Chapter 2: The Fate of the Runaway Racehorses

“Guest 1923! Here’s a quiz!”

‘There, there, more pointless words!’ MC 34, who had saved her from almost being disciplined for an off-script remark, displayed his characteristic relaxed smile and held out his palm towards the camera.

“What happened to all the racehorses that escaped back then?”

“Uh, hmm…”

Guest 1923’s eyes darted around. It seemed she couldn’t come up with anything. They were on the verge of an NG.

MC 34 glanced at her and quickly added before the audio went silent.

“Number 1, euthanized. Number 2, slaughtered. Number 3, died from lifelong stress in a zoo. Number 4, died from arthritis after being forced to race excessively. Number 5, became weapons of colonization for Earth, having received Juseong’s grace.”

“Oh, number five! It’s number five!”

“Ding-dong-ding, that’s correct!”

A fanfare sound effect echoed in the studio. It meant the higher-ups were pleased.

“Thanks to that, look. The humans who created such unpeaceful sports are now themselves running as ‘racehorses’!”

“Wow!” Recorded audience applause flowed out.
At the same time, a small edited video played at the bottom of the broadcast screen.
It showed humans with number plates running in a vast, foggy wasteland, utterly exhausted.

Guest 1923 stood up from the sofa and clapped her hands formally.
At that moment, text appeared on the monitor in front of the studio.
The experienced MC 34 memorized it at a glance and spoke towards the camera.

“Speaking of which, a quick announcement! To commemorate the 140th anniversary of Invasion Day, the General Human Resources Office is recruiting ‘human runners,’ not racehorses, for a new competition!”

‘Human Run,’ was the name of the race those humans in the video were running.
The monitor turned to Guest 1923.
She stammered as she glanced at the text on the monitor.

“Th-this recruitment seems to have something special about it. Will there be any differences from the previous recruitment methods?”

“Of course! Absolutely! This recruitment specifically targets ‘unregistered individuals’!”

MC 34 held out his palm into the empty air.
Simultaneously, a small video appeared above his palm.

On the screen, humans, barely covering their essential parts, were digging and eating pebbles in a wasteland surrounded only by ash.
They were refugees living in tents near incinerators.

These were those who refused Juseong’s system and lived without registering their names.
Or those born in regular residential areas but exiled due to epidemics, or humans with low intelligence who belonged nowhere.

Thus, these ‘unregistered individuals’ hid among all sorts of trash and waste.
Their staple food was white pebbles called ‘Meo,’ which, no matter how edible, had such an eccentric taste that all registered humans avoided them.

It was literally forcing trash-tasting food down their throats just to fill their stomachs!
Eating such nutritionally void stones and contaminated water, they frequently collapsed from malnutrition and often died before reaching the age of 30.

“T-targeting unregistered individuals? B-but…”

Cold sweat dripped down Guest 1923’s forehead.
She was indeed pale.
It seemed she was genuinely shocked, not just displaying an exaggerated expression for broadcast.

“Ahem.” MC 34 cleared his throat and continued.

“It’s rare, indeed. Until now, the Human Run has been conducted by selecting humans with superior bloodlines under the cultivation of the General Human Resources Office. But Guest 1923! It’s not illogical, is it? Didn’t everyone freely participate in the Human Run until 43 years ago?”

“B-but back then, not all humans had been ‘domesticated’ yet…”

MC 34 clicked his tongue softly, as if suppressing annoyance.
‘Domesticated’ was a word avoided on broadcast.
It had been replaced by the more refined word ‘trained’ ages ago.

Sure enough, a warning message for Guest 1923 appeared on the monitor.
Pale, she reflexively touched her neck, where a vivid red scar was visible.

Not yet officially recognized as a broadcast human, her brain could burst if she was disliked.

“Th-then… this recruitment could be seen as a way to remember the Human Run from 43 years ago.”

Her desperate, squeezed-out comment fortunately seemed to be the right answer, as the warning message on the monitor disappeared.
Guest 1923 finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Exactly, Guest 1923!”

Snap! MC 34 snapped his fingers and turned his body towards the camera with a wide smile.
It was as if he was speaking directly to the viewers outside the screen.

“The current Human Run is very hygienic and rational, but it lacks the wild and fierce flavor of the past. But what if screams and vulgar curses ran rampant like on Invasion Day? Doesn’t your heart pound just imagining it?”

A message prompting Guest 1923’s response appeared on the monitor.

“It does, it absolutely does!”

“That’s right! For all of you like that, the General Human Resources Office has started a special screening for unregistered individuals!”

After his long monologue, MC 34 placed his hand on his chest and caught his breath.
As if his own heart was pounding uncontrollably.
Everything was a seasoned broadcast performance.

“Any human under 15 years old with no official name is eligible to participate! The locations currently appearing on screen are the Human Run screening centers specially set up by the General Human Resources Office for this recruitment. Most are near incinerators, so even low-intelligence unregistered individuals won’t get lost trying to find them!”

Several maps with red dots passed by next to MC 34’s head.
Below the maps, in tiny subtitles, it read: “Maps can be obtained from all incinerators nationwide.”

“At the screening center, you will undergo a simple performance test, including a physical examination and a mental evaluation, as well as a germ inspection. Oh, and lastly, it goes without saying.”

MC 34 pointed at the camera with his finger and winked.

“Even if you pass all these processes, if you don’t pass the ‘obedience test’… you know what happens, right?”

Guest 1923 swallowed hard.
She knew the answer to that question better than anyone.

If one failed the ‘obedience test,’ the human would be immediately discarded.

Guest 1923 had once witnessed a man who had taken first place in the physical examination being segmented into 36 pieces because he failed to prove his loyalty to Juseong.

“We’ll be back after a short commercial break for Part 2!”

The screen then transitioned to a scene of a human wearing small earphones laughing while talking to an elderly grandmother.
MC 34 finally loosened his restrictive tie and briefly enjoyed the commercial.

“Now communicate with elderly humans using ‘Horiso’.”
“13 barbaric languages* are contained in one receiver.”
“Future Juseong Inc., a company that manages ignorant and foolish barbarians who do not know the common language.”

*English, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Indonesian, Swahili, French, Somali, Nepali, Russian, Javanese, Algerian

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

MC 34 said sarcastically.
Born and raised in upper residential areas, he had never encountered humans who didn’t speak the common language—that is, the language Juseong created and taught for its low-intelligence colonial humans.

This was because before the colonization of Earth, the barbaric languages used by humans were strictly controlled after colonization.

Of course, back then, humans with relatively lower intelligence were said to have shown irrational behavior by not becoming accustomed to the common language and continuing to speak barbaric languages.
But even that was over a hundred years ago.

“I-I heard there were some groups among the o-old generation who occasionally gathered their descendants and taught them barbaric languages. Saying that the moment they forgot the language, they would truly become livestock…”

“Before ‘all humans were domesticated,’ right?”

Guest 1923’s ears turned red at MC 34’s reply, which was clearly pointing out a mistake during the broadcast.
She bowed her head deeply.

“I-I’m sorry. It’s my first time on camera…”

“First time?”

“Ah… yes…”

Guest 1923 pressed down on her skirt, which awkwardly split at the crotch.
Seeing her reaction, MC 34 raised an eyebrow as if he had made an unexpected discovery.

“You’re not from around here, are you?”