Size (21)
I jolted awake as if something were chasing me, scrambling upright in a hurry. The narrow room had a bright, cheerful feel. When exactly had I fallen asleep last night…?
“...Something about it feels like I had a weird dream…”
For no particular reason, I held my hand up in front of my face, clenching and unclenching my fist. My hand moved without issue. I swung my legs off the bed. My legs moved exactly as I wanted them to, right down to the chill of the floor against my feet.
…What the hell am I even doing? I felt pathetic for getting so worked up over a mere dream.
“...Still, what was that dream about?”
I was sure I’d had some kind of dream, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall a single detail. The only thing that lingered was a vague sense that my head felt refreshed and my mood had been strangely pleasant…
“...Whatever. It wasn’t a nightmare, so who cares.”
Dreams were usually hard to remember anyway. Shrugging it off as no big deal, I got out of bed and stretched. As I raised both arms high above my head and yawned, someone knocked on the door. A voice I hadn’t heard yesterday drifted in from the other side.
“It’s morning. Are you awake?”
“Ah, yeah. I’m up.”
“Then please wash up and come eat breakfast.”
It wasn’t the voice of either of the two women Im Chan-woo had introduced yesterday. It wasn’t that sharp, urgent-sounding woman’s voice, nor the one belonging to the girl who’d been beside her. This was a gentler, softer tone. The sound of her footsteps moved away from the door after delivering the morning greeting.
Knowing someone else was in the house made me acutely aware that this wasn’t my own place. And that the owner of this house wasn’t human, but a monster. That fact, at least, I couldn’t afford to forget. No matter how human it looked, it was still a monster at its core.
According to the information I’d read before escaping that terrifying research facility yesterday, these things multiplied by using human women. The moment I let my guard down, my body could be stolen by those monsters without any chance to resist. So while I was in this house, I needed to stay sharp. I’d take everything I could get, and the second an opening appeared, I’d run.
With that small resolve firmly in mind, I followed the fading sound of the woman’s footsteps, grabbed the doorknob, and pushed the door open toward the living room.
“Come sit over here.”
A breakfast spread had been laid out on the table in the living room. The woman with brown hair, sitting on the sofa where I’d eaten my packed lunch yesterday, smiled brightly the moment she saw me and beckoned me over.
…She really did look human. Anyone who didn’t know better would be completely fooled.
“...”
Without a word, I walked over and sat down across from her. I kept my head still but shifted my eyes to scan the surroundings. Just the two of us. I’d been about to ask where everyone else had gone when she beat me to it.
“...Chan-woo oppa went to school. Seo-hee unnie and Nabi went out for a bit to run some errands.”
“...Is it really okay for them to just wander around outside like that? After what happened yesterday?”
“As you already know, we recover quickly, and we have the strength to protect ourselves, so it’s fine. Besides, everyone out there right now is pretty good at fighting… hehe…”
“What about you? Can’t you fight? Weren’t you all supposed to be so much better than humans?”
Maybe it was the sight of her pretending to be human right in front of a real one that pissed me off. I deliberately used an aggressive tone to provoke the woman who was smiling like a human.
Her smile gradually faded. She set her spoon down and swallowed once.
“...Yes. I’ll admit we underestimated modern human technology. I understand why you look at us with such hostility. It must be frightening.”
“What…?”
“Still…”
Her tone was gentle, almost soothing, but the condescending attitude made me glare at her with open hostility as I gave a short reply. But she cut me off again, flashing a chilling smile I’d never seen before.
“...I’d advise you not to say that in front of Seo-hee unnie. She’s only holding back because Chan-woo oppa asked her to. Honestly, I’d love to rip you apart myself. Seo-hee unnie might not be able to restrain herself, you know?”
“...”
She really could kill me if she felt like it. The feeling crawled across my skin like ice. After delivering that eerie warning, the woman’s expression flipped like nothing had happened. She smiled again, picked up her spoon, and started eating.
Left speechless by the sight, I picked up my own spoon too, but I couldn’t bring myself to eat. How could I, with that thing sitting right in front of me? If I had my way, I wouldn’t want to be here either. But if I ran outside now, I might end up as material for that mad scientist’s human experiments, dragged off to some other insane lab to be turned into a beehive or a living specimen…
And above all else, the thing in this house that could make me rich beyond belief was none other than this woman. A monster that stole human bodies to blend into society. I’d unfortunately eaten the fruit myself, but something else of equal value had occurred to me.
Capturing these things alive would be difficult, but stealing a single flower? Yeah. If I could just get my hands on one of those flowers they were supposedly born from… becoming filthy rich would only be a matter of time.
The thought made saliva pool in my mouth before I could stop it.
“...Oh, right. Oppa asked me to do something for him.”
“Huh?”
“Let me see… ‘HeRMeS.’ That username. It’s yours, right?”
“What?! Wait, how did you know that?!”
She’d been eating just a moment ago, but now she pulled out a phone and showed me my hidden username from the dark web site. How the hell had she found it? No ordinary person should’ve been able to dig that up…
“I just did a little background check here and there. I only learned how to do this stuff recently.”
“...That’s not the kind of thing you can just pick up by learning it.”
The account displayed on the phone she handed me was unmistakably mine. It was a secret bulletin board I only used when taking requests. How could she have…
“Wait, what is this?”
As I scrolled down to check the transaction history, I saw a new entry that had been updated just minutes ago. Aside from the money I’d received from that research lab, the new amount was…
“...This much?”
“Oppa said to tell you he’s sorry.”
This was the kind of sum I’d have to complete ten requests to even have a chance of earning. I nearly dropped the phone. I set my spoon down, walked over to her, and pulled her into a tight hug.
“...What are you doing?”
“Sorry. Did I upset you earlier? I have this bad habit of speaking without thinking sometimes…”
“...”
I must have lost my mind. How the hell did I stumble across such a goldmine? There was way more here to suck dry than I’d originally thought.
“...When the hell did you two get so close?”
When I got back from school, the living room was filled with the loud chatter and laughter of Iran and Chae-yun—so loud it practically echoed off the walls. Especially Iran.
“We just clicked better than I expected. So you’re saying you built that entire site in one day?”
“Yes. It was my first time, so there were some tricky parts, but I managed somehow. What about you, Iran unnie? How long have you been doing this kind of work?”
“Ah, I…”
“Hold on. Quiet. Stop. It’s too damn loud.”
I cut off the endless stream of girl talk before it could drag on forever. At this rate they’d be at it all night…
“Talking is fine, but can you keep your voices down a little?”
“Huh? Just go inside if it’s too noisy for you.”
“This is basically your house now, isn’t it?”
Even when I dramatically clutched my chest and asked them to lower their voices, Iran just grumbled and mocked me. The sight of her like this overlapped with how completely disheveled she’d been last night. That mouth that wouldn’t stop yapping had looked so cute when it was only capable of spilling out moans.
While I was engaged in a pointless argument with Iran, Chae-yun looked back and forth between us, licked her upper lip with a small smile.
“...Oppa, honestly. Here I am making my first human friend and you’re just getting in the way. Unnie, shall we just go into the room?”
“Sounds good.”
“...Yeah.”
Iran grinned brightly and led Chae-yun toward her room. As she did, she glanced back at me with a lewd smile. From Chae-yun’s behavior, it seemed she’d figured out what kind of suggestion I’d planted in Iran…
Well, whatever. If she was willingly walking into the room, I wasn’t about to complain.
Iran, completely unaware, flung the door open. The moment she saw the bed inside…
“...Ah…”
“Oh my, are you already falling asleep? Unnie…♡”
Chae-yun caught Iran as she collapsed the instant she saw the bed. I tossed my bag onto the living room floor and walked over to them.
“How did you know?”
“While you two were talking earlier, I secretly read her mind.”
Chae-yun smiled and wiggled her tentacles.
“Ah, don’t worry. I only looked. I didn’t touch anything else.”
“...Thanks.”
I smiled and stroked Chae-yun’s head. She let out a small “Hehe…♡” and stepped aside.
I took Iran from her, carried her like I had yesterday, stripped her clothes off, and climbed onto the bed.
“Shall we begin right away? Song Iran, can you hear me?”
“...Yes… I can hear you…”
Iran answered while staring blankly at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes.
“Do you remember the sensation I told you to memorize yesterday? What did it feel like?”
“...Yes…♡”
Just recalling it made her breathing turn slightly ragged. Beneath that emotionless expression, I could see a faint trace of anticipation.
“My body grows warm… a pleasant strength melts through my entire body… like I’ve become a leaf floating on water…”
“...Hic♡ Aha…♡”
The corners of her mouth lifted as she let out a silly little laugh. In contrast to that pure smile that looked like she owned the whole world, moisture began to soak between her legs.
“...Good. Well done. How does it feel? Does it feel good?”
“...Yes, yesss…♡”
Her completely melted expression left a wet stain on her tights. Carefully, I brought my hand to her pussy and began stroking it over her clothes.
“Ang♡ …Hiiit…?♡”
“What about this? How does it feel?”
“Th-this too…♡ Hyaut..♡ It feels good…♡”
“Do you know where I’m touching you?”
“...Yes, my… my… crotch…♡”
“You’re supposed to say ‘pussy,’ aren’t you?”
“Y-yes…♡ It’s my pussy…♡”
Now that she was aware the place being touched was a sexual one, her face flushed for a different reason than arousal. She stammered as she spoke. Inside her head right now, the faint remnants of resistance were clashing with the distorted common sense I’d engraved in her yesterday—‘Feeling good is not a bad thing.’ Chaos was unfolding.
Whether she would still reject it or accept it would determine today’s training content. But…
“Do you hate it? If you do, just say so anytime.”
I pulled my hand away from her pussy as I spoke. The viscous fluid stretching between my middle finger and her thin tights clung to me as if begging me not to stop, but her will was what mattered. What would she choose? Either way was fine with me. If she rejected it, we’d just repeat yesterday. If she accepted it, I could move on to new training.
“...More…”
“What was that?”
Her voice had been tiny, but I’d definitely heard it. I turned to look at her. With a face still untouched by corruption, she said:
“...Please do more…♡”