Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Mimic Exposed
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"Ugh..."
As soon as consciousness returned, my nose was pierced by the fishy monster stench and the all-too-familiar metallic reek of blood.
I slowly opened my eyes.
My blurry vision gradually came into focus, and...
"Where...?"
This ceiling... it wasn't unfamiliar. For some reason, a familiar sight filled my view.
Right, I remembered now.
It was that place I'd visited just a few days ago on a date with Lady Apophis.
The underground arena.
But the atmosphere was different from back then.
There were no roaring cheers from the crowd. Beneath the empty stands, a few monsters trapped in rusty cages growled hungrily—that was all.
I was in some kind of observation room with a glass wall overlooking the entire arena at a glance.
"Wh-what?!"
I tried to sit up, but I couldn't budge an inch.
"Awake, are you?"
"Eek...!"
I whipped my head toward the voice. A rough-faced middle-aged man sat on a leather sofa, puffing on a cigar.
He screamed high-ranking dark organization boss. The terrifying mafia don vibe straight out of the movies.
And beside him, the man who looked like a hunter captain—the one who'd kidnapped me—stood with arms crossed, observing me.
"This the... Skinwalker thing?"
The boss asked with keen interest.
"Yes. A variant of the mimic monster, commonly known as a shape-shifter type."
The hunter replied dryly as he walked toward me.
I struggled desperately. But my arms and legs were securely bound to a chair like an operating table.
Worst of all...
"Ah..."
My lower body was completely exposed.
My pants and underwear had been stripped off, and my legs were tied to some bizarre contraption, splayed wide open!
And below them, my embarrassing parts and my newborn little Squirmy dangled limply on full display.
"See? The mimicry isn't perfect."
The hunter prodded Squirmy with a stick-like tool.
"Kiiing..."
Squirmy trembled in fear.
It wasn't its usual healthy self.
Whether from drugs or electric shocks, its glossy black skin looked dull and dry. It made my chest tighten with emotion for no reason.
"Higher specimens can fully retract their anomalous organs inside, but this one's a dud. Couldn't hide its tail, so it wrapped it around its waist, huh."
"Kukuku, lucky for us it's such a screw-up. Made it easy to catch."
The mafia boss cackled as he leered between my legs.
"What a sight... Looks like a dainty little girl, but it's packing everything down there. Monster kids have some twisted tastes. This what it calls mimicry?"
Humiliation burned my face.
I wished they'd just knock me out. Being stripped bare and appraised inch by inch by these men was the worst feeling imaginable.
"Oh, Executive, come on. That's the charm, right?"
At that moment, the click of high heels announced the approach of a red bob-haired woman.
The one who'd kidnapped me and toyed with me in the car—Viper.
She stood before me, bending down to peer right into my face.
"Hey, sweetie. Sleep well?"
"Um, please... let me go... I'll give you all the money I have..."
"Shh."
She pressed her index finger to my lips.
"No point pretending to be human anymore. We need what's coming out of your body."
Her gaze traveled from my face to my nape, down my pale chest, to my navel and below.
She licked her lips with a greedy smile.
"God, you're totally my type. Look at this creamy skin. Smooth as silk, not a hair in sight... Better than most women."
Her hand stroked the inside of my thigh. The cold, rough touch sent chills up my spine.
"And this tail..."
She grabbed Squirmy with one hand.
"Kieeek!!"
Squirmy shrieked and tried to hide between my legs, but she wouldn't let go.
Instead, she rubbed the tip with her fingers, kneading its jelly-like surface like it was a toy, clearly delighted.
"So cute... Look at it squirm. Like an extra dick tacked on."
"S-stop! It hurts!"
As I choked back tears, she leaned in with an even more aroused expression, whispering in my ear.
"Hurts? Too bad. Big sis gets even hornier seeing you suffer."
Clink.
She picked something up from a nearby metal tray.
A syringe, electrode pads, and a thin tube that looked like a urethral plug appeared before my eyes amid the cold metallic gleam... Horrific tools.
"Time to work, pretty milk cow."
She flicked the switch on the electric shock device.
Zzt, zzzt. Blue sparks flew.
"We need your bodily fluids. Saliva, sweat... or something thicker."
Madness gleamed in her eyes.
"Which hole should I poke first for the best yield? Top... or bottom?"
"N-no... stay away..."
I shook my head, pressing back against the chair.
But there was nowhere to escape.
She dove between my legs with the tools in hand.
"Come on... relax."
At the same time.
"Hoo..."
Jang Manager took off his glasses to wipe them, letting out a sigh.
The humid night air. The alley in front of the rundown semi-basement house was busier than usual.
A dozen Viper Gang reinforcements surrounded the alley entrance and windows.
"Jang Manager, we're ready."
At the report from a nearby thug, Jang Manager put his glasses back on and nodded.
Uncharacteristically grand for a bunch of gangsters, the goal of this "operation" was [Secure] and [Search].
Targets: Kang Minwoo (presumed Mimic) and the "woman of unknown identity" living with him.
According to Team Blackdog's analysis, she was likely either an Awakener brainwashed by the Mimic or a puppet with enhanced physical abilities from drugs the Mimic produced.
'The Mimic's already nabbed by that team leader guy, so we could just leave the woman be.'
But Kwak Executive was a greedy man. Hearing she was pretty and feisty, he'd dispatched this many men hoping to snag her for an arena event match. And besides...
"Hey, don't block the street. You're not some street punks."
"S-sorry."
The thugs armed with butcher knives and hatchets bowed and backed off.
"Ugh, why'd the team leader send us on this crap? So embarrassing."
Two men in black combat gear emerged under the dim streetlight.
A hulking giant towering a head above the burly thugs, and a skinny one with freakishly long arms.
Hunters. Specifically, the party's frontline tank 'Guardian' and the 'Striker' who targeted monster vitals to finish them off.
That's right.
The greedy Kwak Executive had even assigned hunters for this job.
"Tell me about it. Just grabbing one girl. Coulda sent the gangster nobodies."
"Hey, hey, don't block the way. You guys deaf or what?"
The hunters openly scorned the Viper Gang thugs.
To them—rolling in dungeons outside humanity's protection, where death lurked at every turn—gangsters were like elementary school bullies.
"Now, now, let's calm down."
Jang Manager stepped in to mediate for the deflated thugs.
"This is a special request from Kwak Executive. Didn't he demand clean work?"
"Tch, let's just get it over with."
Motivated by the mention of Kwak Executive, the pair took the lead down the basement stairs.
Jang Manager barely suppressed a smirk.
High and mighty or not, they were all spineless at heart.
Scorn the gangsters, but hired by those same gangsters' money to do their dirty work.
Hunters, my ass—money made them all the same.
"Breaching."
With Guardian's heavy mutter,
Bam—!
The steel door flew off its hinges from a single kick.
Striker and Guardian entered first, followed by the ten Viper Gang thugs pouring in. Jang Manager brought up the rear like a commander, strolling slowly.
"Don't move! Resist and you lose a hand!"
The thugs bellowed, filling the narrow room.
But their momentum fizzled quickly.
"Huh...?"
The gangsters faltered in confusion.
There was no 180cm bombshell beauty.
Instead, in the middle of the empty living room... a girl who looked about ten crouched, ignoring the intruders.
The dark room had no lights on.
She stared intently only at her phone screen.
"...Not coming."
The girl muttered.
Jang Manager furrowed his brow. Bad intel? Did the Mimic spawn a daughter or something?
He cautiously approached and peeked at her phone screen.
A chill ran down his spine.
[Where are you. No reply. (7:31 PM)]
[30 minutes already. (7:31 PM)]
[You ran away? (7:32 PM)]
[You left me? (7:33 PM)]
[Lots of people outside. (7:35 PM)]
[You called them? (7:40 PM)]
[Come now and I'll forgive you. (7:41 PM)]
[No betrayal. Will kill if you betray. (7:43 PM)]
[Last one was a mistake. Don't misunderstand, Minwoo-ya. (7:44 PM)]
[Minwoo-ya. Please. (7:50 PM)]
...
[Mi.. mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm mmm (8:20 PM)]
Hundreds of messages crammed onto the screen.
In just over an hour—an obsessive frenzy hard to believe.
A mad fixation laced with terror of betrayal and murderous intent.