#91
Ground tremors of unknown origin gradually encroached upon Do-hyeok’s body. Do-hyeok swallowed his saliva and fixed his gaze toward where the loud sounds were coming from. Without realizing it, his body began to tremble and sweat seemed to gather in his clenched fists.
Alarm bells rang noisily in his head. Telling him to run away quickly. To at least escape from this place fast. But his body wouldn’t listen to him. This must be what it felt like when body and mind operated separately.
Do-hyeok was feeling an emotion he had never experienced once in his life. Even when he was beaten by older kids who moved in gangs at the first orphanage he stayed at, even when he received threats and violence from the director who committed all sorts of corruption and misconduct—this was an emotion worse than all of that.
It was fear. Clear, unmistakable terror. At this moment when his survival was threatened, when his life was in danger, Do-hyeok stood there.
Thud—
A shadow cast before him with a great rumbling. Do-hyeok slowly raised his head.
“……”
Childhood fairy tale scenes came to mind. The common fairy tale monster appearances where brave heroes defeated monsters and safely rescued princesses slowly filled Do-hyeok’s mind. When looking at monster illustrations in books, they had been merely fascinating and interesting. Literally, they were fictional stories and products of human imagination anyway.
But what if that fiction was unfolding before his eyes? What if something that was neither human nor beast, of unknown identity, was actually there before him, not in a picture but in reality?
Legs that easily surpassed the height of a Seoul building. Do-hyeok slowly raised his head. The form of an unknown creature with five long legs like a giraffe gradually came into view. Unlike a giraffe, its neck bent flexibly, and two sharp horns protruded from above.
Like feeling like a speck of dust in the vast universe, before this overwhelming creature, Do-hyeok, barely over ten years old, felt like a worthless microorganism.
“…Hah.”
Do-hyeok stood still and somehow managed to cover his mouth. Perhaps because of its huge, long body, the creature didn’t seem to notice Do-hyeok, who didn’t even measure up to a span of those long legs. His heart pounded, making him unconsciously exhale excited breaths. He had no choice but to physically solve it by barely covering his mouth with both hands.
So the nameless, unidentifiable monster slowly passed by Do-hyeok’s side, gently stepping with its five legs. Perhaps because its body was so large, the majesty felt from close range during its passage was truly extraordinary.
“Hah…”
Thud, thud, as the unknown creature took a few steps and gradually moved away, a sigh reflexively escaped from Do-hyeok’s mouth. A breath of relief exhaled without realizing it. But soon Do-hyeok bitterly regretted what he had just done.
“Ah.”
The heavy footstep sounds were no longer audible. Do-hyeok’s head creaked as it slowly turned. The moment he turned his head, what the young child faced was the face of a creature with fluffy fur and two fearsome horns protruding from it. The creature was staring at him with its long neck bent down to Do-hyeok’s low height.
Seeing the red eyes staring intently at him, Do-hyeok felt as if his breath had stopped for a moment. ‘I’m going to die.’ Only that one word filled his mind. That’s when the creature’s eyes flashed even more frighteningly.
Do-hyeok clenched his fists and began running at full speed with all his might. Then the creature began roaring with a strange cry. Still, Do-hyeok ran. He kept running and running again. There was no reason. He didn’t want to face the death that filled his mind. He wanted to live somehow.
The sounds and vibrations echoing from behind felt like shackles binding his fast-running legs, but somehow Do-hyeok shook them off and continued moving his feet.
“Huff… haah.”
How long had he run like that? Do-hyeok leaned against a single tree standing alone in the middle and gasped for breath. Looking back, fortunately that creature didn’t seem to be chasing him. Whether it was difficult to gain speed due to its large size, or because Do-hyeok was like dust not worth devouring to the creature, it seemed to have given up long ago.
Do-hyeok, whose leg strength gave out in an instant, collapsed like that. It was also the first time in his life that he had run this fast and this much. Survival instinct was truly a wondrous thing. Do-hyeok had to feel an indescribable emotion at the fact that he had shaken off the monster and survived safely with just the single thought of wanting to live.
But that didn’t mean his current situation or circumstances had changed. This place was clearly still an unknown world, and it was certain that he had been sucked into this space alone.
“Dungeon… gate…”
Do-hyeok looked around quickly, confirmed there was nothing, then crouched down leaning against the tree.
They had explained it during basic education time at the orphanage. About the foundation of this country, that is, hunter society. When gates open, hunters enter inside to conquer dungeons. The teacher’s words naturally came to Do-hyeok’s mind.
In other words, Do-hyeok had been sucked into a gate, into a dungeon. Once he roughly grasped the facts, he became even more despairing. They had definitely said terrifying monsters appeared in dungeons. That creature he had just seen was surely one of those monsters.
Then what exactly should he do? Do-hyeok looked around at the barren surroundings. The unfamiliar scenery and space were enough to instill tremendous fear in the young boy.
That’s when it happened. Once again, some beast’s cry echoed through the earth.
Do-hyeok jumped in surprise and reflexively began running again. Until he could no longer hear the cry, he ran once more. Only when his entire body was drenched in sweat did Do-hyeok stop again.
“Thirsty…”
He didn’t know how far he had run at such tremendous speed. All he could feel was the sensation of his throat burning. When Do-hyeok was stumbling and walking with difficulty, kicking sand, he saw something familiar ahead.
“…It’s water.”
A water puddle appeared in the middle of the desert. Do-hyeok’s eyes widened as he ran like crazy and crouched down. Was this how an adventurer felt upon discovering an oasis in the desert? Do-hyeok scooped up puddle water with his hands and swallowed it desperately. Once, twice, when he put his hand in again to quench his thirst.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a stinging sensation came with pain. When Do-hyeok quickly pulled out his hand, blood was flowing from it. Looking closely at the water puddle with his trembling hand, he could see numerous beast teeth embedded in the bottom.
Gasp, Do-hyeok let out a single scream and collapsed backward. Blood still flowed from his bitten hand and it stung, but Do-hyeok got up once more and ran again.
Like the blood flowing from his palm, tears were streaming down the young boy’s face.
* * *
Dungeons were truly mysterious places. After continuing to run through the barren desert, this time he could see the entrance to what looked like a forest space. Do-hyeok hesitated in front of it.
Was it okay to go in? Looking down at his injured palm, the bleeding had stopped but dried scabs were stuck here and there, and it seemed to be swelling more and more.
“……”
Do-hyeok looked at that hand indifferently, then stared at the entrance to the huge forest. Then he slowly moved his steps and went inside. Come to think of it, entering another unknown space from an unknown space wouldn’t change anything.
He didn’t know how much time had passed since entering here. But paradoxically, he felt like his reason was gradually returning. Thinking about it, a forest with many structures to hide his body seemed much safer than a space open on all sides.
And another thought that came to mind. If this place was a dungeon, surely those people called hunters would come here. They would come to rescue him.
“Let’s endure.”
Do-hyeok muttered like that. Perhaps because the path that a child barely over ten years old had lived was lonely and solitary, Do-hyeok was already accustomed to enduring alone and finding ways to survive by himself. Wiping away his tear stains, the boy slowly entered deeper into the forest.
But just because it was a place where he could hide his body didn’t make it any different. Unknown creatures popped out from here and there, constantly threatening Do-hyeok. Thanks to that, he had fallen and gotten scraped, scratched by trees, and was covered in dirt and wounds all over his body.
How long could he endure like this? What if he met another huge and strong creature like the one he saw when he first entered this place? Could he escape and survive then? No, more than that, how much time had passed since entering this place? An hour? A day? Surely not decades?
Do-hyeok’s mind, standing still, was spinning dizzyingly. Could he get out of here alive? When would those people called hunters come? Would they even come in the first place? If they were coming, shouldn’t they have come long ago to rescue him? What if they didn’t come to rescue him? What if he had to survive alone in this world full of all kinds of dangers?
“…Should I die?”
Wouldn’t it be better to die then?
Come to think of it. Hadn’t he always been alone? When he was born, when he barely managed to live moving between orphanages, he was always alone. Ah, this was God’s will. It must have been to make him painfully aware that he was a loner with no one coming to rescue him that he was sucked into this dungeon.
Do-hyeok looked down at his injured palm. The swelling from inflammation was getting worse, and now that he noticed, he felt like his body was getting feverish. Even if he managed to avoid the scary monsters, if this wound festered and got worse, the bacteria could spread throughout his body and kill him.
No matter how he thought about it, death was the only option. Do-hyeok dropped the hand he had been looking down at with a thud. At the same time, some shadow slowly crept up behind Do-hyeok.
When he turned his head, Do-hyeok’s indifferent eyes took in a human form covered all over with grass. Black eyes visible between grass similar to weeds. Do-hyeok instinctively knew. That too was a terrifying monster living in this dungeon, and that creature had also come to kill him.
The monster raised its right hand holding a long, large scythe high. But Do-hyeok only followed that action with his eyes with a vacant gaze. The emotion reflected in the boy’s eyes was resignation itself.
A life born without receiving a single blessing. Usually, children of this age naturally grew up dreaming good dreams, having pleasant fantasies, and receiving all kinds of love. But Do-hyeok was different. The nutrients that raised the boy were solitude, loneliness, desolation, and the pitifulness of not even being aware of it himself.
Do-hyeok’s eyes slowly closed. There was no reason anywhere to desperately survive like this. A life that had grown eating already rotten nutrients couldn’t grow properly. Just as now, it would only rot, so it was better to be cut down before becoming ugly.
Thud—
Then, with a dull sound, the pain he expected to feel never came at all. What had happened? Do-hyeok slowly opened his eyes.
“……”
What he saw then was not fearsome death, but some man’s broad back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
