Ch.109Towards Tomorrow (1)

“Missing, you monster~ Come on, hand over your master to me~.”

“WAAAAAAH!! NO!! GO AWAAAAAAY!!”

Missing’s screams echoed throughout the Calveno Building.

The shriek that burst from her small mouth was not something that could be described as cute—it was a desperate wail for survival.

Kang Janghoon, who was being carried on her back, was asleep. He was in a state of complete exhaustion, beyond what could be called mere unconsciousness.

The moment he touched her back, he lost consciousness as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut.

His strength was already depleted.

His body was covered in blood, and there were signs of broken bones and organ damage throughout.

Normally, it would be impossible for Missing, with her child-like physique, to carry a man like him.

Both of them should have collapsed.

But.

“AAAAGH! HE’S SO HEAVY I’M DYING!! Ugh… but I can’t stop!”

Even while screaming with tears in her eyes, Missing didn’t stop moving.

Because she was a monster.

And not just any common hybrid monster, but a high-ranking entity that had been classified as a Named monster before her reincarnation.

Despite her small and delicate appearance, the strength of a monster optimized for survival slept within her body.

“GA-GAAAK!! If I get caught, I’ll die! I’ll really die!!”

Even as she ran with all her might, a corner of her mind remained burdened with a heavy sense of responsibility.

She couldn’t drop Janghoon.

He was her master who had saved her, the only person in this world who accepted Missing as a being.

And above all, there was Avangka’s presence behind her.

That was no longer the human who had been wearing the mask of a “congresswoman.”

It was a predator who had begun the hunt.

“Kugh… I thought she was just an unpleasant human… I never imagined she’d be the legendary ‘human monster’…!”

Missing gritted her teeth and increased her speed.

Though she was a high-ranking monster, her opponent was a mythical being. The worst threat in history, one who remembered human civilization from thousands of years ago.

Could she really survive at this rate?

But if there was one fortunate thing, it was that this was the human realm.

And she, Avangka, was currently wearing the social identity of a “congresswoman.”

In this era where people appeared on broadcasts with their names and faces, she couldn’t carelessly transform into a monster.

Thanks to that, Missing was able to catch her breath.

“Now~ to the right! …Heh, fooled you!”

Missing shouted as if wiping away tears, turning to the right.

She deliberately threw herself around the corridor corner at an angle that would catch Avangka’s eye.

But it was just a decoy, like a scarecrow.

In that moment, her body slid into the shadow of a side drain that stretched across the corridor floor.

It was an escape technique only she could use—shadow movement.

Using darkness as a medium, a spatial leap through the gaps between structures that only monsters could access.

And just like that, Missing’s presence disappeared into the shadows in an instant.

“…Huh? Where did she go?”

Avangka, who appeared shortly after, tilted her head as she slowly scanned the corridor.

Even as she spoke in a whisper, her eyes gleamed sharply.

But Missing was nowhere to be found.

A moment later, after emerging from the shadows, Missing settled in a deep underground level of the Calveno Building, in a closed-off area filled with metal pipes and accumulated dust.

“…Haa, haa… I-I’m alive!”

She had managed to shake her off.

This time, she had truly saved her life.

But it was still too early to feel relieved.

Janghoon’s condition was clearly on the border between life and death.

“Master Janghoon! Master Janghoon, please wake up!”

In a corner of the shabby underground space.

A dark room in the basement that had been used as a storage area.

Missing carefully laid Janghoon on an old metal bed in one corner.

The rusty frame creaked and shook, and the dusty, stained bed sheets spoke of how long this space had been abandoned.

Missing traced Janghoon’s face with trembling fingertips.

His slightly swollen cheek with bruises, split lips, and forehead beaded with cold sweat.

Looking at that face, something pressed down heavily inside her.

“Master Janghoon… please, really please don’t die.”

Her fingertips trembled.

Taking a deep breath, Missing quickly stood up.

“First… first aid! I-I can do it by myself!”

Muttering as if casting a spell on herself, she carefully lowered her body.

Avangka might still be somewhere in the building.

Though she was hidden “underground” now, one wrong step up the stairs could bring her face to face with that monster.

Her heart was beating wildly, and every hair on her body stood on end.

“Quietly… I have to move quietly…”

Holding her breath, Missing moved through the darkness as if crawling.

With each deep breath, a chilling sensation ran down her spine, as if someone’s hand was following her from behind.

At the end of the closed corridor, she quickly gathered a first aid kit, medicines, bandages, and a few wooden sticks from an unlocked storage cabinet in the emergency equipment area.

At that moment.

Creeeeak…

A faint metallic sound rang out from somewhere.

Missing swallowed her breath and curled her body into the shadows.

Fortunately, nothing happened.

Steadying her trembling legs, she quietly and carefully returned to the basement.

However, the real challenge was just beginning.

“Okay… like playing a game, stay calm… stay calm…”

Her hands moved busily.

She aligned his arms, placed temporary splints on the broken parts, and generously poured disinfectant on the blood-stained wounds.

Janghoon’s body trembled slightly, but Missing gritted her teeth and didn’t stop.

“I’ve done this a lot in battle royale games… S-splint for leg fractures… no, was compression first?!”

Her mind was in chaos, but her fingers moved desperately.

For her, this treatment wasn’t just medical care, but the only thread connecting her to Janghoon in this moment.

“Phew. How is it, Master Janghoon… This should make you feel a little better, right…?”

Missing exhaled a trembling breath as she tidied the twisted bandages with her fingertips.

The man’s body, covered in bandages by her small, delicate hands, was still cold and heavy, but in her eyes, there was a faint sense of relief.

“For now… we need to hide here.”

Taking a deep breath, she wiped her forehead with her small, cold hand.

Her face showed signs of fatigue along with the relief of someone who had barely survived.

“Phew, I really thought I was going to die…”

Only now did she seem to relax… just a little.

The shadow of death that had been clinging to her back until just now seemed to have retreated into the darkness beyond the metal door.

But.

Rustle.

“?!!”

Suddenly, Missing’s ears perked up.

Her nerves, sensitive to the point of making her bones tingle, reacted to the slightest sound.

“Hii-hieek?!”

This space that had burrowed all the way to the basement.

She had barely clung to life, but could it be that she was already followed down here?

Missing bit her lip tightly and lowered her body as if to shield Janghoon.

Her trembling eyes followed the direction of the sound.

And someone was standing there.

In the faint afterglow of the basement lighting.

Dragging a long shadow behind her, slowly revealing herself was a fox-person in a kimono with long black hair.

And beneath sharp eyes, a katana with a keen edge.

It was no longer a congresswoman.

“Oh…? You are…”

Missing’s eyes widened.

“Huh? You are…”

The two strangers, yet somehow familiar to each other, trailed off simultaneously.

At that moment.

THUD!

With a heavy sound, the fox-person approached in one step and rushed toward Janghoon.

“Janghoon!”

In her expression as she caught her breath, there was a mix of fatigue, anger, relief, and confusion.

Without a word, she knelt down and began to trace Janghoon’s face with her fingertips.

“What on earth… happened?”

It was Hoshino.

Hoshino, who had returned with a completely different appearance, holding a katana.

“More importantly…”

Missing carefully looked at Hoshino and opened her mouth.

Slightly hunched shoulders, a tense voice.

To Missing, who had just been fleeing with Janghoon on her back, Hoshino was an unfamiliar and powerful presence.

“How… did you get here?”

Without answering, Hoshino stroked Janghoon’s forehead once more.

His forehead, caked with blood and dust, with barely perceptible body heat. Her gaze, which lingered on her fingertips for a moment, was strangely deep.

Then, very slowly, she raised her head and spoke calmly.

“Dick smell.”

“…What?”

Missing’s eyes rounded.

At that moment, the tension that had been present until just now seemed to snap.

Hoshino continued with a deadpan face.

The corners of her expressionless lips lifted slightly, but her eyes remained cold.

“To be precise, the smell of his penis.”

“Hieek?!”

Missing instinctively pulled Janghoon back as if to embrace him, her face flushing.

It was a reaction of embarrassment, shock, and shame all bursting out at once.

Hoshino lightly raised her chin and continued as if it were nothing.

“The smell of blood and sweat was vibrating throughout the building. But there was one very faint smell mixed in… a lukewarm, salty dick smell. That was the smell of his penis.”

Missing’s eyes wavered as she fidgeted uncomfortably.

“H-how did you smell something like that?”

“It’s obvious. Despite appearances, foxes are canines.”

Hoshino laughed briefly.

That smile was playful, but somehow carried a chilling energy like a sharp canine tooth.

The hunter’s aura that had disappeared just moments ago reappeared in her eyes.

And then.

Clap.

A dry, firm sound of applause cut through the air of the basement.

“Fufu. As expected, both of you have good instincts.”

A clear, low laugh.

With the hem of a kimono quietly swaying, a person emerged from the darkness.

Refined gait, cool smile, that familiar voice.

It was Avangka.