For starters, both women had straight hair. One was dyed, but the roots had grown out quite a bit.
Despite the weather being fairly warm, both were wearing parkas, thick jeans, and hiking boots. They even had bulky hiking backpacks set beside them. They looked exactly like homeless people.
The two women were haggard and wretched, reduced to skin and bone, and it was impossible to tell how long it had been since they had washed or changed into clean clothes.
The black-haired woman was clutching the dyed-haired woman’s arm tightly.
The dyed-haired woman was holding a knife out at me.
Both were terrified.
But, well...
The black-haired one. There was blood on her face? Not the kind from long ago that had simply gone unwashed. It was still red. Fresh blood.
The woman holding the arm—the dyed-haired woman’s arm, her parka glistening with something, and onto the floor, drop by heavy drop... blood.
"...Are you hurt?"
I blurted out without thinking.
The black-haired woman let out a scream.
"Eek!"
"...Hyeyoon. Let go."
The dyed-haired woman coaxed her and stood up.
The black-haired woman didn’t let go. She stood up too.
There was quite a height difference.
The black-haired one didn’t even seem to be 150 centimeters. Meanwhile, the dyed-haired one seemed to be almost 170?
The kitchen knife the dyed-haired woman held was dark black, caked with blood and hair. She pointed it at me, but the tip of the blade trembled violently.
"...Can you talk? Are you a monster that can hold a conversation?"
Seemed like some kind of misunderstanding.
It was probably because of the dog mask I was wearing on my head.
For the record, this thing won’t come off.
I had tried removing it, wondering if I could see my surroundings better, but this wasn’t a living body; it was a created avatar, so this appearance was fixed.
I want to take it off too, goddammit.
"I’m not a monster. Are you hurt? You’re bleeding from your arm."
"...If you’re really not a monster, prove it. Why are you wearing a mask on your face? To scare us? Why aren’t you wearing any clothes? What if you get bitten by a zombie? I can’t trust you. Take the mask off first."
"............"
You bitches, asking me to do the one thing I can’t do, goddamn.
"Sorry, but I can’t take it off. It’s not something that comes off."
"...So you are a monster. You’re going to trick us and eat us, right?"
"Look. I don’t know where you find these talking monsters, but—"
I showed her my spear and then set it on the floor.
For the record, setting this spear down was meaningless too.
When I attack, the spear automatically appears in my hand. With a rush of sand.
In other words, even if I throw it, it keeps generating.
I wasn’t sure how much this would reassure those women, but at least showing them that I was taking such a gesture to help them feel safe shouldn’t do any harm, right?
"I’m not a monster, and I’m not a zombie either."
"There are talking monsters too."
"...There are?"
"Yeah. They look completely different from you, real monsters, grotesque-looking things, but they speak human words. They lure humans and eat them. I saw it."
"...Didn’t know that. Anyway, I’m not like that."
"Then what are you. You... what are you?"
She asked, still trembling with the knife, but the reason was obvious at a glance.
It wasn’t because she believed me, nor was she trying to build any relationship with me.
While talking to me, she was trying to get the black-haired woman to run away.
She kept pushing the black-haired woman sideways and glancing at her, but the black-haired woman refused to let go of the dyed-haired woman’s hand.
...It was hard to pretend I didn’t notice, and at this point, she should have at least pretended to run away out of consideration for the dyed-haired woman’s efforts.
"I’m a god."
It’s not a lie, is it?
The skin around the women’s eyes creased thickly with the expression of "bullshit."
Their eyes turned wide and round.
"...A god...? You’re just a monster."
"No, I really am a god."
"Where is there a god wearing a dog mask. Listen. You look strong, but if you attack me, I’m telling you in advance, I’ll keep stabbing you with the knife while you eat me. You won’t get away unscathed either."
"I’m not going to eat you."
"Don’t lie."
A futile back-and-forth on a hamster wheel of words.
The black-haired woman sniffled and asked me.
"Are you really a god?"
"Yes. A real god. Please believe me, goddammit."
"...Do gods curse too?"
"I do."
"C-can I ask you something, if you’re really a god?"
...Should I just go back?
"Yes, what is it?"
"Why... if you’re a god... why did you let zombies appear? Why... why did the world become like this? W-while this was happening... what was God doing...?"
...Why are you blaming me for this.
"Sigh..."
I had no intention of taking responsibility for something I didn’t even do.
Honestly, saying I was a god was something I’d blurted out without thinking, after wondering how the hell I could convince anyone while looking like a naked man wearing a dog mask who only covered my dick and ass.
"I was originally human. I only became a god recently. And, uh, I think you’re talking about a creator god, but I’m not that kind of god. Have you seen movies? Movies with Greek mythology or Norse mythology gods?"
The two women stared at me blankly with their respective expressions.
Yeah, they still couldn’t trust me.
"In those, the gods are more or less mixed in with humans, and they aren’t really that different from people, right? They might be a bit strange or have special abilities, but they’re basically human-like, right? I’m that kind of thing."
"...If you were originally human and became a monster, that makes sense. The zombies were originally—"
"Not a monster, goddamn... should I just go? Fuck, this is annoying."
I shrugged my shoulders and took out a bag from behind the counter.
"But still, since I’m here. Uh, I’m going to take some stuff, okay? Don’t go stabbing me for no reason while I’m at it."
It had been six months since I met a person, and this was how little trust we had for each other.
Being a naked man wearing a dog mask, it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand it, but it was a bit hurtful.
I went toward the drink refrigerator, but of course, the power had been out for so long that it obviously didn’t look cold.
I still couldn’t just not take them.
Besides, this would be heavy.
Let’s double up the bags.
As I rustled about putting drinks in the bag, a woman asked from behind.
"...What are you doing?"
The voice belonged to the dyed-haired woman, no doubt.
"Can’t you see? I’m grabbing cola and soda. It’s been forever since I had carbonated drinks. Oh, energy drinks. I should take these too."
"...You came for drinks?"
"Yeah. For the record, the sand on the floor of this convenience store? I killed the zombies. When they die by my hand, they all turn to sand. Saying it like this, it sounds kinda like a supervillain, right? There was that movie, right? The one with Sandman. You know it?"
While I was rambling nonsense and putting drinks in the bag, things got oddly quiet.
I turned around, and the two women were looking at me with confused faces.
"...You’re really not a monster?"
"Yes, yes. I’m a monster. I’m definitely a monster. Uh, pine needle juice... hm... pass."
I rustled around and filled it until the bag became very stiff and taut. I couldn’t feel the weight myself, but the state of the bag suggested it would tear if I put more in.
Even with two, it felt a bit risky.
I walked over nonchalantly and picked up the spear I’d placed on the floor.
Looking back at the women.
"............"
"............"
After enjoying the silence.
"...Hasta la vista, baby."
I fired off a classic movie line.
I held up two fingers and flicked them. Pew.
I turned around.
It wasn’t like we’d see each other again anyway, so whatever.
It was nice meeting someone after a long time. It was nice, but I didn’t particularly want a relationship filled with distrust.
We had just met; I’d never seen them before, and I had no reason to coax and persuade them.
"W-wait!"
As I opened the door to leave, ugh...
...Why are you calling me.
"...Why."
I turned back hesitantly, and the dyed-haired woman grabbed the black-haired woman and held her out to me.
"H-her, take her with you."
"Yeonsu! No!"
"You, dog mask, you, you’re really not a monster, right? You don’t eat people, right?"
"...I haven’t eaten any so far."
"...Will you eat them from now on?"
"I don’t particularly plan to."
"I said no!"
Having the three of us shouting at one another wasn’t exactly ideal.
"Hyeyoon. Follow that person. I’ll be fine, so follow him."
"No!"
"Hey, dog mask! You, take her with you."
...Why would I.
That was what I was thinking, and I didn’t particularly feel like hiding it either.
"...Why would I?"
"Hey! You said you’re a god! Aren’t gods supposed to help people?!"
"Do you not know what a god is? I only help worshippers."
"Fuck."
The dyed-haired woman squeezed her eyes shut with an expression of seething confusion and frustration.
Things had gotten interesting.
"I’ll worship you. Okay? My god. Please take her with you."
"Yeonsu, no! I’ll stay with you!"
"Hyeyoon. I don’t have much time left. My body is already burning up."
The dyed-haired woman’s face was serious.
She was sweating profusely, pale, with terrible dark circles under her eyes.
"I’m going to become a zombie soon. If you’re beside me, I’ll bite you. I don’t want that to happen, but once I’m a zombie, there’s no helping it. You can’t stay by my side."
"I don’t care! Let’s die together!"
...Hm.
So that’s why her arm was bleeding. She’d been bitten.
Watching the two snap and yell at each other, Yeonsu! Hyeyoon! over and over, was somehow a bit...
Is it my constitution?
It felt like watching a forced melodrama, which repulsed me.
"...Hey, you know."
"Yeonsu!"
"Hyeyoon!"
They’re not listening to me.
Do I not even have a say in this?
Say I took one of them with me. I didn’t really feel like it, but let’s say I did. Then she’d probably wail and cry at home, goddammit.
"...Ma'at's Rest."
My hand glowed.
I set down the spear and the bags and approached the women.
"Yeonsu!"
"Hyeyoon!"
Blah blah, ladies.
They were saying things, calling each other’s names too, but none of it entered my ears.
Follow him, I won’t go; the same words over and over, was there any need to listen?
I approached.
The women flinched and stepped back.
Yeah, I’m a monster, you bitches.
"Let me see the wound."
My words seemed to carry some weight.
The dyed-haired woman tried to hide it, but the black-haired woman hurriedly peeled off the parka.
Wow, were her clothes really soaked in filth?
But under the short-sleeved shirt, on her arm. Hm.
A chunk of flesh had been gouged out?
The surrounding skin was turning blackish-green, and the veins were bulging black and grotesque.
She wouldn’t last long like that.
Would it work?
"I’ve never tried this before, and I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but maybe the injury might get better. I’ll say it again, I can’t be sure it’ll heal. If you want to give 'maybe' a try, take my hand."
I held out my hand.
The women alternated between staring at my dog mask and my hand, motionless.
...How long do I have to wait.
Should I really just go back, ah...
"...Can it really heal?"
The dyed-haired woman asked, half in doubt.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don’t know. Maybe. Don’t get your hopes up."
"Hyeyoon. Hurry, hurry."
The black-haired woman was already brimming with expectation.
She had had tears welling up just moments ago, seriously.
The dyed-haired woman fell into deep thought, but it didn’t take long.
Biting her lip, fearful, tense.
She held her right arm up with her left hand.
Groaning in pain, she reached out her hand to me.
I took her hand.
The light of Ma'at's Rest passed through my hand and flowed up her arm.
The wound began to heal gradually.
The blackish-green skin gradually brightened.
Only that part became soft and clean, as if she’d just stepped out of a shower.
The black veins disappeared as if seeping away.
Color began to return to her previously pale face.
"...Wow!"
The black-haired woman’s face brightened too.
...So it cures zombification too.
Fucking hell...
[Mental power has reached its limit.]
"Ah, fuck. I’m collapsing!"
"Huh?"
The women looked at me.
"Hey, I’m coming to get that tomorrow, so don’t touch—"
[Dissipating.]
Meeting the women’s eyes, I turned to sand and crumbled away.