I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

The next day, Choi Yerim contacted me immediately after seeing my message, saying she was available—and not long after, she showed up in front of my place.

But once she arrived at the front door, she didn’t come inside. She just stood there, staring blankly at my front door.
“…You said you’d show me a monster. Where is this, exactly?”
“…This is my house…”

“I’m leaving.”
“Wait! I mean, it is my house, but—!”
I quickly grabbed Yerim before she could turn around and walk off.

She let out a sigh and reluctantly turned back.
After silently staring at the door for a while, she finally spoke.
“Um… Kim Minjun.”

“Y-yeah?”
“I’m really sorry, but I’m only interested in monsters. I appreciate the gesture, but I have to politely decline.”
She rejected me coldly.

She must’ve seriously misunderstood something.
She probably thought I was using the excuse of showing her a monster to lure her into my house for something shady.
And what did she mean by only interested in monsters?

In any case, I frantically waved my hands to explain that it wasn’t like that at all.
“No, no! That’s not it! I swear! I know it must seem weird, but I have a good reason!”
“A reason?”

“Yes. There’s a monster in my house.”
At that, Choi Yerim gave me a look like I was even more bizarre—or possibly dangerous.
“Excuse me? An Exploration Team member brought a monster home? Why? Don’t tell me… you’re into the same thing I am?”
“…It’s not that…”

Her eyes glinted faintly.
Startled by that look, I denied it right away.
Though, well… it wasn’t entirely false, was it? I did like those two in my house quite a bit. I cared about them. In that sense, I guess I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ was a monster lover.

But definitely not the kind she was implying.
As my expression turned ambiguous, her face hardened coldly.
“…Or maybe, you’re experimenting on some poor monster you captured?”

The misunderstanding just kept spiraling deeper.
Trying to clear it up, I stammered out a denial as I led her inside.
“No, absolutely not! Just come in and see for yourself! Honestly, it just sort of happened, I didn’t mean to keep a monster…”

“…You keep them?”
I brought her into the house.
Now all I could do was brace myself for how she would react to Leo and Daeho.

When I opened the door, the two monsters who’d been lounging on the sofa and bed immediately came trotting over at the sound of my footsteps.
But as soon as they saw the unfamiliar guest standing at the door, they both froze on the spot like they’d planned it.
Instantly, a tense standoff hung between Choi Yerim, Daeho, and Leo.

Standing right in the middle of it, I glanced nervously between them, wondering how it had come to this.
“Uh… Leo? Daeho?”
Choi Yerim examined the two in silence, then finally nodded, satisfied, and spoke.

“As expected. They’re monsters. And quite unique specimens at that.”
I was so surprised, I asked again.
“Huh? You could just tell right away?”

Daeho hadn’t even started glowing yet, and Leo hadn’t pulled out his shadows—and yet she was already convinced they were monsters.
She gave me a look like, Seriously?, then calmly explained.
“You can tell just by looking. That little tiger still looks like a cub, but when it opens its mouth a bit, you can see its teeth—they’re fully developed, adult teeth. And that black cat, despite its size, has paws that are strangely large and solid. Like a black panther’s. Also, that cat’s shadow is abnormally dark even under fluorescent lighting.”

Her level of observation was incredible.
I’d never once noticed any of that.
I mean, who stares closely at a cat’s shadow?

Maybe she picked up that kind of awareness running the monster gallery.
“Just knowing how to read monsters boosts your survival rate. It’s basic.”
…Then what does that make me? The Exploration Team guy, their owner, who hadn’t noticed a thing?

It made me feel kind of bitter.
I was their owner, and yet the secrets of my own housemates had been seen through instantly by someone meeting them for the first time.
Come to think of it, why were Daeho and Leo staring so intensely at Yerim?

They didn’t look exactly wary, but… something about their gaze was off. It wasn’t like this when Han Sora came over not long ago.
They’d barely reacted then.
Why was Yerim getting such a strong response?

I glanced at her face—and realized the reason.
She was staring straight at them without blinking.
If someone stared at me like that, I’d feel uncomfortable too.

Despite going on and on about wanting to see monsters, Yerim sat calmly on the sofa, silently observing Leo and Daeho.
That was a little surprising.
She’d always been a bit emotionally dry, sure—but when talking about monsters, her voice had picked up a little spark. I’d expected a bigger reaction when she actually met one.

“Are you… disappointed? I mean, for monsters, they look kind of ordinary…”
I asked cautiously. Yerim shook her head.
Then, with the most neutral face and tone imaginable, she said something incredible.

“No. I’m more excited than I’ve ever been in my life right now.”
“…Oh. Uh, I see.”
I was at a loss for words.

What’s the correct response when someone tells you they’re the most excited they’ve ever been?
I decided to stop trying to interpret her emotions.
Then she said something surprising.

“You’re raising them even after knowing they’re monsters? That’s amazing.”
I nodded calmly.
“Yeah. I’m going to keep raising them.”

Honestly, I couldn’t picture life without them anymore.
Monster or not, they were already precious family to me.
So I quoted something Yerim herself had said before.

“They’re good monsters. They don’t hurt people.”
To that, she quietly replied, “Maybe they became good.”
I couldn’t deny that.

I had no way of knowing what kind of monsters they’d been before coming to live with me.
Then she hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“…Would it be okay if I dropped by sometimes?”

“Huh?”
I hesitated.
Leo and Daeho were clearly growing uncomfortable under her stare—they looked exhausted just from dealing with it.

When I didn’t answer right away, Yerim added one more thing.
“In return, I’ll give you regular intel I get from hacking the Monster Gallery and other related sites. Information I think would be useful to you.”
Information, huh… That was hard to refuse.

And coming from her, that information could be pretty valuable.
Things like item drops, the theory about ancestor-spirit monsters, and the claim that good monsters do exist.
After thinking it over, I decided to compromise.

“…If it’s just once in a while, fine.”
The moment I said it, Leo at my feet and Daeho on the couch both turned to look at me.
Their eyes screamed: Did you seriously just sell us out?

Sorry, guys. Just once in a while, I swear.
I silently apologized to my roommates, avoiding their wounded, betrayed gazes.
Since we’d formed this little info exchange arrangement, I figured it was a good time to ask something I’d been wondering about.

That warning from the system, back when I cleared the quest.
“Do you happen to know anything about Dongto’s Team 1 or Team 2?”
At my question, Yerim answered immediately, as if she’d been waiting for it.

It seemed her knowledge from running the gallery was far deeper than I’d imagined.
“Dongto Team 1 is exactly what it sounds like—their top elite force, with full support from Dongto. They specialize in hunting massive monsters—things powerful enough to threaten an entire city. Most of Dongto’s actual combat strength probably belongs to them.”
An elite squad that hunts massive monsters. Sounded terrifying.

How huge would a monster have to be for them to get involved?
Bigger than Daeho, I guess?
“What about Team 2?”

“Team 2 is… a bit different. They’re known for targeting humans.”
“…Humans?”
That phrase hit me hard. What did that mean?

I frowned deeply and asked again, and she explained more cautiously.
“It’s just based on rumors I’ve seen in forums, but… Dongto’s Team 2 is supposedly in charge of handling people who oppose Dongto, or those who find out too much about their secrets.”
Though she admitted the information wasn’t confirmed, I made sure to remember it.

Dongto’s depravity went far beyond what I’d imagined.
Still, this was valuable intel.
Even if it was just a rumor, there’s no smoke without fire. It had to come from somewhere.

***
The next day.
For the first time, our Team 10 received a mission that wasn’t a rescue.

According to Team Leader Park’s briefing:
“A monster has appeared at a popular tourist destination. This time, it’s not a rescue mission. Another team is already handling civilian control. Our job is a suppression mission—to quickly subdue the monster before any further civilian casualties occur.”
Our first suppression mission.

A completely different kind of task from the rescues we’d done before.
Feeling an odd tension rise in my chest, I moved quickly to prepare alongside the rest of the team.