I heard footsteps moving away.
He's really leaving me behind?
The instant I hurriedly pushed myself up.
The clump of mud surged over me like a tidal wave in a flash. Slammed back hard, I cracked my head against the bars and went down again.
“Khh!”
The mud writhed and wrapped around my whole body. A heavy, crushing pressure, like being trapped in a swamp.
The stench of a sewer...
All sorts of disgusting things were mixed into the mud. It was a moving sewer, plain and simple.
The mud creeping upward reached my face. Now it was starting to push into my ear canals and my mouth.
I poured everything I had into using my power. From where my hand touched, the smell of scorching gradually spread.
Smoke slowly rose from the mud. The more I used my power, the more my body worked free of it.
Stalled by the counterattack, the mud monster sloshed and shrank itself down. Then it plunged with a splash into the waterway beside us.
Freed from its hold, I dropped straight toward the floor. Bracing a hand against the ground, I dry-heaved.
“Bleagh, hgk, ptooey...”
My mouth was full of nothing but mud. Sewer mud, no less. The only other time I'd tasted it was when I licked Choi Haegang's boot sole.
Barely coming to my senses, I realized I was gripping something in my hand. I must have snatched it while struggling. When I opened my hand, a round, glossy pearl came into view.
[Pearl in the Mud: When consumed, presence temporarily –100%.]
Judging by the window that popped up, it was an artifact.
Similar effect to stealth, huh.
I tucked it into my pocket for now and finally pulled myself up. This was no time to dawdle. If I didn't get out of here fast, I'd starve to death inside the gate.
How do I get out?
I went over to the bars. I'd watched Choi Haegang lock the door. He'd seemed to toss the key on the ground, but no matter how I scanned the other side, the key was nowhere to be seen.
To investigate, I gave the door a light nudge.
But the door swung open without resistance.
Creak.
...? A trap?
Bracing myself, I stepped out beyond the bars. Just in case, I scanned my surroundings, but Choi Haegang was gone. He seemed to have left along with Cap.
Had that Choi Haegang actually slipped up? I didn't know how it had happened, but...
Freedom. A laugh spilled out of my mouth.
“Haha...”
You failed to kill me this time, Choi Haegang.
“Hahahaha!”
I burst out laughing without thinking, then slapped a hand over my mouth.
The detector I'd brought was still on me. All that was left now was to get out without Choi Haegang noticing.
There were no obstacles to hide behind along the path. On top of that, except for the occasional fork, the path stretched out in a straight line.
As I looked around for somewhere suitable, the deep, dark water caught my eye.
“Choi Haegang, do you think that man really killed my dad?”
“Yeah.”
“But, then why did he save me...”
Seeing the kid's troubled face, Choi Haegang answered dryly.
“He's probably dead, so forget about him.”
“!”
“I don't know what's going through your head, but it's all in your imagination.”
“But, what if he really was innocent...!”
“You're the one who asked me to kill him. You hid a knife and followed along, and now you're changing your tune?”
“...”
Just as Seo Sinwoo did, Choi Haegang showed no leniency for being a child.
“I'm not your parent. I've got no reason to humor your whining.”
Choi Haegang turned to look at the kid. With the large man staring down at him expressionlessly, an intimidating air radiated off him.
“If you want to live, follow quietly.”
Poking his face up out of the water, Seo Sinwoo clicked his tongue inwardly.
Tsk, tsk, what a heartless bastard.
Without me around, the mood's a total disaster.
He wanted to go comfort Cap right that second, but for now, not getting caught came first. Watching the two from a distance, the trembling kid couldn't contain his anger and spun around.
Seo Sinwoo hastily ducked his head back into the water. The footsteps rushing off stopped right beside him.
“Eek!”
“?”
“Th-there... there's hair.”
Oops.
Had he submerged too shallowly? His hair must have been floating on the surface. Seo Sinwoo hurried to sink deeper. Choi Haegang was approaching.
He'd hidden for the moment, but at this rate his shape would be plainly visible beneath the water.
[Pearl in the Mud: When consumed, presence temporarily –100%.]
After a moment's deliberation, Seo Sinwoo swallowed the pearl.
Soon, Choi Haegang's voice came through the water, muffled and distorted.
“There's nothing. You must have seen it wrong.”
“No, there was definitely something! It was brown. Like that man.”
“...”
“It's because I killed that man, his ghost...”
It was the moment Choi Haegang gripped his sword to check inside the waterway.
Splash!
Out of nowhere, a fish-type monster leapt up from the water. Jumping high, the fish landed on the path. Caught between its jagged teeth was a brown thread.
Hair?
Had Seo Sinwoo's corpse fallen into the water? Choi Haegang glanced at the terrified kid. He was in a bad enough state already, there was no showing him a human body.
The hunter let his sword drop from his hand and stepped back.
“Let's go.”
The kid followed Choi Haegang, trembling with fear. Never noticing the air bubbles rising to the surface.
Blub, blub.
Damn it, my hair.
Some fish had suddenly latched onto his head. Seo Sinwoo felt at the bitten spot to check, then slowly poked his face out of the water.
The artifact must have worked, because Choi Haegang went on his way without a trace of suspicion.
Phew.
Still, there was no telling how far this effect would hold, so he had to be careful. He swam along behind the two of them. Now that he'd cleared the matter of survival, another craving surfaced.
How do I snatch Cap away?
From the earlier conversation, it seemed the kid missed Seo Sinwoo too.
Just as he was biding his time for an opening, Choi Haegang conveniently started fighting a giant crocodile wielding a whip. Judging by how the detector reacted in time with the monster's movements, the core seemed to be inside that creature's body.
While the hunter fought, the kid was left alone a little ways behind.
Wracking his less-than-impressive brain, Seo Sinwoo dug through the jewelry box. A stick of gum came out. He threw away the contents and unfolded the wrapper.
No writing tools.
He bit his finger to draw blood.
[Im alive
Dont tell Choi Haegang]
It smeared a little, but this much would be legible. The paper was small, so he could only write short messages. He'd just write several of them the same way and pass them along.
Climbing out of the water, Seo Sinwoo crept up behind the kid.
Tap.
The kid, standing still, flinched. He'd been feeling an unaccountable stare for a while now. He looked back, but the dimly stretching waterway held no one.
A chill ran through him. The kid pulled Choi Haegang's coat, draped over his shoulders, tight around himself. Just then, a blood-stained scrap of paper fell from the coat pocket.
Was something like this in the pocket...?
Swallowing hard, the kid picked up the paper. The ordinary-looking gum wrapper was damp with blood and water.
When he unfolded it with trembling hands.
[Im alive
Dont tell Choi Haegang]
“...!”
The letters written in blood were still red. Goosebumps erupted all over his body.
His small head whipped around, scanning his surroundings.
A ghost...!
The image of the man trapped in the mud flashed through his mind. He'd left the door open, but there was every chance the man hadn't escaped the monster. His injuries had been severe, after all.
He hadn't survived. And it was certain he held a grudge against him.
Hoping the hunter would finish the fight quickly, the kid hurled the cursed note away. He crouched down and clutched the cross necklace in both hands, pleading.
A little while later.
Tap.
[Why throw it away
Follow me]
“!”
[You need revenge
I'll help you]
Revenge... on me?
Tap.
[Once youre out
Get away from Choi Haegang]
Get away? Does that mean he's going to kill me?
It was nothing but ominous messages. From the next note on, he hurled them all toward the waterway without even opening them.
The greater his terror of the ghost grew, the more his survival instinct rose. The goal of getting out of the dungeon took over his mind.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
An unknown presence kept circling, brushing against his body. The kid squeezed his eyes shut, his face gone pale. There was nothing to do but stand still and endure it. It was a hellish stretch of time.
Boom!
At the end of the kid's desperate endurance, the giant monster finally toppled. Choi Haegang dug through the corpse to find the core. When he jabbed somewhere with his sword, a black hole spread open. The exit gate.
Choi Haegang turned to look at the kid. His expression was still cold, and drenched in monster blood he looked frightening, but the kid lit up. The face that had seemed nothing but hateful until now felt like a welcome sight.
I did it! We can finally get out...!
Just as he felt relieved.
Plop.
Something dropped at his feet. This note was already unfolded.
[Mo Jueun wants to
go with you]
His own name, written there. One he'd never even told the hunter.
“...Ngh.”
Unable to bear it, the kid clawed at his head.
“Aaaaargh!”
“!”
Choi Haegang rushed over.
“A-a ghost is after me... it says we're going to the underworld together...”
After that, it took quite a long time to soothe the babbling, shivering kid enough to get him outside.
