Rai lunged at me again as I stood frozen in place.
Thud…! Bang!
His massive body slammed into the wall, scraping its surface. The repeated collisions added a jagged, ominous tearing sound to the impact. A wall I thought was unshakably solid was starting to give way.
Despite bleeding heavily from his peeled skin, Rai kept hurling himself at the wall. Watching him, I knew I couldn’t waste any more time. I clenched my fists and turned.
It was too late to run upstairs and alert anyone for help. That thing would break through the wall before then. I didn’t know why, but I had to put Rai down fast and seal the passage. I’d recently learned from Mom how to operate the machinery in the control room—there was no time for hesitation.
But just as I was about to run toward the control room, I stopped dead in my tracks before even taking a step. Ji Chanwoo had appeared in the corridor.
“Uncle?”
“……”
He was panting heavily, his face pale, holding a gun in his hand. Had he come down after hearing Rai’s rampage again?
“…Suho.”
He called me in a voice so faint it was barely audible. From that distance, he probably couldn’t see the cracks spidering across the wall and wouldn’t realize the danger. I quickly nodded and opened my mouth.
“Uncle, I have to get to the control—”
Before I could finish—
Ji Chanwoo raised his trembling hand and pointed the gun.
The angle was… like he was aiming at me.
“…!”
And then—everything happened at once.
I couldn’t even process what was going on. All I understood was that the wall behind me had exploded outward. With a deafening noise of rupture, a gunshot rang out—BANG—shattering my eardrums. A sharp pain stabbed through my shoulder—shrapnel, maybe?—and I was flung backward. I slammed my head against the corridor wall and rolled across the floor. The world spun wildly until, at last, my vision stopped tumbling.
WEEEEEOOO! WEEEEEOOO!
The moment the wall collapsed completely, the alarm blared like mad. As I lay face-down on the cold floor, a massive figure blurred past my eyes.
It moved so fast, it left an afterimage.
“What the—!”
A horrified scream burst from Ji Chanwoo, clearly blindsided by the situation.
Bang, bang bang!
A frantic spray of gunfire rang out.
I forced my head up. Rai was charging at Ji Chanwoo, roaring.
They were already too close. There was no way he could block that attack.
Even so, I muttered instinctively—
“No.”
“P-please, spare me—AAAGH! GAAAAH!”
“Stop… ugh… Rai…”
I wanted to scream, but the pain swallowing my whole body wouldn’t let my voice out. I’d never felt anything like this. A metallic tang stung my nose and mouth—blood. Every breath set my chest and gut ablaze, as if I’d been torn to pieces.
Whether it was my faint voice, rasping like metal, or some other reason, Rai suddenly stopped moving.
“Khak.”
Pinned against the wall, Ji Chanwoo’s chest had been pierced by Rai’s razor-sharp claws. He coughed up a gush of crimson blood.
Damn it… I was too late. Still, desperately hoping Rai wouldn’t move again, I opened my mouth to call out to him once more.
…No, did I even call?
His thick-maned head turned toward me.
That was the last thing I saw before my consciousness snapped off.
***
A cheerful, tinkling sound played somewhere nearby—like a lighthearted sound effect.
It was familiar.
“Ugh…”
As I regained consciousness, the pain returned with it, spreading through every inch of me. I managed to lift my heavy eyelids and saw Rai lying on his belly beside me.
He was gently rolling a cube across the floor with his blood-soaked paw. As if he knew how fragile the thing was, like it might break from the slightest pressure, he handled it with painstaking care.
His paw trembled slightly—maybe he still couldn’t fully control his strength.
I stared blankly at it, then a jolt shot through me—Ji Chanwoo.
He hadn’t meant to shoot me.
He must have been aiming at Rai behind me, instinctively pointing the gun at the rampaging beast who seemed ready to smash through the wall. It was a natural reaction.
…But Ji Chanwoo hadn’t been in any condition to properly aim today. His body had likely gone rigid under the sheer pressure of Rai’s presence.
I drew a shaky breath and turned my gaze.
The first thing I saw was the shattered remnants of a gun, crumpled and discarded on the floor—probably crushed beneath Rai’s paw. And Ji Chanwoo…
“……”
He lay motionless in a pool of his own blood. The gaping wound in his body looked far beyond saving.
Which meant… Ji Chanwoo was already dead.
My heart sank like a stone. It felt like every drop of blood in my body had turned to ice. To keep from throwing up, I instinctively closed my eyes and slowly reopened them.
Think.
Just focus. Think first.
…How much time had passed?
The alarm had stopped blaring, but the emergency system must’ve kicked in. That meant the soldiers stationed in the zone where our home was located had likely already surrounded the building. That was what they were there for—rapid first response to emergency situations like this.
It wouldn’t be long before the military unit specialized in handling monsters stormed in after receiving the support request. That much was obvious.
—Grrnnn.
Rai snorted, almost as if to say he knew I was awake. I looked at him as he shifted his attention away from the cube and back to me. There was no trace of the wild fury from before—he seemed calm now.
It must’ve been Ji Chanwoo who triggered his aggression. He’d sensed someone entering the house and reacted to the upstairs movement, then went berserk as soon as someone started descending toward the lab.
His reaction had been unusually intense today, but monsters were never truly friendly toward humans to begin with. To Rai, there was no reason not to see Ji Chanwoo—whom he’d only met once or twice long ago—as an enemy. Especially if he thought that enemy might harm something he had to protect.
A hot wave of nausea surged up my throat.
From the very beginning, Rai had been ramming the wall to protect me.
Ironically, that same act put me in the path of Ji Chanwoo’s misfired bullet…
And Rai was the one who eliminated that threat, too.
So ultimately, in trying to protect me… he killed Ji Chanwoo.
My mind began to freeze again.
Without realizing it, I turned my head toward Ji Chanwoo—but a golden mane blocked my view.
Rai, lowering his head, rubbed his round nose gently against my cheek. His soft fur brushed against me, and his eyes—just inches away—were bright, void of any aggression.
He was greeting me.
I instinctively lifted my battered hand. It trembled weakly, pathetic in its effort, but I reached out anyway. Even though I knew this wasn’t the time for petting him, I gently stroked Rai’s head.
There was far more fur than it looked, and it was coarse. His skin underneath was as warm as a human’s.
He didn’t make a sound and quietly accepted the gesture. At such close distance, I could clearly see the patches of skin where flesh had been torn. I forced myself to stay conscious, to study him.
It was the first time we’d ever faced each other this directly, unobstructed. But instead of awe, I felt something closer to devastation.
“…Thank you, Rai.”
I whispered into his ear—the creature who had protected me in his own way. Rai blinked slowly, then opened his large eyes again.
Reality began to weigh on me.
A monster outside its restraints had regained its freedom. That meant everyone aboard the ship could now be in danger.
I could already imagine what orders the soldiers rushing here must’ve received.
Even if the decision to kill was left up to the field team… Once they saw Ji Chanwoo’s mangled body, there would be no hesitation.
A shaky breath escaped between clenched teeth.
—……
Rai, who’d been silently watching me, slowly stood up.
His fluffy head slipped from my embrace, and the flickering, half-broken ceiling light shone down on me where his body had once cast its shadow. He must’ve brushed against it with his head or tail.
The massive creature filled the corridor as he lumbered over the rubble of the broken wall, returning to the space that had once been his enclosure. Then, standing tall in the spot where he usually met my gaze, he stared at me.
For a moment, I was speechless.
“…What are you doing?”
—Grrrr…
“You don’t have to stay there. Come here.”
If I was going to convince them not to kill him, I needed to stay close. The soldiers might not care about my safety, but if they hesitated even slightly at the thought of a civilian getting hurt, it might buy me time to talk.
“Rai.”
But he didn’t budge. No matter how much I coaxed him to return, he held his ground.
Maybe he thought I was scared or unsettled because he’d broken out of his cage. Maybe he sensed that, even as I thanked him, I couldn’t purely rejoice.
Letting out a groan, I tried to put strength into my body. If he wouldn’t come to me, I’d have to go to him.
But as soon as I tried to push myself up from the floor, the agony that exploded from my unnaturally twisted leg plunged my world into darkness.
“Ahhk…!”
I bit down hard in reflex, splitting my lip, and warm blood trickled down.
…I had no choice but to give up walking.
Propping myself up on my elbow and my good knee, I dragged myself forward inch by inch. Sweat streamed down my cheeks, soaking the floor behind me as I crawled.
And then it happened.
Crack.
A small but spine-chilling sound pierced my ear. I stopped moving and looked up at the ceiling.
“…!”
Once I looked around properly, I realized it wasn’t just the lights that were damaged.
The floor, ceiling, walls, and pillars—cracks marred every surface in sight.
Even if the cage had been built to withstand Rai’s strength… The rest of the structure hadn’t been.
Crack… Crack!
A flood of fractures spiderwebbed out in every direction. Sections of the ceiling buckled and began collapsing like a row of dominoes, creating dangerous, jagged overhangs. Pipes that had once run straight now twisted at disturbing angles, ready to snap at any moment.
“…Ah.”
Still looking up, I froze like a statue.
—GROWL!
Suddenly, Rai launched forward, stretching out his limbs and throwing himself over me.
And at that same moment— Everything in sight came crashing down.
