NOVEL WEB Chapter 96
The scene of students and teachers looking down from the control room seemed like they still didn’t quite grasp what was happening.
Some students, who looked like they knew the girl, covered their mouths or fidgeted at the more gruesome death than I had imagined, but that was about it.
If they had understood the situation, they wouldn’t have simply been shocked or praised Ain’s struggle.
Their calmness was purely because they thought Ain would come out of this unharmed. If they knew even a little of the truth…
They’d be going completely bonkers like that girl.
One good thing was that at least the kids under me weren’t so fragile as to panic like that girl.
“T-Team leader, am I, am I getting fired? Ah, that can’t happen, I haven’t even saved enough for my mom’s citizenship yet—”
A rookie who was of no help was flailing around in fear, wandering the control room.
Still, at least she had the self-control not to bolt out of the room.
I realized I’d underestimated her, and corrected her.
“It would be lucky if it was just you getting fired. I mean, it would be nice if it ended with all of us just getting fired…”
Even if she’s a bit dim, the rookie understood what I meant, solidifying in place since she was talent enough to be hired by Heros Company.
“So, pull yourself together, newbie. If not, today’s mistake will be the third most terrible thing in your life.”
After getting the rookie in line, I instructed the operator to summarize the current situation.
“Yes, let me summarize. The suit that Ain is wearing seems to have been created from a Mimic. For some reason, it has fused… or infiltrated her body, applying the Mimic’s qualities to Ain.”
“So that collar thing was a control device. But before that, what kind of crazy idiot thought of turning a Mimic into a suit?!”
“Well, we requested information from the Hero Association, but they insisted they were just processing the ‘Black Slime’ from Heros Company…”
“Contact the material research department right now and make them spill what they sent to the Association. Or I’ll show up with a knife!”
“Uh… T-Team leader? What does a Mimic have to do with Ain’s vital signs being in danger…?”
The rookie showed her cluelessness during all this.
I wanted to smack her on the head, but that would hurt her career evaluation, so I held back my anger and kindly explained.
“You know the technology we’re testing flips the reality and illusion of a specific space, right? So anything that happens inside is nothing once you get outside?”
“What, do you think I don’t know that? I graduated as the top student from grad school!”
Ah, bragging, huh? Most people here are top students too.
“…Well, good for you, top student. But how can someone like you not know the nature of a Mimic?”
“Well, it’s just not my field of expertise… Hehe…”
“A Mimic’s illusion is its essence. Illusion is reality. So that means it doesn’t get affected by our technology at all!”
“Wait a second, so the Mimic in that suit is partially synchronized with Ain… and that means Ain’s real self has become like that…? That’s why the vital signs look like that?!”
I looked at the rookie who was finally catching on, but shouted for an update on the contact.
“Well, the material research department did respond. But…”
“But what?”
“They said there’s a condition…”
“Damn it. After this photo goes up, we’ll see what’s what. Just accept it!”
“Yes, they said they’ll unconditionally accept it… Thanks. They thought it was a peculiar type of Black Slime and only realized it was a Mimic late in the research.”
“Those psychopaths. They sent it out knowing it was a Mimic? Why are there no real people in the company…”
“T-Team leader! Look! Ain’s vital signs are recovering! Her body functions are improving too!”
Just as I was clutching my head and kicking the floor in frustration, the rookie mentioned Ain’s condition was getting better.
I wasn’t happy about it at all.
“…Rookie. Just to ask, what do you think is inside her?”
What’s inside her has to be a Mimic wearing Ain’s skin, after all.
It must have taken over her brain functions too, and as if to show that, Ain’s body was now moving as a Mimic.
“If that’s the case, then we need to stop it right now…”
“Ugh, has that girl only been studying? Don’t you know if we stop now it’s curtains for us?! Manipulate the records and focus the monsters around her! We need to eliminate whatever that is before we figure out what’s going on!”
No matter what, we had to deal with that. If a student turned into a monster, our heads would be on the line first.
—
Even though it had started to corrode me, maybe since the essence was my mind, things happened as I imagined.
Therefore, it wasn’t hard to fillet a black mass in the form of a boy that was smaller than me.
I threaded a skewer through my left palm and made it stick out of my right palm, then did it vertically with a similar technique, and from there, I played around with every imaginable method.
I tried observing the insides after the dissection, just like I experienced, and even cut off my hand with a hammer I had been imagining since forever.
It was fun.
It felt refreshing and exhilarating, like finally gulping water after crossing a desert for a week and dropping my head into an oasis.
Indeed, it seems like people live according to their nature upon being born.
It would have been great if I was born good, but what can I do about my wicked nature? I’m not the kind of great person who can overcome their nature.
I had no idea if I was dying or not, just carefully playing with not getting too damaged.
-Kill me
The suit finally spoke.
“Later.”
I wanted to play a bit more. It wasn’t enough yet. I hadn’t satisfied my sadistic urges completely. Just a bit more.
-Initiating self-deletion of the subject’s self before transferring primary function
What? It can die by itself. Why do you want me to kill you if you can do that?
As I watched the boy turn into black dust, I shoved a blade into his chest before his body turned entirely to powder.
-Incomprehensible fear. What on Earth are you?
Well, I definitely thought back then that I was broken. But now, I don’t even know what I am myself.
“Maybe a human who chose to be broken?”
I can’t guarantee it.
As if waking from a long slumber, my whole body felt heavy.
As I forcibly tried to rise, I barely deduced that I was in some sort of office.
Corpses were scattered around.
I thought I had been caught by a monster, but soon realized those corpses looked familiar.
They were the people I had saved. They looked in bad shape, but had they ultimately died?
Then this must be… where Minho moved the refugees.
How absurdly inefficient, to have moved my corpse all the way here.
But I didn’t mind at all. In fact, I was grateful. I felt thankful they cared for me that much.
Checking my neck, I found the one I broke was restored, as well as my hands, legs, and waist—all fine.
My body was still covered in black slime. But now, it felt completely like my own.
No, I even felt confident I could handle it better than my own body.
As I circulated my mana and checked my condition, I realized the suit had already infiltrated my brain. But my self was intact.
Hmm.
It seems like the suit was trying to corrode me, but it ended up getting devoured by me instead.
That serves you right, you bastard. Who told you to crawl upon me.
But how did having the core extracted form a self?
Just as I was pondering that, I dismissed the idea that the suit had just borrowed my brain a little to form a self.
There was no time to worry about the dead.
As I kicked the door open, the humans who looked as if they’d seen something they shouldn’t were staring at me wide-eyed.
Our teammate Darużej was certainly no exception.
“…I know it’s incredible that a dead person is alive, but could you not stare at me like that? I have some pride, you know?”
It was a joke, but it backfired as they screamed, and some even fainted.
At least Darużej pulled herself together and asked what was happening, but I honestly answered since I didn’t know either.
“I don’t know. I somehow came back to life.”
“Is that so? Still… it’s a relief. At least now there’s some good news to share when he returns. Although it’s a story for when he comes back…”
“More importantly, Darużej. How much time has passed? I couldn’t see the clock while being dead.”
“About 20 minutes.”
“Twenty minutes… huh, duck.”
“What?”
Without waiting for Darużej’s answer, I immediately shot the suit sharply.
The black spear sliced through the air, piercing a bird-like monster lurking behind him.
And truly without thinking, I ‘recalled’ the black spear.
I was surprised I even managed to recall it. The slime that had completely disconnected from my body shouldn’t have moved on my command.
Excited, I threw it again, then recalled it while marveling.
Before I knew it, a swarm of bird-like monsters had gathered around.
What perfect timing to test out my new ability!