Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 286, Section 32: Breaking Through to New Life

Late at night, the refrigerator door was open.

The light from inside shone through to some extent, but was mostly blocked by the woman kneeling at the door, casting a long silhouette on the ground.

Ms. Park practically buried her head in the refrigerator, constantly unpacking and eating various foods.

Hungry. Still hungry.
Shopping bags were scattered all over the ground, and the fast food boxes were already empty, with only a few lonely grains of rice stuck to the bottom of the boxes.

Her gaze slowly settled on the several expensive, bright red pieces of meat.

"Cook what?" she said, taking a bite. The taste of blood became her reward, making her unwilling to stop.

Soon, the pork tenderloin was finished.

She continued to tear open a piece of cold steak and took a bite without hesitation.

Blood gushed from between her teeth, trickling down her lip and dripping onto the greasy floor tiles.

She made a comfortable gurgling sound in her throat as she greedily chewed and swallowed the raw, cold flesh.

Without her noticing, her once flat, even slender, abdomen, which had inexplicably lost weight, was swelling at an abnormal speed.

Her skin was stretched so thin it shone, almost transparent, and the bluish-purple veins, like twisted earthworms, were quite visible beneath the skin.

Soon, her belly became round and bulging, as if she were ten months pregnant.

She remained engrossed in her frenzied eating, completely unaware of the dramatic changes in her body.

until--

A sudden, violent spasm struck.

She instinctively let go, and a half-eaten steak fell onto the wet, sticky floor.

She tilted her head back, her eyes wide as she stared at the ceiling, her mouth opening uncontrollably, the skin at the corners of her mouth tearing as it opened, making a faint but chilling rustling sound.

Slowly, a pair of pale, slender, sticky hands emerged from her throat, which had expanded to its limit and resembled a gaping maw of an abyss.

Those hands were clawing at the air, as if trying to tear apart the obstruction and squeeze the whole body out.

The fingernail touched her delicate cheek, which had just been treated with skincare, and instantly left several bloody scratches on her face.

Perhaps feeling that the exit was not wide enough, the hands paused for a moment, then slowly withdrew and disappeared into the depths of the dark throat.

Ms. Park sat stiffly in place, her remaining consciousness fading.

She lowered her head blankly, looking at her enormous belly that was writhing and undulating wildly as if it were alive.

His droopy face hung limply, his eyes stared blankly at the remaining pieces of meat in the refrigerator, and he made meaningless hoarse sounds in his throat.

next second.

A soft, controlled tearing sound of fabric was heard.

Her protruding belly was being torn apart bit by bit by a pair of hands that were sticking out from inside.

The filth poured out like a flood from a burst dam through the cracked passage, spreading across half of the kitchen.

In the center of this ravaged, blood-red hell, a curled-up body, covered in slime and blood, is unfolding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The bones crackled and popped, and the muscle fibers stretched and expanded like living things. In just over ten seconds, a naked person with a similar build and appearance to Ms. Park stood up unsteadily.

Park Min-woo.

He smoothed his sticky hair, revealing a pair of lifeless eyes that burned with a kind of rebirth flame.

He succeeded.

Utilizing the ability of cell division, the host parasitizes Ms. Park's body, absorbing what she eats and accumulating enough protein to transform from the initial stage to the growth stage, then to the metamorphosis stage, and finally burst out of her body.

This is his escape route.

It was also inside Ms. Park's body that he discovered he was able to manipulate himself quite precisely, connecting himself to his stomach and using it as a placenta to transmit various messages to the mother that could overwhelm her reason, such as hunger and craving.

This can be considered an act of indirectly manipulating the mother body.

However, this parasitic relationship is imperfect; the mother organism is destined to die, and the clones can only transmit information due to hunger.

She could only learn about the situation from external voices and was unable to integrate the mother's memories.

Without even glancing at the disemboweled, unseeing body of Ms. Park at his feet, he walked toward the refrigerator.

He grabbed the remaining half of the beef and, instead of tearing it apart like Ms. Park, stuffed it directly into his throat.

With a thud, the entire piece of meat slid down the esophagus.

Then he closed his eyes, and sweat poured out quickly, mixing with the body fluids.

He bit his lip, and after a short while, a blood-red, transparent substance condensed from his palm.

This is the new "original body". The original body's eyes suddenly became empty, and it became a split body. Under Park Min-woo's control, he took out all the remaining food, broke it apart, put it in a corner, and then used his body to block it.

In his soft form, Park Min-woo devoured all the food, barely accumulating enough energy to transform into his growth phase.

But he didn't immediately undergo the transformation, which would have turned him into a cat- or dog-like creature, losing his ability to deform.
Park Min-woo stared blankly at Ms. Park's body on the ground.

Cannibalism? He couldn't get over that mental hurdle yet. But dealing with this mess was necessary.

He climbed onto the split body, manipulated it to bend over, picked up the corpse, and easily carried it to the bathroom.

Disassembly, separation, and deboning.

Who would have thought that just a month ago, he was a college student who wouldn't even dare to kill a chicken?

But now he can handle corpses without batting an eye, even though he's completely unfamiliar with them.

He carefully rinsed the sorted parts, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and then stuffed them into the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, categorizing them accordingly.

The plan is simple: cook them in batches and in small quantities, then find an opportunity to discard them little by little.

Or we can just leave it like that; after all, once the original body leaves, this clone might not be able to keep it a secret for long.

But at least for now, this clone he manipulates can temporarily take his place and become the new Ms. Park.

His main body, wriggling and deforming, attached itself to the rib area of ​​the split body, plumping up a certain part, like a red bra cup.

Inside a black sedan downstairs in the apartment building.

At three in the morning, the streets were silent.

The car was filled with the smell of fast food rice balls and tobacco.

"Hey, Chief Kim, was there any noise just now?" The young police officer in the driver's seat, who had just graduated from the police academy, had very sharp ears. He pointed to the listening device and said.

In the passenger seat, the middle-aged man known as Section Chief Jin yawned widely, his eyelids almost sticking together.

He slowly swallowed the last piece of rice ball in his hand and mumbled, "Muffled noise? What noise? Are you hallucinating? What time is it? That woman is probably getting out of bed to go to the bathroom, or... hehe, she's been holding it in for a few days in the hospital, so she's just taking care of her needs when she gets back."

He gave a sly smile, clearly showing no enthusiasm whatsoever for this surveillance mission.

"Really?" The young officer listened carefully, but no further sound came.

"You know what? If she's really suspicious... no, if this group of people is even slightly suspicious, the higher-ups won't let them go. They'd lock them all up, and they wouldn't care about any controversy that might arise." The section chief pointed to the top of his head with his index finger, revealing a mysterious smile.

The young officer vaguely knew that these people were related to the supernatural, which was why he was so focused, but judging from the section chief's words, it seemed that there was something else he didn't know.

Seeing his somewhat unconvinced expression, the department head sighed: "Do you think that if we're not suspicious, there's no need to assign us any tasks? You're wrong. It's precisely because the level of suspicion is so low that we're given these tasks. The real pie has been snatched up by the Anomaly Countermeasures Department and the higher-ups."

"These people have already been examined by the hospital hundreds of times, and they all think they have gotten a good deal, but in reality, the number of mites on their bodies has been counted."

"That's how it is. We didn't find anything. We only released them and gave them freedom of movement after confirming that they were simply victims. Otherwise, we would have installed surveillance equipment in their homes long ago, instead of just monitoring their cell phones like we are now."

"But the higher-ups don't want to look too greedy, so they just throw these odds and ends at us, giving us a sense of participation."

After listening to the section chief's detailed explanation, the young police officer breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't overthink it. At least the subsidy is good. I'd love to keep an eye on things for a while longer and avoid those trivial matters. It's just that I'm never really comfortable sleeping in the car."

"Don't worry, kid, these kinds of missions are just about passing the time. Look, listen." He pointed to the listening device. "That's the sound of getting into bed, right? Probably they're done and going to sleep. I'm going to take a nap. Call me if anything comes up."

The department head adjusted his chair and soon began to snore softly.

The young police officer sighed helplessly, looking out the car window at the apartments where most of the lights were still on, and finally suppressed his doubts.

The senior was right; they were all marginal figures. He leaned back in his chair, forcing himself to stay awake, and stared at the silent entrance of the apartment building.

Inside the apartment.

The split-off stuffed the last piece of the package deep into the refrigerator and closed the freezer door.

Park Min-woo manipulated the split-person Ms. Park to walk to the bedroom, change into a set of pajamas, lie back on the bed with slightly stiff movements, pull up the covers, mumble a few complaints, and then slowly simulate the breathing rhythm of a sleeper.

At the same time, his consciousness heightened its alertness, carefully sensing every movement in the vicinity. He had no intention of entering the player lobby and was prepared to escape through the pipes at any moment.
Time passed by minute by minute.

The sky outside the window changed from dark black to deep blue, and then revealed a warm morning light.

Nothing happened all night.

Park Min-woo had a rough idea of ​​what to do.

Regardless of whether the authorities are monitoring this person or not, and regardless of whether they are aware of the situation, since he has been given time and space, he can allow his true self to leave this place.

A split personality is still a split personality; its activities are restricted, and it's easily detected. He needs a new, more perfect identity—a shell that allows him to truly reintegrate into society and escape the pursuit.

His gaze, through the eyes of the split body, fell upon the bustling city just beginning to awaken.

In the next few days, he needed to find a suitable target, which was the key to true freedom.

(End of this chapter)