Convict Unit: Black Parade

The five Secret Service agents guarding Dia were all Shape-Shifters—enemies who had infiltrated the team to kill her.

“Lies…” Dia mumbled vacantly, stunned.

Jae-hee shrieked, clutching her in his arms.

“Uwaaah! It’s Shape-Shifters again!”

“‘Again’…?”

“A-anyway! We need to call for backup, right now…!”

Just as Jae-hee raised a hand to his in-ear device, one of the Secret Service agents pulled a small, radio-like object from his coat and activated it.

Pzzt-ch-ch-chk—

A harsh burst of static erupted from their earpieces. The convict team grimaced, tearing out the devices that were now spewing white noise.

“A jammer…?!”

It was a scrambler, designed to block all communications.

With a hiss, Ghost crushed the broken device in her fist. “You bastards really came prepared.”

Shing! Shing! Shing!

The Secret Service agents—no, the unidentified enemies disguised as agents—leveled their weapons.

“I’ll handle these scum,” Ghost said, drawing her black blade, Void Trinity. She jutted her chin at the other prisoners. “You just focus on giving Her Highness the grand tour.”

Jae-hee didn’t argue. He just spun around. “Let’s go.”

“Eh? But will she be okay on her own desu?!”

“My master is strong. The safest way to protect Miss Dia is to get away from them.”

“But still…”

Status Window broke into a cold sweat as he looked at the path leading deeper into the dungeon.

“This isn’t the way to the entrance, it’s the way to the center desu…”

They had no choice. The enemy had the entrance blocked. There was no telling what other traps they had prepared.

If they tried to force their way through and were met with a suicide bomb, Dia would be in grave danger.

It was safer to head for the center of this micro-dungeon, destroy the Core, and clear it that way.

Jae-hee bolted deeper into the cave.

“See you later, Master!”

“Yeah.”

The other prisoners scrambled to follow him.

In Jae-hee’s arms, Dia kept looking back over her shoulder, her eyes wide with bewilderment.

“Gah!”

“After them—”

The agents moved to give chase but flinched and stumbled back when Ghost swung her sword, carving a deep line into the ground.

Resting the flat of the blade on her shoulder, Ghost used her free hand to slowly pull out a cigarette, place it between her lips, and expertly light it with a match.

“So, you’re the faction that opposes the Awakened Protection Act?”

“…”

“And you planned to kill—or maybe kidnap—the President’s daughter to send him a warning?”

One of the disguised enemies offered a bitter smirk. “You don’t know anything.”

“Hmm?”

“You have no idea what it took for us to accept this mission. You’re just a goddamn convict.”

“Of course I don’t know if you don’t tell me. Go on. What did it take?”

The unidentified enemies gritted their teeth as they prepared for battle.

“For a brighter future for our homeland.”

“Haha.” Ghost huffed in disbelief. “Why do criminals always have to be so damn grandiose with their self-justification?”

“Get her!”

The five Shape-Shifters charged, weapons in hand and parts of their bodies morphing into sharp blades.

Ghost took one last drag from her cigarette and flicked it aside. Her bound white hair flew behind her as she rushed forward to meet them.

***

“Will you put me down?” Dia asked, her voice drained of energy.

Jae-hee blinked his wide eyes as they ran deeper into the dungeon.

“But I need to…”

“It’s fine. Please.”

Jae-hee stopped and carefully set her down.

Dia staggered, steadying herself against the wall as her body trembled uncontrollably.

“I can’t believe it. To think there was a faction targeting me, hidden within the Secret Service itself…”

“…”

“I… I never noticed. They were all such good people. Why…?”

She glared straight ahead, eyes brimming with tears of fury.

“I will not forgive them. How could they betray me like this? I’ll have their three… no, nine generations exterminated—”

Squelch!

Something dropped from the ceiling, right onto the convict team’s heads.

Rabid Dog reacted instantly, swiping with his forepaw. The Doctor, too, dodged to the side.

But Status Window couldn’t react in time, and Jae-hee had to whip his leg around to kick away the creatures that had fallen on their heads.

They were small slimes. They must have been waiting for an opening to ambush them.

“Whoa, that was close…?”

Jae-hee was about to say how close that had been, but he snapped his mouth shut.

Splat…

While he had been protecting Status Window, a slime had dropped onto Dia’s head.

Her face now covered by the gelatinous, transparent creature, Dia blinked in confusion before letting out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Gaaaaaaaaah!”

The convicts screamed, too.

“Get it off me, quickly! Quic—” Her breath cut off, Dia began to foam at the mouth before slumping sideways, gurgling.

Jae-hee barely managed to catch her, shrieking in terror.

“Waaaaaaah! The President’s daughter is dead!”

Another wave of slimes rained down on the panicking convicts.

This time, no one was fast enough.

Splat!

***

“Wake up, Boy.”

The voice was androgynous.

“I said, wake up.”

“Nnngh… Razor bro, just one more minute…”

“I’m not Razor.”

“Just one more minute…”

“I’ll beat you for one minute.”

Slap, slap.

The sharp sting of a latex-gloved hand slapping his cheeks forced Jae-hee’s eyes open.

He was looking up at the Doctor.

“Huh, Doctor…?”

“That’s right. Get up. You were unconscious for about five minutes.”

“I was unconscious…? Hah!”

Jae-hee shot up. “Right! My face was covered by a slime! I thought we were all going to suffocate and die!”

“We almost did.”

“How are you okay… Oh.”

Looking at the Doctor, Jae-hee finally understood.

Lab goggles and a mask.

Whether a slime covered her face or not, the Doctor was in no danger of suffocating.

“So that’s why you always wear goggles and a mask, Doctor! You’re a genius!”

“Well… that wasn’t the intention. But it did save me.”

While the other convicts were flailing and suffocating under the slimes, the Doctor had calmly peeled off her own assailant and then rescued the others.

Dia, of course, was also unharmed.

“How dare you defile my face…! You monsters, I’ll have all twenty-seven generations of your families exterminated—!”

Dia’s pale face was flushed bright red, whether from the slime’s irritation or sheer rage.

The scope of her genocidal retribution was also increasing by a power of three each time.

After confirming that everyone was safe, the Doctor gestured to the side with her chin. “I managed to pull them off, but I don’t think those are ordinary slimes.”

“Huh?”

“Look over there.”

The slimes the Doctor had peeled off were thrown haphazardly against the cave wall. They began to squirm and merge, then started to change shape.

“Just like the doc said, these ain’t your average slimes desu…” exclaimed Status Window, who had already pulled up their details. “Those are Mirror Slimes desu!”

“Mirror Slimes? What’re those now?”

“They’re slimes that transform into a target’s reflection, just like in a mirror desu! To be precise…”

Status Window began reading the description as if reciting from a textbook.

“‘It covers the target’s head to read their mind, then transforms into the target’s own mental image of themselves’ desu!”

“…?”

Jae-hee had no idea what that meant, but he understood when it unfolded before his very eyes.

Squelch! Squelch!

The Mirror Slime standing before Status Window began to change.

A round, pudgy body, a generous double chin, and glasses that glinted white.

It was a perfect copy of Status Window, though its body was transparent and jelly-like.

“Whoa, it looks exactly like Status Window.”

Then, the slime spun in place and transformed again.

The double chin receded into a sharp jawline. The belly fat melted away, replaced by sculpted muscle. Behind the glasses, his eyes became deep and melancholic. For some reason, his bangs began to flutter despite the lack of wind.

Soon, the Mirror Slime had transformed into a chiseled, handsome man straight out of a comic book.

This was the image Status Window had of himself.

“Hmm…” Status Window looked the Mirror Slime up and down and nodded. “That’s me, all right desu.”

“You… really have a high opinion of yourself, don’t you…”

Just then, the slime version of Status Window charged and slugged the real one.

POW!

“Squeeee!”

“Window!”

The real Status Window went tumbling across the floor. Luckily, the windbreaker Jae-hee had given him cushioned the blow, but he was knocked out in one hit.

Jae-hee rushed to help him up. Status Window coughed and managed to say, “This is… how it works. It transforms into the target’s self-image, and its combat power is based on the gap between that self-image and reality. It’s a scary monster desu.”

“So you knew there was a gap…?”

“I knew desu. That’s, y’know, my past self, in my prime, kinda? The ultimate Giga-Status Window, should I say… Fufu.”

“…”

It seemed unlikely he’d look like that even if he went back a whole past life…

But regardless, Giga-Status Window flexed his muscular arms with a sorrowful gaze.

Jae-hee scanned the other Mirror Slimes that had copied his teammates.

The Doctor’s Mirror Slime was an exact copy of her. She had a very objective view of herself, it seemed.

Rabid Dog’s Mirror Slime was… a perfect dog.

The real Rabid Dog was a hairy person who walked on all fours, but the form the Mirror Slime took had the bone structure of an actual, undeniable dog.

He really thinks he’s a dog…

Jae-hee’s own Mirror Slime was thinner than his current self. It looked like him from before he’d been sent to prison.

I guess I’ve put on some weight since coming here…

And finally.

The Mirror Slime for Dia looked nothing like the real Dia at all.

She wore simple clothes, and her hair was straight, not done up in her usual coiled buns. Her body was small and petite, and she looked around with frightened eyes.

Jae-hee blinked in surprise. That’s… the image Miss Dia has of herself?

Suddenly, the Mirror Slimes exchanged glances and charged.

“Whoa?!” Jae-hee panicked, wondering how to respond.

But he didn’t need to.

Fwoosh!

Rabid Dog had already leaped into the air, pouncing on the incoming slimes, tearing and thrashing at them.

“Grrrrrrrrrr!”

“Whoa! Rabid Dog’s so strong!”

The Mirror Slimes were instantly shredded. Watching this, Status Window offered his commentary.

“Ah, by the way, they only copy pure physical stats. They can’t copy Awakened abilities or anything like that desu.”

“What? So they’re just pushove—”

POWWW!

The words had barely left his mouth when Giga-Status Window rushed in and decked Rabid Dog with a single blow.

Rabid Dog took a clean hit to the jaw and yelped painfully, tumbling across the ground.

“Waaaaaah!” Jae-hee screamed in fright. “Giga Window is hella strong!”