Chapter 22: 7496-KR

Chapter 22: 7496-KR

I’ve done a lot of self-reflection while trembling in the darkness.

The part where I complained silently about the lunchbox was what got me reflecting the most.

Who could possibly understand my slight trembling and discomfort?

So, will they suddenly blindfold me and move me somewhere else? Is this really the end?

Being sold in pieces as wobbly jelly...

Thinking about it, the kind voice of a woman somehow felt reassuring.

...Yes, she did betray me back then, but she said it was an unavoidable procedure.

Come to think of it, if I were in her shoes, I might have acted the same way.

I know I am not a danger, but do others not know that?

Emphasizing that I am a good jelly...

Ugh, I don’t know...

The darkness always makes me have all kinds of thoughts. A white room that feels claustrophobic is no different.

Sitting in that white space, only eating the food that comes periodically, unnecessary thoughts flood my mind, imagining all sorts of negative situations.

Nothing is decided yet.

If I had something to focus on, maybe I would feel a bit better.

As I’m lost in thought, I suddenly feel a sensation through my body that was sitting somewhere.

From the sound of thumping, it seems like we have arrived at our destination.

Then, there was a clunking sound.

Something wrapped around the box that enclosed me was removed.

And then, a space that looked like a very neat elevator appeared in sight.

I was being embraced by an intelligent and pretty woman, descending somewhere.

The woman doesn’t say anything in particular.

After a while of descending in a strange silence, the elevator stopped, and the door leading to the unknown swung open wide.

As we stepped outside with a clunking sound, an empty hallway came into view.

It wasn’t entirely deserted.

Here and there, you could see individuals wearing outfits that might remind you of office workers, even though they were scarce.

Every time the woman carrying me passed by, they slightly nodded their heads; it felt like the woman carrying me held quite a high position.

Even though they didn’t greet me, for some reason, I felt good.

They busily moved around, bustling past doors marked with a serial number and KR at the end. Behind them were people who somehow seemed familiar, like those I had seen in sewers.

...I wonder.

As I looked at them like that,

It felt like they were looking at me too. No, they were definitely looking at me.

Doesn’t the abyss gaze into you if you gaze into the abyss?

As I look at them, perhaps it’s only natural for them to look back at me.

But... something felt off.

I don’t know why, but I could sense hostility in the strong gazes of the people following those in white clothes. They seemed to look at me with faces full of anger, sending me heated glares.

If the person holding me wasn’t this woman, they would snatch me away immediately, stick me somewhere, and cause me unimaginable harm.

My body shrank from this unexplainable malice.

What did I do wrong? Why are they looking at me like that?

<!-- slime -->

“...Is this some kind of pet training, or what exactly is this?”

“...It’s not exactly the same, but you could say it’s similar.”

The man had a questioning expression, wondering what the point of this was.

Seeing the man’s uncertain expression, Han Seori shrugged her shoulders and gestured for him to look further at the screen.

The man thought there was nothing more to see.

“What on earth can you do with that squishy thing?”

Finally, the screen changed, showing Han Seori lifting the slime girl.

Seeing this, Han Seori stiffened, and the man watching let out a hollow laughter. The faces of those watching together became equally ambiguous.

The man who laughed bitterly advised Han Seori in a concerned tone.

“...Wouldn’t it be better to control your emotions? It seems there is some sort of mental contamination from that anomaly.”

“...It was just a form of reward. She likes it.”

“Although it doesn’t seem like it... oh well.”

Blushing, Han Seori quickly skipped the video.

Upon doing so, this time, a reasonably large piece of metal could be seen melting inside the slime girl’s body.

Even considering the fast playback, it was clear that the metal was melting rapidly.

Only then did the others, including the man, stiffen their faces and look at Han Seori.

“...Isn’t that dangerous? At that rate, even a person could be devoured quickly.”

“That’s why what I showed earlier is important. It’s to demonstrate there is no intention of harm from that anomaly.”

“...Hmmm.”

It indeed appeared that the slime girl was obedient.

More so than any other anomaly that had appeared so far.

While anomalies that helped humans exist, they were the exception rather than the rule.

Strictly speaking, they weren’t much of a help.

Even then, compared to the abundant anomalies that existed, the small anomaly currently on the screen was undoubtedly ‘anomalous’.

As the slime girl finished melting the huge piece of metal, a table filled with numbers appeared on the screen.

“What’s that?”

“It’s the result of measuring the weight after the anomaly has consumed a large object.”

The table on the screen indicated that the slime girl’s weight was gradually increasing. The man, noticing a sudden decrease in weight, asked.

“What caused the sudden decrease?”

Han Seori replied with a somewhat bitter expression.

“...It’s the result of a slight durability test. Her weight increased, but it was puzzling that the anomaly did not grow beyond a certain size, so I conducted an experiment...”

Han Seori’s expression did not look good when she was recalling that moment.

She had a worried look as if concerned about a pet, and the man could not hide his unease.

“When body parts are cut off, her weight decreases, and her body fills up again. So, if... enough energy is provided... she can regenerate infinitely.”

“I see.”

So, what are you trying to say?

The people gathered in the meeting room looked at Han Seori.

With eyes still full of questions, Han Seori took a shallow breath and said,

“What if we use that anomaly to investigate the characteristics of other anomalies? And in the future, could she be useful even when securing newly appeared anomalies?”

Contrary to what had been displayed on the screen so far, the proposal, which felt a bit harsh, stirred up the meeting room with noise and unrest.