The Freak Show Foreman

The most difficult thing for me to adapt to was....

Trait: Arm

Application Area: Shoulder

Effect: It’s an ordinary arm.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x16]

My body felt incredibly awkward.

Unfamiliar things I had never experienced before were attached to my body.

I stood up, touched, walked, and grabbed things.

People usually feel fear when facing something unfamiliar.

The strange sensation I felt was also something I had never encountered before.

But the emotion I felt was not fear; it was joy.

It was a moment where something inside me that had been suppressed since I arrived here suddenly burst out.

The smile on my face was not because of the "Laughing Man."

I was standing alone for the first time in my life.

Without anyone’s help, without the aid of any tools.

The feeling I had dreamed about dozens of times a year.

It was a bit different from what I had imagined.

Nevertheless, I was more certain than anyone else that this was "real."

But being happy was one thing, and the unfamiliarity was another.

It took me a day to handle this body naturally.

Actually, not even a whole day.

Babies take months to start walking.

I went through the process of realizing what I had learned rather than learning something new.

No one thinks about each step they take.

No one thinks about the movements of each finger when picking something up.

What moves the human body is not so much a skill as it is a "habit" engraved in the body.

Walking and running became familiar in less than a day.

Because Wonderstein’s body remembered.

Complex actions like using chopsticks took some time to adapt to.

So, I had to eat alone in the carriage for a few days.

Yeah. Only two and a half years.

There’s no regret in going back to the previous life.

It’s nice to live, but it doesn’t matter if I die.

But I wanted to enjoy this body for a long time.

Somehow, I wanted to feel this sensation for a long time, filling up two and a half years.

Trait: Arm

Application Area: Shoulder

Effect: It’s an ordinary arm.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x16]

"Ugh! She really has six arms!"

"She was indeed that spider lady! I didn’t see it wrong!"

"It’s so disgusting!"

"Ugh, is that what a person looks like?"

The uncomfortable scene of a festival.

In the midst of it, a young woman crouching and trembling.

I knew the past of the members of the Monster Circus.

I didn’t know the details, but the game provided enough information about the process they had gone through.

Honestly, when I saw their past in the game, I felt disgusted.

Was it because of the misfortune I had experienced?

Or was it the discomfort of the material itself?

I didn’t want to understand their motivation and didn’t want to empathize with them.

So what?

Just because I went through such a thing doesn’t mean I’ll become a crazy murderer like you guys, right?

I sneered at the arm with a backstory.

But when I actually saw this sight in front of me, I didn’t have such thoughts.

I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, memories I didn’t want to remember came to mind.

’Ugh, I used to be able to walk around like that.’

’Shh, why are you here? From that orphanage on that expose program...’

’Oh dear, tsk tsk. I’d rather commit suicide than live like that.’

People could show mercy to insects digging in the ground, but they felt discomfort towards flying insects.

I only realized that after leaving the orphanage.

He was the only one who survived.

The mitted suicide...

The foundation offered all of the remaining funds, totaling billions of cash, to me...

Wherever I went, people recognized me.

It’s amazing that some couldn’t recognize me even with all the extensive media coverage.

There were people approaching me, aiming for the estate and funds left by the director.

They had strange hostility, picking fights or giving me resentful looks.

It was better to crawl on the floor and work for a living back then.

Truly, it was just a pity.

"Can you have a meal alone?"

"Can you go to the restroom alone?"

Trait: Legs

Applied Area: Pelvis

Effect: Ordinary legs.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x24］

My lips twisted.

The "Smiling Man" still forced a smile on me.

But I didn’t want to smile right now.

I didn’t want to make that expression when looking at her.

No, at least I didn’t want to show her that expression.

"Once you get used to the eye tracker, it’s much faster than a mouse or keyboard."

"Every day, a helper will come from the welfare Centre."

"Bathing and meals will be at a fixed time every day..."

Trait: Legs

Applied Area: Pelvis

Effect: Ordinary legs.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x24］

It wasn’t because of the affection value.

I just didn’t want to show her a face like those trashy expressions surrounding her.

Ttideek.

Ttideek.

Ttideek.

Ttideek.

Trait: Arms

Applied Area: Shoulders

Effect: Ordinary arms.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x16］

Trait: Arms

Applied Area: Shoulders

Effect: Ordinary arms.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x16］

Trait: Legs

Applied Area: Pelvis

Effect: Ordinary legs.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x24］

Trait: Legs

Applied Area: Pelvis

Effect: Ordinary legs.

Required Resources: [Debulroots x24］

Yurakne’s situation brought back memories of that time.

The things I wished for the most back then.

Things I didn’t have.

Things I wanted to have.

The Evolution Research Institute was calculating those things on its own.

But resisting the smiling man, no matter what uncomfortable emotions I felt, was impossible.

I smiled and made eye contact with her.

"Ringmaster...?"

It was too noisy, and I couldn’t hear her voice, but just by looking at her mouth, I could tell.

Her pupils were clearly filled with despair.

***

"That’s what it was."

Yurakne realized everything the moment she saw the smile on the ringmaster’s face.

Why he had been forgiving of her mistakes since earlier.

Why he had wanted to follow her so badly.

He knew how to hurt people more than just physically.

The day she first met him.

She had confessed everything to him while drunk.

She had told him everything except for the most painful memories.

The story of being dragged out by the townspeople when she was young and locked in a cage, subjected to the stoning baptism.

He remembered that story.

Recreating that story was his intention.

"You disgusting monster!"

"Who do you think you are coming here!"

It was just like that day.

Surrounded by people filled with hatred, she became the target of a lynching.

The only difference from that day was that there was no husband to protect her.

Thud. Thump. Clang.

Rotten seafood.

Fish heads.

Crushed snails, and more.

All sorts of foul-smelling and dirty objects struck her body.

She had to endure the violence in silence.

She knew from experience that any form of resistance would only make people more ruthless.

She had to endure it.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

It hurt.

Her chest hurt more than the places she was hit.

There, in the crowd under the light.

The Ringmaster watched all of this with a smile.

He stood there without moving.

He simply enjoyed watching her despair.

An evil devil who trampled on people like insects, turning them into monsters, laughing as he did so.

What had she expected from him?

She had told her not to trust the devil.

You’re a fool.

I know.

I know, but...

Still, there is...

Still, I thought...

"Monster, get lost!"

Then, someone picked up a heavy iron net and threw it at her.

It was different from the flatfish or fish she had been hit with earlier.

It was something made of metal, something that could truly hurt a person.

Oh, that must hurt a lot.

She closed her eyes tightly.

Yes, if she sheds some blood here, the people might hesitate.

They might spit out insults and turn away in disgust.

A few people who had been watching the situation would come forward and pretend to have a belated conscience.

They had done it several times.

They always did.

It would stop at that level.

If they just hit her once...

Thud.

A dull sound of impact.

But Yurakne felt no shock.

The iron net didn’t reach her.

Something blocked it.

A lump of metal, the size of a human fist, rolled to the ground.

"Hehe, this hurts a bit."

A playful voice that didn’t match the seriousness of the situation.

No way... No way...

She slowly raised her head.

Black shoes.

Familiar black shoes.

There was no way...

It must be a mistake.

She slowly raised her head.

Black pants, a black jacket, and even a black cape.

It was not the kind of clothing one would wear to a dawn fish market.

But that man always stuck to that outfit no matter when or where.

Frank Wonderstein.

He stood in front of her.

A streak of red blood trickled down his forehead.

He had taken the iron net directly.

"Blood is red..."

A sudden thought crossed her mind.

He turned to her with a smile.

As if he hadn’t felt any pain at all.

"Are you alright?"

Alright?

It was just like that day.

The day she first met her husband and the day she first met Wonderstein.

Her husband had also stood in front of her, protecting her from the crowd.

But...

But why had he?

"If anyone does anything more to my wife, I won’t stand still."

There was no hint of anger in Wonderstein’s words.

He just smiled and said it calmly.

There was nothing threatening about his appearance or behavior.

But the people who saw him felt a chilling sensation in his laughter.

A stunningly handsome man, completely out of place in the situation, with a friendly smile that didn’t match.

It made people feel fear.

The frenzied madness of the crowd, burning like fire, disappeared in an instant.

No one approached Yurakne anymore.

"I think it’s best to leave now."

He reached out his hand.

Yurakne contemplated his words.

Wife.

In that moment, the shadow of her husband fell upon Wonderstein’s broad back.

Don’t hold on.

This is also a trick.

Is he trying to deceive her again?

"I... I’m dirty..."

Her body covered in filth.

Full of the stench of seafood.

It’s not even a matter of holding hands; she doesn’t even want to get close.

He had always been strict about wearing clean suits.

Oh, could this be a trap too?

If she approaches him in this state, he might say it stinks and wave his hand to cut her throat...

Step by step.

He approached her.

A smile still hung on his lips.

He bent down and roughly brushed off the dirty things clinging to her body.

His suit got dirty, but he didn’t seem to care at all.

He examined her body and asked if she was hurt anywhere.

"Let’s go back. To our lodging."

Such a bright smile.

Tears.

Tears flowed.

Two streaks of starlight running down Yurakne’s cheeks.

They were the same tears, but they held an entirely different meaning from before.

"Yes... Honey..."

Yurakne stood up with his support.