You Seduced Me First
You seduced me first. XX-dong Community Center. Why the X's? Was it deliberately hidden?
I used Direct Gaze.
Staring straight ahead.
Ingim-dong Community Center.
I'd wondered how sensual it had to be for someone to hide it like that, but it was disappointingly ordinary. Aside from the parts stained with black energy, the community center looked just like any other. No erotic highlights whatsoever.
It's not what I was hoping for?
Based on the notebook here and that public servant's story earlier, I was caught up in an anomalous phenomenon. I'd been expecting a situation where my body might suffer but my eyes would feast—yet nothing like that had shown up yet.
You are in a space where movement is currently impossible.
I couldn't even tend to Mary, who was waiting to soothe my startled mind and body after reading the notebook.
I had to scout this place and find some way back to the Containment Facility. If I couldn't lavish more love on Mary soon, I might really lose my mind.
I'll get in and find a way.
Roughly mapping the space: parking lot, 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, rooftop. Ways to move between floors: stairs and elevator.
Stairs were off-limits here. Only the elevator was usable, and no matter what happened, I had to use it alone to find an escape.
My plan: check the parking lot and building for safe spots again, then head to the 2nd floor last.
First stop: parking lot. Opening the broken appliance collection bin released a blast of hot, fermented skate ammonia gas right in my face.
Hiss—
A familiar smell in this unfamiliar place.
Damn, that's sweet.
Peering inside, some unidentified hunk of flesh was culturing away.
Ingim-dong Teratoma
Like everything in Ingim-dong, it has undergone changes. No ego.
After gaining Direct Gaze, the status window's description kept inflating and deflating like a bubbling hot soup, distracting me from staring mesmerized at the teratoma.
Dismissing the status window, I gazed at it, feeling that hypnotic pull unique to fire or steaming food—like I'd be swallowed whole if I got closer, becoming one with it.
This anomaly cannot be contained.
Too bad I couldn't take it to the Containment Facility for safekeeping. A moment of silence for the departed, then I grabbed some work gloves and a stone from the floor and sliced off a chunk of the squishy flesh, stashing it in my inventory.
This place seemed to use human hands or flesh as currency, so I stocked up generously.
Nothing else worth checking outside the community center, so I headed in.
The quiet, empty hallway of the 1st floor greeted me. No obvious way out from here, but there had to be something.
The notebook mentioned encountering someone returning from field work, so anomalies probably mimicked appearances or behaviors fitting the location.
Thus, on the 1st floor, there could be a career woman public servant efficiently at work, a fresh newbie dreaming of a bright future, or a veteran auntie nearing retirement.
Not human, sure, but they could be women.
I'd like that better.
We could chat, share a cup of coffee maybe.
1st floor is inaccessible due to interior construction. If you need assistance, please visit the 2nd floor Complaints Office. Violating this warning will result in expulsion.
...No mention of that.
Sighing inwardly, I took the elevator.
I needed to see that quadruped anomaly at least. Maybe it could cheer me up.
Floor rooftop. Nothing visible but the foggy surroundings.
3rd floor. The reserve army headquarters was in ruins, the large conference room empty. No female anomalies anywhere.
The elevator's dry voice announced.
2nd floor.
Now it was really just the 2nd floor.
Humans can't be neatly categorized, and neither could anomalies. Some moved mechanically in their given environments, while others delighted in tormenting humans. The one in the Ingim-dong Community Center, masquerading as a mascot in a cat costume, was the latter.
'I want to eat again.'
The anomaly had originally quadruped-walked the 3rd floor. After absorbing humans with the soldier-mimicking anomalies, wiping out the entire floor and nearly getting killed by one human survivor it then devoured, its understanding of humans improved.
Humans like harmless, cute things.
Humans trust those who approach kindly and secretly in unfamiliar places.
Offer them a twisted path to survival, then cut it off when it's secure—the despair runs unfathomably deep. That flavor of emotion is irreplaceable.
The moment it realized that, the anomaly's body became a cat-costumed mascot.
It couldn't defy the space's rules—like failing to follow on the elevator or enter the conference room—but it was progress.
It could now catch people without the soldier anomalies.
2nd floor.
A welcoming sound.
A man in a jacket with floral lining approached, suppressing a grin. The anomaly went to him, extending its paw to show the note inside.
Response Agency 9th Grade Yi Ye-gyu here. Infiltrating to assist escape from current position. I'll go first, so follow after. Meet at the elevator. Details once you're out. Note in notebook about not riding elevator with two or more is anomaly contamination.
The man nodded.
Like so many others who'd come here, tears welled in his eyes—tears of hope and excitement at survival. The anomaly eagerly awaited when those would turn to horrified despair.
It went out first and waited. Seeing the man emerge, it pressed the button.
Going up.
The doors opened, and the man boarded. A bit late—he'd brought a cup of water.
The man beamed, unable to hide his joy. The anomaly smiled back.
Crack—crunch—
Like a crumpled matrix unfolding, the mascot shed its costume in one go, dropping to all fours to reveal its true form.
"Elevator. Never ride with anyone else," you didn't learn that?
"I did. But how could I resist."
Clank.
A chain shot out from somewhere, whipping like a striking snake to bind the anomaly's front leg.
"A female anomaly seducing me to ride the elevator alone—how could I hold back!"
The anomaly's lower body—specifically its hind legs—hung limp like severed tendons, powerless. It had been sliced by the sickle unnoticed, and the water cup was splashed on the elevator panel, sparking wildly.
The anomaly struggled desperately to escape, but strength drained from wherever the man had touched.
"Good thing I ate that Breathing Technique."
The man had known the anomaly's true nature from the start. His eyes saw the black stains of hostility oozing from it.
Yet he'd followed anyway. The anomaly realized it too late.
Slurp.
The man smacked his lips, locking eyes with the anomaly.
"This? You seduced me first."
Mary. Sorry.
I went and lavished love on another anomaly without you. Confessing now: I'm a playboy.
But know this.
Playboys aren't ignorant of love.
They know it more deeply than others—that's why they become playboys.
Rough fur like sandpaper, reverse-jointed hook claws, sunken muzzle, goat pupils—how could anyone resist? I want to pull it out right now and pet it wildly. You'd understand if you were in my shoes, Mary. I'll treat you right when I get back.
Iyang Goyanggo was the city's mascot. No longer. He now proudly serves as Ingim-dong's mascot.
Weakness: Meticulous grooming.
Mmm. I see. I'm proud of you too, lamb-kitty. I'll take good care of you.
Anomaly 'Iyang Goyanggo' has been contained.
Loving on Iyang Goyanggo cleared my head.
Thinking it over, the notebook's records were written for average castaways—ordinary folks caught in anomalies.
For someone like me, there had to be a better way.
Come to think of it, the top entry about Ha Taewon—did he die? But a Response Agency officer dying without a word seemed off. It said he left, so how?
The only evidence was this notebook. Suspicious, I Direct Gazed it intently.
The hidden part appeared.
Details unconventional methods. If deemed unsuitable, refer to civilian examples and act accordingly.
Left notebook to log coordinates of this space. Blue cover means logged—please take if you see this later.
Elevator and stairs both risky. Broke windows, climbed walls—all anomalies turned hostile. No civilian-viable escape found.
1st floor regenerates even if wiped out. Permanent damage impossible. All anomalies hostile from attack start. Not viable for civilians, so omitted.
3rd floor reserve army uses old wartime firearms. Bypass if not combat-confident.
Rooftop anomaly permanently eliminated.
2nd floor: Took complainant hostage, killed all staff. Compromised when director promised transfer to registered address.
With 9th Grade combat ability, same method viable for escape. Recommend civilians scout similarly.
"What the fuck is this now."
Why's it so extreme?