Chapter 56
Flickering lights dangled over the narrow, steep stairs. Torn pamphlets and colorful glass shards littered the floor. The randomly scattered fragments looked like intentional installation art. The apocalyptic-themed club pounded out its music, unaware that death lurked within.
Mujin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Huff.”
The place where people were densely gathered was underground. The exit passage was narrow, and there was only one. It was a place that would become a massive tomb if it collapsed or caught fire.
Evacuating the people was impossible, and absorbing the changgui’s explosive energy himself was also an impossible solution at the moment. There was only one option Mujin could think of right now.
‘Melt it before it explodes.’
The panting sounds of Woo Jaehui two steps behind him were irritating. Mujin had reached his limit to the point where he had no room for patience. After taking a brief deep breath, Mujin turned his head.
“Can you help?”
“Huh? Ah, yes! Yes! Of course!”
Woo Jaehui was startled by the low, firm voice. Her expression showed she had never imagined he would look back at her.
“When I enter, Hunter-nim should scatter.”
“W-Woo Jaehui. You can call me Jaehui too.”
“……”
“Please speak. I’m sorry.”
Mujin let out a small sigh and raised his finger to point downward.
“Hunter Woo Jaehui, find the electrical panel. Cut the power to the entire building the moment I give the signal.”
“The electricity?”
“When it suddenly goes dark, there’ll be a brief lull, so I’ll move using that moment.”
“Ah! As expected, you’re trying to save people!”
“Likewise, restore it immediately after the situation ends. As if nothing happened.”
Looking at Mujin speaking as if he truly needed her, Woo Jaehui’s eyes widened.
“Just leave it to me. I’ll find this building’s blueprints right now…!”
Mujin didn’t answer. After catching his breath briefly, he immediately ran down the stairs. Naturally, Woo Jaehui, who had been watching him, also moved quickly.
Upon entering the interior, the loud music created the illusion that the floor was shaking. Mujin quietly blended in among the people. Various body odors, alcohol smells, bass that seemed to pound his stomach, and dizzying spinning lights sharply irritated his nerves.
He helped up someone who staggered and bumped his shoulder as they passed, then walked toward where the dark passage was. The subtle gazes of those leaning against walls with drinks in hand followed behind Mujin. Since they were all heavily drunk, they didn’t seem to notice the vibrating scent of blood.
[Target location confirmed. Corridor right side, Room 4.]
Mujin, standing in front of the door, placed his hand on the doorknob. At the same time, he spoke into the communicator.
“Now.”
Whooom- The speakers that had been forcibly cut off made a simultaneous resonance sound. The music that had filled the entire club was erased and the lights went completely out. The entire space was instantly engulfed in pitch-black darkness as if swallowed by a black hole.
“Huh!”
“What? Ah!”
“Hey! What are the staff doing?”
Someone collapsed to the floor while someone else let out a small scream. Sounds of sharp intakes of breath and signs of people searching for their phone flashlights could be heard here and there.
Darkness posed no hindrance to a hunter. Mujin opened the door without hesitation and stepped into the room.
“……”
The next moment, his body, which should have moved quickly, froze. Mujin slowly blinked his eyes.
On the long sofa, a changgui with Eunseong’s appearance was lying down.
The languidly lying body wore not a single thread, and some man was overlapping his body on top of it. The guy, heavily intoxicated with alcohol or drugs and unconscious, was frantically sucking and groping Eunseong’s body.
The panting sounds stopped Mujin’s thoughts. Even in the darkness, dirty saliva glistened wetly on the luminous white skin. The reddish bite marks were branded in Mujin’s pupils like a seal.
His blood went cold. Mujin couldn’t even breathe properly. The moment he barely managed to restore his breathing, his head felt like it would explode.
Crack! The man who had been lusting after the changgui’s body was thrown in an instant by Mujin. With his lower body hanging out in a disgusting state, he crashed into the floor, smashing the table.
Mujin immediately grabbed the changgui’s neck. However, his grip wouldn’t apply proper force.
It was because this time it was truly Eunseong’s appearance.
“Gasp, huff… ugh…”
Mujin, having lost his composure, panted.
His body wouldn’t move as he wanted and his power wouldn’t operate. The source of his energy that he had felt as naturally as breathing, his core, seemed to have disappeared. His ear canals buzzed and his sense of reality grew distantly faint.
Then the changgui reached out toward Mujin.
Two white, soft hands cupped Mujin’s cheeks. The pupils looking straight at him in the darkness were bright blue. The gaze they met directly, the eyelashes that fluttered each time it blinked once, made his chest feel completely ticklish. Mujin’s two hands gripping the changgui’s neck began trembling pathetically.
The changgui that slowly rose leaned its body against Mujin. Mujin, who had reflexively stepped backward, squeezed his eyes shut. He had lost his composure. The sense of defeat at having completely missed the timing flashed through his mind.
The moment their thighs became entangled and soft flesh rubbed against his legs, the changgui smiled silently. Then it whispered to Mujin.
“Trembling this much… you’re really pathetic.”
That was the moment.
Mujin melted the changgui without any warning signs. Without any sign of drawing up power or even a single spark. Quietly and certainly, he evaporated the changgui in his hands as if making it vanish. Only a foul-smelling black puddle remained where Eunseong’s body had been.
And then his knees buckled. His legs, drained of all strength, folded and Mujin tumbled to the floor. Hot blood filled his mouth. He lowered his head and spilled blood onto the floor.
[Hunter Baek Mujin? Has the situation ended?]
“……”
[Should I restore power?]
Woo Jaehui’s voice came through the communicator. Perhaps thinking the situation was going wrong, her voice was also trembling at the end.
Mujin barely caught his breath and opened his dry lips.
“Situation terminated.”
Like a lie, the entire club came back to life. The chaotic lights flashed again, and music exploded out. People’s brief screams and sighs were all buried in that sound.
[Situation termination confirmed. No internal damage confirmed. Sector boundary lifted.]
Woo Nayeong’s voice continued through the communicator.
[Baek Mujin, you did very well. Thank you.]
Mujin couldn’t answer. He pressed his forehead against the cold floor and quietly curled up his body. His body, which had escaped his control even for just a moment, felt awkward.
When trying to control his opened core, what interfered with him wasn’t the loud music or the smell of blood. It was Eunseong’s snow-white, soft body that seemed engraved behind his pupils.
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, nor just once or twice.
It was merely the body of a changgui imitating him, even.
“Damn, crazy… no.”
Mujin struck the floor hard with his fist. Even shaking his head roughly didn’t easily dispel the uncomfortable sensation.
Why was this happening? He felt embarrassed like a child caught lying. It felt like he had made eye contact for the first time with something that had been crouching deep inside him.
The emotion he had looked at directly was both familiar and awkward.
It had definitely been inside him for a long time, but now he had come to know its exact identity. The sticky emotion that had burst out as if it had been waiting, opening its lid, completely occupied Mujin’s mind.
Like breathing that becomes endlessly uncomfortable once you start being conscious of it, it was troublesome because it absolutely wouldn’t be shaken off.
* * *
An ominous wind blew.
The leisurely downtown of District 3. Rush hour, the usual busy morning scene.
Vehicles passing in lines on the road, tired faces with heads leaning against bus windows, and even outdated popular songs echoing from street shops – all of it was peaceful daily life.
Someone turned their head at the sound of a placard with one torn string fluttering.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter… At the strange friction sound that began coming from somewhere, people on the street stopped one by one. They pulled out earphones that had been plugged in their ears and looked away from their phones.
Everyone’s gaze slowly but consistently turned in one direction.
At first, it was a small, black mass.
Broken stone slab pieces, snapped tree branches, rolling trash… All sorts of miscellaneous items from all directions began moving as if they had come alive by attaching to the black mass fragments. The debris that rose into the air with the help of the black mass’s power and the wind began vibrating and clumping together.
As if being sewn with invisible thread, they found each other piece by piece, fitting together and attaching neatly. Kuuwoong-! Metal, glass, and concrete fragments all gathered together and finally became a ‘giant foot’ that settled down.
“…What is that thing?”
Someone who hadn’t yet grasped reality muttered in a bewildered voice. When no one at the scene could even think of running away, the mass gradually increased in volume and steadily built its body.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
