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Chapter 10
A very long time ago, the universe was swept up in a wave of war. A spark of war had ignited as different sides pursued their own interests, and as countless planets became involved, it eventually grew into a massive interplanetary war.
A slaughter where people were killed and were killed, some to take what belonged to others, and some to protect what was theirs.
Taking advantage of the chaos, greed spread throughout the universe like a plague. Everyone wanted to plunder more resources and seize control of the universe.
It was a terrible period known as the Dark Age. It continued for an incredibly long time, until the stench of blood seemed to fill the entire universe.
The planet responsible for the most massacres during that brutal period was Moonscania.
The physical abilities of its people were so overwhelmingly superior that it was no exaggeration to call every one of them a living weapon. Their organization was also exceptional, so any planet they targeted could be reduced to ruins in half a day. The harsh, barren land of Moonscania became a justification for invading other planets, but that alone could not explain everything.
Why did they have to kill so many people of the universe, and why did they have to kill them so brutally?
Rumors spread that slaughter was simply part of the nature of Moonscanians and that they were even barbarians who enjoyed cannibalism.
As time passed, those rumors became accepted as fact. Even now, long after the end of the Dark Age, the stigma of being killers had not faded from them in the slightest. Wherever they went and whatever they did, the disgrace of being called killers followed them like a label.
These days, people sometimes call Moonscania the “Planet of Warriors,” acknowledging the bravery and outstanding physical abilities of its people. However, most inhabitants of the universe still fear them and believe that they could reveal their brutal nature and turn into monsters at any moment.
“Gasp……!”
One of those Moonscanians was standing right in front of me.
Without realizing it, I swallowed hard and stepped backward.
Everything I had heard and learned about that planet flashed through my mind. The memory of that monster charging at me last night overlapped with it, and fear washed over me.
“Haha… It’s, uh, nice to see you here! When I woke up, you weren’t in the room. I guess you’re more of a morning person than you look…?”
I deliberately greeted him warmly, but my face ended up looking awkward, with only my mouth forcing a smile.
Perhaps Acan had experienced reactions like this many times before, because he simply walked past me with an annoyed look in his eyes.
A cold breeze seemed to blow through the empty space he left behind.
Wait… Then I really almost died yesterday…
I touched the spot where I had been bitten yesterday.
All I could vividly remember was the feeling of his sharp fangs piercing the flesh of my vulnerable neck. Yet the place where he had bitten me was perfectly fine, without even a scratch.
Even though I had no injuries left behind, it still felt unfair that I had not received even a single apology for what happened yesterday.
“Moonscanian…! Ah, no. Acan…?”
When I turned toward the voice, which was almost a scream, I saw Acan standing in front of a staff member who had been walking down the hall.
The staff member had suddenly been blocked by the huge Moonscanian, whose body was as massive as a mountain. His face went pale as he nervously stepped backward.
“W-Why are you…?”
“I want to change roommates.”
Hearing those words come out of his mouth, I briefly wondered if I had heard him correctly.
Is he seriously asking them to change his roommate? He’s not even the victim. He’s the one who did it.
I had considered asking to change rooms myself, but I had decided to put up with it because I didn’t want to attract the production team’s attention over something like this.
From my perspective, that was a form of consideration.
And that bastard beat me to it.
“Is there a reason…?”
“…The smell is difficult to tolerate.”
What? Smell? My smell?!
The completely unexpected reason made the body that had been frozen with fear moments ago grow hot with anger.
“Hey! What do you mean I smell? I’m completely clean, okay!? I shower every day, and I always brush my teeth three times a day!”
Overcome with frustration, I started making excuses without even realizing it. But Acan blatantly ignored me as if he had no interest whatsoever, turning his head to the side.
Wow. Do they not teach manners on that planet?
“And I’m the one who’s been putting up with you, not the other way around! You should be on your knees begging for forgiveness, yet you’re making me out to be some smelly person! What kind of manners are those? You suddenly bit the neck of someone you’d never even met before—”
Before I could finish, a huge hand clamped over my mouth.
It felt as if a large, heavy iron lid had covered my entire face.
Acan casually covered my mouth with one hand, then stared at the staff member as if demanding an answer.
“U-Under the program rules… we can’t change roommates for a reason like that. Then!”
The staff member answered quickly and hurried away as if escaping.
I struggled with Acan’s hand covering my mouth, and only then was I released.
The anger I had been holding back exploded with all the force of the breath I had been forced to hold in.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”
“I only said what you wanted to say for you. That you don’t want to share a room with me.”
“What? H-How do you know! Who said I don’t want to share a room with you?”
With a single step, Acan came right in front of me.
His face was now right at the distance created by the difference in our heights.
His dark silver eyebrows and sharp eyes beneath them were directly in front of me, and I was struck by the strong, solid impression created by his large, well-defined features.
His face had the rough, untamed wildness that suited the image of a warrior.
When I first saw him yesterday, I had thought he was incredibly handsome.
But now, a completely different thought dominated my mind.
Slaughterers of the Moon. Slaughterers of the Moon. Slaughterers of the Moon…
My heart was beating so loudly that I could hear its increasingly rapid pounding in my ears.
At this distance, Acan might even be able to hear it too.
“See? You’re scared to death.”
His low, rumbling voice seemed to see straight through me.
Acan gave me a cold look before brushing past me.
Until he disappeared down the hallway, the faint trace of a mocking smile on his face remained in my mind like an afterimage, leaving me unsettled.
I immediately went to the cafeteria and piled so much food onto my tray that it was overflowing.
I had already found a few foods I could eat yesterday, and I had quickly gotten used to the food here, so my appetite had returned.
But even while eating, Acan’s irritating smirk kept coming back to mind.
“Ugh, what an annoying bastard!”
The complaint finally slipped out of my mouth.
Across from me, Yuse was eating his meal. His shoulders flinched at my sudden outburst, and he stopped the spoon he had been bringing to his mouth.
Perhaps because he was grateful that I had helped him when Claude went berserk yesterday, Yuse had warmly invited me to sit with him when I entered the cafeteria.
My nerves had already been on edge because of Acan, so I was happy to receive Yuse’s warm welcome. I also wanted to become friends with Yuse, since I felt that we would get along well.
But I couldn’t concentrate on him because I kept thinking about Acan.
“What’s wrong, Ina…?”
“Ah, sorry. It’s nothing. Haha.”
“…Is it because of your roommate?”
Yuse knew who my roommate was, and his expression immediately darkened.
“Did something… happen?”
“No, no! I just suddenly thought of someone who annoyed me.”
If I told him that Acan had turned into a beast and bitten me last night, I felt like the entire cafeteria would be thrown into chaos.
And then I remembered my promise with Acan to keep that incident a secret, so I didn’t mention it.
Still, Yuse seemed unconvinced by my answer. He carefully looked me over, and only after finding nothing unusual did he finally let out a relieved sigh.
“Actually, I was worried. Even if the roommates are assigned randomly, it’s too much to make you share a room with someone like him. Someone with a strong trait like Claude is one thing, but you, Ina…”
Yuse couldn’t finish his sentence. He shook his head with a sympathetic expression.
“If I were you, I would’ve left the program.”
“Come on, isn’t that a little too extreme?”
“It’s scary being around him. He could… pounce on you.”
Yuse hunched his slender body.
Because of his delicate appearance and small frame, he probably meant that Acan was dangerous because you never knew when he might attack.
But somehow, it sounded strangely suggestive.
Ugh, have I watched too many webtoons back on Earth?
“Wow! You actually survived!”
With a rough voice, Titan flew toward us, drawing streaks of light through the air with his mechanical wings.
He laughed heartily and proudly sat down in the chair right beside Yuse.
But the chair was apparently too tall for him, since he was only about 50 centimeters tall. He immediately climbed onto the table and settled himself there instead.
Even an ordinary food tray was too big for him, and the bread that was only about the size of my fist was as large as his torso.
Everything Titan did was tough and full of swagger, but because of his tiny body, he inevitably looked cute.
“Too bad, too bad! I was hoping the Moonscanian would eliminate one of my competitors for me!”
“Sorry to disappoint you. I’m going to survive until the very end!”
“You’re planning to survive a survival show with that weak little body? Hahahaha! I’ll give you credit for your confidence!”
I had thought of him as cute because he was so small, but considering his borderline offensive jokes and his completely unrestrained personality, there was definitely a middle-aged man hiding inside that tiny body.
Just as I was thinking that whoever shared a room with Titan must be exhausted, I noticed Yuse sitting right beside him.
“Oh, you two are roommates, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Yuse answered with a gentle smile.
He rested his chin on his hand and watched Titan busily spread fruit jam over a piece of bread that was as large as his own torso, as if he found the sight adorable.
What is this? They seem to have gotten really close overnight.
Come to think of it, quite a few contestants were sitting next to their roommates while eating.
It was completely different from the stiff atmosphere yesterday, when everyone had eaten awkwardly around each other.
Well, it made sense that they would rely on each other after finding someone they could open up to in this unfamiliar place.
That is, if their roommate was a normal person.
“Uh, Ina…”
The moment Yuse looked over my shoulder, another pitch-black cloud descended over his face.
At the same time, the noisy cafeteria suddenly became quiet, as if someone had poured cold water over it.
An ominous silence settled over the room.
I followed the tense gazes of the contestants and turned around.
Acan had just entered the cafeteria.
When he swept his usual indifferent gaze across the cafeteria, the atmosphere changed as if a predator had entered a world of herbivores.
The contestants standing in line waiting for their turn moved aside as if the Red Sea were parting.
Acan casually disrupted the entire order and walked toward the tables where the food was laid out.
There you are, my roommate…!
Seeing the other contestants’ reactions reminded me once again of what it meant to have someone like him as my roommate.
At the same time, I realized that being associated with Acan would definitely be effective for increasing my recognition.
But when I remembered how he had suddenly charged at me and bitten my neck yesterday and how he had stubbornly complained that I smelled earlier, I couldn’t bring myself to want to become friends with him.
I had no intention of riding on the fame of someone like him.
Just because we were roommates didn’t mean we had to become friends.
“Does he eat here too…?”
“Are the production staff crazy? Why are they letting us eat with him when we don’t know what might happen?”
“Ah, damn it. Let’s just eat quickly and get out.”
I heard the contestants around me whispering their complaints.
Just from hearing them, I could roughly understand what kind of reputation Moonscania had throughout the universe.
Acan paid them no attention.
He leisurely piled raw meat, with blood dripping from it, onto his tray until it formed a mountain, then found a suitable table and sat down.
The contestants nearby immediately moved away.
Before long, an area of about ten meters around Acan had been completely cleared.
Sitting alone at the table, he looked like an animal trapped inside an invisible cage, forced to endure the gazes of spectators.
Without realizing it, I kept looking at Acan.
“Ahhh! That guy is going to… here…!”
“Eek!”
The moment he picked up his fork, his muscles bulged.
Silver fur sprouted across his body, and in an instant, he transformed into the beast I had seen yesterday.
At the appearance of the monster, the entire cafeteria erupted into frightened gasps and screams.
Several contestants threw away the food they were eating and ran.
Crunch. Crack.
The enormous beast tore into the raw meat with its fangs flashing.
The sounds of raw meat and bones being crushed mercilessly tore through the silence that had fallen over the cafeteria.
The contestants, trapped in fear and chaos, became so stiff that they could barely move. Their faces gradually turned pale.
“What a beast.”
“Barbarian…!”
Some contestants complained with bold, resentful voices, but Acan didn’t change his expression even once. He simply continued tearing into the raw meat.
“Can I sit here?”
Everyone’s eyes, which had been fixed on Acan, turned toward me.
I knew better than anyone what loneliness felt like for someone who looked different from everyone else.
That was why I stood up without hesitation and sat down in the seat across from Acan.
