Chapter 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Tentacle Awakening
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hoo..."
I let out a sigh and stopped at the roadside where I could hail a taxi.
The envelope of money in my hand felt heavy.
12 million won.
I'd earned six months' worth of my salary in just thirty minutes.
I should have been over the moon, doing a happy dance right then and there, but the Lizard's gruesome end kept flashing before my eyes.
'Injecting it so carefully... It should be fine, right?'
I subtly rubbed my lower abdomen.
I had to trust Empress Ap-hos. If she wanted to burst me open and kill me, she would've done it ages ago. Empress Ap-hos... she cherishes me.
"By the way, Empress Ap-hos."
I changed the subject to lighten the mood.
"How on earth did you know about a place like that? You didn't even know what tangerines were, and yet you found somewhere straight out of an urban legend..."
"Hah, did you think I'd leech off your place forever, just eating your food?"
She chuckled and softly wrapped her arm around my waist.
We were right in the middle of the road, but Empress Ap-hos didn't care. If anything, she seemed to be showing off to the passing cars, like "This one's mine."
"I told you. I'm going to raise you up."
Her fingers tickled my side.
"I couldn't stand watching you drag yourself around cleaning up corpses every day. So I did some digging."
"Ah..."
Only then did I remember how she'd been glued to that tablet PC for days.
I'd thought she was just binge-watching videos.
Those weird foreign websites and complicated maps in the corner of the screen... they'd all been research for my sake.
"Still... I want to take care of you too, Empress Ap-hos..."
I pouted, pretending to sulk.
Sure, my sense of self had been thrown into chaos lately, but I was still a guy. I'd done my military service, and reserve duty was... this year? Or next? Anyway, almost done. Being treated like some pampered pet stung my pride.
"Oh? Feeling like a big strong man, are we?"
She giggled and tapped my chin.
"Every night you whimper and cling like a needy bitch in bed, but during the day you put on quite the show?"
"Ah, Empress Ap-hos! What are you saying out here...!"
"Adorable. Utterly adorable."
She smiled in satisfaction as my face turned beet red.
Ah, no winning against her.
In big-sis mode, Empress Ap-hos would always treat me like a kid.
That was when it happened.
Before I could even open the app, a black van pulled up smoothly in front of us.
"Huh? An empty cab?"
Thinking we'd gotten lucky, I reached for the door.
Clunk.
The van door flew open, and two burly men leaped out from both sides.
"Get in."
"Pardon...?"
"Shut up and get in, punk."
Rough hands grabbed my nape and shoved me inside.
It happened so fast I didn't even have time to scream.
"Empress Ap-hos!"
I called out to her on reflex.
Just as I was about to yell Run!
"Hm."
Far from fleeing, she stepped into the van with elegant poise.
Like an actress boarding a limo, utterly relaxed.
The kidnappers were so thrown off they just stared blankly.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and the van sped off.
"Sh-shit... What the hell is this bitch?"
One of the kidnappers muttered in bewilderment.
That's when a cold edge pressed into my side. A jackknife.
"Keep quiet. Unless you want a hole in your lung."
"Eek...!"
I paled and clamped my mouth shut.
The guy in the front passenger seat glanced back at us through the rearview and cackled.
"Tough luck, kid. We saw the whole thing. You pocketing those 12 million won."
"Just hand over the cash nice and easy, and we'll let you go clean. Huh? We don't like getting messy either."
Simple robbers.
Hyenas who'd tailed us after seeing our big win at the pit fight.
I trembled and glanced at Empress Ap-hos.
But she... was smiling.
Even with the knife at my side, her face was as serene as when she watched dramas on the tablet.
"It's fine, Min-woo."
She took my shaking hand in hers.
Then she stroked my head and drawled lazily at the kidnappers.
"Yes, let's head somewhere quiet. It's... too noisy here."
Her eyes gleamed strangely.
Like a tiger eyeing a rabbit hopping straight into its den.
The kidnappers, clueless to her meaning, just sneered "Crazy bitch" and floored the gas.
The van's interior reeked of suffocating tension and vile lust.
"Heh heh, wanna join the fun, sis? You hopped in so willingly, you must be no ordinary piece."
After racing down an empty forest road for a while, the guy next to me leered at Empress Ap-hos with a sleazy chuckle.
His eyes blatantly roamed her legs and chest. It made my skin crawl. Like filthy flies licking my precious treasure.
"Hey, check this punk out. He even a guy? Look at that baby-soft skin."
His hand groped my thigh.
I shrieked and shrank back from the creepy touch.
"Eek! D-don't touch me!"
"Whoa, what a faggy reaction. Hey, we hit the jackpot today? Cash and a sister-brother duo to play with?"
"Ah, you gay bastard. Spouting bullshit again. I lock my door 'cause I'm scared of that freak."
"Gay and pussy are different, dumbass. Even if you painted gold on your shithole, I wouldn't touch it, fucker."
Even the driver joined in, spewing filth through the rearview.
Empress Ap-hos kept gazing out the window with a relaxed smile, but I could tell. Her eyes were chillingly darkening.
"Hey, pretty lady. What's the deal with this twink? Boyfriend? You two fuck proper? With that face, he's probably only good for backdoor duty."
That was when it happened.
The bastard next to me reached for Empress Ap-hos without a shred of fear. That filthy hand aiming to drape over her shoulder.
Snap.
Something in my head broke.
Fear? No.
This was murderous rage.
How dare they. How dare these worms touch my mistress, my Empress Ap-hos?
'I want to kill them.'
My heart pounded wildly. Blood surged backward. Knife or no knife, I didn't care. All I wanted was to snap their wrists off.
I moved on instinct.
"Don't touch her...!"
Right then.
Sizzle—!
A burning pain exploded from my tailbone area, like fire searing flesh.
Not a knife stab—that was still hovering at my side.
As if my spine were melting and bursting out, excruciating agony swept through me alongside a bizarre sense of release.
Rip!
My pants tore at the back.
"Huh...?"
His hand froze.
"Ugh...?"
I froze too.
Behind my waist, past the brief pain...
Something black and slick had sprouted.
Thin and long, writhing like a snake.
A tentacle.
Part of my body, grown from my tailbone.
"Uwaaagh!?!?"
"Kieeeek!!!"
Before I could scream, the tentacle let out a grotesque screech and coiled around his wrist.
Not by my will. It moved on instinct to protect Empress Ap-hos.
"Wh-what the hell is this! Get it off!"
He freaked and backhanded my cheek.
Smack!
"Gahk!"
My vision flashed white. As if reacting to my pain, the tentacle went limp.
It was still too weak. Compared to Empress Ap-hos, like a newborn snake—couldn't even break his arm.
Screeech—!!
The van slammed on the brakes and skidded to the shoulder.
"You crazy fuck! What are you, a monster!?"
"Grab him! Pin him down!"
The door flew open, and they dragged me onto the asphalt.
The two pinned me in terror and fury. My tentacle flopped helplessly on the ground.
"Awakened? Or some mimic freak? Fuck, that's gross!"
"Don't know, fuck it. Beat him first!"
One throttled my neck and raised his knife.
I'm done for.
But I wasn't scared. Just utter confusion.
What the hell? What's happening to my body? Monster? Tentacle? Wasn't I human?
Can humans even grow tentacles??
Did I awaken??? But what kind of awakening is this??
That was when it happened.
Crunch—!!!
A horrific rupture echoed from inside the van.
The sound of flesh tearing, no scream even.
"Huh...?"
The guys pinning me looked up.
The rear door burst open with savage force, nearly ripping off its hinges.
And from within... the empress emerged.
The driver and front passenger were unrecognizable mush. Their upper bodies shredded, smeared across the ceiling.
"Th-this... what the..."
They stumbled back.
Empress Ap-hos approached, pristine without a drop of blood, yet radiating pitch-black killing intent.
"I held back a little... to let my cute Min-woo's evolution unfold."
Her golden eyes looked down on them.
So very cold.
"Truly insolent. Daring to toy with what's mine... and hurt him."
Shuuu—!
Her tentacles snagged their ankles.
"Gaaah! Mercy, please...!"
"Shh."
She pressed a finger to her lips.
"My delicate child might get startled. Die quietly."
Crack. Crunch.
With chilling sounds, they vanished into her tentacles in seconds, without a trace.
Silence hung over the roadside shoulder of the country road.
On the asphalt, stained red by the sunset and dispersing blood stench, Min-woo sat dazed.
Behind his torn pants, the black tentacle sprouted powerlessly, twitching.
Empress Ap-hos approached him slowly.
She'd braced for the worst.
How would an ordinary human react to a heteromorphic organ sprouting from their own body?
Terror? Revulsion? Despair at becoming a monster, maybe a breakdown?
She prepared her pheromones.
If he freaked out screaming, she'd force-calm him and tweak his memories if needed.
Ready with lines like "It's okay, I'm here."
"Min-woo."
Empress Ap-hos hugged him gently.
She brushed the dirt from his cheek and asked carefully.
"You okay? Must've been a shock."
But.
Min-woo's reaction in her arms utterly defied the empress's expectations.
"Empress... Ap-hos..."
He looked up.
No terror in his eyes.
Instead... they brimmed with overwhelming emotion and ecstasy.
He caressed the tentacle wriggling behind him—the thing that would horrify normals—like a cherished treasure.
"Can you... see this?"
He grinned through teary eyes.
"Have I... finally gotten... closer to you, Empress Ap-hos?"
"..."
Empress Ap-hos's eyes widened.
This man... wasn't mourning his monstrous transformation.
He was purely joyful at becoming the same as her.
Valuing their shared otherness over the horror of losing his humanity.
"Can I... get strong like you now, Empress Ap-hos? Protect you?"
Min-woo shyly wrapped his newborn tentacle around her finger.
In that instant, a thrilling shiver raced up Empress Ap-hos's spine.
Not mere affection—a explosive surge of possessive, domineering lust that bordered on creepy.
'This guy's... insane.'
No normal mindset. Utterly broken.
And that brokenness felt so utterly lovable, so delectable to Empress Ap-hos.
Her lips twitched. She couldn't hold back the grin.
Empress Ap-hos crushed him in a bone-creaking hug.
"Yes... of course."
She buried her face in his nape, growling beast-like as she whispered.
"I told you. You're mine. From every hair to this cute little tail—all of you."
Her tongue licked his nape.
"You can never... escape."
Her golden eyes glittered with madness.
This perfect devotee, this adorable bride—she'd never let anyone take him.
Not even if God himself came asking.
She'd kill them and keep him.
That day, beside the abandoned car on the country road.
The monster and the man thrilled to become one embraced each other possessively.