24. Function Recovery (4)

“Fuck…”

The rooftop was littered with the corpses of Machung. Their bodily fluids had splattered all over my face and body, but the pouring rain quickly washed them away. At least their pheromones would disappear soon too. That meant no more Machung would come swarming.

I was getting tired, so this worked out well.

‘But these bastards only give 30 points each… So damn annoying to deal with… Tch. The points are fucking stingy. Tastes like shit.’

Each Machung only gave a measly 30 points. Honestly, I thought they’d give at least 50 points-way too cheap.

No, judging by how strong they were, the point reward was completely unbalanced. A fucking rip-off.

At least there were a lot of them, so killing about thirty at once still gave a decent haul…

But what could I do? Just had to accept it.

At least I could take comfort in having 1,229 points now.

“Cough.”

Must’ve gotten too soaked in the rain. I’d been coughing nonstop since earlier. Felt a little chilly too. The misery of working in the rain almost made my eyes well up.

“Huu…”

Wanting to get home quickly, I approached the dead Machung. From them, I could harvest the venom stingers from their tails, the ovipositors, and the molars from their mouths-each worth 30 points. I’d stash them for insurance.

“Ugh. My back…”

But as I looted, I realized even this was hard labor. I wished I could delegate this to a subordinate, but I couldn’t carry them around if I wanted to use my Inventory. Frustrating.

“Huu.”

After about 40 minutes of squatting and collecting parts from the Machung scattered across the rooftop, I finally learned their name.

“Tracking Crawler…”

[Race: Tracking Crawler]

[Details: A type of Abyss Insect that lives in colonies and reacts violently to the death of its kin. The most common Abyss Insect-just watch out for the venom stingers.]

[Abilities: Kin Worship, Swarm Attack, Venom Stinger]

“Huuu…”

True to being the most common, they were numerous but gave pitiful points. Still, making 900 points in a day wasn’t bad.

‘Got everything here…’

When I looked down to loot the corpses on the ground, a group of Goblins had already swarmed in and were rummaging through them.

Probably planning to roast and eat them. Could they even eat these bugs?

No, more importantly-where the hell did these bastards crawl out from?

‘They weren’t here earlier…’

Must’ve been hiding in their nest inside a building while the Tracking Crawlers were active, then crawled out once things quieted down.

About thirty of them had formed a group. For a second, I thought about killing them all now… but I was kinda tired.

‘And it’s raining…’

Plus, I couldn’t stop coughing since earlier.

Better not push myself.

-Whoosh!!

Thud!!!!

“Kiee…? Kruaaa!!!”

“Hiiik!!! Hieeeee!!!”

Nah. No matter how tired I was, I couldn’t just leave free points lying around. And hunting Goblins? How hard could it be?

“Come here, you little shits.”

I jumped off the rooftop, landing lightly with no fall damage thanks to my Multi Jump anklet, then retrieved Regina’s Blade I’d thrown earlier and lodged it into the back of a fleeing Goblin’s skull.

Thwack–!!!

“Kyaaaa!!!!!”

“Hue! Uehu!!!”

Seeing me kill five of them in an instant, the Goblins screamed like mad and scattered in all directions.

I didn’t have the energy to chase them all. Good enough for now.

“Tch. Little fuckers.”

I spat on the ground, then looted the Machung corpses the Goblins had tried to scavenge without my permission.

About twenty were dead on the street, but fifteen were too mangled to loot properly-only managed to harvest materials from five.

Probably because that psycho Han Jin-kyung couldn’t control her strength-most of the corpses were completely wrecked.

Too bad, but nothing I could do. If I left them, those Goblins would just come back to feast. Then they’d have an orgy, and their numbers would multiply.

Which meant more free points for me.

This must be the virtuous cycle of the ecosystem. Maybe I’m the guardian of balance…?

“Ears… gallbladder…”

Thinking nonsense like that, I harvested the Goblins’ ears, gallbladders, and hearts. Since I was short on Machung, the Goblins made up for it. Not bad.

Got all five sets of ears and gallbladders intact, so I could make some healing potions when I got home.

“Huu. Fuck.”

Being alone for so long, I had nothing to say but sighs and curses. Just kept sighing and swearing.

What could I do? This was my fate…

“Fuck, fuck.”

Fucking hell.

The weather’s shit too. Time to go home.

******

-Squeak…. Slam.

“Oh, y-you’re back. Th-the book… I-I haven’t… Ah… Wh-what do I do…”

When I entered Unit 402 where Number 1 was, she scrambled up from reading in a panic. Apparently, I’d returned way earlier than expected, and she hadn’t finished a single book properly.

Probably terrified because I’d threatened to kill her if she didn’t read at least two books before I got back.

“Hnng… I-I’m sorry… I didn’t finish… P-please spare me… Hng… Hwaaang.”

She finally broke down, gripping the hem of her shirt with both hands, bowing her head, and bursting into tears.

Coincidentally, I’m a man-no, fuck, a woman-who’s strong against tears.

‘Sigh… Hate it when kids cry…’

Anyway, crying in front of me won’t work.

Won’t spare you just because you cry.

Mostly, I can’t stand the sound of kids whining.

Just hate hearing people cry-grates on my ears.

Weak little shits from fucked-up homes always cried when they were at a disadvantage.

I’m not raising my subordinate to be that pathetic.

A monster should be stubborn and strong. Not crying over minor setbacks.

“Hey. Stop bawling if you don’t wanna die. Gives me a headache.”

“Hic… Sniff… Hngk. Y-yes…”

“Huu. And listen-don’t cry over this kinda shit again. Cry, and you’re dead.”

“Y-yes… Sniff… Hngk…”

Gave her a warning, so she should stop now.

“So, what were you reading?”

“U-uh… I mastered Magic Sensitivity and was working on Magic Emission and Accumulation…”

“Oh? So you did finish one. Then put that aside for now. Follow me to the rooftop for a sec.”

“Huh? Ah, y-yes…!”

I took the dejected Number 1 up to the rooftop. Couldn’t exactly pull out a corpse in the clean apartment.

-Thud.

“This is…”

“A woman named Han Jin-kyung’s corpse. Absorb her.”

“Ah, yes.”

Han Jin-kyung’s body, covered in wounds, had gone cold.

Number 1, drenched in rain, reverted from her middle-schooler form to her original appearance-a two-meter-tall mass of black polygons. Still unsettling.

“Then…”

With a much deeper voice, Number 1 plunged her spiked hand into Han Jin-kyung’s back.

So those spike-like fingers were a kind of mouth. The corpse twitched as it was gradually absorbed.

She devoured the organs first, then essentially wore the skin like a suit.

“Huaa. Done.”

“Whoa. Looks pretty convincing.”

“Hehe. How do I look? Super pretty, right?”

“Yeah. But… your personality seems different?”

“Huh? Me? No way~ Hahaha. You’re funny, unnie.”

She’d definitely changed. More confident and lively.

Seems her personality shifts slightly depending on the skin she wears.

“Revert to the kid form.”

“Ah, yes.”

Soon, she was back to being a middle-schooler.

“Ugh… S-sorry for getting cocky…”

This personality suited me better.

I can’t stand extroverts. Especially the confident type-way too exhausting.

Mentally draining.

To put it in character terms, I’d take a gloomy big-breasted girl in the corner over a pretty extrovert who humors otakus.

“Memories? Did you get any?”

“Ah, um… Yeah… Archery, cooking for living alone… and some faint memories of Han Jin-kyung. A-and I think I can read books better now… maybe…?”

“So your vocabulary improved.”

“Y-yes! I-it did…”

“Got it. Dry off and keep reading the magic books. Then move on to alchemy. I’ll have you brew healing potions.”

“Ah, yes… Th-thank you…!”

I sent Number 1 back. Bowing deeply, she thanked me-though I wasn’t sure what for-and hurried downstairs.

“Hmm.”

Since she’d absorbed some of Han Jin-kyung’s memories, she seemed more confident with a bow. Maybe I should give her the magic bow and have her keep watch from the rooftop.

“Then…”

I went back inside and searched through Han Jin-kyung’s bag.