Ch.30It’s a Free Meal

“No… not your alias, your name.”

“Park Deun-deun.”

“Hmm… okay. Well, names don’t really matter much between us anyway. Wow, this feels strange. Meeting another experiment subject in human form outside like this.”

I felt the same way.

I never expected to meet another experiment subject outside, and now we weren’t injected with stimulants, weren’t in monster form, and weren’t being forced to fight.

Gu Seo-ryong awkwardly withdrew her extended hand and stood with her arms crossed.

“So? Is Deun-deun just here to make money at the arena?”

“I’m here to find something that was stolen.”

“Hmm? What was stolen? Who would be so bold?”

“A metal alloy bracelet… no, a necklace. It’s a keepsake from my parents.”

“Oh my?”

Since there was no reason to hide it, I stated my purpose. Gu Seo-ryong’s eyes widened in surprise.

“CXI has something like that? How interesting, a keepsake from parents.”

“Don’t you have any?”

“Which? Keepsakes? Parents? I don’t have either.”

“Were you born without parents?”

“I’m from an orphanage, but anyway… if it’s a keepsake from your parents, it’s worth coming all this way for. But why the arena?”

“They demanded an entrance fee.”

“Ah~ So you entered the arena to earn the entrance fee? Hahaha! That’s funny, entering the arena just to earn 100,000 won.”

Gu Seo-ryong laughed loudly, gradually reducing her laughter as she snapped her fingers repeatedly.

It seemed to be a simple habit rather than triggering her ability.

“If it’s stolen goods, it’s probably in the black market behind here.”

“I don’t think it’s there. The thief said he was going to put it around someone’s neck.”

When I repeated what the worse thief had said, Gu Seo-ryong’s expression subtly distorted.

“I guess he wanted to give it as a gift to some prostitute he likes…? Do you know what the thief looks like?”

“He seemed to be a loan shark.”

“I’ll find it and bring it to you. You can dispose of the body, eat it, whatever you want.”

I nodded at this rather monstrous kindness, and Gu Seo-ryong stared at me quietly, as if lost in thought.

“…But what will you do after you find it? Do you have somewhere to go?”

“I plan to sleep in the park.”

Hearing my answer, Gu Seo-ryong’s eyes gleamed like a snake eyeing its prey.

“So you have nowhere to go and no money? Isn’t this what they call a stroke of luck?”

“Do you like rice cakes?”

“Ahah! I like them in many ways. Do you like rice cakes too?”

“I eat them if they’re available.”

“Hmm, then I think we’ll get along really well.”

Gu Seo-ryong approached me closely and adjusted her body dimensions.

Since I didn’t sense any hostility, I let her place her hand on my waist, and she spoke quietly.

“From what I can tell, you didn’t come here knowing about me… but if you came to Kowloon Walled City, you must know what kind of place this is?”

“This seems to be your nest.”

“Nest! Hahaha! A term that only makes sense between us! I like it, yes, this is my nest. And… you can find anything you want here.”

“Anything I want.”

“Yes, whether it’s rice cakes, food, drugs, anything fun.”

Gu Seo-ryong placed her other hand on my shoulder, wrapping her mollusk-like arm around me like a snake.

“What do you say? I think we’d get along well in many ways, and we seem to have a lot to ask each other?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Since we’ve met by chance, why don’t we chat? I’ll show you around my nest.”

“Sounds bothersome.”

“Oh my, I like you even more. I don’t like stupid men who just follow along when seduced.”

“It tickles.”

I grabbed and twisted G3’s fingers that were tickling my chest like worms.

In response, G3 dropped one finger like a lizard’s tail and quickly regenerated a new one as she moved away from me.

“Whew… I like violent men even more.”

Gu Seo-ryong licked the blood from her new finger with her forked tongue.

I stared at the finger wriggling in my hand and swallowed hard.

It was about time I felt hungry… Seeing this, Gu Seo-ryong held her stomach and laughed.

“Hahaha! Right, it’s time to be hungry? How about it? There’s plenty of delicious food inside. Want to have a meal?”

“You’re offering food?”

“As much as you want, until you’re full. Have a meal while you wait, and I’ll bring that thief to you.”

“Hmm.”

Free food is always right.

I can get the necklace after eating.

Thinking it wasn’t a bad idea, I nodded, and Gu Seo-ryong clapped her hands with a bright smile.

Then, men in suits who had been waiting outside the tent came in.

“S-Sister… w-who is this person?”

“He’s my guest. Hmm, you could say he’s like a colleague? Someone I knew before, but he’s changed so much I didn’t recognize him right away.”

“Sister’s colleague…?”

“Yes, we’re going to have a meal, so tell them to clear the entire third floor.”

“But right now there are guests…”

“You stupid bastard! Do you think I don’t know that? We’ll clear it right away, Sister.”

“And you guys? Find the loan shark who came in today with an alloy chain necklace and bring him here.”

“Yes, yes!”

After the suited men rushed out of the tent, Gu Seo-ryong gestured for me to follow.

I followed her, and she led me to a building in one corner of the open space where the arena was located.

We took an external elevator to the third-floor rooftop of a two-story building labeled “Management Office,” where suited men were subduing some rowdy people.

“Fuck! After all the money I’ve spent here, this is how you treat me?”

“I want to see Gu Seo-ryong, not some low-level like you!”

“Shut up and just go down! We said we’d refund your money!”

“Oh my? This is strange. I’m sure I told you to clear everything out.”

“S-Sister…! Well, right now, we’re just…”

“Really, how embarrassing. Sorry, I’ll clear this up right away.”

Gu Seo-ryong walked over to the still-uncleared scene, clicking her heels, and snapped her fingers.

Immediately, the suited men and what appeared to be guests rolled their eyes and collapsed, twitching in place.

From the smell, it seemed her ability was causing pain and hallucinations, making them feel like they were suffocating in fire.

Gu Seo-ryong pushed the collapsed people with her foot, sending them falling from the third floor.

“Aaaahh!”

“W-what’s happening!”

“People are falling!”

Screams could be heard from the ground as the people fell, but they soon quieted down, drowned out by loud music.

Gu Seo-ryong sat at a cleared table and gestured for other suited men to come closer, extending her hand.

One of the suited men from the bar table on one side of the rooftop brought a menu and handed it over.

“Bring everything from here to here, and you guys? No listening from now on.”

She snapped her fingers again, and an ability that prevented everyone present from hearing anything spread.

The suited men affected by the silence curse began bringing food and drinks without a word.

“Hungry, right? Don’t worry and eat up! We just got a good chef recently.”

“Mm.”

I sat across from Gu Seo-ryong and began eating.

The food was surprisingly delicious and amazed me.

As I took a big bite from the ankle part of a whole roasted pig leg, Gu Seo-ryong, who was twirling pasta with a fork and spoon, laughed loudly.

“Haha! You must have been very hungry! You’re not starving yourself, are you?”

“I eat enough.”

“If there’s anything you want to eat in the future, just tell me. I’ll let you eat as much as you want.”

“I won’t fall for such lies.”

“Oh my, it’s not a lie.”

“Even at restaurants that claim unlimited rice refills, they say you can’t have any more after about 20 refills.”

“Hmm? Rice refills? Hahaha! I’m different from those cheap restaurants.”

Gu Seo-ryong rested her chin on the table and watched me eat, licking her lips.

“If CXI asked me to feed him by my side, I think I could feed him as much as he wants.”

As if, I mentally denied Gu Seo-ryong’s words, recalling my past experiences.

Even restaurants that claim “truly, truly unlimited” eventually say “no more” and refuse to serve more rice.

Society is that cold.

When I continued tearing at the meat without answering, Gu Seo-ryong, perhaps realizing I wouldn’t fall for such talk, changed the subject.

“Not just food, there’s plenty to do here. You’ve already seen the arena, right? The black market also has many interesting things worth seeing, and the atmosphere is good.”

“It’s noisy.”

“Hahaha! That’s because of the music from the outdoor club over there. But once you get used to it, it’s not bad. Don’t you think this vibration has a nice resonance?”

When I complained about being bothered while eating, Gu Seo-ryong pointed behind me.

Next to the arena in the central open space of the apartment complex, the playground was being used as an outdoor club.

From a distance, I could see people swaying to the music.

“It’s like a monster’s vibration.”

“It’s not quite infrasonic, but it is low-frequency. What do you think? I made it similar to the sound a courting monster makes.”

“Now that I hear it, it is similar.”

“Oh my, so you do know? Have you been courted before? I thought CXI was quite young. When was that? Or was it after you got out?”

“I’ve only witnessed it.”

“Really? Hehe, doesn’t your body get hot listening to it? It seems to have a small effect on humans too, but for monsters like us, it’s similar to whispering seductive words directly into the ear.”

“Not particularly.”

As I responded indifferently, I noticed some people among those dancing at the club who were naked and mating.

Curious about this sight, I asked Gu Seo-ryong with genuine interest.

“Can a monster’s vibration affect humans beyond fear?”

“Hmm? You mean that? That’s just drug intoxication.”

After hearing this, I noticed people holding wads of cash and handing them to suited men, who in turn gave them what looked like strange paper scraps.

So that’s drugs? People who put the paper scraps on their tongues lost focus and laughed continuously, panting.

“Interested? How about it? Want to try? About ten sheets at once has a slight effect even on monsters like us.”

“Not interested.”

“Hehe… if you want to have rice cakes later, we can have them together. It’ll feel really good!”

“It probably won’t taste good.”

Putting drugs on rice cakes, how uncouth… the only thing that should go on rice cakes is honey.

Well, maybe soy sauce too… I crunched on the leg bone in my hand like a handle and responded to Gu Seo-ryong, who kept bothering me with conversation.

“Have you ever played card games? Want to go to the casino after eating?”

“Is the casino that noisy place below?”

“That’s right! The underground casino. Just watching people go crazy there is quite enjoyable, you know? As a monster, you must understand that intense human emotions like screams and cheers are quite sweet just to taste.”

That’s true, I nodded and gulped down a carbonated drink.

Realizing it was alcohol, not a soft drink, I frowned, and Gu Seo-ryong showed me the bottle next to her.

“Haha! How is it? Tasty? It’s called Dom Pérignon, quite expensive even before the monster era…”

“I don’t like alcohol.”

“Hehe, really? Well, I didn’t find it that delicious either.”

“Do you have cola?”

When I expressed my dislike, Gu Seo-ryong immediately turned the bottle upside down and poured out its contents.

Then, she picked up a cola from beside her and threw it my way.

I caught the glass bottle of cola and popped the cap open with my finger, emptying its contents in one go.

“Hmm, you must have been out of the laboratory for a while?”

“Not that long.”

Seeing this, Gu Seo-ryong pointed out that I was quite skilled at controlling my strength.

Suddenly curious about how she came to be here instead of at the laboratory, I put down the meat I was tearing and asked.

“How long has it been for you?”

“Oh my, is that your first question to a woman? Hmm… let’s see…”

Gu Seo-ryong raised her fist, showing her index and middle fingers, then extended her long tongue, positioning its forked tip beside them.

“About four years? You?”

“Hmm.”

I recalled the day I opened my eyes in W City.

From then until now, a time that was short yet long.

“Probably less than half a year.”

“…That’s it?”

Gu Seo-ryong spoke as if in disbelief and threw a wine glass at me.

When I caught the glass and gulped down its contents, her bewildered gaze intensified.

“Ha, I can’t believe this…”