Welcome Back to Hell, Tiger
"Ugh…."
Tie opened her eyes.
'W-where am I? Don't tell me….'
It was a laboratory. It was incomparably larger than the lab on the ship where she had suffered through electric torture. The room was filled with equipment she couldn't even begin to fathom, and countless vials of mysterious liquids lined the shelves.
Tie had awakened in the very hell she never wanted to remember again. She had no idea why she was here or when she had been dragged to this place.
What was even more confusing was:
'I-I'm back?'
She wasn't a monster anymore. Tie looked down and her eyes widened at the sight of apricot-colored skin instead of fur.
'Wasn't there no way to return?'
The first time she used the Black Light to take on the form of her ancestors, she had been lucky. Perhaps because she hadn't maintained that form for long, she had been able to return to her original state easily.
But she had assumed such a miracle wouldn't happen a second time.
She had no intention of going back. She had only thought of chewing up every piece of trash that had tarnished her honor. Her mind had been filled with nothing but revenge. She had become an avatar of hatred, crossing a river from which there was no return.
That was why she had expected to live as a monster forever. If that was the price of revenge, Tie had been willing to pay it. If anyone shunned her as a monster, she had intended to kill them without a second thought. Those who did not respect her had no place in this world.
And so, Tie had become a beast. As her reason was stained by her primal nature, she had transformed from a human into a predator.
Yet, how had she returned to human form? She had clearly been pierced through the chest by that black monster at the end. How had she survived? Once her regenerative abilities were sealed and a hole was punched through her, survival should have been impossible.
Could this place be hell? Had she awakened in the very place she loathed most?
Yes, a hole like that wouldn't just close up, would it? Perhaps the hole was still there. Driven by the urge to check, Tie reached out toward where her heart should be.
But she couldn't reach it.
"Ugh?"
Only then did Tie realize.
She was strapped to a birthing chair.
Her limbs were restrained, rendering her unable to move.
"Ugh, hugh…."
She also realized that her mouth was gagged, preventing her from speaking properly. She wondered if it was just because she hadn't fully woken up, but that wasn't it.
'Who put this gag on me?'
A gag with a hole in the center. It was the largest gag Tie had ever seen. Because it was forced into her mouth, her jaws were held wide open.
It didn't stop at just holding her mouth open.
"Ugh, ugh…."
Her tongue had been forcibly extended. A small metal rod connected the gag to her tongue, preventing it from retracting. Small electric pads were attached to every corner of her tongue.
It wasn't just her tongue; electric pads were attached to every inch of her body. Her neck, chest, legs, arms—everywhere.
A machine resembling a bucket was clamped onto her head, and needles were inserted into her nipples and clitoris. Small wires were connected to the ends of those needles.
Thick rods, comparable in size to Kang-rim's member, were shoved deep into her vagina and anus, and both rods were connected to a rectangular machine in front of her.
'T-this….'
It was the same. It was exactly the same as the torture she had endured on the ship. No, it was even worse. Even if this were hell, wasn't this a bit much?
No, was this even hell? The cold sensation from the pads felt far too real to be fake.
"You're awake?"
Just as Tie was denying reality, someone entered.
"I didn't think you'd be able to get up after how much we fried you yesterday…."
It was a woman with messy black hair.
Talia, the woman in the white lab coat, looked at Tie with an expression of surprise.
"Ugh, ugh!"
"Let's see what you're trying to say, shall we?"
Talia pulled a palm-sized tablet from her pocket. Sentences began to scroll across the metallic surface.
[Who are you, I said who are you!]
It was one of the ancient artifacts. It was a gift Grid had given to Talia because he deemed it useless, and through this, Talia could understand what Tie was saying.
The artifact's feature was that it decrypted everything the other party said.
"I suppose you're curious about my name. I've told you until I'm blue in the face, yet you still can't remember. I don't know how long I have to keep doing this."
"Umm?"
What are you talking about?
Watching Tie express her confusion, Talia introduced herself.
"My name is Talia. I'm the lead researcher in charge of converting you into livestock."
"Ugh? Ummm?"
"You didn't die, you idiot. If you were dead, would you be here?"
When the words asking if she was in hell appeared on the tablet, Talia replied with a tone of disbelief.
"Ugh, ugh, ugh…."
"You talk a lot for someone who lost to the Master."
"Ugh, ugh!"
"Unfortunately, that black monster you fought is our Master."
When the words appeared on the tablet claiming that what she fought was a black monster, not Grid, Talia told her the truth.
"They say the Master used the same technique you did. That's how he was able to become a black monster."
"Ugh?"
That was impossible. Returning to the form of the ancestors who once ruled the world was a privilege granted only to beastmen; how could a human use it?
Talia was just as shocked as Tie.
"Yes, it really makes no sense. I've read in books that beastmen have become monsters, but I've never heard of a human becoming one."
"Ugh…."
"According to what Sua said…."
Talia, who had evacuated to the flagship with the others, had seen it. She hadn't been able to see clearly from the distance, but she had confirmed it.
The sight of a black aura soaring high into the sky from the battlefield where the Master was fighting.
Immediately after the aura vanished, a monster clad in black armor had appeared.
Everyone who witnessed that scene had been left speechless. Talia was no exception.
Later, her eyes had widened when she learned that the monster was Kang-rim's transformed state.
"They said he chanted the incantation right there while consuming the Yoryeok-seok."
When Talia asked what conditions had been met for the Master to transform into a monster, Sua had answered readily.
"He shouted, 'Great ancestors, grant me the power to shed my skin. Grant me the power to burn everything….' After he shouted that, he became a monster."
"Ugh…."
It couldn't be possible. It shouldn't be possible. It was something that shouldn't exist.
How could such trash use the power of the beastmen? Humans didn't even have the qualifications to use such power in the first place. Like someone witnessing the laws of the world being shattered, Tie's face was plastered with shock and horror.
"It's hard to believe, but it's all true."
Talia said calmly, looking at the sentences on the tablet.
"No matter how much you deny it, the fact that the Master transformed doesn't change."
Talia still couldn't forget that scene. Just seeing her Master become a monster had made her drop to her knees, feeling that it would be disrespectful not to.
Like seeing an omnipotent creator, Talia hadn't been able to look away. She had even thought that if he declared he would overturn the world, he might actually do it.
"The Master is truly amazing. Choosing to become a monster himself. Though he was a monster to begin with."
"…."
"Still, he shouldn't have pushed himself so hard."
Talia sighed briefly.
"Absorbing all that power just to save this woman…."
"Umm?"
What are you talking about? Talia answered the question immediately.
"He absorbed everything you had to save you. Even though there was no guarantee what would happen."
"Umm?"
Absorbed everything to save her? Hearing that, Tie realized it belatedly.
'I-I can't feel my power?'
The power of the crystal she had always felt was gone.
She could no longer feel the waves emanating from the crystal. Had Grid stolen her crystal?
Watching Tie in her confusion, Talia spoke.
"I'll say it again…."
She was tired of it and didn't want to repeat it, but since it was amusing to see the bitch in shock, Talia told her.
"The Master saved you to use you as a breeder."
Kang-rim, having become a monster, had subdued Tie. He subdued her and stole her power. He stole it and restored her to her original state. If it had been the original Grid, he would have killed her and stolen it, but the current Grid was different.
-Why would I kill this one?
It was a waste to kill her. Wasn't she a powerhouse among the Beastman Union? Wouldn't it be better to use such a powerhouse as a broodmare? Even though she was a rotten bitch who caused massive damage to their fleet, she possessed a womb that could recover that damage.
Wouldn't it be better to use that womb?
-I'm going to use her as a breeder, so why would I kill her? She's a great bitch to use as a breeder, isn't she? Do you think I'd kill someone like this?
How could he discard a woman who would make an excellent breeder? No matter how angry he was at this tiger bitch, he would use her as a breeder. This was the punishment he was imposing on Tie, and he would impose the same punishment on the women he caught in the future. So, know that even if you protest, it will all be ignored.
-So, convert this bitch….
With those final words, Kang-rim had passed out.
"He said to convert you because he wanted to use you. So I'm converting you right now. It's been a week."
"Ugh?"
A week? She had just woken up, and she had been undergoing conversion for a week? Talia gave a mischievous look toward Tie, who was tilting her head.
"Strange, isn't it? You just woke up, but I'm saying it's been a week."
"…."
"But it's the truth."
Talia pressed the tablet firmly with her left index finger.
"And this is the proof."
As she pressed it,
[I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wroooong!]
A woman's scream echoed from the tablet.