Chapter 23
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Roommate from Memory
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The Roommate from Memory
[Why are you here... Did you come to catch me?]
The bird-headed boy asked nervously. Even as he asked, he hoped it wasn't true, and as expected, Cheon Doun denied it.
[No. I heard they're planning to dispose of you. I came to let you know.]
[How kind of you.]
[I've always been a kind person.]
[Cut the crap. Just tell me why you're here.]
the bird-headed boy said. They were never close, so Cheon Doun's sudden appearance was naturally suspicious.
Instead of answering, Cheon Doun looked at the younger sister cradled in his arms.
A pale face, faint freckles, and short hair. On the outside, she looked like an ordinary girl.
But Cheon Doun could see the demonic energy churning inside her body.
[The side effects will start soon. It looks like she received avian-type monster cells, too. Before long, her body will start changing, just like yours.]
[I know. That's why I brought her out.]
At the bird-headed boy's words, Cheon Doun looked puzzled.
[You'll die if you leave the institute. Why are you so desperate to escape? Isn't staying here and taking the side-effect suppressants the way to live longer?]
His body had already changed. If it was irreversible, finding the best way to survive within those constraints was the better path.
To Cheon Doun's question, the bird-headed boy laughed.
[My sister and I decided to live freely, even if it's only for a day.]
[What's so good about living like that?]
[It's for our own satisfaction. We might look like madmen, but that's how we're going to live.]
At this rate, he was no different from a moth flying into a flame, knowing it would die.
They weren't close, but they had shared a room for four years. Cheon Doun knew the boy's personality hadn't always been like this.
'It must be the influence of the avian-type monster.'
This was a choice born from the extreme stress of being trapped and unable to fly.
No matter how you looked at it, becoming a chimera meant taking on the monster's traits.
When you thought about it, the boy's reaction was normal.
It was Cheon Doun, who had received dozens of cell transplants without any side effects or even personality changes, who was the anomaly.
Just as Cheon Doun was about to say something, he heard the presence of people from the foot of the mountain. The bird-headed boy glared at Cheon Doun.
[You led them right to us!]
[No. I told you. The decision was made to dispose of you this time. Those are the instructors coming to kill you. They're probably following the tracking spell carved into your body.]
Cheon Doun rummaged through his pocket. He pulled out a blue stone. Cheon Doun broke the return stone he had taken out.
As a blue Gate opened before them, the bird-headed boy froze in astonishment.
[Once you cross the Gate, it'll be one of two things. Either you'll die, unable to withstand the demonic energy, or your body will stabilize as it absorbs the energy. If it's the latter, your body's monsterization will proceed even faster.]
[But we'll be able to live?]
[That's right.]
If they stayed here, the human parts of their bodies would succumb to the side effects and they would die.
In that case, it was better to deliberately accelerate the monsterization process.
Letting the monster's body, with its strong regenerative abilities, take over would increase their chances of survival.
[If you're unlucky, your human reason will disappear and you'll become a true monster. Or your body might not withstand the rapid changes and you'll just die.]
There was also the chance they'd just get eaten by a monster and that would be the end of it.
It was truly a double-edged sword. A gamble that left everything to fate. At the same time, this was the only path that offered any chance of survival.
[Why... are you giving us something so precious?]
the boy asked. For test subjects living in confinement, a return stone was a priceless item they could never obtain.
[And where did you even get a return stone?]
[One of the instructors had it, so I swiped it. You know there's an instructor here who's still an active Hunter, right? I went to his room and found a return stone.]
The boy was speechless. Just hearing it made obtaining a return stone sound easy, but the instructors' rooms were not places one could approach carelessly.
The only one who could slip past such tight security was probably his roommate.
[Why are you giving it to us instead of using it yourself?]
The boy asked the question that burned most in his mind.
Beyond the Gate, the detonation spell wouldn't activate. The tracking spell was also useless. Since it was a different dimension entirely, the spells carved into their bodies wouldn't work.
By exploiting that loophole, one could use a return stone to escape the institute.
Of course, the spells would activate if they ever returned, so it came with the harsh condition of having to live there for the rest of their lives once they crossed over.
Even so, it was a price they were more than willing to pay for freedom.
Why was he giving them something so precious? As the boy stood there, bewildered, Cheon Doun spoke.
[There's this one researcher I don't like. You probably know him. The one who always threatens to open a Gate and push us in if we don't listen.]
[Ah... The one with the wart on his face.]
The bird-headed boy nodded. Cheon Doun grinned. It was the mischievous smile of a boy his age.
[He threatened me with a Gate so often. I was planning to open one and give him a little push myself. As it happens, my check-up with him is tomorrow.]
[What... You were going to use a return stone for that? Something this valuable?]
[Valuable? From what I've heard the instructors say, it sounds like you can just buy them with money.]
Isn't it valuable because we're the ones who can't get that money? The boy held back the urge to say it.
[But I think using it like this is better than pushing that guy into a Gate. I'll just shove that researcher out a window or something.]
He was serious. Realizing this, the bird-headed boy let out a hollow laugh.
The person in front of him really was a psycho. A genuine psycho, as everyone in the institute called him.
But this psycho was opening a path to survival for them.
The bird-headed boy looked at the Gate, then stood up, holding his sister.
[You're not going?]
[I'm not. I have no intention of escaping through a Gate. It's only half-freedom if I don't get rid of the detonation and tracking spells on my body. What's the point of that?]
Cheon Doun replied with a disinterested expression.
[What's the real reason you're helping us? We were never that close.]
[No, we weren't. But we ate from the same pot, didn't we? After sharing meals for four years, I can't just stand by and watch you die.]
The boy said nothing in response to Cheon Doun's words. He was about to step into the Gate when he turned back to look at Cheon Doun.
[I'm sorry for everything. I talked a lot of trash about you to the other kids, calling you a psycho.]
[I know. Thanks for the confession.]
[I'll definitely repay this debt. See you again!]
The bird-headed boy hoisted his sister onto his back and leaped into the Gate. That was the last image Cheon Doun had of his roommate.
Decades passed after those final words, 'See you again.' Cheon Doun later became a Chimera Hunter and crossed through countless Gates, but he never met the avian siblings again.
“I wonder if they're still alive.”
Or did they die shortly after, unable to survive the environment of the Demon World?
“That's what he always used to say. That he wanted to live freely, even if it was just for one day.”
-Then perhaps you will meet again someday. If you are living within the same Gate, the possibility exists.
Cheon Doun just smiled.
The Demon World was far vaster than Earth. There were even claims that the explored areas alone were eight times the size of the planet.
What were the chances of meeting a peer he'd parted with decades ago in a place like that?
'The probability of them even being alive is low, to begin with.'
Realistically, that was the case. Still, he didn't want to deny Guu's words.
On a day with such a pleasant breeze, maybe it was okay to be a little optimistic.
Cheon Doun looked at the house he had built and smiled.
“You're right. Like you said, they might be building a house and living somewhere around here, too.”
If we ever meet, let's catch and eat fish together. Let's talk about the old days, saying, 'Remember when...'
Cheon Doun smiled at the thought.
* * *
Nam Giseok, who had been tasked by Cheon Doun with looking after the snake.
He had thought the job would be easy. After all, it was just a small snake, no thicker than a finger.
-Piyo.
Even its cry sounded so trivial that it didn't seem dangerous at all. That was before he tried to take care of it himself.
“Agh! This little brat bit my finger again!”
It took less than a day for him to realize a monster was called a monster for a reason.
“Boss, there's some black liquid dripping from its claws!”
“It's probably poison. There are plenty of species that secrete venom from their claws.”
“Don't say that so calmly! There are lots of small species with dangerous venom. If I get scratched by these claws, am I going to die?”
“You'll have to be careful not to die. Try wrapping your hands in mana for protection.”
“I still haven't mastered that training... Ugh, get away!”
The yellow snake's temperament was pure viciousness.
One might wonder how scary a tiny, vicious creature could be, but it was a different story when that creature was a venomous monster.
Nam Giseok quickly hid behind Kim Nari. Upon seeing Kim Nari, the snake became as gentle as a lamb, as if it had never been violent.
-Piyo, piyo.
The snake chirped and scurried around Kim Nari's feet. Nam Giseok looked on, bewildered.
“I've seen a lot in my life, but I've never seen a monster discriminate against people.”
“Intelligence varies by species. It must be a pretty smart one, though not as smart as Guu.”
He said that, but Cheon Doun had his own doubts.
The snake acted like a gentle lamb around Cheon Doun, Kim Nari, and Guu. Because of this, he had thought it was a naturally docile species, but seeing how it treated Nam Giseok, that wasn't the case.
Why did this snake follow them?
This time, it wasn't because they shared cells from the same species. If that were the reason, it wouldn't explain why it was gentle with Kim Nari and Guu.
'Could it be something like an imprinting effect?'
Cheon Doun had protected the cracked egg in the volcanic region by wrapping it in mana.
If it only followed the people who saved it—that is, the people whose voices it heard from inside the egg—then it made sense that it would bare its fangs only at Nam Giseok.
“If it remembers what happened then, it must be more intelligent than I thought.”
"Huh?"
“No, just talking to myself. Anyway, I think it's about time we named our youngest. Have you thought of anything?”
At Cheon Doun's words, the group gathered in a circle in front of the vegetable garden.
“Let's each write the name we thought of on the ground.”
The group wrote their chosen names in the dirt. Cheon Doun also picked up a nearby twig and wrote a name on the ground.
Meanwhile, the yellow snake glanced at the group before heading toward the garden.
It tried to move quietly, but the Mandragora's leaves had already locked onto the yellow snake like radar.
Rumble, rumble. The soil stirred, and three roots shot up.
-Hmph!
So the invader has returned. The Mandragoras, having clinched victory the previous night, stood majestically with their roots spread wide. The yellow snake flinched at their imposing presence.
Those leaves, from which demonic energy gently wafted. Those plump roots, which had clearly grown by feasting on abundant demonic energy.
Its mouth watered. The memory of last night's defeat made its side, which had been struck by the fine roots, throb with pain, but the appetite of a newborn monster made it forget the ache.
-Piyo!
In times like these, a preemptive strike is key. The yellow snake stretched its body forward and charged on its chick-like legs.
Pitter-patter. A few specks of dirt flew up each time the snake ran.
-Hmph!
-Hmph, hmph!
The Mandragoras weren't just going to take it.
Formation B. Mandragora attack line established. Bolstered by their victory the previous night, they chose offense over defense.
The largest root stood at the front. The youngest stood at the very back.
The large one acted as the tank. The smaller ones provided support from behind, bracing it.
-Hmph!
The large one gathered strength in its fine roots and shot them forward. The roots twisted like a drill, becoming as sharp as an awl.
Fine Root Drill Attack. The once-slender roots had evolved to the thickness of a toothpick.
-Piyo!
-Hmph!
Five seconds to impact. The snake and the Mandragora charged at each other, each anticipating a fatal blow to the other.
A giant hand appeared from the sky and lifted them both.
“They're at it again.”
Cheon Doun held the snake and the Mandragora in separate hands, pulling them apart.