Ch.138I’ll Trust You This Time

“Fan?”

I tilted my head back slightly, experiencing an unpleasant sensation of sticky heat emanating from Ui.

“I’ve heard about you since before I became a monster.”

Then, Ui began to regurgitate the researchers’ memories with theatrical flair.

Like spreading paint, colors of memory bloomed around Ui, each hue and droplet projecting the researchers’ memories.

“The experiment I was meant to aspire to—Romania’s miracle—was born after countless miracles.”

In the early days of the monster era, when fortress cities were just taking shape, forced awakening experiments were spreading secretly.

Since many cities were dragging easily manageable children into laboratories, obtaining test subjects wasn’t difficult.

Among them, one subject was a quiet child with no apparent special qualities.

Too quiet.

“You showed no reaction even after the first synthesis.”

Children who failed the monster core synthesis became complete monsters and were discarded, while successful ones were given recovery time for the second synthesis.

While all children were bewildered by the scales, wings, and new bodies growing on them, one sat quietly in the corner.

Still in human form.

Then during the second synthesis, test subjects died in droves.

Yet that subject survived.

It became the first experiment to succeed in multiple synthesis, not just one.

Seeing the possibility of multiple synthesis, researchers continued experiments using the surviving subject as reference.

In the next generation, four new test subjects succeeded in multiple synthesis.

The original subject accepted three more monsters into its body.

And after the sixth, when the next generation’s bodies reached their limits and left the recovery room with assigned codes.

Even after the tenth, when all test subjects of the next generation had gone.

The subject with a core that was little more than tatters maintained human form.

Test results showed recovery abilities far beyond human capacity, yet its mind remained that of a child.

It wasn’t a monster.

“No matter how many syntheses were performed, you quietly maintained human form, so researchers gradually forgot their goal and became obsessed with one curiosity.”

Just how many would be the limit?

Those who felt pure scientific curiosity wanted to confirm the limits of the human species.

The continuous synthesis surgeries only stopped at the thirtieth.

“That’s when the first miracle happened to Unus.”

The surgeries didn’t stop because the subject could no longer accept monsters.

Among the many synthesized monsters, one unknown entity mutated.

Existential evolution.

Among the many monster consciousnesses mixed in the core, the one that became the strongest devoured all others.

At this point, the subject that had transcended human form was given the monster identification number, code name CXI.

CXI became a creature that constantly shifted, appearing as if multiple monsters were overlapping.

Researchers thought CXI had been completely devoured by the monster and had become a failure.

The laboratory doesn’t waste resources carelessly.

Failed experiments are either fed to other subjects for recycling or sent to fortress cities to gather data.

CXI was an experiment with an excessive investment of monsters.

It would be wasteful to expend it outside the laboratory.

“Then, the second miracle.”

CXI, deeply sedated and fed to other test subjects as food, didn’t sustain proper injuries despite their attacks.

Even after regaining consciousness, it didn’t attack the test subjects at all.

It simply stood still and ignored them.

Seeing this, researchers conducted a detailed examination of CXI.

Mental assessment results confirmed CXI had indeed become a monster, but was still close to human.

“Then the third, fourth… truly, you produced so many non-standard results it became tiresome.”

A mutation in the process of existential evolution.

Special abilities and characteristics never before synthesized or even observed were discovered in CXI.

An ability that consumed other abilities, and the characteristic of transforming into the bodies of monsters it had eaten to properly use the consumed abilities.

While other monsters simply became stronger overall or gained seeds of new abilities when they ate humans, CXI grew stronger and took the fruits of already blossomed abilities.

If a monster gained 200 from eating a human and 20 from eating another monster, CXI seemed to gain 100 even when eating monsters.

CXI no longer needed monster synthesis surgeries.

If given extracted cores as food, it would digest the monster’s abilities just as monsters digest humans’ memories.

Even that stopped after being given cores of discarded test subjects.

CXI only ate nutritional gruel in tubes, and even when starved and thrown weakened test subjects after competitions, it wouldn’t attack.

Even when accidentally encountering researchers, it wouldn’t attack but simply ignore them.

No matter what orders the researchers gave.

It wouldn’t listen.

“Unus, if you had just listened to the researchers a little, you would have become a success.”

The subject closest to success among all experiments wouldn’t move despite the goal being right before it.

Nothing worked—food, weapons, drugs, any method.

Romania tried to guide CXI in the direction they wanted, while other laboratories targeted CXI.

They researched CXI to determine the cause of its miraculous success, used its cell tissues, imitated it, and followed its path.

As time passed without being able to do anything with the experiment closest to success, the level of experiments produced in other laboratories gradually improved.

Becoming desperate, Romania decided to make CXI move by any means necessary.

“Eventually, the researchers achieved their goal of making you move.”

They investigated CXI’s parents and created human dolls with similar forms.

When threatening to kill them didn’t work, they brutally murdered them right next to CXI.

CXI rose from its place.

Learning about the promise between test subjects, their hatred for adult researchers, and the agreement to never harm children like themselves, they cruelly killed a child in front of CXI.

CXI used its ability on the researchers.

Romania split into two factions over CXI’s intense reaction, unprecedented until then.

Those who believed nothing good would come from provoking a monster already confirmed as a failure, and those who viewed CXI’s response itself positively.

The divided Romania moved in different directions.

Some trying to create a new CXI, others obsessing over the original.

“Since the mental control through subject self-identity collapse had been successfully implemented by Alphabet and Numbers, the researchers planned to break your mind to make you easier to control.”

After showing the sequential killing of a family right before its eyes, CXI began to partially obey the researchers’ commands.

It would sit when told to sit, extend its hand when told to, bark when told to.

And on the day everyone celebrated taking a step toward success with a party.

CXI, pretending to be asleep from sedatives, broke down the door and killed all the researchers.

“Isn’t it amazing!”

“What is?”

“Because you, Unus, maintained your humanity even after about 10 years since your creation, the researchers couldn’t control you!”

I frowned at being forced to recall scenes I’d rather not remember, but Ui was excited, completely disregarding my feelings.

“When I first heard about you, I couldn’t understand what was so great. But now I know! Monster cores inserted into a human body, occupying the most vital areas… how could you withstand that long time from monsters that even S-rank couldn’t endure?! How could a mere human withstand so long against the numerous monsters raging inside your body!”

Trembling, Ui directed a gaze unlike that of a child toward me, exuding ecstasy like dewdrops on a window.

“You weren’t swayed by the researchers’ drugs, temptations, or pain. You showed the researchers again and again! The sight of human spirit overcoming monster instinct! That even when becoming more than human, there exists an unbreakable humanity! Ahhh…!”

I clicked my tongue and stepped back from Ui, whose gaze was worse than Gu Seo-ryong’s.

“You… disgust me.”

“Ahaha! To think Unus would tell me I’m disgusting! I’m so happy!”

From the excited Ui, concentrated monster sensations flowed ceaselessly, almost painfully.

Respect, admiration, pleasure, joy…

This one is strange and unpleasant, but the feelings toward me are genuine.

Sensing Ui’s genuine joy, I lowered my guard slightly despite my discomfort.

“I understand you have considerable affection for me. Your purpose in coming to W City must be me.”

“That’s right.”

Ui clapped like praising a child in response to my question and answered with sincerity.

Ui came to W City to meet me after destroying the laboratory in B City.

But it was difficult to trust Ui.

Though I understood intellectually, the sensory discomfort wouldn’t disappear.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like you.”

“Hmm? Why not?”

“Do I need to explain?”

“Not really. I think I know. It’s because of the sense of alienation you feel from me? Ah, I’m not reading your thoughts. I just know a lot about you.”

I glared at Ui, startled by the unpleasant feeling of having my thoughts read, which only increased my discomfort.

“I have all the memories of Romania that created you, and Alphabet. I know what expression that nearly unchanging face of yours is making right now.”

“Then you must know how unpleasant I find this.”

“Yes, of course, and why you’re so wary despite my childlike appearance.”

“Are you really a child?”

“That’s unfair. I killed the researchers who tormented you, but I’m hated because I’ve swallowed too many researchers’ memories to seem like a child anymore.”

Ui pretended to sob, then looked at me and sighed dramatically.

“It hurts a little that you dislike me so much. I understand. You want to drive me out of W City, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“I’m just glad you don’t want to kill me. Since it’s troublesome to be so disliked by Unus, I’ll quietly disappear from W City once I’ve achieved my purpose.”

Purpose? As I silently observed Ui, Ui raised one finger and slowly pointed it toward the forehead.

The tapping gesture, precisely targeting one spot on the head, was pointing to the same location as something inside my head.

“That thing, Unus, you don’t know what it is, do you?”

Something that appeared in my head when I became Annihilation-rank.

Ui knows what this is.

“Are you saying you know what this is?”

“Yes, because I’ve swallowed the researchers’ memories.”

The researchers knew about the Annihilation-rank body?

How? As I wondered, Ui spoke encouragingly.

“I’ll teach you. What it is, how to use it. Unus, so you can become a true Annihilation-rank, no… a Demon.”

“Demon?”

With dilated pupils, excitement, anticipation, Ui transparently revealed emotions and reached out a hand toward me.

A gesture like worshipping something, the term Demon instead of Annihilation-rank.

Feeling both curiosity and discomfort from Ui, I slowly extended my hand.

“Urk, keh…!”

My hand went not to Ui’s hand but to the slender neck.

Gripping the neck tightly, I lifted Ui like a piece of meat in a butcher shop and aimed my sharpened fingernails at Ui’s head with my other hand.

“U-nus… I’m trying… to help you…!”

After a brief sigh, I thrust my hand into Ui’s head and crushed it.

A Despair-rank monster won’t die from just this.

But it can temporarily stop ability computation, preventing ability use.

Then I thrust my hand into where the heart should be, grasped Ui’s heart, and felt it beating.

The sound of muscle being forcibly torn, the heartbeat in my hand gradually slowing.

If I burst this core, it dies.

Rapidly regenerating head, startled eyes, yet the core doesn’t move.

Planning to die like this?

“Fine.”

Feeling the rapid heartbeat in my hand, I slowly withdrew my hand from Ui’s body, who hadn’t attacked me even on the brink of death.

“Huff, huff, ha, haha!”

Ui, having rapidly regenerated, knelt on the floor and looked up at me.

“Your test is quite harsh, Unus!”

Ui, briefly happy as if playing a role, immediately stood up and followed me.

Though I frowned, I didn’t stop Ui from following.

I’ll keep this one in W City for now.

Until my curiosity is satisfied.