Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 61: Space Dino Park (2)

I arrived at the airport with everyone who had been staying at Scarlet’s shop.

A surprisingly large group—The Child, Agu, four Kiwi Birds, Ember, Aria, Scarlet, Iris, Daniel, and Victor!

The Babel Spaceport we arrived at was unlike any place I had ever experienced before.

The vast space beneath the high ceiling was a bizarre blend of futuristic design and a primitive dinosaur theme.

At the entrance, a massive Tyrannosaurus hologram let out a roar to greet the visitors, and videos of pterosaurs flying through the sky played continuously across the walls.

On the floor, dinosaur-footprint-shaped markers guided us to the next area.

We’d barely arrived at the airport, but the atmosphere already screamed “vacation.”

Well, considering the only destination you could reach from here was Space Dino Park, I guess it made sense for it to be like this.

If I were to compare it to a sense from a hundred years ago, this airport might be like one of those tourist monorails.

“Alright, this way.”

Ember led the way with ease, like a seasoned travel guide.

She was clearly the type who researched every detail before a trip.

Naturally, I was the type who looked up absolutely nothing.

When I activated the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) AR interface, a group of tiny, lifelike Compsognathus started darting around my feet.

The Child laughed gleefully at the sight and swatted at the air with her hands.

Since she’d snuck onto the ship, she wasn’t coated at the moment.

“Gyuu-hing, gyuu-hing.”

Behind us, Agu was waddling along, hauling a suitcase that looked way too big for its body.

The straps were digging into its belly fat, and it kept whining in protest.

Victor held Iris and Daniel’s hands tightly as he looked around, keeping the kids close.

The two of them kept letting out awed gasps, their eyes wide with wonder at the sights they were seeing for the first time.

Iris, especially, couldn’t take her eyes off the giant Brachiosaurus statue.

Aria was quietly staring up at a hologram of a pterosaur.

“A, look at that. It’s a baby pterosaur.”

I followed Aria’s gaze and saw a tiny pterosaur hanging from a tree branch.

And just like that, we ended up blending in with the other kids in the lobby, gawking at dinosaurs.

‘...’

Departure procedures... or should I say, launch procedures?

Anyway, Ember handled all the necessary steps like a pro and called us over once everything was done.

“As I said before, weapons aren’t allowed on the orbital station above. Make sure none of you have anything that could cause trouble.”

I nodded internally at Ember’s words.

I was fine since I’d just brought myself, but that wasn’t the case for the others.

Especially for mercenaries—most of them hid one or two compact weapons inside their implants just in case.

Even a netwitch who didn’t work in the field had to keep some kind of secret weapon on hand to survive.

The moment Ember finished speaking, Victor lightly tapped his own body.

His formerly bulky frame was gone, now slimmed down to something resembling a normal person.

He must have removed all his internal weapons just for this trip.

Once we cleared the security gate, a large waiting area opened up before us.

People of all types waited for their flights to depart, each in their own way.

Most of them seemed to be upper-class, decked out in expensive clothes and flashy implants.

Well, it made sense—you’d need serious money to vacation at a place like Space Dino Park.

At the very least, you’d probably need to be a mid-tier corporate manager.

Mercenaries like us having money was definitely not the norm.

With nothing else to do, I wandered the duty-fr—no, the space shopping arcade with Scarlet.

It was packed with every kind of dinosaur-themed souvenir imaginable.

Tyrannosaurus claw keychains, drones with pterosaur-wing designs, and even backpacks shaped like Stegosaurus backs.

The one thing that caught my eye was a triceratops-shaped hat.

Its soft material and cute horn design completely won me over.

Without hesitation, I picked it up and headed for the register.

“You really liked it that much?”

Scarlet chuckled like she couldn’t believe me, but she didn’t stop me.

Heehee.

I immediately plopped the triceratops hat on my head.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

****

The airship bound for Space Dino Park was more ordinary than I expected.

From the outside, it looked like a small-winged airplane, more or less.

And the inside? Also surprisingly normal.

Comfortable seats, soft lighting, and the view of Babel through the windows.

As the airship slowly took off, I felt pressure pushing me deep into the seat.

It felt like gravity had multiplied several times.

I’d heard they used an AI frame-based propulsion system—kind of like a rocket—but I didn’t know the exact mechanics.

The cityscape of Babel shrank in the distance.

Its towering buildings and neon signs faded into glowing dots.

Suddenly, I had a thought.

‘Is the sky... truly infinite?’

Babel was surrounded by warped space, so leaving through land or sea routes was impossible.

And since I’d never heard of the rich escaping into space, it was likely the sky was also surrounded by spatial distortions.

Then, all at once, the crushing gravity vanished like a lie.

We had entered zero gravity.

Agu and The Child floated around, laughing and playing in mid-air.

Iris and Daniel, equally fascinated, unbuckled their seatbelts and tried to float themselves.

Just then, the lights inside the airship dimmed, and the ceiling began to turn transparent.

The ceiling transformed into a massive window, and a breathtaking view spread out above us.

“Oh...”

A soft murmur rose from every passenger on board.

It filled the entire field of vision.

A massive blue sphere stretched endlessly before us—Earth.

From space, Earth looked exactly like the picture I remembered from my textbooks a hundred years ago.

A beautiful planet of blue oceans, green continents, and white clouds.

No scars from the Great Convergence, no signs of environmental collapse.

The moment I saw it, I remembered something the scientists used to say.

That Babel wasn’t connected to real space, but was instead a patchwork of forcibly joined places scattered across Earth.

Looking at Earth’s unbroken image from space, I started to think they might have been right.

As I stared at the blue planet outside the window, a strange feeling welled up inside me.

Then, a massive shadow swept across the top of the airship.

Another wave of gasps rippled through the passengers.

Some kids even screamed in fear.

Outside the window, a creature of unbelievable size swam past us with slow, graceful movements.

It was as if one of Babel’s skyscrapers had come alive and was drifting through space.

It had razor-sharp teeth and enormous fins—a massive reptilian creature.

The famous attraction of Space Dino Park, the Space Mosasaurus.

It flicked its gigantic tail once and disappeared from view in an instant.

I stared blankly in the direction it vanished.

It felt like the creature’s appearance was telling us one thing:

We were almost at Space Dino Park.

****

The entrance to Space Dino Park looked like a portal to another dimension.

As we walked past the cold, metallic corridor of the space station, a wave of humid air and the thick scent of grass suddenly hit us.

In front of us, beneath a massive artificial dome, stretched a lush tropical rainforest.

Beyond the dome ceiling—which replaced the sky—was the dark expanse of space, and floating within it, faintly visible, was the blue Earth.

Iris stood frozen, staring blankly at the view beyond the glass wall.

Next to her, her brother Daniel stood quietly, one arm wrapped around her shoulder.

Beyond the dome, the Space Mosasaurus was gliding calmly through the backdrop of Earth.

“Mister, look over there!”

Iris pointed excitedly at the mosasaurus snatching a chunk of meat shot out from the station.

“Just the cost of the meat alone must be insane. That dinosaur...”

Even Victor, who usually didn’t show much reaction, mumbled with genuine awe on his face.

According to the pamphlet we got at the entrance, that monster was a genetically engineered creature made by MK Corporation.

I glanced over at the bag containing the Kiwis.

‘So... technically, they might be distant cousins?’

As I kept staring at the image of Earth, a chime rang through my AR interface.

Ding.

When I opened the interface, just as I expected, it was flooded with spam mail alerts.

Mom! Send credits quick! These cookies are way too hard!

Cyber Necromancers are real. Please save me now.

The world’s most delicious pizza—<<<Click here now!

I almost clicked on that last one by reflex, but I shook my head and resisted temptation.

Then something odd occurred to me.

Even this far from Babel, out at a space station, the network still worked?

I’d heard the AI Frame Network covered all of Babel, but even out in space?

Considering Titan Tech’s secret lab had lost connection, this was very strange.

Even if that lab was buried deep underground, it had to be closer than space, right?

I looked around, searching for Ember.

She was the only one who could answer questions like this.

‘Where’s Ember?’

Far off in the distance, I spotted her leaning on the observation deck railing.

Even in a crowd, she stood out.

The concerned look on her face made it clear—she didn’t look like someone on vacation.

I weaved through the crowd and poked her back with my finger.

Ember turned around with a slightly surprised look.

“What’s up?”

“Of all days, one of Sakamata’s heirs is showing up here today. Hopefully we don’t get any trouble...”

Worry flickered across Ember’s face.

But I wasn’t all that concerned.

If the space station blew up, everyone here would just become a burning meteor shower falling toward Earth anyway.

“If anyone causes trouble here, wouldn’t we all die together?”

Even the heir of a megacorp wouldn’t be dumb enough to take that risk.

Leaving Ember and her concerns behind, I walked back toward the kids.

We’d come all this way—might as well enjoy the dinosaurs.

****

As opening time for Space Dino Park approached, the staff became increasingly busy.

This week’s new visitors were lining up one by one to pass through the gates.

The employees were scrambling to complete final safety checks and prepare the facilities.

Just like in those famous movies from a hundred years ago—if the dinosaurs broke loose, it’d be a full-scale disaster, and the tension was written all over their faces.

But despite the chaos, the central control room—accessible only to a select few staff—was quiet.

Dozens of holographic monitors covered the walls, displaying live CCTV footage from all over the park, dinosaur biometric data, and environmental system controls.

At the center of the control room, seated in front of a complex console, was a woman.

Her hands moved with practiced precision as she ran system diagnostics and occasionally checked the monitors.

Once she finished her work, she glanced around, then carefully pulled a suspicious-looking metal cage from her bag.

“Finally... Sakamata’s arrived. That cursed company’s son.”

Her voice was low and cold.

Her gaze was locked on a specific monitor.

Onscreen, a young man dressed in extravagant clothes was walking into the VIP area, flanked by his entourage.

One of Sakamata Heavy Industries’ heirs—Kenji Sakamata.

Hatred and the burning desire for revenge flared in the woman’s eyes.