87
Ch.87 There was an Important Purpose
After searching here and there inside the building for where Meister might be, the place I finally arrived at was the basement.
The treatment room at the center made me feel uneasy just by approaching it.
I hate the smell of medicine.
The smell of alcohol especially.
"Mya."
Perhaps because it was the heroes' headquarters? There was no one standing guard.
Though the door was locked by a mechanical device, to a monster like me, that much wasn’t even an obstacle.
A faint, barely-split ability granted to the cat.
Sinking into the shadows for a brief moment, slipping through the narrow gap in the door, I saw the dim treatment room filled with a blue light.
The treatment capsule at the center.
A bed filled with what Meister called treatment fluid.
Meister lay inside, slumped like a fish cake in broth.
Quietly looking down at Meister, who was sleeping like a corpse atop the capsule, I searched around the treatment room for the bag.
Finding the bag wasn’t difficult.
Amid the smell of alcohol, following the distinct scent of the lab, I easily found Meister’s belongings box.
The cat, having entered the box and grabbed the bag from between the clothes, leaped out energetically.
Good, now let’s open the spatial rift.
Just as I was about to couple my ability with the cat’s—
"Hm?"
Woong— Something interfered beside the ability I had spread, as if it had been waiting.
Forcing interference into an ability—that was absurd.
Ability coupling was a phenomenon that only occurred when two abilities were matched.
I had no intention of pairing my spatial manipulation ability with anything else.
Yet, as if betraying my will, my spatial manipulation ability allowed the intrusion far too easily.
"Nyao!"
"Muh...!"
Before the small cat, a large cat revealed itself.
The one who stole the spatial pathway I was extending and moved through it was Sagugu.
Having landed in the treatment room as stealthily as I, suppressing her core, Sagugu snatched the bag from the cat while transforming into her monstrous form.
"Dakgalbi! Found it!"
"Myaaa!"
"Mama’s dakgalbi wasn’t very tasty at all! Only brother got to eat super tasty dakgalbi! So unfair!"
Even as the cat growled in warning, Sagugu roughly opened the bag and began rummaging through it.
But there was nothing inside.
"Nyat?! No dakgalbi?! Brother tricked Sagugu!"
Even when Sagugu turned the bag upside down and shook it, nothing came out.
Strange—I could still smell something inside the bag.
Perhaps sensing something odd, Sagugu stuck her head inside and sniffed.
"Delicious smell..."
"Mya! Mya!"
As Sagugu began chewing on the bag, the cat bit her ankle.
When I tried to couple spatial manipulation again to move, Sagugu scattered waves of the same ability around to interfere.
Ability repulsion—a phenomenon only possible when two abilities of the same type clash. With the bag still on her head, Sagugu licked the inside noisily and spoke.
"The leftover dakgalbi is mine! Brother already ate his!"
"Myaaaa!"
This disobedient cat—now I understand why Gu Seo-ryong scolds her so often.
To suppress Sagugu’s ability and forcibly reconnect space, my output at this distance wasn’t enough.
Reluctantly, I dashed across the rooftop toward District 0.
Then, a mechanical sound came from the capsule in front of Sagugu.
The sound of the treatment fluid draining—beep, beep—followed by the capsule opening.
Perhaps due to Sagugu’s loud commotion, Meister woke up.
Rising with a tired voice, Meister looked around dazedly and spoke.
"...A dream?"
"Nyaaaang~!"
"Myaaa!"
***
A monster with a bag over its head.
Furry limbs, a kitten biting and thrashing its tail.
Unable to believe the surreal scene was real, Meister, still sitting blankly, muttered something strange and stood up.
Clad only in a thin, wet cloth, Meister approached Sagugu with unsteady steps.
"Not a dream... There’s no elephant."
"Unyanyanya..."
"I’m sorry, but could you return the bag?"
"Dakgalbi is mine!"
"Dakgalbi? I’ll get it out for you."
"Nya?"
At the promise of dakgalbi, Sagugu immediately pulled her head out of the bag, revealing cat ears.
Finally realizing Sagugu wasn’t human, Meister’s eyes widened.
When Meister touched the bag, something resembling spatial manipulation formed at its opening.
"Unyat?! Same ability as me!"
"It’s a spatial-expansion bag. This is the only successful one, but... There are a lot of teeth marks."
As Meister pulled out a chicken-flavored Churu from the bag, Sagugu tried to shove the entire packet into her mouth.
"Ah, ah, you don’t eat it like that—here, open this lid."
"Ttakkkang?"
"I’ll open it for you. Press and squeeze it like this."
Taking the packet back, Meister twisted the lid open and handed it to Sagugu, who sniffed it before licking the end.
"Unyanyaat?!"
Then, frozen in place, eyes wide, Sagugu lapped up the chicken Churu while Meister pulled a medicine bottle from the bag.
"I slept too much..."
After swallowing a pill, Meister lay down on the cold floor and immediately fell asleep.
A sleeping pill? Soon, Meister, who had been emitting a faint ability wavelength, opened their eyes again.
"Sagugu... Experimental Subject No. 499?"
"Nyaa?"
A dazed expression, a face betraying shock.
Meister recognized Sagugu.
Something was off.
I had instinctively believed Meister had no connection to the lab.
But if she knew Sagugu, that meant she was definitely involved.
Yet, it didn’t seem like she had recognized her from the start.
"Experimental subject... You’re not human?"
"You know Sagugu? Sagugu doesn’t know you!"
"Ugh..."
As Sagugu sniffed, Meister leaned against the capsule and closed their eyes again.
Then, as if something wasn’t working, she took another pill and collapsed into sleep.
A short while later, Meister woke up, veins bulging on her forehead, struggling.
"Ugh, the ability... Limit."
"Dakgalbi... Hard?"
Sagugu approached the suffering Meister and licked their cheek.
Excited by the tasty emotions, Sagugu wagged her tail.
Happily pressing the Churu to her mouth again, she flicked her cat ears.
"Super-duper tasty! Nyat..."
Having closed the distance enough, I forcibly opened a spatial rift and appeared before Sagugu.
Retrieving the small cat that had been biting her tail, I lifted Sagugu by the scruff with telekinesis.
Dangling in the air, Sagugu quietly licked the Churu packet clutched in both hands.
"Black Cat... No, you are—"
Then, facing me, Meister muttered in confusion and horror.
"An artificial monster... CXI."
I had assumed she had no connection to the lab because she didn’t know me—but if she recognized me...
Was Gu Seo-ryong right? Was Meister deeply tied to the lab?
If she was definitely connected, there was no reason to let her live.
Had she been acting when she didn’t recognize me in front of Starlight? Or had her mind been wiped by some special drug...?
Then what was this emotion? Why was she surprised?
I didn’t get it. Just what was going on?
Should I kill her?
All the arising questions could be answered by devouring her.
The instinctive urge of a monster—just the thought of killing made my ability surge uncontrollably. Then, Sagugu interfered with my spatial manipulation.
"Give more dakgalbi!"
"Huh?"
At those words, both Meister’s confused mind and my murderous intent froze in place.
Meister pulled out another Churu from the bag and offered it.
Not one, but two—receiving mine telekinetically, I ate while thinking.
Among those who give delicious food without poisoning it, there are no bad people.
Killing and eating out of curiosity was too monstrous.
I could just ask.
[How do you know about me?]
"A monster that talks...?!"
"Sagugu is a monster too! Talks!"
Being surprised over speech—did she know about me or not?
Meister, looking flustered, frowned and closed her eyes again.
I flicked Meister’s head telekinetically—just hard enough to mimic a human flick.
"Ow, that hurts."
[Sleep later. Answer my question. Do you know me? Where did you hear the term CXI?]
"It’s... Not that I knew, just... Something I heard..."
[From whom?]
"Uh... From here?"
Thinking it might be someone connected to the lab, I asked curiously. Meister pointed at her own head.
"I... Have an ability that answers questions when asked."
[An ability?]
Meister explained her ability without hesitation.
An ability that answered everything when questioned.
Meister had learned about me by asking it.
"Question gets answer? Who answers?"
"I... Don’t know..."
[Strange ability.]
And an absurd one at that.
An ability that answered even the most unknown truths, always speaking only facts.
If I had this ability... Finding the lab’s location would’ve been easy.
But thinking about it, something was odd.
If she got answers that way, why didn’t she know I could talk?
When I asked, Meister made a bitter expression.
"The ability is omnipotent, but I’m lacking..."
[Output shortage? Or processing limits?]
"...Yes. If the answer is too vast, I overload and can’t hear the rest."
[Weak body.]
"Right, I’m... Weak."
The gloomy emotion—mm, tasty.
So Meister knew about me and Sagugu not because of the lab, but because of her ability.
I was glad I didn’t kill her.
"Why are you experimental subjects here? Revenge on humans?"
[No.]
"To eat super-duper tasty dakgalbi!"
[That’s one reason, I guess.]
"Huh?"
At Sagugu’s innocent answer, the flustered Meister burst out laughing.
"You really are like giant cats. Did you like the dakgalbi that much?"
"Tasty!"
[The dakgalbi is good, but your gloomy emotions are delicious.]
"My emotions? Ah, I think I read a paper saying monsters have a spiritual hunger that can only be filled by consuming emotions."
Watching Meister ponder over me and Sagugu, I realized something.
Her attitude, reactions, emotions, the nature of her ability, and her frail body, unable to handle it—
Meister likely hadn’t learned that Sagugu and I were once human.
"So... Was dakgalbi your only goal? Or were you looking for something else tasty?"
[No, there’s something more important than dakgalbi.]
"There’s tastier stuff?!"
"There is... Something else cats might like."
My goal was to learn about the lab that created me and Sagugu.
Just as I was about to ask about the bag’s contents, Sagugu threw the empty Churu packet and jumped up.
Then, Meister pulled something strange from the bag.
Brown meat, vacuum-sealed—when opened, an unbelievably delicious smell wafted out.
"It’s smoked tuna..."
Smoked tuna? What was that?
I didn’t know, but the smell was irresistible even through the vacuum seal.
Drool dripped from Sagugu’s and my mouths.