Sweet Hunting Ground [GB] - Chapter 1

Blue Ocean Star, District 3— The Junkyard. A notorious lawless zone.

The sun had finally broken through the thick smog for a single day, and Ani was focused on hanging her school uniform skirt out to dry on the balcony.

Behind her, an old man took a drag of his cigarette and called out, “Ani, come check if this cybernetic part is the right model for me.”

Ani let go of the fabric and walked over. The old man had only his brain and lungs intact; the rest of his body had been replaced with mechanical implants. A quick dart of his artificial eyes projected a floating display screen.

Ani examined the options carefully, helping him choose. Then, suddenly, something on the display caught her attention—an embedded advertisement.

“The hottest interstellar live-streamed hunting game—regional qualifiers coming soon…”

She stared at the ad.

The old man’s artificial eye had absorbed the ad feed directly into his vision. Naturally, he followed her gaze. “Only a bunch of lunatics looking for death would sign up for that thing,” he scoffed. Then, with a chuckle, “But the live streams are pretty entertaining.”

Ani asked, “Lunatics looking for death?”

“Oh, definitely.” He took another drag of his cigarette. “Every species out there competes for genetic evolution serums. The big shots from advanced planets kill each other over it. You think ordinary folk like us stand a chance?”

Ani rested her chin on her palm. “Are there species I’ve never seen before?”

“Of course. Ani, how many interstellar races have you ever met? Just Type-1 and Type-2 humans, right? You haven’t even seen a real Blue Ocean Star merfolk yet. This game’s a great way to broaden your horizons… By the way, did your admission results come in?”

“They did.”

The idea of “going to school” was a luxury. It was hard to believe that a girl living in a slum like this, in the heart of a lawless junkyard, could mention “admission results” so casually.

The old man’s face lit up with a wide grin. “Those fools kept saying your albino genetics were a defect, that you wouldn’t survive. But I knew better! Raised you smart and capable. The moment I picked you up, I knew you were something special. So? Where’d you get in?”

Ani tapped her wristwatch, pulling up the admission letter.

Blue Ocean University.

Just four simple words.

The old man froze. His cybernetic eye scanned the text, automatically retrieving data for Blue Ocean University— The top academy on Blue Ocean Star, dominated by the merfolk elite. Located in District 8, where the rich and nobility gathered.

A place with an ocean.

A real, unpolluted, pristine ocean.

By the time he snapped out of his shock and started hollering, Ani had already shut the door to her room.

Her room was dark. No lights were on, and thick curtains blocked out every trace of sunlight.

The door clicked and locked behind her. Ani took off her wristwatch, powered it down, and set it by the entrance.

The space inside was cramped. There was only a narrow bed, a tiny table, and a single wooden stool. The floor was littered with ancient paper books, notebooks, pencils, and fountain pens. All are artifacts from the 20X5 era, practically antiques from a bygone century.

The room wasn’t small, but almost all available space had been sacrificed for one thing.

A massive aquarium.

Reinforced, nearly unbreakable glass. Multiple rounds of purified, high-cost water. A premium-grade oxygen pump. The total price of this setup was more than any slum resident could earn in a lifetime.

Inside the transparent tank, a merman slept.

For him, the aquarium was a prison. His mouth was gagged with a mechanical device—a spherical object that extended a viscous material, sealing over his sharp teeth, binding his tongue and throat.
His tail was long, a shimmering silver, its fine scales glinting in the dim light. Faint traces of “research” marred its surface.

Ani’s footsteps startled him awake.

He swam upward, pressing against the glass. Deep blue hair cascaded over his pale, sculpted shoulders.

His gaze locked onto Ani’s. She let him stare, and picked up a notebook from the floor, the one she had been writing in yesterday. Pulling out a sharpened pencil, she jotted down a few more words.
Then, she spoke.

“My samples aren’t enough.”

A violent splash echoed through the room.

Water droplets clung to Ani’s white hair. She ran a hand through it, brushing it back, then stepped forward. A key pendant dangled from her neck. She pulled it free and unlocked his gag.

The moment the key turned, the mechanical device whirred, retracting the thick sealant.

The merman spat the gag out, his sharp teeth bared. “What else do you want?!”

“I need to fully mimic a merfolk,” Ani said, voice crisp and calm, as if discussing a routine experiment. “I need to understand everything about your species.”

She paused, then added matter-of-factly, “Including external traits, genetic inheritance, reproductive methods… breeding value, things like that.”

“Breeding value?” His fingers dug into the edge of the tank, upper body leaning out. His beautiful eyes flashed with dangerous cold. He let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Did you forget that merfolk are a non-interbreeding species? No matter how much you trap me, imprison me… even humiliate me, you’ll never achieve your goal.”

“I thought you’d appreciate the chance to speak.” Ani shook her head, picking up the discarded gag.

“…”

She cleaned it, resetting the locking mechanism. Then, she looked at him.

“…Wait.”

His nails scraped against the glass, carving deep lines. But no matter how hard he pressed, he lacked the power to shatter his prison, and the strength to tear apart the young girl standing before him.

“You’re not going to interrogate me?” His fingers curled inward, nearly piercing his own palm.
“I do have questions for you.” Ani met his gaze. “Besides the three tracking chips I extracted from your body yesterday, are there any more implanted in you?”

“…Are you seriously expecting me to answer that?” His eyes gleamed with disdain, as if she were an absolute fool.

Ani tapped on the aquarium glass. “It’s just a routine inquiry. Just remember, I’ll ask every time. You don’t have to answer.”

The merman slowly sank back into the water, staring at her.

For the past two weeks, I’ve gathered plenty of baseline data. It’s time to start testing.”

The merman’s expression barely had time to register confusion before Ani suddenly pulled off her top.

Instinctively, he turned his head away—

Even among a non-interbreeding species, merfolk retained certain courtesies toward human modesty. And she was a female.

Halfway through his motion, he froze.

Then, as if realizing something, he snapped his gaze back to her.

Ani stood before him, dressed only in her undergarments. Her skin was pale. Healthy.

But in the next instant, her entire form underwent a dramatic transformation.

Silver-white scales emerged along her collarbones, identical in color to his own tail. Her delicate ears softened, their structure shifting—coral-like external ridges sprouted, while thin, near-invisible gill slits opened behind them.

A breathing membrane.

Ani’s pink eyes flickered as she observed his reaction.

He stared, stunned.

Her appearance was now almost identical to a land-dwelling merfolk.

Then, he watched as her fingers elongated. Her nails sharpened, and webbing formed between them.

“My preliminary mimicry seems successful.” Ani stepped closer.

He hadn’t expected it. He hadn’t reacted in time.

Her hand seized a handful of his deep blue hair, pulling him forward.

For the first time, he felt it, her inhuman strength, something eerily akin to his own species.

Ani’s face was inches from his. Their noses nearly touched. Her voice was quiet, steady.

“You’re the best gift I’ve ever received,” she whispered. “My first research subject for mimicking merfolk. Your opinion matters. So tell me. How do I look?”

His proud, piercing gaze shuddered.

Blue lashes brushed swiftly against her cheek. The merman tried to turn his head away, but her grip was unyielding.

Adult female merfolk were incredibly strong, their temperaments even more vicious. For a moment, he felt as though he was facing one of his own kind.

“Your opinion is very important to me,” Ani repeated. Her voice was almost pleading, even carrying a hint of innocence and vulnerability.

The merman trembled slightly.

He knew she was a strange girl. Ever since that damned starship accident half a month ago, she had done everything in her power to keep him under control.

“You,” he said, his voice shaking with fury, “you’re a monster. How can you—how could you possibly—”

He could still tell the difference between physical transformation and complete transformation..
Ani’s hand buried itself in his deep blue hair, sharp nails pressing close enough that it felt like she could split his skull open at any moment. “I want a proper answer,” she said.

But the merman clamped his mouth shut.

What is this creature? She hadn’t simply altered her appearance; she had truly become a land-adapted merfolk. …No, it was fine. She was still land-bound. As long as she had legs, she wasn’t—
Ani stepped into the tank.

For a normal human, entering the water was a death sentence. A merman could easily kill them. Even one bound with an electric control device, or even one weakened by injuries, unable to leave the water for days.

He stared at her in shock.

And then, in the next instant, a silver tail—identical to his own, as radiant and exquisite as an art piece—unfurled beneath the water and coiled tightly around his.

For a fleeting moment, the merman thought he would rather the world be destroyed, that he would rather lose his mind than see this.

Ani pressed him down against the glass-bottom of the tank. Her voice vibrated in the water as she asked, “Is there anything I haven’t learned yet?”

The merman’s breath hitched. Enraged, he bared his sharp teeth and bit into the arm pinning him, leaving a thin streak of bl00d. His voice carried the distinct, melodic hum of merfolk speech as he growled, “Why are you doing this? You’re an interstellar human! What are you trying to study?!”
Ani tilted her head. “Do I seem human to you?”

“…” He was losing his mind. Gritting his teeth, he spat, “No. You look like a monster.”

“I’m not human.” Ani wasn’t offended. She explained patiently, “My species died out. I’m the last one… Hmm, a monster. My species had no males. I—”

She trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence.

“…Your males were wiped out.”

“You could put it that way,” Ani replied. “I’ve studied you for so long just to learn how to transform like this. Before I met you, I only ever mimicked interstellar humans, you know—those ordinary ones you can find anywhere. I spent eighteen years pretending to be one.”

She sounded unusually pleased, talking more than usual. “Interstellar humans are everywhere, and easy to study, but they’re… unimpressive. I haven’t encountered the ones who’ve taken genetic enhancements or undergone mutations. I can only imitate the most ordinary kind. And they—” She looked directly into his deep blue eyes. “—are incapable of fulfilling my reproductive mission.”

“…What?”

It was the eighth era of the interstellar age, and yet someone was still saying things like this?

“My reproductive mission.” She repeated it seriously. “I’m on the brink of extinction. You understand that, don’t you? I need to find out if you can—”

“bear my offspring.”

If a normal human girl had said this, the merman would have scoffed, maybe sneered in disgust.
But coming from this creature, the one who had transformed into his kind—

He needed to get out. Now. Even if it meant running for his life in this injured state, even if it meant not having time for his strength to recover. Because if, by some nightmarish chance, this thing could actually breed with him—

He would lose his mind. He would give everything up just to kill her.

His tail thrashed as he tried to break free, darting toward the surface of the water. But before he could escape, the electric control device embedded in his body buzzed ominously. A moment later, his long hair was seized again, and a pair of arms wrapped tightly around him from behind.

A soft hum—a merfolk’s natural vocalization—echoed near his fin.

Her lips brushed against the delicate, translucent edges. “You’re going to splash all the water. This water is really expensive. By the way, what’s your name?”

A strange warmth slid along the fine filaments of his fin. For a brief moment, he thought, that it was a female merfolk’s forked tongue. But no… Ani hadn’t figured that part out yet. Her tongue was still human.

He breathed raggedly. “You’re insane. Merfolk have reproductive locks. It’s impossible for us to have s—” The refined, well-educated noble in him refused to finish that sentence. He clenched his jaw, forcing out a different one instead. “Let me go. I’ll help you find another way.”

He was lying, of course.

Ani wasn’t fooled. She remained persistent. “What’s your name?”

“You’ve locked me up for half a month. Dug out my tracking chips. Drained my bl00d. Plucked my scales. And now you suddenly care about what my name is?”

“What’s your name?” she asked again, unwavering. Her voice was soft but unrelenting.

Ani’s teeth grazed the fin’s delicate crevice.

She had read about this somewhere. She wasn’t a female merfolk, so she could only half-rely on books and half-rely on instinct to explore the merfolk’s reproductive methods to understand them.

The male in her grasp trembled violently, his breath erratic. Desperation took hold as he struggled, heedless of his wounds. His cries sent vibrations through the small room, toppling items from her cluttered desk. Water spilled over the floor, soaking the scattered pages of her notes.

His voice broke into an agonized wail, the pitch striking deep into the eardrums. “My name is—Lin! It’s Lin! And you—this won’t—this can’t—” He bit down hard, rage and terror flooding his every word. “You won’t succeed like this. Don’t—don’t rush—”

“My name is Ani.” She said, talking as if they were only introducing themselves to each other. “I’m not rushing. I’m just collecting a few samples from your body first. You’re the one who’s too nervous.”