Mama Katsu Bunny Girl (1)
It isn't particularly rare for anomalies to be hostile toward one another. The animal that has killed the most humans in this world is humans themselves. Anomalies are crude imitations of such humans.
There is not even the slightest reason for anomalies to get along with each other. I already knew this fact well enough, but seeing it with my own eyes still left me unsettled.
“■■■ alone ■■……”
A green hill with a bright, cheerful atmosphere, like something out of a painting. On the blood-stained Dream Hill, a long, black figure shed tears of blood. It was an anomaly nearly three meters tall.
Its appearance was as if it had stretched a human vertically, then smeared its entire body with thick, black mucus. From the way it muttered unintelligible words to itself, it seemed conversation would be impossible.
What stood out was its vertically torn-open stomach. Intestines spilled out from the gash, and the anomaly used the ends of those intestines like a lasso. The lasso it threw wrapped around the neck of the squirrel-masked anomaly.
- Kkuek, kkeok! Kkegegegegegek! Let go! Let gooooo!
The desperate struggle did not last long. The difference in power was overwhelming, and the squirrel mask was dragged across the ground. A long, earth-colored streak was left on the light-green hill.
“■ cut and ■■■■……”
- Manager! Manager-nim! Help me! Help me!
- I'm the tagger, I'm supposed to be the tagger, eeeek……
Its final words were nothing special. The moment the gut anomaly's mucus transformed into a kitchen knife, what would happen next was obvious. The doll-masked anomaly was literally butchered to death.
The Praising Goddess warns you. They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but that is a difficult thing to expect when dealing with anomalies.
The constellation that had been quiet for a while finally spoke. It meant I should not consider that gut anomaly an ally.
I know. I'm not that naive either.
It was true that the anomaly was hostile to the ones in the Kids Cafe. However, it radiated an obviously aggressive and dangerous aura. It was far more likely to indiscriminately kill anything it saw rather than selectively targeting certain anomalies. My instincts told me this was an opponent I did not want to fight.
That did not mean I could not win. On the contrary, in terms of sheer size, my side held the overwhelming advantage. But its attacks would still work on me, and I lacked proper combat experience. I would win, but I would not escape without injuries. The doll-masked anomalies were one thing, but it would be best to avoid this gut anomaly.
The narrow path behind it is bothering me……
There was a narrow path behind the gut anomaly. To pass through it, I would have to fight. However, there were still many places left to search. I did not feel the need to stir up unnecessary trouble right now.
That aside, how am I supposed to search this entire wide area?
I had noticed it the moment I saw the “hill” inside, but the interior of this Kids Cafe was far larger than it had appeared from the outside. It made sense—games like tag or hide-and-seek required plenty of space.
The problem was that in the scene I had witnessed, the parent had hidden the child somewhere. It would be a place that was not easily spotted, and the sheer size of the area made searching difficult.
The Praising Goddess promises assistance. If a child is nearby, she can immediately inform you.
Good. That would be reassuring. This was why I usually compromised with the constellation in my daily life. The Praising Goddess was helpful when it came to saving people. After all, our first meeting had been her answering a prayer to save just one more person.
In situations where someone's life was on the line, she provided serious support. Even if she dressed me in strange outfits and sexually harassed me whenever she got the chance.
If it helped with my work, I could cooperate willingly.
How many meters exactly counts as “nearby”?
The Praising Goddess is considering it. She says she can be certain within a five-meter radius.
Good. Then let's search the entire area using five meters as the standard. Since I no longer needed to check every nook and cranny, I just had to move quickly. I would inevitably run into the doll-masked anomalies, but—
- To, tokki? I'm sure I saw you die earlier.
- You idiot! That's a human!
- W-we're still the taggers, right?
- Oh, right? Found youuuu!
That much was fine. About three minutes after I began searching the Kids Cafe, an anomaly wearing a bear doll mask swung a mace at me. A morning star caked in blood clots traced an arc through the air. Blood droplets scattered along its trajectory, accompanied by a menacing ripping sound of wind. I lowered my stance to dodge, then countered with an uppercut.
I had been caught off guard during the rulebook incident, but I would not make the same mistake twice. Even in this ridiculous outfit, I was a physical enhancement-type Awakener based on the “rabbit”.
My reflexes, flexibility, and agility had already set new Korean records. My uppercut landed cleanly. Half of the anomaly's jaw—more precisely, half its head—flew off, and the bear doll mask died instantly.
What the—why is it so weak?
I had even prepared a follow-up straight, but the anomaly died so quickly that the momentum drained out of me. It seemed the anomalies in this Kids Cafe were of a lower rank than the ones outside.
They could not even be compared to the tentacles of the rulebook that had grabbed me earlier, and they were weaker than the Butcher or the Manager inside the mart.
Well, this level was probably sufficient for killing innocent civilians. They were typical “strong against the weak, weak against the strong” type anomalies. Ironically, these small fry caused more casualties than the big shots.
- G-gut monster rabbit! Perverted monster rabbit!
“Are you crazy and want to die?”
If so, it was also my role to clean up the trash before any misfortune occurred. It did not take me long. A punch devoid of any personal emotion! Even after blowing away the mouth that had spouted nonsense, I did not stop searching. As a result, the conclusion I reached was—
“……Looks like I'll have to fight that guy after all.”
There was nothing. No matter how much I wandered around, there was nothing. Even after checking every hut and box on the hill, I found no trace. What this fact meant was clear.
Either the child and parent I had seen were already dead, or they were beyond the narrow path blocked by the gut anomaly. To confirm to the end, I would ultimately have to get past the gut anomaly.
In the end, the blood-tear-filled eyes stared directly at me.
“■■■ crying sound…… ■■ ■■■……”
A low, ominous mutter. A sharp blade tip radiated a chilling aura. In front of it, I took a fighting stance and exhaled. What I had to do, then and now, had not changed. Therefore, there was no reason to suddenly feel fear.
* * *
After becoming an Awakener, there had been many occasions where I used force. To be more honest…… I had mostly solved anomaly-related problems with brute strength. The first mission with the haunted video. The Butcher and Manager I met in the mart.
Even the doll-masked anomalies I had dealt with before facing the gut anomaly. As an Awakener, my physical specs could be called blessed. Thanks to that, up until now, I had been disposing of anomalies through one-sided violence rather than actual fights.
When I get out of here, I'm definitely signing up for a gym. I should have learned some martial arts, anything.
In short, I had never fought with my life on the line. I also did not know how to methodically work through a dangerous opponent. Physical enhancement was not a power I had obtained through effort. So, excluding that, objectively speaking, there was only one thing I could truly call my specialty.
Courage. Or perhaps recklessness. Overcoming fear was all I could do. It was only natural that fighting in such a crude manner would leave wounds all over my body.
“■ you ■■■……”
The anomaly's blade sliced across my skin once again. I grabbed its long arm and pulled, then drove my knee into its blood-tear-stained face. Sticky, dark mucus dripped to the floor. It was part of the anomaly. Did it have to have all of that removed before it died? If so, that would be troublesome.
Its blood and mucus acted like a kind of poison on my body. Just touching my skin caused it to bubble and leave minor burns. Considering my body's durability, it was definitely a potent toxin. I might be fine for now, but continued exposure would be dangerous. The only reason I was still holding on was because of my absurdly high specs as an Awakener.
“■■ ■■■……”
“I can't understand a single word you're saying, so get out of the way! I don't have time for this!”
Getting angry would not improve the situation. The thought that the child would be in greater danger while I was held back made me unable to endure my impatience, and the emotion spilled out.
I took a shallow cut on my shoulder in exchange for a cross counter. The anomaly swung the intestines it had been using like a lasso wildly. They were not light, but with my strength, I could throw it around as much as I wanted. At least until the skin on my palms gave out. The longer the fight dragged on, the fewer options I had left.
The Praising Goddess urges retreat. It is not certain whether there are survivors beyond that path. However, there is a confirmed survivor waiting in the machine room.
“I know that too. But…… I have this strange certainty. I can't explain it, but I just feel like they have to be there.”
When had it started? An unfounded intuition had taken hold of me. If I were still a rescue worker, I would have been thoroughly cursed out for saying something crazy. However, as the rulebook from the Management Bureau had said, intuition in anomaly spaces was usually a human's only ally.
Faced with this certainty, I could not bring myself to turn back. My intuition told me I absolutely had to pass through that narrow path. It was true that my body ached all over, but it had not yet reached the point where I could talk about limits.
Fight. Fight and save them, Lee Hasol!
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
How much longer did I continue that desperate, ugly fight? With my final punch, the gut anomaly collapsed to the floor. It was not dead yet, but it also did not get back up.
The endless stream of blood tears had stopped at some point. Its dazed eyes darted around restlessly. Suddenly, a chilling sensation ran down my back. This situation. Something was seriously, terribly wrong.
I fought so loudly, so where did the others go?
No matter how hard I looked, I could not see any of the Kids Cafe anomalies. The Kids Cafe anomalies and the gut anomaly were hostile to each other. While I and this one had been fighting, it should have been the perfect opportunity for them.
Yet no response had come until now. The space was unnaturally quiet. The gut anomaly stared off into the distance. I reached the same conclusion.
The Praising Goddess warns you! A powerful anomaly is approaching……
Yeah. Of course they had been waiting for this moment.