Chapter 7 : IF-017 ‘Dragon’ Part 7

Actually, I was going to ignore it and lie down.

Even though I kept watching because it was ridiculous to see someone waving a cat toy in front of my eyes, I soon felt it wasn’t worth watching anymore.

But when I finally closed my eyes, I felt an intensely strong will.

The first prayer.

The first prayer I received since coming to this hellishly uncomfortable place.

‘Please, please, please…! Please, just don’t fall asleep again…! Oh, gods! God, Buddha, Allah, please…!’

‘Huh.’

Pretty devout.

There were people who were this desperate before, but not enough to just ignore.

Kang Hana, this brat.

‘I thought she was a completely ungrateful human with no faith in me at all, but…’

‘If she’s praying this fervently, as someone who makes a living off being a god, I can’t just ignore it.’

‘God, Buddha, whatever—that part is foggy in my memory, but it’s probably not important.’

‘Ah.’

‘I really don’t want to wake up.’

‘I really don’t want to wake up…’

‘Can’t I just ignore it and keep my eyes closed just this once?’

‘No, I can’t.’

‘I have a promise with the high priest.’

‘Oh, great ancient being. Please, be a light for the lost children wandering in the lake…’

‘Hmm.’

I’f I ignore this and keep my eyes closed, it’s going to leave a bad taste in my mouth.’

Since it’s the first time, I guess I’ll grant the prayer just this once.

I can’t play god in my sleepwear, though.

There’s a proper form I have to take when answering humans’ requests.

I transformed into my “god mode.”

A surge of immense power rushed through my body…

Pop.

…With an embarrassingly unimpressive sound, the transformation was complete.

…

Well.

To be honest, calling it a “transformation” was an exaggeration.

It was more like sticking out a part of my body that I had temporarily tucked away—basically the same as sticking out my tongue.

Ahem.

Since my dragon body is overwhelmingly powerful in many ways, I have to dull my senses a bit when I rest.

Even in my own lake, the flow of water was enough to startle me awake, so that says it all.

My usual “sleepwear form” minimized surface area by retracting as many limbs and extremities as possible into my body.

Even now, I hadn’t revealed all of the parts I had tucked away…

‘If I fully extended everything in a place this noisy, stuffy, and uncomfortable, I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to my senses.’

‘It would be like sticking out my tongue while eating mint chocolate.’

‘I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant anymore, but whatever.’

Damn.

Even in this simple “god mode,” the discomfort level was already at about nine breaths worth of irritation.

‘Could it get worse than this?’

Terrifying.

Well, since I’m granting a prayer this time, I won’t count it.

‘Alright.’

I showed my “god mode,” the proof and result of me answering the prayer.

As expected, the relentless flow of will suddenly stopped.

Yeah.

No matter how twisted the human world had become, they at least still understood the meaning behind this form.

‘What was the wish again?’

‘Me staying awake?’

I’m already doing that.

Alright, wish granted.

“Gyao.”

There!

‘I granted it!’

‘That’s enough, right?’

Feeling utterly drained, I was about to lie down again.

I’d even keep my eyes open for them.

But anything beyond that was out of my jurisdiction.

‘If my eyes looked dry and irritated, too bad.’

And then—

Kang Hana suddenly lunged at me.

I was too amused by the audacity to stop her, but to my shock, she started touching and stroking my horns, tail, and wings.

‘What the hell…?!’

‘Even the high priest never got permission to touch those!’

I was so caught off guard that I didn’t even react.

Since these were parts I normally kept hidden, it felt incredibly strange—like having my tongue roughly handled by someone else’s hands.

This was a new and bizarre sensation.

About three breaths worth of anger……

‘…Or maybe it wasn’t that bad?’

“Gurrrrng…”

‘Wait.’

‘No.’

‘What the hell kind of messed-up thought was that?’

‘What do you mean ‘not bad’?’

“Gyaaaahk.”

I flicked my tail furiously.

But no matter how much I shook her off, she just stuck back onto me and kept touching.

“Gyaaahhhk…!”

“You lure me in and then go ‘gyaaahk’? I knew it! ‘Gyaaahk’ must be a positive sound!”

‘What kind of lunatic logic is that?!’

‘Anyone could tell it was a sound of protest!’

‘Ah, but I couldn’t even hit her.’

‘If only my facial features were more freely expressive, I’d be able to teach her a lesson.’

‘But she was human.’

‘If I accidentally smacked her too hard, she’d pop.

‘I didn’t have the energy or focus to carefully control my strength.’

Completely drained.

‘Yeah. Kang Hana wasn’t devout—she was just insane.’

“Gyaaahk…”

Too exhausted.

I thought I could at least handle this much, but I was wrong.

Now that I think about it—this place was unbearably noisy, suffocating, and uncomfortable even in my sleepwear form.

And now, with my senses partially restored in god mode…

My vision was spinning, and my mind was going blank.

—Buzzzzzz.

As if in response to my transformation, the surroundings somehow felt even noisier and more suffocating than usual.

Since I always took this form when answering prayers, I must have shifted into it out of habit.

Big mistake.

I had to undo this.

I was just about to close my eyes and focus on reverting back—

***

When suddenly.

“Oh, how cute.”

For the first time ever, I felt it.

A soft poof.

At the same time as Kang Hana’s voice, something plush and warm pressed against my face.

Shaking it off… felt unnecessary.

Compared to the cold, hard white stone floor, this was infinitely better.

‘Why was it so comfortable?’

It was a different sensation from the high priest’s lap pillow, yet… somehow similar.

A steady, rhythmic heartbeat pulsed right in front of my ears.

Unlike my own heart, which only beats once every two days at best, a human heart pounded dozens of times per minute.

‘Was that why?’

‘Was that what made it feel similar?’

“Hehe, I thought you’d get mad if I hugged you, but you’re staying still…”

God mode.

Good thing I used it.

With my heightened senses, all other noises faded away, leaving only the clear, close sound of this heartbeat.

Finally, it was quiet.

Finally, the unbearable noise was gone…

…Though, I wished it could be even quieter.

I wished I could hear this heartbeat a little closer.

That wasn’t hard.

Kang Hana’s heart was big enough to hold me in her arms.

“If your horns and tail popped out, and now you’re acting all cuddly… is this tail some kind of affection switch…?”

She’s just freely touching me now.

‘If I’d known it would be like this, I would’ve let the high priest pet me too.’

‘I shouldn’t have been so stubborn back then.’

‘Sniff… I’m sorry, Mnya…’

I apologized to the high priest in my heart.

I didn’t say it out loud—because that was too much effort.

My eyes slowly began to close.

Ever since waking up in this uncomfortable place, I hadn’t been able to rest properly for even a moment, so of course, I was exhausted.

I didn’t resist the creeping drowsiness.

With this heartbeat next to me, I felt like I could finally relax.

“Ah—no, wait! You can’t fall asleep…!”

I heard a panicked voice, and at the same time, felt hands shaking me as if trying to wake me up.

With that shaking, the heartbeat in my ears grew distant.

And the moment it did, the unbearable noise rushed back—screams, mechanical sounds, explosions—all mixed together, gnawing at my entire being.

…Unacceptable.

‘No.’

‘I can’t allow this.’

That soft thumping sound was the first comfort I’d found since waking up in this place.

Even if it was just the heartbeat of a mentally unstable human.

I wasn’t going to let it go.

I burrowed further into the warmth, pressing closer to that heartbeat—until the rhythm of it was closer than anything else that could irritate my nerves.

“Thump-thump, thump-thump.”

Somehow, it felt a little faster than before.

‘H-huh. It feels nice, but why is it suddenly clinging to me? Is this okay? Should I just close my eyes and pet its tail or something…?’

Even Kang Hana’s thoughts—well.

She was thinking something pretty questionable, but nothing too negative.

No problem, then.

I let my weary body surrender to the ceaseless heartbeat.

I closed my eyes.

My mind drifted further away.

‘…Hmm.’

‘No good… instructions… I’m already… dead—’

‘Didn’t I promise not to fall asleep?’

‘Well.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘Ever since I started hanging around humans, I’ve never actually slept—not even once.’

‘Even now, I am answering the request.’

‘I’m just keeping my eyes closed and emptying my mind while staying still.’

‘Dragons don’t sleep.’

Hehe.

Mnya.

—High-Risk Anomalous Entity Detected.

Total Containment and Suppression Protocols Activated.

Immediate Evacuation Advised.

“Goddamn it, not another IF-684 rampage. That crazy lizard bastard never gets tired of this, huh?”

“I contacted the ‘Siegfried’ unit—IF-684 is currently regenerating and hasn’t moved.”

“It’s not? Then what the hell? IF-890 is stable…”

“Shouldn’t we evacuate IF-017 first? If anything happens to it, Headquarters is going to flip—”

“We can’t. We don’t even know what caused this, and IF-401 isn’t prepared yet. You do know what IF-017’s containment chamber is made of, right? Moving it outside is even riskier.”

The Fourth Research Facility was in an uproar as they struggled to identify the cause of the high-risk anomaly countermeasures suddenly activating.

A woman in a red undershirt and black hair was sprinting through the corridors.

Her name was Giselle Hartmann—once an elite among elites and the lead researcher of IF-017.

Though due to certain unfortunate incidents, she had recently been demoted to Gamma rank.

Despite everything, she rushed toward IF-017’s containment chamber.

She knew for a fact that her junior researcher, Kang Hana, was inside, likely still conducting an experiment—meaning she wouldn’t have received the evacuation order.

‘She’s an idiot, but… I can’t just leave her if this turns into a real disaster.’

And now.

“Waaah, Senior…! Help me! What am I supposed to do in this situation?!”

Hearing this frantic plea, Giselle was forced to confront the painful limits of her own knowledge.

Even after rubbing her eyes and looking again, the impossible sight in front of her hadn’t changed.

Giselle doubted her own vision.

The way Kang Hana’s researcher coat looked like it was about to burst at the seams should have been surprising.

‘If not for the fact that it was a sight she had seen far too many times before.’

‘If that were the only thing happening, she would’ve dismissed it immediately.’

She would’ve just assumed Kang Hana had once again stuffed herself at the cafeteria buffet and left it at that.

But.

There was a tiny back of a head—with two small deer-like horns—blocking Kang Hana’s face.

And fluffy white feathers peeking out between the coat’s buttons.

And below that—feet.

And, most importantly—

IF-017 had mysteriously disappeared from the containment room.

“It’s so damn hot in here…”

“No. No, no, no. Hold on—”

Giselle forced herself to voice the only horrifying possibility that came to mind.

“… Tell me I’m not hearing this correctly. Is IF-017 inside that coat?”

“… Hehehe.”

At Kang Hana’s awkward, meaningless giggle, Giselle smacked her forehead with a loud slap.

She was furious—not just at the fact that her junior had blatantly violated every safety protocol, but because, thanks to regulations, she couldn’t even reprimand her for it.

She wasn’t even allowed to scold her.

“… Just put it down.”

At Giselle’s words, Kang Hana hesitated before nervously unbuttoning her coat.

Inside, nestled snugly against her stomach, was IF-017.

Horns, wings, tail—all present.

The creature had wrapped its tail around Kang Hana’s waist, its face completely buried in her embrace.

Sleeping peacefully.

“IF-017 won’t let go…”** Kang Hana muttered.** “I was having trouble holding it, so I just buttoned it up inside my coat…”

“Dear God.”

Giselle tried to think rationally.

On the surface, it looked peaceful.

But in her experience, situations like this never ended well.

At best, Kang Hana was being absorbed.

At worst—she was being assimilated.

The unnatural horns, wings, and tail—unmistakable signs of transformation.

In the past, they had seen similar mutations in IF-017-1, but they had assumed it was unrelated to the original IF-017.

Clearly, they were wrong.

Struggling to find her words, Giselle finally managed to speak.

“… We need to call someone—”

“Wait, wait?! Can’t we just solve this here?”

“What? No. We obviously need to call—”

“But if we call someone… then they’ll find out that I noticed IF-017’s new ‘cute features’ and, instead of reporting it, I just touched it…”

‘…What?’

‘Did she not care about her own life?’

‘Did she not realize that IF-017 could casually crush her ribcage at any moment?’

‘Did she understand that IF-017 was a top-tier, incomprehensible entity?’

“… Haah.”

‘What the hell was she supposed to do with this idiotic junior?’

S’he couldn’t even pull rank anymore.’

After being demoted to Gamma rank, her working hours had been cut by six hours, leaving her with a mere twelve-hour shift.

And just when her dark circles had finally started to fade—

She could feel them coming right back.