Mutant — Part 3
“Just wait a moment.”
I pulled out a heating jar I had bought at the mart.
Sprinkling the ramen seasoning and dried garnishes over the noodles, I poured in some water. The moment I did, Grizzly Bear wrinkled his face in open disgust.
“You’re seriously expecting me to eat that?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Are you messing with me? Huh?”
ROAAAAAARR!
Grizzly Bear’s roar ruptured my eardrums, which had only just healed.
If it had been a normal person, their brain would’ve exploded, killing them instantly.
I endured it with my [Mighty Body] and sheer resolve.
Letting the sound flow in one ear and out the other, I reached into the golf bag slung over my shoulder and pulled out a small pouch.
The one I’d bought at the exchange.
Inside was a powder I’d prepared in advance. Carefully, I sprinkled it over the noodles.
When I closed the lid and placed the wooden chopsticks on top, Grizzly Bear, who had been roaring moments earlier, sniffed the air cautiously.
“Huh?”
His angry expression gave way to one of confusion.
Of course, he would be bewildered. This must’ve been a scent he had never encountered before.
‘Would a mutant’s sense of smell and taste be the same as a human’s?’
What about sight, touch, or hearing?
Naturally, it varied depending on the mutant. Some were similar to humans, but many were not.
“I heard from a friend. That the people in Hope Village struggle to eat proper meals.”
That was because of their impaired sense of taste and smell.
“I also heard that even the village chief can only taste bitterness. That’s why you like herbal medicine so much.”
“Hmph. So you’ve done your homework, huh?”
“What do you think? Isn’t this spicy, savory aroma something you’ve never smelled before?”
“Spicy and savory…”
The sensation of spiciness was a combination of heat and pain.
However, Grizzly Bear lacked temperature sensitivity, so he couldn’t fully experience spiciness. The same applied to his sense of smell.
His face contorted in a mix of confusion and frustration, as if he wanted to be angry but had missed the timing.
Three minutes had passed before I knew it.
Smiling, I removed the chopsticks and held out the cup ramen.
“Why don’t you try it? Don’t you want to understand why humans are so obsessed with ramen?”
Gulp.
His throat bobbed visibly.
For the first time, a clear emotion surfaced on Grizzly Bear’s face.
An emotion—or perhaps an urge—that even he didn’t fully recognize.
It was hunger.
“Hmph, hmph! As the chief of Hope Village, I have a duty to learn about human culture! I’m not eating this because I’m curious about the smell or anything!”
“Of course. Everyone knows how dedicated you are to Hope Village.”
“Well, let’s see…”
Grizzly Bear skillfully grasped the chopsticks with his massive front paws.
He stirred the ramen once, swallowed nervously, then twirled the noodles like pasta and lifted them to his mouth.
With one swift motion, he scooped up most of the noodles in a single bite.
The child-sized lump of noodles disappeared into his mouth in one go.
And then, he froze.
His arms trembled slightly.
His eyes widened, quaking as if struck by an earthquake.
‘Well? How is it? The taste of modern civilization? That salty, spicy, savory flavor that no one in their right mind would call healthy?’
But for Grizzly Bear, who had only ever known the bitterness of herbal medicine, this must’ve been an entirely new world.
“Th-this, this…”
Grizzly Bear stared down at the now-empty cup ramen in shock.
Then, with a single motion, he downed the leftover broth, chugging it until there wasn’t a drop left.
His throat bobbed violently as he swallowed, and Grizzly Bear shuddered.
His half-closed eyes and slightly open mouth were a testament to his journey to heaven and back.
“More! M-more! Give me more! I need more!”
“Please calm down. Other people need to eat too.”
“Hm… others…”
Grizzly Bear’s expression faltered with hesitation.
‘What’s wrong with you? You’re the type of guy who’d share a single bean with your fellow mutants. Are you really going to abandon your village over a cup of ramen?’
Instead of giving him another cup ramen, I pulled out a cooling pack.
Thanks to the dry ice packed to the limit, its contents were perfectly preserved.
Ice cream.
A treat that looked remarkably like the melon-flavored popsicles from the original world.
Carefully peeling off the wrapper, I sprinkled a light dusting of powder over it.
The moment the smell wafted out, Grizzly Bear’s eyes locked onto the ice cream with a predatory intensity.
“Why don’t you try this as well?”
“I’ll say this again, I’m only eating it because—”
“Yes, yes, I know. Just try it already.”
Grizzly Bear gingerly took the ice cream as if it were something precious.
Closing his eyes tightly, he sniffed once, his hands trembling as he brought the ice cream to his mouth.
And then, a single bite.
“HUUUURGH!”
Grizzly Bear let out a strange noise.
Then, sticking out his long tongue, he tried to lick the ice cream.
Ah. My mistake.
He couldn’t lick it properly.
When he tried, his tongue tensed up, snapping the ice cream in two.
The broken piece fell, but Grizzly Bear darted his tongue out like a frog, catching it mid-air.
“HUURK!”
Grizzly Bear trembled violently as he finished off the ice cream in two bites.
He shuddered as if struck by lightning, then looked at me with desperate eyes.
“Could you… could you give me just one more?”
“Sure.”
In a world where the cost of daily necessities was low, this ice cream was less than 500 won.
I handed it over generously.
And sprinkled a touch more powder on top.
With each bit of powder melting into the ice cream, Grizzly Bear’s face softened. With every bite he took, his entire body seemed to melt as well.
“What’s that smell?”
“Something smells weird.”
“Is this what they call a scent? The thing that people with noses can detect?”
“That’s right… you don’t have a nose, do you…”
“Hey! Who gave you permission to come in without being called?”
Grizzly Bear bellowed, but the other mutants ignored him and took seats nearby.
“Aw, come on, let us watch.”
“Stop acting so high and mighty just because you’re the chief.”
“What is this? What’s this smell, seriously?”
“Is this one of those human perfumes? The kind that makes you feel good?”
The mutants all began sniffing the air, their curiosity growing.
Mutants are notoriously unable to perceive sweetness.
The same goes for smell.
If they can detect salty or sour flavors, they’re considered lucky. Many mutants, like Grizzly Bear, live their entire lives only knowing bitterness. Others lack any sense of taste altogether.
So, for beings like them to encounter sweetness for the first time… it was only natural that their noses would twitch involuntarily.
Smiling brightly, I offered them the ice cream.
“Here, give it a try. This ice cream is something you can enjoy too.”
“Ice cream?”
“This stuff? It’s just cold, that’s all…”
Just because they were mutants didn’t mean they were poor or unaware of modern conveniences.
After all, Grizzly Bear’s home was filled with appliances like a TV, a console gaming system, a large refrigerator, air conditioning, and a washing machine.
Naturally, they’d tried things like ice cream or cup ramen before.
The issue was that they simply couldn’t taste them.
The mutants tilted their heads in confusion but each accepted a bar of ice cream.
The green, rectangular ice cream bars.
After a moment of hesitation, they each cautiously bit into the frozen treat.
And then…
“Huh?”
“What the…?”
“Wha—?!”
“Woah!”
Their eyes widened, like exclamation points springing to life.
Human eyes, beast eyes, snake eyes, plant knots, and even camera apertures—all at once, they opened wide.
For a moment, they were stunned, their expressions vacant.
But only for a moment.
The next instant, the mutants charged at me all at once.
“More! Give us more!”
“Ice cream! Ice cream!”
“Hand over everything you’ve got!”
These were beings strong enough to barge into the chief’s house without hesitation.
In other words, mutants of at least Level 6.
Without even being able to resist, my cooling pack was ransacked.
Well, technically, I let them take it.
A Thunderbird Mutant snatched the cooling pack and soared high into the ceiling.
“The ice cream is mine!”
“Give it back!”
“No, it’s mine!”
Was it their mutant instincts that made them so impulsive?
They had to be well past the age for such childish antics, and yet it was like watching kids bicker and play.
Even Grizzly Bear joined in, reaching out his massive paw toward the Thunderbird Mutant. Watching them, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ehehehe!”
The Thunderbird Mutant bit into an ice cream cone without even unwrapping it.
White vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate began to ooze from the cracks.
His face was full of anticipation… but soon turned to disappointment.
“What the?! This tastes like nothing!”
“Huh? Really?”
“It’s tasteless?”
“They’re right!”
“It’s just icy powder! Just icy powder!”
The cooling pack ripped open, and the ice cream bars fell to the floor.
The mutants who scrambled to pick them up had expressions as if they’d lost their country.
Unlike the sweetness and richness from a moment ago, the ice cream was now nothing more than lumps of icy powder.
Even the mutants who couldn’t sense coldness blinked their eyes as if asking, ‘What is this?’
I pinched the small pouch between two fingers and raised it into the air.
“This is the key.”
Picking up a fallen ice cream bar, I tore it open and sprinkled a bit of powder on it.
Though I wouldn’t be able to smell it even with [Keen Nose] equipped, the mutants reacted differently.
Not a single one of them was an exception. Their noses twitched uncontrollably.
Even mutants with heightened senses of smell and those without any sense of smell at all reacted the same way.
“With just a sprinkle of this powder, you’ll be able to truly taste the flavor of any food. Whether it’s delicious or awful.”
“Wait, when you say awful… you mean the human idea of bad taste?”
“Exactly.”
Grizzly Bear, without hesitation, naturally took an ice cream bar from me as he asked the question.
Swallowing the ice cream in one gulp, Grizzly Bear immediately became the subject of deadly glares from the other mutants.
“Haaaaah!”
There was no trace left of the solemn village chief.
All that remained was a grinning, writhing bear, basking in the euphoria of eating ice cream.
The others erupted in protests.
“Look at that stupid bear!”
“Stuffing its face all by itself!”
“Do you think only your mouth matters while the rest of us are just here to watch?”
“Give me some too! I want some!”
I handed the entire pouch to Grizzly Bear.
Grizzly Bear cautiously inspected the contents of the pouch after receiving it.
“What is this?”
“Take a guess.”
“Huh. It’s not normal seasoning, but what the heck is it?”
Grizzly Bear stuck out his tongue and licked the powder.
His pupils contracted sharply before he whipped his head around to glare at me.
“What is this?! Are you trying to kill me?!”
Level 0 Mana Core powder.
Grizzly Bear’s extreme reaction was understandable.
After all, Mana Cores were considered lethal to mutants.
If a naturally born mutant’s powers were augmented by external mutation, the results were catastrophic.
But I answered calmly.
“It’s already purified. There are absolutely no side effects.”
“How can you guarantee that?”
“I mean it. If anyone experiences adverse effects after consuming what I’ve given you, you can kill me. I won’t hold it against you.”
“Hmm…”
“If you’re still worried, you can soak it in the lowest-grade Holy Water before consuming it. It’ll even enhance the flavor! That’s because it boosts mana reactivity. Ah, but just to be safe, only use Level 0 Mana Cores. Anything above Level 1 could be dangerous.”
Hearing this, the mutants seemed to realize the powder’s true identity.
They began murmuring amongst themselves.
“Mana Core? That’s a Mana Core?”
“I can sense mana from it!”
“Ugh! Did we really just eat Mana Core powder?”
“He said it was purified!”
“Yeah, but it’s still a Mana Core!”
“I don’t care if it’s a Mana Core or whatever. As long as I can eat ice cream again, I’ll eat anything—even a Mana Core!”
“They say ghosts who die eating well look better anyway…”
“Does this mean we can eat stuff like ice cream, ice cream cake, shaved ice, and gelato now, like in those human dramas?”
Half of the gazes were filled with concern, the other half with greed.
Spreading my arms wide, I addressed them.
“You have a guardian deity, don’t you? If you’re still worried, why don’t you ask your guardian? If they truly possess the power of prophecy, they’ll be able to tell you whether this is safe to eat or not.”
“How do you know about the Great Mother?”
“I told you, I heard it from a friend.”
Of course, I couldn’t tell them I knew from the game.
Grizzly Bear looked down at me for a moment before bowing on the spot.
Toward the massive magitech TV in the corner of the living room—more specifically, toward the oversized wooden TV cabinet beneath it—he bowed ten times before muttering strange incantations.
A bizarre combination of subsonic and ultrasonic frequencies that human ears couldn’t fully process, the sound was incomprehensible.
This was how they communicated with their guardian deity: the Great Mother, the protector of their mutant village, the Tree God.
After remaining prostrate for a long time, Grizzly Bear finally stood up.
He glanced at me, then at the other mutants, and finally at his wooden home before speaking.
“The Great Mother says it’s safe. However, you must make it yourself, purify it, or soak it in holy water before consuming it.”
“Really?”
“The Great Mother said that?”
“Are you saying it’s okay to eat a Mana Core?”
“They said it’s a Level 0 Mana Core! Level 0! No one in our village is weak enough to mutate from just a Level 0 Mana Core!”
“Ha!”
“Those weaklings wouldn’t have even been born in the first place!”
The mutants were practically drooling, their gazes glued to the pouch in Grizzly Bear’s grasp.
From the way their eyes gleamed, you’d think they were swordmasters about to unleash a blade aura.
Even Grizzly Bear, a Level 7 superhuman, shivered slightly under the intensity of their stares.
Quietly, I opened my golf bag and began pulling out plastic bags one after another.
“What’s that?”
“It’s pork belly!”
“There’s chicken, too!”
“Jjajangmyeon! Is that jjajangmyeon?!”
The golf bag, which was as large as a car trunk, was packed full today.
Instead of guns, grenade launchers, or bombs, it was stuffed to the brim with food.
I’d practically emptied the entire mart.
As soon as I tore open the bags and handed out the food, the mutants lost their minds and began looting the bounty.
“Thank you, human!”
“You’re a good human!”
“Now I understand why someone in our village considers you a friend!”
“Thank you so much! If you ever need a liver, I’ll happily donate one! I’ve got four of them!”
I handed out a few more pouches.
It wasn’t just the powder I’d given Grizzly Bear earlier.
Drooling, the mutants eagerly sprinkled the powder over their food.
While I couldn’t smell it, to the mutants, it was an irresistible scent, far more enticing than even ant pheromones.
“Haaaa…”
“Haaaah…”
The mutants were practically melting, like candles left in the sun.
This wasn’t an exaggeration.
One amorphous mutant even lost his shape entirely, collapsing to the floor in a puddle like a blob of slime.
‘If they’re already like this, what’ll happen next?’
Pulling out my trump card, I retrieved a self-heating, oversized pot from the depths of my golf bag.
Filling it with water, I set it to boil before tossing in some ramen.
To the included ramen seasoning packet, I added generous amounts of black pepper, salt, red pepper flakes, and sugar.
Almost an entire handful of each.
What emerged was an abomination of saltiness, spiciness, and sweetness—a chaotic hybrid stew ramen.
A normal person would spit it out after a single bite.
But for mutants?
For beings who didn’t taste food with their tongues but perceived its flavors indirectly through their mana circuits?
The mutants, faces entranced, gathered around.
And then they took a spoonful, a single bite of noodles.
“Wow…”
“Woooah…”
A storm broke loose.
A literal storm of flavor.
Every mutant was completely and utterly swept away.
–TL Notes–
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