Chapter 5
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Empress's Feast
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"Wh-what... is this?"
Park Deputy's hand froze in mid-air.
The irreverent wrist that had reached out to grab Empress Ap-hos's chin was now coiled tight by a black shadow that had sprung from behind her.
A puppy tail? No, that had just been camouflage.
In its true form, it was no longer cute.
A tentacle, sticky like boiling tar, darker than pitch black.
"Let go! Let me go, you bastard?! Gah, gaaahhh!"
Park Deputy screamed.
It wasn't just the pain of being squeezed. The skin where the tentacle touched... was melting away.
A sizzling hiss rose from his wrist, white smoke billowing up as flesh dripped like candle wax, exposing the bone beneath.
"Quiet."
Empress Ap-hos slowly lifted her head.
Her youthful face was expressionless, but her golden eyes gleamed with a chilling intensity.
She rose from her seat. Petite as she was, in that moment, her shadow loomed massively, as if swallowing the entire room.
"To dare climb onto my table with your filthy shoes."
She swung her small hand lightly.
Krunch!
"Gaaahhhh!!!"
The tentacle twisted his wrist with a snap, flinging his body into the air like a paper doll.
And in the next instant, dozens of tentacles erupted from behind, piercing through his limbs.
Blood should have sprayed everywhere. But not a single drop fell to the floor.
Gurgle, glurk.
The tentacles writhed like straws.
Park Deputy's body shriveled in an instant. Muscle, fat, blood... everything that made him up was sucked away through the tentacles straight into Empress Ap-hos.
Even his screams were devoured. Eyes rolled back, he withered like a mummy and died.
"Wh...? Wh-what...?"
Kim Manager, who had been stepping on my head, staggered backward.
His face had gone ashen. Trembling, he fumbled for the jackknife at his waist but dropped it to the floor.
"M-monster... Not a mimic... What the hell is that thing...!"
Terror-stricken, he began crawling toward the front door.
The arrogance from when he'd stomped on me was gone.
"K-Kang! Hey! Kang Min-woo! Save me! Call the cops! Call them now, you crazy fuck!"
Kim Manager begged me, snot and tears streaking his ugly face.
The guy who'd treated me like a bug was now pleading for his life from me.
I clutched my throbbing chest and barely managed to stand.
And then... I looked at him and smiled.
My lips twisted upward without me realizing it.
"You said... you wouldn't report it if I handed them over."
"What...?"
"That's what you said. No reports if I handed them over."
I turned my head slightly.
Empress Ap-hos was chewing on Park Deputy's mummified corpse.
"Gotta keep your promises. I handed you over. To her."
"You... you demonic bastard...!"
Kim Manager spat curses as he twisted the door handle.
But the door wouldn't open. The gap was sealed tight with black slime.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Empress Ap-hos's voice echoed from right behind him.
She floated in the air, her tentacles cradling her like a throne.
"If you overturned the meal my devout follower prepared with such care..."
Her jaw literally split open.
A massive, grotesque maw appeared, far larger than when she'd eaten the canned food earlier. Park Deputy's body and guts clung stickily inside it.
"You'll have to take responsibility instead."
"H-heeek!"
Kim Manager couldn't even scream.
A black wave crashed over him.
Crunch, snap. The sound of bones shattering and wet feasting sounds filled the cramped room.
I didn't turn away. I didn't cover my ears.
To me, that noise... was sweeter than any classical music.
The parasites that had gnawed away at my life were being chewed up by the true predator.
It was salvation.
...
......
How much time had passed?
The racket that had numbed my senses finally stopped.
"Buuuurp."
A belch shattered the silence.
I cautiously turned my head.
The room was... astonishingly clean.
Not a drop of blood, not a single bone fragment remained. Kim Manager and Park Deputy had been erased from existence.
All that was left were their shoes, wallets, and phones on the floor.
"Mm, not bad."
Empress Ap-hos landed lightly.
Her appearance had changed a bit.
She'd looked about ten before, but now she seemed like a 14- or 15-year-old middle schooler—or a fresh-faced teen.
Had she rapidly grown after absorbing the nutrients?
The T-shirt of mine she wore now fit snugly, taut against her body. Her chest had a slight swell, and the curves of her thighs and hips were visible.
She wiped something from her lips with a finger and licked it clean.
Then she grinned at me.
"Good meal, Min-woo. A bit gamey, but more nutritious than the canned stuff."
I stared blankly at her, then collapsed, strength draining away.
The shaking hit me late.
My whole body went limp. Honestly, I nearly pissed myself.
No, maybe I did a little.
But at the same time... a euphoric release washed over me, like indigestion finally going down.
The debt was gone.
The tormentors were gone.
This little girl—no, Empress Ap-hos—had snapped the heaviest chain in my life in just five minutes.
"Why the long face? I'm still hungry."
She approached and tapped my chin.
Maybe because she'd grown, her scent was thicker now. Dangerous. Alluring.
"No dessert?"
Her words snapped me back.
Dessert.
From a predator who'd just erased two men without a trace.
My mind filled with gruesome, lewd imaginings.
Did she want one of my arms? Or... like some ero-manga, my life essence?
"I-I'll give you some... anything."
I squeezed out the words, eyes squeezed shut.
Fine by me. She was my savior. My body was hers to take.
"Hm? Why close your eyes? Open them and serve it quick."
"...Huh?"
I opened my eyes at the unexpected reply.
Empress Ap-hos was tapping the plastic bag in the corner.
"This. It smells so fragrant."
"...Tangerines?"
"Tangerines? That's the fruit's name? Mm, suits the aroma. Perfect for afters."
"Ah..."
Relief, emptiness, and a strange embarrassment burned my face.
Oblivious, she wiggled her fingers for me to hurry up.
I peeled a tangerine while sitting on the floor. A fresh citrus scent spread. Utterly mundane, covering the lingering blood and burnt flesh smells.
"H-here..."
She snatched the plump segments and popped them in.
"Oh... sour and sweet. Fun texture."
Nom nom.
Cheeks puffed out as she chewed, she looked like any ordinary girl—not the monster who'd just absorbed a man with tentacles.
But...
My eyes kept drifting to the spotless floor.
Where Kim Manager and Park Deputy had been.
They were gone. Not a speck of dust.
'What... have I done?'
Reality crashed back.
People died. No, got eaten. I watched. Hell, I handed them over to her.
I'm an accomplice to murder. Or a hunting dog for a monster?
No turning back now.
Come morning, someone would miss them. Cops might come.
Normal life over. I'd live in shadows forever.
"Ugh..."
Terror gripped me.
Euphoria drowned by massive fear. My fingers trembled like leaves.
Breath came short. Hyperventilating.
Then.
"Min-woo."
A cool, soft touch grazed my cheek.
I looked up. Empress Ap-hos loomed over me, golden eyes locking onto my shaking ones.
"Why are you trembling?"
"Th-they... people died... because of me... I..."
Words failed.
She chuckled softly and placed a hand on my head.
Smooth, strokiiing.
She petted my hair.
Like soothing a scared puppy. Slow and gentle.
"Don't misunderstand. You didn't kill them."
"But..."
"I ate them. They overturned my table and offended me. That's their punishment."
Her hand trailed from crown to nape, down my spine.
Strange.
Just petting, yet electric tingles followed her touch.
My mind fogged. Fear melted like under a drug.
"And even if you had killed them, so what?"
She whispered in my ear.
"They tormented you. Sucked your blood like parasites. Killing parasites isn't a crime. It's 'cleaning.'"
"Cleaning..."
"Yes. You're a cleaner, aren't you? You did great. Good job."
Great job.
Good job.
Those words pierced my heart.
In a life of lost family and shattered routine, words I'd never heard.
Only "loser," "pushover," "stinky fuck." But she said I did great.
Tears welled. Guilt filled with hot, sticky relief.
Enchanted, I nuzzled into her hand.
More. Pet me more.
"Good boy."
She smiled, satisfied, lifting my chin.
Her eyes bored into mine, voice low and absolute.
"Remember this, Min-woo. You are mine."
"Y-yes...?"
"No one touches you without my permission. Loan sharks, Magical Girls, anyone."
Her finger brushed my lips. Sweet, dangerous scent mixed with tangerine.
"Only I—this empress, Ap-hos—can torment you. Only I can break you. Got it?"
It was a declaration of ownership.
Not equals, but master and possession.
But I couldn't refuse. Didn't want to.
The security of absolute dominion was too sweet.
"Yes... Empress Ap-hos."
"Good."
She picked up Kim Manager's fat wallet from the floor and tossed it onto my lap.
"Spoils of war. Buy more tasty stuff tomorrow. Tangerines, meat too."
"Ah... Yes! Got it!"
I nodded like an idiot.
The wallet bulged with checks and cash stacks. Money I'd slave two months for.
But more important: she'd wait for me tomorrow.
"Now, lights out. Sleepy."
She claimed the center of my narrow mattress and lay down.
Then patted the spot beside her naturally.
"What're you waiting for? Cold. Come warm your empress."
I hesitated, then lay beside her.
Under the thin blanket, her body heat seeped in. Cold yet hot, inhuman warmth.
But that embrace... felt safer than anywhere in the world.