Chapter 375: Daily Life · Kesuye Gets a Little Pet of His Own
Kesuye had grown a tail.
Of course, both his whale form and mermaid form already had tails, so the “growing a tail” mentioned here specifically referred to his human form.
It all stemmed from an accident.
Remember the lithium mine built between the gas station and downtown Micano?
During Everly’s time at university, an underground ruin was discovered beneath the lithium mine. The mine owner secretly damaged the ruins, causing the monster sealed within to escape. It not only wreaked havoc throughout the mine and ate many of the miners, but also broke into downtown Micano and went on a rampage.
In the end, it took the combined efforts of the movie’s male and female protagonists and the military to successfully kill the monster and put an end to the disaster.
Afterward, McMurkin Mining Company withdrew from Micano. A wire fence was erected around the mine, and the site was taken over by the U.S. military.
Based on Everly’s experience, this was where a horror movie would normally end.
The reason they had to leave a loose end by having the U.S. military take over the site was simply to lay the groundwork for some vague, hypothetical sequel.
As for whether that sequel would ever be made or when it might come out, that was anyone’s guess. Anyway, according to Everly’s observations, all ten out of ten horror movies left some kind of hook at the end, but only about half of one out of ten ever actually got a sequel. The rest simply ended after the first movie and were never mentioned again.
Everly had assumed that the horror movie involving the lithium mine would be just like all its brothers and sisters, ending after a single installment.
She never expected that, several years later, it would actually get a sequel!
On the day the accident happened, Old John had gone into town to buy supplies, while Everly was upstairs solving a case. The only one with any free time was Kesuye, who had slipped into the underground shelter and was happily soaking in the pool.
As he soaked, Kesuye suddenly noticed something strange.
The surface of the water was trembling.
He watched for a while, curious about what was causing the vibrations. Then, all of a sudden, a loud crack came from the bottom of the pool.
The next moment, a huge hole was drilled straight through the floor of the supposedly impregnable shelter.
Beneath the hole was a bizarre creature that looked like a deep-sea anglerfish. The instant it emerged, it opened its enormous mouth and lunged at Kesuye in the pool.
Seeing his beloved pool destroyed, Kesuye immediately lost his temper.
Everly had specially drawn up the design for it, and he and Old John had built it together, laying the bricks one by one. Kesuye absolutely loved the place and came here to soak in the water almost every day!
His happy little home had been destroyed. In his fury, Kesuye lost control for a moment and transformed right there into his whale form.
With one enormous gulp, he promptly turned the tables and devoured the monster.
After finishing his meal, his overheated brain finally cooled down. Kesuye transformed back into human form and was just about to clean up the mess when a tearing pain suddenly shot through his tailbone.
By the time Everly heard the commotion and hurried down into the shelter, Kesuye’s tail had already grown out.
It wasn’t the black-and-white whale tail he had in his mermaid form.
Instead, it was a lump of flesh about the size of a fist.
Its shape somewhat resembled a snail’s tail—a blunt, rounded cone. It was a pale flesh-pink color, slightly translucent, and soft and springy to the touch. It even had a natural body temperature, practically like a blob of flesh-colored jelly.
However, there were no bones inside the tail, so Kesuye couldn’t control it or make it move in any way.
What’s more, the tail was packed with dense nerves, making it practically a bomb that would explode at the slightest touch.
Everly didn’t do anything particularly drastic. She merely gave the tip of the tail a gentle touch.
Kesuye’s muscles around his buttocks and lower back immediately convulsed as though an electric current had shot through them. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He bit down on his lower lip and let out an uncomfortable little groan through his nose.
Don’t get the wrong idea.
He really was uncomfortable.
It felt like getting blisters on the soles of your feet after walking too much, only to have someone repeatedly jab those blisters with bamboo skewers. Even the slightest movement sent a piercing stab of pain through him.
With this thing attached to him, Kesuye could barely even wear clothes. Otherwise, the fabric would constantly rub against his tail whenever he moved, subjecting him to an endless stream of pain. Even with Kesuye’s high tolerance for pain, he couldn’t stand being in constant pain all the time.
Everly examined the extra tail and felt that it was completely unnecessary—nothing but a living burden.
Fortunately, Kesuye’s mermaid and whale forms remained unchanged. The new tail only caused trouble for him in his human form.
“If you don’t like it, want me to try cutting it off?” she asked.
Kesuye nodded.
So Everly fetched some surgical instruments, sterilized them, and, with one swift stroke of the knife, performed an “amputation” on the ugly tail that had grown from Kesuye’s tailbone.
Kesuye was resistant to anesthetics, so he endured another round of suffering during the operation. Thankfully, once the surgery was over, the wound at his tailbone healed on its own, and no new tail grew back.
Apparently, this bizarre thing was a one-time deal.
After cleaning the surgical instruments, Everly walked over to Kesuye and found him lying on his stomach across the table, carefully examining the severed tail.
The tail was wriggling.
It had barely moved at all while it was attached to Kesuye, yet now that it had been separated from its host, the round lump of flesh was bouncing around in the dish like a live fish.
As it bounced, several thin, pointed little buds of flesh began poking out from the severed end. A moment later, the buds finished taking shape.
They had become four legs.
“It grew legs…”
“……”
What kind of monstrosity was this?
Everly wanted Kesuye to throw the tail away.
But Kesuye refused.
He treated the four-legged lump of unknown flesh like a child who had just gotten a brand-new toy, fussing over it for ages.
Sometimes he would push it underwater and watch its four little stubby legs paddle furiously like electric motors. Other times, he would flip it over and poke its “belly” with a finger, enjoying the clumsy way the little thing flailed helplessly on its back, unable to turn itself over.
One strange idea after another kept popping into his head.
It was the first time Everly had seen Kesuye this fascinated by something.
He was an extremely curious person. Whenever he encountered something he didn’t understand, he liked to get to the bottom of it. At the same time, he was highly intelligent, so everything only held his interest for a short while. Once he figured something out, Kesuye would discard it like yesterday’s trash.
Maybe keeping the tail around would be a good way for Kesuye to pass the time.
After all, it was flesh that had come from his own body. As a little monster created in a laboratory, surely there was no way he could actually be killed by his own tail, right?
After thinking it over, Everly decided to be lenient and let Kesuye keep his little tail.
She even planned to make a little nest for it out of leftover scraps once they finished cleaning up the ruins of the underground shelter, so Kesuye could keep it as a pet.
Unfortunately, the idea was wonderful, but Kesuye’s tail itself wasn’t very cooperative.
The thing couldn’t eat!
Right after it was cut off, the tail had still been full of energy. Its four little legs paddled with surprising strength, and if they put it on a tabletop and looked away for even a moment, the little thing would have already scurried all the way to the other end.
But as time passed, its smooth, moist skin gradually began to shrivel inward, while the movement of its four limbs grew slower and slower.
It was like an orange that had been left sitting around for far too long.
It was slowly dying.
Everly and Kesuye tried every method they could think of. Even Old John, who had returned home, joined in and offered suggestions.
They tried feeding it things, putting it directly into food, soaking it in nutrient solution, watering it with plain water, and even drenching it in blood…
They tried everything.
Yet the tail simply couldn’t absorb nutrients from the outside world, no matter what they did.
Inevitably, it began sliding toward death.
At the critical moment, the bracelet around Everly’s wrist extended a slender twig and poked her wrist.
“?”
Everly looked down and saw the bracelet give itself a little shake, causing a tender green leaf to fall off.
The bracelet was covered in green leaves year-round, but those leaves were firmly attached and had never fallen off before. Combined with what the bracelet had just done, Everly immediately realized that this leaf could come in handy!
She placed the green leaf on the tail.
Sure enough, the instant the fresh leaf touched the tail, several thin, elongated roots emerged from its stem and pierced into the tail.
The tail had a semitransparent structure, like crystal mochi. Through its surface, they could see the roots spreading throughout the inside of the tail, branching out like blood vessels.
Strands of pale green liquid seeped through the roots and spread throughout the tail. Nourished by the green fluid, its formerly wrinkled and shriveled body rapidly regained its luster and elasticity before their very eyes.
One of its stiff little legs kicked.
With a conspicuous green leaf perched on its back, the tail—now resembling a matcha sakura mochi—had come back to life.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, it cheerfully bounced around the group a few times before running into the sunlight. It stretched out all four limbs, flattened its belly against the ground, and began performing photosynthesis.
And just like that, Kesuye had acquired a bizarre little pet that was exceptionally energetic.
Their peaceful, monotonous life had gained a splash of color.
“Woof!”
On Everly’s wrist, Buddy’s canine spirit let out a loud bark, as though celebrating the arrival of a new member of the household.
Everly stroked her wrist, unable to keep a smile from appearing on her face.
<< _ >>
**TN
Finally got the remaining 5 Extras! 😀