Chapter 37

One monster, two monsters, three monsters—

The corridor was filled with monsters, and I hummed a tune to the despair energy they emitted.

I thought the despair energy from the monsters wouldn’t be that impressive, but seeing them gathered like this, I couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

“Where do you think we should go?”

*Grrr—*

“Ah, seeing how this place is filled with despair, it seems like humans might be gathered here? Sure, why not.”

What I was looking for wasn’t humans drowning in despair, but if it’s on the way, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to taste a bit of despair.

Alright then, let’s open the door.

*Thud— Thud— Thud—*

*Grrrr—*

“You’re asking for help? Honestly, if you keep relying on others, you’ll never learn to do things on your own.

Though, to be fair, I’m just too lazy to use my strength.”

I couldn’t waste precious despair energy just to break down a door.

It seemed like the monsters were convinced by my half-hearted persuasion, as they started pounding on the door enthusiastically.

*Creak—*

“See? If you keep at it, it’ll open.”

*Creak, squeak—*

The monsters seemed pleased with themselves for breaking the door down, letting out a satisfied cry.

Now, let’s head inside.

This place was supposed to be a shelter, but with the door wide open like this, it hardly felt like one anymore.

“Monsters.”

“What’s that in front? A humanoid monster? But I don’t remember creating something so inefficient…”

“Did that thing release the test subjects?”

I opened the door with high expectations, but all I found inside were humans with dead fish eyes.

Like mad scientists consumed by their research.

At least the Doctor was fun to tease, but these guys were neither fun nor moving.

‘I thought they’d be huddled together, drowning in despair…’

No, wait. I definitely felt a strong sense of despair on my way here.

I wiped the smile off my face and looked at the old men. A strange tension spread across their faces.

They’re hiding something.

“This is amusing, really amusing.”

*Grrr—*

As I nodded and clicked my tongue, the monsters behind me started filing into the shelter one by one.

It felt like I was the boss of some dark organization.

As the monsters poured in, the humans began to back away. I casually glanced around.

‘This shelter is a decoy, the real one must be nearby…’

If the despair I’m feeling is this sweet just from a surface-level taste, how would it feel to consume it directly?

Would it be the finest flavor of human despair?

Giggling, I turned my head toward the direction the despair was pointing.

Here it is.

*Thud— Thud— Thud—!!!*

“…”

It’s tough.

A few monsters charged at the wall, but not a single scratch appeared.

At this rate, they’d be pounding on it until they died of old age.

I sighed deeply as I watched the monsters futilely hammering at the wall.

“Guess there’s no other choice.”

I didn’t want to use this, but…

I glanced at the researchers staring at me and slowly exhaled.

Well, it’s good that I can stop holding back the despair I’ve been storing.

*Hummm—*

“That’s—”

“Could it be the same kind as the Magical Girl—”

“The Despair Circuit actually exists…?”

As I slowly began to rotate the Despair Circuit, sighs of disbelief erupted around me.

The looks on their faces were like researchers who had just made the discovery of the century.

‘…Is the Despair Circuit really that impressive?’

In the original story, only Apocalypse had the Despair Circuit.

I wondered if I’d shown them something unnecessary, but then I realized it wouldn’t matter soon anyway, and I slowly smirked.

The life force pulsating from the Despair Circuit.

The movement that made me feel alive caused the researchers’ eyes to widen in shock.

“Ah, ah, ahhh—!!!”

“G-God… God, God, God—”

“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, ughhh…”

In that moment, screams erupted, and the humans began bleeding from every orifice.

I didn’t think it would be this severe.

The last time, the humans only had their minds broken, and they held on for quite a while, so I thought it would be similar this time.

‘…I just wanted to scare the humans in the secret shelter and siphon a bit of despair.’

What a shame.

I was curious about the taste of despair from humans who had lived long lives and weathered many storms, but now it’s come to this.

I sighed deeply and swung my arm, causing the wall that the monsters couldn’t even scratch to crumble easily.

To avoid repeating my earlier mistake, I stopped the Despair Circuit’s rotation as the wall collapsed, feeling a deep sense of exhaustion.

“H-Hic…”

“She looks about my age…?”

“Is she some kind of Magical Girl? Otherwise, there’s no way she could break the shelter’s wall.”

“Definitely, monsters don’t look like that…”

I’m glad I told the monsters to step back before breaking the wall.

If they were still by my side, everyone would’ve been screaming in chaos.

I gave the monsters a look as they tried to enter the shelter, and they hesitated before slowly dispersing.

‘They’re probably waiting nearby or secretly following me, tsk.’

I’ve tried to shake them off before, but every time I do, they pretend to leave and just lurk around.

Look, they’re huddled together where they think I can’t see them.

“Um, did you come to save us…?”

I blinked blankly at the cautious question.

Save them? I broke the door down—why would I come to save them?

But that didn’t seem to matter to the humans inside.

‘Now that I look, they’re all just kids.’

From toddlers to what looked like high schoolers, the only commonality was that none of them looked like adults.

Did they hide their own children here?

‘No, that can’t be.’

If that were the case, they wouldn’t be wearing clothes similar to what I wore in the Doctor’s lab.

I thought they might still have some shred of humanity left.

I clicked my tongue inwardly as I looked at the humans who had bled out and died.

“H-Hic?!”

“She’s dangerous, isn’t she? They were fine until they locked us up…”

“No. They were on the verge of death when I arrived.”

I calmly replied to their screams as they looked at the scene outside the shelter.

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

They were clearly on their last legs anyway.

“Thank you for saving us.”

“I just did what had to be done.”

Of course, I did what had to be done. It’s a monster’s duty to seek out humans hiding in despair.

By the way, their despair is fading because they’ve mistakenly assumed I’m here to save them.

No, it’s not just fading—hope is… Ugh.

“…I don’t trust her.”

“Me neither…”

“Isn’t she weird? Like, maybe the monsters sent her…?”

But where there’s hope, there’s also despair.

It wasn’t deep despair, but the anxiety that I might not actually be here to save them was quite delicious.

What if I suddenly turned on them?

The humans who had hope in me might instantly fall into despair.

‘That might be a bit of a delicacy…’

Taking away what you’ve given is always the most fun.

Especially when it’s hope.

‘No, no. Let’s not do that. Taking away what you’ve given is the kind of cruel thing the Doctor would do.’

I imagined the humans drowning in betrayal and despair, but then I remembered that’s exactly what the Doctor did to me, so I quickly changed my thoughts.

I can’t become a monster like the Doctor. No way.

“Everyone, follow me. I know a path without monsters.”

In reality, I just told the monsters to step aside, but that was enough to deceive these humans.

Wait, actually, I’m not deceiving them, am I?

I didn’t exactly lie, so I decided to stand tall.

“…How can we trust you? Are you planning to take us to the Doctor?”

I was listening to their chatter, and it seemed they thought I was some lackey of that Squinting Guy.

Of course, wandering alone in a monster-infested underground lab would lead to that kind of misunderstanding.

Sure, sure, our little human is quite suspicious.

I’m a considerate monster, so I decided to offer a kind word to the little human.

“Then you can stay here.”

“…”

The person’s face turned pale at my gentle tone.

Though I said that, it didn’t seem like they wanted to stay here.