Our carrot did nothing wrong
Please take care of our water parsley

Author's Note

A future where Mecca exists
What would it be like there?

All this is common sense in Haenam, a town where mecha pterosaurs and archaeopteryx fly around instead of police drones, and mecha amphibians work as coastal lifeguards.
-Page 10

The virtual space of Haenam, the setting of "Please Take Care of Our Minari," is a place where "mecha humans" and "mecha dinosaurs," whose bodies are all or partly mechanical, live together with biological beings.
One day, while walking with 'Parang', the promotional officer of Haenam Paleontological Park, the mecha dinosaur 'Carrot' stops a group of male students from attacking a student.
At first glance, it may seem like Carrot has threatened a group of humans, but Parang fiercely defends Carrot, but the people are indifferent, as if they think the series of events is just another 'dinosaur show' that they can easily watch.


“Get out of here, you fucking worm!”
A boy screamed in a raspy voice, but when the male police officer glared at him, he looked away in fear.
―Page 14

The reason three students attacked another student is because they are of different races and genders, and part of their body is a mecha.
In this scene, which seems to show a cross-section of the real world, the police click their tongues, saying that it looks like a historical drama, as they imitate actions from centuries ago, but Parang, who is watching this, cannot hide his worry.
What is the reason for this imitation, if it can't simply be dismissed as an imitation of behavior from centuries ago? Who is responsible for the process that led to the utterance of discriminatory language?

“The minari is gone, Zookeeper.”
The invisible boundary that separates them and us

The worries that continue in “Our Carrot Did Nothing Wrong” are further strengthened in “Please Take Care of Our Minari.”
At Haenam Paleontological Park, Minari, a biological dinosaur created based on ostrich dinosaur DNA, becomes friends with Sodam, a baby mecha dinosaur.
Even as engineers from the Denver Dinosaur Zoo visit the Haenam Paleontological Park, where Minari is cared for, and talk to the caretakers, the conflicts that shroud this world like a fog are glimpsed.

No matter how much we try to claim that the world is free of prejudice, it is difficult to truly achieve such a world.
I just didn't feel the need to distinguish between the two to determine which one was Mecca.
―Page 61

Meanwhile, Sodam disappears with Minari, and their location is no longer visible in the park management system.
The mecha dinosaurs that manage the park try to connect with other mecha dinosaurs, but are also rejected.
How can we resolve the existing boundaries between different beings on a night when their own collective consciousness, invisible to the management system, hides the water parsley?

Could discrimination exist there, too, if not now?
How other beings live together

Of course, in the real world, it is still difficult to find unfamiliar intelligent beings.
However, discrimination that arises among humans due to differences is rampant.
Discrimination based on gender, sexual identity, disability, and race remains one of the most pressing issues on the planet.
"Please Take Care of Our Minari" ponders the possibility of discrimination becoming more intense as unfamiliar beings emerge due to human development, while also listening to real-life stories.
Will a day come when the discrimination of our time will be dismissed as "a quaint act from centuries ago"? And what new boundaries await us then? "Please Take Care of Our Minari" is a broad lens that views both the present and the future.
It asks how we should live with new beings that will appear, and speaks of the need to coexist with beings that we now consider different.

Introduction to the [First Encounter with a Novel] series
The first path to encountering a novel
A welcome reading for those who have grown distant from books, a first encounter with a novel.
'First Encounter with a Novel' is a thin and beautiful paperback book decorated with a new sensibility.
A literary masterpiece, this short story is richly illustrated.
With engaging stories, short volumes of less than 100 pages, and captivating illustrations, it allows even those who lack time or are unfamiliar with reading to easily access excellent contemporary works.
For adolescent readers who have stopped reading at fairy tales, it will serve as a stepping stone to novels.
To pump water from a deep well, you must pour a bucket of water from above.
The "First Encounter with a Novel" series will serve as a welcome aid to those who have become increasingly distant from literature, helping them reconnect with books and inject fresh vitality into our reading culture.