I had to survive. Because I had to live, I could never allow myself to be driven out of the Shelter.
This place, like paradise, was where the master of the Shelter was law and order itself. If I disobeyed her, it was clear as day that I would be shoved into the monsters’ gaping maws without a second thought.
“What do you think? It’s really pretty, isn’t it?”
“Um... y-yes, it is.”
Seo Yura. The woman wore a sly smile, touching me as if I were a toy she was playing with.
She knew I was frozen in fear, and so she persistently targeted and brushed over my sensitive areas.
“Is there anything you want to eat? I can make absolutely anything for you...”
“...”
“Do you remember the taste of cola? That fizzy, popping sensation. Ah, there’s even a chicken farm in the basement, so we can make fried chicken ourselves and eat it... Here, look. If you click like this, you can order whatever flavors you want.”
“...”
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Ah, well...”
It was chilling. Every time her nails scraped across my body, goosebumps prickled my skin. She wouldn’t show me such kindness for no reason. Yes—she harbored a clear desire for me.
No matter how powerful a shelter one lived in, no matter if it was a place that perfectly provided food, clothing, and shelter, there was one desire that could never be fulfilled.
Lust.
The primal longing of a woman who had spent a long time in solitude without contact with the opposite sex.
“Then one fried chicken...”
“Don’t you need mustard? Salt is good too.”
“I prefer mustard...”
“Yes, yes. I got it.”
Click.
She gestured in the empty air, and in an instant, a batch of fried chicken appeared. Just what kind of skill was this? It had long since surpassed the realm of astonishing and was now bordering on the miraculous.
“You must have had a hard time outside. A precious man shouldn’t be this scrawny and emaciated... It must have been truly agonizing.”
“...”
“What do you think? If you live here, all you have to do is keep eating delicious food and living happily like this. You’ll listen to me well, right?”
“Y-yes. I’ll listen well to you, Yura-ssi.”
“Tsk, tsk. Master...”
“M-Master...”
Drops of sweat trickled down my forehead. My head, creaking like a rusty hinge, eventually turned toward the back.
The corpses of the residents who had rebelled against her and been ruthlessly killed. I did my best to pretend I didn’t see them and picked up a chicken leg.
“Yes, eat up deliciously... my precious treasure...”