God of creation system : The apocalypse

Chapter 23 : The unexpected night

After Ataparag brought me to her team's dorm and settled me into her unit, she had me read through the rules and regulations of ESKAPA alongside those of her team.

Her unit was decent enough. Even though it was small, it had a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. Because there were no dividing walls, I could watch her putter around the kitchen while I sat in the living room reading.

She was busy cooking, dressed in comfortable loungewear paired with a pink apron that suited her surprisingly well. Seeing her act like a normal person, preparing a meal for us, made it impossible to believe her claim that she was a terrifying monster.

I couldn't help stealing glances at her every now and then; she was undeniably clumsy, rushing around anxiously as she worked, which was strangely amusing to watch.

Sure, her eye color was a bit weird, and she had those strange horns sprouting from her head, but honestly, she was genuinely pretty.

A short while later, she finished up in the kitchen, and we sat down to eat.

"I don't know if my cooking is any good, but I hope you like it."

The aroma of the food alone made my mouth water. To be honest, whether it tasted good or not didn't even matter anymore, because I had been trembling with hunger for hours.

For some reason, she had prepared a massive feast, and what caught my attention was that every single dish was made of meat. There was so much delicious food spread out that it felt as though this might be my last meal on earth.

Regardless, I didn't ask questions and just dug in, especially since meat was my absolute favorite anyway.

That evening, she laid out a woven mat in the living room for me to sleep on. It was quite comfortable, complete with wonderfully soft blankets she had lent me.

She stepped out of her bedroom wearing pink pajamas to hand over some extra pillows.

"If you need more, I have spares inside," she said.

"Oh, no, Miss Ataparag. This is more than enough. I'm good right here," I replied quickly.

"In that case, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow, we need to head to the base early to submit your application," she said.

She didn't forget to bid me goodnight with a bright, warm smile. I wondered if it was even right of me to enjoy being treated so well, or if I was already taking advantage of her kindness.

Hours passed as I lay awake on the mat, mulling over my situation and trying to figure out my next move.

"What is going to happen to me here? I'm trapped in a situation where I have no other choice."

Even if I managed to find Koko, there was no way she'd simply escort me back to Earth. Knowing her attitude, she'd probably just mock me all over again for being a coward and a loser.

But could I really find the courage, especially when it came to fulfilling my mission? What am I even capable of doing in this world?

Realizing that joining Ataparag's team was practically my only chance at survival—since leaving would just leave me destitute on the streets—I figured I didn't have much of a choice.

Ataparag seemed kind and caring; surely, things would work out fine here.

"Ataparag?" I whispered to myself.

Wait a minute... something felt off. According to her, she was a battle unit leader under Sei. But as far as I could remember, I hadn't written any battle force leader named Ataparag into Sei's forces.

I didn't recognize Nyabu or Toto either, which was completely impossible because, during the upcoming rampage, Sei was supposed to have brought all her battle unit leaders with her.

What was going on? Is it possible that history changed because I came here, or did the things I wrote in my comic simply not manifest accurately in this world?

I was completely confused and full of doubt, but no amount of thinking would change anything when I was powerless to act.

"Oh well, whatever. I'm just going to sleep," I muttered into the empty air.

Overwhelmed by exhaustion, I quickly drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, I was jolted awake by a dull, aching numbness in my arm.

It felt heavy and completely deadened, as if something substantial was resting right on top of it. Fighting off the lingering sleepiness, I forced my eyes open and moved to shift my body.

As soon as my right arm moved to grab my left, my hand brushed against something soft.

I certainly didn't expect what I saw next: Ataparag was lying right beside me, using my left arm as her pillow.

Startled out of my wits, I scrambled upright, instinctively giving her a gentle shove to knock her head off my arm.

"Ataparag? W-w-what?!"

Her head bumped against the floorboards, waking her up instantly.

"Wait, wait, w-w-what are you doing here?!" I blurted out in sheer panic.

My heart was hammering against my ribs. Partly because it was my first time waking up right next to a woman, but more importantly, I needed to figure out why the hell she was in my bed.

Panicking, my hand scrambled across the floor until I felt a wooden block from a hole in the floorboards.

The hole was large enough to fit a ball, and looking around, I noticed it wasn't the only one—several similar holes surrounded the spot where I had been sleeping.

"Those holes weren't there last night. What on earth is going on here?"

Ataparag slowly sat up, letting out a massive yawn. She rubbed her eyes, looking around as if she were just as clueless about the situation as I was.

When she sat up and turned to face me, I caught sight of her clothes—they were thoroughly disheveled and practically torn to shreds.

"What happened? Why are you wearing that?" I asked, completely flustered.

She noticed me staring at her outfit, which left parts of her body exposed.

Her cheeks flushed bright red. As she scrambled to cover herself up, she let out a loud shriek, completely losing her composure.

"W-w-what are you doing to me?!" she screamed.

"Wait, I didn't do anything!" I stammered frantically.

A split second later, the door to Ataparag's unit banged open. Hearing her screams, her team members rushed inside.

"Leader, what happened?!" Nyabu shouted.

They found the two of us sitting side by side on the floor. Judging by the expressions on their faces, they were just as shocked by the scene as we were.

"Nyabu..." Ataparag whimpered, tears welling in her eyes.

I had no idea what to do, because from an outsider's perspective, it completely looked like I had taken advantage of her.

"Wait, I swear I have no idea what happened here!" I immediately blundered out.

"You bastard, what did you do to the Leader?!" Nyabu shrieked in pure fury.

Nyabu was shaking with rage. No matter how much I denied doing anything to Ataparag, she refused to listen.

Storming over, she grabbed me by the collar and hoisted me up into the air as if I weighed nothing at all.

"Wait, I really didn't do anything to her! When I woke up, she was just lying right next to me!" I pleaded.

You wouldn't expect it from her appearance, but Nyabu possessed terrifying strength. Without a second thought, she hurled me right through the doorway, throwing me out of Ataparag's unit entirely.

I hit the floor hard, stunned by her violence, but I immediately scrambled back to my knees to try and explain myself again.

"Hold on a minute, I'm not lying to you! I didn't do anything to her!"

Nyabu stalked out after me, grabbed me by the collar once more, and screamed right in my face like she wanted to tear me apart.

"You absolute fool!" she roared in rage.

"Do you even know what the Leader is? She's a demon beast!"

I didn't fully grasp what she meant, even though Ataparag had mentioned it before. What did that have to do with any of this?

"If you want to die, don't drag the Leader down with you!" she snapped.

With a violent shove, she threw me back down onto the floor, ordered the rest of her squad to stay back, and stepped alone back into Ataparag's unit.

"But I didn't do anything wrong!"

I desperately wanted to insist on my innocence because it was the truth, but nobody was willing to listen.

Until someone tapped me on the head, signaling for me to quiet down.

"Just quiet down for a second. Why are you even here? Humans are strictly forbidden in this place," said a woman with green hair and three horns sprouting from her head.

Beings like her were called Hube—prime-class monsters known for their high intelligence and superior abilities.

"A human joining ESKAPA? Forbidden?" I echoed, bewildered.

She let out a heavy sigh and motioned for me to follow her downstairs to wait while Ataparag sorted herself out.

I had no other choice but to follow along and wait.

After a few minutes, she led me back inside a large room filled with weapon racks. Along the side of the room stood a long planning table.

She motioned for me to sit and wait, warning me not to touch any of the equipment lying around.

"Look, I know you probably won't believe me, but I swear I didn't do anything to Ataparag," I repeated.

"Don't worry about that. The Leader messes up sometimes."

"Messes up? No, the Leader messes up frequently," she corrected herself, a look of profound disappointment crossing her face.

She explained that Ataparag was a unique creature—just as I knew, she was a demon beast who had taken on a human form.

"However, the crimson items granted by Crimson in this game have their limitations. One of the Leader's biggest problems is that the power of her crimson item weakens deeply into the night."

"When that happens and she reverts to her monstrous nature... human flesh becomes one of her favorite meals."

It clicked. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks: her crimson item must have weakened during the night, causing her to turn feral. That explained why there were claw-like holes all around my sleeping mat.

"You mean... she was trying to eat me?" I asked, horrified.

"Without a doubt."

She reminded me that Ataparag was still, at her core, a demon beast, and that fact wouldn't change just because she wore a human face.

Fresh meat was addictive to them, and living human flesh was an absolute delicacy, making it no surprise that she would attempt to devour someone like me.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. If things had gone just a little differently, last night really would have been my final supper before Ataparag turned me into a midnight snack.

Still, I couldn't help wondering: was it just a coincidence, or did Ataparag purposely bring me to her unit to eat me?

"Wait, is that the reason you said humans aren't allowed here?" I asked.

"Yes. The Leader lacks self-awareness regarding how she acts around humans, especially those without any defensive energy barriers protecting their bodies like you."

"Only those of us who stay close to her can actually see how desperately she craves and hungers for human flesh," she added.

She explained that Ataparag genuinely believed she was just being friendly and affectionate toward humans because she wanted to help them, completely oblivious to the fact that her instincts were purely drooling over the scent of their meat.

I swallowed hard, a knot of dread tightening in my stomach. I never expected that underneath her sweet and caring exterior, Ataparag was hiding such a dark secret.

"Are you scared of her now?" she asked.

I couldn't give a straight answer. My feelings were completely torn; Ataparag had shown me genuine kindness, and I could feel that her warmth was real.