The Mimic's Resolve

We were supposed to switch shifts, but today I had to transform into my own form. It wasn't just about keeping control. If I couldn't gather any information even after changing, I would have considered shifting into whatever form she wanted. But not today. I shook my head firmly. Whenever I became this stubborn, there was always a reason, so Yeonhee didn't press the matter any further.

Still, watching her lips move as if she wanted to say something, her fingers twitching toward me before pulling back, I felt a twinge of guilt. Even though I had a way to share my thoughts with her, I had a habit of keeping things to myself. She had accepted the fact that I used to be human and was trying to accommodate that. Yet I hadn't considered changing to match the new way she could check my information. Maybe I had been more willful than I realized. I fell silent for a moment.

"Yeah?" I asked Arang, who was sprawled on a small cushion, for help. (It'll be tough, but could you pass this on?)

(Kuuugh... Speak, then...) Arang looked like she barely had the strength to respond, yet her wings, which had been drooping, perked up slightly. She seemed almost pleased.

'Let's share everything except the regression.' Through her, I told Yeonhee everything that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had happened during my outing without leaving anything out. I omitted the part about already knowing information on Nam Yong-seok, but shared all the rest. This wasn't just sharing information. It felt more like I was finally unlocking the door to my heart for her. Of course, it wasn't entirely by choice, which made me scratch the back of my head, but I hoped she could feel that I wanted to be a little more honest with her from now on.

While listening to my story through Arang's mouth, Yeonhee's eyes never left my face. Shock and fear filled her expression when she heard that such a villain had been only a few hundred meters away, but when the story reached what those people had been doing there, her face flushed as if it had never happened, and she started pressing the pen tip hard against the floor for no reason.

Perhaps because she wasn't feeling well, Arang relayed my words exactly as they were without softening them. The part about those men mixing bodies could have been left out, but I was curious how Yeonhee would react. Seeing her at a complete loss, I thought it was a good thing I had slipped it in. Teasing Yeonhee never got old.

Maybe because I had seen several naked women yesterday, my gaze kept drifting toward Yeonhee's body. Unlike the women in the basement, who had felt nothing but repulsive and filthy despite their exposed skin, Yeonhee made [Composure] activate repeatedly in my mind even though very little of her skin was showing. She excited me that much. Excitement... It was a strange feeling. In just a month and a half, this skeleton had learned how to act quite human.

Even while lost in thought, my gaze followed her soft curves until our eyes met. Of course, my eye sockets were nothing but empty darkness, so it was impossible for our eyes to truly meet. Yet she reacted as if she could see my gaze. It was truly something to be grateful for.

Swish— I brought my hand to her cheek. I was extremely careful, wondering if my coldness would startle her warmth. As expected, when my hand, carrying that eerie energy, touched her, her shoulders jerked greatly. But she simply lowered her head and stared at the floor without doing anything else. Her face just grew a little redder. Without realizing it, my hand had gone to her cheek, but I pretended to tidy her bangs as usual before naturally withdrawing it.

"...... I'm going to apply the defensive membrane to Number One first. It takes a while since I'm still not used to it."

Nod—

"Yeah... If I accidentally fall asleep while working, you'll wake me up before using [Mimicry], right?"

"Clack clack clack."

'She said it was awkward when I turned into a man... but she still wants to see it again, huh.'

Yeonhee brought a chair into the living room and placed her hands on the monsters' bodies, closing her eyes. A low hum resonated as a pale green membrane slowly spread across Lizard Number One's body like ink bleeding into paper. Very slowly...

'Even so, this is way too slow.'

"Nngh..." Yeonhee groaned while manifesting the membrane. Sweat beaded on her forehead. It really did seem difficult. It had taken several minutes just to make that small thing for my neck, after all. I absentmindedly touched my neck. The squishy texture made me want to keep touching it. After some time, it had become translucent, the green glow almost gone.

'This is broken... If all the summons are equipped with this, our combat power will increase dramatically.'

Yeonhee managed to apply the armor to Lizard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Number One and Deonni Number One before the cooldown on my [Mimicry] returned. During those few hours of work, the clothes she was wearing had become damp enough to cling to her skin.

'Yeonhee... I can see right through...' But there was no need to embarrass her by pointing it out.

"Haaah... I can't do any more!" She collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. Still, the Number One brothers seemed quite pleased with the armor on their bodies. Their shoulders were raised high as they flared their nostrils. The other summons approached the brothers with envious looks, touching the armor curiously.

'Time for Mimicry.' Without saying anything to the collapsed Yeonhee, I immediately began the transformation. A torrent of information flooded my mind like a revolving lantern. Villain, villain, villain. Even without trying to search, there was an enormous amount of information about them. Though I hadn't encountered all of them personally, the appearances, characteristics, and signature abilities of famous ones were all etched into my head. However...

'How am I supposed to find these guys... Hmm... I could ask Kang Yeonsu about one of them...'

I snapped out of my thoughts when a message appeared.

'Ugh... My head...' Why did my head hurt so much even though I was transforming into myself? After staggering for a moment, I approached Yeonhee, who still hadn't noticed my change.

'Hmm... I do want to get back at her for what happened yesterday.' But if we kept taking revenge on each other day after day, wouldn't things just become more and more provocative? There was a clear limit to provocation. The peak would come quickly, and once we reached the point where only the downhill remained, we would definitely regret it. The day would come when she would no longer seek me out. That time might come sooner than I thought.

She always talked about her dungeon travels with her summons, but even with Mimicry active, I couldn't tell how much of it was genuine. Well, that was the rational thought. But as I approached her while she lay there with her eyes closed, breathing heavily, emotion began to take over.

'...... I can't hold back.' I wanted to hold her. That impulse struck somewhere in my chest.

'She's all wet... Would it feel gross...' Her damp T-shirt clung tightly to her body, clearly revealing her curves. Even while lying down, those ample curves hadn't changed much. Contrary to my worry that Yeonhee might find it unpleasant, my hands had already slipped under her shoulders and legs.

Whoosh—

"Kyaaah—! Wh-what, what, what is this? Huh...?!" She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was startled out of her wits, completely flustered by how close I had pulled her.

"Wh-when did you... change— Kyaaah!" I carried her into the room. Her eyes had grown twice as large. Her face had been flushed red from the moment I picked her up, and her arms didn't know where to go, so she just clutched the hem of my clothes and stared up at me.

"Huaa... Wh-what are you trying to do, w-wait a second— I'm wet, I need to wash up."

'No time for that.' As I approached her bed, I briefly considered throwing her down roughly like she had done to me yesterday. 'Hmm... I've already flustered her enough.' Instead, I knelt down and placed her on the floor as gently as possible.

"Ah..." After lying on the floor, she stared up at me blankly. Then the redness on her face spread to her ears, and she hurriedly began pulling the blanket over herself as if trying to hide.

Roll roll— Yeonhee wrapped herself in the blanket like a caterpillar and peeked out with only her face showing, looking up at me again. Her actions made her look like a frightened herbivore, but her eyes were filled with anticipation rather than fear of being hunted.

"Th-there. Heh—" I chuckled. "Eh?" I lifted her, blanket and all, then grabbed the end of the blanket and yanked it upward. She rolled once and fell back onto the floor, completely exposed again.

"Hngh... G-give it back. My blanket." Nod— When I nodded, she raised both arms high. While quietly watching her arms reaching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for the blanket, I slowly began removing my suit jacket.

"Wh-wh-wh-what! Why are you taking off your clothes! What are you doing! Give me the blanket!" Ignoring her words, I neatly folded the jacket and placed it on the floor, then started loosening my tie. Realizing she couldn't stay like this, she turned over and began crawling away. I immediately grabbed her ankle and pulled, and she slid right back in front of me.

"Haa— haa— D-don't do this. Ilwol! W-we haven't, that... that kind of thing yet...! No, that's not it. Anyway, we can't do this! So—"

I was twitching from holding back the laughter that threatened to burst out. She was far more flustered than I had expected, and that sight was so adorable that I even felt the urge to actually carry out what I had only started as a joke. It was quite satisfying. 'Huuu...'[Composure] had already activated several times, cooling my head.

Having only removed my tie, I tossed it onto the suit still lying on the floor. Staring at them for a moment, I stroked my chin. 'Hmm... So they don't disappear even after leaving my body...'