That is indeed a priority. Then I’ll do some separate investigation too.
“Okay. I’ll appreciate that.”
Just as I was about to hang up.
“Then, goodbye.”
―Oh. Right. Almost forgot.
I brought the phone back to my ear at Maiden’s exclamation.
―The old man wants to convey.
Old man.
The word Maiden uses to refer to Mr. Jung Il-yong.
―The Cheonbyeon is complete.
< Chapter 91: Four Divine Beasts (1) > End
