Selection

The scientists who had been making such a racket fell silent in an instant at my single sentence. Clever little things — no need to spell out what I meant any further.

If there's anyone who got caught up in this unfairly, I'll spare that one at least.

It was a scrap of mercy, offered only because there was a chance — however slim — that someone truly innocent might be among them. Harming the guiltless just wasn't my idea of a good time.

Everything I'd killed since waking up had, at the very least, deserved it. Except for the scientist whose blood I'd drained dry the moment I rose, that is.

…And if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had to guess, that one had almost certainly been elbow-deep in human experimentation and worse. How else would they have managed to keep me contained?

"How… how am I supposed to believe a word you say?"

"Believe me or don't — that's your choice. Sitting there with your arms folded until you die is also your choice. I simply offered options. You could even call it… a kindness."

How merciful of me. Even I had to admit it was a rather admirable gesture — extending a second chance to people who were almost certainly scum.

I snickered to myself, basking in the self-satisfaction, then caught how ridiculous I must have looked and cleared my throat, straightening both posture and voice.

"Is no one bold enough to step forward? First one to raise a hand gets extra credit. There — that ought to do it, right?"

Since no one was volunteering, I had no choice but to dust off the kind of incentive you'd only expect to hear in elementary school.

That finally got the scientists thrusting their hands up in a frantic competition, each insisting they were the most wronged person in the room and launching a full-blown misery tournament.

If you only listened to the sob stories, every last one of them was the tragic hero of their own melodrama. Hmm. I'd mostly been checking whether this body came with a built-in lie detector…

Apparently not. Shame. I shrugged and decided it was time to add one more condition.

"Ah, I nearly forgot. If someone tells a lie and another of you exposes it… well, I'll take that initiative into account. Might even spare the whistleblower."

Whoever unmasked the fiction-writers would earn bonus points.

In technical terms: cross-examination. In street terms: divide and conquer.

This approach was going to be far more entertaining.

Exactly as predicted, the scientists' gazes shifted the moment the words left my mouth. More precisely, the way they looked at one another changed.

It was the kind of look that said if only you weren't here — and watching them trade those glances was both hilarious and deeply satisfying.

Yes. This was how villains were supposed to behave. No camaraderie, no loyalty — just pure, frantic self-preservation. How deliciously ugly.

"Th-that bitch is lying about everything! She ran human experiments without anesthesia! Sh-she'd deliberately wake the subjects mid-dissection, and then—"

"W-what?! You're the one who said 'this spot makes a fun sound' and kept jabbing people with a scalpel!!"

"Bullshit, you fucking snake! Who the hell do you think you're lying to?!"

"What kind of con artist tries to dump his own crimes on someone else like that?!"

The same people who had been cheerfully collaborating on their little fictions moments earlier now tore into one another without a shred of hesitation, slinging dirt and accusations as fast as they could talk.

Yes. Exactly this. The wonderfully harmonious spectacle of it all pulled a smile onto my face all by itself.

Even so, I listened carefully to every word, scoring them in my head — deciding who most thoroughly deserved to die.

Mocking the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spectacle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was one thing; my promise to spare someone had been genuine.

Hmm. Judging by the scores so far… there wasn't a single one worth saving.

Even the old man who had kept silent the entire time wasn't exempt. The researchers around him were tripping over themselves to paint him as the ringleader of every atrocity, so he was hardly an exception.

The only person no one said a word about was the woman crammed into the far corner. That one, at least, could probably be called innocent…

Honestly, I was going to have to kill every last one of them except her. How was it possible that not a single proper human being was in this room?

I was just drawing heavy rain across the mental scorecard while they snarled and clawed at one another when—

"…Are you toying with us?"

The old man who had kept his mouth shut finally spoke.

Bloodshot eyes fixed on me with a glare so intense I almost wondered where he found the nerve.

"Toying? How hurtful. You should call it mercy."

I strolled lightly right up to him and looked down, but the old man's presence didn't waver in the slightest.

Oh? Something like conviction, then?

The pride of a worthless little villain, maybe… but the way he clung to that pride even with death staring him in the face wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Nonsense. Can you say that with your name on the line?"

Of course I can— ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I started to answer, then a single fact surfaced.

What… was my name, again?

I couldn't very well use a magical girl's name looking like this. I had no idea what name the vampire or the dragon might have carried.

And using my original name…

…What was my name?

"Just as I thought. You were only mocking us."

I nearly choked, but the old man's words yanked me back to reality.

What was he looking so smug about? Some of us were having a genuine crisis over here.

Besides, if you don't know something, you just ask, right?

"I need to know the name before I can put it on the line. So what is my name? You lot must have decided on something. Speak. Tell me my name."

So I asked the old man. If they had planned to make me a colleague, they would have cooked up something halfway decent.

Under pressure, the old man obediently supplied the designation they had assigned me.

"Zodiacs, Type: Dragon. Model V."

He rolled the pronunciation with unnecessary flourish, but the meaning was clear enough. Still…

"For a name, isn't that a bit stiff and academic?"

It was closer to a codename — or a model number — than an actual name. Sure enough, the old man agreed and informed me that no proper name of the sort I was imagining existed.

Hmm. So I had to invent one myself? What a pain.

"No talent for naming, I see."

I muttered, deciding I'd have to put some thought into a name later.

At the same time, I figured the cross-examination had run its course. Time for the verdict.

Every scientist clamped their mouth shut and waited for whatever I would say next.

"That girl crumpled in the corner is the only one who lives. The rest of you die."

I smiled with genuine satisfaction and declared total annihilation for everyone but her. The more I'd listened, the more grotesque their stories became.

So yes — I was more than happy to kill them.

Their faces transformed in an instant as they tried to flee, but I was already a step ahead. This time Time Acceleration kicked in as well, and I slaughtered every last one of them except her.

Still no idea what the activation conditions are, though. What the hell is the trigger for this thing?

The old man with his meager scrap of pride, the scientists who had been so uglily tearing each other down, the ones who had only screamed in terror — I took every head without exception.

But the one who had been curled up in the corner, I left alive.

A promise was a promise.

In the accelerated flow of time, I walked toward the woman still crumpled in the corner.

—And time resumed its normal pace.

"…Huh?"

The woman still looked only half-conscious.

In the space of a single blink, everyone who had been with her had been wiped out and the monster responsible was suddenly standing right in front of her. Hard to blame her for the blank stare.

"Live a good life from now on. If you start living badly… we'll meet again."

I gave the still-dazed woman's head a light pat, flashed her a gentle smile, then used my clumsy blood-manipulation to draw in the blood pooling thickly across the floor.

I had no idea how the principle worked — just clench and the blood came sliding toward me — but the full, swelling sense of satiation that filled my entire body made the mechanics irrelevant.

Was this a vampire influence? The way human blood beaded and flowed felt like pure ecstasy.

I finally understood why vampires in stories could never quit the stuff. I'd been one for less than an hour and I was already like this. How bad must it get after decades or centuries?

If you'd spent that long feeding, the satisfaction and pleasure would melt your brain until the very idea of restraint stopped existing.

Someone with my level of self-control might manage it eventually… but for ordinary people, this temptation was clearly near-impossible to refuse.

…Would I hold out? Yeah. It'll work out somehow.

I shelved the fretting for later and approached the researcher who still hadn't escaped the room.

He was a pathetic sight — pissing himself on the floor and shrieking — but I ignored the theatrics, crouched down, and asked him face-to-face like a proper host.

"You there. Even a newbie should at least know the way out, right? I'm asking because I don't."

I wasn't changing my mind and deciding to kill him. I just needed directions.

Anyone watching would have thought he was fleeing a deranged murderer.

"Th-the way… over there… there's a facility map… in…"

The researcher forced the words out like he was squeezing the last drop of life from himself, then rolled his eyes back and fainted.

A pitiful display, but somehow it suited him perfectly.

"Is that so? Thank you for telling me."

He was already unconscious, so it meant nothing, but I patted his head a few times anyway and examined the facility map.

Exit's here… and the places that might hold important information… the director's office? The records archive?

I hesitated for a moment, then realized there was no need to choose. I could just visit both.

I headed lightly toward the records room. Unfortunately, nothing there was of any real use to me.

Plenty of experimental logs, but most of them concerned other freaks. The only records left about me were meaningless notes along the lines of today it twitched.

Aside from that, the archive's best yields were the lab's location and a firm date.

I might have overlooked something, but the bulk of it was specialist jargon I wouldn't have understood anyway. Judging further study pointless, I made for the director's office.

It was protected by a thick steel door, but this body's strength made tearing it free almost trivial.

I was just about to ransack the office with high hopes when—

The entire facility lit up red as the ominous broadcast began to pour from the speakers.

Classic evil-lab feature.

…A self-destruct sequence that exists for reasons no one can quite explain.

Apparently, I had just set it off.