Chapter 26: It’s a Thief
“Huuuh...”
Clatter—the sound of a plastic washbasin hitting the tiled floor.
A steam-filled chamber thick with mist, brimming with scalding water.
I was soaking in a public bath, and then stepped into the waterfall bath next to it.
Dudududu—water crashing down on me.
I focused, remembering the time I peeked at a comic book the kids used to read.
Simdumalgak... no, Simdomanggak, maybe? Heart sim, do as in doing this and that, then forgetting... hmm, yeah, that sounds right.
I was meditating to empty my mind—and recalled what happened recently when I faced that hero called Cage.
That sensation of my mind being corroded by the monster core, the moment human reason gets blown away and the monster's instincts take over.
...I heard about this phenomenon back in the lab.
When pushed to the brink of death, the core activates to its peak, granting the monster explosive power.
They called it Rampancy, or sometimes Amplification.