Ch.24Should Never Have Been Born

# The Man with Glass Shards in His Face

The man who had come down from the window began changing his body color to green.

Then, like spilled paint, he lost his form and splattered onto the floor, becoming a liquid.

“Is he… dead?”

“…No.”

Sophia tilted her head at the sight, but I could be certain based on the creature’s color, characteristics, and what was happening before my eyes.

This was a B+ danger level monster.

The ‘Näscher Snake.’

‘…But the Näscher Snake’s habitat shouldn’t be Korea, should it?’

The creature typically appeared in places like the Amazon rainforest, where snakes of similar size lived.

For such a creature to appear in Korea, and specifically in my room in our house—it seemed too unlikely to be coincidence. I decided to share what I knew with Sophia.

“Sophia! That thing is a Näscher Snake!”

“Näscher… Snake?”

“It’s a monster that comes from Africa or the Amazon rainforest! Its main characteristic is that it has no fixed form, so physical attacks don’t work on it at all.”

“What?! Then I can’t catch it?”

“No. Somewhere inside its body is a small ‘core’ about the size of a chocolate ball. You need to destroy that.”

The problem was that the core didn’t stay in one place like a human heart, but moved around inside the snake’s long body.

But Sophia was a B-rank Hunter recognized by the United States, the number one Hunter-advanced country, not just Korea.

‘We have… a chance!’

I was smiling, thinking that with my veteran knowledge and Sophia’s physical abilities combined, we could definitely defeat it. That’s when—

“Hey, Shinwoo.”

“Yes?”

“Before that, you should explain this first.”

Sophia turned to me with a cold gaze and held out the half-asleep baby monster.

The baby monster, held like a cat, hung limply downward.

Not even aware of its current situation, it was yawning and rubbing its eyes.

“This is a monster.”

“Ah, well, that’s…”

“And it’s the baby monster that escaped from the research facility the other day.”

“That’s true, but…”

“From what I heard, the Jamsil monster took the baby monster and ran away. So why was it in your room in our house?”

“……”

The “Han Shinwoo is a monster” theory that had briefly subsided resurfaced in Sophia’s mind.

As she stared at me with suspicious eyes, I wondered how I should explain.

“I found it on the street…”

“……”

This wasn’t some Ace Attorney game.

I wasn’t smart enough to deceive someone with convincing lies by shouting “Objection!”

“And it’s pitiful, isn’t it!”

“?! You work for the Hunter Association and you’re sympathizing with a monster?”

“No, what I mean is… and it’s cute, isn’t it!”

“…! I-I’m… I’m cuter, you know?!”

Our house was being attacked by a monster.

And here we were, having a nonsensical argument in front of the baby monster.

“Umm… B-big… bro, what’s… going on?”

“The m-monster can talk?! Wait, ‘big bro’…?”

“Well, it didn’t know what to call me, so…”

It was yesterday evening.

Right after we had finished dinner together.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“Monster, you, mom, no… monster, you, what?”

“Oh, you mean my name?”

The baby monster referred to me as either “Not Mom” or “Monster.”

While the former was fine, the latter could be somewhat dangerous, so I taught it a “title” to call me by.

“Just, um… if it’s difficult, call me ‘oppa.'”

“O-ppa?”

It would have been a bit strange to hear my name from a monster’s mouth anyway.

I introduced myself as “oppa,” a two-syllable word that would be easy for the baby monster to pronounce.

But Sophia clearly didn’t like that.

“Calling yourself ‘oppa’ to a monster… this is insane!”

“I’m sorry…”

“…! Here, take this!”

Whoosh!

In the middle of scolding me, Sophia threw the baby monster at me.

Then, as the Näscher Snake rushed toward her, she sliced it in half with her specially made scythe that she could summon instantly, and said:

“We’ll talk later! If you want to save that thing, run away now!”

“…! Okay. Thanks, Sophia!”

“You idiot! And get rid of that thing quickly!”

I took the baby monster’s hand.

Then I quickly went down the stairs and out the front door.

By then, I could already see Sophia fighting the Näscher Snake on the roof, having broken through my room’s ceiling.

‘I’ve already told her the enemy’s weakness and how to defeat it. If I stay here any longer, I’ll just get in the way.’

Thinking this, I was running with the baby monster to find some secluded place when—

“Oppa.”

The baby monster pulled away from my arm and stood still.

“Am I… a bother… to you?”

Its ruby-colored eyes looked up at me pitifully.

It must know that this is a situation where we need to escape.

The first person who had ever shown it kindness.

Someone who fed it, talked to it, protected it—the baby monster wanted an answer from me.

It was asking if this was the right place for it to be.

“……”

I couldn’t readily answer the baby monster’s question.

Even the “good monsters” that appear later in the original story were only called that because they were monsters who could be negotiated with.

A pure, childlike monster like this didn’t exist in the original work at all.

Was this child a hindrance to me?

To be honest, yes.

Whether pure or not, being an ordinary person keeping a monster as a pet was something that shouldn’t exist in this world, defying common sense.

Right now, I could be called a traitor to humanity with no defense.

But even knowing that…

‘Dad… am I a bother to you…?’

“Damn it…”

It was truly painful.

It felt like being forced to revisit memories from the past that I didn’t want to remember.

And that’s why I wanted to hold on.

Because I had thought hundreds of times how nice it would be to have a place to stay when I uttered such words.

But… I was too slow to answer.

“Oppa, I’m… sorry. And… thank… you.”

“…?! Hey, hey!”

Pitter-patter.

The baby monster turned its back on me and began running at a speed I couldn’t possibly match in my current human state.

It ran without knowing where it was going, finding meaning only in its own existence.

***

Why was I even born?

I killed because I was almost killed as soon as I opened my eyes, and I ate because I hunted.

Yet everything in the world tries to kill me as if I’m wrong, and for me…

There was no one.

“Hic… sob…!”

A home…

A new family to take care of me instead of my dead mother…

I thought I had found it.

The blonde human who protected my oppa from the monster of my kind that invaded our home.

That human clearly said this to oppa:

“You idiot! And get rid of that thing quickly!”

…she said.

This is the human world.

Not the world of my kind.

But my kind also targets me.

So where am I supposed to go?

“…Huh?”

“…?”

“M-monster!”

“Kyaaaah!”

“Monster! Monster!”

After running aimlessly, the baby monster stopped when it heard humans screaming.

It found itself in the middle of the busy Gangnam Station intersection on a morning.

Panting heavily, the baby monster finally realized it had wandered into a crowd of humans.

Feeling wronged, it reached out its hand to the first woman who had shouted, but—

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”

Naturally, all it heard was an even more intense scream.

Cars passing through the intersection began making U-turns all at once, and those who couldn’t simply abandoned their vehicles and started running away.

People walking through the intersection immediately turned around and fled beyond the traffic lights.

Traffic was soon paralyzed, and instead, a large encirclement formed, watching the baby monster from a distance.

“Ah, uah…”

This isn’t right.

I promised oppa I wouldn’t hurt humans anymore, so they don’t need to be afraid.

Even though it wanted to express these frustrating feelings, the reactions of humans who made eye contact were mostly the same.

“It’s disgusting…”

“I’m scared.”

“Why is something like that in the middle of the city?!”

“Shouldn’t someone kill it quickly?”

Everyone feared it, loathed it, hated it, and ultimately wished for its death.

“Too… much…”

The baby monster eventually gave up trying to explain and silently looked up at the gloomy sky.

“Mom… why… did you… make something… like me…?”

It hated.

It hated so much.

To the point where it would rather die than live like this forever.

Tears welled up in its eyes from the injustice, but feeling that no one would understand its sadness anyway, the baby monster couldn’t even cry freely.

That’s when it happened.

“What’s going on here?”

“…! Oppa!”

Someone who would follow it to the end despite everything.

It thought there was only oppa…

“Oppa?”

…or so it thought.

Shiver.

A sense of pressure it had never felt before in its life.

The body that had been thinking of death just moments ago began trembling with survival instinct.

The human who had approached from behind was beyond simple description as “strong.”

If forced to explain… yes.

It was a being of an entirely different dimension.

“Oh? Isn’t that Lee Jin-ah?”

“Yes, it is! That’s Hunter Lee Jin-ah!”

“A National Authority-Level Hunter! This is my first time seeing one in person…!”

“She must have come to save us!”

Lee Jin-ah looked down at the frightened baby monster before waving with a smile to the people cheering enthusiastically for her.

The cheers surrounding them grew even louder.

Thanks to that, she could secretly whisper to the baby monster.

“Want to run away? You can run if you want.”

“…?! Uh, what…?”

“Yes. Go ahead and run. But as a monster, do you really have anywhere to go?”

“T-that’s…”

No, it wouldn’t.

Being a monster, it obviously couldn’t approach human society.

And having learned human language and behavior, it wouldn’t fit in among monsters either.

This child was destined to be forever alone.

“No one will ever love you.”

“…!”

The baby monster’s heart began to tear apart at Lee Jin-ah’s words as she bent down to whisper.

“No one will accept you. And even if someone does appear, they’ll live their entire life suffering because of you.”

“N-no!”

“No, it’s true. You actually received help in the sewer. So why are you alone now, like an outcast?”

“…!”

That’s because!

That’s because…

That place wasn’t where I belonged.

Because oppa’s home was destroyed because of me, and oppa was attacked because of me.

“You should never have been born.”

“……”

The baby monster gave up arguing against Lee Jin-ah’s words.

“So if you have any conscience at all, bite your tongue and kill yourself right here. At least then, you’d be deciding your own death.”

Was it truly an ‘aberration’ in this world in every way?

At least death was ‘fair’ to everyone.

‘If it bites its tongue and dies, I’ll get an almost perfect sample intact.’

Lee Jin-ah smiled brightly and gestured as if telling it to hurry up.

The people surrounding Gangnam Station intersection also—

“Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!”

Everyone chanted in unison, wishing for the baby monster’s death.

Not a single person wanted to give it the will to live.

So… not wanting to continue this lonely, solitary, frightening life until the end.

“Hnngh…!”

At least for the last moment, by its own will.

“Uwoooooooooooo-!!”

Just as it was about to bite its tongue—

“Uh, uwaaaaaaaah!”

“Everyone run away!”

The crowds at Gangnam Station intersection began to disappear in a hurry, terrified despite the presence of a National Authority-Level Hunter.

The baby monster’s cloudy blood-red eyes began to shine like rubies.

“Ah, ah…!”

“Hmm…”

In contrast, Lee Jin-ah looked straight ahead with colorless, transparent eyes.

There—

In the gradually falling raindrops, a pitch-black monster was walking toward them.

The Jamsil monster had revealed itself once again.