Chapter 89

The hotel that arrived was much larger than expected, complete with an outdoor pool.

It was decided that no other guests would be accommodated for the entire month of July to serve the Mansheng and the Control Center staff, but in reality, it was no different from isolating dangerous elements. The fact that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had chosen a hotel dozens of kilometers away was a clear indication of this.

The rooms were so plentiful that each person had their own. Even here, the Control Center had managed to separate the rooms of the Mansheng and the Union, which were on the second floor of the plane, by a considerable distance.

The swimming pool and breakfast times were also divided into two sessions to minimize the chances of the two groups meeting. Tachan went to the restaurant for dinner, but Seo-un ate a simple meal in her room because she still lacked the courage to face Chahaya.

The room service dinner she ordered consisted of 'Bakso,' a soup with meatballs, and 'Satay,' meat skewers. The skewers tasted familiar, and unlike the pho, the Bakso had almost no spice, allowing Seo-un to finish the bowl without any trouble.

From her room, which had a terrace, Seo-un could see the pool on the first floor. She watched silently as a group that seemed to be from the Union drank cocktails and played in the pool.

According to the Messenger, the human mutant would appear on the 15th. Since there would be no issues until then, it wasn't bad that they were enjoying themselves.

Seo-un pressed her lips with her fingertips. The burning sensation was less intense than before, but the aftereffects of Chahaya's sucking and nibbling still lingered. If not for the previous problem, she might have been playing with Chahaya right now, but she didn't want to leave her room. If she saw his face, she would surely confront him about why he did that to her twice.

"Ugh! Come out! Come out!"

Suddenly, a scream erupted from below. Looking down, it seemed like a tsunami had hit the pool, even though the wind was calm. It was clearly the work of Umjigeun.

Seo-un looked around but couldn't see Umjigeun. Still, she felt a sense of relief. She was secretly displeased with how they were enjoying themselves as if it were their own world.

Her uncle was supposed to meet Chahaya tomorrow, but perhaps it would be better to meet separately...

Seo-un looked at the calm pool water and shook her head. She went back inside and let the air conditioning cool her sweat.

If Chahaya was just annoyed by her blind date, she could punch him and make him suffer for a few nights. But if he kissed her because he had some feelings for her...

She felt a sense of emptiness. She didn't think it was a serious emotion.

It was more likely a fleeting impulse, not a deep-seated feeling like hers that had lasted for years. That's why she, who had never dared to dream of such a kiss, was able to have it. Now, she felt foolish for worrying about every small touch and overthinking their relationship.

Knock, knock.

Holding the remaining skewer, someone knocked on the door. Since she hadn't ordered any more room service, it couldn't be a hotel staff member. Seo-un put down the skewer and walked to the entrance.

When she opened the door, no one was there. The corridor lighting was dim, even for a relatively expensive hotel. She wondered if an Indonesian ghost might appear.

"Here."

Looking down in the direction of the voice, she saw something small standing there. Though not afraid of ghosts, Seo-un was startled and stepped back. When she confirmed who was standing there, she couldn't believe her eyes.

It was Chahaya, wearing a long t-shirt that seemed to be slipping off, and he looked like a child, similar to when he was poisoned by jellyfish.

Could it be a side effect?

Seo-un didn't want to see Chahaya right now, but it was an emergency. She quickly composed herself, looked around the corridor to see if anyone else was there, and hurriedly pulled Chahaya into the room.

"Why are you like this? Are you hurt?"

Despite her sinking feeling, she couldn't help but worry. Chahaya only shook his head expressionlessly in response to her rapid-fire questions.

"Sit down for a moment."

Seo-un, despite her brusque tone, helped Chahaya sit in a chair. To calm him down, she opened a bottle of water and poured it into a glass. He looked fragile and weak, perhaps because of his appearance.

"Have you eaten?"

Chahaya shook his head again.

Seo-un picked up the phone and ordered nasi goreng from room service. Fortunately, the staff spoke English well, so there was no communication issue.

Chahaya stared at the skewer Seo-un had left. When he swallowed, she quickly used chopsticks to remove the meat and placed it on a plate.

"Try to fill your stomach with this. It's quite good."

Chahaya, who had seemed hungry, hesitated with the chopsticks. Of course, they were adult-sized.

Seo-un, seeing his struggle, fed him the meat directly. Chahaya chewed and swallowed the meat Seo-un offered.

But something felt off.

"Chahaya, look at me."

Chahaya lifted his innocent eyes. He hadn't said a word in response to her questions since saying "Here," and he had obediently eaten what she fed him without showing any dislike.

Had Chahaya always been like this?

"Hey... can I take you on a plane?"

Chahaya tilted his head, confused. Seo-un felt a chill run down her spine.

Is this really Chahaya?

An alarm went off in her head. If he were a threat, the Messenger would have warned her, but the Messenger was silent. Could it be that his mental age had also regressed due to the side effects? If so, he was a truly despicable kid. But it wasn't intentional, so blaming the small Chahaya in front of her was pointless.

Knock, knock.

Seo-un jumped up at the knock, startled. It couldn't be room service, as she had only ordered it a few minutes ago.

"It must be room service."

She wanted to lie because of the lingering unease. As she tried to act casual and head to the entrance, Chahaya wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey, I need to get the room service."

When she turned her head, the sound of her hair brushing against the shirt was eerie.

"Seo-un, it's me."

At that moment, a familiar voice came from outside the door. The hotel's poor soundproofing made the voice crystal clear. Seo-un quickly looked down at the young Chahaya.

"Ba, go, pa."

This isn't Chahaya.

The real Chahaya is outside the door.

"Just a moment, I'm eating."

The child's eyes, which were almost green, suddenly turned pitch black.

Ugh! The force with which he hugged her waist was immense. His ten fingers dug into her skin, as if creating ten holes in her body. The cosmos began to be sucked out through his fingertips. The amount being drained was so great that her legs wobbled.

Seo-un quickly gathered the cosmos in her right hand and grabbed the child's neck. The purple aura surrounding her hand was darker than usual. "Get off...!" She forcibly pulled the child away and threw him with all her might.

With a loud crash, the child hit the wall. Pieces of cement from the cracked wall fell onto his body.

Crack! The sound of the door breaking followed. Chahaya, who had broken the metal door handle, looked at Seo-un and then at the child lying on the floor.

His gaze, which seemed to ask, "What is that?" made Seo-un shake her head. Chahaya squatted in front of the fallen child and grabbed his hair.

When he confirmed the face, he tilted his head strangely and let out a sigh.

"I thought you had become young again... Chahaya, what is this?"

Seo-un swallowed hard.

<Admit. 'I' made a mistake, causing the human mutant to appear earlier.>

What? Seo-un looked up in surprise. The human mutant appeared earlier due to the Messenger's mistake?

<This human mutant needs to consume the cosmos of the Mansheng to settle on Earth. However, the mutant's nature is divided into 'good and evil' based on the Mansheng's nature. Since it has absorbed 'Seo-un's' cosmos, the mutant will have 'Seo-un's' nature.>

This child is a human mutant? But why does it look like a young Chahaya?

She wondered internally, but the Messenger didn't respond.

"What did the Messenger say?"

"Uh? The Messenger?"

Chahaya was blocking Seo-un's view.

When Seo-un communicated with the Messenger or received information, her eyes often looked into the distance. Chahaya had guessed that something was going on from her repeated actions.

Regular searchers also exhibit similar behavior, but they usually see hallucinations, relying on visual cues. However, Chahaya guessed that Seo-un relied on auditory cues.

"Didn't you just get a signal from the Messenger?"

"Ah, it's similar, but..."

Seo-un continued honestly.

"This is a human mutant."

When she said "it's a human mutant" instead of "it's a human mutant," Chahaya was certain. He didn't know what Seo-un was hiding, but he approached the child to confirm. He kicked the child's body to turn it over. The child seemed even smaller than before.

Seo-un, sensing something strange, took a step back.

"What is this..."

The muttering escaped her lips. Chahaya looked at the child's face from different angles and then back at Seo-un.

"It's a mini Seo-un."

The human mutant now resembled a young Seo-un.

***

Chahaya, resting his chin, watched the child. The child, upon opening his eyes, had been looking for food and had already consumed the equivalent of five people's meals. Seo-un had been pacing around the room.

"Where are you from?"

The child, who was eating bread, blinked. Seo-un had asked where he was from more than five times. Each time, the child only blinked his purple eyes.

"Where are your parents?"

"Seo-un, is this a mutant?"

"Even if it is, it wasn't born alone, right?"

Seo-un wiped the bread crumbs the child had dropped on the table with a tissue. Chahaya, though he didn't grab the child's hair or kick him as before, looked full of dissatisfaction.

"How do we kill mini Seo-un?"

He spoke casually about killing the child in front of him.

But how could this harmless-looking child be a mutant?

Seo-un suddenly wondered if she had been too focused on the word "mutant."

"Hey, wait. You only said a human mutant would appear, not what it would do."

"Looks can be deceiving. It might be evil inside."

Seo-un, recalling what the young Chahaya had said before, wondered if she was being deceived by the child's appearance.

"Don't kill me."

The child, who looked exactly like a young Seo-un, spoke. While he had used informal language when he looked like Chahaya, he now sounded polite.

"I am the last survivor. I was sent to live."

The child pointed at Seo-un with his index finger.

"Me?"

Seo-un pointed at herself.

"I'm sorry. I had to eat the cosmos. I needed to settle here."

The child looked down, his pupils shifting nervously.

Seeing her younger self from a third-person perspective made her feel a mix of awkwardness and inexplicable sympathy. She might have projected her own childhood, spent under her father's suffocating education, onto the child.

"Kid?"

She couldn't call him a human mutant, so this was the only term she could think of.

"What do you mean by the last survivor?"

Seo-un softened her tone, but the child closed his mouth, indicating he wouldn't say more. Suddenly, Chahaya grabbed the child's cheek and stretched it to the side. The child whimpered in pain, and Chahaya hesitated.

"This is really disgusting."

He said it as if the child had disguised himself as Seo-un to avoid being killed.

"Probably... because I ate your cosmos."

Chahaya pinched the child's cheek with his thumb and index finger.

"Then, should I eat yours now?"

"It's already settled inside. It hurts. Bad person."

Seo-un grabbed Chahaya's wrist and shook her head, telling him not to. Chahaya backed off more easily than expected, but his displeasure was evident.

Chahaya, who usually smiled, was now expressionless, making Seo-un feel more unfamiliar with him than the human mutant. Her eyes kept being drawn to the cut on his lower lip.

"Kid, mutants are usually bad, right? Do you feel the urge to harm others? Or does an uncontrollable power surge inside you?"

"I don't harm anyone."

<Kill.>

Seo-un's eyelids twitched.

The child had indeed eaten her cosmos, but it was for survival. Did she really need to kill him?

<Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.>

The same words repeated like a broken audio file. Seo-un covered her ears with her hands, but the command to kill kept penetrating her brain, fueling her resistance.

<It should have been 'evil' instead of 'good.' Sigh. Listen carefully, 'Seo-un'>

<You need to kill the last survivors of each planet. When they all gather on Earth, it will begin. Then, even 'Seo-un the Elephant Shrew' will have no place to run. Two are already here.>

So, what will begin?

<The destruction of Earth.>

Seo-un's mouth opened in shock.