The world after the Gates opened.
It was a hell of people clawing to survive.
In a world like this, there was no one left who'd try to save others even at the cost of sacrificing themselves.
That's what Yeom Hajae had thought.
And yet…
“If all three of you can't escape together, you can just leave me behind.”
The instant he heard those words,
Twinge.
His heart stung.
“Look.”
Seo Sinwoo let go of Yeom Hajae's arm. Then he grabbed the shirt torn open by the sword.
Thanks to the buttons being undone under the pretext of stopping the bleeding, the shirt parted easily. Through the gap, a gash about a hand-span long was visible.
The wound inflicted by Choi Haegang.
The blood didn't look like it'd stop easily.
After confirming the other's gaze was fixed on the wound, Seo Sinwoo spoke.
“I'll only be a burden to everyone else.”
Yeom Hajae swallowed.
Perhaps from blood loss, Seo Sinwoo's face looked pale. The man was telling him to leave him behind, with a face as ghastly white as could be.
“Nothing good comes of running while dribbling blood across the floor. Right?”
He knew. From years of Hunter life, he knew it all too well. That was why he'd tried to move with as little trace as possible until now.
But still.
Thud!
Thud!
The monster kept drawing closer.
Yeom Hajae could no longer distinguish the monster's footsteps from the sound of his own heartbeat.
He pressed his chest hard in his frustration. And he forced out a rational line of thought.
“…This isn't something for a civilian to decide.”
Using an injured civilian as bait to escape? He'd rather they all stand and fight together.
Surely the other man, too, was saying things he didn't mean because his judgment had been clouded by excessive blood loss.
There was no other explanation otherwise.
The “Kim Cheolsu” he'd come to know over their brief conversation wasn't a particularly good person.
A man with dungeon trauma, sticky fingers, and a heart weaker than his appearance let on.
His smiling face resembled someone in Yeom Hajae's memory, which nagged at him, but that was all.
There was no reason for him to lay down his life for people he'd met not long ago.
With resolute eyes, Yeom Hajae laid a hand at Seo Sinwoo's waist to support him. He planned to entrust him to the maknae.
In that moment, Seo Sinwoo grinned.
“I'm not a civilian, though.”
Crackle.
A current too strong to be static tickled across his arm and dispersed.
“…!”
“Does this feel like static this time too?”
Yeom Hajae's eyes went wide.
“Sorry for deceiving you. I'm a draft dodger.”
Seo Sinwoo gently peeled Yeom Hajae's hand away.
“Better for just me to be in danger than for all of you to be, right?”
Even as he said such things, Seo Sinwoo's smile didn't waver in the slightest. It held firm.
He really was trying to sacrifice himself. Even by revealing his own secret.
Then was he supposed to respect the man's will?
It was a hard question to answer. But the time allotted wasn't long.
Creak—.
The wooden door opened.
At the same time, Seo Sinwoo pushed Yeom Hajae away and stood up straight. Wind passed through the open door, fluttering the hem of his clothes.
“Bolt.”
It was a relaxed smile, as always.
“You can do it, right?”
He looked so genuinely fine.
Before he knew it, Yeom Hajae nodded. At that, Seo Sinwoo crinkled his eyes into a smile, as if in praise.
For an instant, a certain memory overlapped onto the scene.
“You can run, right?”
His blankly parted lips murmured softly.
“Hyung…”
Thwack.
Without finishing his words, Yeom Hajae's eyes closed.
I'd figured convincing Yeom Hajae wouldn't be easy.
Hunters who toss a civilian to a monster as bait and bolt are a dime a dozen. But Yeom Hajae seemed to be a rare Hunter with an exceptionally strong spirit of self-sacrifice.
So I worked my mouth as hard as I could.
“I'll only be a burden to everyone else.”
Honestly, it wasn't that big of a wound. Given its location, it looked bad on the surface, but it was only a graze.
It was just a line I tacked on to get them to hurry up and leave me.
“Sorry for deceiving you. I'm a draft dodger.”
Generally, once you awaken, you're obligated to belong to the Association for a set period and take on assigned work. Hiding the fact of awakening because you don't want that wasn't uncommon.
On top of that, Yeom Hajae was under the impression I had dungeon trauma.
It was a situation just begging for him to assume I'd hidden my ability because I didn't want to go into dungeons.
I exploited that point and confessed in advance to being an awakener. Leaving out the part about operating illegally, of course.
The fact that I was an awakener was bound to come out soon anyway.
It made no sense that an ordinary person could hold out against a Hunter for that long. And if they looked closely later, traces of my ability being used would be left here and there.
If the truth came out after the fact, it'd be like stabbing Yeom Hajae in the back. There was no telling what suspicions he'd harbor then. Better to expose it myself.
That he now knew my face and my ability nagged at me a bit.
But it couldn't be helped. It was all because of that crazy bastard Choi Haegang. Still, I'd tidied things up fairly well, all things considered. At least I wasn't going to die on the spot anymore.
Add to that the I'm revealing my secret to protect you all feel I'd given it.
He probably wouldn't end up holding a grudge against me.
…I did rough up Choi Haegang a little, but I trust Yeom Hajae isn't a small-minded man who'd hold a grudge over a bit of a brawl.
Thinking that, I wrapped things up as gently as I could.
Yeom Hajae had no real reaction. Was it that he didn't trust me because I was dripping blood?
Believe me, please.
I forced the corners of my mouth up.
The faster you bolt, the faster I can swipe the artifact.
Yeom Hajae, finally seeming convinced, nodded.
And then he got hit on the back of the neck by Choi Haegang and dropped like a stone.
I tried to catch Yeom Hajae as he toppled toward me, but I was shoved aside. Choi Haegang caught Yeom Hajae with one hand.
“I went to all that trouble talking him into it…”
When I muttered in disappointment, our eyes met.
I reflexively sneered.
“Don't tell me you want to fight again?”
Choi Haegang's expression was unreadable.
What are you scheming, Haegang?
Far from answering, he tossed a question back instead.
“What are you scheming?”
“Haha, scheming? Me?”
I shrugged.
“I just want Hajae to be safe, that's all.”
Half true, half false.
As expected, there was no answer. Choi Haegang silently hauled Yeom Hajae over his shoulder. Inwardly fretting about being attacked again, I kept my distance from him as I spoke.
“The one with a scheme would be you, wouldn't it? Knocking out your own ally in a crisis like this.”
“…”
Choi Haegang ignored me and draped an arm over the maknae's shoulder. It was a movement without a shred of hesitation.
“Uh… is everything settled?”
“Let's go.”
The maknae, who'd been sneaking glances at me, spotted the monster and flew straight up. I watched the three of them recede into the distance.
Yeah. Get lost, quick.
Anyway, Yeom Hajae. He seemed like he was trying to say something at the end… His eyes were a little strange, too.
Well, it's probably nothing.
Thud!
A vibration strong enough to rattle my body shattered my musings. I turned my head.
A monster with a body lean as a mummy came into view. The monster had golden cords densely attached like hair.
Because of the shaggy cords hanging down to its neck, its face wasn't visible at all. Still, I could roughly tell where its gaze was directed.
The monster had spotted the three fleeing like gnats and was walking this way.
Facing a giant monster in a giant kitchen, I felt like a rat that had broken in illegally.
With my back to the three of them, I stretched needlessly and loosened up.
And I recalled the information I knew about the monster.
First, that monster is highly curious. It swallows anything that looks interesting.
Second, its belly overflows with the trash and treasure it's swallowed that way.
Third, its digestion is poor.
In short, it was a monster that was only big—not as threatening as it looked. Getting eaten didn't mean dying right away, and as long as you didn't get noticed in the first place, there was no chance of being attacked.
But I was planning to draw aggro and get eaten by the monster.
Because there was something precious inside it. I had no intention of letting Yeom Hajae burn it, nor of letting the guild take it.
When about five meters remained between me and the monster, I raised my hand high.
Then I pressed two fingers together and set off a flash.
Flash!
At the blinding light, the monster's movements stopped. The head that had been turned toward the fleeing Hunters tilted minutely.
It seemed to have finally registered my presence.
Crackle. Crackle.
I generated a few more sparks.
The monster started to come a little closer, then stopped with a small distance still between us.
Then it bent its legs in front of me.
“…”
The cord-wrapped face suddenly drew close.
The monster craned its neck and crouched flat on the floor. It looked like it was analyzing me.
This feels like… I should show it something.
I trotted out the tricks I'd practiced whenever I was bored.
Making tiny lightning with my fingers.
Drawing pictures with electricity.
Floating a safety pin above my palm.
…
Pop!
Finally, a spark I burst like fireworks scattered prettily.
I checked the monster's reaction.
The monster seemed completely engrossed in the little talent show I'd put on. I couldn't be precise since I couldn't see its expression, but its face felt like it had gotten even closer.
Confirming I'd drawn its attention as planned, I sneaked a glance back. There was no sign of the gnats. Seemed they'd escaped safely.
Good.
Now I just had to get eaten like this.
The problem was that, far from eating me, the monster was sitting still as if waiting for the next performance, but…
It wasn't a big problem.
I whirled around.
There's a saying that when fleeing a wild animal, you shouldn't show it your back.
I don't know whether it's true or not, but anyway, the sight of a fleeing back is supposed to trigger a wild animal's hunting instinct.
So.
Tap!
I deliberately showed the monster my back and broke into a run forward.
The monster, apparently flustered by the sudden flight, flailed in a kneeling posture to grab me.
I only made a show of dodging that a few times before getting caught in the monster's hand at an appropriate moment.
Grip.
“Urk…”
A grip stronger than expected crushed my stomach. Thank goodness my stomach was empty. Otherwise I definitely would've thrown up.
I didn't account for getting squeezed to death…
I braced myself to turn into a Pika-something if the monster put even a little more force into its hand.
Swoosh—.
Fortunately, the monster eased up and lifted me with a moderate grip.
Now it'll put me in its mouth.
I waited for the next move.
“?”
But contrary to my expectation, the monster didn't eat me right away.
Instead of putting me in its mouth, it held me carefully and walked off somewhere.
With its other hand, the monster pulled something out of a cabinet as tall as itself. It was a glass jar shaped like a jam jar.
Is it planning to swallow me down with water?
The mouth of the enormous glass jar came into view.
And then…
Huh?
Wait.
Wait, wait.
Fuck, you want me to go in here?!
As I grabbed the jar's mouth and resisted, the giant hand forcibly shoved me in.
I slid all the way down to the bottom of the glass jar in one go. Sprawled on the bottom, I watched blankly as the lid closed.
The jar was set on a table against the wall. It seemed to be a place for prepping food—there was a knife and a wooden cutting board in front.
Watching the monster recede, I rapped on the glass jar with my hand.
Why won't you eat me?
