Chapter 185

As my sister stepped onto the circle, a translucent membrane enveloped her body.

*‘No! Please don’t go!’*

I bit my tongue, stopping the words swirling in my mouth.

I forced my eyes wide open, etching her final image into my memory.

Trapped within the membrane, she didn’t take her eyes off me either. Her lips moved incessantly.

Shinwoo, I love you. I love you. I love you.

A sudden heat rushed to my eyes, and a tear fell. Tears that had dried up when my body began to turn into a monster.

I bit my lip without realizing it. I felt like I was about to burst into sobs. Like I was about to scream that I wanted to live with her, too.

The translucent membrane turned white and then vanished without a sound.

My sister was gone. She had moved to the 120th floor.

Only then did the strength drain from my body. I let go of Cha Dohwan and collapsed to the floor.

“Noooo! I’m the hero! It’s me!”

Freed from my grasp, Cha Dohwan scrambled over and felt the floor where the circle had been.

There was nothing there. Just a pristine white floor, without even a footprint.

Cha Dohwan spun around. Bloodshot eyes, white foam at the corners of his mouth, pupils trembling erratically.

It was the typical state of a human whose mind had been corrupted by the underground dungeon.

I had noticed Cha Dohwan wasn’t right since the 117th floor. His aura had subtly changed, and a sinister energy had begun to appear in his words and gaze.

But it wasn’t my problem to worry about. I was too busy taking care of my sister, who was suffering from the shock she’d received on the 117th floor.

Of course, I wasn’t in good shape either. As soon as we entered the underground dungeon, my monsterization accelerated as if it had been waiting.

I told my sister I had been working part-time while we were apart, but that was a lie.

Whenever my murderous intent toward humans grew stronger, I barely held it back by chewing on my own flesh. How could someone like me work alongside others?

The money we had earned clearing gates was more than enough to live on. What I needed was human flesh and blood.

So I locked myself in the house. I sat still all day, staring at the wall.

It was the same at night. Sleeping pills didn’t work. I had to endure 24 hours of intense murderous intent and hunger.

Then, the worst incident happened in Gyeonggi Province.

Public opinion, needing a scapegoat, targeted my sister. So-called psychoanalysts arbitrarily defined our personalities, and the news showed her front door, ruined with graffiti and raw eggs. It was nothing short of a witch hunt.

I couldn’t stand by any longer. The thought of needing to see my sister overpowered my appetite for humans.

But I shouldn’t have. If I had just stayed cooped up at home, I wouldn’t have run into that drunk, and my picture wouldn’t have been taken and published in an article.

After that, my sister chose to enter the dungeon. Then, my impending trial date was suddenly postponed, and the drunk contacted me.

He said he would drop the charges if I agreed to a settlement.

Only then did I realize it. My sister’s decision to enter the dungeon was because of me.

I couldn’t leave my sister to sacrifice herself for me again. Not even knowing that my monsterization would accelerate inside the underground dungeon.

As expected, my patience eroded even faster in the underground dungeon. When I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep, I could feel everything.

The scent of humans from all directions, the sound of their breathing, the beat of their pulses.

I was so hungry my insides felt twisted, and it was driving me mad to have to leave prey alone when I could just reach out and devour them.

If I relaxed my guard for even a moment, my eyes would follow the napes of their necks. Endless fantasies of tearing into them and drinking the blood that would gush out like a fountain. At times like that, I had to secretly swallow the saliva that filled my mouth.

That’s why on the 118th floor, my sister and I stayed alone near the elevator. It was to get as far away from the humans as possible.

Fortunately, I felt no appetite for my sister. The problem was that my lust for her grew just as strong, but I endured it while taking care of her as she suffered.

“Hah…”

I looked at the white ceiling and smiled faintly. Looking back, I think that was the happiest time.

To see my sister, who had always been so strong, in such a weakened state. Of course, I was worried and felt sorry for her pain. But in a dark corner of my heart, there was a part of me that rejoiced.

Weakened, my sister would look for me first thing upon waking. She grew anxious if I wasn’t in sight, and the moment I appeared, she would immediately fall into my arms. It was so ecstatic I had to suppress a groan.

*Ah, I wish my sister would stay sick forever.*

I felt so good that I had that thought over and over. If I could, I wanted to live in the dungeon with just her.

What if she didn’t like it? I’d just lock her up. If she still tried to run, I’d break her legs.

My thoughts were already closer to a monster’s than a human’s. And I had more than enough power to act on them.

Come to think of it, this seems like the best possible ending. Because someday, I would have devoured her.

*‘Still, I could have held back for a while longer… I wanted to be with her for just a few more years, no, even a few more months…’*

Yes, it was much better to part like this than to endure and endure, only to eventually run away from her side.

*‘Now she’ll never be able to forget you. She’ll think of you, and only you, until the day she dies.’*

The monster in my heart whispered vilely and snickered. When I touched my face, my own lips were curved into a smile.

*‘I guess I’ve really become a monster.’*

To be smiling like this when facing death. It was a relief my sister had left without seeing this horrifying side of me.

“Fuck, you filthy bastard!”

Just then, Cha Dohwan charged at me, a longsword in his hand.

“It’s your fault! Because of you, I’m going to die a dog’s death too!”

I remained still.

“Die! Die!”

Cha Dohwan shrieked and stabbed me with the longsword. I felt the sharp sensation of the blade piercing through my body.

Blood burst from my mouth. A pain like being burned alive seized my entire body. Blood gushed out as if from an open faucet.

But thanks to my cursed regenerative ability, an attack like this wouldn’t kill me.

If the sword were removed, the pierced skin would knit back together, my destroyed organs would regenerate, and I would live again. Consuming something strengthens the regeneration even more. To kill me, one would have to destroy my heart in a single blow.

Leaving the sword that impaled me, I grabbed Cha Dohwan by the collar and pulled him close.

“It was you.”

“Wh-what! Let go of me! Where are you touching me with those filthy hands!”

“That drunk. You sent him, didn’t you? To lure my sister into the dungeon.”

“Yes, I sent him! But what does that matter now? We’re trapped! There’s no exit, no matter how hard we look! Ye Shinwoo! Are you listening? You and I will have to kill ourselves in here!”

“No, I’m the only one killing myself.”

“What are you talking about??”

“Because you’re going to be eaten by me.”

“What?”

I grabbed Cha Dohwan’s nervously contorted face with one hand and pushed it aside. Then, I opened my mouth inhumanly wide and sank my sharp teeth into his exposed neck.

“Gack!”

After sucking down a mouthful of blood, I clenched my jaw and tore the flesh away. Cha Dohwan’s body convulsed.

“Aah…”

My eyes closed on their own. A moan escaped my lips, and I was on the verge of ecstasy.

It felt as if a blocked vessel had finally cleared. My nerves, always on edge, relaxed, and vitality surged through me. I smiled and confessed to Cha Dohwan.

“You… are delicious.”

Cha Dohwan couldn’t even scream, his mouth just opened and closed. Tears streamed endlessly from his terrified eyes.

Seeing him, I felt no pity. Instead, my insides roared. *Devour it now.*

I should have done this sooner. Why did I hold back on something so delicious?

I licked my blood-stained lips. Then, I opened my mouth wide and swallowed Cha Dohwan.

Before I knew it, my body’s regeneration was complete.

I sat down haphazardly on the ruined floor. Then I touched my face, wondering if it had turned monstrous.

Even if my mind had become a monster’s, I hoped my face hadn’t changed. Because it’s the face my sister likes…

For no reason, a drop of water fell from my eye. *What is this?* The moment I stared at it blankly, I heard footsteps.

I quickly looked up and saw a figure in a white suit.

I couldn’t tell their gender from their appearance alone. They looked like a tall woman, but also like a man.

Honestly, their gender didn’t matter. They were breathtakingly beautiful.

*‘How is a human here… No, this isn’t a human.’*

The aura they exuded was entirely different from a human’s. It was so overwhelming I couldn’t rashly lift my head. I could even feel a divine energy.

Most importantly, I felt no maddening appetite. This being was not human.

The being standing before me tilted its head, meeting my gaze.

“How strange. To think you still maintain your reason.”

“What are you?”

“I am the Administrator who presides over the scenario, and the one who governs the 128th planet, Nute. Simply put, a god.”

Scenario.

I had heard about it a few times from my sister. The Constellations said the world’s destruction began because of the Administrator’s scenario.

“You… you made the world like this?”

“It was not I who made the world this way, but you, child. I may have written the scenario, but you are the ones who act it out.”

Nute reached out and gently lifted my chin. Their steady gaze held a hint of interest.

“I’ve never seen a being like you before. An ambiguous lifeform, neither human nor monster. Why would that child have created such a thing?”

Nute seemed interested, yet displeased. A god wouldn’t likely approve of a being like me, who defies providence.

What if they harmed my sister for creating something like me? I bared my teeth fiercely.

“Leave my sister alone!”

“So fierce, just for mentioning her. Child, I have no intention of doing anything to that girl. She is a child with nothing but misfortune left.”

Nothing but misfortune left for my sister. The image of her crying appeared in my mind, and my heart sank.

“Is something going to happen to my sister? Is that it?”

“The apocalypse has ended, hasn’t it? It is time to clear the pieces from the board.”