By Zephyria 
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“Ugh…”
Damn it. I thought I would have gotten better by now, but my body is shaking so hard it’s cutting off my breath.
Hallucinations shimmered before my eyes, slowly staining my vision. A massive body, red eyeballs. The scene, where nothing could be felt except for a fishy smell of blood that was nauseatingly pungent, overlapped with the grass.
My mind couldn’t comprehend it, but my instincts were honest. My body, which had been running smoothly as if lubricated, stiffened as if facing a predator.
Joo-oh is definitely back there. A comrade who has turned into something unrecognizable… But is that really Joo-oh?
Thump. It feels like my heart is dropping. The shivering thorn wolf had vanished at some point, fleeing while drooling.
Cold sweat trickled down Mu-hae’s forehead. He had always felt a chilling sensation when facing an Aberrant, but this was the first time he had been so paralyzed.
He wasn’t the type to be excessively afraid of Aberrants like others. If he were, he wouldn’t have been able to make a living as a mercenary; he would have died a dog’s death long ago.
But why… As he muttered to himself and barely managed to lift his head, he saw something poking out from between the grass, which was as tall as a person.
Two black smoke-like ears standing erect. One of them twitched and then sank down; they were clearly animal ears.
Joo-oh’s ears were white and round, and they certainly weren’t perched on top of his head like that. Even as his mind recognized the fact that he had turned into an Aberrant, for some reason, he couldn’t easily accept this unfamiliar appearance.
It was because he felt like a completely different entity from the one who used to cling to his side and flutter about. The mouth that used to chatter, calling out “Jin Mu-hae,” had become a maw capable of swallowing a person whole in one go.
Grrr—.
To make matters worse, a low growl echoed, and his body, which had just begun to loosen slightly, froze like a stone statue again.
Instinct kept ringing an alarm bell in his head. Run. If you want to live, kick away from this spot and run far away.
“Fuck…”
Jin Mu-hae let out a strained curse, closing his eyes tightly and then opening them. From the moment he regained consciousness on Starlight Road, life had been about survival, not a gift.
Nevertheless, defying the urge to survive, he barely managed to take one step. Goosebumps erupted all along his spine.
As a defense mechanism, he brought his hand to his chest, and suddenly remembered what was in the inner pocket of his jacket.
A round, red bead. A jewel, clear and brilliant like his own pupils, which Joo-oh had received from Olga and carelessly handed over to him.
As he took it out and gripped it tightly, surprisingly, a slight warmth flowed through his coldly frozen body.
For some reason, he felt as if he could smell a familiar scent at the tip of his nose. The image of the person who had muttered while looking out the window from a train seat was vivid in his mind.
‘There was something I wanted to see.’
Events from just a few months ago felt like a distant and remote past. The smooth face, with the corners of the mouth drooping whenever something upsetting happened, lingered in his vision.
In an instant, he felt a sharp pang in his chest. He realized it subconsciously.
Mu-hae missed him. The guy who was incredibly annoying and did strange things every chance he got—he suddenly wanted to see him so badly.
“Whew, haa…”
The fear freezing his body remained. The sense of crisis, as if every single cell was screaming for survival, hit him poignantly.
Still, he took another stride toward the grass. He didn’t want to lose him. If he let him run away, even this lingering might stop entirely.
“My neck… hurts like hell.”
He rubbed the superficial scratch as if squeezing it on purpose. Red blood smeared thickly on his palm.
At the same time, the things that looked like ears twitched again. At the expected reaction, the corners of his mouth, stiffened with tension, twisted into a slight smile.
As expected. It was his fault that the idiot had suddenly changed. He must have seen Mu-hae staggering after being hit hard enough to split his forehead.
Whether he had been that kind of entity from the start, or whether something went wrong in that moment causing the change, he didn’t know.
In his own way, Joo-oh had protected his comrade once again. If the price was that appearance, unless he were a psychopath, he didn’t have the slightest intention of throwing him away.
“Aren’t you coming out? I can see you.”
However, he was quite worried about how they would live from now on. No matter how cute clothes he put on him, a three-meter-tall Aberrant couldn’t even step foot across the threshold of Goryeo City.
Would he now have to occupy a secluded rest area and live there, just like Dmitri?
This time, a truly absurd rumor might spread. A crazy mercenary finally leaped out of his Comfort zone and started wandering around with a groomed Aberrant—some insane urban legend like that…
Whatever. He just wanted to hold onto Joo-oh. Even if the guy had earned his keep, how much had been spent on food, drink, and clothes? Was he supposed to just throw all that investment into the void?
“I gave you several months’ worth of your allowance in advance. Aren’t you going to pay it back? Work and earn your keep.”
Kh-hng, kng. A breath so loud it made the leaves flutter was heard. The lingering pressure weighed down on his chest, making even breathing difficult, but Mu-hae grit his teeth and approached the edge of the grass.
Swish! The tip of a sharp tail flickered for a moment before quickly hiding between the thick branches.
Even now, something like an aura was shimmering and spreading, making it hard to tell if the thing was hiding or just staying put. While forcing himself to inhale and exhale his choked breath, he called out to the runaway.
“Joo-oh.”
The grass shook violently, and a groaning, aching sound emerged. He felt a sensation as if something was cracking.
When Mu-hae lifted and opened his left hand, the perfectly fine glass bead had split in half.
‘…Oops.’
He had intended to show this to him and call him if necessary, but he hadn’t expected something that looked so solid to shatter under mere grip strength.
It had split so cleanly that it looked smooth, without a single crumb. Mu-hae carefully held the remnants of the bead, which had turned opaque, in his hand again.
When he turned his head, the grass was somehow quiet. The ears that had been poking out and the energy that had been strangling his neck had vanished as if washed away.
Had he run away in the meantime? His heart sank, and he whipped around to call him again…
“Joo-oh.”
“Hic.”
A sound like a hiccup still flowed out from between the grass. It was a voice distinctly different from the growling moans of an Aberrant.
Fortunately, he hadn’t bolted; a tail swished, brushing the tip of a branch as it went back in.
“I bought meat skewers. They’re from Seogyeong City.”
“Hic.”
“Since you didn’t come, I ate various snacks and candies, but are you going to let me eat the rest too?”
“Hic, hng.”
It was definitely the sound of hiccuping, but do Aberrants hiccup?
No, before that, he had never even seen Joo-oh hiccup. He might drool, but he had never shed tears, and even while swallowing large chunks of meat bone-in, he never even pretended to choke.
He did occasionally make a sorrowful expression. Like when Mu-hae stopped him from eating just anything, or shook off his arms and legs, telling him to get lost.
He would circle around Mu-hae, making small, pouting sounds like tche or hng.
“Hic… hng.”
Yes, just like that. While recalling the sorrowful face of Joo-oh, Jin Mu-hae opened his hand in surprise.
The fragments of the split glass bead dropped onto the dirt floor, but he didn’t even notice.
“Joo-oh?”
The surroundings were quiet, as if he had never been whimpering. Faint smoke scattered with the wind.
“Photos. Let’s go take photos.”
Without even knowing what he was saying, he quickly listed things the guy would like.
The photos they agreed to take. Meat skewers. New clothes. tinkle friends. Cereal. And…
“You should see me.”
Mu-hae immediately pushed through the dense grass. The stiff branches characteristic of mutated plants pricked and scratched the back of his hand, but he didn’t even feel the pain.
His body was already accustomed to such scratches. More importantly, he needed to see the cheeky face of the one who had been playing hide-and-seek with him for over a month.
As he searched through the middle thicket, which he had practically crushed and broken, a white foot peeked out.
Then, a crouching figure was revealed. A pale and soft naked body, as if it had never seen light in its life, was curled up tightly.
The image of the pitch-black Aberrant was gone, as if it had been a dream.
“Come here. Let’s go home.”
When Mu-hae called him with an unusually soft tone, the head that had been stubbornly tucked away slowly looked up.
Joo-oh’s face was drenched in tears. It was surprising that he had only just realized this, but he could cry.
* * *
A corner of Goryeo City was turned upside down once again.
A human who had been missing for over a month—essentially considered dead—had returned without a single hair harmed.
The crazy mercenary who found the missing person… no, the mercenary who was thought to be crazy, maintained a stiff expression throughout, but his eyes weren’t like before, looking as if he’d crush anyone who crossed him.
He appeared holding a bundle wrapped in a jacket and cloth, and at first, people thought he was carrying a corpse.
It was only later they noticed he was a living person, as the dangling legs were soft and flushed with color.
Starlight Road immediately became noisy. Rumors that no one intended to hide spread from the slums to the Jaegang District where the mercenary lived, and then to central.
A few officials from the defense force and people in suits visited the shabby house several times, and a few days later, a heavily condensed story about a mercenary was published in a corner of a newspaper.
His name wasn’t mentioned, but anyone who knew his identity could tell from the title “Mr. Jin.”
“Hng.”
And amidst that chaos, Jin Mu-hae remained shut in for nearly a week. A rumor circulated that someone who knocked on his window during his hermit-like behavior, not sticking a single toe outside, got beaten half to death.
It was understandable, as the idiot clinging to his side was clearly not in his right mind. Mu-hae, who was in the middle of doing push-ups, let out a groan-like sigh and waved his arm.
“I told you… not to… climb on top of me.”
“Mmm. Mmm-hng.”
“I’m covered in sweat, why are you rubbing your face on me?”
“Hnnng. Mm.”
Only after getting a smack on the back did the man, who had been clinging tightly, plop down onto the floor. He tilted his head with a slight frown, reacting as if he didn’t know why this was happening again.
“I told you to answer with words when I ask.”
“Jin Mu-hae smell.”
“Right. Like that.”
Only after he stroked his head did the mouth that had been humming open. Mu-hae casually lifted the one who came lunging back into his arms and strode toward the sofa.
Immediately after finding Joo-oh, he had sat holding him for a long time. He hadn’t timed it, but it felt like nearly two hours had passed.
Only after the guy’s damp face became dry did they return to the city late. When he sat him down in a bathroom that didn’t even have a bathtub and turned on the water to wash him, he flicked his tongue and licked the water.
‘…Damn it.’
It wasn’t an unfamiliar sight. Mu-hae had experienced similar and strange behavior a long time ago.
Specifically, around the time he picked up a strange man from Kanrano…
‘His brain state has been reset.’
Thinking of the frustrating past made his heart sink, but fortunately, Version 2 Joo-oh didn’t stay crazy for long.
After lying stuck to the bed for half a day, he began to mutter and talk to him.
‘It’s a lie.’
‘What?’
‘Jin Mu-hae. You didn’t eat all my candies.’
After giggling, he gradually improved and was now roughly back to how he was before he disappeared.
He still answered with incomprehensible humming sounds like hng or mmm while keeping his mouth shut, but Mu-hae could tolerate this level without even worrying about it.
“Give me the photo.”
“If you come back after combing your hair.”
“Okay!”
Joo-oh, who had been swinging his legs while sitting on the sofa, stood up abruptly with a delighted look. Soon, the clattering sound of him fiddling with things in front of the mirror could be heard.
Seeing him like that, he looked like a complete human, which made the memories of the accident still feel unfamiliar and chilling.
He still didn’t know exactly what kind of entity Joo-oh was. However, ridiculously, the mere fact that he had returned to his side made his sharp, sensitive mood feel much better.
So, as promised, they took photos first. Because it was so noisy outside, he couldn’t borrow any proper equipment and just managed to get a few clumsy shots in the study.
“Here. Send it.”
“Who told you to wear my clothes too?”
“I’ve been wearing them for a while. Jin Mu-hae is a dummy.”
Joo-oh, who retorted spitefully, checked his Link Watch and dashed back into the study.
He was probably arranging the images in a frame. Looking proudly at the captured face of another man who was awkwardly lifting the corners of his mouth while looking straight ahead.
‘According to the records, Solar City… developed a substance called “Star-path” in their language. When that substance combines with Crystal Blue, a unique change occurs. They probably tried to use it to eliminate or reduce the Crystal Zone that would be created nearby.’
Feeling the presence of someone rustling beyond the study door, Mu-hae silently pressed his temple.
It was because he recalled what the person who stayed there before Joo-oh appeared had dreamed of and longed for.
The secret group “Return flight,” formed primarily by his father and his friends. They longed for a human life not trapped by the defense lines, and the primary goal for that was the extermination of Aberrants.
And now, Jin Mu-hae was together with an Aberrant who had pointed ears, a tail, and a large, black body.
188 – I Became an Anomaly in a Failed Game