Chapter 12
Pointing at the massive hill, Seo Won continued to ask.
“There aren’t any trees or plants at all?”
To call it a mountain, the hill didn’t have a single tree. Where did all those trees go? Not even a blade of grass, not even a tree root – how could this place be called a mountain?
“Those things were never there to begin with.”
Seo Won couldn’t bring himself to continue speaking. There were still far too many things left to learn about this world. And most of them were incomprehensible.
Calling a place without a single blade of grass a mountain. Looking at a completely red sky and calling it daytime.
At this rate, wouldn’t all the common sense I had become completely useless? This world was different in so many ways.
“Yoon Seo Won, come here. It’ll get dark soon.”
Seo Won, who had been gazing at Guryong Mountain, tilted his head at Baek Rak’s urging. Getting dark? There should still be plenty of time before nightfall.
Baek Rak, who had approached nearby at some point, pointed to a certain spot. Seo Won turned his gaze there and was startled.
Half of the red sky had darkened as if covered by something. Beyond the artificial sky with clearly divided boundaries, completely different from a sunset, something massive could be seen.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
Seo Won asked back in bewilderment. He doesn’t know? He really doesn’t know what that object is?
As if reading his thoughts, Baek Rak answered as if he knew everything.
“There’s no one who knows what that is.”
Seo Won was startled, then asked seriously.
“…No one?”
“No one.”
Really? Really no one knows what that is? Seo Won opened and closed his mouth as if about to say something, then shut it in confusion.
“All we know is that it artificially creates night so Creatures can be active even during the day.”
“……”
“Without any set schedule, randomly.”
So that’s why Baek Rak had said that? That there’s no guarantee they’ll be in a safe zone every night. Certainly, if darkness rushed in this suddenly, they’d be helpless against it.
Though confusing, he thought he was gradually learning about this world. But the more he learned, the more hopeless it became. It wasn’t that the more you know, the more you see, but rather the more you know, the less you seem to see.
How on earth do people here live? In a world so hostile to humans, how…
Lost in indescribable feelings and spacing out, suddenly one of his wrists was grabbed.
“Follow me.”
Baek Rak was right beside him without him noticing. He started walking immediately. Looking at Baek Rak’s back, the goblin pattern baring its teeth was staring straight at him. Every time his jumper fluttered, it swayed as if alive.
Seo Won ran his hand down his face. He had no idea how to resolve this suffocating feeling in his heart.
The absurdity of this world, the hostility pouring down on him, the relief of having Baek Rak by his side – everything was tangled and twisted together.
“……”
Feeling an inexplicable nausea, he looked at the approaching darkness.
Red lights were rising one by one under the shadowed sky. Watching the darkness spread rapidly as if it would swallow this place at any moment, he followed Baek Rak’s steps.
Above the red sky, the massive object was already swallowing up the area behind them.
Moving through the narrow passage filled with stones and dirt, a solid iron door came into view. The seams didn’t fit well, making unpleasant sounds while opening, but perhaps because Baek Rak moved skillfully, it didn’t echo loudly.
After passing through three iron doors and entering inside, a space of about 20 pyeong appeared.
Seo Won entered and looked around. There were traces of human habitation, but most things were corroded and rotted, unusable. It seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.
The underground bunker below the mountain, as Baek Rak said, seemed good for temporarily hiding but not suitable as living quarters. Because there were no trees or grass around to hide behind. So it would have no utility other than occasional use like this.
But in one corner, there was a blanket that looked like it hadn’t been used for long. Underneath it was an old mattress. It looked like someone had come and gone.
He brushed off the dust appropriately and sat on the mattress. He thought he’d have to sit on the hard ground like yesterday, but he was lucky.
Seo Won hunched his back, roughly propped his chin, and stared blankly ahead. After a while, he called out to Baek Rak, who was taking off his leather gloves.
“Baek Rak.”
Instead of answering, he turned his head and met his gaze.
“That… about having to receive your ability.”
Baek Rak paused for a moment, then took off his jumper and placed it in the corner of the mattress along with his leather gloves. Then he slowly bent down and sat beside Seo Won. After stretching his long legs appropriately, he supported himself on the mattress with both arms and tilted his head. As if telling him to continue.
“If I become a Hunter, it’s good for both you and me. Right?”
Again, Baek Rak didn’t open his mouth. As if he would listen to see what and how far he intended to say, he just stared quietly.
Seo Won moistened his dry lips and opened his mouth again.
“I don’t know how you’re planning to use me, but there must be a clear reason why I have to become a Hunter.”
“……”
“At least you’re not making me a Hunter to kill me, right?”
“So?”
Finally, Baek Rak spoke. Seo Won straightened his back and met his gaze head-on.
“Let’s make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“If it’s something I can handle, I’ll cooperate, so you give me assurance about my safety too.”
“…If you can handle it.”
Baek Rak repeated Seo Won’s words while tilting his head. It felt like he was chewing over the irritating words. Seo Won couldn’t help but be nervous.
“So, as long as it’s not something strange… Ugh!”
He hadn’t even finished speaking. His body suddenly fell backward. Even though there was a mattress below, his head rang painfully. When he opened his eyes, squinting from the pain, Baek Rak was somehow straddling him, looking down.
With fierce blue eyes making him gulp dry saliva, Baek Rak spoke softly.
“Does that mean you’ll bail out if you can’t handle it?”
Baek Rak, who had restrained both his arms and legs so Seo Won couldn’t move, slowly bent down. As the face drew closer, Seo Won hurriedly turned his head.
“…Get off.”
“I don’t know what makes you so confident when you don’t know anything.”
“Wait! What are you doing!”
Blue energy began flowing from Baek Rak’s body. That energy swirled for a while, then began creeping toward Seo Won. It seemed he was about to transfer power right now.
Seo Won shouted urgently.
“Baek Rak! Wait, just wait!”
“You said let’s make a deal.”
There was a bitter smile in the voice flowing into his ear.
“Fine, a deal. But we’ll do it the other way around. I’ll protect you, so you handle it.”
“What… Ugh!”
Energy began flowing in through his captured arms.
In an instant, his heart dropped with a thud. He could feel the energy that entered his body spreading through his blood vessels and nerves.
“Haah.”
At the same time, tremendous pain struck.
Tiny thorns scratched and pierced his entire body, his insides. The tips of those thorns were sometimes cold, sometimes hot. They burned and seared his insides to the point where he wondered if they contained poison.
His skin felt like it was being torn apart and his head spun. It felt like every single cell was being crushed and twisted.
“Ah, ugh!”
The energy Baek Rak transferred was a weapon in itself. It rampaged through everything inside him, trying to destroy it at will. His vision flickered on and off repeatedly.
I need to get away. I need to get away from Baek Rak quickly…
But pushing him away was impossible. Even trying to curl up to reduce the pain was futile, as his inside and outside were completely wrecked, leaving him helpless.
He couldn’t accept any more of the energy that kept forcing its way in. He struggled desperately to pull out his captured hands, but Baek Rak gripped both hands tightly as if it was out of the question. Then the energy flowed over even stronger than before.
“Ugh… St, stop!”
“Endure it.”
“Stop! Stop! Please…!”
He thrashed wildly to escape from him. His whole body trembled from how much it hurt. He shook his head while hurling every curse word he knew.
“Ah… Fuck, Baek Rak! You bastard! Let go!”
“Did you think becoming a Hunter would be easy?”
“You, crazy bastard!”
“If you want to live, endure it.”
He felt like he’d lose his mind from the energy rushing in like a tidal wave. There wasn’t a single place that didn’t hurt. His whole body convulsed and trembled.
“Uh, uuh, huuh.”
Baek Rak stubbornly transferred all his energy to the suffering Seo Won. Then, as if he had finished his job, he pulled away.
Seo Won glared at Baek Rak with bloodshot eyes. If he could move even a finger, he would have grabbed him by the collar. That’s how much rage toward Baek Rak surged within him.
His eyes felt like they were burning rather than just hot. His vision began to blur gradually. Seo Won gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Huu… ugh.”
Even breathing wasn’t easy. It felt like his lungs were being torn apart. How was he supposed to endure this pain?
But then, something slipped under his chin. His face, which had been tense with effort, slowly lifted upward by the lifting force.
When he narrowly opened his eyes, he could see Baek Rak’s face through his blurry vision.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
