Chapter 100: Modification
[Edited by: deathbricks, Arthur300000 and ArchmageNaoki]
“Compared to organ transplant chimeras, genetically modified organisms can have their own identical offspring. Currently, there are several ways to achieve this-” In the bright classroom full of students, I listened to Professor Braxton droning on and on about advanced biology.
My seat was in the rear and next to the windows which allowed the bright sunlight of the clear afternoon in. It made me feel really warm and cozy.
This was a perfect place for an afternoon nap.
My job here was quite simple. It was only collecting students’ homework at the beginning of the class and distribute handouts at the end. Also, I need to note down some things for the professor from time to time like keeping track of students’ special points, but that was only a rare event.
To sum it up, this was an easy job for me to laze around.
I have to thank the head of the PE department guys. He tried really hard to get me here. His enthusiasm for finding me ‘a better place’ was really commendable. I wonder why he only did so after he saw the ‘exhausted’ wolf hockey or rather wolf polo students though.
Anyways, there were still some downsides to this job.
Some male students in this class tried to take a peek at me from time to time. It was somewhat distracting.
Also, sometimes girls did the same, but a few of their gazes were completely different. They made a face like I stole their money every time their boys glanced at me.
I hope they wouldn’t try to gang up on me after the class. With Mr. Kael gone, I have no meat shield at the moment. Alright, if they try anything funny, I’ll charge them one pair of panties per person for the ‘emotional distress’ damage.
Speaking of Mr. Kael, that guy was suddenly called back by Ms. Bluebell just a minute before the class. She said that there was an urgent matter that required his attention. I wondered what it was all about. Well, considering that it was him, it might be something sexual again.
“Just don’t leave the city and you should be alright.” That was what he said before he left.
Hmm, this guy always kept disappearing at the time I need him most. Maybe I’ll ask Ms. Bluebell for his replacement later.
As I made up my mind, I listened to the professor talk about the practical use of those modified organisms. Surprisingly, that carbon fiber used for making my weapon strap was also made by a weird black worm’s cocoon. Then, the content afterward was filled with incomprehensible genetic diagrams. Thus, I turned to the view outside of the windows.
The scene outside was, as always, breathtakingly beautiful. Moreover, this classroom situated at the top floor of the five stories high biology department building enabled me to see the landscape of the city far and wide.
Since the snow just stopped, everything outside was white and clean. The sky was clear and there were some people skating over the big lake nearby. At the far away mountain, there were some dots quickly sliding down from its top. I bet those dots were people skiing down the hill. A monster wouldn’t move that smooth.
“Let’s play around near the lake with Barbara and Cocoa later. That place should be still inside the city area.” I thought to myself as I shuffled my legs to adjust myself for a more comfortable posture.
Barbara would really like this as our home in our previous world was in the hot climate, so there was no chance for us to try these winter sports.
.
“Cantharellus platyrhynchos or as people usually call them, mini ducks, is a prime example of genetic manipulation that went wrong.” A cute mini duck image that was projected on the screen drew my attention back to the class. It was the only thing that my mom didn’t agree with me no matter how much I begged. So, I couldn’t help but want to know more about it.
Why didn’t I search about it on the internet? Well, I used all my bandwidth on my gentlemanly and refined hobby of collecting lewd videos… I blame those viruses and terrorists who kept making my private collections disappear.
“This is the type II modified organism which combines several characteristics of different organisms. Its main characteristic came from two types of species, ducks, and fungus.” Huh? Fungus?
“On year 9028, the researcher from Ricardo institute tried to create an ultimate waste disposal creature. Then the first mini duck was born. It was a hybrid of chanterelle mushroom and a subspecies of domestic ducks. However, due to its nature of reproduction by spores, it went out of the laboratory's control environment and spreads wide uncontrollability afterward.” There were a lot of things to take in here… Year 9028, huh?
[Skynet, what year is this?] If I remember correctly, the date system in this world was filled with incomprehensible digits.
[Today is 94755.1, so it’s the first day of the fifth month of year 9475.] … Oh, I see. It seemed that the day of this world read from back to front. The number after the dot should be date. And the first number before the dot was the month. Since it was only ten months a year in this world, it only needs one digit for it, huh?
Hmm, first day of this month. Right, the allowance from the Outsider Management Institute should've been transferred to me.
I checked my ID card, and I have … 602,926 credits.
The Skynet cybernetic body fee was refunded already, huh? That was quick. Anyways, due to the amount of money in my account, I couldn’t tell that extra 1,000 credits were transferred in or not.
While the professor is still talking about the mini duck’s genetic makeup, I tapped at show transaction history at the lower right corner. Then my card slowly changed to the list of my previous transactions. And there it is, ‘+1,000 credits from OMI’ line was the second line from the top.
It’s dated today. That means Barbara should also have the same. That was good. That girl already complained a few times about not having enough money. Also, I should pay Cocoa's wage today.
“-Then five years later, the first mini duck’s victim appeared.” The professor projected a video on the screen which caught my immediate attention.
The video looked old and full of noise, but it depicted half of a mini duck’s body attached to, or rather grew up from a haggard man’s left arm. The duck’s head was complete so it was turning around and quacking. However, its lower body was incomplete and it was still merging with the man’s arm with something that looked like yellowish roots spreading around the area.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Because it’s basically a fungus, it could grow on anything. And for a person with a weak constitution and poor hygiene, they could be a perfect host for them to grow up on.” He showed several more images of people having a group of mini ducks growing up on their bodies.
“Also, it can cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation, or, in some cases, chronic lung illnesses, such as obstructive lung disease.” It can even grow in my lungs!?
[Mistress, it’s a phone call from Cocoa.] Skynet suddenly called me while I was still disturbed by the images on the screen.
I weakly press the answer button and said hello in my mind.
[A-are you really Ms. Kuro? The celebrity adventurer?] … That’s definitely not Cocoa was my first response. I shook the scary images away from my head and recheck the caller ID, but it showed that it was calling from Cocoa’s phone.
[Hey, what happened to Cocoa? Where is she?] Now I was worried about her. I definitely didn’t raise her to sound like a horny man. So, she might’ve run into trouble with something.
[It’s alright, Kuro. He’s just one of your fans. Tschüss!] This time, it was back to Cocoa’s voice. However, she hung up without explaining anything…
I wondered what that was all about. But she seemed to be alright, so I didn’t call her back and shifted my focus back to the lecture.
“And for those who have immunodeficiency, these mini ducks can grow even in their mouth and genitals.” Another episode of horror images was shown on the screen. It warranted ‘kya kya’ or scream from soft-hearted students. For me? I only had a vivid imagination about having mini ducks dancing inside my body.
I thanked my mom for rejecting my stupid idea. Cute creatures from this world could be more dangerous than I thought.
“Afterward, most laboratories would add these DNA sequences to their organism to control their population-”
.
.
.
It took quite a while to distribute their handouts at the end of the class, even more so when some boys tried to talk to me. I asked one of them why they couldn’t do their homework on the internet, but he just frankly told me that they didn’t have any communication device at all.
[Mistress, not all people are as rich as you.] Skynet reminded me.
I apologized to the boy but he just awkwardly said that it’s alright.
“I would rather be normal and safe than risking my life for riches.” He added before he left.
The internet in this world seemed to be a luxurious commodity, huh? If I remember correctly, the cheapest communication device that I saw was around 500 credits, so it was about half of Barbara’s monthly income. Also, my network fee was 39 credits per month. Still, for a magicless people, they will need small monster cores to power the device up, but the total cost shouldn’t be more than 100 credits per month.
Compare to an outsider’s income of 1000 credits per month, I think it was doable. However, for a non-combat related job like Cocoa who got only 400 credits per month, it seemed to be too expensive. Hmm, monster hunting in this world seemed to be like working in the oil industry, but with a lot more risks...
Also, on this theoretical school, the ratio of people that have non-combat related jobs was more than the adventurer school, I think. That might be the reason why I didn’t have a problem walking around without a disguise.
I tried to finish my job as soon as possible, but as the last handout left my hand, it had already been almost half an hour. I turned off the lights, air conditioner switch, and checked that there was no one left inside the room before I locked the door. However, as I stepped away from the room, I was surrounded by a group of girls.
It was those girls who glared at me in the class… Alright, it’s a time for a school corridor magic show.
I rolled up my shirt’s sleeve and prepared to properly use my steal skill for the first time in my life. My target was of course, their panties.
“Ahem, I’m going to give you a fair warning, don’t talk to our boys.” The tallest girl in the group began to act like a mobster.
“No problem, I don’t care about them.” I assured them. If they back off now, I wouldn’t mind letting them go, panties intact.
“Liar! Boys these days were a lot fewer than girls, everyone has to compete for them!” A small black hair from behind yelled. If she stood still, she would look really cute. Yet, her crazed expression just ruined her face.
“Maybe we should give this bitch something to remember.” A blond girl with slanted eyes suggested. Alright, it's showtime-
“Hey! Stop that! I called security!” I heard a boy yell from far away. Well, I couldn’t see him because all the girls were blocking my view, but with his loud footsteps, I could tell that he was running this way.
“Tch, consider yourself warned.” The tallest girl clicked her tongue and walked away. Her goons also followed behind her.
“Hah, hah, hah, are you alright?” It was the red-headed boy who yelled a moment ago. It seemed to be only a hundred-meter run, but the boy was already out of breath. How weak can he be?
“Uhm… thanks?” I wanted to complain about costing me the chance to legally acquire several panties, but I changed my mind midway and thanked him instead. Well, I didn’t want to be like that girl who ran away as I sacrifice myself to save her from those thugs in my past life.
“No problem, but are you hurt anywhere?” … Me? Please. Even if I stood still, there is no way that they could cause me any injury. This guy must be also in the group of having no internet people.
“Don’t worry, despite looking like this, I'm actually quite strong.” I patted his shoulder while giving my thumbs up as an encouragement to a good-hearted person.
“Still, you should be careful though. There were several fishy rumors about that gang. There was also a girl that went missing a month ago.” The red-headed boy still looked concerned.
“Is this for real?” A girl causing a catfight for a boy, this I could understand. But are they really killing for boys?
“You see, since most of the boys went for an adventure and didn’t return, some girls became too…”
“Crazy?” I ended the sentence for him.
“Well, you can put it like that.” He scratched his head and continued. “Anyway, I think I should escort you to your house.” …
“Why? I’m really strong, you know?” I tilted my head. There was absolutely no point for him to follow me.
“My father said that when you help people out. You must help them to the end.” He proudly replied… I wonder which end was he talking about though.
“Well... Suit yourself.” After much reluctance, I decided not to discourage a person who tried to do good. He can’t be worse than Mr. Kael anyway.
With that, I left the biology department with a strange red-headed boy trailing along. I glanced at him from time to time, but I didn’t know what we could talk about. He also didn’t help much in this matter because he just looked back at me and smiled. So, we just walked awkwardly in silence with only the noises of crunching snow under our feet.
Soon, I reached the department of magic theory. Barbara was already waiting for me in front of the building. As she noticed me, she waved energetically and ran.
“Yay! Wild Kuro captured!” She immediately spouted nonsense and hugged me as we met. Ms. Fluffy also flew away from her shoulders before the impact and meowed in protest.
“Eh? Kuro, who is that?” Then she became wary as she noticed the guy who followed me.
“Uhm, this is…” I just realized that I didn’t know his name.
“I’m Fin, nice to meet you.” He replied.
“Yes... Fin, he chased a group of girls who ganged up on me and-” I tried to rationalize the reason why I got Fin trailing along.
“What!? Kuro was bullied!?” Barbara was suddenly overreacting. “Tell me who they are! I’ll knock their teeth out with my fireball!” ...
That fireball was the only spell she could cast at the moment. She said it’s a ‘staple magic in the fantasy world’. That’s why she was very insistent to learn it… Still, to knock people's teeth out with a fireball? Wouldn’t it burn their face off first? Maybe studying here for a few days could improve her fireball somehow.
“Hey, is this girl alright in her head?” Fin whispered to me while Barbara was still listing what she would do to those girls.
“She is my sister, mind you. And compared to you, I think she is perfectly fine.” I retort back. Actually, she was my niece but let's ignore the insignificant detail.
“What do you mean compared to me?” Fin questioned my last sentence… Oops.
“It’s nothing.” I looked away in an attempt not to discourage people who tried to do good.
“Hmm, alright, since you have met with your reliable sister. I’ll take my leave then.” Finn still looked skeptical.
“Ah, okay, bye bye.” I waved goodbye to him. “And … thanks.” I added as he walked away.
“Oh, right, Kuro, I found something cute today.” After a while, Barbara stopped teething on her own and changed the subject. Then she picked up her purse and opened it.
“Tada!” She picked up a mini duck from her purse… “Meet Mr. Snubby! He’s cute, isn’t he?”
…
Even with a lot of protest from Barbara, I threw Mr. Snubby away and order her to wash her hands and her purse. Was this creature some kind of outsider trap? Maybe I’ll ask that OMI guy to include this into the introductory videos later...