56
Ch.56 There are limits.
"You're here again."
"Is she bad at math or bad at Korean? She’s saying neither is a good choice between killing 10 people or 50 people? Kids like that always say this is a gun when playing rock-paper-scissors."
Yaaawn. Gu Seo-ryong, stretching lazily, stabbed her finger into my tray, picking up a piece of meat and eating it.
"Seriously, why are you just sitting there listening to someone who doesn’t understand reality at all? Aren’t you bored?"
"Don’t eat with your fingers."
"Ideals, compromise, rules? Hilarious… Why would a monster follow those? Superpower humans don’t need to either. Those things are just leashes weaklings made because they’re scared of monsters and superpower humans like us."
Gulp. Gu Seo-ryong swallowed the meat without properly chewing it and stabbed another piece.
"Just because your sister’s an S-rank hero, don’t act so clueless about the world. Kids like that get thrown into reality, cry about how cold and scary it is, and then die."
"Gu Seo-ryong."
"After talking to some sheltered rich girl, you’ve got time to listen to that nonsense? Why not make a baby with me instead?"
Stab, stab… She kept stealing my food without pause.
I grabbed Gu Seo-ryong’s finger and crunch—bit it off.
"Ow."
"Stop eating. That’s my meat."
"Huh? What’s the big deal? It’s free here."
"Were you starving or something?"
"I’m hungry. Thanks to someone, I had to monsterize and fight Despair-class monsters."
Gu Seo-ryong swallowed the bitten-off finger and regenerated it.
Her monsterization, like full transformation, seems to greatly amplify hunger.
No matter how I look at it, it seems to have no advantages over full transformation. Why does she insist on doing it?
"If you’re hungry, go get your own."
"Hmph, someone gets to gulp down a Despair-class monster core, but I can’t even have a few pieces of meat?"
As I pulled my tray closer and pointed to the serving area, Gu Seo-ryong pouted and wrapped her tail around my leg, annoying me.
"And hey, aren’t you being too harsh? You haven’t even properly thanked me for helping you, but you’re grateful to her?"
"You got something out of it too."
"What? A Despair-class monster to use as a limb? The latest info on the lab? That’s the result of me risking my life for you! I want compensation for my feelings. Make a baby with me."
"If your powers hadn’t worked on them, you would’ve run and left me behind."
"Oh my, sometimes you’re sharper than you look. It’s attractive."
Gu Seo-ryong, caught off guard, let slip a hint of surprise.
"But in the end, I did everything you wanted, didn’t I? Fought the test subjects, brought 499 back alive—how about a thank you? I’m even tolerating your hypocrisy."
"Hypocrisy?"
"Not killing 499 means releasing an uncontrollable Despair-class monster here. What if more humans die? What if Starlight killed her the moment you let her go?"
Lick. Gu Seo-ryong ran her forked tongue over her lips and glared at me sharply.
"You just did it because you felt like it, without thinking, right?"
"Hmm."
"You felt relieved when I took 499 away, didn’t you?"
Slither. The tail coiled around my leg, climbed up like a living snake.
"At your core, you’re just a curious monster who does what it wants. Listening to that bitch’s nonsense is just a pastime. No matter how passionately she talks about humanity, you’re a monster. If you don’t like something, you’ll kill it, won’t you? You want to, don’t you?"
"Sounds about right."
"Ugh…!"
Ever since stealing my food, she’s been nothing but irritating.
But she’s not wrong.
Half-agreeing with Gu Seo-ryong, I grabbed the tail creeping between my legs under the table and crushed the bones inside.
"W-what…? Did I hit a nerve? Are you mad?"
"No, I just felt like breaking your tail."
Because I’m a monster who does what I want.
Crack, crack. As I squeezed higher, Gu Seo-ryong’s head twitched with each crunch.
"Let me correct a few misunderstandings."
"Ugh, ah, hah, ngh… Hhk…!"
"I can kill a test subject anytime."
The only reason I didn’t kill her was because she's 444’s sister, and she hadn’t done anything wrong. But if she indiscriminately attacks humans, she’s no longer human.
Then, I’ll kill her.
"The same goes for you."
If Gu Seo-ryong and 499 come at me together, I’d still win.
I didn’t let her stay without thought—I only allowed her within my territory.
So don’t cause trouble in my domain.
"Hah…♥"
Rip. I tore off half of Gu Seo-ryong’s tail. The severed tail flopped like a live fish.
Like a lizard’s, her tail didn’t bleed much.
I dropped the tail on my seat, picked up my empty tray, and stood.
Gu Seo-ryong, still sitting, scratched the severed end with her nail and said,
"Haah… Ah, seriously… You’re so fucking sexy…?"
The thick scent of ecstasy stung my nose, her wavelength pulsing sticky and heavy.
Monstrous, I suppose. To her, me asserting dominance must’ve felt like a strong male showing off, exciting her.
Ignoring her clingy wavelength, I jerked my chin toward the serving area.
"You’re noisy. If you’re here to eat, be quiet and eat."
"Hmm… I want something else."
"If you’re not hungry, leave."
"My, how cold."
Gu Seo-ryong clicked her tongue, suppressing her core’s vibrations.
Leaving her behind, I returned with a full tray to find a black-haired girl sitting in my seat.
"Waaah?"
The unfamiliar girl held Gu Seo-ryong’s severed tail in her hand.
As I stared at the girl eating a monster’s tail, she blinked her wide eyes and looked up at me.
Hum. My monster core reacted on its own to the faint vibration.
A resonance phenomenon—this was due to the curse left after consuming 444.
"It’s brother! Hi! Did you eat? Are you hungry?"
"499, is it?"
"Yep! She’s the reason I came today."
"I’m not 499! I’m Sagugu!"
"Good job."
"Sagugu did good!"
When 499 (Four Ninety-Nine) introduced herself as Sagugu, Gu Seo-ryong patted her head.
No hostility at all—it seemed her mental manipulation was already complete.
"What’s Sagugu? A name you gave her?"
"Park Deun-deun, you’re one to talk."
"Huh? Where’d my food go?"
Just then, a resident under Gu Seo-ryong’s control placed a tray in front of Sagugu and wandered back to the serving area, confused.
Sagugu began eating with her bare hands. As I sat across from her, Gu Seo-ryong sighed.
"She eats a ridiculous amount, takes after someone. So I thought I’d let her stay here until we figure out meals."
"If you eat a lot, you grow big!"
"Listen to this kid."
"Yoo Hyena won’t be happy."
Judging by her speed, Sagugu wouldn’t eat as much as me, but it’d still be a lot.
Yoo Hyena already complained about how my appetite strained the volunteers—now Sagugu too.
Still, better than starving and losing control.
"Don’t eat too fast. Yoo Hyena will get mad."
"Chew slowly, one hundred times!"
"What nonsense. Sagugu, just swallow. Maintaining my powers is tiring."
"Yummy! Mama, eat too!"
"Mama?"
"...No idea. No matter how many times I say ‘sister’ she won’t listen."
Gu Seo-ryong, unusually exhausted, flicked her fingers.
"What can I do? My powers don’t work the way I want. The mental manipulation made her see me as someone to follow above all else, even her own life. Her mind’s too full of holes to fix…"
"So I’m brother, and you’re mama?"
"Oh? Is that so? Sagugu, here’s not brother, but Daddy."
"Brother is not Daddy…? Brother."
"Tch. Useless. Sagugu, your face is covered in food. Use your hands properly."
"Om nom."
Gu Seo-ryong clicked her tongue and wiped Sagugu’s mouth with a handkerchief from her pocket.
"You’re taking good care of her."
"Of course? She’s my fang now."
To Gu Seo-ryong, Sagugu is a blade compensating for her powers’ limits and lack of destructive force.
If that’s the case, she’ll take care of her well.
As I relaxed slightly, Gu Seo-ryong brought up something concerning.
"By the way, while digging through Sagugu’s memories, I found some recent lab intel. Interested?"
"...Go on."
Gu Seo-ryong rested her chin on her hand, swishing her tail like it was no big deal.
"The researchers who discarded CXI didn’t expect you to survive this long. They thought Starlight could handle you."
"Because of Starlight’s ability."
"Probably. That power’s just absurd. Beyond that, they didn’t expect you’d hesitate to attack humans—just thought you were a weirdo who wouldn’t listen. How do you ignore instincts like that?"
"You just do."
"Hah, what an annoying answer."
"You’ve been restraining yourself too, haven’t you?"
"Not like you."
Back in Guryongseong, Gu Seo-ryong left her villain subordinates alive instead of eating them.
She kept human flesh in her fridge, but even that’s restraint for her.
Some high-intellect monsters use humans as bait for more food, but Gu Seo-ryong seemed different.
"I… Use drugs to control it."
That reminded me of the doubts I had in her room.
Making drugs, maintaining a human form despite inefficient monsterization—why go this far?
As if brushing it aside, Gu Seo-ryong continued,
"Alphabet seems focused on drugs to control test subjects. Numbered ones like her are the most active in production. The Romania branch that discarded you was devastated by a recent monster. Alphabet calls it ‘The Fall of Romania.’"
"Grand nickname."
"Oh? ‘Romania’s Strongest’ is grander. Both sound like kids made them up."
"I didn’t even know I had nicknames."
"Heh. Anyway, the important thing is… The lab’s trying to make a second you."
Grinning, Gu Seo-ryong voiced the concern in my mind.
"Think they’ll send another test subject to W-City?"
Probably.
For combat data, to confirm if they can make something stronger than me—definitely.
Silently agreeing, Gu Seo-ryong whispered,
"What’ll you do? If those precious humans die to another lab monster, you’ll be devastated."
"Next time will be different."
"Team up with Starlight? Hmm, after this, they’ll expect it. Next time, they’ll send something stronger, something that can definitely kill you. What if they make something beyond you—an Annihilation-class?"
"Then…"
If that happens, I’ll have to become an Annihilation-class too.
But to do that… As just a monster, there are limits.
After becoming Despair-class and consuming humans and monsters, my core’s instincts whispered,
I must pile up more curses and terror.
Only then can I become Annihilation-class.