Beggar from Kepler-442b
Jenica was terrified of Earth's humans. …………… Exterminate, exterminate. The moment she grasped the meaning of that word as interpreted by her translator, Jenica could only let out a hollow laugh.
"Ha. Me, exterminate? Mammals from a primitive civilization that can't even control gravity, let alone hyperdrive navigation?"
This... called for punishment.
"Rude primitives need a proper education."
Infusing her words with displeasure, Jenica lightly snapped her fingers.
Reacting instantly to the gesture, the three particle cannons floating behind her whirled around to face forward.
Floating particle cannons were Kepler-442b's standard magnetic defense weapons, boasting enough output to vaporize any pre-hyperdrive civilization's architecture in a single shot.
Paaang.
The three muzzles glowed searing blue before unleashing beams of condensed plasma particles that surged toward Yeom Hana.
Direct hit—nope.
As the billowing smoke cleared, the red-haired woman stood there with her arms crossed in a guard stance.
She wasn't neutralized as Jenica had expected—not even major damage to her suit. The red woman's armored plates were utterly unscratched. Only faint afterimages of residual heat lingered on her gauntlet's surface.
"Eeeeek!?"
Jenica's eyes bulged like they might pop out.
"H-how with primitive junk!? This is absurd!"
The answer came in the form of a fist.
The red-haired woman—Yeom Hana—kicked off the ground.
With an explosive roar, her body rocketed upward like a ballistic missile, closing in on Jenica's face in an instant.
Jenica's reaction speed wasn't slow. Her three floating particle cannons initiated emergency evasion maneuvers while switching to rapid-fire mode to lay down a barrage.
But Yeom Hana's fist struck first.
Kwaang!
The blow, backed by neutronium gauntlets, smashed into particle cannon number one. The military-grade alloy from Kepler-442b crumpled like paper, its internal energy core detonating in a burst.
A follow-up kick sent cannon number two flying, shattering it and tumbling it down the slope.
Cannon number three was snatched up in Yeom Hana's grip and crushed with incomprehensible grip strength, screeching metal as it folded.
"Ah, aaah...."
Disarmed by overwhelming violence, Jenica trembled uncontrollably, too frozen to even flee. The fear of death. The biological rigidity response upon encountering a superior predator, straight out of Kepler-442b textbooks. Jenica recognized it happening to her body on an academic level.
But recognition didn't loosen her locked legs.
Yeom Hana casually dropped the mangled cannon wreckage to the ground and fixed Jenica with a stare. The emotion in those eyes needed no translator.
Run? Get captured and tortured to death? Or die right here? Choose.
"H-hiiiik—!"
Jenica let out an undignified shriek. Pride, dignity as the 37th-ranked scout officer of Kepler-442b's queen's palace, the self-respect of a hyperdrive civilization—all of it evaporated before the terror of death.
She bolted in the opposite direction from Yeom Hana, legs pumping on pure instinct. Tumbling down the slope, snagging on branches, tripping over rocks—none of it stopped her.
The red-haired woman didn't pursue.
The last thing Jenica heard was a curt report into a communicator: "Alien subject fleeing. Prioritizing ship securing."
……………
Two weeks later.
Jenica el Corazón Meldiana huddled with her knees hugged to her chest under a pier along the Han River.
A ramshackle shelter pieced together from corrugated metal sheets. Even curled up tight and still, her body shivered uncontrollably.
Her spaceship was gone now. Just two days after landing, some organization on this planet—the Threat Management Agency or whatever—had hauled the whole thing away.
They'd cordoned off an entire mountain with heavy machinery and barriers, then disassembled it nonstop for 48 hours straight, carting the pieces off somewhere.
Did this civilization not guarantee rest to its workers or something?
Either way, Jenica couldn't even get near her ship. Armed personnel guarded the perimeter, and without her particle cannons, she had no real firepower left.
When she tried checking into the planet's lodging facilities and offered her galactic standard credit chip, the human at reception looked at her like she'd handed over a plastic toy. Treated like a mental patient, Jenica got turned away from every hotel she visited.
Her invincible floating particle cannons had been crushed like empty cans by that terrifying red woman.
Her emergency communicator was inside the ship.
No way to call for rescue from home.
Conclusion: Jenica el Corazón Meldiana, 37th-ranked scout officer of Kepler-442b's queen's palace, had become a beggar on a pre-hyperdrive civilization planet in the Sol system.
Gurgle.
Her stomach growled. Hungry.
Kepler-442b natives had a basal metabolic rate higher than this planet's dominant species—Homo sapiens. They needed three high-calorie meals a day for normal activity, but in the last two days, all she'd scavenged was half a loaf from a park trash bin and some spilled vending machine drink.
She'd starve at this rate.
But whether by the queen's grace or sheer luck, Jenica had grasped a lifeline yesterday.
While wandering the Han River walkway, she'd spotted a rundown building. Stand in the long line, and you got a bowl of hot food. A free soup kitchen.
[Love's Soup Kitchen]
When her translator rendered the sign's text, Jenica's eyes welled up unbidden.
Even on this underdeveloped planet, the concept of charity existed.
Her first meal: white grains smothered in brown sauce. The translator called it 'curry'.
The first spoonful hit her tongue, and tears streamed down Jenica's face.
Warm food reaching her starved stomach was indescribably delicious.
"D-did you go broke giving away gifts too, miss?"
A weird human slurping curry beside her struck up a conversation. He claimed to be a clown who wasn't even human, but Jenica didn't buy it.
"I've never given anyone gifts expensive enough to make me look like this."
The clown nodded at her reply. "......Yeah. Not a stock market crash, then."
There were some odd encounters, but today Jenica was once again heading to the soup kitchen.
"Hope it's gukbap today...."
She muttered as she stepped onto the riverbank walkway.
That's when the tips of her golden twintails stood on end, and electricity raced up her spine.
Kepler-442b natives perceived a broader spectrum of wavelengths than Homo sapiens. They could sense subtle electromagnetic fluctuations through their skin, for instance.
And right now, every sense organ in Jenica's body was screaming.
Presence. An overwhelming cosmic presence crushing the air itself.
On a whole different level from the energy signature of that red-haired woman from the mountain two weeks ago.
Not even Kepler-442b's ruler—the queen who could shatter asteroids with a breath-weapon—could compare.
It felt like standing nose-to-nose with the gravitational waves from a star's core collapsing into degeneracy.
Toward the direction her instincts shrieked from, Jenica barely managed to turn her trembling head.
At the end of the walkway, an open riverside clearing with a bench. Under the afternoon sun, a single girl stood.
Purple hair, pristine white dress, youthful face, petite build.
What was that girl?
Sensing Jenica's gaze, the girl who'd been blankly staring at the sky turned and locked eyes with her.
Jenica's legs gave out.
……………
Han Min-seo and Yi Gyu-rin were heading to some place called Comic Case, so I decided to secretly tag along. Apparently a cosplay event.
Min-seo went full magical girl transformation, mumbling, "It's embarrassing, but if I'm hanging with Gyu-rin sunbae..." Yi Gyu-rin threw on a silver wig she'd gotten somewhere with a matching magical girl outfit.
Real magical girl and cosplay magical girl. Quite the picture-perfect duo.
To enter Comic Case, you had to hand-authenticate on the ticket at the main entrance. First item:
[I am not a robot.]
Obviously checked that. I'm no robot—I'm a splendid organic being.
Second item:
[I am not an entity.]
Couldn't check that one. The agency folks even nicknamed me Alpha Outer God—definitely an entity.
Ugh. Didn't expect humans to have security this tight.
No choice but to wave goodbye to the two magical girls and head to the Han River.
Leaned back on a bench, gazing at the sky. Sunlight settling on my skin felt nice. Especially the subtle vibrations from photons hitting my surface—pretty pleasant.
[Sunbathing!]
[Vitamin D!]
[We don't need vitamins!]
With the little gremlins chattering away as background noise, I sprawled on the bench.
Something odd caught the edge of my vision.
About twenty meters down the walkway from the bench, someone was standing.
Not a Homo sapiens, that much was clear.
Let's see. A bit taller than me—around 148 cm maybe. Golden twintails, matching golden eyes. Pale skin, sharp features giving off refined young lady vibes.
But right now? Total mess. Clothes torn in spots, covered in dirt—a beggar through and through.
Still, she seemed familiar. Like I'd seen this type somewhere.
Ah, in one of Yi Gyu-rin's manga. The kind with upturned eyes, hand on cheek, sneering lines like "Pathetic♡" while looking down on everyone.
[By the way.]
The glasses gremlin piped up like she knew something.
[That's no Homo sapiens. Intelligent life from Kepler-442b.]
Kepler-442b, huh. Think I peered at it through a telescope back in my human days.
[Fascinating evolutionary path. Skin detects electromagnetic wavelengths due to stellar wind influence. Basal metabolism about 1.8 times human levels.]
Got it. Alien, not entity.
But the word "alien" set off the gremlins.
[Alien!]
[Got alien snacks?]
[Saw in comics!]
[What flavor?]
The kids were glued to the spectacle, eyes sparkling in my mental space.
Who knows what she'd taste like—gotta try to find out.
One thing's for sure: definitely not Homo sapiens.
So, how to handle her? Invite to play? Or actually test the flavor?
As I pondered...
Gurrrgle.
......Huh? What was that sound?
[Stomach contracting from hunger!]
One gremlin shot her hand up.
I know that. Question is the source.
Did I skip snacks today or what?
[Today's intake log!]
The gremlins hauled out a big sheet of paper and took turns reading.
Ah, right. I helped Oh Deok-hwan with his diet out of the goodness of my heart. Ate the pork cutlet and rice that'd sabotage it, piled his plate with about a kilo of boiled broccoli from the side dish corner instead.
His reaction was priceless. Stared at the broccoli mountain in the pork cutlet spot for three seconds, then laughed hollowly and muttered something weird.
"A pork cutlet set without pork cutlet or rice—what's the point of living?"
Hm, can't say I get it, but he skipped lunch, so diet's on track.
Hand-delivering diet support like that. I really am a kind entity, huh.
Heehee.
Anyway, tally it up—that's a solid amount. No way my stomach's growling like that.
Human-style peristalsis doesn't even exist in this body.
Only one possible source left.
The blonde twintail alien girl on the walkway.
Has to be her.