I once turned into jelly, and this time I’ve become furniture.
The same thing didn’t happen again. Honestly, just imagining it sends shivers down my spine, though now I don’t even have hair to stand on end—what a real stroke of luck.
No, I do have something, but can I even call it hair…? More like tentacles and knowledge pouches, right?
Does that mean I’ve become a shiny bald guy?
…I might get lynched by the ten million bald people nationwide if they heard me say this. Let’s just say I have a lush head of… something. I don’t want to be bald, after all.
Judging from the fact that I have the time to grumble like this, I was able to prevent the flesh from entering my body. When my jelly furniture body was tossed into the air, I truly thought I was done for.
I was worried I might end up like the human furniture I’d seen before, or the jelly furniture standing in front of me now. It made sense since the jellies that ate flesh had turned into furniture.
However, when I clenched my body tightly, like sealing my mouth shut, the flesh couldn’t intrude and instead bounced off.
Ironically, it was me who bounced off. Whether by chance or fate, my body shot toward the light escaping through a gap, and as I bounced through the surrounding flesh, I got pushed closer to the light.
The sensation of my body bouncing in the swaying mansion felt like I was going to die, but fortunately, I didn’t feel nauseous.
Of course, if I were human, my entire skeleton would likely have shattered by now, or I’d be rolling on the ground in pain.
Therefore, I should be grateful… Though the truth is, I barely remember how it felt to move with a human body anymore.
Anyway.
When I stood up, I noticed that the faint light I’d seen from outside was now right in front of me. It wasn’t exactly an eerie glow designed to lure people in… just a simple, warm light.
It looked like a lure waved by an anglerfish, though judging by how it was hidden, it seemed like there was no choice but to approach it.
This light was either the key to solving the problem or perhaps the cause of the problem itself.
Even if it’s a trap, I don’t have a choice but to go forward. The mood isn’t great knowing that.
While moving toward the light, the dark red flesh that had engulfed me pressed upon me from all sides, so I flailed my tentacles and took cautious steps. Of course, I made sure that the flesh didn’t enter my body.
Oddly, a baseless confidence welled up inside me. The baseless confidence that if I eat this, I won’t turn into furniture. Reflecting on all the things I’ve consumed until now, maybe it isn’t entirely baseless.
But, watching the jelly creatures transform into furniture made even that fleeting confidence waver. Even though this didn’t feel delicious, it naturally diminished.
People who confidently say they’ll be fine are often caught out in the end, and then suffer some horrifying fate.
I didn’t want to follow that cliché. Therefore, I approached the light without letting my guard down. I’m not some foolish person like them.
Cutting through the sticky, solid flesh and forcing my way through, I was met with a bright light. Yet, contrary to the warm glow, the scene before me was something I hadn’t expected at all.
I thought that following the light would lead me to something like a bait-tossing anglerfish, or maybe a giant heart pounding like inside the whale’s body earlier. Even that would’ve seemed suitable, though not particularly novel, for the Singularity.
However, perhaps my imagination was a bit lacking.
When I broke through the flesh to what I presumed was the center, the first thing I saw was indeed a bright light, much like what I had been rambling about earlier.
I imagined there would be something dangling, like a decrepit light bulb swaying… But the source of the light was not hanging from the ceiling but was attached to the floor.
I’m not sure how to describe this.
There was a circular base-like structure, and on it was a light source. Horrifyingly, the light was being emitted from the mouth of some middle-aged man.
Perhaps it could be compared to an anglerfish… But having already seen people transformed into furniture, I just found it gruesome.
Broken shards of glass were scattered around the man’s mouth. His presumed hands seemed to either caress or support something that ought to be above the light. But since there was nothing there, it looked like a pantomime act.
“Fusion…”
Whoa, that surprised me.
I was so absorbed in observation that I heard a voice emanating from the mouth emitting the light.
…Could it possibly still be alive… or maybe still conscious? It’s hard to imagine how it would feel to still have awareness in this state.
As I thought this, the voice that had touched the jelly grew clearer. From the glowing throat emerged…
“Fusion, Fusion, Fusion.”
A strange voice flowed out, like someone having their throat choked, accompanied by broken radio-like repetition of the same word.
Judging from this, it seems unlikely that the man is conscious.
“Fusion, Fusion, Fusion.”
If that person had consciousness, they would have likely spoken to me like Hong Seon-yeol earlier instead of repeating the word “fusion.”
But the mere fact that a voice is being emitted evokes a peculiar sensation in me.
Separately from that…
What does ‘fusion’ mean?
Who was this person that kept repeating that word and was located at what I presumed was the center?
It felt very bizarre.
The middle-aged man repeating the word ‘fusion.’
From his mouth, a warm light is emitted. The surroundings are encased in dark red flesh, releasing a strong, metallic smell.
The scene is incredibly surreal, but the sensation of touching the jelly is too real.
…Anyway.
I just wanted to get out of here. Forget propriety, something about this felt ominous.
Just then.
From a distant place, a now familiar “BOOM!” sounded. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but one thing was certain.
The sound meant—
Before I could finish my thought, the surroundings violently shook. In response, the flesh surrounding me began to expand outward. My body, barely clinging to the floor, avoided being swallowed, but the flesh began to inflate as if it had decided to consume me.
I realized it wasn’t a time for observation anymore, but observing was all I could do at that moment.
I had no idea what I should destroy or eat to make this mansion stop moving. Thus, observation was my only option.
I pushed away or cut through the flesh that was steadily squeezing me and moved toward the most likely-looking place.
As much as I didn’t want to see it—
There was no choice. The most suspicious thing here right now was the man emitting the light.
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion, followed by the mansion being encircled by smoke as it slowly tilted. The man who watched this intensely wished.
“Please, just crumble.”
The very fact that he wished for it so fervently implied that the likelihood of it actually collapsing was low.
If he had expected it to fall, his expression would have been filled with desperate hope rather than sheer tension.
Perhaps his wish was answered.
The mansion, which had withstood three explosions, now seemed to be collapsing, colliding with the ground amidst a cloud of dust.
“Damn—”
“Shut up!”
The man whose face lit up at the sight had his mouth covered by his companion. Both the person covering and the one being covered knew it was just a feeling.
But after witnessing a mansion rise again after magic words were uttered, it was hard to completely dismiss the possibility.
Grunting…
Right as his mouth was covered, the mansion seemed about to collapse, prompting the companion covering his mouth to mutter, “Is it over?”
Even when his companion’s mouth was covered by yet another person nearby, the mansion showed no signs of rising again.
Even after the dust settled, the mansion remained eerily still.
It was like a tomb of stone. They had a comrade inside, so the analogy wasn’t entirely incorrect.
Is it really over?
Did the blue girl who went in accomplish this?
The group that couldn’t bring themselves to speak the word “end” was growing restless. Their leader silently stared at the collapsed mansion without a word.
To speak might cause the mansion to rise again.
When you think about it, it was strange from the beginning.
Even after the legs were shattered three times, they only grew stronger, and the mansion didn’t stop.
That’s why they shot at the remaining leg, desperately hoping it would stop, and the mansion collapsed.
Considering the results they’d seen until now, it would be normal for broken legs to sprout and the mansion to walk again.
They were hoping for it, but now that it actually happened… the cognitive dissonance was palpable.
Finally, unable to bear the silence, a man cautiously spoke.
“This time, it’s really ov—”
GUHGUHGUH!
The moment the man opened his mouth, the mansion started to rise again. Strange noises echoed from inside, and something protruded through the rubble.
The man who received heated glares from his companions felt indignant.
They all had the same itchy feeling in their throats, yet he was the only one getting scolded—how was that fair?
