EP.1 I Became a Companion -1 (Revised)
EP.1 I Became a Companion -1 (Revised)
When you thought of an egg, the first thing that usually came to mind was a chicken egg with a smooth surface. That was only natural.
But the egg I had uncovered was not only large; its surface was also covered in rough, bumpy scales.
'What is this?'
No matter how many times I touched it, the scaly texture did not change. I could not tell whether it was really the kind of egg I knew.
Was it an egg of a monster living in the mountain behind my neighborhood? Or an alien? Maybe a byproduct of some secret organization's inhumane experiments?
Several theories swirled through my head, but there was no way for an ordinary civilian like me to verify any of them.
All I could do was stare blankly at the egg.
It would have been best to put the egg back where I had found it, but I had already gotten my scent all over it... What a mess.
The natural order of things was that an egg touched by human hands was abandoned by its mother.
In other words, the moment I touched it, I became responsible for the egg.
My curiosity had made me do something terrible to both the mother and the egg.
Cradling the egg guiltily, I headed toward my original destination.
There might be information related to this egg there, after all.
The only problem was that I'd spent quite a lot of time observing the egg.
I worried that the source of the noise might have moved farther away, but fortunately, it was closer than I had expected.
When I reached my destination, I found a sight you did not see every day.
Intimidating-looking men, every last one of them, were trampling a single woman in a suit and a wolf underfoot.
The scene reeked of crime.
"Let go of me! You bastards!!"
"You're the dog, aren't you? A government dog. Bark, bark, you sure bark well?"
"You little son of a bitch!"
"Oh my~! With a mouth that filthy, no wonder you could not get married. Is the mouth between your legs just as filthy?"
"Don't cross the line! You fucker!"
The black-haired woman was restrained by the men surrounding her and losing the verbal exchange just as badly.
From listening to the conversation and piecing things together, it seemed the woman was with the government and the men were anti-government terrorists.
It was a clash between government agencies at the heart of the country and terrorists who opposed them.
I'd seen the fight between these two opposing forces on the news many times, but this was the first time I'd seen it up close.
...This was dangerous. This wasn't something a civilian like me should get involved in, right?
"Boss, there was nothing in the bag."
"What? Are you sure you searched it properly?"
"Yes, we turned it inside out, but it wasn't there."
"Too bad, idiots! I already hid it somewhere you will never find."
Hmm... Was there really any need to provoke them by saying such pointless things out loud?
I could not understand the woman's actions.
If she did it to get back at them for mocking her moments before, it was a stupid move, digging her own grave.
"I do not want to join a treasure hunt hosted by a slut... How about a hint?"
"Do you think I would be crazy enough to tell you? I would not talk even if you tore my mouth apart, so find it yourselves."
"Heh heh, you don't get the situation you're in, do you?"
"Guhuk!!"
The woman took a hard kick to the abdomen and doubled over, unable to breathe. She had brought it on herself, but I still felt sorry for her.
"Half of you, comb through this area thoroughly. The rest, come with me and have some fun with this slut. Got it?"
"""Yes!"""
This was bad. I should've slipped away when I had the chance...
My pointless curiosity had made me miss my chance to get away.
The goons were heading my way. With no other choice, I climbed a tree and hid among the branches.
The goons pushed through the underbrush where I had just been. My heart clenched at how close it had been.
Meanwhile.
"Aaughk!"
"It hurts, does it not? Let us make this easy on both of us. Just tell us where you hid it. All right?"
"I won't say a word even if I die! You fucker..."
"Really?"
"Kyaaauk!!"
He bent her fingers backward one joint at a time, inflicting excruciating pain.
The sight was painful enough to make me wince, but the woman was not their only victim.
"Kkiwoong!!"
They inflicted the same agony on the wolf that appeared to be her Companion Animal.
"Your companion animal is being abused because of you, you know? Aren't you even sorry?"
"Harang...! Aaughk!!"
"Krrrr...!!"
"Oh! Are you threatening us because she is your precious Human Companion?"
"What a touching bond! It almost brings tears to my eyes!"
-Crunch!!
It was the sound of the wolf's leg breaking as the terrorist leader brought his wrench down on it.
"Kkiiing!!"
"Hey, you motherfucker!!"
"Should've just told us where you hid it sooner. Then you and this wolf wouldn't have to suffer, wouldn't that be nice?"
It was too horrific to watch.
A group of men were torturing a woman and her companion animal on a deserted mountain.
I’d never witnessed a crime scene like this in my life.
"Still, she's a woman. Maybe forcing it would've been more humiliating for her?"
"You lowest scumbag of a human...! Even if it kills me, I'll bite your dick off before I go!!"
"As if I'd actually do it with a slut like you? You're a perfect fit to be the companion pig of one of my underlings."
I wanted to run right in and help, but there was nothing I could do.
This was the deepest part of the mountain, where there was no signal and I couldn't even call for help.
To get a signal, I would have to run nonstop for at least 10 minutes from here.
Even if I spent ten minutes getting out and managed to call for help, it would take much longer for rescuers to arrive.
Would that woman really survive safely during that time? Probably not a chance in hell.
Moreover, the goons were searching the area, so it was uncertain whether I could even escape without being spotted.
I truly found it regrettable that such a miserable future awaited her.
"If you don't want to be raped by a pig, speak up now. Where on earth did you hide the egg?"
Egg...?
Didn't the terrorist leader just say 'egg'?
"Eat shit."
"Seems that won't do. Get ready to squeal with 'oink oink!' on a pig's dick, you slut."
"Ugh! Get that filthy thing away from me!!"
"I'll give you one more chance, so speak. If you don't tell us the egg's location this time, I'll have you brutally violated by the pig, then tear your body to shreds and leave it here on this mountain."
"D-do whatever you want. Even if I get violated, I will never reveal the egg's location!"
The woman spat blood-tinged saliva at the terrorist leader.
Even in this situation that could be her last, the woman was burning with resolve and fighting spirit.
Her willpower was remarkable enough to command respect.
But hearing the word 'egg' clearly sent my thoughts into turmoil.
'An egg was what they were looking for...?'
Coincidentally, wasn't what I'd found and was holding an egg?
No way...?
My heart insisted it could not be true, but my head had only one answer: I was screwed.
After all, the only egg they could be talking about was the one I was carrying.
It was the egg the woman had hidden. But she had claimed they would never find it, not even in a million years.
But since I'd actually found it easily, wasn't there maybe a separate egg?
I tried denying reality, but that changed nothing.
"..."
It seemed I had only one option left.
Running away.
I felt sorry for the agent who needed help, but I no longer had the luxury of intervening.
I climbed down and tried to flee without looking back.
-Snap!
However, when climbing down from the tree, I ended up stepping on a branch I hadn't noticed.
"Ah, fuck..."
"Huh...?"
The moment our eyes met, I could not help laughing.
Fortune and misfortune were two sides of the same coin.
No matter what happened, the worst part was that this was reality.
"Ah... it's the egg?"
The men naturally went berserk when they saw the egg in my arms.
"...The egg? Bullshit! I took such pains to hide...!"
And the woman who didn't believe what they said.
However, unfortunately this time, the men were right.
The egg she had hidden was the one I was carrying.
"Get him!"
"Goddammit!!"
Wasn't it said that life was about chasing and being chased?
That did not seem entirely wrong.
***
"Stop!!"
"Get him! Catch him quick!!"
I wondered what it felt like to be chased by so many humans and animals.
I had never wanted to know, but now I did.
In a word, it was terrifying.
Getting caught and killed was one thing.
But I couldn't stand men with disgusting faces chasing me while panting 'huff! huff!'.
What had I done in a past life to deserve something this terrifying?
"What are you doing? Just split up to the sides and pounce on him! You morons!"
""Yes!""
Two men closed in from either side, clearly planning to pounce at once.
Two men pouncing on me at once, huh...
"Eugh, fuck! Disgusting...!"
I deliberately slowed down as if letting them catch me. Then, just as I aimed for the timing when they were about to pounce, I accelerated.
The goons’ hands narrowly grazed me, but I barely managed to dodge them.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
If God truly existed, I wished he would save me. I had not known a single happy day in twenty years.
So was it not about time I finally found some happiness?!
"Tell the fast companion animals to bite and hold him!"
No matter how hard I ran, I couldn't outrun four-legged animals.
On top of that, I was lugging around the heavy egg.
At this rate, their Companion Animals would catch me within a few meters.
What the hell was I supposed to do...?!
[...Please just keep running straight ahead.]
"Huh...?"
Just as the endless chase became unbearable, a woman's faint voice brushed my ear.
I glanced around wondering what it was, but all I could see was the mountain scenery and the bastards chasing me. There was nothing else.
It sounded like a hallucination, but I had nothing to lose. I decided to follow it.
"Ahhh...!"
I kept my eyes ahead and ran. The animals' cries drew closer behind me, but I did not stop.
Fear, pressure, and a chill gradually tightened around my throat.
I was sprinting, so I should have been hot, yet my body felt cold.
Every breath entered my lungs like winter air, and each exhale seemed to steal away more of my warmth.
The fear of dying must have made me feel this way.
The animals were howling directly behind me now.
Just as I began to lose strength, convinced there was no way out—
-Kkaeng!!
The unexpected yelp sent a surge of strength through my entire body.
'W-what happened...?'
As the animals' pained cries receded, I looked back and saw my pursuers collapsed in a tangled heap.
I had no idea what had happened. All I knew was that I’d barely survived, and that was enough.
[Please turn left and dive into the underbrush between the trees, 100 meters ahead.]
"Ah? O-okay...!"
Just as I was about to relax, the clear voice reached me again.
Who did the voice belong to? I was curious, but this was no time to wonder.
All that mattered was that the voice was helping me and that I had to follow it.
"Haa...! Haa...! Over there!"
Just as the voice said, I saw a thick patch of underbrush between the trees.
Diving into it while enemies were chasing me was insane.
Still, without hesitation, I made a leap of faith onto the undergrowth.
"Ugh...!!"
Sharp grass and branches pricked at my skin. It hurt, but not so much I couldn't endure it.
"Don't tell me you jumped in there to hide? Seriously?"
I knew how stupid this was.
But it was too soon to decide whether it truly was.
If the mysterious voice I trusted was helping me, then surely this time too...
-Kwooooaaaaar!!
"B-Boss?! Hey, it's a wild bear!!"
"What...? Why is a wild bear appearing here?! This is ridiculous! Shit!"
A massive gray bear—a grizzly—burst from the underbrush above me.
The beast stood well over three meters tall, larger than any grizzly I had ever seen.
"This is insane! Why is a predator living on the hill behind the neighborhood?!"
"W-we don't know either!"
...Come to think of it, that was true.
As a regular visitor to this hill, I was just as bewildered.
I had never seen a bear here or even heard that one lived nearby.
If there had been, I would never have come. Who would risk their life just to hike the hill behind their neighborhood?
But the bear I was seeing did seem real...
...Just how many dangerous things had I been doing all this time?
I had no idea. Had it wandered in from another mountain range?
"Kwooaaaar!!"
"Kyaaaak!!"
"Hik!!"
"What are you doing?! Run! Scatter in every direction!!"
Only after the grizzly's claws tore one of them apart did the terrorists come to their senses.
Forgetting about me, they scattered in every direction.
The enormous gray bear chased after them. Even though I was right behind it, it didn't give me a single glance.
It seemed my natural animal-repellent trait worked on the bear as well.
"...Wow."
I had always cursed it as a shitty trait... but it turned out to be a genuine blessing.
For the first time in my life, I felt genuinely grateful to have been born with such a trait.
Anyway, the fact remained that I'd had a narrow escape from death.
Now that I'd shaken off my pursuers, this was the most critical moment.
The signal... still nothing.
I'd probably have to go a bit further.
I visited the mountain often enough to know its general layout.
I couldn't be sure exactly where I was, but I knew the approximate location.
If I kept going straight, I should reach a treeless clearing.
If I got that far, I could catch a signal and send a rescue request.
With that in mind, I tried to leave the underbrush and run again.
"Aht...!!"
My legs trembled as the strain of that desperate sprint finally caught up with me.
I tried to keep walking, but even that proved difficult.
Realizing I could go no farther, I sank to the ground.
I decided to rest until the tension in my muscles eased.
The situation was urgent, but rushing would only make matters worse.
I was better off recovering while the bear kept the terrorists occupied.
"Phew."
-Crrrack!!
Before I could catch my breath, something cracked nearby.
Worried the bear might have returned, I looked around, but the surroundings were quiet.
-Crrrack...! Craaack...!
The cracking continued at close range. The egg was the only possible source.
"You kidding me?"
-Crack!!
Something inside the egg answered by trying to break through the shell.
The sudden development caught me completely off guard.
"W-wait!"
In my panic, I ended up pressing down on the widening crack and closing it back up.
I felt sorry for the lifeform inside, but hatching right now seemed a bit premature.
But the creature apparently could not wait any longer. It smashed the shell apart and emerged.
"Kkyu-it!!"
A baby lizard emerged with an adorable cry and stretched.
I could not help marveling at the birth of new life—until the tiny lizard immediately began smacking me with its forelegs.
"Ow! What's with the tantrum right after being born?"
"Kkyu-i! Kkyu-it!!"
Apparently, interrupting its hatching had angered the little lizard.
"Ow! I-I'm sorry!!"
"Kkyut!"
When I sincerely apologized, the lizard stopped its attack. It pouted for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.
Then it rubbed its face against my palm, nuzzling me affectionately.
It was so expressive that I could hardly believe it had just hatched.
“Huh...? Now that I look at you, you look pretty damn weird.”
While the baby lizard nuzzled against me, I examined its body and noticed several odd features.
Two small horns protruded from its head. Horned lizards existed, so I could accept that.
Despite being a hatchling, it was as large as my forearm. Perhaps it belonged to some giant lizard species I had never heard of.
Up to that point, I could explain everything away.
But I could not explain the wings growing from its back.
I had seen lizards that resembled flying squirrels, but never one with actual wings.
Did any lizard like this exist?
Not as far as I knew...
"Wait a minute...?"
I could not jump to conclusions.
"No, no way."
"Kkyut?"
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
"Kkyu-it!"
“How are you this smart? More importantly, if you can understand me... may I ask you something?”
"Kkyu-i!"
The baby lizard raised a foreleg as if to say, ‘Go ahead!’ and gave an adorable chirp.
Setting aside how we were communicating, I decided to satisfy my curiosity first.
“This might sound crazy, but... you are not a dragon, are you?”
"Kkyut!!"
The baby lizard—no, the baby dragon—nodded.
“Je-Xus Christ...!”
The little lizard that had announced itself by hatching from the egg...
was an impossible creature: a Divine Beast infamous among humans as a mass murderer.