Slum Area
The environment here was terrible. Everything in the slums was raw and exposed, because the residents did not have the money to build barriers like those in the wealthy districts. Whatever the weather was outside, that was exactly what it was inside.
This was completely different from the comfortable, sunny days often enjoyed in the rich areas.
Recently, there had been light rain almost every day, wrapping the slums in a thin layer of mist. The air was heavy with moisture, and it felt as if the whole place was soaked in damp cotton.
In an apartment in Earl Vale, a woman in a white dress leaned against the glass door leading to the balcony. Her misty eyes stared out through the glass.
Raindrops slid slowly down the window, leaving winding trails that distorted her perfect face.
"Jasmine? You should take a bath and change your clothes," Count Vale said as he limped down from the second floor. He frowned in dissatisfaction at the woman still standing there.
"Your clothes are wet."
The woman slowly turned her head to look at the blond man in front of her.
"Jasmine" was the name Count Vale had given her. He believed it suited her well.
The woman before him was like the flower jasmine—delicate, gentle, and beautiful. Even though her body was soaked and vulnerable, none of that could hide her charm. She seemed to carry a unique fragrance that filled the air whenever she was near.
The only pity was that she could not speak.
But it did not matter.
Count Vale had found her at the entrance of a casino. He invited her for coffee and eventually managed to lure her back to his apartment.
No, it wasn't exactly seduction. The woman had never once rejected him.
Count Vale thought he must be in love.
He could hardly believe that one day he would become so humble in front of a woman—almost like a young boy before a goddess.
For such a woman, he could crush her neck with one hand if he wanted to. But Count Vale had no such blasphemous thoughts. His only concern was that Jasmine might catch a cold from the rain.
He knew all too well that her health was fragile.
Despite his repeated urging, Jasmine refused to change her clothes. Since she arrived, her body had always been wet, with water droplets continually dripping from her white dress onto the floor.
Perhaps to others, Jasmine did not look like a goddess at all. Instead, she seemed more like a water spirit that had crawled out of the depths after a thousand years.
Still ignoring Count Vale's requests, Jasmine kept her gaze fixed outside through the glass.
Count Vale frowned and tried to comfort her.
"Don't worry, I've driven everyone away."
Though Jasmine said nothing, Count Vale could tell from her cautious looks toward the outside that someone was searching for her.
Why would anyone come after an unarmed woman?
The question puzzled him deeply.
After bringing Jasmine home, Count Vale had used his resources to investigate who she was. Yet strangely, he could find no trace of her existence, as if she had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The only explanation he could come up with was that Jasmine might have been imprisoned by someone and had only just escaped. That was why no record of her existed.
This made Count Vale pity her all the more.
His suspicion was confirmed when a patrol came by not long after and announced they were looking for a woman in a white dress.
Count Vale did everything he could to stop them.
But when Jasmine heard this, she turned toward Count Vale and smiled slowly.
That smile gave Count Vale great hope.
He stepped forward and gently took her hand.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Let's go to the bathroom now so you can wash and change into something dry."
Hearing this, Jasmine lowered her eyes and nodded slowly under Count Vale's hopeful gaze. She then followed him quietly toward the bathroom.
Count Vale felt pleased by her cooperation. He carefully held her hand like a knight escorting a queen, leading her to the bathroom.
If Count Vale had watched Jasmine's steps more closely, he might have noticed something strange—
When her white dress touched the floor, no marks appeared on the fabric from her legs inside. Her legs moved up and down unevenly as she walked. Rather than walking, it was more like sliding or gliding.
A faint trail of water spread from beneath her skirt. When it dried, it gave off a faint fishy smell.
Count Vale considered himself a gentleman and planned only to bring Jasmine to the bathroom and help her get cleaned up.
What he did not expect was that after entering, Jasmine did not close the door. Before he could leave, she suddenly raised her hand and hooked it around his neckline.
Count Vale was stunned.
He lifted his head, eyes wide with surprise.
Even a gentleman could not resist such a moment when faced with food and desire.
Jasmine, who had seemed distant and cold before, slowly smiled. Her pale, pure face seemed to come alive. The ethereal, ghostlike quality she had displayed from the start finally became flesh and blood.
Her smile invited Count Vale to follow her deeper into the bathroom.
Count Vale was mesmerized. He let himself be pulled in by Jasmine's strength.
The bathroom was small, and hot water from the faucet filled the air with white steam, which quickly engulfed the room. Amid the mist, Jasmine closed the bathroom door behind her.
"That's not good," Count Vale muttered, snapping out of his trance. He tried to pull away.
"It's better if I leave."
But Jasmine gave him no choice.
She slowly removed the only white dress covering her body right in front of him.
Count Vale was speechless as he stared at her jasmine-white skin.
The steam clung to her form, creating a dreamlike scene.
Jasmine smiled. At that moment, she revealed herself without restraint. Her skin and upper body were stunningly beautiful, like the sensual Venus in an oil painting. The sight stirred a primal instinct in anyone who looked.
From her waist down, shimmering scales appeared.
Unlike the sleek, powerful tail of a fully evolved mermaid, Jasmine's tail was incomplete. The scales varied in size, some deeply embedded in her skin, with patches rubbed raw and bleeding.
To make matters worse, parts of her tail near the floor had become infected and oozed pus.
Clear mucus dripped from her skin onto the floor, where it solidified instantly.
Anyone who saw this would know Jasmine was no ordinary woman. The beautiful figure was merely a disguise for the monster beneath.
"God, what the hell are you—"
Count Vale, who had been lost in fantasies moments before, instantly sobered up and screamed in shock.
The next moment, he instinctively lifted his prosthetic arm, intending to use the hidden pistol to strike the head of the monster in front of him.
However, Jasmine remained calm. She faced Count Vale, who had maintained a neutral expression until now. At this moment, her face twisted into something like a smile but not quite a smile, like crying but not quite crying. She tilted her head at Count Vale with contempt, opened her mouth, and let out a soft sound:
[Yi—]
At the same time, a strong fishy smell suddenly filled the small bathroom.
The next second, Count Vale, who was about to fire, froze.
An invisible but powerful force swept through the room, changing everything in front of him.
There were no deformed monsters or terrifying apocalyptic scenes.
Instead, he found himself standing in a fragrant garden, the sun shining warmly above.
"Count Vale, what are you looking at?"
Among the flowers nearby, a woman in a white dress appeared. She stood there, her white arms shining like ivory in the sunlight.
She opened her arms toward Count Vale.
"Come here, please."
Count Vale walked toward her without thinking. After a few steps, he was surprised to realize he was whole and healthy, with both hands and feet intact.
Everything felt so perfect.
Count Vale's expression turned dazed for a moment.
Had there been something wrong with his hands and feet before?
"Vale?"
The woman called his name again from a short distance away. She was beautiful, her gray eyes misty. "Can't you come?"
Count Vale raised his head and stared at her for a long time. Then, suddenly, he chuckled, his azure eyes filled with relief.
"All right, my Jasmine."
He stepped forward on his healthy legs and walked straight toward the woman.
In reality, in front of Count Vale, the dreamlike image of Jasmine was a terrifying sight.
She opened her mouth wide.
A sinister grin stretched across her beautiful face, splitting it up and down beyond the lips and earlobes, revealing rows of fine, sharp teeth.
Then, like a snake, Jasmine swallowed the blond man's head in one bite.
…
"Captain, what are you staring at?"
Old Tang looked at the man before him with curiosity.
They were on the second floor of the casino, and the man was Wen Yu.
Old Tang was slightly annoyed by the sudden visitors in the Doomsday Laboratory, but even though he was blunt, he knew better than to offend those people—especially the man in front of him, once called a "human weapon" in metaphor.
So no matter his complaints, Old Tang maintained patience and greeted the unexpected guest with flattering politeness.
Suddenly, Wen Yu, who had never spoken before, shifted his expression and turned his head to look in one direction.
Old Tang followed his gaze and saw Wen Yu staring at a blank wall.
"Did you hear something?"
Wen Yu asked.
"What?"
Old Tang frowned. "We're on the second floor of the casino. The noise downstairs should be normal."
"Where is Count Vale?"
Wen Yu turned his head again and asked.
"He's in charge here. Why hasn't he come to see me?"
Cold sweat broke out on Old Tang's forehead.
He wiped it away and tried to reassure him.
"Count Vale has a disability. He's feeling a bit unwell today."
"Has anyone strange been here?"
Wen Yu asked bluntly.
"We have been hunting an experimental subject who escaped from the lab recently. I suspect it might have appeared here."
"If there's a strange person, we'll report it immediately," Old Tang said nonchalantly.
But then his face suddenly went pale.
If the strange person was the woman in the white dress…
Although Old Tang had been uncomfortable with her, Count Vale had refused to let him interfere because she looked fragile. So despite his grudge, Old Tang let Count Vale take her away.
So that woman was the subject?
"Is there anything in that direction?"
Wen Yu pointed to a direction.
Old Tang stared in that direction, shocked.
After a moment, the blood drained from his face, and he whispered,
"That's the direction of Count Vale's apartment."
"Take us there."
Wen Yu's voice remained calm, utterly composed.
"If we go now, we might be able to retrieve Count Vale's body."