It was a white ceiling.
My home was a torn tent, but where was this place?
Lying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, I suddenly remembered the pain from the horned rabbit's stab.
"Ugh!"
I hurriedly touched my stomach, but there was no wound.
Maybe the girl I saw before I closed my eyes had healed me.
"Sigh..."
Did I cause trouble again?
Feeling guilty, I sighed, when someone spoke to me.
Turning to the side, I saw the girl who had helped me sitting on a chair.
I wanted to thank her, but something was off.
Her voice seemed to come from above my head.
"Huh?"
Confused, I reached above my head and felt something soft and furry, like animal ears.
Strangely, I could feel both the sensation of touching and being touched.
It was a weird sensation I had never experienced before, making my shoulders shrink.
"Uh..."
Did I now have animal ears?
Why and how?
Looking up at the girl with trembling eyes, I suddenly fled to the other side of the bed.
I had an intuition that she was responsible for my current state.
"Wait a moment!"
"Stay away."
I once heard rumors about a group that kidnapped people and modified their bodies.
Perhaps this girl was a member of that group.
"Calm down and come here, will you?"
Calm down?
While she's trying to catch me?
I ran around the room, avoiding her touch.
"Don't follow me."
Trying to escape from the girl, I ended up cornered in the room.
Leaning against one wall, I realized another thing.
The girl, who was about my height, seemed much taller now.
It wasn't that she had grown, but that I had shrunk.
"Ack."
Was it true, then, about the group that modified people?
It felt so unfair.
"Don't be scared, can we talk?"
"I don't want to..."
I resented my frail, powerless body.
As I looked down in shame, I noticed a long, furry thing touching my stomach.
It looked like a cat's tail, but there was no cat in the room.
When I reflexively grabbed the furry thing, my waist twitched.
It felt as if the furry thing was a part of my body.
"Huh?"
Why did my waist feel like it was being pulled?
Looking back hastily, I saw the furry thing attached to my tailbone.
"...A tail?"
Ears and now a tail.
How much had my body been modified?
Frozen in shock, I just glanced at the girl.
"Just calm down for a moment? I'll explain everything."
The person who kidnapped and modified me was asking me to calm down and reaching out her hand.
It was an absurd situation, but I had no choice but to accept it.
"Just tell me what you want, briefly."
"Um... Before that, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Do you mind telling me your name and age?"
She wants to know my name and age.
Curiosity about the test subject's personal information, huh?
It was too obvious what she wanted, and I didn't feel like telling her.
"I don't know my age."
"Oh, is that so? You don't remember how many years you've lived?"
"Yes. I don't remember."
I had been living on the streets for a long time.
It wasn't strange for me not to know my name and age.
"Then, do you have any memories of attending a place like school?"
"No. I've never been to school."
Did she take me for a fool?
She must be trying to extract information about my background through my school.
Being from this world, I had never attended any educational facility, so I could confidently say I hadn't.
"Oh, I see! You've never been to school!"
"Ah...?"
The girl sighed in relief, as if reassured.
I realized what I had done.
I had blurted out that I was an idiot who didn't know my age or ever went to school.
In my own words, I had proven to be a test subject without any complications.
Tears almost came to my eyes from my own stupidity.
"Umm, my name is..."
Gurgle-
Before the girl could finish her sentence, my stomach demanded food, rumbling loudly.
I was used to hunger, so I didn't really care, but the girl stared at my belly for a while.
"Shall we eat something first?"
"No, it's okay."
What strange thing is she planning to feed me?
I shook my head in anxiety, but she ignored my refusal as if it was nothing.
"Don't be like that, let's eat something together."
She cautiously reached out her hand.
Was she enjoying my inability to resist, slowly grabbing my arm?
"I'm, I'm really not hungry..."
"The food here is really tasty. Just one bite, okay?"
She led me out the door.
She clearly saw me as nothing more than a toy to play with.
It was dreadful, but to survive, I had to follow her.
If I waited and bore it, an opportunity to escape might come.
---
---
The place I thought was the girl's house turned out to be a hotel room.
It was a five-star hotel, the likes of which I had never seen before, even in passing.
"This way."
She led me to the hotel's restaurant.
I tried to ask for help from those we passed, but I quickly gave up when I realized most were familiar faces.
"......"
A red-haired woman glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
She was the woman who had laughed at me a few months ago when I was being chased by a horned rabbit.
The man next to her had spat at me, telling me to get lost.
Everyone in the hotel was in on it.
"Ugh."
The situation had gone from bad to worse.
In despair, I grabbed the tail and brought it to my belly.
Holding something fluffy gave me a sense of comfort.
"Don't just stand there, come sit down."
The girl who brought me to the restaurant pulled out a chair from under the table.
It was a luxurious chair, something I couldn't afford even if I worked for a year.
"No, it's okay. I'll dirty the chair..."
Just a few days ago, I had been hit on the back of the head by an adventurer for sitting on a bench at the hunting grounds.
I was blamed for contaminating public facilities with my dirty body.
Having been hit in the back of the head just for sitting on a bench, what could happen if I sat on such a luxurious item?
Not wanting to find out, I just stood there, motionless.
"What do you mean dirty? You're not dirty at all, come sit here."
Tap, tap-
The girl tapped the chair.
It was a clear threat to sit down and not mess around.
Damn witch.
How far was she planning to torment me?
I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes.
"Then, after sitting, I'll clean it thoroughly."
I said it loudly enough for everyone in the restaurant to hear.
It was a plea not to hit me, a promise to clean up after using it.
"Uh, okay... Will you sit down then?"
"Yes..."
Though she told me to sit, I didn't do so comfortably.
Barely perching on the edge of the chair, a person who looked like a waiter came over and placed several dishes on the table - luxurious bread and soup I hadn't tasted in eight years.
"Uh...?"
I hadn't ordered any food, so why were they putting bread and soup in front of me?
Confused, I glanced back and forth between the girl and the waiter.
"I thought you might be hungry, so I ordered just the appetizers first. You can order the main dish yourself."
At first glance, her tone and smile seemed kind.
But I knew there was a sinister intention behind it.
She'd make me order food so expensive I couldn't repay, then force me into debt and slavery.
I was determined not to let her have her way.
"Excuse me, have you seen my bag?"
"Uh... the brown one? Can you wait a moment?"
The girl called over someone who looked like a hotel employee.
He had my precious bag in his hands.
I was worried they wouldn't give it back to me.
Relieved by the worn appearance of the bag, I sighed and pulled out a black bag and an old water bottle from inside.
With these, I didn't need to order any expensive food.
"What's that?"
"It's my meal."
Inside the bag was corn flour, costing only 2,500 won per kilo.
Just a few spoonfuls mixed with water was enough to fill me for a day.
It was my own perfect food that didn't cost much.
"Corn flour...?"
"Yes. I'm going to eat this. Order whatever you want for yourself."
I didn't touch the bread and soup.
There was no reason for me to spend money.
I barely contained a smirk of perfect victory.
I wasn't free from her yet, after all.
"Uh... the food here is delicious. Won't you just order something?"
"No, thanks."
Before she could force me to order food, I quickly mixed the corn flour with water.
To appear undaunted, I even added an extra spoonful of flour.
After closing the bottle and shaking it vigorously, the yellow corn water was ready.
The color was richer than usual, making my mouth water just by looking at it.
'Wow.'
I never imagined a day would come when I'd indulge in such luxury.
Unable to resist, I gulped down the corn water.
Gulp, gulp-
The corn water tasted nuttier and more delicious than usual.
I took a drink from the bottle, glancing at the girl sitting opposite me.
"Ah..."
Her complexion was pale.
She must be disappointed that things aren't going as she planned.
I silently scoffed at her.
To me, who had experienced all the injustices of the world, the witch's tricks were too easy.
---