I Became a National ‘Disaster’ Level Monster

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: The Reader

Chapter 42 I wanted to see you again

The incident happened roughly 10 minutes ago.

There were only three people guarding Princess Kurumi’s mansion.

Thanks to that, the security of the main gate, which was the most important, was guarded by three people taking turns.

When it was Yoo Chae-ran’s turn.

“Over there…”

“Princess?!”

When Princess Kurumi, who was always inside the mansion, poked her face out of the main gate, Yoo Chae-ran immediately turned around and greeted her.

“Yes, what can I do for you, Princess?”

“So, your name is…”

“Yes! I’m C-rank Hunter Yoo Chae-ran from the Korean branch of the Hunter Association. Please feel free to call me Chaeran.”

“Chae-ran… a C-rank Hunter…”

Yoo Chae-ran spoke with a bright smile to make a good first impression.

However, to Princess Kurumi, who wore a blindfold, Yoo Chae-ran was just one of many disgusting beings.

Even though she heard a lively voice and saw a salute that ordinary people would have found cool, to her, it was just a nauseating act.

But now, she had something to do, even as she swallowed that nausea.

“Chae-ran.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Could you come over here for a moment?”

“…Yes?”

For a moment, guilt distorted her expression.

However, Princess Kurumi soon smiled brightly and beckoned the repulsive presence before her to come closer.

And when she came within a meter of her…

Grab.

“…Huh?”

She had heard that Beast Hunters extremely disliked physical contact with others.

At that moment, when Princess Kurumi suddenly grabbed her hand, Yoo Chae-ran was flustered.

“Tenome, please.”

An old man without a face appeared above Princess Kurumi’s head.

Despite wanting to react immediately to the human-like monster with eyes on its palms, Yoo Chae-ran’s hand was held by the princess.

Thud!

“Ugh, ugh…?”

With a sound like something dropping deeply, her eyes lost their strength.

“P-Princess…!”

Thud.

Due to the abnormal status of ‘Hypnosis,’ Yoo Chae-ran lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.

Simultaneously,

“W-Wueeek!”

She had only held on for a moment.

The surge of disgust and humiliation made Princess Kurumi so sick that she retched.

“…! Hrk, hrrk…!”

Pathetic.

So pathetic.

Why was I born unable to do such ‘natural’ things despite being a human like everyone else?

“In reality… even I… with this body…! Hrrk…!”

Emotion welled up from her frustration.

But if she let it all out here, the other two guards might hear her.

So,

“…!”

Princess Kurumi barely swallowed the rising frustration back down her throat.

Then, she headed toward a place she had always wanted to visit.

…No, a place she now had to visit.

***

“I never thought the princess would leave the mansion on her own… Now the ‘Teleport Gate’ I secretly set up in the mansion is useless…!”

“Why didn’t you just increase the number of guards?! Why did you make such a thing?!”

“Because allies who appear at critical moments are more likely to gain deeper trust.”

So they deliberately kept the number of guards to just three and waited for the right moment.

If an attack occurred, they planned to appear at the critical moment, save Princess Kurumi, and naturally become her mental mentor.

But they never imagined she would run away beyond the observable area on her own.

It was a clear mistake.

“If Princess Kurumi, who is a Beast Hunter, went outside, where could she be heading?”

“…I don’t know. What about Branch Manager Lee Jina? Does she have any idea?”

“No… The only way is to mobilize our subordinates to search! Mr. Shin-woo, please also track the princess in your own way during this time.”

“I’ll do it without you telling me!”

Without any further greetings, the two of us quickly moved to our respective tasks in the association lobby.

I immediately ran outside and headed towards the mansion.

‘What on earth is happening?!’

Princess Kurumi leaving the mansion on her own was something that never happened in the original story.

This meant it was a turning point that occurred because of my existence, which didn’t exist in the original.

‘Would she have a reason to leave the mansion because of me…?’

I had no idea.

I didn’t even fully understand why she kicked me out the other day.

‘Why would someone who doesn’t have much time left…!’

There were still so many things she could enjoy.

What could have made her do such a reckless thing, I had no clue…

“…Huh?”

Wait a second.

I stopped running towards the mansion.

And then, I realized the source of this discomfort I couldn’t understand.

“Enjoyable things…?”

As a Beast Hunter, she could only stay inside the mansion.

The only joy she had recently was the brief time she spent with me.

But why would someone with little time left deliberately push away the new joy they found in Han Shin-woo?

That morning.

Princess Kurumi’s face when she told me to leave.

If I looked closely, the corners of her smiling lips were trembling slightly, and her eyes were unusually bright.

And I knew that face, that expression very well.

“It’s okay! Director.”

“Shin-woo…”

“Really, really! It’s okay, Director. I’m just going to take a break and maybe join the army! I’m really okay, Director! So just… just don’t let me have the Olympic spot!”

Even though I wasn’t okay, I forced a smile for the sake of the person dear to me.

My eyes were unusually bright and pretty because I was holding back tears that were welling up.

“…Damn, I realized it now.”

Back then, I was so shocked I couldn’t notice the details.

But now that I knew her circumstances, all the pieces fell into place, revealing Princess Kurumi’s… no, Kurumi’s true feelings.

“You were afraid of the parting too…”

So she deliberately pushed me away before we had to part.

Thinking it would be less painful than parting later.

But that choice was wrong.

The cruel regret that followed such a choice, I had already experienced it.

It wasn’t a parting, but more of a ‘running away.’

And the place where Kurumi went after parting from me.

To fill the empty heart with anger towards herself, the place she would go to could not be a normal place…

‘For me, such a place was the army, for the princess…’

If Princess Kurumi, a Beast Hunter, were to push herself, there was only one place around here.

So I turned my body towards that place.

***

Laughter of people.

The bustling sound of footsteps.

This was a place where anyone, young or old, would feel happy.

And in such a place, Kurumi despised herself for not being able to be like others.

“Isn’t that a yukata…?”

“It’s really pretty…”

“But why is she wearing a blindfold?”

“Who knows? Maybe she’s a Hunter with that concept?”

It felt like being licked all over by rough, unpleasant tongues while naked.

It was unbearable, and she felt like she would go crazy if she let her guard down for even a moment.

But Kurumi had set foot in such a place herself.

Because she loathed and wanted to kill herself, Kitsune Kurumi, who couldn’t endure even such a natural thing, and thus threw away her last hope.

This was her punishment for not fulfilling her desire due to guilt.

It was a self-inflicted wound, a humiliation, and an ‘autotomy’ to replace the old pain with new pain and forget it.

“Huh…! Huh…! Hii…?!”

The place where Princess Kurumi sat hugging herself on a bench.

It was Lotte World, one of the most crowded amusement parks in Seoul.

“Scared…! Why…? We’re… the same… humans…!”

If I were a normal person.

Would I have been able to enjoy the amusement park like everyone else?

With the person I liked…

In the past, it was something I never even imagined.

But, having experienced ‘normality’ even for a moment, even though I pushed away the opportunity myself.

“Shin-woo… I miss Shin-woo…”

Despite knowing that only a bitter farewell would follow, Kurumi wanted to hold onto him again.

But in her sorrow, she didn’t realize yet.

“Krurrr…”

“Krarrarak!”

It was exactly three weeks after the mansion raid.

In other words, fate’s wheel unfortunately started to turn as the original story dictated, opening gates to release monsters to kill Princess Kurumi.

“Aahhh!!”

“It’s a monster!”

The horde of monsters that should have been faced in a siege at the mansion was now unleashed in the middle of an amusement park.