Chapter 29
“Fuck!”
Hwang Jang-ju, who had raised his head in a fluster, tried to lift his gun barrel upward again, but he couldn’t stand up.
*Boom*
It was because vibrations struck the ground. But it didn’t originate from the ground; it was a resonance created by trees. The leaves that shot up into the sky plummeted back to the earth like a downpour. *Swoosh*. The sound of them hitting the ground, other leaves, or our bodies was unusually loud, but the pounding of my heart was even louder.
From the forest, a black body crawled out, wriggling like an insect. Its long, torn eyes shone brighter than the bonfire, revealing white teeth.
I couldn’t feel even the slightest joy that this vibration wasn’t an earthquake. Though there might be big and small differences, from the perspective of those experiencing it, any disaster was the same.
“Damn it!”
Hwang Jang-ju kicked the ground. He abruptly stood up and aimed the gun that had been pointed at the man toward the monster. Sharp metallic death cries sparkled with sparks, embroidering the night. Hearing the continuous gunfire, the men who had been in a daze grabbed their guns.
A barrage of indiscriminate bullets rained down on the monster, but it didn’t take much damage. This was because the monster, crouched and hidden behind a tree, didn’t move. Even when the attacks subsided and the surroundings grew quiet, the monster didn’t emerge from between the trees. As a result, the tense atmosphere among the men began to ease.
“What’s this, is it scared?”
“Even monsters fear guns…”
The men exchanged glances and began to move stealthily. Before I could stop the men who were firmly gripping their guns, the man in black held them back.
“It would be better to stop.”
“Huh, stop? This perfect opportunity to kill that bastard?”
Those who had only been watching the man’s reactions until now laughed loudly. The men seemed to have gained courage they didn’t have before at the thought of being able to catch the monster.
The man tried to say something more, but he couldn’t open his mouth because of Hwang Jang-ju who stepped forward. Hwang Jang-ju informed the men where he thought the monster was hiding, as if to encourage them. He said he was too scared to move and would wait here. I saw Hwang Jang-ju’s eyes strangely gleaming.
“Then wait there! We’ll show you the corpse of that thing…”
One man stepped forward boldly and shouted, but he couldn’t finish his sentence. The black thing had suddenly leaped upward. The men screamed and fired their guns. Through the screams and flashing gunfire, the monster’s growling cry penetrated. And the man who was the farthest inside was dragged into the darkness and disappeared. The thrashing body that had flailed wildly before being dragged left long tracks under the bushes.
“Ahhhhhhh! Kuk…”
The bushes shook frantically, and black rain splattered. The gasping screams died away, and the forest that had been shaking for a long time also subsided. The surviving men crawled out and showed themselves in the bonfire light. I froze when I saw the men drenched in blood. Hwang Jang-ju, who had looked at his companions and then stared at the forest, clicked his tongue.
“This one’s a bit smarter.”
“Did it use bait to find out?”
The man approached with his arms folded. Hwang Jang-ju grinned fiercely at the dangling gun and knife.
“What do you mean by bait… I just realized it now. At first, I too thought it was hiding because it was afraid. I didn’t know it was a trick to lure us away from the bonfire. It’s sad, but… one person’s life saved the rest of us, so it can’t be helped. Indeed, the clever ones are hard to handle. We can’t feel safe with just bonfires and guns, can we?”
His exaggerated gestures and fabricated expression clearly revealed his lie. It was an utterly unfair statement for those who had suffered. But the dead couldn’t see him, and the surviving men, babbling incoherently, didn’t notice Hwang Jang-ju’s lie.
“Well, I wonder about that.”
The man tilted his head and drew his gun and knife. His gaze, fixed on the bushes, was sharp. Even Hwang Jang-ju, who had initially snorted, gradually changed his complexion. This was because the bushes had started to sway and shake. The situation had become serious. Hearing the sound of branches being crushed, the surviving men were completely out of their minds, pointing their gun barrels in any direction. And they were about to shoot at even the dark forest.
Hwang Jang-ju clicked his tongue at his companions, gripped his hunting rifle, and stared at me. Then he looked me up and down and smiled. While I hesitated at the eerie smile that bloomed, my body was pushed toward the bushes. I nearly rolled on the ground but barely maintained my balance. I had already left the bonfire. Looking at my confusion, Hwang Jang-ju said regretfully, while aiming his hunting rifle at me.
“You know, clever ones try to extinguish the fire by any means, even if it’s lit. Since it doesn’t seem satisfied with just one person… good luck.”
I gritted my teeth. Despite doing it to survive, to be treated so easily… My limbs trembled with fear, but I stood straight. Hwang Jang-ju snorted as if finding me ridiculous.
“Even after doing this…”
“You do what you must to survive. If you survive and hold out, you might get rescued, right?”
Hwang Jang-ju seemed to still cling to the hope of rescue. He smiled, and I felt bitterness. I wondered if Han Jong-wook and others in this village thought similarly to the man. I spat.
“You bastard. You won’t die peacefully, even in death. I guarantee it.”
Then Hwang Jang-ju grinned and pointed behind me. From the crackling, collapsing grass, the creature appeared, showing its white teeth. Its large teeth glistened with blood, and a strong fishy smell emanated from its body. As I hesitantly stepped back, the bizarrely glowing eyes looked down at me.
*Shiiik.*
Each time the long-torn eyes blinked, the light in them flickered. It felt like turning a flashlight on and off. But the pale light was fierce and sharp, and I felt as if my body would freeze rather than feeling curiosity.
The monster stuck out its tongue and licked the blood dripping from its chin. Its hook-like hand was raised high, as if teasing. I didn’t want to follow it, but my gaze naturally moved with the creature’s hand. And just as it was about to grab my face—
“This would give you indigestion if you ate it.”
A black shadow appeared and kicked the monster away. Caught off guard, the monster fell with a loud noise, and everything rolled around in a mess following where it tumbled. The monster quickly got up and looked around.
I stared with my mouth open at the man. I thought I was going to die for sure this time… The feeling of an unexpected hand pulling me out of the abyss was bewildering. The man, who had been looking me up and down, grabbed my waist and pushed me toward the bonfire. Hwang Jang-ju, who had been loading his hunting rifle, took a rough breath, but the man ignored him. He stared at me intently and said:
“Stay here for a moment.”
“What?”
The man walked forward leisurely before I could grab him. The monster, which had been hunching and swaying its body, tucked its head tightly. Its appearance was similar to a praying mantis before an attack, and it looked even more so because of its unusually long fingers and nails.
Despite facing a monster swaggering right in front of him, there was no fear or terror on the man’s face. Rather, like someone out for a stroll, he lightly held his knife and pistol and tapped the ground with his toes.
“I didn’t plan on this, but I have no choice.”
* * *
The monster stretched its neck out long. As if puzzled by the man who approached instead of fleeing, its neck swayed back and forth. Along with protruding blood vessels, muscles also rippled up and down. It looked just like a snake moving, not a neck. Following the peculiarly tilted neck, the vertically positioned eyes widened.
“I could ask you to take it easy, but you wouldn’t understand, would you?”
The man smiled. Even as the monster glaring at him sharpened its stance, wiggling its hands and feet, that smile didn’t change. The monster, growling at the man, elongated its claws. The joints of its fingers grew thicker, and the tendons on its feet, which touched the ground, rose like tree trunks.
The body that had been swaying back and forth sprang up like a spring and charged toward the man. The footprints left where the monster had been looked like scar marks. My body jumped nervously at the sight of the monster diving in, throwing up dirt and dust.
“Stay still.”
Rough breathing mixed with a fishy smell beat against my ear. I realized belatedly that my body’s jump wasn’t my will but moved by external force, but it was already after being caught. Hwang Jang-ju smiled and pressed on my nape. The gun barrel, which had already spat fire, was heated up and pricked my skin.
“Why are you doing this?”
At my question, Hwang Jang-ju bent down. Because he brought his face close, I could see his face clearly. On his darkly tanned skin, a scar of a distinctly different color stood out. Hwang Jang-ju took a long breath and said:
“I just had an interesting thought.”
His smiling face was grotesque. Not because of the scar on his face, but his appearance, thoughts, everything looked that way. I could swear that what Hwang Jang-ju was thinking was absolutely not pleasant. I glared at Hwang Jang-ju, and in return, he pressed the gun barrel against me.
“Look over there.”
After spitting out consecutive curses as if to devour his opponent, Hwang Jang-ju hunched his neck and nodded. I could see the man whom I hadn’t been able to pay attention to while being caught by Hwang Jang-ju. In the meantime, he seemed to have been injured by the monster, as he was holding his side.
I unwittingly twisted my body, only to collide severely with the gun barrel. But despite the pain in my nape, I couldn’t take my eyes off the man. Was he badly hurt? Since he had confronted the monster to save me, I felt sorry, and my gaze kept going to his wound.
But despite being in extreme danger, about to be attacked by the monster, the man’s face was strangely peaceful. Occasionally his eyebrows would furrow, and his cheeks would tense, but it didn’t seem like fear. The man rolled his foot and threw his body sideways, and the monster that pounced on that spot made a growling sound.
As if it couldn’t bear its frustration, the monster wildly dug up the ground and then pulled its lips upward. Its still blood-stained red teeth and gums were revealed. It was the only colored part among the completely black body. It was really strange. The gums, red like blood, stood out distinctly despite being in a place where the bonfire’s light didn’t reach well. When the lips that had been moving up and down suddenly stopped, the gums began to split.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
