Alien × human girl
Species gap / status gap / size gap
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In an age when humanity has gone extinct, aliens rule the world. They blast open portals through time and space and hunt down transmigrators from the past.
On her seventh day after transmigrating, Tess is captured. A hunting party of aliens catches her, intending to sell her to the royal family for a good price.
The rainy season stretches on, damp and endless. Locked in their camper van, she is weighed and fed by the crew every day. The towering, inhuman creatures glide their cold claws over her fragile, trembling skin. They hold her, examine every inch of her closely, speak in a language she can't understand, then gently lock her back in her cage.
Tess curls up and gazes out the window at the unfamiliar continent. After the rain, cascades of light pour down, and mottled white bones emerge from the riverbed.
This is a terrifying world of predators.
Suppressing her fear, she begins secretly observing the alien crew, quietly learning their language, their ways of communicating, and their hunting techniques. These eight-foot-tall behemoths are all juvenile aliens who have been kicked out of their homes and have yet to enter their mating season.
Day after day, she learns to understand everything they say and prepares a schedule for her escape.
Her first escape attempt ends in failure. They catch her and bring her back, but Tess doesn't lose heart. She has already planned a second attempt, then a third... as long as they don't kill her.
The monsters' movements interrupt her thoughts. They lift her up and stare at her with strange, cold, damp eyes, then whisper among themselves.
From their conversation, Tess learns that their mating season has begun.
The bad news is that they have all chosen her as their mate, and none of them will yield to the others.
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Theme: Life is a song.
