Chapter 20

Chapter 20. Galactic Martial God Chronicle - Amusement Park Kidnapping Incident (3)

The amusement park was fun.

They used overwhelming technology involving all kinds of hologram devices solely to squeeze out dopamine, so there was no way it wouldn’t be fun.

The adventure through hologram stages that felt as though I had stepped into an actual animation, and among characters that seemed alive rather than people in mascot costumes, made even me, whose body was a child’s but whose brain was an adult’s, feel thrilled.

Given the era, realistic virtual reality games also existed, but no matter how much they deceived the senses with electronic signals, they still could not compare to actually moving one’s body.

In truth, realistic virtual reality technology that could even deceive real sensations was evaluated to have been completed in the 35th century, about fifteen hundred years ago.

However, due to the legal restrictions created after various incidents and accidents, the modern popularized virtual reality technology could not catch up to reality.

I got curious about what kind of incidents they were and looked them up. Sure enough, a mass shock-death incident at a high school and an incident where a child could not distinguish between reality and virtual reality and jumped from a high-rise were incidents serious enough to justify placing legal restrictions on virtual reality.

Of course, it was said that if one went to unorthodox faction territory, where they couldn’t care less about international law, one could experience truly realistic virtual reality.

The problem was that while looking for realistic virtual reality, there was a high risk of becoming addicted to electronic drugs.

“Oof, I’m tired.”

After playing excitedly, I was a little exhausted.

Since most people learned cultivation methods through compulsory education, many of the amusement rides were designed to use stamina.

There were also rides where one simply sat inside and enjoyed the thrill, but most of those had height restrictions.

That said, things like merry-go-rounds were not to my taste.

Because of that, I chose rides I could enjoy without height or age restrictions, and most of those required moving my body.

When I sat on a bench under a giant mouse statue to rest, Si-woo said,

“I will go buy an electrolyte drink. Please wait here.”

“Yeah, I’ll rest here.”

Sitting on the bench, I drew internal energy from my qi center and recovered my stamina.

Breathing circulation, where one absorbed the surrounding qi and filled the qi center, was something that should preferably be done somewhere safe and without people, but simply using stored internal energy to recover stamina was fine.

In the first place, martial arts existed to draw out internal energy and fight, so there was no way drawing internal energy from my qi center would be dangerous just because there were some people around.

If that were dangerous, one would not be able to fight using internal energy either.

As I sat and rested, a cute baby approached me.

She was a baby who looked as though she would become an incredible beauty when she grew up.

If she’s that pretty, isn’t it dangerous for her to wander around alone? What if she gets kidnapped?

As I was thinking that, the baby spoke to me.

“Excuse me, did you perhaps learn Bluewood Art too?”

The baby glanced around anxiously and asked me.

“...I did. But how did you know that, little kid?”

“Little kid?! You’re the little kid!”

At my words, the baby girl flared up.

Ah, right. I’m a little kid too.

Since Si-woo did not treat me like a baby, I often forgot that I was at an age where being called a baby was more natural than being called a child.

Of course, that was probably because I did not act like a baby.

“You’re right. I’m a little kid too. So how did you know I learned Bluewood Art?”

“Because you were openly leaking qi waves like that.”

Ah, was it because I used internal energy to recover?

Because I was still inexperienced at controlling my internal energy, it seemed qi waves had leaked outside my body.

But she sensed that in this crowd? What kind of kid is she?

“Did you get lost?”

At my question, the baby girl flinched.

“I didn’t... get lost.”

What do you mean, you didn’t get lost? Anyone can see you’re an anxious little lost kid.

“The lost child center is about three hundred meters that way....”

I couldn’t tell a baby who looked about three years old to go there alone.

“I’ll go with you to the lost child center, so sit here and wait a little. I have someone with me too.”

“Huh? Mm... okay....”

The little kid hesitantly sat beside me.

The bench was so high it almost reached her chin, but perhaps because she had learned martial arts, she hopped onto the bench without trouble.

“Do you know your parents’ names and phone numbers?”

“I know my parents’ names! ...But what’s a phone number?”

“Do you know what a phone is?”

At my question, the little kid shook her head.

Ah, maybe three-year-olds don’t know what phones are?

Well, the phones of this era were not in the form of 21st-century smartphones, so even if she saw her parents using a phone, she might not know what it was.

Most electronic devices were embedded in hologram IoT form, and even with smartphone-like devices, people often set the screen so that no one but the owner could see it for security.

“The thing on your wrist is a phone.”

On the little kid’s wrist was a small bracelet in the shape of a band.

“It’s the same model as mine.”

I showed her the band-type smartphone on my wrist.

For reference, Si-woo had banned every internet service on my smartphone except calls and text messages.

It meant I was to use the internet somewhere visible, meaning the living room, so that three-year-old me would not go into strange sites.

I was dissatisfied, but as realistic childcare, it was wise.

Ordinary three-year-olds did not have the knowledge or experience to judge what was wrong.

Well, in truth, an ordinary three-year-old would watch children’s animations on a smartphone, not surf the internet or shop.

Still, she had said she would unlock internet services once I entered elementary school, so I only had to wait around three or four more years.

“Now, press this part on the bracelet briefly.”

When I pressed the band’s button, the little kid followed along and pressed hers, then suddenly looked startled.

“A screen appeared in front of your eyes, right?”

The brooch attached to her chest, which came as a set with the band, should have projected a hologram screen visible only to the owner.

I turned off invisible-to-others mode and showed her my screen.

“Do you see this receiver icon there? Press it. No, with the hand wearing the bracelet.”

The band was the controller that allowed the hand to interact with the hologram screen.

“Once you press it, the contact list should appear, right? What does it say there?”

“Mom, Dad.”

“Press the person you want to call from there. No, press it with the hand wearing the bracelet.”

“I pressed it. Ah! It’s making a strange sound!”

The little kid was startled by the sudden ringing tone.

Of course, I could not hear it.

“Ah! Mom? Where are you? Where are you talking from?”

It seemed the call had connected, because the little kid kept looking around.

I said to her,

“Tell her this location is the bench under the Mally Mouse statue in Area G.”

Looks like I don’t have to bother taking her all the way to the lost child center.

The little kid repeated what I said, and told me that her parents were coming here.

“Thank you! A phone, huh. What a fascinating object!”

“Well, is there anything that isn’t fascinating at our age? By the way, did you end the call?”

“Huh? End the call?”

“...No, never mind. Since you’re lost, it’s better to keep the call connected.”

At my words, the little kid flared up.

“I-I’m not lost!”

“Sure, sure. Of course not.”

When I brushed it off, the little kid pouted, then smiled unpleasantly to herself and said,

“Yes, I’m the adult here, so I should show magnanimity.”

“Adult?”

When I looked at her with a gaze that said, You? the little kid pouted again.

This kid’s emotions show exactly on her face.

Thinking about it, she spoke rather logically for a three-year-old.

Normally, could a three-year-old use difficult words like magnanimity? Or could they?

I had never had a three-year-old around me, so I did not know.

I did have one younger sibling whose body and intelligence level were like a gorilla’s, but no matter how low the intelligence of that bastard who looked like a Triceratops with makeup caked on its face was, he was still a high schooler, so he probably used his head more than a three-year-old.

...Right?

“By the way, you said you sensed my qi wave earlier, right? How did you read my qi wave when there are so many people around?”

Something I had learned while studying martial arts was that all people unknowingly emitted qi waves as they lived.

It was a weekday today, but this was an amusement park, so countless people were walking around, and there were also martial artists working part-time, making the qi waves feel chaotic.

At my question, the little kid answered as if it were nothing.

“Each person and each martial art has a different internal energy attribute. You just have to distinguish that.”

The little kid gathered internal energy in her hand and emitted a qi wave.

“Like you, I learned Bluewood Art too, so I emit this clear energy. Over there, the martial artist performing acrobatics learned martial arts from the Daoist school, so his is calm, and that person learned martial arts from the Buddhist school, so his is heavy. That woman learned Frost-Ice Qigong, so hers is chilly.”

After chattering on like that, the little kid realized something and said,

“Ah, you wouldn’t know even if I explained it like this. Hmm, how should I explain....”

“No, I get it. That person’s qi wave feels hot and active, so did they learn Blazing Yang Qigong?”

The little kid pointed out each person one by one and explained the nature of the qi waves flowing from them, so I roughly understood.

There were still too many people, so sensing qi waves was difficult, but if I focused on them one by one, I could distinguish them.

At my words, the little kid looked at me with shocked eyes.

“No, how...! Your visible muscles and bones are not merely ordinary, but closer to dullard-level...!”

Hey, this rude little kid! She really has no filter with someone who helped her!

It was true, though! Even Si-woo, who taught me, secretly sighed about it!

But did I really have to hear that from a rude little kid I had just met?

When I narrowed my brows, perhaps realizing her rudeness, she apologized.

“S-Sorry. I was so surprised that I just...”

“It’s true that I’m talentless and only my qi sense is sensitive.”

“No. Still, looking at you, it seems you’re building an extremely solid foundation for someone your age. Muscles and bones are merely talent that lets one quickly reach a certain level. They aren’t important. Rather, those who trust only their innate talent and ignore the basics stagnate at a certain realm, while those who build a firm foundation do not stagnate, even if their muscles and bones are poor.”

The little kid, who had been speaking in a somewhat excuse-like manner, suddenly looked closely at me and marveled.

“But who is your master? You’re still young, so it looks like you’re building your foundation, but the level of that foundation feels like you’re building a castle. You could’ve advanced to the next stage long ago, but it still looks like you’re polishing your basics.”

“...You can tell that just by looking? What, are you some expert who reversed aging?”

When I asked in disbelief, the little kid panicked.

“Eheheh! R-Right. How would I know? It’s just intuition. Intuition.”

Her strangely flustered appearance felt out of place.

What, did she reincarnate like me or something?

No matter how I thought about it, this was not the speech and behavior of a three-year-old.

The panicking little kid changed the topic to gloss over what she had been saying.

“Seeing that you learned Bluewood Art, I think you’re from the same family. What’s your name? My name is Cheon So—!”

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, two men wearing hoods, cute headbands as if they were enjoying the amusement park, and character masks pressed handkerchiefs over the little kid’s mouth and mine.

Sleep poured over me, perhaps because the handkerchief had sedative on it.

The place I woke up after falling asleep was somewhere dark, like a boiler room.