Ch.49City in the Darkness (3)

“If a reporter has started looking for me, I need to end this as quickly as possible.”

Reporters rely on social networks for their profession. They actively share information among themselves. I shouldn’t feel safe just because only one person is investigating me. In the brief moment I look away, the number of people who know about me could suddenly multiply into dozens or hundreds.

“That’s why they’re difficult to control with parasites.”

It’s not because they have strong journalistic integrity or resistance.

The reason they’re difficult to control is the same reason they’re dangerous: their social connections. Since they meet many people—complete strangers or connections through their network—others would quickly notice if they started acting differently.

In other words, it would benefit me more to make her food rather than a slave.

I picked up the communicator again and asked William.

“What about transportation?”

“She came on foot. She’ll probably take the subway when crossing districts.”

The newspaper office would likely be in the commercial district.

“But there’s no newspaper office near the manhole.”

If it’s far, it won’t be easy for me to find her. But having William call her out would create problems.

“If she disappears, William would become the prime suspect.”

He’s still a useful slave. It would be a waste to lose him after I spared his life.

“Wait, the subway?”

Some of the secret passages near my nest are very close to the subway tracks. While cameras are installed on the platforms, there aren’t any on the tracks themselves.

“Was there a connection between the subway tracks and the secret passages?”

If there’s a spot where the tracks and secret passages are close, I could dig through and connect them.

I hadn’t considered subway stations before because they had too many cameras, but if I could move onto the tracks, my range of movement would be much wider.

“Now that my nest is complete, let’s check it out.”

I lay down on the floor and connected the auxiliary organ under my chin to the nest.

I felt my entire body being grabbed, pulled sharply, then rapidly expanded. Once the link was complete, everything happening in the city was transmitted to me.

“It’s noisy.”

Unlike the static research ship, the city contained so much information about people’s lives and movements that it felt extremely chaotic.

The movement of trains straining the metal tracks, footsteps, breathing and coughing of subway passengers, the stench of sweat and body odors. Elements from the city’s veins stimulated my five senses.

“Forget the subway, where’s the closest point to the tracks?”

After expanding my senses to look around, I found several spots where I could easily reach the tracks by corroding just a bit of the metal wall.

“Of these, there are three places I could dig through.”

Two in the entertainment district and one in the commercial district.

There were a few other points close to the tracks, but I excluded them due to certain issues. Either the secret passages were too narrow for me to move through, or they were too close to the platform, making discovery likely if I broke through.

“It must be related to the number of stations.”

As far as I know, the entertainment district has the most stations in this city, followed by the commercial district.

“I’ll check the commercial district first and dig through the entertainment district later.”

I got up from my spot.

As I was heading toward the secret passage adjacent to the tracks, No. 26 must have woken up because she spoke to me.

“Where are you going?”

[Zuzzu (walk)]

“Okay. Come back soon.”

After saying that, he went back to sleep, snuggled close to Adhigh. They get along so well, perhaps because they’re both wild animals.

“That’s a rare sight in the game.”

AMorph was naturally a race forced into solo play, and the other races I’d played didn’t have much connection to party play either.

“Come to think of it, I did more party-destroying than party playing.”

There were quite a few clans that disbanded due to internal conflicts after fighting with me.

“When I fought on that jungle planet before, it was truly the best.”

Once, four large clans formed an alliance to surround an entire planet just to catch me. Since many rankers were involved, it was difficult for me to win as a mere Juvenile at the time.

Back then, I used every ambush method and trick available to AMorphs.

Many of the strategies I use in combat now were either first tried then or devised during that battle.

“That fight helped a lot. Though I’d never want to do it again.”

Anyway, the clans that came to catch me fell for my tricks and ended up fighting each other until they self-destructed.

Afterward, three of the four clans disbanded, and the one that remained somewhat intact suffered such a blow that its membership dropped from 100 to 60 members.

“It’s ironic that someone who used to split up parties now has companions.”

And in a world where the game background has become reality, no less.

Reminiscing about old memories, I soon arrived at my destination. Since I’d placed my nest in the residential district, it hadn’t expanded to this area.

“Should I place another one here too?”

With each evolution, the number of nests I can place increases by two, so as a Juvenile, I can place five nests. I’ve already placed one, so four remain.

“I should place it after eating the reporter.”

I decided to use the energy from this prey for a new nest and touched the wall.

It was definitely thinner than other walls, as I could feel the vibrations from moving trains more clearly.

“Let’s begin.”

I used my nail to cut a wound on the back of my hand. Acidic blood that could easily dissolve even hard alloys oozed from the wound. When I rubbed the back of my hand with the acidic blood against the wall, the metal wall smoked and began to corrode.

When the wound healed, I repeated the same process. After about 10 minutes, a hole formed in the wall.

“This should be enough.”

I stopped making wounds and kicked around the hole in the wall. Due to my Angular Reinforcement trait, my kicks could bend even thick alloy walls.

After expanding the hole with my kicks, I inserted my four hands to tear away the melted metal.

As a result, I created an opening just large enough for me to crawl through.

When I crossed over to the tracks, I was greeted by the subway’s characteristic fine dust. The strong smell of steel emanating from the steel materials and the subtle flow of electric current through the rails caressed my auxiliary organs.

As I was looking around the old tracks, I saw lights in the distance. A train was coming.

“I’ve opened the path.”

Now only one thing remains.

Waiting for the optimal timing to hunt.

I returned to my nest, thinking about how to capture my new prey.

–

10:30 PM.

Kevin was able to leave the Daily Mass branch office around the time when most lights in the commercial district had gone out.

“Whew, it’s really late.”

Despite the late hour, she wasn’t in a bad mood. The branch manager was very satisfied with the interview content she had brought in and said he would consider her promotion after the board meeting.

“If I get promoted, will I get access to the administrative district?”

Or maybe she could be transferred to a better planet, away from this wretched city.

With such happy thoughts, Kevin waited for the subway at the station.

She was the only person on the platform, but she didn’t feel particularly scared.

The subway station had numerous cameras installed, and behind those cameras, security personnel were monitoring for any problems inside.

But then something happened that defied her common sense. Suddenly, the lights inside the platform went out.

“Eek?!”

Surprised by the darkened platform, she sat down where she stood. As she remained frozen in place, an announcement came through the speakers on the platform.

“We apologize for the inconvenience. We are checking the power supply to the subway station lights in preparation for the board meeting. We will activate the emergency power for those on the platform, so please wait a moment.”

Soon after the announcement, red emergency lights illuminated the platform.

“What the fuck, why are they doing checks at this hour?”

Kevin cursed as she dusted off her knees.

Recently, the entire subway system had been conducting power checks during the last train due to board meeting preparations, but there was no way she, not being a subway security guard, would know that.

The platform had suddenly taken on an eerie atmosphere due to the red lights.

She clutched her bag tightly with both hands and waited for the train.

“When on earth is the train coming… huh?”

Her anxious eyes spotted a person.

Someone who hadn’t been visible until just now was standing in the same line as her.

Having been scared to be alone in the red light, she felt somewhat better now that someone else was there.

As she waited for the train while being aware of the mysterious man, a strange smell came from somewhere.

“Where is that smell coming from…”

A smell qualitatively different from the stuffy odor characteristic of underground stations, one she had never encountered before, reached her nostrils.

Was it because of the smell? She felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

“Come to think of it, when did that person come in?”

The position where the other person was standing was close to the stairs leading down to the platform.

They might have come down while the lights were out, but if so, shouldn’t she have heard footsteps?

Unless they had come across from the pitch-dark tracks beyond.

“…”

Human thoughts are truly strange. When she deliberately tried not to think ominous thoughts, even more terrible ideas welled up.

“It’s better not to go out alone at night.”

Why was she suddenly remembering what William had said? She swallowed and glanced sideways at where the suspicious person was.

And she was startled.

The suspicious man had already turned his body and was watching her.

The man who had been watching in her direction began to move. He slowly approached her.

“D-don’t come near me!”

She wanted to run away, but her body was frozen and couldn’t move.

Her colleagues at the Daily Mass branch called her this:

Crazy Kevin.

It was a nickname she earned because she fearlessly rushed in to get scoops, regardless of who she was dealing with.

But in reality, she wasn’t such a brave person. The reason she could act that way was because of the backing of Daily Mass, the group she belonged to, and more broadly, House Zhao.

Just as Daily Mass without House Zhao would be nothing more than a tabloid press, Kevin without the protection of her group was nothing.

As the man approached and Kevin was despairing, a sound of salvation reached her.

Behind the man, beyond the tracks, a train was coming in with its lights.

When the train arrived at the platform, the man stopped in his tracks.

As soon as the train doors opened, Kevin rushed inside.

The man stared at her blankly and belatedly tried to board the train car, but the doors had already closed.

“■■ ■■■!”

The man’s lips moved as he shouted something, but it didn’t reach her.

“Crazy bastard…”

While Kevin was cursing at him, the train departed.

“What a fucking psycho.”

The suspicious man receded into the distance as the train headed toward the next station. Relieved, she sat down.

After being tense and then relaxing, she suddenly felt drowsy. Thinking she might catch a brief nap before arriving, she closed her eyes.

If that unpleasant smell she had detected earlier hadn’t wafted past her nose again, she surely would have fallen asleep.

“That smell again?”

As the unpleasant odor grew stronger, she opened her eyes. Looking around, there was no one else in the car she had boarded.

As she looked around, her gaze fell on the adjacent car, where someone was riding.

He was wearing armor that looked like a diving suit with black alloy plates attached over it.

“A police officer?”

Being a reporter, she knew well what the person was wearing. That suit was a power armor worn by armed police.

“Wearing a helmet and mask in the middle of the night. Where is he going dressed like that?”

Not only was his attire strange, but his behavior was peculiar too. Despite there being no one else in the adjacent car, the officer was standing in the same position rather than sitting down.

“What a strange fellow.”

But she didn’t suspect that an armed police officer in power armor would be a suspicious person, so she lost interest and closed her eyes.

While her eyes were closed, the police officer who had been standing still moved and approached this car. When he opened the partition door and entered this car, the car shook slightly.

“Ah, what… huh?”

The shaking of the car woke her up just as she was falling asleep.

Opening her eyes, she could finally see the reflection of the inside of the car in the reinforced glass.

In the car she had boarded, she was the only “human.”

–

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I swung my tail low and tripped Kevin’s legs as she tried to escape. Due to the pheromone effect of my mimicry organ, ordinary people couldn’t see my tail. Thanks to this, she tripped over my tail and fell ungracefully.

“Hii, hiiiek! P-please spare me!”

Of course I can’t spare her. I gave her a shot of venom to quiet her down.

“Phew, I almost lost her earlier.”

Originally, I had planned to lure and pounce on her during the light check, but some man interfered and nearly ruined everything. Unfortunately, that man had seen me crawling up from the other side of the tracks.

It was also difficult to eliminate the man as well.

The man’s position was near the stairs and close to the lights, so he was fully exposed to the cameras. It wasn’t easy for me to deal with him while hiding in a dark spot to avoid the cameras.

“Killing him would be easy with a spine shot, but the aftermath would be problematic.”

While I was contemplating whether to deal with the reporter later because of the man, fortunately, a train arrived. When Kevin boarded the train, I followed her.

The man belatedly shouted at her to run away immediately, but Kevin didn’t hear him.

“A reporter who dies because she doesn’t listen to others.”

Well, life is inherently ironic.

Her face was a mess with mascara smeared by tears. Her mouth, paralyzed after screaming, was drooling.

“…”

What might she be thinking right now?

That she doesn’t want to die? Or simply fear at encountering a monster?

“It doesn’t really matter.”

What matters is that she will soon become nutrients for creating a nest.

I reached out, grabbed her head, and twisted it. With a sound like rubber being torn, her head was ripped off.

The reporter, who had tormented others with words throughout her life, died in silence at the end.

I opened my mouth wide and swallowed the reporter’s head in one bite.

“Hmm. Not bad.”

For a reporter, she must have eaten and lived well, as the taste wasn’t too bad. She was probably the best-tasting human I’d eaten since coming to the space city.

“It’s strange. Volf, which are closer to animals, didn’t taste like this, yet humans do.”

While Volf didn’t taste bad, the fur made eating them a bit troublesome. The fur kept getting stuck in my teeth while eating.

“Plus they smell musky.”

And to think I have to eat 18 more of those Volfs.

“Come to think of it, I have a tooth enhancement trait too, I hope that comes out.”

The reporter worked with her mouth too, so maybe a tooth trait will emerge.

“…Well, let’s finish my meal.”

Shaking off unnecessary thoughts, I finished devouring my prey.

And then…

“‘Juvenile->Subadult’ evolution condition partially fulfilled.

Shapeshifting sentient beings 2/20 (not achieved), humanoid sentient beings 13/20 (not achieved), psychic power using sentient beings 0/20 (not achieved)”

“Predation effect activated! Successfully acquired ‘Bite Force’ gene essence.”

“Stole ‘Bite Force’ biological trait from ‘Human’.”

“Would you like to apply ‘Bite Force’?”

“Oh?”

An unexpected stroke of luck occurred.