NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20 - The Monster in Disguise
As I followed stealthily from behind, the surroundings had already turned pitch black.
The monster kept dragging its feet as it walked forward, and I moved to follow it.
Before long, I realized it was luring me to an area devoid of people.
It noticed.
It was the moment the creature slipped into an alleyway to avoid people’s gazes.
Clang!
Something aimed at my face bounced off my hardened arm.
The man with the peculiar demeanor I had been pursuing.
With his arms stretched out like tentacles, he glared at me.
“Hu…man.”
Looking at me, the creature tilted its head 90 degrees.
“How did… you notice?”
Remarkably, it seemed capable of speech.
Until now, there had been no instances of monsters understanding human speech.
Or at least, apart from the one residing within me, this was the first such case.
Yet it didn’t trigger that monster detector either.
Ah, that’s right.
This creature before me hadn’t triggered the monster detector either.
Then it must be a monster below D-rank.
No, perhaps…
It lacks a core.
Indeed.
The peculiar being before me lacked a core.
The resident within me had said the core was akin to the human brain and heart for monsters.
That monsters required a core to use abilities and maintain life activities.
But this creature lacked a core.
Then how was it maintaining its current state?
It’s probably temporary. A reconnaissance unit imitating humans to gather information.
There are monsters with such capabilities?
I no longer knew what was what.
With my physical enhancement and hardening activated, I charged at the creature.
It lashed out with its tentacle-like arms, but failed to inflict any damage on my body.
I thrust my fist toward its face.
Pook!
A sound like a foot sinking into mud, as a hole opened in the creature’s head.
Yet it still lived.
Regular attacks didn’t seem sufficient to kill it.
As I pondered how to deal with this, that very moment happened.
Kwaduk!
A chewing sound, and for the first time, the monster before me seemed to be in agony.
“Kureor, urrrr…”
Kwaduk gulp gulp!
Only then could I grasp what was occurring.
A mouth had formed on my right hand, biting and tearing into the monster’s body to devour the energy residing within.
Even for a monster imitating human form, the sight of it being… consumed was disgustingly unpleasant to describe.
Kkeureok.
With a hissing sound, the monster that had clung to my body withered away into mere dust and vanished.
I arrived home, closed the door, and slumped to the floor.
The elation of passing the hero ability certification exam had morphed into pounding unease.
A monster with tentacle-like arms imitating human form to observe people had appeared.
Perhaps this society had even more variant monsters lurking than I was aware of.
That monster I had encountered earlier.
Its gait and standing posture had been peculiar.
At a glance, it could pass for someone with mild disabilities.
But only at a glance.
Since the person seemed physically impaired, others wouldn’t pay it any further mind.
If such a monster impersonating a human became more adept at mimicry and natural movements…
The terrifying thought arose that monsters could intermingle and live among humans.
Think about that later.
Saying that, the presence began stripping off my clothes.
“What the…”
While my arms and legs remained still, my clothes began removing themselves.
A super hero should maintain proper decorum.
For some bizarre reason, with a suddenly distinct sense of self, the presence began pushing me into the bathroom.
A hero named ‘Skunk’ reeking of body odor is unacceptable.
This presence that had previously been indifferent to heroism was now obsessively chanting about heroes.
Still, after 2 days of camping in the mountains, a shower was indeed necessary.
I emptied my mind and simply let the warm water wash over me.
Then something streamed down my face.
“What’s this?”
Looking in the bathroom mirror, the monster presence had squirted shampoo onto my head and was lathering it.
A dirtied body and mind. What shall we cleanse it with? Soap~
For some reason utterly delighted, the monster presence began assisting me while singing a strange song.
Unlike before when eyes or mouths would sprout from my limbs, it seemed to have directly formed arms.
Rinse thoroughly, leaving no soap residue~
Just what was this beggar-like song it had been chanting?
A nursery rhyme.
Huh?
Now humming the tune, the presence began meticulously applying body wash all over me.
“Hey, use a body towel, will ya?”
You demand quite a lot.
Despite saying that, it actually used a body towel to lather and scrub me.
I had merely stood there with arms spread, yet the shower was already finished.
Even without Skynet, humanity is well capable of self-destruction.
What is it babbling about now?
Laziness kills living beings. Kuhahaha!
So you mean if you keep bathing me, cooking for me, dressing me like this, I’ll grow lazy and die?
Exacta!
This rascal…
Ever since moving to this place, whenever it fiddled with the computer on its own, I had simply let it be.
After all, I still retained control over this body.
So it had gone and created a body not for ‘me’, but for ‘itself’.
I could only describe its actions as presumptuous.
The human body is more complex than I thought. Difficult to move.
Saying that, it extended both tentacles toward the mirror.
Then it reshaped the tentacles into hand forms, raising the middle finger.
But this, I can do freely. Kuhuhuh.
The monster’s tension was abnormally high, like a child who had just learned a swear word for the first time.
Wasn’t this just…?
Those with weak self-identities tend to mimic what they see on TV, the internet, or from those around them.
“What have you been watching?”
Who knows…
But that was certainly a response indicating it had picked up some influences…
After showering and changing into fresh clothes, I finally felt everything was over.
“That creature earlier won’t be the end of it, will it?”
Right. It was likely derived from another monster.
“Do they perhaps share information?”
Probably. A monster with enough intelligence to imitate human form for reconnaissance likely does.
At least, there existed a monster intelligent enough to disguise itself in human form for information gathering.
And it had discovered my true identity.
The thought arose that it might even threaten my life.
These variant monsters were all such a nuisance.
The parasitic monster residing within me was itself a variant as well.
A parasite? Kuaak!
What’s with the sudden outburst over being called a parasite?
“Did you watch that movie?”
…What movie are you referring to?
I turned on the TV and checked the Netflix viewing history.
Before long, I could see the subject of my speculation.
“From now on, your name is Jjambene.”
Jjam (condensed form of) Venom.
So it had been imitating that ever since exhibiting those peculiar words and actions earlier.
No wonder it had suddenly become fixated on the word ‘hero’ – the viewing history was filled with superhero movies.
Perhaps because I kept mentioning the word ‘hero’, it had researched heroes.
Both real-life and fictional heroes, it seemed.
This ‘Jjambene’ seemed inspired by a protagonist in a similar situation.
Emotionally identifying with the symbiote’s comparable circumstances.
Possessing intelligence and rapid learning capabilities.
Yet also exhibiting a peculiar childishness.
If your goal is the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, then I’m the ruthless neighborhood Venom!
It had now settled on referring to itself as ‘Venom’.
How should I deal with this rascal…
More of those variant monsters will likely appear going forward.
“I suppose so.”
I had an ominous premonition about that.
We are weak. I’m merely imitating other ability users’ powers.
“Imitating?”
Yes. Didn’t you feel a sense of insufficiency while using those abilities?
“Well, I suppose…”
For physical enhancement ability users, it doesn’t just end with increased strength.
With overall physical abilities enhanced, they become proportionately faster and stronger too.
But I haven’t been able to properly bring out more than just elevated strength and slight hardening.
While the test measured me at A-rank, that’s merely the potential of my abilities.
A clear example – even in the riot suppression suit, Iron was a hardening user.
That I, a multi-ability user, couldn’t land a decisive blow against someone of his caliber was likely for that reason.
It’s only to that extent thanks to my support.
There are cases of people who acquired abilities from a young age, trained for 10 years, yet still failed the hero certification exam.
For me, having just awakened these abilities, to wield them freely is simply unrealistic.
“I should register at a training room and gym as soon as possible.”
I need to train to become more proficient with my abilities.
We won’t simply end up at that level.
“Then what?”
I’m a monster. I need a core. With a core, I can access far more abilities.
Upon hearing those words, I became lost in thought.
Monsters require a core.
For humans, it takes time to learn to control and develop superpowers.
But monsters know how to move their bodies and use abilities from the moment they manifest in this world.
With this presence’s help, I could rapidly master abilities that would otherwise take humans at least 10 years to develop.
However, creating a core would mean I had become a monster.
I would trigger the monster detectors.
And if this presence somehow harbored ulterior motives…
I have no such intentions.
“How can I trust you?”
We are a community of shared destiny.
In the past, I might have simply nodded at those words.
But after witnessing the presence grow stronger by devouring that monster, imbuing it with enhanced abilities and sense of self, I felt a peculiar discomfort.
If I create a core, I must find a way to avoid triggering the monster detectors and being controlled by this presence.
Investigate.
Simply following those orders, they began their activities.
They decided to imitate this planet’s most numerous and powerful life forms.
Those were the humans.
They observed passing humans and mimicked their appearances.
But while outward imitation was possible, substantial time was required to mimic bodily movements.
The time allotted to them was not so plentiful.
Somehow, by imitating these human beings, they aimed to comprehend their thoughts.
With that intention, their activities commenced.
Through their awkward bodily motions, they first realized one fact.
When they appeared, humans immediately dispatched hunters to them.
But now, there were no such movements.
It was certain.
Humans reacted to their cores.
To their coreless selves, humans exhibited no reaction.
“Are you alright?”
In their attempt to imitate humans, their movements remained unnatural.
Hence, someone approached to address them.
They could not perfectly imitate humans.
Thus, they decided to mingle among the human crowds during busier hours to conceal themselves.
In the midst of that, they sensed a pursuer had latched onto them.
That entity had lured the pursuer into an alley to hunt them, but was instead hunted itself.
The final sight it witnessed was an anomalous human devouring it.
It did not feel like a monster, lacking a core’s presence, yet was too abnormal to be human.
They decided to further investigate this anomalous being.