"Done struggling?"


    I stepped on Freeman, who was lying on the ground as I spoke.


    When I red at him coldly, heughed.


    "Step harder, honey!"


    Crunch!


    With a crunching noise, Freeman''s spine cracked.


    Despite being a monster with a y-like body that could move freely, his bones and organs were properly formed.


    Just a detail to create difort.


    Haa. This guy''s even got his own body concept down."Are you really a ruler? Are there rulers this weak?"


    <strong>[You''re saying something hurtful, girl! It''s troublesome if you just arbitrarily categorize us as <em>rulers</em>!]</strong>


    ...Well, it''s not like they would''ve called themselves that.


    Since their numbers are fixed, I casually thought of them as something like the Four Heavenly Kings.


    The others probably havepletely different origins and purposes.


    But if the organization unterally gave them that name, then couldn''t monsters categorized as <em>Rulers</em> appear without numerical limits?


    Ah... No way... That''d be a mess.


    "What''s your goal, doing all this? I''ve roughly figured out the meaningless and cruel acts happening here."


    <strong>[I told you! A way to return the <em>Editor</em> prepared by Mephistopheles. That''s what I''m curious about!]</strong>


    What''s that, you cartoon fanatic?


    "I''m tired of your nonsense. Tell me your real goal."


    <strong>[Well, if it''s the ultimate goal, I can tell you!]</strong>


    Freeman tore his own mouth with his hand.


    <strong>[I''ll create a <emic</em>''s world! And I''llugh at the ridiculous sights! Humans are so stupid, it''s hrious!]</strong>


    "..."


    <strong>[By the way. You''re strong, girl. If you''re that strong, why not lend a hand? I''m so busted up I can''t even move...]</strong>


    "It''s less annoying to just crush gimmicky or insane monsters with brute force."


    Freeman nodded as if agreeing with me.


    Even in this situation, he showed no sense of crisis, even empathizing.


    [You''re right... But you see. I don''t prefer that method. Even if you create a powerful body by fully merging, it''s inefficient because it bes a target for concentrated attacks...] ?????ΒЁ??


    With those words, Freeman began to melt.


    Even when I stomped on his head again, it only elerated with a squelch.


    ck ink soaked the floor, and in the blink of an eye, even that liquid disappeared.


    This is probably a clone.


    Personally, I think this is the most cliché development.


    "...Haa."


    Freeman must have headed towards the children.


    Or maybe they met another clone before that.


    Thinking that made me anxious.


    But I soon shook off the thought.


    Let''s trust them. We mustn''t deny the children''s potential.


    They will navigate this terrifying world with me, they''re not just beings under my protection.


    "As long as you believe in me, I''ll believe in you too."


    And just crushing things with brute force won''t help them.


    Now, I need to try other strategies.


    A more fundamental and powerful force...


    I opened a mirror and headed towards the children.


    <strong>POV Switch - Ha-rim</strong>


    "We didn''t know what would happen when we opened the door and entered. Who would''ve thought... That something like this would happen as soon as we opened the door..."


    "Why are you saying such ominous things?"


    When Eun-jeong muttered something ominous, Kyeong-min scolded her.


    It was understandable. After crossing the door, we were stuck in a dark space.


    The tension was only at the beginning, but it was starting to get boring.


    Jack looked at me, bored, with a face like he was seeing something strange.


    Huh, isn''t it abnormal to be bored in such an unfamiliar space?


    Isn''t it a psycho reaction to yawn while being chased by monsters?


    ...Actually, this isn''t the first time I''ve felt this way.


    Being chased by monsters is scary.


    Getting hurt is painful.


    But, how should I put it? It''s not an unpleasant feeling.


    Even if these terrifying events repeat, I''ve always held onto the belief that everything will be resolved someday, and I''ll survive and embrace that future.


    Alice was always with me in that future.


    To put it negatively, I was a moth drawn to the me. To put it positively, I was a child believing in Santa us.


    Of course, a third party might find it strange.


    "Sometimes... It''s good to just believe."


    "...?"


    Jack tilted his head, not understanding my words.


    That''s when it happened.


    The dark space ended, and light began to appear.


    We ran towards the light.


    Then, a fairlyrge space came into view.


    The first thing that caught my eye was a huge ss sphere in the center, filled with ck liquid sloshing around. Next were the ss tubes transporting the ck liquid towards the sphere.


    Following the tubes, my gaze shifted, and I saw people.


    They were being tormented by ink monsters, and judging by the scatteredics everywhere, they were being pressured to draw better.


    "Are they collecting ink?"


    Kyeong-min said, carefully observing another area.


    On the other side, people were extracting ink from theics they drew.


    Extracting ink fromics drawn with ink? If the content of thoseics was as dark and cruel as what we''ve seen, it seems the ink after being used inics contains some evil, magical power.


    And asionally, something like blood was added.


    "This is serious. Seeing the tubes connected to this building, it seems there''s more than one production facility."


    But judging by the amount of ink, it all seems to flow here.


    The ominous, sloshing color of the ink seemed to suck in even light, making me incredibly uneasy.


    So, what should we do...


    We''ve been chased by terrifying things, avoiding or defeating them.


    But what''s in front of us now isn''t an enemy but a facility.


    During the time with Uncle Peter, we caused chaos by setting the factory on fire, but I don''t think causing chaos is necessarily the right answer here.


    "Let''s hide."


    We needed to hide until we could think of a n.


    Hiding behind the bustling machinery, we organized our thoughts.


    Waiting for Alice could also be a method.


    Given the time it''s taking, she might be strong.


    If Alice is struggling, we should help her. But would destroying this factory really help Alice?


    "What do you guys think?"


    Eun-jeong asked.


    "Shouldn''t we just destroy it...? Aren''t they using those things to mass-produce monsters?"


    That makes sense.


    It seemed better to destroy the machinery producing the monsters.


    Moreover, the ink monsters change their forms by looking at pictures on the inte and move to ces that seem like exits.


    They rece people outside, and the reced people are covered in ink and turned into paper.


    If left unchecked, everyone outside might be ink monsters.


    Like hundreds of doppelgangers!@@novelbin@@


    "Destroying the machinery is good, but... How much should we destroy?"


    I couldn''t easily answer Suho''s question.


    The scale was toorge to destroy everything.


    Usually, in such cases, you need to destroy the central core, and that core seems to be the ss sphere.


    If we destroy that ss sphere, eliminating the tanks collecting ink, wouldn''t that be the most effective?


    "But the ink gathering in the center is the material for creating monsters, right? But there''s no sign of it being consumed. Is the ink in the ss sphere really the material?"


    I carefully observed the ink inside the ss sphere at Suho''s words.


    It''s true. It''s even slightly increasing.


    Maybe the amount of ink consumed to create monsters is less than expected.


    Maybe the supply exceeds the consumption, or perhaps they''re using a different ink?


    "...Weird. Honestly, I want to destroy it."


    At my honest words, everyone turned to look at me.


    Their faces were as if saying that if I''ve already decided, then I should just destroy it.


    But there was something bothering me.


    "But I have a bad feeling. What is this ominous, evil ink for? Will we be safe if we get caught in them?"


    If the ink used to produce monsters is different from the ink gathering in the center, then no one knows what might happen if we recklessly destroy it.


    Moreover, the ink sloshes as if it''s alive, and it feels like it''ll engulf us the moment we break the ss. It''s scary.


    Jack asks.


    "So, what should we do?"


    After some thought, I offered my opinion.


    "Let''s save the people there first."


    <strong>[Such a cliché decision, kid? I thought you''d make a more interesting choice!]</strong>