Chapter 4
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Unexpected Visitors
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"Oh... Ohhh...!"
Exclamations of awe kept spilling out.
Could my cramped studio apartment have ever echoed with such lively sounds before?
On the portable gas burner, pork belly sizzled away in the frying pan.
Every time grease popped, Empress Ap-hos flinched but couldn't tear her eyes from the meat. Her golden eyes sparkled like the fat itself.
"Can I eat it yet, Min-woo?"
Empress Ap-hos gulped, swallowing hard. Her tentacles were wagging like an excited tail—she was clearly at her limit.
I wiped my hands on my apron and smiled gently.
"Just a moment. It's almost done."
I picked up a perfectly browned piece of pork.
I layered a lettuce leaf with perilla leaf on top, then dipped the meat in savory oil sauce and placed it there. Roasted garlic and onion, ssamjang paste, and a mound of steaming white rice completed the wrap.
Maybe I'd overdone it. It looked pretty big for one bite.
"Here, say... ahh. Empress Ap-hos."
I held out the wrap carefully.
I even blew on it gently to cool it down.
"Hmph. Very well, I'll accept this out of respect for your effort."
She put on a haughty expression and opened her mouth.
Crunch.
In that instant, a bizarre sound rang out.
Her mouth... ignored the limits of its jaw joint and gaped open like a snake's. It wasn't the size of a ten-year-old child's mouth anymore. It stretched wide enough for two fists, grotesquely expanded.
Inside, sharp fangs were densely packed like saw teeth.
'Eek.'
I screamed inwardly but tried not to show it.
She swallowed the wrap from my hand in one gulp.
She chewed away.
Her jaw returned to normal size, and her cheeks puffed out like a hamster's.
"Mmm!?"
The next moment, her golden eyes went wide.
"What... what is this flavor! So fresh, so nutty, so salty... it explodes in my mouth!"
"Is it good?"
"Delicious! Do humans eat this every day? What cunning creatures. Keeping it all to yourselves!"
Empress Ap-hos pounded the table in excitement.
I let out a sigh of relief and kept using my chopsticks.
Good. She likes it.
"Eat as much as you want. There's plenty more pork."
I grilled nonstop, wrapping more bites and feeding them to her.
She gobbled them down like a baby bird.
It had been so long since I'd sat across from someone to eat. That simple warmth seemed to melt the ice around my heart.
Once she was full enough, she patted her belly and leaned against the wall.
I asked cautiously.
"Um... Empress Ap-hos."
"What is it? Seems like the meat's gone."
"No, not about food. How... how did you get so small?"
I glanced at her face and mumbled on.
"Did I... spray too much disinfectant yesterday? Was it a side effect? Or did I wrap the bandages too tight...?"
She stared at me blankly at my timid question.
Then she suddenly clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.
"Puhahaha! Kuhahaha!"
Even the tentacles behind her seemed to giggle along.
"You really are a riot. Disinfectant? You think some human potion could affect me?"
"Th-then..."
"Your thinking is adorable, Min-woo."
She cleared her throat sternly in her child's body.
"This is... well, in your terms, [Energy Conservation Mode]. Let me explain it simply."
"Conservation mode?"
"Yes. Maintaining my true form's massive mass burns calories. Especially now, with my injuries."
Empress Ap-hos clenched and unclenched her tiny hand.
"Plus, your little shack is too cramped, and a giant body isn't great for hiding. So I compressed the excess mass into a minimal activity state. A perfectly rational survival strategy."
"Ahh... I see."
"And above all..."
She grinned and added,
"Doesn't this form make you humans less wary? You thought 'cute,' didn't you? Just now."
"Hngh."
She'd hit the nail on the head.
My face flushed as I bowed my head.
She snickered and munched on a leftover lettuce leaf.
"Not bad at all. You feed me well and provide a bed, so I'll stick with this look for now."
A strange sense of trust laced her words.
Something tickled in my chest as I started cleaning up.
That's when it happened.
[Ding-dong— Ding-dong—]
The doorbell shattered our peaceful dinner.
The dishcloth slipped from my hand.
"Wh-who is it?"
I called out in a trembling voice.
No one was supposed to come...
The voice from outside was enough to freeze my heart solid.
"Open up, Min-woo. We know you're in there."
It was a familiar voice beyond the front door.
That sleazy, sticky tone that made my stomach churn just hearing it.
"Ah..."
I dropped the chopsticks I'd been holding.
Those scumbag loan sharks from Cash Finance. They'd already bled our family dry for 50 million won with "legal fees" and "interest," and they still took half my paycheck every month.
It was Kim Manager.
"Don't open, and we'll break it down?"
I paled and turned to Empress Ap-hos. She was licking ssamjang off her lips, eyeing the door with interest.
"Min-woo, who are those noisy pests? Friends?"
"Shh! B-be quiet. H-hide, quick!"
I pressed a finger to my lips urgently.
I had to hide her. But where? The closet would bulge like before. Bathroom? Too late.
Beep-beep.
The door lock beeped as the password was entered. They knew it like it was nothing.
The door flew open.
"Well, well, if it isn't Kang Min-woo. Why dodge my calls? Had me worried."
Two burly men filled the entryway.
"Whoa, smells amazing in here. Thought you were broke, but you're grilling meat?"
Kim Manager sniffed around and strode inside with his shoes on. His footprints left black marks from yesterday's rain.
He glanced at the table I'd set with care, then kicked the edge with his filthy shoe.
Clang.
Plates rattled, and wrap veggies spilled onto the floor.
"S-sorry. The interest for this month, by the day after tomorrow, I swear..."
"Forget that. The interest isn't the issue... Huh?"
Kim Manager's gaze locked onto the little girl—Empress Ap-hos—sitting at the head of the table.
Silence fell.
"What's this? You got a kid stashed away?"
Kim Manager narrowed his eyes, scanning her up and down.
She frowned at the spilled lettuce but stayed calm. Probably watching my reaction.
I sweated bullets, racking my brain desperately.
"Sh-she's my niece! From the countryside, just visiting..."
"Niece?"
Kim Manager smirked.
He patted my head.
"Kang Min-woo. You know lying to me costs an arm? Your family's all gone. Magical Girls wiped 'em out. Relatives cut ties ages ago."
"Sh-she's a distant relative..."
"Bullshit."
Kim Manager stepped toward Empress Ap-hos.
He stared hard at her pale skin and glowing golden eyes.
Then his lip curled.
"Hey, Park Deputy. Isn't this that thing? The 'pet' trending in the underworld lately."
"Oh, you mean the ones sewer rats pick up sometimes?"
The guy called Park Deputy snickered.
A chill ran down my spine.
Pet.
Rumors that cleaners from dungeons or hazard zones sometimes picked up 'mimics' that mimicked humans or intelligent monster younglings and raised them.
Some went mad and lived with the things; others sold them to rich weirdos for big bucks.
"Min-woo, you finally lost it, huh? Makes sense, scrubbing corpses all day as a bachelor."
Kim Manager slung an arm around my shoulder. Stale cigarette stench hit me.
"But damn, high quality. Look at those eyes. Skin's smooth too... Madam would love this."
"N-no! She's a real person! My niece! Sh-she awakened, that's why!"
I flailed my hands and yelled.
But Kim Manager ignored me.
"Shut it, punk. We won't snitch, so hand her over."
"P-pardon?"
"Illegal breeding, you know? Tip off the bureau, you're jailed. We'll look the other way. But use this 'item' to settle the principal."
Greed gleamed in Kim Manager's eyes.
They saw Empress Ap-hos not as a person, but a 'valuable monster.'
"Grab her."
"Yes, boss."
Park Deputy grinned and reached for Empress Ap-hos.
His filthy hand headed for her hair.
"No...!"
I lunged on instinct, blocking Park Deputy.
I'd never raised my voice at anyone in my life.
I'd bowed my head even at my family's death.
But not this time.
She was the one who enjoyed my food—the only one on my side. I couldn't lose my only ally!
"G-get out!"
Thud!
"Guhk!"
My shout turned to a scream. Kim Manager's shoe slammed into my solar plexus.
I tumbled pathetically to the floor.
I couldn't breathe. No scream came. Just a weird whooshing sound.
Pain whited out my vision.
"You lost your mind? Know your place."
Kim Manager stomped my head. My cheek pressed to the floor. In the corner of my vision, I saw the overturned rice bowl and mashed meat.
Miserable. So utterly miserable, tears welled up. No—they were already flowing.
"C'mon, kiddo. Come with big bro? I'll give you treats."
Park Deputy leered, reaching for her chin.
Empress Ap-hos didn't dodge or run.
She just sat there, glancing between Kim Manager on my head... and Park Deputy's reaching hand.
And then.
"Ha."
A short scoff.
A chilling, arrogant laugh no child could make filled the room.
"Amusing."
Her golden eyes narrowed into slits.
"You dare ruin my meal... and think you can leave alive? You lowly scum."
Drip. Drip.
Behind her back, the cute puppy-tail tentacles began swelling in an instant.
The shadow... was deepening.