As darkness fell, the first to move was surprisingly the Jelly Girl, who everyone thought was asleep.
Although Hwang Bo-yul, who had been enjoying a light nap, might have awakened, she was too exhausted from unexpected worries and dealing with invisible presences, and couldn’t respond to the Jelly Girl’s ninja-like quiet movements.
Moving soundlessly, the Jelly Girl gently pushed Hwang Bo-yul’s body, which showed no sign of waking up.
To her surprise, Hwang Bo-yul, more tired than she had thought, began to slip.
Pushed by the Jelly Girl’s hand, she laid down on the bed.
As she watched Hwang Bo-yul falling, the Jelly Girl suddenly remembered the terrifying possibility that she might awaken and quickly reacted.
Squish!
The agile young Jelly managed to catch Hwang Bo-yul.
The Jelly Girl felt the weight of Hwang Bo-yul pressing down on her as she flailed her legs.
She was reminded of their earlier encounter in the bathroom, brushing against each other.
Despite trying to rationalize it as something unavoidable, the truth was it felt embarrassingly indecent.
The Jelly Girl, feeling flustered, decided she must be careful not to reveal that she was originally a grown man.
Lately, she’d been getting the idea that it might not matter even if she was exposed, but her tension returned, tightening once more.
…What if I get exposed and I end up as only a lump of jelly?
I’m not even sure if anyone would believe me anyway.
At this point, a question popped into the Jelly Girl’s mind.
Are there other cases of humans becoming Singularities, aside from me?
Though she was truly curious, she decided against asking, as it would be tantamount to admitting she had been one.
Instead of asking the question, the Jelly Girl began to recall everything she had seen so far.
The various Singularities she encountered while getting here.
While pondering if any of those beings could have been human, she shook her head.
Could those things possibly have been human?
Still, one thing bothered her.
The Jelly Girl recalled an incident on the stairs not long ago.
She remembered the black masses she had carelessly sliced up back then.
Even though she hadn’t overeaten, she felt an uneasy heaviness in her stomach.
While she was excited and cut wildly with no reservations at that time, upon reflecting on it now, their form seemed questionable.
They resembled something that might be formed by claying animals or humans together and animating them.
…What if it really was an amalgamation of humans and animals in motion?
But even if that were true, could it still be called human?
It might have been controlled by another existence, merely using biological husks to move.
The troubled Jelly Girl eventually shook her head and stopped thinking.
After all, it was merely an impression based on looks.
Now, it was impossible to know the actual truth.
Especially since she had already dismembered them and swallowed something significant.
…Ah, that’s right. I swallowed something inside them.
The Jelly Girl shivered at the memory of herself, acting as directed by the knowledge pouch, tearing flesh apart without hesitation to take what was inside.
She felt estranged from the person she had become.
Thinking about it, mutilation like that was something unimaginable during her human days.
A violent act incomparable to slicing meat for cooking.
She remembered feeling oddly apathetic while performing this act.
This made the Jelly Girl suddenly fear herself.
Am I going to end up like those creatures I’ve destroyed?
Could others have also changed this way, losing their human forms?
No, it’s probably just an overreaction.
…How would I know anyway? I’m not a researcher of Singularities.
It must just be an amateur’s absurd imagination.
Surely… Surely I’ll be fine.
Shivering Jelly in hand, the Jelly Girl approached the sleeping Hwang Bo-yul.
Though she felt a sense of awkwardness moments ago from brushing against her n*ked body, the Jelly Girl now needed the warmth of another person.
She felt it reassured her of her remaining humanity.
If she had lost her humanity, wouldn’t she have sought to dominate this warmth instead?
The Jelly Girl sat next to the sleeping Hwang Bo-yul with a somewhat melancholic expression, feeling her warmth.
It felt like sitting by a bonfire.
The unexpectedly gloomy Jelly Girl recalled the faces she left behind at the “House.”
Kim Cheon-soo falling backward after being hit with slime, Han Seori who picked her up from under the armpits since the first meeting, and Yang Ha-na, positive enough to seem like a Singularity.
The jellies flowing from her own body.
Daesik, who refused to leave the doll.
Jungsik who felt like a whale calf.
…I don’t know how he appeared, but there’s also Sosik, who looks exactly like me but is terribly lazy.
Globe, who seems a bit softer despite his first impression.
And countless legions of jelly.
Thinking of these brought a slight calmness to her heart.
See, it’ll all be fine.
Globe also started by babbling about being a lowly lifeform but now is really close with Yang Ha-na, right?
…Well, maybe it’s not completely “close” yet, but compared to how he was when we first met, it’s a tremendous improvement, so the Jelly Girl nodded in agreement.
Not all Singularities try to tear humans apart and k*ll them, do they?
Are there perhaps kind Singularities like me somewhere out there?
As her heart softened, the Jelly Girl remembered the gaze she felt at the facility she had just escaped from.
It was disguised as friendly but still felt somewhat disconcerting.
Recalling the gaze, the Jelly Girl realized the connection.
It was very similar to the eyes she faced during her first kidnapping (or so it could be called).
While the eyes then plainly revealed greed, this time it was hidden behind a smile, albeit with a similar undertone.
This realization made the Jelly Girl understand why Hwang Bo-yul had been in such a rush.
Was this to protect me?
Actually, the Jelly Girl had vaguely understood that Hwang Bo-yul was trying to protect her.
While unsure of the exact reasons, she trusted that Hwang Bo-yul would do her no harm and had accommodated her accordingly.
Understanding that reason made Hwang Bo-yul seem even more amazing and beautiful today.
And she was grateful.
If she fell into the hands of one with such a gaze, she felt her life would become something altogether different from what it was now.
The Jelly Girl liked her current life, although she occasionally grumbled.
She enjoyed taking out the bad Singularities that harm people and, outside of those times, living slothfully, killing time.
She wasn’t particularly adverse to battling Singularities occasionally since it was tied to her past hobbies.
While they say turning a hobby into a job ruins it, that wasn’t the case for the Jelly Girl.
Thinking herself rather lucky, the Jelly Girl felt Hwang Bo-yul’s warmth.
Feeling her warmth, the Jelly Girl suddenly longed for Han Seori.
Then, amidst her thoughts, she was enveloped by an odd sensation of unease.
It was not the fear of becoming like the Singularities she had eliminated.
It was more like an uncomfortable feeling, as if something were stuck in her throat.
What’s this?
This feeling is…
Tilting her head, the Jelly Girl left Hwang Bo-yul’s side to move around the room, hoping to identify the source of her unease.
However, the room, which had already been checked by Hwang Bo-yul, revealed nothing unusual. With no ability to detect such things, it was impossible for her to find anything.
Dissatisfied, the agitated Jelly Girl burbled, then approached the window.
If not inside, could it be outside?
Approaching the window, the Jelly Girl glared at it, annoyed about its height, and dragged over a chair from in front of the vanity to place against the wall.
Standing on the chair and peering out through a gap in the curtains, she could see the mundane forest of concrete buildings she’d grown tired of from her time inside travel bags.
Carrying on despite this, why did she feel so odd inside?
The Jelly Girl absentmindedly fiddled with the knowledge pouch, wondering if it might have something to do with this feeling.
However, something was odd.
The pouch, meant to detect Singularities, was strangely glowing and pointing outside the window.
With a sense of foreboding, the Jelly Girl spun the pouch.
And the rotating knowledge pouch began pointing to a certain direction again.
…No way.
Could there be a Singularity nearby?
The unsettling possibility made the Jelly Girl tremble as she prepared to jump off the chair to wake Hwang Bo-yul.
However, as a silhouette came into view, she stopped to look out the window carefully.
Soon enough, figures approaching their building and proclaiming “This is suspicious” became visible.
The knowledge pouch also seemed to be pointing toward these figures.
Unless those people were somehow associated with Singularities, it appeared that they, or something with them, might be Singularities themselves.
Curious, the Jelly Girl tilted her head.
If not for becoming a Jelly Girl, she wouldn’t have noticed the presence of a Singularity.
This meant the people bringing the Singularity were likely on Hwang Bo-yul’s side.
Why, then, were they coming here?
The Jelly Girl’s question didn’t linger long, as it was only natural given her recent thoughts on the greedy gaze.
…Oh dear.
Is kidnapping so common that even a country with intact law enforcement allows it?
Is this country… really okay?
After shaking her head, the Jelly Girl decided it was indeed time to wake Hwang Bo-yul and lept off the chair.
As the Jelly Girl splashed toward the bed, the sticky sound woke Hwang Bo-yul abruptly, who sat up with a startled look.
Oh man, what a fright.
The Jelly Girl, startled by Hwang Bo-yul’s sudden rise, tried to calm herself.
“Seriously, when did you fall asleep like this….”
While calming herself, Hwang Bo-yul, regaining her composure, took a low voice to examine the surroundings.
Just as the fog in her eyes cleared,
a sound could be heard from the corridor, and under the door, something resembling a card slid inside.
At the exact moment Hwang Bo-yul noticed it, a hissing sound emanated, and a white mist began to rapidly fill the room.
“Ah…”
Wrinkling her face, Hwang Bo-yul reached toward her bag, producing what seemed like a gas mask from within.
Wow, what preparation is this?
Seems she knew about it already.
While the Jelly Girl marveled, Hwang Bo-yul prepared to place her in a travel bag.
However, she couldn’t.
Even with the mask on, the smoke filling the room seemed to make Hwang Bo-yul’s body feel numb.
…Huh?
She wasn’t prepared for this?
As the Jelly Girl stood confused, Hwang Bo-yul suddenly knelt down, her movement halted.
Through her mask, her expression was hidden, but to the Jelly Girl, it was obvious she was in distress.
…Hmm.
Is it my turn to act?
What should I do, though?
It felt okay while the smoke was confined within the room.
…The Jelly Girl desperately wracked her mind.
The act of planning felt strange after so many thoughtless dissections.
