Chapter 3: The Racehorses

Guest 1923 flinched and trembled her shoulder, remaining silent. Silence implied assent. MC 34 let out a hollow laugh.

“My goodness. I heard humans occasionally come over, but!”

“…”

“How did you get to the upper district? You can read, so it’s not the incinerator, then the Human Run? Were you lucky enough to retire?”

At the word ‘retired,’ Guest 1923’s face turned white.
She habitually tapped her forearm rhythmically, a nervous habit.

MC 34 snapped his fingers as if he had just realized.

“It was the Human Run, then!”

He spoke gleefully, like someone desperate to show off his knowledge.

“The racehorses I’ve interviewed also tapped their arms or thighs when nervous! Perhaps it’s from the habit of timing their races with their hand beats.”

Guest 1923 immediately stopped tapping and clutched the hem of her skirt.

“To succeed in retirement means you were good at running. That’s something to celebrate. You should tell me the story over a drink sometime.”

“Celebrate…” Guest 1923 murmured.
But it was too soft to understand what she was saying.

MC 34, losing interest, clicked his tongue and stood up from the sofa.
‘Her appearance is fine, but her social skills are a bit lacking,’ he muttered, making sure she could hear.

“Oh right. Get used to the skirt. They like to distinguish between males and females.”

MC 34 left for the waiting room.
Only then did she release the tightly clutched hem of her skirt and stare at the turned-off camera.

“Amazing. But are there still humans who speak barbaric languages?”

“[…Lau.]”

A low barbaric word flowed out, like a quiet act of defiance.
Perhaps only this one name could avoid detection.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t keep my promise…”

Knowing it wouldn’t reach her beyond the camera, she bid her final farewell to her comrades she would never see again.
The tears she had held back flowed down her cheeks.

Racehorses

World Setting

1. Juseong (Main Star)
   The master planet of Earth. It is an alien planet that invaded and colonized Earth. Humans do not know the planet’s true name.

2. Earth
   140 years ago, due to the invasion of an alien planet, nations were instantly divided, and the population decreased to a level where civilization could not be sustained. The remaining few humans survived by submitting to the alien planet’s system.
   Currently, the land for humans on Earth is largely divided into upper residential areas, middle residential areas, and lower residential areas. This standard is a result of considering human intelligence, talent, genetic characteristics, and loyalty to Juseong, and is managed by the military.

3. Incinerator
   A landfill that processes all waste and harmful materials generated on Earth. Its interior is unknown, and automated garbage trucks visit periodically.
   Due to harmful gases and contaminated water generated nearby, even the military is reluctant to visit directly. Therefore, refugees who belong to no residential area often live in groups here. These settlements are called shelters, and Juseong does not recognize them as residential areas.

4. Common Language
   The language that Juseong taught humans during the colonization of Earth. All humans in residential areas use it, and fluency is essential to hold a job.
   *Foreign words appearing in this work (e.g., cookie, camera, excel, MC, etc.) are alternative translations of the common language. In reality, the characters are speaking in the common language and not using these foreign words.

5. Barbaric Language
   All languages used in various countries before Earth was invaded. Most became obsolete due to population extinction, but languages used by surviving humans endured.
   The barbaric languages currently remaining on Earth, as identified by Juseong, are as follows: English, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Indonesian, Swahili, French, Somali, Nepali, Russian, Javanese, Algerian.

6. Human Soldiers (Inbyeong)
   Human soldiers directly selected and trained by Juseong for human control. They are at the forefront of colonization more than anyone else and do not hesitate to use cruel methods to punish impure breeds that oppose Juseong’s system.
   Their military units are systematically organized, and among them, the ‘Special Star Army (Seonggundae),’ abbreviated as ‘Special Forces,’ is the core.

7. Human Run (Inju)
   A sport created by Juseong for propaganda and entertainment. It was conceived from Earth’s horse racing, and its form and rules were transformed into a survival game.
   Only humans of excellent traits who pass the screening can participate, and the basic game rule is to start from the gate and reach the finish line. However, monsters roam the racecourse, so caution is required.
   All players are given a jockey (gisu). This differs in nature from horse racing jockeys and refers to a body-enhancing tattoo carved on the player’s back.

The Human Run wants you!

Do you want to wear clothes that cover your arms and legs? Do you want to eat food that actually makes you gain weight, instead of filling your stomach with pebble cookies and ant egg jam? Do you want to sleep in a warm bed instead of on a cold sandy floor?

Then come to the Human Run screening center below right now. We will help you live a dazzling life different from your parents and dream of a happy future.

All livestock under 15 years old are welcome.

General Human Resources Office.

Flap. A flyer, mottled with ash dust, fell at Yeosu’s feet as she dug for stones.

She put down her trowel and rolled her eyes over the letters, then flinched at the sound of children’s voices in the distance and fumbled on the dirt floor.

Thud, thud, thud. The white stones she dug out piled up neatly in the basket.
Meanwhile, the children approached her from behind.

“Hey, Kuchanti.”

A tall boy among the group nudged her basket with his foot.
Yeosu’s shoulders instinctively hunched.

Kuchanti. It was a word used in the incinerator to refer to children with physical defects.
The children often teased her by calling her Kuchanti because she was unusually short for her age.

‘I’m not a Kuchanti.’

Yeosu gripped the trowel tightly.
Her height wasn’t a defect; she was just growing slower than others.

But she only argued inwardly, unable to say anything.

She was afraid of the children who moved around in groups.
They were more malicious than adults.
They would steal the stones she had diligently collected as if they were their own.

“What’s that?”

The boy’s eyes turned to the flyer at Yeosu’s feet.
It was too clean to be used for firewood, and it was filled with twisted lines and circles.

As the boy picked up the flyer, several more children approached behind him and looked at it together.

“Do you know what it is?”

The boy looked back, but everyone shook their heads as if on cue.
‘What do they know?’ the boy grumbled discontentedly and looked up at the sky.

Airships laden with paper often passed over the incinerator.
Each time, flyers filled with pictures and letters would fall between the shelters, which were generally incomprehensible to them.

The airship was already gone.
The boy, unable to read, quickly lost interest and handed the flyer to his friend beside him.

His friend looked at the flyer with more patience than the boy, but he couldn’t decipher it either.

“Hmph, a Kuchanti pretending to know how to read.”

The boy, dissatisfied with his own ignorance, turned his anger towards Yeosu.
The children also chimed in, but for Yeosu, who continued to dig silently, only the loud thudding of the sharp blade hitting the ground was heard.

“Is this all for today?”

Dissatisfied with her lack of response, the boy kicked over her basket.
The stones Yeosu had dug out since early morning tumbled onto the ground.

“…”

The stones she had carefully cleaned and shined were now covered in dirt again.
Yeosu clenched her teeth and quietly began to clean the stones.

One, two, three. As the re-cleaned stones went into the basket, Yeosu’s sleeves became even blacker than before.

While the children snickered behind her, she rolled up her completely stained sleeves twice.
The boy, feeling ignored, raised his voice even more.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to answer?”

He threw a stone at Yeosu’s head.
Thwack! It was a direct hit.
The children tilted their heads back, enjoying the sight of Yeosu clutching her head and groaning.

“Do-don’t…”

The children chuckled even more.
Afterward, three or four more stones flew at Yeosu’s head.

With eyes wide open, trying to clear her watering eyes, she began to put the stones, even the one that hit the back of her head, into her basket.

Her lack of response was partly due to her timid nature, but also because she didn’t want to starve to death.

The stones were a precious staple food for her family that she absolutely had to protect.
With them, she could get cookies at the exchange, or simply eat them if she was hungry enough.