The Monster Inside Me (1)

'I don't want to die.'

That was what first crossed her head once she regained her conscious mind.

'I want to live, is that… too much to ask?'

More tears rolled out of her trembling purplish eyes, beads by beads, as fear and desperation took over her.

For almost ten years… she had spent almost two thirds of her life hunting mutants and the likes of them as she was told to, all for the sake of 'Humanity's survival.'

So, how could she not know what would become of her once they knew she herself had turned into one of those monsters, the very enemy of humanity that she used to hunt?

'But, I don't want to die.'

Xie Yi's mind was now in a state of chaos. There were so many things she couldn't understand, with the most important one being: How did this all happen to her?

She remembered that just a moment ago, she was still on the phone talking with her Brother Cang Hai when all of a sudden, a loud clattering sound of metal hitting against the ground rang out from one of the dark alleyways, which was followed by the muffled sound of a shriek.

This naturally alarmed Xie Yi, who immediately put aside her phone to check out what's going on. Cautiously, she approached the origin of the noise, hand reaching out to the spear behind her, ready to strike anything that dared to come near her.

Then, as she stepped closer and closer to the origin, she saw them walking out of the dark shadows, not just one or two but tens of them in fact, with their numbers still rising as more and more of them slowly crawled out of the opened circular hole connecting to the sewer chambers with the passing of time.

Xie Yi's blood ran cold when she recognized them. They were mutated rats, usually known as common brown rats with B-grade potential threats.

With their strength varying from B~C, they were not exactly hard to deal with as an enemy. What's troublesome about them were the highly-infectious dangerous pathogens contained in their bodily fluids, coupled with their rapid reproduction rate.

In the past, there were cases of humans and even weaker ability-users, running high fevers and dying after being contaminated by the deadly virus these filthy rats brought.

These infectious rats that once spread a deadly pandemic to the society weren't supposed to be spotted here, roaming and breeding around freely in a city full of humans, not to mention a heavily fortified city like the Sun City. There's definitely something fishy going on here, but Xie Yi was in no position to ponder about this matter.

'What should I do?'

Xie Yi inwardly asked herself as if contemplating whether to step forward or not, but her two feet had long taken a few honest steps in retreat.

If it was that undefeatable past her, she would've faced no problem in handling these bottom feeders of the food chain by herself however, the current her was different.

Without a proper defense equipment, she would be doomed if those monsters were to land a finger on her. After all, that baby core of hers couldn't even qualify her as a 1st-ranked ability user! Who knew what would happen if she was to be scratched by one?

Obviously, Xie Yi didn't dare to risk her own life, despite the corner of her eyes catching one motionless body lying behind those mutants.

And yet, right then when she was just about to turn around and leave, a loud protesting churn came from her stomach or to be exact, her useless baby core.

'Really, at this time?'

Her eyebrows twitched when she saw one of those rats leaped towards her at the fall of her hungry cries, which she quickly dealt by swinging her spear towards the rat's round abdomen, striking a blow so heavy that the rat was sent smashing against the dirty concrete wall, leaving a huge web-like crack behind.

'Huh? Since when did I become this strong? Is this what they call as the power of hunger and desperation? '

Xie Yi was a bit taken aback by the sudden display of strength that had undoubtedly exceeded her previous limits. She was absolutely sure that the current her shouldn't have been able to display such strength without the support of her super core.

Was it the baby core? But, how was it possible?

Unfortunately, Xie Yi couldn't afford the time to question herself as by the time she finished dealing with the first mutated rat, all beaded eyes shining against the dark moved to land on her striking figure, letting out menacing growls as they entered their fighting stance, ready to leap forward to pull the enemy down together.

Unwilling to cower, Xie Yi pointed the blade of her spear at them with equal ferocity, eyes warily observing each of their movements as she slowly retreated out of the narrow path of the alleyway. She didn't plan to stay for long, but those mutated rats seemed to have thought otherwise.

– Screech! Screech!

Upon the signal of their leader's cry, they launched at her in turns, making sure not to hinder the others as they were engaging in a fight at such a cramped space, and this exactly relieved Xie Yi.

– Clang!

She dealt with their synchronized attacks in ease, using each opportunity open to land a heavy blow in hopes of decreasing their numbers when suddenly, a shudder came from her baby core, stiffening her limbs and nearly causing her to drop her weapon.

"!!!"

Alarmed, Xie Yi was quick to jump a few steps backward to recover her stance, when another crisis struck her in another way.

– Drip, drip, drip

With wide eyes, Xie Yi stiffly raised her hand to touch the right end of her mouth, finding them wet with her drool. And this unconscious reaction seemed to have no plans on ending as more came from the other side of her lips.

Xie Yi bit her lips shut, suppressing the sudden uneasiness oozing out of the depth of her heart. Her fingers that were wrapped around the spear's shaft tightened, reflecting the determination in herself. No matter what, she can't fall here!

Alas, no matter how strong-willed she was, she could never win against the monstrous desire birthing within her. It was unlike of her to lose control, but no matter how much she had insisted or rather, resisted, she couldn't stop the darkness from consuming her whole.

The dimly-lit world as well as the images of those incoming rats spun around her as weakness crept into her limbs. Not long after, her stubborn knees finally wobbled as she lost her balance, weapon dropping with a crisp sound.

She didn't want to die. But to survive in this state…

Wouldn't that take at least a miracle to happen?