Chapter 20: Malice (5)

What would it feel like to wake up and find your body merged with that of a monster?

Wouldn’t it be a very scary and terrifying feeling?

“Ugh, ugh…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Easy… I’m here for you!”

“…!!.!…!!”

In the end, I picked up the child who burst into tears at the sight of that horrifying sight and slowly patted his back.

Oh, really.

If you cry like that, I won’t be able to control the corners of my mouth.

As I convulsed my body to somehow lower the corners of my mouth, the monster in the test tube opened its mouth wide in my direction.

‘I don’t know what it’s saying, but it looks really urgent.

Pouting.

His pupils were half dilated.

It was like a human reacting to an unidentified monster.

Who on earth could he be so surprised by?

“Do you want to get out of there?”

“…!…!!”

“I can’t hear what you’re saying at all.

Okay, then just nod.

I’ll let you get out of there.”

Eyes mixed with fear and anticipation.

If it were just hope, it would have been terribly disgusting, but the despair blooming between the faint hope felt truly beautiful.

Gourmet, gourmet.

There really are a lot of these things underground?

Slurp.

‘Ugh, it’s delicious just imagining it…

I placed my hand on the test tube as the monster nodded with a determined look.

Why do you want to get out of there?

Because you’re locked in?

Or is there something you do outside?

‘You’ll definitely be treated like a monster, but is that okay?’

I shouldn’t say that, but even for me, who is slightly outside of human sensibilities, the monster in front of me looked truly repulsive.

I would say that I would immediately gag if I saw it at the dinner table.

Anything that wasn’t this or that just evoked disgust.

Jeez –

“It’s your choice, so do it yourself.”

Crunch-!!!

The test tube broke and the monster inside fell out.

It was definitely similar to when I took Tamako out of the test tube, but somehow I didn’t feel the same emotion.

Looking at this, it seemed that appearance was important.

If despair was so delicious that I didn’t care about appearance, then that would be another story, but I felt like there was no reason to help it any more.

“Ugh, gah-ah… extreme…”

The monster let out a painful groan as if it was having trouble breathing.

Before you get any more hurt, eat despair, despair.

I wondered what a half-human, half-monster creature would eat to survive, but since it was half-monster, I thought it would eat despair.

Of course, in order to eat despair, I had to go outside first.

‘He escapes with hope because he survived, but people treat him like a monster when they see his changed appearance…

Just imagining it is delicious.

For a moment, I thought about following the monster, but I was barely able to suppress my desire, thinking that this would only be the beginning.

Deeper than here, there must be a lot of things even better than that.

That’s for sure–It’ll definitely be an unimaginable delicacy.

So, for now, let’s go inside.

I swallowed the saliva that had gathered in my mouth and started walking deeper underground.

This place seemed like a banquet hall prepared just for me.

The atmosphere of the stairs leading down was scary; the child was shivering.

Hmm, a child’s despair is delicious.

It would be really nice if a child like this became a magical girl and despaired.

“Okay, I’m here with you, so don’t worry.”

“Uh, yeah…”

The way she tried to calm down while listening to the monster’s words was really cute.

What if she suddenly said, “Do I still look like the older sister you knew?” and bent her neck 90 degrees?

She’d probably faint from shock?

Knock, knock, knock.

… The stairs are longer than I thought.

How much did she want to be safe that she built a shelter so deep?

No, if you think about it, shouldn’t this be considered a standard shelter?

Knock, knock.

“Hey~ Is there anyone inside-“

After going down the spiral staircase, all that was visible was a small iron door.

The ‘No Entry for Authorized Personnel’ sign and the sticker indicating the dignity were a bit strange, but since I came this far, I didn’t want to go back, so I knocked first.

Open the door, please.

If you don’t open it, should I force my way in?

“…Sister, this time it might be ‘pull’ again.”

“Hmm, I think it’s ‘missio’ this time.”

Kickkickkick …

This door is a bit stronger.

I was a little impressed by the door that didn’t break even though it screamed when I pushed it lightly.

It’s such a strong door.

Even the door on the 5th floor of the shelter wasn’t this strong.

Kkkk…

A strange sensation that was both familiar and eerie was prickling my skin.

“Sister, this place feels weird…”

“That’s right.

First of all, this doesn’t seem like a shelter…”

For a shelter, there were a lot of miscellaneous items.

Even the items covered by large cloths gave off a rather eerie vibe.

Was this a place I wasn’t supposed to come in?

[Danger: Do not approach the test tube. The test subject may be stimulated.]

… Test subject?’

A sign attached to the large cloth.

I tilted my head at the meaningful words written on the sign.

There was a smell to this.

And it was a very familiar smell.

Shhh-

“Huh, Sister…!”

“This is…”

A monster?

No, a human?

… A monster?

Something that looked like a half-human and half-monster was inside a large test tube.

Shhhhhhh…

“Ew, uh, it moved…!”

“It didn’t move.

And don’t worry.

I’m here, right?”

“Uh, yeah…”

I calmed the child down and took a step closer to the test tube.

I feel like I’ve seen this a lot, but is it my imagination?

I’ve seen it so many times that I’ve forgotten it all.

Hmm, that was the moment I let out a drool and got a little closer.

‘Oh, my eyes are open!’

“…!!!!”

I let out a small exclamation at the monster’s eyes widening as it looked at me.

It seemed like the other side wasn’t in a situation to be exclaiming in admiration; they just rolled their eyes here and there with a confused expression.

A face that seemed to be saying that they didn’t know why they were trapped here.

Woof-

“How did you end up trapped here?”

“..”

I could feel the despair.

That was an overwhelming sense of despair.

It wasn’t comparable to that of a magical girl, but it was enough despair to function as a catalyst for the despair circuit.

What would it feel like to wake up and find your body merged with that of a monster?

Wouldn’t it be a very scary and terrifying feeling?

“Ugh, ugh…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Easy… I’m here for you!”

“…!!.!…!!”

In the end, I picked up the child who burst into tears at the sight of that horrifying sight and slowly patted his back.

Oh, really.

If you cry like that, I won’t be able to control the corners of my mouth.

As I convulsed my body to somehow lower the corners of my mouth, the monster in the test tube opened its mouth wide in my direction.

‘I don’t know what it’s saying, but it looks really urgent.

Pouting.

His pupils were half dilated.

It was like a human reacting to an unidentified monster.

Who on earth could he be so surprised by?

“Do you want to get out of there?”

“…!…!!”

“I can’t hear what you’re saying at all.

Okay, then just nod.

I’ll let you get out of there.”

Eyes mixed with fear and anticipation.

If it were just hope, it would have been terribly disgusting, but the despair blooming between the faint hope felt truly beautiful.

Gourmet, gourmet.

There really are a lot of these things underground?

Slurp.

‘Ugh, it’s delicious just imagining it…

I placed my hand on the test tube as the monster nodded with a determined look.

Why do you want to get out of there?

Because you’re locked in?

Or is there something you do outside?

‘You’ll definitely be treated like a monster, but is that okay?’

I shouldn’t say that, but even for me, who is slightly outside of human sensibilities, the monster in front of me looked truly repulsive.

I would say that I would immediately gag if I saw it at the dinner table.

Anything that wasn’t this or that just evoked disgust.

Jeez –

“It’s your choice, so do it yourself.”

Crunch-!!!

The test tube broke and the monster inside fell out.

It was definitely similar to when I took Tamako out of the test tube, but somehow I didn’t feel the same emotion.

Looking at this, it seemed that appearance was important.

If despair was so delicious that I didn’t care about appearance, then that would be another story, but I felt like there was no reason to help it any more.

“Ugh, gah-ah… extreme…”

The monster let out a painful groan as if it was having trouble breathing.

Before you get any more hurt, eat despair, despair.

I wondered what a half-human, half-monster creature would eat to survive, but since it was half-monster, I thought it would eat despair.

Of course, in order to eat despair, I had to go outside first.

‘He escapes with hope because he survived, but people treat him like a monster when they see his changed appearance…

Just imagining it is delicious.

For a moment, I thought about following the monster, but I was barely able to suppress my desire, thinking that this would only be the beginning.

Deeper than here, there must be a lot of things even better than that.

That’s for sure–It’ll definitely be an unimaginable delicacy.

So, for now, let’s go inside.

I swallowed the saliva that had gathered in my mouth and started walking deeper underground.

This place seemed like a banquet hall prepared just for me.