Chapter 59: Chapter 59

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: Werewolf

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"S-Stop chasing me!"

"Dieeeee!"

"...Hmm."

What should I do? Should I help her?

All sorts of thoughts swirled in my mind.

Investigator Lee Hayul is overpowering the person who looks like a rabbit, and Spira is fighting neck-and-neck with the person presumed to be a chicken.

The problem is Lyra. She looks quite in danger.

The fight itself wasn't even a fight; it was just a game of tag.

"Did I really have to add that 'inferior student' setting...?"

The "inferior student" setting, which I'd added to make her a villain rather than just dead, was now holding me back.

That investigator over there, though, she made good use of a setting that was almost forgotten.

Just as I was wondering how to get rid of this person, a certain setting suddenly came to mind.

The setting that Investigator Lee Hayul and Teacher Claire were close friends in the past.

Thanks to that setting, I could easily recruit her as an ally.

It occurred to me that Teacher Claire had a setting where she retired from the front lines due to PTSD from a certain incident.

...If an investigator was a close friend of Teacher Claire, they must have experienced that incident together, right? I thought that, so I asked the author, and sure enough.

When I heard it was possible, I convinced the author to tweak the setting a little.

How could an investigator avoid PTSD, something even Teacher Claire suffered from?

Investigators are people, too.

Three friends who were close in their school days.

What if they were all thriving on the front lines together, and then two of them, excluding Teacher Claire, became investigators?

And what if that person was attacked by a villain due to a moment's carelessness and lost their life?

What if Teacher Claire suffered PTSD from the shock and retired from the field, and the investigator had a friend so close that their death would deeply wound them?

Thinking along those lines, I created it.

The existence of a friend, closer than anyone, who could no longer be seen.

And the culprit who made that friend disappear.

"I was just praising how well the setting was put together until now..."

A sigh escaped me.

Just like how one of Teacher Claire's settings snowballed, another setting was now snowballing.

Lyra is an inferior student.

This is set in stone.

The author did say they could forcibly twist settings, but would they really risk it for Lyra?

Probably not. The author wasn't keen on saving Lyra in the first place.

To the author, who wanted to kill her off but saved her on a whim, she's just a character whose life or death doesn't really matter.

I felt bad.

"...Author. Did you say you could forcibly twist settings?"

[Hmm... It's possible, but if I twist it too much, it becomes neither here nor there, so I can't overuse it. It requires a bit of effort.]

"Neither here nor there, you say?"

[Well, if it's a setting that fits the plausibility, like the investigator's, it's not a burden, but...]

The author's explanation wasn't too difficult.

It's a simple matter. A plot hole.

...What would it feel like if Amelia was described as having eaten, and then in the very next scene, she's having lunch on a date with Yoo Si-woo?

It would feel off. To me, to the author, and to the readers following the novel.

[If plausibility breaks down too severely, even I don't know what might happen. It's risky, so I've almost never tried it.]

"I see..."

I was certain.

The author wouldn't risk it just to help Lyra.

It was strange how such an obvious fact could make me feel down.

"Well, it can't be helped. An employee's danger is... huh?"

[Oh, that. She hasn't eaten it yet.]

Lyra, who had been constantly fleeing, quickly swallowed something from her pocket when she found a brief moment of respite.

I think I gave her that last time.

The pill I gave her as a reward, telling her it would make her stronger if she ate it.

She still hadn't eaten it?

"I thought she'd eaten it, so I assumed she was weak."

I was about to move to help Lyra, but I decided to watch a little longer.

...Right, that's how it was. Even an inferior student is bound to get stronger little by little.

No matter how slow one is to learn, consistent practice of anything will lead to some improvement.

Her combat style had changed, and her movements were better than when I first saw her, so I'd carelessly assumed she'd eaten it.

"...Interesting. Don't you think so, Mr. Monkey?"

"Mph, mmph...!"

"Don't worry. It's too early for you to die."

It would be easier to just kill them all, but what if?

A small hostage might be useful.

I adjusted my posture and decided to watch what Lyra would do.

I wonder what will happen.

"...By the way, Author, what does that enhance?"

[Hmm, I wonder!]

"...Haa. You still don't intend to tell me."

[Because you'll see it soon enough! Spoilers are forbidden!]

***

"You...!"

"Hoo, cough..."

My heart pounded loudly.

Is this a side effect of the pill? ...Damn it. I should have eaten it when I was given it.

I was foolish not to think about when I first took the pill.

I thought I was going to die from the pain back then, so why would the second time be any different?

Feeling my body burning, I gently closed my eyes.

There was no attack, only the sound of my own breathing; it was utterly silent. ...What is this?

I forced my head up and looked at the guy who was chasing me, then regretted it slightly.

What are those half-crazed eyes? They're terrifying.

"What is that pill?! Where did you get it?!"

"What... are you talking about?"

"Your body...! Just a moment ago, you only had ears and a tail!"

"...What?"

"What are those fangs? Where on earth did you get that medicine?!"

...Fangs?

Carelessly, I touched my teeth at his words. Then, something long and sharp met my fingers.

What is this?

"The Übermensch's pill doesn't increase compatibility just by taking it multiple times! ...Where did you get that medicine?!"

"Ha, haha. ...Well. Sorry, but I don't know either."

"If you won't tell me, I'll just make you tell me. With that pill, I don't need a plan!"

Running away was out of the question, and it seemed he had no intention of letting me go, perhaps because the pill I took was important.

Damn it, nothing's going right.

"...I really didn't want to use this."

"Don't worry. I won't kill you!"

It was an ability I swore I'd never use, but cornered like this, there was no other option.

No allies around, no objects I shouldn't break.

Only the enemy threatening me existed.

Then it was time for my ability to shine. ...It was an uncontrollable ability, so I'd barely ever used it, but it would work out somehow.

Because whenever I used the ability, everything was always over.

"You said it was a pill that makes me stronger, right?"

"Whoooooaaaaah!"

"When I open my eyes, I really hope that monstrous guy is gone."

Crack, crunch.

With the sound of something twisting, my vision went black.

***

-CRASH!

A sound that didn't seem like flesh hitting flesh.

Minos felt a sense of bewilderment at the impact accompanying that sound.

"...What was that?"

It was a dull impact.

The sensation of something hard colliding.

This kind of sensation was something he'd only felt from superhumans with strong defensive abilities.

He didn't think the woman who had been running from him would possess that level of defense.

"What in the..."

He turned around. And immediately regretted it.

Because it was more shocking than he could have imagined.

"A monster? No, that can't be. She was a human."

"Grrrrr..."

"It seems she's not in her right mind."

"KRAAAAAH!"

She was human. But she wasn't human.

She clearly walked on two legs like a human, and had two hands.

But those frenzied eyes.

The purple fur covering her entire body made it difficult to see her as human.

"...She seems to have gone mad. What exactly is this?"

"AWOOOOOOO!"

She looked exactly like something out of a textbook from his childhood.

A being that was human, yet also a wolf.

A terrifying being rumored to go berserk with bloodlust on nights when the full moon rose.

That monster, whom everyone feared for its ferocity, which would rampage whenever the full moon appeared, despite efforts to live in harmony with them.

"A werewolf..."

He looked up at the sky.

The brightly shining round moon evoked a chilling feeling.

If the old tales were true, he should flee immediately. The situation was incredibly dangerous.

...But Minos didn't run. Because there was something he had to do.

"I don't know why you suddenly changed like this, why you went mad...! But I must know! The true nature of that pill you took!"

"KRAAAAAH!"

"Übermensch must not overcome any more dangerous hurdles...!"

Sharp teeth and claws.

Eyes consumed by madness.

Even though he was faced with a situation where he had to confront a monster bare-handed, without any support, he didn't run.

Because there was something he had to find out.

Even knowing that a monster in such a state was dangerous, Minos decided to fight back.

"Come at me!"

The hunt had begun.