Sweet Hunting Ground [GB] - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2

Lin already knew what she was after.

The first day he woke from unconsciousness, she had pressed a blade to his tail and implanted a shock device. He had thrashed in fury, shattering the only item in the room that seemed to worth anything—a crystal trophy. Its base, now lying in shards, had once borne the words “Honor Student.”

How could someone like her be an honor student?

Ani had taken his bl00d, his scales, strands of his hair… She had even picked up the broken trophy base, her hands slick with crimson, scrubbing at the merblood that had soaked into the engraved words while washing her hands.

The shattered remains of the trophy still sat on the low wooden shelf beside the tank.

Back to the present, Ani’s figure blocked his view. She released her bite, reaching out to trace the inflamed seam behind Lin’s ear with her fingers. He shuddered, his entire body tensing as he clamped down on her wrist.

“Let me go,” he said. “Let me return to District Eight. I’ll repay you. I’ll make sure you live a good life.”

“A good life?” Ani echoed.

It was the first time she had spoken underwater. Tiny bubbles floated from her lips as the words left her mouth.

Lin hesitated. He didn’t know how to explain “a good life” to a creature like her. His mind scrambled for the kind of bait humans would take: “Lots of money. Star coins. And… a lot of men.”

“And what use is that?” she asked, her curiosity genuine.

Lin faltered.

Ani flipped her grip, catching his hand in hers. Her head tilted downward, pale hair fanning through the water. Ever since she had taken on the form of a female merfolk, her body was stronger than any human’s. Following what she had read on StarNet and in books, she coiled her slick tail around his.

Scales rubbed against scales.

The sound was almost imperceptible underwater. But Lin heard it, forced to endure the sensation as his translucent exoskeletal ears pressed against the cold glass of the tank. The chill shot straight through his nerves. His breath hitched, eyes burning red.

“L-let go. You’ll never be able to unlock my—”

He was talking about his breeding lock.

Ani’s fingers explored his tail, brushing over old scars and tense muscle. If not for the shock device embedded in him, he would have lashed out and torn her apart. She searched, but Lin resisted, clamping down, refusing to yield even a fraction of an inch.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Their struggle had finally drawn attention. A hoarse voice rasped from the other side of the door. “Ani?”

Ani’s gaze flickered toward the door for a very brief second.

That second was all Lin needed.

His tail snapped tight around her waist with deadly intent, constricting with enough force to crush human ribs and organs.

Then, his fingers clamped around her throat.

The raw strength of a merman in a life-or-death struggle was immense. Ani’s skin turned a sickly blue-purple. There was a sharp crack—like her neck had snapped.

Lin’s eyes widened as he saw the girl’s head tilt at an unnatural angle—

No, not tilt. Twist. As if it had been completely unscrewed.

“Ani?” The old man’s muttering continued from outside. “What on earth is all this noise…?”

It was only then that Ani seemed to realize what had happened. She hastily pressed her hands to her head, securing it back in place. A thick, fleshy, pinkish liquid oozed from the torn seam, sealing the fissure, knitting her head and body back together in moments.

She turned her gaze on the blue-haired merman.

Lin was frozen.

Shock clouded his sapphire eyes, all rage and hatred screeching to a halt. Those glass-like, arrogant pupils were now empty, stripped of certainty.

Ani leaned closer, so near that her pale pink irises almost brushed his lashes. “Why are you so angry? It’ll take me days to fix this.”

Lin snapped back to reality.

Why was he angry? Did she not understand what she was doing?!

The fire rekindled in his gaze, and with a growl, he lunged, aiming to sink his teeth into her throat. But Ani was ready this time. With the strength of a full-grown mermaid, she flipped their positions, pinning him down. She hadn’t expected merfolks to be so fond of biting. She clamped a hand over his mouth, undeterred, still intent on finding the right way to open him up.

Lin’s resistance was useless.

Water flooded the floor, seeping out through the cracks under the door. And yet, even as the rising tide signaled the urgency of the moment, Ani still hadn’t found what she was looking for.

Outside, the old man knocked again. This time, more urgently.

“Ani! Stop wasting water!”

Ani let go and climbed out of the glass tank.

The moment she left the water, her body swiftly reverted to that of a human girl. Her damp white hair clung to her skin as she wiped the moisture from her body. While slipping into her clothes, she casually remarked, “I know.”

Silence settled outside. Once fully dressed, Ani glanced back and saw that the water level had dropped by half. Lin lay at the bottom of the tank, his long blue hair obscuring his shoulders and expression. The only movement was the trembling and unsteady rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

She had failed. As she mopped the floor and put things away, her mind churned over the situation. Halfway through drying the puddles, she suddenly said, “I might have to kill you in a few days.”