Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: There is a Hole
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The plan had failed.
Unfortunately, Researcher Lee Se-hwa encountered the Black Princess before she lost her mind. The princess seemed to seize something behind the researcher, and soon enough, the researcher lost consciousness and collapsed.
'Just what is that anomaly's ability? It's not just brute strength, is it?'
Since its abilities hadn't been fully identified yet, the first priority was to retreat. In ghost form, he scanned for gaps in the research institute's barrier.
"By the way, you there. Who might you be? I don't recognize your face."
The princess spoke while staring into empty space.
He hurriedly glanced down the opposite corridor. No one was there. Apart from the fallen researcher, he was the only one here. The Black Princess hadn't been looking at empty space—she had been looking at him.
'This is bad. Can she see me in ghost form!?'
The smuggled report beforehand had stated that the Black Princess possessed no special abilities. Damn research institute bastards. He hadn't realized they were the type to investigate so carelessly.
'Even so, if I phase through the wall and escape, she won't be able to follow.'
She was a physical entity with substance. Having his form spotted was dangerous, but it wasn't fatal. He hurried toward the gap in the barrier.
"Hmm. Not even returning a greeting and trying to slip away. How rude."
'Wha—what...?'
With a single blink, the Black Princess was right in front of him. The Black Princess had crossed dozens of meters in the span of an eyeblink. The gap in the barrier was now blocked.
'Don't tell me she can touch things in ghost form too?'
The Black Princess standing before him stared right at him.
"It's you, isn't it?"
Darkness seeped in. The Black Princess's reverse eyes gleamed black.
A lone rabbit facing a tiger head-on. That image involuntarily flashed in his mind. The princess's gaze was that of a predator about to devour its herbivore prey. That thing was trying to eat him.
'With the Black Princess's speed, escape is impossible. I'll have to fight.'
He was nothing more than an ordinary human. But he possessed a multitude of anomaly objects. Countless anomaly objects that he had secretly smuggled out after lying to the Alliance about destroying them personally. This wasn't the time to hold back.
'Anomaly object: Infesting Parasite.'
He dispelled his ghost form and landed on the floor. He shattered the small vial containing the Infesting Parasite, letting it bite into his wrist.
"Gaaargh!"
The parasite burrowed into his body through the veins in his wrist. Tar-like sticky black liquid poured out through every orifice in his body. Liquid oozed from his eyes, mouth, and every other hole, staining his body pitch black.
The Infesting Parasite granted the infected tremendous strength and speed. If too much time passed, the host would drown in the sticky tar and die. He might have to resect one or two internal organs later to remove the parasite, but he had no luxury to worry about aftereffects right now.
"Ooh! How fascinating."
The Black Princess uttered a small exclamation of admiration. How long could she afford to stay so relaxed?
He pulled out another anomaly object: the Backward-Flowing Hourglass. True to its nickname, the sand flowed from bottom to top.
This hourglass had two stages of use.
The first stage was time-saving. In this stage, the holder moved five times slower than normal people.
'I've already saved up. Time to use the hourglass.'
The second stage was time expenditure. Flip the hourglass to spend the saved time. In this stage, the holder's perceived time slowed, allowing them to move twice as fast as others.
"Wow! Got more anomalies?"
"Urgh. Damn it! Not done yet!"
The Black Princess gazed at him with a mocking, provocative expression. For an anomaly to dare look down on a human.
He drew his ace in the hole: the Rusty Razor. This object possessed immense cutting power, and any wounds it inflicted could never heal. It was a dedicated weapon prepared specifically to counter the Black Princess's exceptional regenerative abilities.
He pulled out various other anomaly objects as well. Any that boosted physical abilities, erased pain and fear—he used them all.
"I'll make you regret underestimating me."
The Black Princess didn't twitch a muscle until he finished all his preparations. Uncharacteristic behavior for an anomaly—something no human would do.
His body was now blanketed in countless anomaly objects. Covered in sticky black tar, he probably looked like an anomaly himself.
Even if he couldn't survive, that was fine. As long as he could kill the anomaly, even at the cost of his life, he'd be satisfied.
"Die!"
He charged forward at speeds far beyond human limits. His target: the Black Princess's neck.
The moment he swung the Rusty Razor toward her throat.
"I'll eat well."
The Black Princess smiled. Her mouth opened wide. A colossal darkness loomed.
'How? What is that size? Impossible. It can't be. What the...'
The princess had simply opened her mouth normally. The deep sea was visible within. Her mouth's interior was vast and bottomless, like an abyssal ocean trench.
A bizarre phenomenon that utterly defied the laws of physics.
Unable to slow his momentum, he was swallowed whole by the Black Princess.
"Huh? Oops. Ate him whole."
As he plunged into darkness and lost consciousness, he faintly heard those words.
A moment later.
He came to and regained his senses.
"Ugh... where is this?"
His entire body ached. It felt just like being submerged in water, his body drifting aimlessly in midair.
He pieced together his memories to grasp the situation.
'I was definitely... right. Eaten by the princess. So this is inside her stomach?'
The surroundings were pitch black, reminiscent of outer space.
He glanced down at his body.
'All the anomaly objects are gone.'
Not just the anomaly objects—his clothes were stripped away too, leaving him completely naked without a stitch on.
He looked like he'd been exiled naked into space.
'How do I get out of here?'
He pondered escape methods.
That's when something wriggling faintly appeared in the distance.
'Another lifeform the princess swallowed? Might be usable.'
He propelled his body toward the distant dot-like lifeform with a swimming motion. He drew closer to the unknown lifeform. Its shape gradually came into view.
'...'
The moment he recognized it, he understood. That was an existence he should never have laid eyes upon. An anomaly too bizarre to exist on Earth.
'Humans cannot endure that anomaly—frog's heart. Spiral staircase. Socrates. Golden apple. Eagle's talon. Shadow of the sun. Speckled-fragment-mirror-needle-mucosa-nerve-pulse-stench-shell-knot-hole. Speckled-speckled-speckled-speckled-speckled-speckled-speckled...'
'I see the hole.'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Bueeeh."
She vomited up the person in white clothes.
Splash.
The man in white clothes, whom she'd accidentally swallowed whole, fell naked to the floor.
"Uh, ahem! Even I can make mistakes sometimes."
No matter how she thought about it, it didn't seem entirely her fault. Didn't the guy dangling all those anomalies from his body bear some responsibility too?
She'd vomited him up right away, so his life shouldn't be in any danger.
Poke poke.
She nudged the collapsed naked man with her foot.
"Hey. Wake up."
The man regained consciousness and sat up.
He stared blankly at her.
"H-Holes! Holes... ugh. Uwaaa!"
The man recoiled in horror upon seeing her and scrambled backward. He tried to stand and flee.
"H-Here too, holes. Why? Why are there holes here too? Uwa. UwAAAAA!!!"
The man, who had tried to flee from her, collapsed again. He screamed as he curled into a ball and buried his head in his knees.
"Holes everywhere. H-How didn't I notice before? Why did I realize this? I wish I never had. I never should have known about stupid holes!"
The man shrieked hysterically while wildly shaking his head back and forth.
He seemed to be a bit mentally unwell.
Se-hwa, who had been lying collapsed nearby, twitched at the sound of his screams.
"Ung... where am I?"
Se-hwa rubbed her eyes as she sat up and regained her senses.
At the same time, urgent footsteps in military boots echoed from somewhere. Soon, the research institute guards arrived.
"Hello."
She gave a polite bow to the guards.
The naked man mumbling strange things, Se-hwa who had just woken up from collapse, the guards, and her.
The guard stood awkwardly and aimed his gun at the naked man.
"You have holes too!"
The naked man pointed at the guard and yelled.