When I opened my eyes again, it was already dusk.
After greeting the school doctor who had returned, I headed back to the dorm.
Thanks to eating a lot and sleeping a lot, my condition had improved.
No — it was more accurate to say I was in even better shape than usual. With light steps, I returned to my room, extended a tentacle from my right hand to turn on the light, and then powered on my laptop.
Sitting in my chair, I extended another tentacle from my left hand to grab a sports drink from the fridge. I opened YouTube and started lazily watching videos——
"...Hm?"
A faint sense of discomfort.
What was it? It felt like something about my body was off.
But I couldn’t pinpoint what.
My physical condition was excellent, and looking back on my actions, nothing seemed particularly abnormal.
I tilted my head and took a sip of the sports drink — then a question suddenly hit me.
"...How did I get this sports drink again?"
I had a vague memory of usually walking to the fridge while the laptop was booting up. I hadn’t rearranged the room either.
The discomfort remained faint but persistent.
No, no, what the hell is this?
Yet I couldn’t figure out the reason for it.
"My body feels fine though..."
With a sigh, I stood up and headed to the sink.
Maybe there was some visible abnormality I just hadn’t noticed yet. If so, I’d go back to the hospital.
I stood in front of the mirror and observed my reflection.
There was the familiar face of Shusawa Senjumaru — sharp yet slightly drooping eyes that could easily make me look like a thug with a bad attitude.
My build was just pointlessly tall. Not skinny, not fat, but not particularly toned either. From the back of this unremarkable body, slick tentacles were growing.
"...Doesn’t look especially weird."
I sighed, retracted the exposed tentacles back into my body, and threw my mucus-sticky clothes into the laundry basket.
Still shirtless, I thought about watching some videos and returned to my desk — wait. Hold on. What the hell?
I rushed back to the sink.
The mirror showed my familiar body. When I tried extending tentacles like they were my own limbs, it felt completely natural.
That was exactly why it was so strange. It was common sense that humans didn’t have tentacles growing from their bodies.
And yet, I was completely accepting the fact that tentacles were growing from me. Even now, as I looked at myself in the mirror, part of me wondered what the problem even was.
It was the same as how a normal person wouldn’t be surprised at having two arms.
The reason I noticed the discomfort was because I thought, If I have to wash my clothes every time because of tentacle mucus, how many times would I have to run the washing machine? Wait, that’s weird — I don’t do that much laundry.
"——What... the hell is this?"
It was terrifying.
No — I desperately tried to convince myself that it was terrifying.
If I didn’t, the thought Why are you making such a big deal about growing some tentacles? would pull me in, and I’d just lazily go back to watching videos.
Clinging to that tiny fragment of fear, I opened an internet browser on my laptop and typed into the search engine.
There was no way a disease that suddenly made tentacles grow existed.
Then there could only be one reason.
Monster Villain Transformation
I searched.
I skipped past suspicious results like "Medicine to Suppress Monster Villain Transformation" or "Drinking Hydrogen Water Prevents Monster Villain Transformation" and clicked on a somewhat credible-looking page.
I read a blog post titled something like "Easy-to-Understand Summary of Monster Villain Transformation!"
’There are three stages of Monster Villain Transformation.
The first is the Dormant Stage, where the Seed of Desire has been planted. This Seed of Desire is invisible and cannot be detected by existing medical tests. The patient has no symptoms, and it usually cannot be discovered until the condition has progressed to a certain point.
The second is the Activation Stage, where the Seed of Desire has sprouted. In this stage, the person unconsciously begins using the power of desire. Like the dormant stage, there are still no self-aware symptoms, so if you notice strange behavior in family or friends, recommend they get checked at a hospital. Depending on progression, surgical removal may still be possible, but it becomes difficult in later stages. In that case, the only option is purification by a Sacred.
Unconscious power——’
That reminded me.
This morning.
I had no memory of touching my phone, yet the alarm had been turned off. And the screen was sticky with some liquid.
That must have been me unconsciously using tentacles to turn off the alarm. It’s loud, turn it off already — following my will.
’The final stage is the Blooming Stage. This is what is generally referred to as a Monster Villain.
Only in this stage do clear self-aware symptoms appear. The person becomes aware that they possess powers and organs different from humans and understands they can control them at will.’
"So... that’s me right now."
I muttered slowly, deliberately, trying to calm my racing heart.
It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll just skim the rest and then go to the hospital——
’Once it has progressed this far, it is already too late.’
——I was about to go.
That’s what I thought.
’Some people initially act rationally, but they gradually become dominated by their desires and go on rampages. Because the power of the Seed of Desire has permeated the entire body, surgical removal is impossible. When purified by the Sacred, the victim disappears completely, leaving only the core. Research is currently underway on whether medication can treat it, but no results have been achieved yet. Everyone, please do not fall for suspicious medicines! If your family or friends show inexplicable behavior, please get them examined early.’
That can’t be right. That can’t be right.
I hurriedly reread it, but the content was the same.
No, this was just some amateur blog post. It was nonsense.
Thinking that, I searched for other pages.
There had to be proper treatment methods on more credible sites — or so I told myself, even though I couldn’t fully believe it.
Because, right?
If people who became Monster Villains could return to being human...
If it was just like a minor illness...
Then the heroines of justice called the Sacred wouldn’t be defeating them. There was no way they would cut them down with swords. They would be doing everything possible to save them.
So why were the Sacred defeating Monster Villains?
Wasn’t it because it was already too late — and they had no choice but to destroy them with their weapons——
"No, no, no."
——Muttering like a mantra, I kept searching, searching, searching.
If hydrogen water worked, then it must work. Since the other articles were fake, this one must be the truth by contradiction. Yes, that had to be it.
But where the hell do you even buy hydrogen water? Damn it, I always thought it was the ultimate scam product so I never bothered learning where it was sold...!
While switching tabs with that thought — I saw it.
It was nothing special. Just an ad for a lewd browser game, probably selected from my browsing history.
Normally I would have thought Another game like this and forgotten it in seconds.
"——Prey."
I grinned.
I shot a tentacle toward the half-naked woman in the ad.
She’s mine. Not anyone else’s. My woman. I’ll be the one to violate her.
"Ah."
——The tentacle I released with great force pierced straight through the laptop’s display.
The impact and sound brought my evaporated thoughts back to reality.
"Ah..."
The tentacle slithered back out of the shattered screen, scattering parts everywhere, looking dissatisfied.
I thought I could finally violate a woman, but it was just a mistake.
"No, I——"
I desperately tried to convince myself it was some kind of error.
I hadn’t actually tried to violate anyone. I just grew tentacles and wasn’t used to them yet, so I made a mistake.
But my lower body was brutally honest.
Feeling it tremble with dissatisfaction — Can’t I violate a woman yet? — I finally realized the truth.
————I had become a tentacle monster.
A being that restrained and violated women with black, slimy, sinister tentacles.
A Monster Villain who should be defeated by the heroines of justice.
——Ah, how terrifying.
Was becoming a tentacle monster terrifying? Yes, of course.
But even more than that——
"——Why the hell am I smiling so happily?"
Ah, it has finally bloomed.
Now I can violate women however I want. I can’t wait.
Such an ugly smile was reflected in the shattered display.
While pretending to be afraid like a normal person at becoming a monster, deep down I was actually looking forward to it.
To ravaging beautiful girls with tentacles and forcibly violating them.
I didn’t want to admit such filthy true feelings, so I twisted my face — but the corners of my mouth refused to stop smiling.