Chapter 10 : IF-098 ‘Tsuchinoko’ Part 2

‘Ah. There it goes again.

“66 IF-684 is going berserk!!”

“…… Aaaaargh!……..”

—Boom boom boom!

“Inferior species… Ground beasts, don’t get in my way….”

‘No. Isn’t this a bit much?’

Not only can I hear it more clearly thanks to my “God Mode” being active, but the sheer volume is incomparable to before.

I had already given up on resting.

But now, just listening to it makes my head throb.

Kang Hana’s heartbeat stimulant is wearing off.

Sob, sob.

‘Why is it rampaging…’

‘We can’t suppress it at all!……”

“…….. Code Black, Code Black! Level 1 ‘Balmung’ decompres— Aaaaagh!…….”

Crunch!

“You cunning water snake… Do you think you can just babble on as you please?!?!”

‘Hmm.’

I definitely heard that last part clearly.

‘What’s making that reckless-looking guy so angry?’

‘Could it be because of the intent I spread?’

I’ve never met a reckless-looking guy who was calm, but that one seems exceptionally bad-tempered even among them.

Something about the energy I feel from him…

…Help…

…?

It kind of reminds me of this little chubby snake.

‘Maybe it’s just my imagination.’

After all, “energy” is such an ambiguous thing that even I get confused.

Even though both have reckless-looking faces, the chubby snake, after looking at it for a while, is actually kind of ugly-cute.

‘……….. Where… Ancestor…………’

That guy hasn’t even managed to find my location, let alone look at my face.

No matter how much intent I send, all I get back is some dumb answer like “Where…?”

I just sent back, I’ll come directly, so stay put.

“…Confirming… Waiting…”

What a well-behaved little chubby snake.

“Hehe.”

“You orphaned water snake… I’ll burn you alive…!!!”

There’s no way that rage-fueled, tantrum-throwing, reckless-faced guy could have the same kind of energy as this obedient little one.

‘Wait.’

‘But what the hell is a “rage-fueled, tantrum-throwing pad-ripper” supposed to mean?’

‘Judging from the context, I can guess what it means, but seriously… My human memories are so useless sometimes.’

—Boom boom boom!

‘And that guy doesn’t even use intent—’

‘Or maybe he can’t.’

Either way, he’s not sending anything.

I’m the only one who can hear it.

KYAAAAAA!

He’s just sitting there, screaming his lungs out, expecting everyone else to hear him.

Such a selfish bastard.

I never liked reckless-looking guys, but…

For some reason, this one pisses me off even more.

When I meet him, I’ll make sure to give him a real good scolding.

Mhm.

I clenched my fist and made up my mind.

Then—click click.

“Whew, target captured…!”

A voice rang out from beyond the glass wall.

The angles on the isolation room’s CCTV are garbage, so I have to make sure to capture all these “life shots” with the camera my mom left me.

They say if I try to take anything outside 

Research Lab 4, I’ll be executed on the spot, but whatever… I have no reason to leave anyway.

And then came the follow-up intent.

I stared at them disapprovingly.

By now, I was used to receiving “Cute.” in return.

Kang Hana.

A human with no redeeming qualities except for that comfortably beating chest deep within.

A weird, brain-dead idiot.

Unlike the black-haired guy who stopped coming after a few visits, this one comes every single day.

Makes me wonder if they’re actually decent people…

But no, that’s just deception.

Just sitting still would be more helpful.

‘Seriously, how annoyed must I have been to the point of wishing they’d just leave their heart behind and disappear?’

‘Priest Chief, you really had a plan all along, didn’t you?’

‘Were all the previous “offerings” you brought—the ones whose hearts you presented—just a bunch of idiots like Kang Hana?’

‘Ah.’

I miss the Priest Chief.

“Gyao.”

“That little wing flap is adorable…!”

“Look at this fool.”

They can’t even read a two-syllable intent that simply says “Open the door”.

‘How frustrating!’

“Gyaaah…!”

‘Ah.’

This is as infuriating as ‘Four Breaths.’

‘Dammit.’

‘Seriously.’

***

I knocked on the door.

At first glance, it was a seamless white wall.

But if common sense still applied in this era, then “door” and “exit” should mean the same thing.

‘If I wanted to bring the chubby snake over, I needed to open this door.’

‘But would Kang Hana open it willingly…?’

‘Hmm.’

‘…Can I just break it?’

I closed my eyes for a moment and thought.

I dug into my memories.

‘Oh Great Ancient One, all of this exists for you. Smash as you please. You there, hurry up and summon the stonemasons!’

‘KYAAAAH! Oh, Divine One, please spare us!!’

‘Gyao!?’

‘Stop whining! Carving down that mountain from here to there isn’t even that hard. What are you doing? The Great Ancient One is watching—keep working!’

‘G-Gyao…’

…Hmm.

The Priest Chief did say it was fine.

‘But still…’

‘Would it really be okay to break this?’

Somehow, it feels like destroying this door would make countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears completely meaningless.

Tuk.

Tuk.

I tapped on the door with just the tips of my claws extended from “God Mode.”

‘What do I do with this…?’

‘Huh? What’s that? Did IF-017’s fingers just grow a little? Oh, no—just the nails got longer. Haha, if they just grabbed a broom, they’d look like a tiny little witch…’

—Scrrrrrape.

…Huh?

‘Oh no.’

I scratched it by accident while listening to Kang Hana’s intent.

‘Damn it.’

‘Sorry, human stonemason friend!’

I checked quickly, but fortunately, it wasn’t cut through—just four deep claw marks.

Phew.

I turned around in relief and saw the idiot staring at me, dumbfounded.

“W-Wait…?! Since when was the isolation room door so easy to scratch…?”

‘So, they do realize that I scratched the door.’

‘Wow, I honestly thought they wouldn’t even notice something happening right in front of their eyes.’

Hmph.

‘But if an entrance is an entrance, why do they keep calling it the “isolation room entrance”?’

At first, I ignored it, but the more I listened, the more unfamiliar words I kept hearing.

And of course, my human memories are nowhere to be found at times like this.

‘Seriously.’

‘Why can’t humans just keep using the same words?’

‘Why do they always create new languages every time I close my eyes for a second…’

‘Wait a moment.’

‘Speaking of language’—this just gave me a great idea.

A nonexistent light bulb lit up in my head.

‘But hold on, when did light bulbs become a thing?’

‘Is this another leftover from my human memories?’

Anyway.

***

“Gyao.”

Clap!

I clapped my hands together.

Language.

Language…

I may not be able to speak human words right now, but I can write them perfectly.

Even if Kang Hana is too much of a brain-dead idiot to understand intent, she should at least be able to read.

There’s no way she’s both a delusional idiot and illiterate.

If she were that stupid, she wouldn’t have qualified to be a priest serving me in the first place.

Alright.

The clap wasn’t just a celebration of my own incredible intelligence—

It was also meant to get Kang Hana’s attention.

And just as planned, she locked her eyes on me.

“Why does IF-017 suddenly look so confident…? Is it proud of scratching the isolation room door…? How cute…!”

Alright.

That’s… a little weird, but whatever.

As long as she’s paying attention.

Watch closely, Kang Hana.

I started writing on the stone floor in an elegant script.

“Bring that chubby little snake here.”

“If there’s a reason you can’t, explain it to me. Otherwise, open the door so I can bring it myself.”

“If you refuse, I will handle it my own way.”

There’s no way she wouldn’t understand this.

Even the Priest Chief once praised my handwriting.

‘Mhm.’

***

Meanwhile, in the Research Facility…

At that very moment, a new FPL researcher was left alone in the isolation room.

And suddenly—an unexpected top-tier anomalous event began to unfold.

IF-017, the highest-level classified entity, was casually damaging a special containment room—

A place that should never be this easy to break.

The rookie researcher panicked, tapping on their smartphone screen to call a senior researcher for help.

‘Brrr.’

Beep.

Finally, someone answered.

A senior researcher who had been forcibly pulled away from their post…

—No, now officially a Gamma-rank personnel.

“Gamma-Class G-7098 speaking. I’ve answered the call.”

Kang Hana, the FPL rookie researcher, nearly sobbed with relief.

“Senior Giselle…! I need your divine insight…!”

“What is it?”

‘That indifferent tone—was it boredom?’

‘Or disappointment?’

Kang Hana didn’t care.

Today, that familiar tone was reassuring.

‘If it was Senior Giselle, they would definitely know how to handle this…’

This highly urgent anomaly situation.

Kang Hana began rambling in panic.

“S-So, I’m currently watching IF-017, right? But all of a sudden, it’s drawing something weird!It’s using those tiny little fingers of its to scribble on the floor! It’s so freaking cute! It’s drawing, um… a snake, I think? And… an arrow? A marker of some sort? It’s still drawing even now…”

—Silence.

“What? Hold on. Before anything else, let’s get one thing straight.”

“Uh, why are you ‘getting me straight’?”

—Beep.

“H-Hey! No! Joke, joke! Senior, please…!”

On the other end of the line, a small sigh escaped.

Kang Hana was too flustered to notice.

“The IF-017 isolation room shouldn’t allow unauthorized objects in—or even be able to contain any. So, what exactly is it drawing with?”

“Uh… its claws grew really sharp all of a sudden, and it’s scratching the floor with them.”

Kang Hana described IF-017, still lying down and diligently carving its message into the ground.

—Silence.

“…It scratched the floor?”

“Uh, yeah? I swear it did.”

The blunt denial was unexpected.

Then, the voice on the other end muttered, “That’s impossible. The IF-017 isolation room is the second-most reinforced containment facility after the IF-684 main cell. It’s designed to withstand direct attacks from hostile factions.”

“They even removed all convenience facilities to preserve spatial integrity. It should be nothing but an empty room…”

“Uh, Senior? Could you slow down? I didn’t catch that.”

“That structure withstood a direct orbital HAARP strike from the Triangular-Eyes’ forces. And now you’re telling me IF-017 is using its claws to scratch up that place… to draw?

“Ha… Hah…?!”

“IF-017, what kind of damn anomaly are you…?! Ah, wait—was I not supposed to say that? Whatever, I don’t care. Why the hell am I even following ^%$%^’s orders…”

Giselle, usually composed, always seemed to lose that composure whenever IF-017 was involved.

Of course, anyone would be taken aback if their phone conversation suddenly turned into this.

But Kang Hana was expecting it.

After all—she had seen Giselle’s disgraceful reaction during the last hostility test.

So, ignoring the breakdown happening on the other end of the call, she asked: “Senior, what was that last part? Also, what exactly is this drawing—”

—Beep. Beep.

“…S-Senior?”

The call ended.

And that was not within Kang Hana’s expectations.

Her brain stalled.

“Uh… Uh…”

Then, she decided to think simply.

“Yeah. There’s nothing I can do about this. I’m just a rookie researcher who’s been here for less than six months. What am I supposed to do? Go down there and stop it myself? No way. I’ll just report it, call the security chief, and that’ll be that.”

As soon as she came to this conclusion, she felt at peace.

And so—she decided to enjoy the moment.

Clap clap clap!

“Wow! Our adorable IF-017 is even good at drawing!”

Looking at IF-017, who was now smiling proudly, Kang Hana relished in this brief moment of calm before security arrived.