Ch.5Chapter 5. Reunion with That Woman

I later found out that I had swum 10 miles.

No wonder I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion.

The place I arrived at in my completely drained state was some beach in Cuba.

I immediately passed out, and I heard that the next morning, a couple who came to enjoy surfing found me and took me to the hospital.

“You’ll be able to walk after a while. But you’ll inevitably have a slight limp.”

“Can’t you fix it so I don’t limp?”

“We could cut off the pinky toe on the other foot too.”

“……”

As expected, the burns weren’t too severe.

One pinky toe was completely cooked and had to be amputated, but besides that, there was almost no permanent damage.

They said if I applied cream properly, everything else would return to normal soon.

By the way, the government covered the cost of the cream and hospitalization.

They said I’d have to pay it back later. Those fuckers.

While I was in the hospital, I immediately contacted the Audit Office and ratted out the warden and those guard bastards.

I told them those assholes had removed the heat sinks trying to turn me into human barbecue.

All I had to do was occasionally appear as a witness, and the Audit Office would collect evidence and fight on my behalf.

Those bastards can’t resist investigating administrative agencies.

I heard they were especially eager to crack down on those space station guys who were killing inmates in space where supervision was limited.

They’ll probably all be stripped of their positions.

By the time my amputation wound had healed and I could walk properly, guys from the Justice Department came and dragged me to America.

“Prisoner number 220. Jinsoo Kim. Is that correct?”

“Ah, yes. Except for the strange pronunciation, that’s about right.”

“According to the black box recording, you killed an alien life form on the condition of parole. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“However, parole is a disposition granted only to model prisoners, which is difficult to apply in this case. Therefore, we are granting you a special pardon, exempting you from serving your sentence.”

“…Pardon?”

It was only after the prosecutor explained it to me carefully that I understood—a special pardon meant becoming a regular citizen again.

Parole meant serving your sentence in society while still being a criminal.

I hadn’t expected much, but I received an upgraded disposition.

After the decision came down, I returned my prison uniform and immediately left the courthouse.

The first breath of air as a free person was… suffocating.

You could say my future looked bleak.

While in the labor camp, I used to daydream about what I’d do once I got out, but now that I was actually out, I couldn’t think of anything.

No money. No idea what to do.

Now I understood why Brooks committed suicide.

Oh, I wonder if kids these days know that movie.

Still, I was one of the lucky ones.

While bouncing between part-time jobs because no one would hire ex-cons, I met someone who showed me kindness.

He ran a tiny gas station outside LA and, feeling sorry for my situation, asked if I wanted to work as a full-time employee.

I had no reason to refuse.

I think this was when I really started to change my ways.

I quit smoking and visiting brothels, and alcohol… I couldn’t quite give it up, so I occasionally drank the cheapest soju. I didn’t touch drugs at all.

With room and board provided, and clothes given to me by the owner who said they belonged to his son, my money kept accumulating.

I had long since paid back the hospitalization and cream costs I owed to Cuba.

“You’re being a good son, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. My own son wanted to work at that station over there rather than here.”

“Where does your son work now?”

“He’s dead. Overdosed on drugs.”

The old man stared off into the distance at the dark high-rise buildings.

It was the downtown area with infrastructure concentrated around LA Station—the entire downtown area was sometimes called “the Station.”

If his son died from drugs, he probably wasn’t much of a student either.

If he were alive, he’d probably be working at this gas station.

As for me, I was just grateful he died without taking this job.

I worked like an ox for about a year.

Then the government made an offer to buy the gas station property.

It was more of an eviction order than an offer.

They said traffic had increased, and they wanted to build an automated gas station or something.

Even though I hadn’t asked for it, I received part of the compensation.

The owner gave me 30% of it, saying it was thanks to me that he was able to hold onto the gas station until selling it to the government.

I’m not sure if he was foolish or just kind.

As soon as the gas station disappeared, we went our separate ways.

The owner left to spend the rest of his life resting peacefully in the countryside.

I headed to the city to start a business.

With $200,000 in hand, it was enough to start a one-person business.

At first, my business was little more than a scam.

I made and sold stickers that supposedly blocked electromagnetic waves to avoid government surveillance.

Fortunately, there were more idiots in the slums than I had anticipated, and the stickers sold like hotcakes.

Strangely, it wasn’t just slum dwellers who bought them—middle-class people from downtown did too.

Actually, they bought even more.

As I started to enjoy it, I expanded to selling electromagnetic wave-blocking headbands.

Soon enough, I witnessed the bizarre spectacle of drug addicts in the slums staggering around wearing cat ears.

But then an accountant showed up demanding a refund for the stickers and headbands his mother had bought, exposing the scam, and I had to flee the slums under a hail of stones.

Fuck, how did an accountant come from a drug addict’s womb?

If it weren’t for him, I would have been selling electromagnetic wave-blocking anal plugs too.

Anyway, after that day, I changed my ways again.

I felt like I might get a bullet in the back of my head if I continued deceiving people.

My hard-earned savings had surpassed $500,000, so now I could start a legitimate business.

I developed a simple pistol modification kit that I had been planning for a while.

It was a kit that extended the barrel of old-style pistols and enabled automatic firing, essentially turning them into submachine guns.

It was quite popular because there was nothing complicated to operate—you just opened the kit, put the old pistol inside, and the modification was complete—plus it was much cheaper than a submachine gun.

Just when I was starting to enjoy some success, a large corporation immediately offered to acquire it, and I sold it without hesitation.

Later I found out they developed it further into an electronic version with recoil control, but they went completely bankrupt when related regulations were created.

By then, my assets had well exceeded $1 million.

I bought a modest house of about 20 pyeong (about 700 square feet) for $800,000.

Houses near the Station were way beyond $1 million.

It was just a street on the outskirts, somewhat removed from the slums and not too far from the Station.

At least I didn’t have to worry about hearing drug addicts whining or gunshots every night.

Just having a peaceful house dramatically improved my quality of life. I even cut down on drinking.

As my nasty personality improved, I regained a sense of leisure in life.

I think I might be considered middle class by now.

I had finally returned to where I was before becoming a criminal.

Around the time I was looking for a house, I also got a job.

Thanks to my experience directly maintaining engines in space, I was hired as an engineer at a company that makes plasma engines.

Though they call me an engineer, I’m more like an advisor who gives advice on which parts of the engine tend to break down in space environments.

It’s inevitable that I’m treated quite differently from the engineers who studied proper engineering.

I still have mountains to learn.

Somehow, I’m also seeing a woman.

I hit on her at a pub while drunk and ended up making a date.

Judging by her clothes, she seemed like a rich man’s daughter—I wonder why she’s with me…

Anyway, in the three years since my release, strangely good things have happened.

Perhaps due to the change in environment, my rotten personality has changed considerably.

I haven’t sworn once in nearly a year.

The crazy Jinsoo Kim from the labor camp is gone.

The revolutionary Jinsoo Kim who smashed the work leader’s head in a fit of rage is dead.

I was about to make a fresh start with a new foundation, a new job, and a new love.

Until an uninvited guest appeared.

“I’ve come as promised.”

“……”

Silver hair, childlike height.

And a small, perky chest that looked like a B… no, an A cup.

It was that monster—that creature wearing human skin.

“Ah, fuck.”

I had forgotten.

I had completely forgotten about this fucking creature.

Come to think of it, she had threatened to expose her identity if she didn’t come find me.

What sense of responsibility made me act like that back then…?

“Oh, you’re here? Then you can leave now.”

“What are you saying? I told you I would reveal my identity if I didn’t come to you…”

“I won’t reveal it. Okay? So please get out.”

Thud!

When I tried to close the door, a foot slipped inside.

This fucking creature was blocking the door with a shameless face.

“What? I really won’t expose you. So go out and kill people or do whatever you want.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m hungry.”

“……”

A sound like thunder rumbled from her stomach.

“I don’t have food for you.”

“I’ll scream here. A woman’s scream seems to be quite a weapon in human society.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake…”

She’s learned all the wrong things in these three years.

In the end, I had no choice but to open the door and let her in.

I had planned to eat mac and cheese for breakfast after a quick jog, but when I served it, she grabbed the pot and stuck her hand in.

“Ack…”

“Idiot. Humans use things called utensils.”

“Tsk. How pitiful to have a body that must rely on tools. If the body were strong enough, such metal pieces wouldn’t be necessary.”

Seeing that she seemed to be in pain from the heat, I gave her a spoon, but instead of thanking me, she said this crap.

I’m really just going to feed her and kick her out. This fucking bitch.

“So what have you been doing for three years that you’re only coming now?”

“I was in a place called a hospital for quite a while. As soon as I got out, I followed the scent I buried in you.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“What did you ride that took so long?”

“Ride what?”

“Don’t tell me you walked?”

Oh my god.

Are you saying you walked across the entire United States?

No wonder her clothes were not just dirty but completely worn out.

This is driving me crazy.

“Along the way, people driving large metal things gave me rides and food.”

“You mean hitchhiking.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Huh. Do you have any money? Didn’t they ask for anything in return?”

“Every one of them tried to touch my body. So I killed them.”

“No, you fucking—”

Those black stains on her T-shirt. Was that dried blood?

I immediately got up and pulled back the blinds to check the road.

Fortunately, there were no sirens or police cars in sight.

“Why the fuck did you kill people?”

“I made them pay for the crime of trying to touch my body carelessly.”

“Sigh… In human society, it’s not you who makes them pay for that crime. It’s the state.”

“Why? I’m the one affected.”

“That’s how society is structured. Humans surrender all power to the state.”

“I never surrendered anything.”

“The owner of your body did. Fuck, is this so difficult? Then think of it simply. If you’re caught killing someone, you’ll be captured by people called police and locked up. Got it?”

“What if I don’t get caught?”

“Don’t try to be clever, you little shit. Just don’t kill people when I tell you not to. Understand?”

“……”

This fucking creature. Look at her not answering until the end.

She really only knows how to speak human language—her ethical views are completely at odds with humans.

Fuck, how did I get tangled up with this beast?

“Um… do you have any memories of that girl?”

“You mean the owner of this body?”

“Yes, that.”

“No. I’ve already eaten away this body’s brain, and my core has taken its place.”

Wow. Fuck, you’re a piece of shit from birth.

“Why don’t you just pop out again and crawl into a dog or cat? That would be more comfortable for you.”

“Impossible. Once I settle in, I need to stay settled for… in human units, about 20 years before I can develop the organ to eject my core again.”

“So you’re saying you have to stay trapped in that body for the next 20 years?”

“That’s right.”

That means if I kill her now, she won’t be able to find a new body and will die.

My eyes went to the kitchen knife.

While she had her head buried in the pot, I secretly grabbed the kitchen knife and hid it behind my back.

“What do you want to do from now on?”

“It’s my nature to live by parasitizing here and there. But from what I can see, humans seem to be the apex predators on this Earth. I have no intention of moving to another body.”

“I see. But you have no intention of adapting to human society.”

Killing people is your instinct.

Even if you live longer, it’s obvious you’ll be caught and dissected by scientists.

Wouldn’t it be better for both you and humanity if you died by my hand here?

“That’s not true.”

“What?”

“I want to blend in. This is where I’ll live for the rest of my life. If possible, I want to learn how to behave like a human.”

I dropped the knife.

The small metallic sound of the knife slipping from my hand and rolling on the floor echoed.

I had to admit it now.

This alien is truly trying to live as a human.

She’s trying to learn human thinking, ethics, and legal awareness.

If that’s the case, is it right to kill this being just because I find it disgusting?

Don’t I, who brought this creature to Earth, have a responsibility to guide it on the right path?

These thoughts made me feel ashamed of my actions moments ago.

Seeing this creature after so long, I seemed to have temporarily reverted to the broken personality of my prisoner days.

If she has the will, blending into human society shouldn’t be too difficult.

Above all, her appearance is that of a silver-haired beautiful girl.

“Hey, what’s that thing sticking out from the back of your skirt?”

“Oh, this. A tentacle.”

“Son of a bitch.”

She turned around and slightly lifted her skirt.

There was a tail growing from her buttocks, swaying back and forth.

How the fuck am I supposed to deal with that?

I felt an overwhelming urge to stab her to death again.