The moment I was about to become a jelly donut riddled with holes.
A face that seemed familiar approached me. As the jelly trembled, his voice reached me, and a hazy memory surfaced.
Ah, that’s right.
It was the commoner who panicked and fell over when I spat out some slime… Wasn’t it?
But for some reason, his presence was quite comforting.
In a situation where black gun barrels were pointed at me, I’d encountered a voice that seemed somewhat friendly.
Though it irritated me somewhat how he spoke to me like one would calm a child…
Looking at those ominous metal rods aimed at me, I couldn’t help but feel compelled into submission.
If I spewed out more slime here, I’d probably turn into a beehive jelly…
Still, the promise of being taken to Han Seori sounded very positive. I guess it must be sweet to be near those in power, huh?
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was why I had ended up going to the spa, staying over, and doing all these things.
And so, I decided to entrust my body to him. However, watching him awkwardly smile as he came closer made me feel somewhat… uneasy.
If being near a man like him doesn’t bother you, then that’s probably stranger in itself.
I didn’t have a liking for hugging or embracing strange men, so I felt rebellious, but the thought of becoming beehive jelly made me reconsider.
Then suddenly, tentacle-like structures shot out from my body and wrapped around the commoner.
It seemed like he wasn’t particularly surprised, though I myself was startled, feeling my jelly quiver.
I worried that he might misinterpret this as an attack and end up blowing both of us to bits.
However, commendably, the commoner seemed to realize I had no intention of attacking and defended me.
This was truly touching, regardless of the fact that he was a man.
Feeling moved, I turned to look at the tentacles that had suddenly appeared.
Should I even call them tentacles?
Frankly, they felt more like an extension of my jelly.
I mulled over why they had appeared so suddenly…
And realized my body had maintained a slight distance from the commoner.
It struck me that my reluctance to hug him might have caused this reaction.
Though why exactly these tentacles formed…
Hmm, I couldn’t fully explain it. Perhaps it was from digesting the statue, which was assumed to be of a similar kind to me.
It’s like a game, isn’t it?
Eating something and gaining new abilities…
To be honest, this “ability” is a little vague. It just feels like my jelly stretches out—something that might happen if someone were to tug on me.
So, did I perhaps gain some other ability?
But since the game wasn’t kind enough to clearly reveal what my new power was, I was somewhat hesitant.
After all, I had no clue what powers the statue possessed.
During all this…
I spotted Han Seori, fully equipped with gear in my sight.
She must have noticed me because she gave a faintly wistful smile.
I don’t know why, but as I sensed we had finally reached a safe place, my jelly grew calm.
Is this the sweetness of power?
As the jelly wrapped around the commoner retreated into my body, I carefully moved closer to Han Seori, resting gently in her embrace.
This time, no jelly shot out.
I could somewhat feel a bewildered gaze from behind, but it wasn’t something that concerned me.
If you don’t like it, why don’t you try hugging Han Seori instead?
You wouldn’t, right?
While being cradled in the arms of power, I noticed Han Seori speaking firmly to someone, sensing something might have gone wrong.
This outing seemed a bit tiring for me as well, and I began to feel drowsy.
I couldn’t fully understand what she was saying.
Just as I was about to drift off…
The thought of Alice crossed my mind.
As my vision was about to dim, I brightened up and fidgeted slightly in Han Seori’s embrace.
“Hm… Hmm?”
This drew her attention, though she seemed to glance at me with a puzzled expression, confused about what could be wrong.
Having caught her attention, I felt a little shy but…
…I made gestures to express Alice.
Like pulling Daesik toward me or moving my hands to mimic playing with a doll.
Frankly, I thought that I could just buy a new doll, but…
…since Daesik really liked that one, there was nothing I could do. If Daesik hadn’t always hidden himself in Alice, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.
Anyway!
Having understood my desperate explanation, Han Seori, who had been stiff-faced, softened her expression with a warm smile and nodded.
…Did she really get what I meant?
I wasn’t sure.
Regardless, feeling I’d done all I could, I surrendered to the first bout of sleep that had come to me since this transformation.
“Hmm?”
“Young man, aren’t you too interested in women?”
“Hmm… Maybe it’s because she looks like a girl, so she’s drawn to similar appearances?”
“Ugh…”
I vaguely heard the commoner grumbling, but it didn’t disturb my slumber.
As I felt the warmth emanating from Han Seori’s body…
I fell asleep.
*
Han Seori murmured as she looked down at the jelly girl sleeping in her arms.
“She’s really asleep.”
“Didn’t she sleep originally?”
At this, Han Seori turned a look toward Kim Cheon-soo, as if questioning his ignorance.
“At least since she came to the lab… I’ve never seen her appear to sleep like this. Perhaps… she has begun to fully trust us.”
“…I see.”
Han Seori, now acting as though caring for her younger sibling, gently patted the jelly girl’s back and continued.
“If you’ve gathered everything inside, there should still be a doll. It would be great if you could recover that as well.”
– Yes? Sure, I’ll take care of it.
Hearing the somewhat reluctant reply, Han Seori took a seat with a much sterner face than when she was looking at the jelly girl.
“…The director mentioned he wasn’t inside.”
Either he wasn’t there to begin with…
Or he fled as soon as things went awry.
Han Seori didn’t seem overly worried about it.
After all, the former director left very clean evidence of wrongdoing behind.
From the reports alone, it seemed improbable that he would merely be expelled—he might not even receive any consequences.
This was somewhat encouraging, but…
…it still felt strange.
The traces left by those presumed to have fallen victim to the Singularity seemed too clean.
…Even without much analysis, it suggested some third-party interference.
And that meant…
…“Call of Twilight.”
There was no doubt it was their doing.
But as I thought about it, something seemed off.
If this was their work, the situation seemed too beneficial for them.
Perhaps they intended for everyone who entered the Singularity to die, but since there were no threatening situations noted after entry, that theory seemed unlikely.
Considering that these individuals didn’t act logically, perhaps it was just a whim of theirs.
Nevertheless, Han Seori couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.
– As you requested, we’ve recovered the doll and evidence suspected to be linked to the Singularity. Since we appear to have all necessary items, we will now return.
“Ah, yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
Evidence of 7496 – KR, huh?
What could it be?
Han Seori smiled slightly as she felt the soft, squishy sensation from the jelly girl’s body.
Alright, let’s think positively.
The original goal of expelling the director was a success. And 7496 – KR returned unharmed, too, so things had gone well, right?
…As for the Call of Twilight.
Well.
Given they were not adversaries we could deal with immediately, worrying about them would only cause a headache.
What was more productive was contemplating how we could secure “cooperation” from 7496 – KR, who had now become entirely friendly.
As Han Seori looked at the jelly girl sleeping like a child in her arms, it made her heart a bit softer than usual.
She thought it was inevitable and returned with the recovered party to the lab.
She was greeted there by her supervisor, Yoo Gang-jik, who took the evidence of the former director’s corruption and declared his intent to prepare the procedures before leaving energetically.
Even as Han Seori watched the back of the man who had tried to stop her from leaving till the end, she turned around.
Though her heart wished otherwise, she thought it was impractical to sleep alongside 7496 – KR and the jelly girl just yet.
Carefully laying the jelly girl in the new containment room, Han Seori had the agents gently place the recovered doll beside her.
The sticky substance hanging from the jelly girl’s head slowly wriggled and moved into the doll.
The slightly dirty doll then cautiously approached the jelly girl before curling up beside her, mimicking sleep.
Whether she was truly asleep or not was unclear, but the scene brought an involuntary smile to Han Seori’s face as she left the containment room.
Thinking that she wouldn’t burden her with harsh tasks so lightly now, Han Seori returned to her room to take care of the remaining tasks.
In this way, another morning arrived for Han Seori, who started it off while listening to an excited Yoo Gang-jik.
Deciding to check on the jelly girl, Han Seori headed toward the containment room.
‘What should I get her that she’d like…?’
As she absentmindedly rubbed her sleepy eyes and entered the containment room, an unexpected sight greeted her.
