Though I’m not sure what it is, the shaking of the cave was making people anxious.
That didn’t change even after I turned into jelly, so I felt disconcerted by the sudden tremor.
And it was the same for Kim Cheon-soo, who was still human.
While we stood there flustered and unsure of what to do,
Han Seori’s voice rang out from behind me.
“What are you two doing?! Get out first!”
“Y-Yes!”
Finally snapping out of it, I, too, started running ‘plop plop’ out of the cave, seeing Kim Cheon-soo following closely behind me.
I noticed him furrowing his brow and nervously scratching the back of his head as he ran, making it seem like the jelly was pricking him.
…I guess I’ll have to be kind to him for a while.
As I reaffirmed that while running toward the exit,
a figure who had been motionless, unable to move any further, began stretching its body.
It looked like a pale, white tongue protruding from a throat.
The stretched-out body quickly approached Kim Cheon-soo, its mouth wide open.
“Watch out!”
I wanted to warn him, but I lacked the throat to do so.
Though I usually find it convenient to get out of things this way,
right now, it feels extremely inconvenient.
…Come to think of it, perhaps it was unrealistic to assume that after getting knocked out from wandering through the frozen wilderness, he would still be able to follow me just fine.
While running and observing the situation,
I had a decision to make.
Either I trust that Kim Cheon-soo will evade on his own and leave quickly,
or
I act as bait to help him escape.
Since I didn’t have much time to decide, my choice was immediate.
Managing to glance behind me while running, I quickly untied the device around my neck.
“Huh?!”
Hearing Han Seori’s voice, I turned my body toward Kim Cheon-soo.
He looked at me with a puzzled expression as he continued running, clutching the back of his head.
…It seemed he hadn’t noticed the thing creeping up from behind, its mouth wide open.
Even though his scalp must have been itchy, he likely couldn’t feel it due to the lump caused by the cube impact.
Since I was the one who threw the cube, it was only right for me to take responsibility for that.
So,
it wasn’t like I was rushing in full of self-sacrificing heroism.
Handing over the machinery to the bewildered Kim Cheon-soo, just in case, I patted his waist hard and urged him to leave quickly.
“Huh? Wha—!?”
“Now, what exactly is happening…?”
Kim Cheon-soo regained his composure almost immediately, but the something approaching with its mouth wide open was faster.
The closer it got to the cave entrance, the more violently the cave shook, as if it were about to collapse any moment.
It was almost impossible for anyone to maintain their balance.
Just as Kim Cheon-soo barely managed to steady himself and move,
a dark shadow loomed over his head.
WOOOSH.
The gaping mouth revealed countless teeth, so many it was impossible to count.
Even without any teeth, I knew that anyone who came into contact with those would be instantly torn apart into minced meat.
Of course, Kim Cheon-soo was targeted first due to his greater height compared to mine.
Thus,
I pushed Kim Cheon-soo with all my strength.
“EEEK!?”
Regaining his senses, Kim Cheon-soo flailed his arms and legs as he flew through the air.
“Ah, no!”
The shadow that had been looming over Kim Cheon-soo smoothly shifted onto me instead.
At last realizing the situation, Kim Cheon-soo screamed.
—
*
—
CRUNCH! SLURP!
“EEEEEKK!”
A scream, followed by an exasperated voice, accompanied the monster’s jagged teeth as they engulfed the upper body of the Jelly Girl.
The sharp teeth were covered with the gooey remains of the Jelly Girl, creating a chilling atmosphere as if a beast had just finished its meal.
The still wriggling blue pieces only added to the grotesque scene.
The area was soaked with a splattered blue liquid, reminiscent of blood.
Numerous memories of Jelly Girl rushed through Kim Cheon-soo’s mind like a whirlwind.
…Though she wasn’t exceptionally warm, the occasional moments when she acted like a friend,
even in dreams,
right now,
her bustling movements to save him before vanishing into those horrific teeth lingered in his mind.
Feeling his nose tingling, Kim Cheon-soo took harsh breaths.
Because he felt like this was his fault—no, it definitely was his fault.
If only he’d held his ground inside the cave.
If only he’d stayed inside, firmly believing that rescue would come,
this wouldn’t have happened.
Chewing on his lip, a sharp voice rang in Kim Cheon-soo’s ears.
“What are you doing?! Are you going to waste the opportunity given to you by 7496-KR?! Run now!”
An angry, yet restrained voice.
Kim Cheon-soo realized he wasn’t the only one mourning and somehow managed to stand up despite his unsteady body.
Although the cave continued to shake, the monster’s temporary halt seemed to make it easier to move compared to before.
With the device handed over by Jelly Girl firmly clenched in his hand, he ran towards the exit as fast as he could.
He glanced back to see if the monster was chasing him and spotted the lower half of Jelly Girl lying flat on the ground.
Though it was merely a lump of jelly,
Kim Cheon-soo barely suppressed a bout of nausea and continued running.
His already weakened body wasn’t responding well due to the intense emotions.
Still, Kim Cheon-soo kept running.
He couldn’t let the will of 7496-KR, who had risked their life to save him, go to waste.
Creak!
His twisted leg wobbled, but he maintained his balance with focus.
As Kim Cheon-soo stumbled forward like a drunkard,
BOOM!
The cave began shaking again, causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the ground.
The monster that had previously remained motionless, seemingly savoring Jelly Girl, started moving again.
“Ugh…”
Enduring the pain, Kim Cheon-soo clutched the cave floor with his fingers.
Swoosh… Swoosh.
He pushed himself forward, determined to escape, even if it meant crawling.
“Damn it…”
Hearing Han Seori’s voice, Kim Cheon-soo tried to muster more strength.
…He couldn’t help but feel utterly pathetic.
To have been helped by such a small girl and to have cost her her life…
Even if the girl was technically a Singularity,
this shouldn’t have happened.
Why am I so powerless?
Kim Cheon-soo felt a heavy emotion he had never experienced before.
It burned like an inferno, yet
his body was pitifully weak, barely able to escape by crawling.
Eventually, the tremors stopped,
and a dark shadow fell over Kim Cheon-soo.
Contrasting with the shadow, what filled his sight was pure white fur,
and teeth, along with the blue jelly.
Feeling the nausea as he clenched his body in frustration,
Kim Cheon-soo moved, believing that continuing to struggle until the end was the polite gesture for 7496-KR who had chosen to save him.
But.
Something felt off.
“…?”
The monstrous mouth that seemed ready to engulf him any second was now twitching its face around like an itchy puppy.
Managing to steady himself as the cave’s trembling ceased, Kim Cheon-soo stood up.
Until that moment, the monster had been flailing its face, as if trying to shake off something.
“…What is going on?”
“Could it be…?”
A flicker of hope appeared in Kim Cheon-soo’s voice and Han Seori’s tone.
There was only one reason a perfectly fine monster would exhibit such strange behavior,
and that was that 7496-KR—Jelly Girl—was still alive.
Realizing this, Kim Cheon-soo calmed his pounding heart and looked around,
making sure not to forget to slowly move away from the monster in case of any sudden developments.
Carefully observing, he noticed strange details.
One was the jelly clinging to the monster’s teeth.
The jelly, which had previously been twitching weakly, now seemed to have hardened and was firmly gripping the teeth, likely preventing the monster from biting down on Kim Cheon-soo.
Moreover,
the lower half of Jelly Girl that had been on the ground was now nowhere to be seen.
Then,
WOOOSH!
The cave began shaking again, so Kim Cheon-soo stumbled, leaning against the cave entrance.
The monster, still writhing in discomfort, twitched toward the entrance.
Its motion reminded Kim Cheon-soo of a caterpillar, causing him to let out an unexpected chuckle.
“…Why am I laughing?”
“…It’s fine. I was too harsh. Confronting something like that as an ordinary human without any preparation… it’s probably impossible.”
Kim Cheon-soo nodded in agreement, deeply understanding that,
yet felt an unusual heaviness in his heart.
Meanwhile,
– !!!!!!!!!
The monster screamed in a terrifying voice that could belong to no one.
Kim Cheon-soo winced and covered his ears.
“Ugh…”
Han Seori seemed to be the same, her voice strained with pain.
Then, in the sights of the two and on the screen,
a grotesque image appeared.
The monster’s face tilted up,
revealing a small hole on its body, oozing a sticky red substance.
And,
…its one eye was bubbling and melting away from the inside.
As hideous as the monster’s face was, Kim Cheon-soo and Han Seori couldn’t tear their eyes away from the scene.
– !!!!!!!!!
Suddenly,
a blue silhouette burst from the melting eye of the monster with a splat, much like something leaping out of a manhole.
Of course, it was none other than
7496-KR, the Jelly Girl.
The girl seemed surprised herself, as if she hadn’t expected to emerge from that spot.
As the monster writhed violently in agony, Jelly Girl’s body, protruding from the hole, wobbled back and forth with it.
Watching this surreal scene, Kim Cheon-soo muttered unconsciously.
“Feels like watching some sort of cartoon…”
Too unrealistic.
“…I agree.”
With the two’s dumbfounded mutterings, the battle between the two Singularities truly began.
