Chapter 100: Monster Transformation
"Run!" Reeves suddenly yelled. Immediately, the four men fled, wishing they had an extra pair of legs.
Klein took off the hat covering his head, revealing two antennae that swayed in the air. The antennae allowed him to sense mechanical vibrations in the atmosphere. The more frantic the four men ran, the clearer Klein could pinpoint their location.
"Although I gave you a chance, I'll give you one more. Whether you can escape depends on your own abilities," Klein said. A pair of large mandibles, like an ant's, extended from both sides of his mouth, reaching about eighteen centimeters long. He took off the sunglasses on his nose bridge, revealing his revolving compound eyes.
Klein slowly crouched down, then bang! He launched himself forward, leaving a pair of footprints behind.
Far away, Reeves, thinking he had run far enough, sat down against a wall and cursed under his breath, "F*ck! What kind of monster was that? How did we run into it?"
"Run into a monster like me?" Klein mocked, speaking from directly above Reeves' head.
Reeves froze when he heard Klein's voice. He slowly, rigidly looked up and saw the giant insect-like head.
"Ah!" Reeves screamed in terror.
"Am I very ugly, huh?" Klein said with a grin.
Reeves' legs began to twitch, and then a light yellow, foul-smelling liquid streamed from his crotch.
"How disgusting. But don't worry, I'm not very picky."
After speaking, Klein dropped to the ground and stomped on Reeves' upper thigh. Crack~ Crack~ The bones were instantly shattered.
"Ah..." Before Reeves could even cry out, Klein's large mandibles snapped down and bit Reeves' head.
Blood splattered everywhere, and white brain matter shot out. With a final body twitch, Reeves' life ended.
"Truly delicious." After consuming Reeves' brain, it was as if some inhibition had been lifted. Klein now had a strong urge to hunt and prey.
The bone blades on Klein's arms immediately extended, ripping through his sleeves. His clawed hand easily removed Reeves' bright red heart.
"It really looks like a ruby. I thought the hearts of people like you would be black~" Klein held the heart high, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed it in one gulp.
Klein ignored Reeves' corpse and continued using his antennae to locate the other three. Since he had already consumed the brains and heart—his favorite parts—there was nothing left to linger over.
Using the same method, Klein subsequently killed the other three men.
"Ah!" Klein suddenly felt his body changing. The carapace-like skin began to shift, replaced by brown fur resembling a wild beast. His claws, which were already sharp, changed into large, red, chain-hook-like talons. His yellow compound eyes turned deep red, shining like two small red lanterns in the dark.
"Am I evolving?" Klein stared at the changes in his body, astonished.
He never imagined that after eating the brains and hearts of those four men, his body would actually evolve. He called it "evolving" because he could feel a clear increase in his strength and speed.
"Heh, I was originally going to protect those students, but I ended up becoming a monster myself," Klein muttered, crouching on the roof of his house.
The only good thing was that he hadn't lost his mind; he still retained his human consciousness.
Klein closed his eyes to avoid attracting the attention of neighbors due to his glowing eyes.
Through the experience he just had, he figured out a few things: as long as he didn't smell blood, he could control himself.
"What should I do? Connors, where are you?" Klein felt helpless. If Connors were here, it would be a huge relief. At least they were both in the same situation. They would certainly have endless topics to discuss, and neither would have to fear the other, as they were both monsters.
While contemplating with his eyes closed, Klein accidentally fell asleep on the rooftop.
Morning, as the sun gradually rose.
"Mmm... Such harsh light." Klein groggily shielded his eyes from the sunlight and noticed his smooth arm.
"What is this!" Klein instantly woke up and checked his body. He discovered that the monstrous brown fur was gone, replaced by normal human body hair.
Was it all a dream?! Klein stood up and realized he was indeed on his own roof, with strips of his black coat still clinging to his body.
"This wasn't a dream... So why did I turn back?" Klein felt himself up and down. There was certainly nothing strange about him anymore.
Ignoring that for the moment, Klein's immediate concern was getting off the roof. He looked down at the ground, thinking about what happened last night.
Klein mustered his courage and leaped straight down, landing steadily on the ground.
"Did I succeed?!" Klein exclaimed excitedly.
His strength and physical fitness hadn't disappeared, and he had returned to his normal appearance. Didn't this mean he had succeeded? As for his monstrous transformation last night, perhaps it was just a side effect of the gene injection. Now that the side effect had passed, he was a normal person again.
"I am still the good teacher for the students." This was the greatest news possible for Klein.
Klein immediately returned to his bedroom, put on his formal attire in front of the mirror, and smiled. "A new life, this is truly wonderful."
Vroom!
Klein went to his garage, started his car, and headed toward the school. On the way, he passed the street in front of his house, where a maintenance worker was repairing the streetlights.
"Were the streetlights broken?" Klein stopped the car and rolled down the window.
"Yes, Klein, but they're fixed now. Going to school so early?" The maintenance worker was an old acquaintance of Klein.
Klein nodded and smiled. "Yes, I'm heading over early. Even though I don't have morning classes, catching tardy students is still my responsibility."
"Haha~ I suggest you punish those late students by making them come here to learn maintenance," the worker laughed.
Klein said good-naturedly, "Oh, come on. Just say you want some free labor."
"Haha!" The worker's plan was immediately exposed by Klein.
Klein waved his hand. "I'm leaving now."
"Alright, drive safely." The worker started packing up his tools.
After Klein drove away, the supposedly fixed streetlights suddenly malfunctioned again.
"That's odd?" the maintenance worker mumbled, confused.
Klein's house was close to the school. In less than ten minutes, he arrived at the campus. Parking his car and observing the students gradually arriving, he felt extremely happy. Having turned from a monster back into a normal person last night, he felt like he had been reborn. Everything seemed so beautiful.
Looking at his watch, Klein picked up his briefcase and headed toward the classroom.
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