NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22 - Adaptation (1)
Even after more than ten days had passed, and though I thought I had adapted quite well to this shoddy body.
After transforming into bat form and crashing into the building’s exterior wall yesterday, I realized once again.
That until I become accustomed to using my abilities, I can’t be considered fully adapted.
What if, in the dazed state after hitting the building wall yesterday, I had been caught by that crazy elf?
I don’t know for sure, but I certainly wouldn’t have had a good time. The fate of one who’s been tea-bagged is… generally not pleasant.
It was a case where I managed to escape successfully because I had established a clear escape route, and because the opponent couldn’t even imagine that I would transform into a bat form and fly away.
Since I can’t expect such divine luck next time, I needed to practice consistently from now on.
Though I hate anything troublesome, and would rather lie on my cozy bed and continue browsing community posts or reading novels, what can I do?
This is directly related to my wretched life.
“…So, you’re making those weird sounds in that form?”
“Ah, ah, ahem, I have no choice since I don’t know how to emit ultrasonic waves! Since I’m a species with poor eyesight, ultrasound is essential for flying!”
“Haah, just when I thought I could rest quietly for a while… Hey, eat this while you’re at it. You’ll strain your voice.”
“Screeech… Oh, yes! Thanks!”
My throat was already a bit sore, so this is perfect!
As I was munching on the apple that he had cut for me while maintaining my bat form, he suddenly started stroking my head.
It gave me an incredibly languid feeling.
I had stopped eating the apple and was making a dazed expression when I suddenly came to my senses and glared at him.
“…What are you doing?”
To feel languid at the rough touch of a friend—a male one at that—not even a girl!
When I growled out of wounded pride, he scratched the back of his head and made an embarrassed expression.
“No, well, I was conscious of the fact that it was you in human form, but when you became a bat, I couldn’t think of you as you anymore, so without realizing it… Were you offended?”
“Rather than being offended… it feels nice, but my pride is seriously hurt. To explain the feeling, imagine if I stroked you and you momentarily enjoyed it.”
“…Must have been terrible, I’m sorry.”
“No, you can stroke me more if you want. Honestly, where else would you get to touch such a clean bat? Hehe…”
Bats are fundamentally classified as dirty animals.
Because their habitat is caves, all kinds of germs and parasites stick to their bodies.
In fact, wasn’t the coronavirus, the pandemic that heated up the world for several years, also caused by bats?
In contrast, this body is not only transformed, but because I’ve been living in an apartment, it’s cleaner than any bat in the world.
The only bat he could touch would be the one in front of him.
After granting permission for him to stroke my body, I began to focus on eating the apple again.
But.
“Eep?!”
Not long after, I regretted my decision.
The feeling of his touch was… much better than I had thought.
Suddenly, a scene from a video I saw recently flashed in my mind.
That cute scene where a prairie dog turned around and demanded to be petted again when the petting stopped.
Was this why the prairie dog was asking its owner to keep petting it?
A loving touch that makes a lazy person even more corrupt.
Starting to feel that this was becoming dangerous, I quickly raised my foreleg to block his hand.
“…I think both you and I might be in danger if you keep petting me. Let’s stop there.”
“Tsk, alright.”
He backed away with a regretful face.
To erase the languid yet mysterious sensation that had spread throughout my body, I continued my training to emit ultrasonic waves.
And.
“Ah, ah, ahem…”
[ ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ !]
After several hours of training, I finally managed to acquire the method of emitting ultrasonic waves.
Ultrasonic waves that reflected off the walls and informed me of the shape of the room.
Thinking that I could now probably fly, I vigorously flew towards the window, but.
[Oohoo?]
“…What?”
Thanks to the unexpected uninvited guest I encountered as soon as I went outside, I was able to acquire another piece of knowledge I didn’t know before.
That a vampire’s bat form.
Is a last resort to be used only when there is truly no other option.
“Eeeeeeeeek!!!”
The opponent was a natural monument No. 324, an eagle owl.
Since I’d be screwed whether I disturbed it or got hunted by it, I desperately began flapping my wings towards the ground.
Save me.
Please.
“I saw you flying away so vigorously. You should have been more careful.”
“Haa, haa… Shut up, you jerk… D-damn juvenile delinquent bird… Ugh…”
After experiencing a breathtaking chase with a juvenile delinquent bird that lightly disregarded the law, I could understand the bitter feelings of the pixie transformer I had seen in the community before.
Encountering new natural predators every day and filming “Man VS Wild”…
What kind of life are you living, sir? If it were me, I’d be too scared to even leave the house.
After entering the community and leaving a comment saying “Fighting!” on that post, I slowly caught my breath while moistening my throat with water.
“…I’m thirsty.”
Perhaps because I had consumed too much energy in a moment, I felt a thirst more severe than usual.
Feeling that uncomfortable, stinging sensation in my throat, I sank into thought.
I thought I could hold out for a few more days, but this is serious.
By the way, didn’t I order some fresh blood a couple of days ago? It should be arriving soon?
Out of curiosity, I checked the online shopping mall and saw that the 1kg of cow’s fresh blood was already marked as delivered.
Suppressing my rising thirst, I asked Jaehyuk about the whereabouts of the fresh blood.
“Hey, didn’t any packages arrive yesterday or today?”
“Ah, right. The fresh blood arrived. I should have told you, but I forgot… Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. So where did you put it? I’m a bit urgent right now.”
“I put it in the refrigerator. You’ll see it right away when you open it.”
After hearing his answer, I immediately ran to the refrigerator and flung the door open.
What I saw then was cow’s fresh blood showing off its beautiful crimson appearance.
Without hesitation, I plunged my fangs into the plastic pack at the sight that automatically made me salivate, and began to slowly savor the taste of the fresh blood.
“Huck… Eh-ah… (F*ck… Yeah…)”
The taste of the fresh blood was, how should I put it, not as ecstatic as Jaehyuk’s blood that I had tasted for the first time.
To explain in an easy-to-understand way… it felt like eating a lot of cheap snacks? It was delicious, but the taste was so stimulating that I got tired of it faster than expected.
Of course, given the quantity, it perfectly resolved my thirst.
“Still, at 3,650 won, this cost-effectiveness is the best.”
My thirst quickly subsided.
Looking at the cow’s fresh blood that seemed to have less than 100g remaining with a dazed face, I turned my gaze towards Jaehyuk, who was gulping and picking up silver chopsticks.
It seems he was quite terrified by the sight of me voraciously consuming the cow’s fresh blood.
I showed a harmless smile and slowly began approaching him, who was trembling.
Because if he swings that crazy weapon in fear, I don’t know what terrible fate I might suffer.
“Why are you so scared? Did you do something wrong?”
I playfully joked to lighten the heavy atmosphere, but he replied seriously with a stiff face.
“Look in a mirror before you speak, you crazy woman! Do you even know what you look like right now?”
“I don’t show up in mirrors, so I’m not sure? Why don’t you take a photo and send it to me?”
“…I just took one and sent it, so check it out to see what you look like right now.”
Ding.
Upon receiving the notification of a message, I immediately entered the chat room and saw a photo of a silver-haired woman covered in blood.
The crimson marks stuck thickly around the mouth, the bright red traces on the white shirt, and the murderous smile to top it all off.
That appearance, which seemed to come straight out of a horror movie scene, made even me shrink back.
…So, until just now, I was approaching him with this appearance?
No wonder he was scared, yeah. If it were me, I would have immediately grabbed silver chopsticks too.
With an embarrassed smile, I wiped off the fresh blood marks around my mouth with wet wipes, and quickly changed the subject to break the awkward atmosphere.
“Hey, but after drinking a lot of blood, I feel like I can live. I feel like power is overflowing from my body.”
“…You don’t suddenly want to strike a bizarre pose, or put on a performance of frantically scratching your head, or anything like that, right?”
“What the hell do you think a vampire is, you crazy bastard.”
Geez, if someone heard that, they might think a vampire could summon a yellow muscular evil spirit after drinking blood.
Giving him a light thump on the head to bring him to his senses, I slowly began to check my body condition.
An intense feeling of liberation, unlike before.
Usually, there’s a setting where penalties are somewhat mitigated after drinking blood, I wonder if that was applied too?
“…I hope so.”
The only way to check is to experiment on myself.
“Gyaaaaargh…”
Another hellish scene unfolded.