“No... not an alias. Your na.”
“Park Dundeun.”
“Hm... right. Well, I guess nas don’t really matter between us, do they? Wow, this is weird. Running into another experintal subject in human form, out here.”
It was the sa for .
I never expected to run into soone like —another experintal subject—outside the lab. I wasn’t on stimulants right now, I wasn’t in monster form, and no one was forcing to fight.
Gu Seoryong awkwardly pulled back the hand she had offered and folded her arms.
“So? Dundeun ca here just to earn so cash in the arena?”
“I ca to find sothing that was stolen.”
“Hm? Sothing got stolen? From you? Who had the balls?”
“A tal bracelet... no, a necklace. It was my parents’ keepsake.”
“Oh?”
I had no reason to hide it, so I told her directly. Gu Seoryong widened her eyes in genuine surprise.
“You had sothing like that, CXI? That’s kind of amazing. A keepsake from your parents, huh.”
“Don’t you have one?”
“Which one? A keepsake? Parents? I’ve got neither.”
“Were you born without parents?”
“I grew up in an orphanage, so yeah. Anyway... if it’s a keepsake from your parents, I can see why you’d co all the way here. But then why the arena?”
“They said I had to pay an entrance fee.”
“Aha~ So you joined the arena just to earn that? Hahaha! That’s hilarious. Fighting in the arena for a hundred bucks?”
Gu Seoryong laughed hard, then gradually dialed it back. She snapped her fingers—click, click. It didn’t seem to be an ability trigger, just a habit.
“If it was stolen, the black market in the back is your best bet.”
“I doubt it’s there. The guy who stole it said he was gonna put it around soone’s neck.”
I repeated the words that thief bastard had said. Gu Seoryong’s expression twisted faintly.
“What, planning to give it to so whore he’s into or sothing...? You know what the thief looked like?”
“Seed like a loan shark.”
“I’ll track him down and bring him to you. Do whatever you want with the body—toss it, eat it, I don’t care.”
It was a rather monstrous display of kindness. I gave a nod, and Gu Seoryong looked over, as if lost in thought.
“...So, what are you gonna do once you find it? Got a place to go?”
“I plan to sleep in the park.”
When I said that, Gu Seoryong’s eyes glead like a snake staring down its prey.
“So you’re broke and holess, huh? You should’ve just said so! What a treat.”
“You like treats?”
“Aha! I like them in many ways. What about you? Like treats?”
“I’ll eat if they’re there.”
“Hm, then maybe we really are a good match?”
Gu Seoryong stepped closer and adjusted her body proportions. She didn’t seem hostile, so when she placed her hand on my waist, I let her.
Then she spoke quietly.
“Looks like you didn’t co here specifically to find ... but if you made it all the way to Guryong Fortress, you must at least know what kind of place this is.”
“This is your nest, isn’t it.”
“My nest! Ahahaha! That’s a word only we would understand. I like it. Yeah, this is my nest. And here... you’ll find whatever it is you’re looking for.”
“Whatever I’m looking for?”
“Yeah. Treats, food, drugs—whatever makes you happy.”
She placed her other hand on my shoulder, and her now-liquefied arm wrapped around like a snake.
“So? I feel like we’d get along great. Don’t you have a lot of questions too?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying it’s a rare coincidence that we ran into each other. So let’s talk. I’ll show you around my nest while we’re at it.”
“Sounds annoying.”
“Oh my, I like you even more. I hate dumb guys who just say yes when you seduce them.”
“That tickles.”
I grabbed G3’s fingers that were tickling my chest like worms and twisted them.
She dropped one finger like a lizard tail and backed off, rapidly regenerating a new one.
“Phew... I like violent guys even more.”
Gu Seoryong licked the blood off her freshly regrown finger with her forked tongue.
I stared at the twitching severed finger still in my hand—and swallowed hard.
It was about ti I got hungry...
When she saw that, Gu Seoryong clutched her stomach and laughed.
“AHAHAHA! Yeah, you’re getting hungry, right? So? There’s a ton of good food inside. How about a al?”
“You’re offering food.”
“As much as you want. Eat until you’re full. And while you’re eating, I’ll have that thief brought over.”
“Hm.”
Free food is always the right choice.
I could pick up the necklace afterward.
I nodded, thinking this wasn’t a bad deal. Gu Seoryong bead and clapped her hands.
Imdiately, the n in suits waiting outside the tent ca in.
“M-Ma’am... Who is this person?”
“He’s my guest. Hmm, more like a fellow classmate? Soone I used to know. Didn’t recognize him at first, he’s changed so much.”
“Your... classmate?”
“Yeah. We’ll be heading up to eat, so tell them to clear out the entire third floor.”
“But the guests right now...”
“You dumbass! You think I don’t know that? Clear it out now!”
“And you there—go find the loan shark who ca in today with a tal chain necklace and bring him up.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The n in suits rushed out of the tent, and Gu Seoryong waved for to follow her.
I did, and she led to one of the buildings in the arena compound.
It was labeled “Managent Office.”
We took the external elevator that led up to the third-floor rooftop. As we arrived, so of the suited n were forcefully ejecting loud, complaining guests.
“Fuck this! Do you know how much I spent here?! You call this service?!”
“Bring out Gu Seoryong, not so flunky!”
“Shut the hell up and get down! We said we’ll refund you!”
“Oh? That’s weird. Didn’t I say clear out the floor?”
“M-Ma’am...! It’s, uh, just now being...”
“Ugh, how embarrassing. Seriously. Sorry, I’ll clean this up real quick.”
Gu Seoryong walked over with the sound of her heels clacking and snapped her fingers.
Everyone on the rooftop—suits and guests alike—rolled their eyes back and collapsed, twitching in place.
Judging by the scent and reactions, she probably triggered her hallucinatory illusion power—sothing like the sensation of suffocating in fire.
Then Gu Seoryong kicked their bodies off the rooftop.
“Kyaaah!”
“What the hell?!”
“Soone just fell off!”
Screams rang out below as the bodies hit the ground, but soon the noise was drowned out by loud music.
Gu Seoryong sat at the now-cleared table and waved over so nearby suits.
One of them brought over a nu from a rooftop bar table.
“Bring everything from here to here. And you guys? From now on, no eavesdropping.”
She snapped her fingers again, activating her sound-nullifying ability.
A silence curse. Now no one on the rooftop could hear a thing.
The suited staff began bringing out food and drinks without a word.
“You’re hungry, right? Don’t mind —dig in! We got a decent chef just recently.”
“Okay.”
I sat across from Gu Seoryong and started eating.
The food was shockingly good.
It caught off guard.
I grabbed a roasted pork leg by the ankle and bit into it, while Gu Seoryong twirled pasta around her fork and spoon and laughed out loud.
“Ahaha! You must’ve been starving. Don’t tell you’ve been going hungry?”
“I eat enough.”
“From now on, if there’s anything you want to eat, just say the word. I’ll make sure you get as much as you want.”
“I don’t fall for lies like that.”
“Oh my, it’s not a lie.”
“Even restaurants with ‘unlimited ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) rice refills’ eventually say, ‘That’s enough after 20 bowls.’”
“Huh? Rice? Ahaha! I’m not so cheap diner.”
Gu Seoryong leaned on the table with her chin in her hand, watching eat with interest.
“If CXI said he wanted to be fed by my side, I’d probably keep feeding him forever.”
No way in hell.
I ntally rejected her words as I rembered the truth.
Even restaurants that swear “We’re really unlimited! For real!”
Eventually stop serving and say they can’t give you more.
That’s how cold society is.
As I quietly chewed on the at without answering, Gu Seoryong seed to pick up on my distrust and changed the subject.
“There’s more than just food here, y’know. You saw the arena already, right? There’s a ton of fun stuff in the black market too. Good vibes all around.”
“Too noisy.”
“Ahaha! That’s probably from the outdoor club over there. But hey, once you get used to it, it’s not so bad. Don’t you think that bass feels kinda nice?”
I made a comnt to get her to stop talking while I ate, and Gu Seoryong pointed behind .
In the central yard of the apartnt complex—next to the arena—was a playground currently being used as an outdoor club.
From a distance, I could see people dancing to the beat of the music.
“Feels like a monster pulse.”
“It’s not quite infrasound, but there’s a definite low-frequency wave. What do you think? I tuned it to match the sound monsters make when they’re courting.”
“Now that you ntion it, it’s similar.”
“Oh? So you do know? Have you been courted before~? I heard you were pretty young, CXI. When was it? After you got out?”
“I just witnessed it once.”
“Reaaally~? Hehe, doesn’t it heat up your body when you hear it? It seems to work a little on humans too, but for monsters like us, it’s like whispering dirty talk directly into the ear, right?”
“Not really.”
I replied flatly, and as I looked toward the club, I noticed a group of humans—naked, having sex on the dancefloor.
It was strange enough that I asked Gu Seoryong out of pure curiosity.
“Can monster pulses affect humans in ways other than fear?”
“That? Nah, they’re just high out of their minds.”
Now that she ntioned it, I saw people flashing wads of cash at n in suits, and those n handing out small pieces of what looked like paper in return.
That must be the drug. The ones sticking the paper to their tongues had unfocused eyes and were wheezing, laughing nonstop like they were broken.
“Interested? Wanna try? Ten sheets at once supposedly work even on monsters like us.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Hehe... Well, if you ever wanna eat so ‘rice cakes,’ we can do it together later. It’ll feel reeeal good.”
“Doesn’t sound very tasty.”
Putting drugs on rice cakes... how utterly tasteless.
You’re only supposed to sar honey on rice cakes.
Well, soy sauce might be acceptable... I gnawed on the bone of my roasted at like a handle and gave Gu Seoryong another answer to shut her up.
“You ever played cards? Wanna go to the casino after we eat?”
“The casino—is that the noisy place downstairs?”
“Yup! Basent level. Just watching the people go crazy down there is fun. You’re a monster, so you get it, right? Humans’ screams, cheers—those intense emotions? Just licking them off the air is so sweet.”
Fair enough.
I nodded and gulped down the fizzy drink beside .
Turns out it was alcohol. I grimaced, and Gu Seoryong picked up the bottle next to her and showed it to .
“Haha! How is it? Tastes good? It’s called Dom Pérignon. Supposedly super expensive even before the monster age...”
“I don’t like alcohol.”
“Hmhm, really? Well, yeah—I didn’t think it tasted great either.”
“No cola?”
As soon as I said I didn’t like it, Gu Seoryong flipped the bottle upside down and dumped out the rest.
Then she grabbed a glass bottle of cola and tossed it my way.
I caught the cola, popped the cap off with my finger—pop—and downed it in one go.
“Hm... so you’ve been out of the lab for a while, huh?”
“Not that long.”
Gu Seoryong noted my strength control as she watched , then raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, I found myself wondering how she ended up here and not in a lab. I set my at down and asked:
“How long’s it been for you?”
“Oh my, is that the first question you ask a lady? Hm... let’s see...”
She raised a fist, held up two fingers, and flicked out her long, split tongue beside them with a smirk.
“Maybe... four years? What about you?”
“Hm.”
I thought back to the day I woke up in W-City.
It wasn’t long ago.
Or maybe it was.
“Not even half a year.”
“...That’s it?”
Gu Seoryong sounded genuinely stunned. She picked up a wine glass from the side and tossed it at .
I caught it and chugged it without flinching. That only made her stare at harder, completely dumbfounded.
“Hah... You’ve gotta be kidding ...?”
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