“Alright, everyone, dig in.”
Kang Hana was distributing appropriate portions of meat to the descendants huddled together.
‘Ugh, it’s safe to eat, right…? I won’t go crazy like those two-legged beasts, will I?’
Nessho swallowed hard, expressing her concern.
‘Food.’
Judging by the plump snake Tongtong, who was already drooling, it was a completely pointless worry.
“Now, let’s eat too!”
Soon, Kang Hana sat me on her lap with a face full of anticipation.
But I couldn’t really focus on the meat in front of me.
‘Is Giselle going to be okay?’
She said she needed to rest and trudged off, but now she’s sprawled out like a corpse.
She said she’s never made a mistake like this before.
I kept glancing at her, worried.
Then Kang Hana stroked my head.
I looked up and saw Kang Hana grinning.
And the thought she sent.
‘She must be worried about her senior. Lug is so kind!’
‘Ugh.’
‘My conscience….’
I felt a prickling in my chest for some reason and avoided her gaze.
But, that stroking was only for a moment.
When Kang Hana brought a piece of boneless, white meat close, a delicious smell wafted over.
Before I knew it, my eyes were drawn to the meat.
Giselle or whatever, I was drooling.
It looks so good…!
I had been somewhat forgetting about my hunger because I was prioritizing my fatigue, but now that there was food right in front of me, I suddenly felt ravenous.
But, unexpectedly, Kang Hana said something outrageous.
“Here, Lug. Ah~”
Hold on.
This kid.
‘Don’t tell me she wants me to open my mouth to that cue?’
‘Does she think I’m some chirping baby bird?’
‘How dare she!’
‘Mna used honorifics, but this is just treating me like a complete baby?’
But, despite all that.
My mouth automatically opened in response to Kang Hana’s movement.
I opened my mouth, so hurry up and give it to me…!
“Gyaa~”
As I eagerly opened my mouth, Kang Hana finally put the meat in my mouth.
Slip.
Munch munch.
Tender texture, oil bursting out with every chew, savory flavor.
‘Wow, Kang Hana is such a good cook?’
She’s on par with the cooking of Shim Cheong.
So delicious…! So happy…!
As satisfying as ‘2 Orbs of Power’.
A smile spread from the depths of my heart.
Hee hee.
Gulp.
I wanted to keep chewing like this, but the meat went down my throat like water.
-Whoosh.
But, the rapidly rising mood.
Turned cold the moment I swallowed the meat.
I definitely chewed and swallowed the meat well, but I couldn’t feel any sense of satisfaction from the hunger being resolved.
The moment it went down my throat, it was as if the meat had instantly evaporated and disappeared.
Ugh. I’m hungry.
More!
“Gyaaaa…!”
I flapped my wings and wagged my tail, demanding more quickly.
Then, I received a thought from Kang Hana, who was deboning the meat to put in my mouth.
‘Lug is weak when it comes to food. He’s so cute!’
‘Kang Hana, you little…!’
I wanted to scold the presumptuous Kang Hana, but more than that, I wanted to eat more.
I’m not confident I can debone as skillfully as Kang Hana.
All I can do is stare at Kang Hana and the meat with pleading eyes.
Sniff, the Dragon God is a sorry sight….
Kang Hana, who was looking at me lovingly, put the second piece of meat in my mouth.
‘Yay, finally!’
Even though it’s the second bite, it feels even more delicious than the first.
Satisfaction spread with every chew.
I chewed and swallowed the meat, filled with happiness.
And, the emptiness that followed.
Gone.
I swallowed it, but my stomach wasn’t filled!
When Kang Hana took the Heavenly Flames, it felt like she was scooping out a bucket from the lake, but this was nothing.
Not even a speck of hunger was resolved.
It felt like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
I was so tormented by the lingering taste of the meat in my empty mouth.
I wagged my tail and urged Kang Hana.
Each time, delicious meat entered my mouth, but the happiness was only temporary.
The moment I swallowed, the satisfaction evaporated.
“Gya, gyaa…!”
I was clinging to Kang Hana’s sleeve and urging her without even resting now, and I remembered the memory of the increasingly short happiness spiral.
‘What is this.’
***
After shaking off the memories of my human days talking nonsense, what awaited me was a terrible reality.
My stomach wasn’t even a speck full, but Cock-Cock was already just bones.
‘I’m starving, but it’s already all gone?’
‘No way.’
‘This can’t be happening!’
I clutched my head in shock and horror.
“Gyaaaack…!”
My stomach isn’t full, but it’s only whetted my appetite.
A gurgling sound came from my stomach, which wasn’t even filled by a hundred millionth.
I’m hungry.
Then, sudden thoughts were conveyed.
I was starving, and when I looked, Kang Hana and the descendants were all looking at my stomach.
‘What. What are you looking at?’
‘Is the amount not enough? It was a bird that looked bigger than a turkey.’
‘Ancestor, you ate 80% of it yourself….’
‘Mass….’
Gasp.
No.
That’s not it, my stomach really isn’t full at all…!
It’s a misunderstanding!
I sent the thought, but Kang Hana couldn’t hear it, and the descendants’ eyes became even more intense.
The mealtime, which only left scars, ended like that.
“Gyao….”
‘What is this.’
I’m hungry and wronged.
Sniff.
“This way is blocked too.”
“If we touch it carelessly, it’ll collapse. Is there a way to clear it all at once….”
The members of the IF-684 dedicated ‘Siegfried’ unit expressed their frustration.
The stairs leading up were blocked by debris.
“Move.”
Among those searching for a solution.
A woman with red twin tails intruded.
One of the woman’s arms was a sophisticated machine.
The mechanical arm unfolded with a hiss of steam, then instantly reassembled.
***
Bang!
It blew up the debris as it was.
Long Weilan, an Alpha-class personnel of the FPL who was the commander of the ‘Siegfried’ unit.
She spat out the dust that had gotten into her mouth and grumbled.
“Is it right for an Alpha-class personnel to be doing this kind of work?”
Weilan seemed quite upset.
Weilan was in charge of clearing all the debris that was difficult to remove manually, so it was understandable.
The unit members responded with playful remarks.
“Wow, what would we have done without you, Commander? We would have all died, we survived thanks to you, Commander.”
“Ha.”
Weilan let out a scoff that seemed to say it was ridiculous, and started leading the way up the stairs.
One of the unit members following behind pointed to Weilan’s mechanical arm.
“That arm doesn’t seem to rust?”
Then, Weilan wiggled her mechanical arm and replied.
“If you have the energy to talk, climb the stairs.”
She said, in front of them were stairs packed tightly.
But, behind them too!
The stair hell packed tightly in front and behind was a disaster caused by the special nature of the IF-684 dedicated isolation room.
IF-684 dedicated special isolation room.
Characteristic, located about 1 km underground.
The elevator that they immediately went to after receiving the return order was out of power and rusted, making it inoperable.
All means of transportation such as helicopters had been corroded long ago.
In the end, the only means of escape was stair hell.
The ‘Siegfried’ unit members were climbing the 1km height directly via the stairs.
They had to clear the collapsed debris in the middle, so even though they were elite personnel, it was a pain in the ass.
Weilan cursed.
“Ha… This sucks.”
Weilan was sick of the stairs.
Whenever she felt that way, she looked down below.
What came into Weilan’s eyes was the sight of IF-684, whose body had finally collapsed.
Weilan gained the strength to climb the endless stairs, taking comfort in the fact that the damn lizard was finally dead.
However, the question was that IF-684 showed a slightly different look in his eyes at the end.
‘Well, he must have been like that because it was time for him to die.’
Weilan didn’t think much of it and climbed the stairs.
— Thud, thud.
Like that for a long time.
Because everyone was tired, only the mechanical sound of footsteps could be heard.
It was silent.
The most terrible thing was that they had only climbed about half of the stairs.
Everyone was losing their words, crushed by the endless stairs.
One unit member opened his mouth.
. But, haven’t there been no debris since some time ago?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t that right? We can see some scattered ones, but there’s nothing blocking the path.”
“Come to think of it….”
It was just as he said.
The ‘Siegfried’ unit members realized that they had been climbing the stairs without thinking for quite a long time without being blocked by debris.
Weilan was also feeling that.
In fact, Weilan had noticed the strangeness quite a while ago.
…. Cut the surface.’
The debris was cut off as if it had melted away.
It was as if someone had cleared the debris blocking the stairs in advance.
Weilan opened her mouth.
“Doesn’t anyone else feel anything strange?”
When she turned around, the unit members were looking at her with questioning eyes.
Weilan felt that the unit members seemed too tired to have anything more than simple questions.
Weilan shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, whatever.”
Far away.
There were small footprints that looked like soot.
Weilan climbed the stairs with a small question in her mind.
In front of Weilan.
A small figure was secretly melting the debris.
The debris that would soon block Weilan’s path was burned away by the flames coming from the figure’s puffed-up cheeks.
Soon, footsteps approached.
‘Oh no, I’m going to get caught…!’
The figure quickly hid.
Soon, humans appeared and passed through the path that the figure had cleared.
“There’s not much left.”
“We’re only halfway there, what do you mean there’s not much left?”
– Thud, thud.
After the black-vested humans passed.
Kwangcheol smiled proudly as he watched them go up without being blocked.
‘I’m sorry for everything, humans… I’ll help you…!’
Kwangcheol headed forward again to help the humans.