49

I didn’t know the reason.

But I couldn’t stop myself from eating the octopus-type monster before me.

I remembered a commercial from my childhood with the catchphrase “Once you start, you can’t stop”—this was exactly that.

It was delicious—so delicious I couldn’t understand why. But whatever the reason, I simply couldn’t stop.

Before I realized it, I had even swallowed the parts I had spat out earlier.

The octopus-type monster tried to resist again and again, but there was no way it could match my strength. I pinned it to the ground and devoured it.

I paid no attention to the elves around me, consumed only with my frenzy to eat.

At last, as its final act of defiance, the octopus tried to bite me.

I silenced it with my fist and tore off another tentacle with my teeth.

That left only three legs intact—one of which was so heavily eaten near its base that it couldn’t move anymore. When I gripped and ripped that apart, only two remained.

I hammered my fist into the octopus’s body.

But the blows were ineffective. After repeating the useless attack for a while, I suddenly switched tactics, as if remembering something.

My thoughts weren’t clear.

(That’s right. I need to focus on what’s in front of me—)

Eat or be eaten—that was the battle.

There was no need for unnecessary thoughts.

I only needed to kill and devour my opponent.

How much time passed like that?

When I finally came back to myself, the elves were gone, and only the ravaged corpse of the octopus-type monster remained.

I looked down at myself in shock.

(…I’m completely slimy.)

Well, if you bit directly into something that massive, of course you’d end up like this.

Unsteadily, I staggered toward the river.

I washed my body, scrubbing off the mucus, then returned to where the octopus lay.

Looking at its pitiful remains, I thought:

(Amazing I ate this much at all.)

The octopus had been enormous.

The fact that I’d consumed so much of it made me wonder about my own stomach.

Was it really just that delicious that it drove me insane?

No… perhaps there had been some substance in its flesh that caused it.

That thought made me bolt toward the temporary base.

I needed an antidote potion.

My body felt fine, but even I could tell my earlier behavior had been abnormal.

(Eating a monster? And raw, no less? Impossible!)

An alarm blared in my head: Something is definitely wrong.

By the time the cliff base came into view, an overwhelming drowsiness struck me.

(Drowsiness!? In this body!?)

It had been ages since my legs had felt this unsteady.

Bumping into trees repeatedly, I managed to reach the base of the cliff. With a vertical leap, I grabbed a ledge and pulled myself up.

Half-conscious, I shoved my head into the shelter, dragged my pack closer, and reached inside.

Containers of potions rolled out. With no time left, I roughly grabbed one at random.

I didn’t even check which of the two types it was. I popped it open, the force shattering the neck of the bottle, and gulped it down without care.

The next moment, I lost consciousness in the base.

In a dark room, a white-haired man in a lab coat stood before me.

I immediately realized: (Ah, this is a dream.)

As a human version of myself, I sat naturally in the chair beside me.

I knew this man.

He was the researcher I’d last spoken to the day I was still human.

An aging man with glasses, hands folded behind his back, opened his mouth as if unaware of my presence.

“Well then, if someone is watching this dream, that means my experiment succeeded. To the survivor, I offer my congratulations. Well done.”

Definitely a dream.

But how strange for someone in a dream to declare it so.

“You probably have questions. But this is merely implanted footage. I’m already dead and cannot answer you. Even alive, I might not have answered anyway.”

Typical. This dream figure was quick to cut off any objections.

Resigned, I stayed silent and listened to this mad scientist.

If someone had to appear in my dream, I would have preferred No. 6 or No. 8.

“Time is short, so I’ll be direct. If you’re watching this, it means you’ve ingested cells from one of three projects: the ‘Ultimate Lifeform Project,’ the ‘Genetically Enhanced Soldier Project,’ or their predecessor, the ‘Chimera Project.’ Personally, I hope it was the Ultimate Lifeform. In any case, what does it mean? That, you’ll have to discover for yourself. Though the answer may not appear in any visible form.”

From his words, it was certain—the octopus monster had been a product of one of those projects.

If it had been the genetically enhanced soldier, then I had eaten a former human.

And the insane hunger had been something this madman engineered.

“I hope you understood everything so far. If not, there’s nothing I can do. All I can promise is that you have gained a new power, making you stronger as an individual. That much is certain.”

I clenched my fists and listened silently.

Even knowing it was just a dream, the urge to punch the one who seemed responsible for turning me into a monster boiled up inside me.

At the very least, I resolved to punch him once the speech ended.

“Oh, one last thing—my purpose. That will be revealed in the next recording. Also, this implanted memory will be withheld until then. Our current tech only allows for short bursts, so I’d rather give you the full picture later.”

“With that, I look forward to our next meeting.”

He said this and vanished abruptly, as though someone had flicked a switch.

Unable to rise from the chair, unable to hit him, I clicked my tongue.

I’d missed my chance.

Next time, I would punch him.

Though truthfully, I hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.

Because seeing him again meant eating someone again.

And since I wouldn’t even remember the event until the next message, it was troubling—no, impossible to deal with.

“Not remembering until next time? The Empire’s science really is insane.”

As I muttered, the dark room faded, and my awareness drifted.

I looked upward at the absurdity of it all—only to see endless darkness.

When I awoke, I stared at my hands.

I patted myself all over, checking for abnormalities, then moved my body to test for any discomfort.

(Problem… none. Looks like the potion worked, or maybe the toxin wasn’t that strong.)

I let out a long sigh of relief.

One of the precious green potions I’d just replenished was already gone.

Blue was for healing, green for antidote—that seemed confirmed.

“Gahhh, haahhh…”

I exhaled hard and slumped down.

I must have drained a lot of stamina, because I had no strength left.

Even if the octopus had been poisonous, after eating that much, I wouldn’t need food again today.

But how long had I been asleep?

The sun was already setting.

(Hours? Or maybe a full day? Either way, maybe I should eat again.)

At least, I decided to drink water.

I headed for the river.

As expected, no one was there.

Normally, I would wait for nightfall before approaching, but I wasn’t calm enough for that.

I drank, watched fish swim, but felt no appetite.

Still, I caught one just in case.

Back at the base, I tossed the cleaned fish into a container, then lay down.

(I don’t feel like doing anything today. Better just sleep.)

By tomorrow, things would be different.

At least this fatigue would be gone.

But just as I thought that, something nagged at me.

I shot up.

(Oh crap! Even if the octopus is gone, I’m still here! That means the elves won’t come back to the river until they’re sure I’m gone!)

I had completely screwed up.

I was a monster now.

So that battle hadn’t been “rescuing elves,” but simply “a monster fighting another monster.”

Groaning and rolling around the base, I realized the worst—my elf surveillance mission might be over.

And then what hope did I have left to live for?