Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Little Empress
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"Hey, Kang! You're moving a lot lighter today?"
The foreman's gravelly voice made me look up.
My gaze, visible through the gas mask, was still fixed on the monster guts smeared everywhere, but it was definitely different from usual.
"Ah, yeah. I got a good night's sleep, so I'm in pretty good shape."
"Really? That's new. You're always moping around like you're half-dead. What, hit the lottery or something?"
"Lottery? Nah..."
I pushed the mop vigorously and flashed a slight smile. The foreman tilted his head and shuffled off to another section.
Lottery?
Not wrong at all. I'd drawn an "A-rank jackpot ticket" lying right there in my room.
Normally, I'd be choking back vomit from the acrid chemical stench and the reek of blood, thinking only, I wish I could just die already.
I'd slog through the hours half-assing it, killing time pointlessly.
But not today.
I wanted to finish fast. I wanted to get home quick.
Because someone was waiting for me there.
I tied off the trash bag in silence, my mind drifting back to the bizarre, almost dreamlike events of last night.
---
"I'll reward you, human. I'll grant you the honor of serving this body... the Empress Ap-hos."
Overwhelming charisma. A boldness that seemed ready to devour the world whole.
Her golden eyes flashed, pressing me down with sheer presence until I could only swallow hard.
Was this what a devil's pact felt like?
Pop—
"...Huh?"
But then came a deflating sound, and her head lolled forward.
Those beautiful eyes that had been fixed on me moments ago slid shut, and her massive body tilted toward me.
"U-um, excuse me? Miss A-rank Aberration?"
No answer—just steady breathing.
Snore... snore...
She'd fallen asleep. Or more like her battery had just died.
Made sense. She'd taken a full Magical Girl barrage and fled here. Even an A-rank Aberration couldn't shrug that off. The moment her tension broke, she'd passed out cold.
"Wh-what do I do...?"
I scratched my head in bewilderment.
I should have been terrified, but the absurdity had me chuckling instead.
Grunting with effort, I supported her weight. Her two-meter-plus frame was heavy. Rude to say about a woman, but physics didn't care.
I barely managed to lay her on my narrow mattress. It was so cramped my legs stuck out when I slept—now the room felt completely filled by her.
"Mm..."
She stirred, pulling the blanket around her.
Just like an exhausted office worker crashed out from fatigue. But with her blood-soaked abdomen, I couldn't just leave her.
I rummaged through my first-aid kit for antiseptic and bandages. No idea if human meds worked on an A-rank Aberration, but I had to try something.
"Bear with it if it stings."
I muttered nonsense and carefully cleaned her wound. My clumsy hands wrapped the bandage as best they could.
Every touch of her skin left a cool, smooth sensation on my fingertips.
Up close, her face was... honestly, stunning. "Pretty" didn't even cover it.
Hard to believe this was the vicious monster the media called humanity's enemy, a nightmare, a catastrophe...
I ended up staying up all night by her side.
Worried she'd wake and kill me?
No.
This Aberration hates those bitches too, right?
When the whole world praised Magical Girls and pointed fingers at me, the victim.
The one being who might understand me.
A fellow "enemy."
That alone brought a strange comfort.
In this mad world, maybe she was the sanest one of all.
I dozed off to the lullaby of her steady breaths.
—
Morning came.
When I woke, she was still out cold, oblivious to the world.
I quietly got up and headed to the kitchen.
Normally, I'd skip breakfast or microwave some instant noodles before heading out. But not today.
I dug out the Vienna sausages buried in the fridge corner, scored them, and heated oil in the pan. Cracked in two eggs.
Sizzle—
The popping oil and savory aroma filled the tiny kitchen.
How long since I'd smelled something like a real human lived here...
I boiled instant rice and grabbed some kimchi, setting it all on a small tray.
No clue if an Aberration ate sausages.
I tore off a memo sheet and scrawled a note in my messy handwriting.
[Off to work. Eat this if you wake up. Don't go outside or make noise.]
I tucked the blanket around her snugly before leaving, my steps lighter than ever.
"Kang! You missed a spot! Do it right!"
The foreman's scolding snapped me back to reality.
"Sorry!"
I shouted and wrung out the mop.
Didn't care if filth splashed me.
Waiting at home wasn't a dark, empty room anymore... She was there.
Had she woken up? Did she like the food?
Did she laugh at my note?
I wondered.
For the first time in three years, I looked forward to evening—not as my end, but as my next chapter.
—
On the way home, I made a detour to the neighborhood supermarket. A big deal for me.
Usually unimaginable. The chemical and fishy stench clinging to me drew stares—I always ordered essentials online.
But today, my feet wouldn't stop.
I grabbed a slab of pork from the butcher section and a bag of tangerines from produce.
The cashier wrinkled her nose, but I didn't shrink like usual.
Someone was waiting for me... at home. That thought held me up.
Will she like it? Aberrations must love meat, right?
My grip tightened on the black plastic bags.
My pace quickened. Even the steep hill to my rundown apartment felt easy today.
Creeeak—
I pushed open the rusty front door.
"I'm home..."
I called out, voice bright.
No reply.
"......"
Silence.
Only the fridge's low hum filled the cramped space.
I rushed to the kitchen without taking off my jacket.
The tray I'd set out that morning was spotless. Sausages, eggs, rice—not a grain left. She'd scraped it clean.
"Hello...?"
I opened the bedroom door.
Gone.
The massive presence that had filled my tiny mattress was nowhere, vanished like a lie.
Bathroom—empty too.
The bags slipped from my hands, thumping to the floor. Tangerines rolled into the corner.
"...Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped.
Of course. What were you expecting, Kang Min-woo?
She's an A-rank Aberration. Humanity's enemy. A world-shaking disaster.
You think a being like that would stick around your stinking sewer rat hole?
Yeah... couldn't trust it.
Humans are the enemy. Maybe she thought I'd called the cops after saying I was off to work.
Fair suspicion. I'd have bolted too.
A pang in my chest.
Maybe if she'd trashed the tray, it wouldn't hurt as much. Seeing it empty made it worse.
She'd eaten well, regained strength, and left. No goodbye.
"Should've... talked more."
No stammering in fear. Told her I wasn't the enemy. No plans to report her.
That I hoped she'd smash those hypocrites.
Would it have changed things?
The ally I'd finally found slipped away like a mirage.
My eyes stung. A grown man getting worked up over this.
Rustle.
"...Huh?"
Then—a faint sound in the quiet room.
Rat? No, not rat-like. Fabric rubbing, shifting.
I turned toward it.
The prefab clothes rack in the corner.
A cheap metal frame draped with cloth—broke college kid special.
Behind my worn jacket and shirts, something bulged, squirming.
Could she... still be here?
Impossible.
She was over two meters. No way that hulking form hid behind my waist-high rack.
Then what?
Thief? Or... did she lay eggs or something?
I swallowed and crept closer.
Reached out to push aside the old shirt—
"Argh, seriously! It's so cramped, I can't take it!"
A irritated but oddly childish voice—and clothes flew aside.
"Gah!"
I fell back on my ass.
And stared at the figure before me, doubting my eyes.
"Wh-who...?"
A little girl stood there.
Ten at most? Early elementary school age, tiny build.
But no ordinary kid.
Pale, almost bluish skin.
Black hair like a night sky.
Golden slit pupils gleaming even in the dark.
And cute black tentacles wriggling behind her, puppy-tail size.
Undeniably a mini version of last night's Aberration.
She wore my baggy boxy tee like a dress, sleeves swallowing her hands.
"A-Aberration...?"
I stammered. She scowled and yelled brat-style.
Flapping the long sleeves, hands on hips (or where hips should be)—impressively imperious.
"Not Aberration! Call me Empress Ap-hos!"
The pint-sized empress snorted down at me.
"You took forever! Thought I was gonna die waiting! And the food! Got anything besides that? Those sausages didn't touch the sides. I need meat!"
Her eyes flicked to the black bags on the floor. Tentacles wagged eagerly.
Ah.
She hadn't left after all.
Relief washed over me, strength draining away.
And with it, a sense that color might finally tint my gray, dreary life.