I Became a National ‘Disaster’ Level Monster

Chapter 19: Enemy or Ally?

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

Why?

What did I do wrong?

I was just fighting back.

I reacted to the killing intent and devoured the defeated as the victor. That’s the natural order of things.

Are you trying to eat me too?

Then why don’t you just kill me right away? Why do you keep stabbing, clawing, and hurting me?

“Ha ha. Even though it looks human, it’s still a baby.”

“Let’s kill it quickly and go home.”

“Wait! We can’t kill it! It’s a valuable specimen!”

“…Then let’s just incapacitate it for now.”

It hurt.

Stop.

I’m sorry.

“Ah, that…”

It’s enough.

If you’ve won, just kill and eat me quickly.

Why do you keep attacking my limbs so persistently?

“Ah, ah…!”

Their actions were incomprehensible.

A dagger was thrown into the thigh of the baby monster that was starting to falter.

“Kyaa?!”

Its leg began to lose strength.

Taking advantage of the moment, the hunters grabbed the baby monster from both sides and forced it to its knees on the ground.

“Are you okay?!”

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

With a trembling body, the baby monster looked ahead.

A human was running towards it with a worried expression.

“Ugh… ah..?”

Why was she making such a sad face?

Why was she worried about me?

Since birth, the baby had never felt kindness from others because its mother had died.

So when it saw Lee Hee-jeong worrying about it, it felt a pang in its heart.

But the momentary spark in its eyes quickly faded.

“Phew. Fortunately, it seems the reproductive organs are intact.”

“Come on, we knew what we were doing. That’s why we only targeted its limbs.”

“Are you underestimating us B-rank hunters?”

The human, kneeling to match its eye level, only inspected its lower body without making eye contact.

An inexplicable sense of revulsion welled up.

For the first time in its life, it had trusted and was betrayed.

The young monster roared in fury.

“Ahhh! Ahhh!”

“Mommy?!”

“Oh dear.”

“Stay still.”

There was no way to shake off the grip holding it.

That wasn’t all.

“Damn it… That scared me!”

Thwack!

Suddenly, its vision turned to the side, and one cheek stung.

As it looked forward again, a human stood there, panting and facing the direction it had turned.

The young monster realized it had been kicked.

And it hung its head low.

Not only had it been betrayed by someone who showed concern, but it had also been subjected to violence.

An indescribable, painful emotion surged within it.

However, the real agony was just beginning.

“Hold that monster down.”

Lee Hee-jeong, who had turned her back on the young monster, gave orders to the hunters and walked towards the center of the brutally hunted monster corpses.

“Let’s see… Hmm, this one died relatively intact.”

“What are you doing?”

“What else? Extracting genes.”

Like the researcher she was, Lee Hee-jeong skillfully inserted a syringe into one of the dead monster’s corpses.

She succeeded in extracting intact genes.

Then she walked back towards the young monster and spoke to the hunters holding it.

“Almost all the samples in the lab died because of this monster. So, we need to restore them quickly.”

“Does that mean… you’re going to perform artificial insemination right here?”

“Yes. Monster genes can only survive for about two hours outside a living body. So we need to breed it here immediately.”

“But that beast-type monster and this baby monster are completely different species. Can they even mate?”

“They can. According to a paper, humanoid monsters can crossbreed with different monster species to create ‘chimera’ offspring.”

Lee Hee-jeong knelt to match the eye level of the young monster again.

As she raised the syringe in one hand, the young monster, feeling an inexplicable fear, started thrashing instinctively.

“Ah, ah…?! Ahhh…!”

“Tsk. Hold it tightly. I’m going to inject this directly into the reproductive organs.”

“Yes.”

“If it keeps struggling, feel free to gouge out its eyes or cut off its limbs.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes. We’re only using it for breeding, so as long as the reproductive organs are intact, it doesn’t matter what else gets broken.”

The young monster, feeling an intense sense of helplessness and extreme fear, couldn’t do anything despite its cries.

It was terrified.

So terrified that it soiled itself for the first time in its life.

“Hmm. Its reproductive organs and excretory organs are quite similar to a human’s. We’ll need to dissect it later.”

“Ahhh…! Ahhhhhh!!”

I’m scared.

Save me.

Don’t do this.

Why are you doing this to me?

Its teeth chattered, and hot liquid flowed from its eyes. As the syringe neared below its navel, the young monster thrashed about desperately.

“Kugh…!”

“Hold it still!”

“Why can’t you guys handle a baby monster properly?!”

Then,

“Kyaa?!”

The young monster managed to throw one of the hunters holding it, freeing itself as the hunter’s arm twisted at an impossible angle.

At the same time, Lee Hee-jeong, who had collided with the flying hunter and fallen to the ground, heard a shattering sound.

“Wh-what?”

She realized, dismayed, that the syringe containing the last monster sample had broken.

“D-damn it…! Now that it’s come to this, incapacitate it quickly so this never happens again!”

She ordered the other hunters while helping the fallen one to his feet.

“Just cut the tendons in its arms and legs, right?”

“Cut them off entirely if you have to! Damn it! Just don’t let it die! Make sure it can never pull something like this again!”

“Alright, let’s finish what we started.”

One arm hung limp due to a dislocated bone.

As the three hunters in front of it closed the distance, the young monster, terrified, slowly retreated backward.

Its back hit the wall, and it began to cry again.

“Ahh… Ah, no…!”

No allies to protect it.

No parents.

No strength.

Nothing it could do.

“Stay still. It’ll be over quickly.”

The humans, each holding different weapons, aimed at its limbs.

There was no way it could win with just one arm.

Its instincts whispered that if it were captured now, it would face a fate worse than death.

Just before it ended, in the déjà vu that every living creature feels in such moments…

The young monster…

…No.

In the fragment of memories inherited through its genes, the young monster saw the way to overcome this crisis.

A perfect strike that had ended its mother.

“Ah, ah…”

“…?”

“Kuh, j-just… go…”

“…What?”

“Is the monster talking?!”

In its mother’s memories, it saw the stance.

Placing its feet inward and bending its knees slightly, it struck not too strongly, nor too weakly, aiming not at the opponent but at the space itself with its shoulder drawn back.

“Straight punch.”

Bang!

Compared to the true technique in its mother’s memory, it was crude.

But it seemed that even this much was enough.

“Argh?!”

“Eek?!”

Despite barely making contact, the hunter directly in front of the young monster had his abdominal muscles ripple and then spewed blood as he was flung backward.

The hunters on either side were similarly hurled in opposite directions as if blown away by the wind, crashing into the ground.

Lee Hee-jeong, who had been watching the scene, collapsed to the floor in fear.

However, the young monster no longer cared about them.

It only wanted to survive.

Noticing the ventilation cover knocked off by the gust of wind, it quickly slipped into the hole and disappeared.

It glanced back at the body of the creature that gave birth to it, now headless.

“Mom…”

It bid farewell before vanishing from the research wing.

***

It was when we returned to the association branch after finishing the monster cleanup job.

“Why is the atmosphere like this…?”

“Exactly?”

The association lobby was bustling as if it were doomsday.

Sophia and I exchanged puzzled glances.

At that moment,

“Sophia Hunter! You’re Sophia Hunter, right?!”

A staff member, who usually worked in the lobby, came rushing toward us.

“Something serious has happened!”

“Something serious?”

“Yes! Hunters of at least C-rank have already received a brief and been deployed to the field from the operations room on the 6th floor!”

“All C-rank and above? What happened?”

“Well, that…”

The staff member, who had been explaining, glanced at me and clammed up.

It was clear that this wasn’t meant for my ears.

So I decided to step away.

“Sophia, I’ll head home first. Let’s meet later.”

“…Okay. See you tonight.”

“Sure.”

As I left Sophia, the staff member apologized to her and took her up the elevator.

It seemed they were leading her to the operations room on the 6th floor.

Pretending to go home, I immediately dashed up the stairs to the 5th floor.

“This definitely isn’t going according to the original story!”

Gasping for breath, I reached the 5th floor and went straight into the restroom.

After ensuring that the restroom was completely empty, I confirmed that no one else was around.

The operations room on the 6th floor was directly above the 5th floor restroom.

To eavesdrop, I needed excellent hearing.

“Uoooh…”

Because it was a public place, I did it quietly.

I let out a low growl and emitted black lightning from my body, transforming into the monster Urogal with its jet-black armor.

Then I locked the stall door and pressed my ear to the ceiling to start eavesdropping.