Our Kitty Pulled It Off!

"……."

I stared at the system message that had popped up out of nowhere and fell silent for a moment.

The Cute Girl Mod applied to 'Carnival Chef'—in other words, she turned into a cute girl…

'Now it applies? After all this?'

I was dumbfounded. This was my second time getting tangled up in an anomaly, and I was starting to doubt whether the "Cute Girl Punch" was even helpful anymore. Turning monsters into cute girls to neutralize them? The whole setup felt pretty insane.

It took way too long to even transform them, and even after they became cute girls, did it really neutralize them completely…?

I glanced ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over at Ari.

"?"

Ari tilted her head as I looked up at her.

From living with her, I could tell she was definitely weaker than when she'd been the King of Flies. So the Cute Girl Mod clearly weakened them.

But she hadn't completely lost her monstrous powers. She could still control flies to lower people's perception around her—and not just humans, but even the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Carnival Chef's cognition had been dulled by it. On top of that, she devoured massive amounts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of food, way beyond what you'd call a big eater. Even mukbang streamers couldn't match her.

…Come to think of it, there was that theory that the King of Flies was modeled after Beelzebub.

The fly demon symbolizing gluttony. That guess was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠probably spot on. No wonder her food bill was so damn high.

Which meant the Carnival Chef, now turned into a cute girl, was weakened but not fully neutralized…?

…….

"…Ari. Let's get out of here quick."

"Yeah."

I snapped out of it and stood up. I walked through the underground parking lot with Ari.

Glancing around, I heard groans.

"Ugh…."

"Where… is this…?"

"The shop…? My food……?"

"Ah…."

People were collapsed all over the place. Among them were familiar faces—plenty of them in waiter or waitress uniforms.

…The customers from the shop earlier. Even the waitstaff had been chased out.

Looked like the Carnival Chef had booted everyone outside…

……I'd never run into anything like this in the game, so I had no clue what was going on.

One thing was clear: Special Task Force agents would show up soon for memory wipes. Losing memories was bad enough, but I really didn't want to run into those guys.

The Special Task Force's whole deal was exterminating all monsters to protect humanity. They might try to kill not just Ari, but maybe even me.

I hurried out of the parking lot.

And that's when…

"Hello there."

I bumped into someone who'd beaten me out of the building. Waitress uniform. Black mask, red-dyed hair.

"…Hello."

"Looks like you handled it. No idea how, though."

The woman in the black mask was staring at her phone, not even glancing my way. She was talking to me but acted totally disinterested. She had this lazy, drowsy vibe—like everything was a hassle.

"You a mimyungkun by any chance?"

She asked me that.

Mimyungkun. One of the jobs in the monster game.

Part of the four major factions: the Foundation, Special Task Force, Cult, and Deep Web. Mimyungkun belonged to the Deep Web.

The unique thing? They just found monsters—didn't solve them. In a way, the most neutral group.

Groups researching monsters, profiting off them, killing humans, becoming monsters, exterminating monsters… everyone had their stance. Mimyungkun just located them.

"Not a mimyungkun…."

"Then Foundation staff? Or Task Force? Ah, no need to answer. Might just make things annoying…."

She muttered that.

This black-masked mimyungkun was a named NPC, sort of the game's spice. You'd run into her investigating incidents like this sometimes.

But she never really helped. Might drop a hint now and then—like some side character from a mystery game.

"As long as you're not a business partner. Already reported it—splitting rewards would be a pain. Anyway, I'm out before it gets messy."

With that, the black-masked woman walked off without looking back.

…That was her personality. True to a mimyungkun, zero drive to resolve incidents. Strong bystander vibes. Always avoiding involvement, prioritizing her own survival—pretending to be a victim to live another day. A real unique NPC.

That's why when I saw her in the shop, I thought, 'She probably didn't go nuts.' But also, 'Not gonna get any help from her…' So I didn't bother engaging.

"…Time to head home."

We might cross paths again, but she wouldn't be useful then either.

With that thought, I finally headed home.

Back home, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"……?"

What the hell? Why was there nearly 80 million won??

No transaction history either. System error?

I called the bank, but they said no issues. Dug through old records, and it was like the money had always been there.

Only then did it hit me.

"…Oh, the reward money?"

They said 666,000 won per tasting. But why 80 million?

"Ari ate so damn much…?"

Did it pay 666,000 per dish? And at the end, the Carnival Chef begged her to eat more, promising extra pay.

Ari had gone full shop-ruiner mode. How much did she actually eat…?

"Ugh, scared me thinking it was dirty money."

Seeing 80 million, my first thought wasn't joy—it was 'Am I caught up in some crime?' Guess I'm just a small-time citizen at heart.

Once I knew it was legit, though, relief washed over me.

Think about it: the Carnival Chef was that kind of monster. One that paid out if you survived the anomaly.

…The surviving part was the issue, but hey, we made bank. Positives only.

Anyway. Our little kitty pulled it off.

Ari, who only knew eating and sleeping. But damn, if she ate like a champ and brought home 2-3 years of salary? Impressive.

"Ari! Tell me what you wanna eat—anything! I'll buy it!"

"Home cooking."

"…No takeout?"

"Home cooking's better."

…Wish she'd picked something low-effort. Home cooking… With all this cash, cooking sounded like such a drag….

But our Ari wanted home cooking. What could I do? She earned 80 million in one go.

Now that I looked, our Ari was kinda cute, huh? Suddenly my little pussy cat looked adorable.

When she first showed up at my place, I was worried. But yeah, cats or whatever—raise 'em right, and it's rewarding.

…?

"When she first showed up…?"

I froze mid-reach for the frying pan to stir-fry.

It was like suddenly remembering something I'd forgotten. Unease lingered even after setting the pan on the stove.

Like ignoring reality would screw me over.

I paused cooking and looked at Ari.

"…Ari, got a question."

"?"

"You know where I am, no matter what…?"

Up till now, it was just a hunch. Why hadn't I confirmed it properly…?

Well, her knowing my location wasn't a problem. She wasn't hunting me down—just whining about being hungry.

"Yeah, I know."

"…In real time? Since becoming human?"

Nod.

Ari nodded. No denial.

Which meant… monsters hit by my "Cute Girl Punch" and turned into cute girls could track my location?

That's how Ari found me.

So then… the Carnival Chef knew where I was too.

*Ding-dong.*

Right then, the doorbell rang.

To humans, ants are weak and lowly. To Cthulhu, humans are weak and lowly. So a monster turned human… might be like a human turned ant.

And I'd be the "ant-maker" for humans….

"Hello?"

*Knock, knock, knock.*

A voice from beyond the door.

"Could you open up, Mayuri?"

A voice I'd heard once before. Not unfamiliar at all….