Reference Point

Grrraaagh—!

Judging by the sheer size of that gaping maw and the amount of drool dripping from it, this bastard clearly had zero interest in the fact that I was trying not to hurt it. All it wanted was to bite me to death by any means necessary.

I tried once more to stop it by grabbing its collar as it lunged for my throat, but its absurd weight shoved me all the way back against the wall. Crossing both arms, I seized the collar with both hands and locked that snout to a halt right in front of my face, staring into its eyes.

Grrrrrrrr…

Whether it was hunger or something else, pure bestial madness focused solely on chewing through my flesh. I looked down at the thing and opened my mouth.

"If you don't cut it out, I won't be able to go easy on you either."

Then I poured every ounce of strength into my arms and dragged the mutt by its collar, slowly making my way toward the window. Past the woman ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠watching with startled eyes, I tightened my arm further around the thrashing bastard's neck and added one more line.

"It's too cramped in here. Let's take this outside."

If you can't beat something standing up, the answer is the ground — and rolling around with a mutant beast like this requires space.

Crash!

Yelp—!

I put every bit of force in my body into hurling the thing out the window. A short cry, and it plummeted below. I perched on the shattered windowsill myself and spoke to her.

"As long as I don't leave any wounds myself, right?"

Before she could even answer, I leapt and dropped.

Whoosh—

Thud—!

At this height, a proper breakfall was a luxury. I glanced down at a slightly twisted ankle and the ringing bones in the soles of my feet, then lifted my head.

Just as expected — a two-story fall was nothing. The bastard shook it off like it was nothing, got up, gave its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠head a short shake, and locked eyes on me. Then it flicked a glance up at the woman looking down from the floor above, bared its teeth again, and started closing in.

"If we're going to play, let's keep it clean. Don't go slobbering that drool all over me. Have some manners."

I shrugged off my outer layer, grabbed both sleeves, and twisted them several times into a makeshift rope. Getting shredded outright by that ridiculous bite force would have been a real shame. I tugged the improvised dog muzzle a few times to test it, then looked toward the hospital's front entrance.

A gaze met mine immediately. Chaeyeon stood there, staring blankly this way with a sword in hand. I turned my head back and muttered,

"Come on, then. Bring it, doggy."

As if it actually understood the words, the thing sprang at the same instant and slammed into my upper body. I didn't dodge — I thrust both arms straight out instead. The clothes caught in that massive mouth, and before it could start chewing, I yanked both ends of the fabric up and jammed them between its teeth. Then I wrapped the snout once like gift packaging, tied it off, and dropped my hips hard to throw it over.

Caught off-balance by the sudden force, the mutt hit the ground. I stuck tight to its back and followed it down. With the muzzle locked perfectly in place, holding it from behind felt exactly like applying a rear naked choke.

Having seized the opportunity, I wasn't about to settle for just the feeling. I hauled the already taut fabric even tighter around its neck, crossed my arms over it, and pulled.

…Ghk— ghk-ghk—

No matter how long I held it, though, something that had already died once wasn't going to pass out from asphyxiation. Still, this was enough.

I rolled across the asphalt until I was coated in dust, then used only my lower body to find my balance and staggered upright. All the while I kept the thrashing thing locked in the choke, tightening harder to pin it down, then looked up at the second floor.

"This should be enough, right? Or not?"

Honestly, I wanted to just snap its neck then and there — but as someone who still needed to extend an invitation, I simply watched her. She tilted her head, then eventually nodded.

The woman told me to bring the others waiting outside as well, but of course I refused. She stood with her arms folded, twirling a strand of hair around one finger while staring down at Chaeyeon glaring up from beneath the window.

Cutting straight to the point wasn't a bad approach. The mutt still growling by the door, on the other hand, was. She seemed to catch my mood and shot it a warning look; it immediately whined and turned its head away.

I thought for a moment, then contacted the Crow. When I asked whether it was alright to tell the woman about its situation, the Crow shot me down instantly.

…Then how the hell am I supposed to persuade her?

What the hell does that even mean? So you're saying she'll just follow me on her own?

I was frowning at the Crow's nonsense when she lifted her notepad and held the writing up for me to see.

"…."

I let out a long sigh, locked eyes with the mutt still cursing me with its glare, and opened my mouth.

"Before that, let me ask one thing. Do you know what purpose you came into this world for?"

She kept tilting her head like a roly-poly toy as she continued writing and held it up.

"…."

I couldn't tell if she was joking or serious. Even if that bandage bastard and the Crow had made such a big deal about her, taking every word at face value wasn't exactly an option either. She was a being from another world — an alien, for all intents and purposes — so I couldn't just say whatever came to mind.

So I abandoned logical persuasion from the start and zeroed in on that interest-seeking nature of hers.

"It's less that I need your help right this second, and more like a recruitment pitch."

She stopped tilting her head and put on an expression like she'd just seen something truly bizarre. I stared back, not sure how to react.

Those eerie eyes drifted slowly downward and lingered for a moment on the back of my left hand.

She kept scribbling things I couldn't make sense of — then suddenly shot to her feet and came right up to me. She thrust that pale face in close and held the notepad right up to my eyes.

"…What kind of bullshit is that?"

I pressed my throbbing brow at this conversation I couldn't keep up with.

"Do I look like a necrophile to you right now?"

"Well, that's how you look to me, at least."

I sighed again under the mental exhaustion and asked her,

"Tell me exactly what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you want."

"Haven't I already proven that much, the way you wanted?"

With those picture-perfect slender fingers, she pointed at me and showed the notepad.

"…If you want, I can take those skinny ones in the hallway with me."

She shook her head and wrote again.

I narrowed my eyes, looking between the hallway and the mutt.

"Well then. Want me to go round up some things on that dog's level and deliver them?"

Then what the hell was she even asking for? Was she coming or not?

Even as I fumed inwardly, the woman who'd been staring straight through me finally reached a decision.

"…?"

Something about the conclusion of that sentence felt off. I looked down at the notepad, then lifted my head — and flinched.

Trickle—

Her pupils. Black irises swallowed by blood-red whites. Real blood slowly welled in those eyes and ran down her pale cheeks.

It looked like a horror movie cliché — and yet it was something else entirely. The blood tears didn't fall to the floor. Instead they used both cheeks as a path, her lips as the destination, painting themselves on like lipstick.

"Kyaaauh."

Not quite speech, not quite a cry — something in between. She murmured through those crimson lips.

I want you. You.

That was what it sounded like.

Her face drew closer. Those lips began closing the distance toward mine.

Huh?

What was she doing?

I had no idea what she intended, so of course the correct response was to dodge this nonsense and snap at her for what the hell she thought she was doing.

But for some reason, my body wouldn't move back.

No — more precisely, I didn't want it to.

I'd been starving for a long time, and this woman — alien or not, corpse-pale skin or not, alien eyes or not — had a face more beautiful than any woman I'd ever seen. Like a game character whose features had been tweaked to absolute perfection.

And while I was thinking that—

Chup—

Our lips met.

A thin liquid slipped from her lips into my mouth.

…I decided to just think of it as saliva.