The Oath
Shan watched every flicker of drama unfold in real time as Tiss prepared to leave.
[No way! Impossible! My stomach was completely full! How could a hunter possibly sniff me out? It's ridiculous!]
At first Shan flatly denied Tiss's words.
[Why me?! Why here?! I was living quietly! I didn't eat anyone. I didn't intrude on other monsters' territories!]
In truth, Shan hadn't done anything wrong.
It was just that such actions might be seen as a hidden trap waiting for another spawn.
[We just wanted to live comfortably, to enjoy the moment, to stay out of the way! I wasn't competing! I wasn't worth the effort, right? This is so unfair!]
After the denial came the fury.
Shan's trembling body shook the ground like an earthquake.
[If only I'd been more cautious... I'm such an idiot. It's all my fault.]
At the very beginning, even toward the hunter who had come for it, Shan unleashed every ounce of rage it could possibly feel in this world.
[Still... I could send one of my disciples to negotiate. If I tell them I'm not even participating in the race...! No, wait... if I send a few kids along as gifts, maybe the hunter will call it off.]
The monster had even tried the ridiculous idea of bargaining with the hunter.
Had Shan not been so desperate, its disciples would never have stopped it.
[Nooooo~ It's over! It's over!]
Tears like jade beads streamed down like a waterfall.
Shan could no longer hold back its anxiety and let it all pour out.
Cornered at the end of the line, Shan's choice was clear: Tiss.
[Tiss! Bring Tiss! Right now!]
By the time Tiss returned to Shan, the monster was already mentally exhausted.
[Tiss, you know something, don't you? You said something about fate when we first met. So tell me. How do I survive in this body? Quickly!]
It hadn't even reached the final stage of accepting reality.
"You may use me as your vessel."
[No! Tell me any other way!]
Instead, it openly threw a tantrum, revealing its completely unhinged state.
...
...
...
The lost lamb has finally found its way home.
Shan, who had always lived alone, was lost for words on how to handle the sudden turn of events.
I told it, step by step, starting with what it could do immediately.
"Knowing yourself is half the battle."
[So...?]
"First, let's find out who is coming for us within our range."
I stayed by Shan's side, trembling with fear, as its friend.
Shan gradually leaned on me without realizing it, the more it called for Tiss.
The more often Shan sought me out, the more my smile bloomed on my face.
This time, it was truly about to choose its host.
Perhaps it had decided I was the one that suited it best.
...
...
...
"Oppa, have you seen Tiss Unnie?"
"No, she hasn't been out much lately. Lately she's been disappearing from the orphanage a lot."
"Doesn't that seem strange? The orphanage's biggest supporter usually visits the kids often?"
Every time Tiss was absent because of Shan's calls, Siu and Sia's reactions changed slightly.
[Tiss must be going through something... I'm worried.]
[Tiss Unnie...]
"She's definitely... acting weird."
When I asked the teacher, the usual polite answer came: you can't disturb an important donor.
...
...
...
At the exact moment worry was piling up in Siu and Sia's hearts,
"Shan-nim? Are you here?"
[Yes! Right here! Haaa~ It's good to see you.]
Tiss was lost in thought while brushing Shan's fur.
[Those many disciples can't even match Tiss. That comb is wonderful. I feel a little better. Thanks a lot.]
Most of the conversation with Shan was just complaints and spoiled demands.
Of course, it wasn't meaningless to soothe the scared, timid creature.
As it honestly spilled its feelings in front of me, genuine emotional closeness began to form. Shan even thanked me.
Hearing a monster say thank you to a human? To me, specifically? It was a fresh shock.
After organizing the fragmented stories the creature had spat out without order, I realized there was a reason behind it.
Shan had been hiding from its siblings in another spawn's territory and nesting here.
[I don't want to... Why must I do this...? I can't understand it at all.]
Shan explained that Abaddon's spawn must enter the bloody survival competition with their siblings to grow.
This wasn't a matter of wanting or not wanting. It was instinct, directly designed at the genetic level by Abaddon.
The very existence of an Abaddon's spawn is cursed from birth with the loneliness Abaddon created.
It evolves by consuming other monsters' essences.
It fights its blood-related siblings to expand its territory.
And it endures the threat of hunters, eternal enemies of the monsters.
Only the spawn that first reaches the peak after the bloody survival game can become the new disaster to succeed it, according to Abaddon's judgment.
To avoid being culled in the competition, it must keep absorbing essences.
Otherwise, the end is certain.
The only way to stop the rolling wheel of fate is to reach the bottom of the food-chain pyramid.
It must force itself into the eating-or-be-eaten death game.
[So... I ran away.]
If it can't stop evolving once it starts eating, it won't even touch human food.
It lives peacefully, eating human food and accepting the disciples' affection.
As a parasite-type monster that grows inside a host body, it used the lack of a suitable host as an excuse to refuse participating in the competition altogether.
So Shan sat alone in the deepest part of its temple beneath the orphanage, a hermit with no one but its loyal disciples as its limbs, living in its little corner world.
Even until the tutorial when the protagonist siblings arrived here.
The world it had completed with no one getting hurt? It had tried, at least.
Ironically, because it finished its own perfect world first, it was the first monster to be hunted by another.
Thanks to that, the orphanage children grew up in the monster-worshipping cult's facilities, thriving without a single scratch and entering society.
Whether it was because no one had chosen it and it simply devoured the disciples' offerings and faith, or whether it was pure instinct, I couldn't say.
But one thing was certain: this creature was definitely not a normal monster.
[Tiss. Come here for a moment.]
"Yes."
The huge body of Shan rose and fell like a hill as it was petted and brushed everywhere, then called out in a teary voice.
I climbed the ladder and approached the trembling Shan.
[Is there really no other way besides letting me inside you?]
"That's the only solution."
The reason I came seeking Shan was to solve everything.
To live myself, and for Shan to live.
The only method I knew was for Shan to parasitize my body.
Watching it hesitate and waver, my own patience was wearing thin.
There was no time.
The more we talked, the clearer Shan's pure true nature became.
With its inner core as Abaddon's spawn finally exposed, there was no reason left to fear.
To proceed with the ritual and prepare for the ambush, it had to become my host now.
It was unavoidable.
To make this timid creature make up its mind, I had to cross the line first.
"Shan, how long are you going to keep hesitating?"
I said it in a loud, firm tone with casual speech.
Shan flinched, then turned those huge eyes toward me.
[Eh? Tiss? What...]
"I got tired of repeating the same words. I've already told you how to do it repeatedly. Why won't you accept me as your host?"
Shan's voice began to shake like a leaf when I suddenly switched to casual speech and shouted.
"Tell me why you're hesitating."
Or was it...
I asked the thought that crossed my mind without filter.
"You're not planning to choose a different victim now, are you?"
That was it.
No answer needed.
Shan's startled reaction said everything.
[It might already be a well-trained, better host...]
Shan's voice grew smaller and smaller, finally almost sounding mechanical.
Choosing another option while I'm right here?
Impossible.
Sometimes the truth is crueler than a lie in choking the neck.
"With the best vessel right in front of me, wanting to pick some other garbage whose compatibility I don't know?"
Shan's compatibility with me had already been verified to a degree by the disciples.
As I spoke, an impulsive feeling slipped out before I could stop it.
Thinking about it made me angrier.
If I searched the entire area thoroughly, I might find one human with compatibility similar to mine.
But could a creature that never even steps outside the orphanage find a better host before the hunter arrives?
Unlikely.
I glared at it with a smirk, incredulous.
"Alright. If you think you can survive without me... well, that's your choice. You might think a grown adult or one with destructive abilities makes a better host for a moment."
I wiped my slightly upturned mouth clean and corrected it.
"But if it's for the long haul, this way is better, isn't it?"
[L-long term?]
"You mean, instead of rushing to solve the immediate problem and making the worst choice?"
[Eh?]
My young body might be weaker than other ability users right now.
I acknowledged that and casually emphasized that the one making the mistake wasn't me but you, as if there was still a choice.
"Such a choice won't let you survive the competition for long. After blocking the ambush, is it really over? Have you thought about what comes after? What will you do when hunters and other monsters come after this place is discovered?"
Knowing the future of the wrong choice, I could say this with absolute certainty.
[Wait... give me a moment to... think...]
"There's no more time. Shan, you have to decide now."
[I just wanted to live quietly here...]
"I know. It's unfair, and it's going to hurt. I'd feel the same way."
Shan's teary eyes looked back at me.
Almost there.
Puff!
With a burst of white smoke, the massive body vanished like a bubble and reformed into a small, round, palm-sized version that could sit in my hand.
This was Shan's true form after releasing its inflated appearance.
[I don't want to die...]
"You don't want to either, do you?"
[Eh?]
Shan showed a flicker of surprise at my honest words.
"I want to live too. That's why I'm going to stay with you. Becoming your host is the only answer and the only way to escape fate."
Who else would volunteer as a sacrificial vessel and come this far by themselves?
I told it honestly that I was desperate to live as well.
"Birds struggle to hatch from their eggs. The egg is the world, and the one being born must shatter one world."
[What does that mean?]
"It's a line from a novel I like."
The time to hatch from the egg has come.
[Can I... do it?]
"A weak bird that can't even hatch the egg will die."
I reached out to the frightened creature.
"But right now, you have me inside your world, don't you?"
[Eh... yes...]
"Having someone you can rely on is really lucky."
There's a sturdy tree here to lean on.
Shan nodded like it was spellbound by my words.
"If you're hesitating because you don't trust yourself, it's fine to trust me instead."
[Tiss... can I really believe in you?]
"Then it's fine to believe. Trust me and let me become your host. That way, you'll definitely survive."
The trembling in Shan's eyes finally stopped.
[If it's the only way... alright.]
With those words, the creature jumped inside like my hand was its lifeline.
Pounding.
Held gently with both hands, Shan felt like soft, chewy mochi.
[Tiss... I'll make you my first host... it's an honor.]
"Really?"
[The Whispering One never takes back what it says.]
"Exactly. You chose well."
For that moment, I could smile genuinely.
It had been a long persuasion.
Finally, Shan had become my host.