The World Has Already Ended
When the morning sun filtering through the curtains struck my retinas the next day, consciousness crashed back into me as if waking from a faint.
"Oh, you're up, Oppa? You could've slept more."
Seated at the desk with a dozen books and screens spread out before her — reading them all simultaneously — Yoon Sung-ha swiftly tucked her tentacles out of sight and turned her head, beaming at me.
I hadn't slept deeply enough to feel groggy, but just like having my energy drained by a succubus, my whole body felt limp and listless.
My dick also felt a little… under the weather.
"I'm fine. More importantly…"
My words trailed off as I noticed Arin, still kneeling, sitting blankly on the floor.
I had no idea when she'd regained consciousness — surely she hadn't stayed frozen in that position the entire time?
"Is your body okay…?"
At my careful question, Arin hurriedly bowed her head so low it looked almost painful.
"Ah, y-yes! Th-thanks to you, I'm perfectly fine, Mr. Hyun-ok!"
Flustered, I scratched my head.
Why on earth was she going this far for me…? It clearly had something to do with Sung-ha… I'd have to get a straight answer out of her later.
But before that…
"I heard about what happened yesterday, as well as the connection between your kind and Arin, from Arin herself. So there's no need for a tedious explanation, Hyun-ok."
The monster, having read my thoughts, cut in quickly — then softened back into Sung-ha's face with a gentle smile.
"So don't worry about it. Go wash up, Oppa. Breakfast is ready."
"Hmm… okay. Thanks."
But the moment I stepped into the bathroom and yesterday's events came flooding back, an involuntary shiver ran through me, and I barely managed to wash up and come back out.
"…I'm really grateful and all, but doesn't this get exhausting, doing it every time?"
When I entered the room, the table was once again laden with a spread so lavish it was laughable to call it breakfast.
"It's fine, Oppa. For you, this much is nothing. You really don't need to feel bad about it — this is something I want to do."
Sung-ha, already seated, flashed me a smile so warm it bordered on overwhelming, and I could still feel the guilt she carried about yesterday radiating off of it.
In stark contrast, Arin, seated beside her, darted her eyes around like someone out of her mind — pupils swirling with wariness, terror, fear, and anxiety.
They clearly knew each other, but watching Sung-ha treat Arin like she was no more than the air around her, I got the sense they weren't exactly close.
"Sung-ha."
Remembering there was something I had to address before we started eating, I took a steadying breath and looked at her with serious eyes.
At my gaze, her smile slowly faded, and the expressionless monster returned.
"That girl I ran into yesterday… I can't say for sure, but… she seems to be part of that group you mentioned — the ones killing your kind. I was an idiot and let her learn my name. And… I think she got yours too… Ah, of course, she won't know about the two of us. I'm really sorr—"
"Hyun-ok."
As I launched into my gloomy apology, the monster spoke my name — quiet, but perfectly clear.
"In that chance encounter, there was nothing you could have done. You're an ordinary human. And the one who should apologize is me. If I — something not human — had never met you in the first place, none of what happened yesterday would have occurred, and you would never have had cause to apologize or worry. All of it… is my fault. I am truly sorry."
As the monster bowed her head in earnest sincerity, I stood there dumbfounded, unable to find a single word, while Arin gaped at her like she'd just witnessed something she was never meant to see.
I gathered my thoughts, sorted them out, and shook my head.
"No — you told me from the start that situations like this might happen, and I knew that going in. So you don't need to apologize. Let's talk about what we're going to do instead. That organization is hostile to your kind, right? Do we need to go into hiding? Fighting is… something I'll do if it comes to that, but if there's any way to avoid it, I'd rather we did…"
For some reason, the movie Body Snatchers from yesterday popped into my head.
The one where aliens who steal human bodies in order to conquer the Earth end up being killed off by humans in the end.
Even as I felt like I'd been dropped into a scene from a movie, the moment I reframed it as real life — life on the line — a heaviness settled over me of its own accord.
"Hyun-ok, there's no need to worry about that."
"Hm?"
"There is no human or weapon in this world capable of killing me. And as for yesterday — that was mere carelessness on my part. From now on, if I take every precaution for your safety, you too will face no risk of death."
"Uh…"
My mouth fell open at words I'd never expected.
She didn't seem to be lying, and I vaguely remembered Arin saying, back when we first met, that this monster belonged among the strong ones.
But I hadn't known she was at a level where she could claim nothing in this world could kill her.
And as that thought settled in, an old conversation from when I'd first met the monster resurfaced — and contradictions started cropping up.
"It's not that I don't trust you, but… remembering what you said when we first met, this feels a little contradictory. Back then you said you wanted to live a long time, and it sounded like humans were hunting your kind — like you were under pressure just to survive."
"That much is true. If things continue as they are, our kind will be driven to extinction by humans. But I never once said that I was under threat of survival."
"Now that you mention it… you're right. Then what did you mean by wanting to live a long time? What was that supposed to mean? And what did you mean about trying to understand humans for that sake?"
I asked as carefully as I could — not to interrogate her, but simply to satisfy a curiosity that had risen unbidden.
"That is…"
The monster paused, hesitating over her words.
Her lowered gaze wandered across the tabletop, then slowly lifted, and she spoke in a flat, emotionless tone, unhurried.
"I was trying to end my own life."
I was startled by words that had emerged from something she'd clearly turned over countless times, and Arin beside me couldn't suppress her shock.
"…Why?"
When I asked again, carefully, the monster looked straight at me — wearing a bittersweet smile that you'd have to look closely to notice at all.
"Over the long years I've lived, I lost sight of any reason to go on living. And yet… paradoxically, I still wanted to live. All I thought was that maybe — just maybe — at the root of that faint hope, humans might have something to do with it. And fortunately, my choice that day… bore fruit."
The monster was still looking at me.
Even a fool like me could understand what that gaze meant.
"Hmm… I don't know… it feels a little heavy, and I'm grateful, and at the same time… my feelings are all kinds of complicated?"
I smiled, unsure what I was supposed to do with myself, and the monster — seemingly at just as much of a loss for words — answered with only a faint, ambiguous smile of her own.
"Then… let me ask you the reverse. What should I do from here on out?"
"It will be difficult at first, but you can simply live the way you want to live, without sparing that group a single thought. If they become an obstacle, I will eliminate every last one. No — it won't stop with them. Anything in this world that stands in your way or gives you trouble, I will deal with all of it. That is, of course, if you consent."
It was a difficult question.
Just as she said, if it was what I wanted, the monster seemed to possess the power to make every one of them vanish from before my eyes.
But… to have all those countless humans killed on the sole grounds that they were a nuisance — that made no sense.
If my own survival had truly been threatened, that would be one thing. But short of that, telling the monster to slaughter them meant that while my own hands stayed clean, it would amount to mass murder committed by my will all the same.
I knew full well how far I'd already fallen — that I was turning into a walking pile of hypocrisy — but I also knew there was a line I shouldn't cross.
That was exactly why I hadn't killed that human-like thing the monster had made yesterday.
If I ever truly crossed that line, I had no doubt I would become a monster with the kind of mental illness human society has names for.
Psychopath, sociopath, madman… whatever the label, there would be no returning to the person I used to be.
I closed my eyes, drew a long, deep breath, and thought it through carefully.
Then, with my thoughts in order, I answered slowly.
"I think that if anyone attacks us, no matter who they are, we have to fight back. Even if that means killing. I don't know how much help I'll be, but when that time comes, I'll take responsibility and fight alongside you. But until then… I don't want to live a life that draws anyone's attention. My life was never worth watching in the first place, and going forward, that's not the kind of life I want either."
"If that is what you wish, I will respect it and follow your lead."
The monster, who had been listening intently, gave a small nod.
"Then, um…"
Arin, who had been quietly listening from the side, very cautiously raised her hand, glancing nervously between the two of us.
"F-first of all… m-maybe… you should change houses… th-that's…! For security reasons! Security! Honestly, a place like this is so lax even a burglar could stroll right in, you know?"
The moment my expression twisted strangely, Arin hastily tacked on the rest and went back to studying my face.
It was a fair point.
I had no real complaints about the place we were living now, but if security was the issue, then moving somewhere better was the sensible call.
Still… it was awkward to know how to react, with Arin — whose relationship to us seemed to both exist and not exist — being the one to make the suggestion.
"You're right… Sung-ha, should we move, then?"
"Yes! I'd love that, Oppa. Honestly, I've been wanting you to live in a better place than this for a while now."
"You have? Then — after we eat, shall we go house-hunting together?"
"Yes!"
At the prospect of a house-hunting date in all but name, Sung-ha clapped her palms together, her face lighting up with excitement.
I watched her delight with a fond smile — and then reality caught up with me, and my spirits sank.
"Come to think of it… the money…"
"You don't need to worry about money, Oppa. You have enough to live in whatever house you want."
"W-we… do…?"
I was still curious where it all came from, but I decided to trust Sung-ha.
"More importantly, Oppa, how about you hurry up and eat? It's getting cold."
"Ah — right."
At her reminder, I finally picked up my spoon and started eating.
Delicious as ever.
Sung-ha's cooking seemed to improve by the day.
Between mouthfuls, I gave her a thumbs-up, and she blossomed into a radiant smile before scooping up a spoonful of her own.
The monster didn't need to eat like a human, but she had started joining meals anyway, saying that watching me eat while she sat there doing nothing would make me uncomfortable.
Arin cast a nervous glance around, then scrambled to follow Sung-ha's lead and shoveled food into her mouth with her spoon.
I wanted to tell her she really didn't have to go that far, but their relationship was still such a strange one that the words didn't come easily.
Hmm… I really do need to sort out this whole situation properly at some point.
"Oppa, by any chance… your erections… how are they?"
Out of nowhere, Sung-ha asked me carefully, spoon still in hand.
"Hrk… huh? Erections? Hmm… well, they should work, I guess?"
The moment I answered so offhandedly, Sung-ha suddenly slid the drawstring of her nightgown down her arm and peeled off her bra, baring her chest.
I panicked at the completely unprompted move — then understood her meaning, and my face flushed red.
"Well, Oppa? Any… reaction?"
"Hm? Uh… um…"
I stared blankly at Sung-ha's breasts, and…
"Reaction check."
I conducted a thorough inspection of my lower half's responsiveness, and…
"…Nothing's happening."
Regrettably, my little guy showed not the slightest sign of stirring.
CLANG!
The sound of the spoon hitting the floor rang through the entire room.
Sung-ha's face darkened visibly by the second, her eyes slowly crinkling — then beginning to tremble in every direction, picking up speed as they went.
Beside her, Arin — who had been watching Sung-ha's expression in real time — shivered violently and said with a face drained of all color:
"This world… has already ended."