“Si, the missing beast?! That beast was Mr. Janghoon’s familiar?”
“Krrrrrk.”
‘That’s right.’
As expected, the moment the name of the missing one was mentioned, the deep-sea beast’s eyes turned heart-shaped.
The pure young lady who had been here was now nowhere to be found.
“Kyaaa! I heard that after losing in the ranking competition, it disappeared without a trace, but as expected, it transformed into another form and was reborn!”
“Krrrk. Krrk.”
‘If you want, I can let you meet the missing one. But how about joining my side in return?’
“My side? You mean joining Mr. Janghoon’s faction?”
“Krrk.”
‘That’s right.’
From the start, outright asking her to side with humans would have been too burdensome.
So instead, I planned to make her part of my faction—a human, yet also a beast that protects humans—by having her sign an agreement that she would never eat salted pollack roe again.
“Hmm… Honestly, I’ve wanted to meet the missing beast at least once, but joining forces with a beast that has nothing to do with the sea…”
“Krrrrrk. Krrk.”
‘You’re a die-hard fan of the missing one. Are you really going to let this opportunity slip away?’
As expected.
There was a reason why the original story pushed this ship so hard.
Of course, in this case, it was a one-sided love.
The missing beast was secretly contemplating forming the ‘Deep-Sea Missing’ duo.
At that moment, while I was still restrained by the octopus tentacles, she raised three fingers and spoke.
“I have three conditions in return.”
“Krrrk?”
‘Conditions?’
She nodded at my words and proceeded to reveal the conditions in exchange for joining our side.
“First! I was planning to destroy all those damned restaurants that cook our babies into dishes like fish roe stew, fish roe rice, and salted pollack roe. Please cooperate with me on that.”
“Krrrrrk…”
‘Isn’t that a bit too much…?’
“I’ll only destroy a hundred of them. That way, the others will shut down voluntarily, fearing for their survival.”
But fish roe rice is delicious…
No, wait—if this happens, flying fish roe sushi might go extinct.
“Krrrk… Kuk!”
‘Fine… I’ll cooperate.’
For the greater good!
For the sake of world peace, I decided to agree to the mass shutdown of fish roe-related restaurants in Hero City.
“And second, recently, the amount of polluted water drifting into the ocean has been increasing. Humans don’t know about it yet… but you need to help me deal with that as well.”
Ah, that must be related to the ‘Beast of Pollution’ arc.
A first-class danger-level beast.
The marine ecosystem was already in a bad state due to the rampage of the beasts, but two years from now, a catastrophe would push it to the brink of destruction.
It would start with the price of halibut sashimi, which was once available for around 20,000 won, skyrocketing to 200,000 won.
This was the infamous ‘The Commoners Are Dying!’ episode, featuring the boss monster.
It seemed that the deep-sea beast had already sensed the presence of the pollution beast.
“Krrrrrk. Krrk.”
‘Of course, I’ll help with that.’
At least, this could be my way of making amends for shutting down all those fish roe restaurants.
With that thought, I nodded.
But before I could relax, the deep-sea beast revealed the third and final condition.
“And lastly, the third condition… It’s related to the missing one.”
“Krrk?”
“Before that, I have a question to ask.”
A question about the missing one?
The two beasts were close enough to have their own dedicated fan content.
However, in the original work, they had no direct interaction at all.
Their supposed relationship was based solely on a single line from a bestiary entry that read, “It seems the deep-sea beast admires the missing beast.”
So at this moment, I still had no idea.
“Well… it’s nothing big.”
“Krrk.”
“The missing beast… I mean, Missing-chan, she’s still a virgin, right?”
“Krrk?”
The deep-sea beast’s obsession with the missing one.
The intensity in its gaze was beyond what I had imagined when reading fan content.
‘Did I hear that wrong just now?’
The beast that had a pure image and a huge fandom in the original story…
What the hell did it just say?!
“Hurry up and answer! Is the missing one still a virgin?!”
“K-Krrk…”
“Mr. Janghoon, don’t tell me… you took Missing-chan’s virginity?!”
Shake shake shake!
Even though she was my familiar, I wasn’t that much of a beast!
The deep-sea beast seemed like it was about to seriously misunderstand, so I shook my head with all my might.
This was unfair.
After entering university, Missing and I had moved out of the dorms and started living together in a studio apartment.
But the only things we ever did together were sharing meals to save on gas bills, taking showers together to save on water bills, and sleeping in the same bed because there was only one.
“…Huh?”
Wait a minute.
Now that I put it like that, it does sound kind of weird…
…No, it’s fine.
We never did anything beyond that, so our relationship was still very ‘pure.’
“Krrk! Krrk!”
‘We were just living together, nothing else!’
“Is that so…? Well, considering how high Missing-chan’s standards are, there’s no way she would spend the night with a beast like you…”
Of course not.
Because it wasn’t just one night—it was at least ten years’ worth of nights!
…But I didn’t bother saying that.
Right now, what we needed was persuasion, not provocation.
‘But why is she suddenly curious about this?’
Was it because she liked Missing too much?
Unable to hold back my curiosity, I asked.
“Krrrrrk. Krrk.”
‘Why are you asking that all of a sudden?’
“Huh?”
“Krrk. Krrrrk.”
‘Is it because you want to protect Missing’s chastity that badly?’
“Of course! Do you know how much I personally adore Missing-chan?!”
Wow, it’s getting hot in here already.
Is this deep-sea monster really allowed to accelerate global warming by raising the sea level?
An answer that would make some polar bear somewhere scream.
However, the kind of answer that would make such a polar bear overheat and go extinct was just about to begin.
“The virginity of Missing-chan is mine!”
“…Huh?”
At first, I doubted my ears.
Even with a monster’s jaw, an “Huh?”-level dumb response meant I must have misheard.
But I hadn’t misheard.
“Missing-chan in her past life was too strong for me to even lay a hand on! But now, she’s gotten weaker, right?! That means I can totally have my way with her!”
Who the hell are you?
The secondhand fanfiction version was actually the censored version?
Thanks to Yoon Ha-eun, the original work was rated R-19, but now it was obvious why the two monsters were never made to meet in the official story.
A deep-sea monster.
Her original image was a pure and innocent girl living by the shore.
But the one in front of me now was just a perverted freak, panting and scheming about raising the sea level to the ends of the Earth.
“Sigh~. So love really can make anything happen?”
“Alright, Janghoon. I’ll accept your offer.”
“But in return, take me to Missing-chan right now. And let me borrow her for today. …No, actually, since we’ll be seeing each other a lot from now on, how about just lending her to me for a week?”
Squeeze.
The octopus tentacles restraining me tightened, as if warning me that saying “No” would mean instant execution.
“Krurrrk?”
‘So if I hand over Missing-chan, you’ll immediately join our side?’
“Of course. Janghoon, you seem like a monster who’s unusually sympathetic to humanity, given that you even have a human name. So why not? I’ll help out a little.”
A deep-sea monster that becomes as strong as a near-special grade under certain conditions.
If she really did side with humanity, she’d be a formidable ally.
“Krurrrk. Krurk?”
‘Then if we hand over Missing-chan, does that mean the sea monsters that follow you will also join our side?’
I can’t guarantee that, but at the very least, I can say they won’t attack humanity first anymore…
‘…probably.’
In a way, this would mean humanity was being saved from aquatic threats.
Considering how many dangers the sea poses, this was like getting a free pass on 30% of the main story’s threats.
If we could achieve that with just one girl’s virginity, then wouldn’t it be an obvious deal to take?
“Fufu. Well? The more you think about it, the harder it is to refuse, right?”
Nod, nod.
“Honestly, this is a huge loss for me. I might not look it, but in another world, I’m actually a top-tier candidate for the highest rank. Do you even know how much I’m worth?”
If we could recruit a deep-sea monster for this cheap, then refusing would be the dumbest choice ever.
So I refused.
“But I reject.”
“W-What did you say?!”
“What this Kang Janghoon loves the most… is saying ‘NO’ to bastards who try to take my woman!”
Wouldn’t anyone?
Before being a monster, I was a human.
And before being a human, I was a ‘man.’
And as a man, letting a woman who trusted me be taken away for some NTR scenario?
Screw that.
Deep-sea monster, you’re a lost cause.
Crunch.
Crack.
“K-Kraken’s tentacles?!”
I had let myself be held still, but now I tore off one of the tentacles, shoved it in my mouth, and started chewing.
A scream echoed from the portal where the tentacle came from.
Snap.
Crunch.
“Eek?!”
Man, if this story were really R-19, what came next would’ve been something even a polar bear would love.
“W-Wait! F-Freezeeee!”
The deep-sea monster tried to summon freezing cold air while covering her mouth with her delicate wrist.
But as if that meant nothing—
“The temperature of the deep sea is literally 0 degrees Celsius!”
“Krurrrk?”
‘So what?’
“…Huh?”
I’ve already tasted radiation, you think 0-degree weather even registers?
Feeling refreshed in the slightly cooler aquarium, I stood over her.
‘Hold still.’
A light flick on the forehead—just enough to knock her out without killing her.
I clenched my fist, ready to take her captive.
Then—
Bang!
A familiar gunshot rang out beside us.
“Uncle?”
“Krurk?”
At the same time, a voice called me “Uncle” for the first time in ten years.
In Carmilla’s field of vision, she saw—
A weak, blue-haired human girl about to be attacked by a monster.
And the once heroic “Uncle” she admired…
Now revealed in his monstrous, corrupted form.
“H-How could you…?!”