Since I arrived here, the ones who have faced the greatest change are the mutants.
In the existing blackout zone, they were the only ones who could move about freely.
Of the five mutants, only four had gained eye-related abilities that allowed them to operate within the blackout zone.
Naturally, maintaining order and transporting food fell to them, and their authority had soared to the heavens accordingly.
‘Judging by public sentiment, it doesn’t seem like they abused that power terribly, but…’
Even so, it seemed small acts of discrimination had continued to pile up.
No matter how tolerable they may have been, there was no way resentment hadn’t accumulated unnoticed.
That resentment, after I arrived…
More precisely, only after people saw what the mutants looked like for the first time, had erupted once.
The mutants’ appearances generally had grotesque aspects to them.
Just looking at the cyclops mutant, his appearance was more than enough for him to be mistaken for a monster.
The problem was that, even without any built-up resentment, they were not figures people could easily accept.
Because of that, voices rose among the survivors who had regained their sight, and among the mutants, opinions emerged that those people were ungrateful bastards. There had even been a moment when a clash nearly broke out, but…
‘Thankfully, we managed to stop it before it went that far.’
I worked in all sorts of ways to cool that overheated atmosphere.
Before the Order spread, I showed them the appearance of the pine caterpillars and made them see what kind of threat the mutants had devoted themselves against.
After the Order spread, I protected the mutants through doctrine.
Thanks to those efforts, fortunately, the atmosphere has calmed down to some extent by now.
‘Of course, that doesn’t mean the mutants are satisfied.’
Most of them were not friendly toward me.
As for the reason, it was likely because most mutants’ appearances were on the grotesque side.
‘…They probably didn’t want others to see what they’d become.’
Until before, it had been fine. No matter how grotesque their own appearances had become, other people couldn’t see them.
The only ones who could see were people in the same position as them.
In the midst of that, what I did was no different from forcibly throwing open the curtains…
‘The mutants didn’t exactly like me.’
I think it couldn’t be helped.
But because of that, the mutants didn’t come near me, which was quite a troublesome matter for me.
In order to get out of this place, the mutants’ help was essential, yet they wouldn’t even try to meet me properly.
However, it wasn’t as if I had no way to contact them at all.
There are exceptions everywhere.
Most mutants wouldn’t even try to meet me, but among them, there was one exception…
“Angel, have you been well all this time!”
“Yes, thanks to you. Have you been well too, Minchan?”
“Haha, these days, every day feels worth living! After all, you will guide us outside, won’t you, Angel?”
The falcon beastman, Jeon Minchan.
He was rather lucky in many ways.
He had become a mutant, but his changes weren’t that great.
At most, only his head had changed, and even then, since it had become a falcon’s, it might feel alien, but it wasn’t grotesque.
As such, he had little dissatisfaction with his own appearance… and naturally, it seemed he held no dissatisfaction toward me either.
In any case, perhaps thanks to that, he accepted me quickly, and now he had become a believer.
…Of course, I don’t know how sincerely he believes in me.
“So, what is the reason you requested a meeting today?”
“…The truth is, there were a few things I wanted to ask.”
“Please, speak freely.”
As the only mutant our side could contact, his existence was extremely important.
Even if he had stayed still, we would have scheduled a meeting with him sooner or later, so the fact that he requested one himself meant there had to be a reason.
I waited for his next words with a fairly serious expression.
“Angel, can you truly get us outside?”
The biggest reason the falcon beastman had become a believer was probably that.
Getting out of this hellish place.
“Of course I can.”
But I cannot declare that everyone will be able to get out safely.
The immediate problem is the mimic beasts hiding inside.
They haven’t made any obvious moves since I arrived, but conversely, that means the mimic beasts know how to distinguish an opportunity.
If they attack from within at the decisive moment?
Even if we respond, casualties will be unavoidable.
“It’s true that I need other people’s help. Especially the help of you mutants.”
“Then that question is enough.”
The falcon beastman lowered his head deeply.
Considering how serious he had been, the reaction was more anticlimactic than expected.
Of course, it must be important to him, but had he really requested a meeting just to confirm this?
Just as I was feeling puzzled, he raised his lowered head again.
“…Angel.”
At that moment, his eyes shone fiercely, fitting for a bird of prey.
If he had still seemed gentle until just a moment ago, now it was different.
…It seemed what he was about to bring up now was the real point.
The falcon beastman soon continued.
“Are you truly human? To be precise, I am asking whether you are that monster that imitates people.”
“To begin with, I am human.”
I was a little taken aback by the unexpected question, but not enough for it to show on my face.
As far as I knew, in Dogok 2-dong, the number of mimic beasts present was extremely limited.
It was to the point that even Kim Soyeong had been completely unaware of their existence.
But for him to ask this… was it because he knew, to some extent, that mimic beasts existed?
He had clearly said “that monster,” so it did seem he knew a little.
An ordinary survivor might not know, but a mutant could probably sense something…
‘…No, perhaps that was exactly why they were wary of me.’
I was an outsider, and I had been rapidly taking control of the group.
From their perspective, in a situation where even monsters pretending to be people existed, there was no guarantee there wasn’t also a monster pretending to be an angel.
So I had been receiving that suspicion without realizing it.
But now that I knew the cause of their suspicion, this was actually for the best.
If I corrected this misunderstanding, we could begin with some degree of trust.
And if they already knew to some extent about the existence of mimic beasts, there was no reason for me not to share information.
‘The reason I was reluctant to share information about mimic beasts until now was also to avoid pointless wariness.’
I would be someone who had suddenly fallen from the sky, only to tell them there was a traitor among them.
No matter what group it was, that wouldn’t be something they could simply accept favorably.
But if they knew of the existence of mimic beasts, then we could communicate to some extent.
Now that things had turned out this way, it would be more beneficial to abandon my lukewarm attitude and take a strong stance.
“Is this question yours alone, Minchan, or does it also include the opinions of the other mutants?”
“…How did you know that?”
Naturally, this question couldn’t have been only his.
To begin with, he had personally requested a meeting that would have been arranged even if he had simply waited, and the nature of the question also seemed closer to the opinion of many.
‘Then his becoming my believer may also have had a calculative aspect to it.’
The mutants probably needed to contact me as well.
As the saying goes, keep your enemies closer than your friends. If they wanted to stay on guard, they needed at least some sort of connection.
…Of course, it seemed the falcon beastman had volunteered to some extent, but it didn’t matter.
Whether he truly believed in me or not was none of my concern. In any case, once this religion game fulfilled its purpose, I was going to stop.
I let out a deep sigh inwardly and continued speaking.
“So your side has been harboring suspicions similar to mine.”
“Then that means…?”
I explained the mimic beasts to him as he looked puzzled.
It seemed he did not know their detailed ecology either, as he shuddered several times while listening to me.
Only after I had finally finished sharing information about the mimic beasts did he ask, trembling.
“Is… is all of that really true…?”
“You can tell just by looking at the pine caterpillars, but those things are damn horrific from the way they look.”
“That may be true, but…”
I helped the half-doubting falcon beastman to his feet.
“Please tell the other mutants as well. I have a lot more knowledge to share, so let’s meet and talk sometime.”
“That is…”
“We cannot remain wary of each other forever, can we?”
“…Yes, I will tell them.”
The falcon beastman left the building with a grave expression, as if he had much to think about.
I watched his back, then let out a deep sigh.
“Soyeong? Are you there?”
“Yes, I am here.”
“…For now, let’s continue with what we were doing. Could you bring me the registry?”
At my words, she quickly brought over the registry containing people’s personal details, names, and the like.
It wasn’t as if I had spent all this time only spreading religion.
If religion was closer to a means, then this registry was closer to the objective.
Inside it were those classified as at risk of being mimic beasts, compiled with people’s testimonies and the power of the Eye of Truth.
“Let’s continue with the next interview. We still haven’t heard from everyone…”
The essence of a mimic beast is imitation of a person.
Because it is based on the memories from the moment that person died, their words are often inconsistent or out of place.
Over the past five days, the number of people interviewed was eighty.
Of them, fifteen were classified as at risk of being mimic beasts.