Is It Strange For A Succubus To Be Wearing Clothes?

Chapter 41

—–CROW—– 

—“Welcome to the [Massachusetts] Rift, Hunter.”

As I entered the Rift zone, the guidance AI’s voice greeted me.

Usually, when a Rift was observed, access restrictions and evacuation orders were issued for the surrounding area. And since Rifts tended to reappear irregularly in the same location, the Association and the government could establish facilities for focused management.

The Massachusetts Rift was no different.

Located in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, it was the former site of Uiwang Station. A massive Rift had opened right in the middle of the station, absorbing everything around it.  As a result, a new Uiwang Station was built closer to the industrial complex, and the Rift here was periodically cleared by guilds or Hunters.

If Rifts weren’t cleared, the otherworld inside would contaminate reality, so both the government and the Association had to allocate resources to deal with them, whether they liked it or not.

“Hmm, it’s always such a peculiar sight~”

Rifts weren’t much to look at from the outside.

Just a crack in the air, like a fragile pane of glass, as if it would shatter with a single touch.

Entering a Rift was simple.

You just had to push open this cracked pane of glass and step inside.

Of course, ordinary people couldn’t touch it without risking unknown consequences. Hunters and Awakened had to coat their bodies with mana to enhance their physical strength before entering.

Sometimes, Rifts didn’t appear on the ground, but started in the stratosphere or deep in the ocean.

“So, before I go in…”

—Click.

I took a selfie with my smartwatch.

Leaving evidence or a log before entering a Rift was standard procedure.  And since beautiful me looked beautiful in any photo, even a quick selfie like this was fine.

Rift clearing request.

Personnel: Just me.

Okay.

Let’s go in.

—Creeeak!

With the sound of stepping on broken glass, the space shifted.

The first thing I saw upon crossing into the Rift was a dark, heavy sky.

Unlike beautiful me, black dust and clouds floated in the air. Below, trees swayed in the wind, and a landscape unfolded that seemed to be a perfect replica of a town in Massachusetts.

I describe this scenery, similar yet so different from our world, as a “clouded mirror.”

It was incredibly similar to our world, like a reflection in a mirror, but too still and silent, as if devoid of people.

Because it resembled yet differed from our world, with an undeniable unnatural and awkward atmosphere, I thought the expression “clouded mirror” was quite fitting.

“Oof.”

I spread my wings and floated in the air for a moment.

The Rift’s entry point was in the sky.

If I had been careless, I could have experienced a 500-meter freefall the moment I crossed over.

Even an Awakened would be seriously injured falling from that height without any preparation.

Of course, I was fine, since I had wings from birth.

My spread wings fluttered like the hem of a dress for a moment.

I set foot on the landscape reminiscent of a rural American town.

Hello.

It’s me.

Beautiful me has arrived.

People of the town, rejoice.

*Ta-da!*

I landed on the roof of a tavern, bowing slightly as if greeting the town.

Ah, unfortunately, there’s no one here.

No audience to admire my beauty.

*Sob, sob, sob…*

I looked up at the sky again.

Watching the clouds drift quickly, I took a deep breath.

An acrid smell wafted from somewhere.

It smelled like burnt rubber, or a melting plastic factory, but I knew what it was.

‘Hmm~ The smell of burning human flesh.’

Not a good smell.

Not a beautiful smell.

Considering the source of the smell, whatever was happening here was definitely not beautiful.

The scenery itself wasn’t that strange.

A small American town.

As the name “Massachusetts” suggested, it was a “reality-replicated otherworld,” a perfect copy of a small town or village in Massachusetts.

The buildings were intact, the roads were fine.

The only strange things were the unusually fast-moving black clouds and the unpleasant smell of melting or burning human flesh.

Usually, when you entered a Rift, there was a clear enemy.

Goblins, or orcs.

Or spider swarms, poisonous swamps, crystal valleys that posed a threat to humans.

But inside the Massachusetts Rift, there were no dangerous or hostile entities, only an eerie atmosphere pervading the area.

The rural Massachusetts town was submerged in complete silence.

“Stillness… 9 points.”

If this were reality, the narrow alleyways, probably usually bustling with people, were empty, and the trees surrounding the town were a dull, faded grey instead of green.

The houses lining the streets were built of old wood, marked with warped and worn-out traces.

They gave the impression of being long abandoned and naturally decaying.

Most of the windows were broken or obscured by dust, making it impossible to see inside.

The dark, heavy clouds hung ominously low, as if within reach, dominating the town.

Lightning occasionally flashed through the clouds, scattering faint light that quickly disappeared.

The wind blew strong and erratically, relentlessly shaking the houses and trees.

It didn’t seem like an ordinary wind.

It felt as if whispers were mixed in, instilling unease with every gust.

“Atmosphere, 8 points.”

Dust and dead leaves swirled in the streets, carrying away traces of past life.

The fields were tangled with withered grass and dead branches, and in the distance, the ruined steeple of a church stood precariously.

The bell in the steeple creaked with every sway, as if crying out in emptiness.

But the most ominous thing was the silence.

In this deserted town, the only sounds were the wind, the dust, and the distant creaking of the steeple.  The town, completely drained of life, felt as if time itself had stopped.

The air was thick with an inexplicable unease.  A heavy, oppressive fear, as if something was lurking, about to reveal itself, enveloped the place.

“The mise-en-scène is quite good. 9 points.”

This met my criteria for beautiful conquest.

Anything below 3 points, and I wouldn’t bother.

As I wandered through the eerie landscape, I finally noticed a somewhat unique structure.

Signs and architectural elements of a factory, school, farm, auditorium, library, windmill, and bell tower were intertwined.  The buildings themselves were also strangely merged, forming a large, oddly shaped structure that resembled a building.

From afar, it looked like a windmill, or a cathedral, or an art museum.

Since there was still nothing else around, this was highly likely the center of the Rift, the point where the otherworldly intrusion began.

The only unique point in an otherwise unremarkable space.

“This is… 4 points.  Not beautiful.”

Honestly, I didn’t really want to go, so I hesitated a little.

I wasn’t scared, but the grotesquely twisted architecture was unpleasant to look at.

But what choice did I have?

This was the only unique point in this deserted American town.

I carefully opened the door.

It didn’t creak.

Had people been coming and going here?

Darkness greeted me as I stepped inside.

But beneath the darkness, there were distinct beams of light.

Beams of light from an unknown source shone down into the building, radiant and bright, like a divine baptism.

And beneath the light, there were people.

Many people.

Kneeling, hands clasped in prayer.

They couldn’t be real people.

Everything inside a Rift was a monster.

Of course, there was a very slim chance of encountering otherworldly inhabitants or sentient beings, but the possibility of them being able to communicate or possessing reason was less than one in ten thousand.

But even that one in ten thousand couldn’t be ignored.

Click, clack.

I walked towards the people bathed in light.

“Are you alright?”

The person receiving the baptism was looking up at the ceiling.

Looking closer, it wasn’t human.

It had a human form.

A face, arms, legs. It seemed to walk upright.

But there were no eyes, nose, or mouth on its face.

Or rather, there were traces where they should have been, but now they were completely filled with flesh.

Now that I looked closer, the arms and legs were strangely awkward.

They lacked the curves and contours of a normal human.  Like rectangular limbs forcefully attached to a wooden doll.

Grotesque.

Hmm, not beautiful.

As I tilted my head, the human-like thing bathed in light turned towards me.

It stumbled, its neck creaking, then stopped walking.

“Um, are you okay?”

*Crack!*

Something snapped and broke.

I didn’t know if it had bones, but if it did, they definitely shattered just now.

—Go, to, ge, ther, now.

I heard language.

Not ordinary language.

Not a language of Earth, including English or Korean, but somehow, the meaning was conveyed.

A sound that contaminated human brain cells.

Of course, I was fine.

I was the one who contaminated minds, not the other way around.

—To, ge, ther, now.

The human shook its head.

—To, ge, ther…!

The shaking head popped out.

—One, ness!

The head twitched spasmodically, bent at a bizarre angle, and something convulsed and pulled out from below the neck.

—Be, come, one.

As it spoke, the human’s head was ripped off, floating in the air.

Something resembling a spine protruded from the severed neck.

No, I *thought* it was a spine.

It wasn’t a spine, but a tentacle shaped like one.

A human head with all its orifices sealed, floating in the air, with a spine-shaped tentacle below.

Ah, I see.

A jellyfish.

A human-headed jellyfish.

With the human head as its center.

The spine as its tentacles, needles, and hooks.

Floating in the air.

Just looking at it felt like my visual and brain cells were being simultaneously contaminated and mutated.

Grotesque, horrifying, horror, cosmic?

If I had to categorize the genre, it would be something like that…

Points…

“10 points.”

Ah, how beautiful.

*Wait, what’s beautiful about that?*

Ah, it’s beautiful.

It’s beautiful.

It’s beautiful…

Sometimes I feel like my succubus instincts have truly messed up tastes.

—–CROW—– 

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