A Brush with Death
“You son of a bitch. You really want to die?”
A man walked down the alley with his hood pulled low and a white mask covering his face.
“Just gonna live some half-assed life and croak, is that it?”
He kept muttering under his breath, fingers toying with the fruit knife crudely wrapped in foil inside his pocket.
“How dare you, in front of me…”
A disbelieving, hollow laugh escaped him.
That was how it started. One single line from a teammate who had died because of the man’s own mistake mid-game.
As if the bastard didn’t even know it was his fault. What kind of life did he think he was living in the real world, anyway?
Honestly, the teammate hadn’t been wrong. If the man had just bolted without hesitation, the teammate who rushed in to cover him would still be alive.
“Coward who can’t even drop his home address.”
If he had just owned the mistake, or at least blamed someone else first, things never would have escalated this far.
But he hadn’t wanted to. Understanding it in his head and actually admitting fault were two completely different things.
No. Even if it was my fault, you still don’t get to say that.
The man ground his molars and muttered low. There had been one line among the teammate’s insults that he truly could not stand.
A guy like you? Even if you died, nobody would cry.
“…Piece of shit.”
It had hit the bullseye.
Years ago, when he was deep in online gambling, the man had secretly taken out loans under his family’s names and ruined them. That was why every last relative had cut ties. Abandoned, more accurately.
Because even then, he had refused to admit he was wrong.
So now there was no one left around him. Years spent locked in a tiny room doing nothing but gaming—that was his miserable reality.
Nobody would mourn me, huh? Then I’ll just kill every last one of you. And I’ll scream it to the whole world.
That he had killed people because of the teammate who spat those words.
Even if no one would shed tears for him, he could always make people shed tears because of him.
The moment that thought clicked into place, a thrill ran through him. He grabbed the knife at once, seized by the sudden conviction that he was some kind of genius.
All right. Let’s see.
His eyes flashed as he scanned the path ahead. It was late enough that the alley was completely empty.
A shame, really. The regret that he should have come out a little earlier had just begun to form when—
There he was.
Far down the alley, a man wearing a lucky pouch at his waist was walking toward him.
Crazy bastard. Who the hell wears a lucky pouch at this hour? Tch.
Looked like someone out for a late-night stroll.
I’m this miserable. This depressed and pissed off.
The happy look on the approaching man’s face only made his guts twist harder. What the hell could have happened to make him look like that? He hated it.
SeoulProbiotic128. This guy’s dying because of you.
He recited the teammate’s ID and walked forward slowly.
Naturally. As naturally as possible.
That way the target wouldn’t notice.
Inside his pocket he began peeling the foil off the knife. A soft crinkling sound.
Shit… Why won’t it come off?
The target glanced at the fidgeting pocket. Suspicion flickered in his eyes; his posture shifted into wariness.
He can’t run. Not now.
The distance was perfect for a sudden rush. Any later and it would be too late.
“D-die…!!”
Finally ripping the foil free, the man raised the knife. The target’s face flooded with panic as he threw his arms up, but it was already too late.
“Uwaaah!”
The blue-glinting blade was about to carve into his face when—
“How dare you lay a hand—!!!”
The target’s face suddenly twisted into something monstrous, a visage of pure malevolence, and a roar tore out of him.
A voice that was neither male nor female—something that made the skin crawl—slammed into the attacker’s skull like lightning, and a horrifying vision flooded in with it.
— Gyaaaah!! Uwaaagh!! —
Dozens, hundreds, thousands of snakes were tearing people apart while they were still alive.
They clasped their hands and begged desperately for mercy, screaming to be saved, but no one listened.
Every single one of them was dying in agony. The man felt as though he were standing right in the middle of it.
“U-uwaaaaaagh!!!”
The sheer cruelty of the vision shattered his mind. The ramen he had eaten while gaming earlier came surging back up.
“Uwek, kkeeeegh…!”
He clutched a utility pole and vomited violently—the same man who, mere seconds ago, had been trying to kill him.
Park Su-hwan was speechless at the thought that he had nearly died. His heart hammered like a mad thing.
This can’t be real…
Whatever was wrong with that man, Su-hwan had nearly become the victim of a random stabbing.
Crazy…
The fruit knife rolling on the ground caught his eye.
“Urgh, eugh!”
He had no idea why the attacker was suddenly like this. What he did know was that he needed to keep his wits about him right now.
He had survived the first attempt by pure luck. There was no guarantee a second one would go the same way.
And I’m already absolute garbage at fighting!
Su-hwan forced his trembling legs to move and kicked the knife far away so the man couldn’t easily grab it once he recovered.
“Ahaha! Oppa, seriously~”
“That’s why I got mad at my friends.”
“Don’t lie. This guy’s bluffing is next-level, I swear.”
A noisy clamor rose from behind. People were coming, chattering loudly.
A deserted alley at dawn. Under normal circumstances the noise would have drawn complaints. Right now, though, he had never been so glad to hear anything in his life.
“H-help me!!”
“Haa…”
When Park Su-hwan woke the next morning he clutched his throbbing head. The fact that he had nearly been the victim of a random murder the night before was still vivid.
No—truthfully, he had been so shocked he hadn’t slept properly at all.
Why? Because even though he was the victim, the police had eyed him with suspicion. They kept looking at the wrecked state of the attacker and the long cut on the man’s hand.
“Obviously cut himself trying to pull the knife out. What the hell… Tch.”
Furious to the roots of his hair, Su-hwan had blown up at the officers. Anyone could see he was the victim, yet they were fussing over the attacker instead, and it made his blood boil.
Even the bystanders who had watched the whole thing sided with him and piled on. Given the situation at the scene, Su-hwan had simply looked like a guy out for a walk.
“Still makes no sense no matter how many times I think about it.”
If the man hadn’t suddenly lost his mind, Su-hwan would have crossed the Samdocheon on the spot.
And then the reapers who came looking for his soul, along with Bari Gongju, would have torn him to shreds.
“Uuuugh…”
Just imagining it made every hair on his body stand on end. Now that leaking heavenly secrets had guaranteed him a ticket to hell, he wanted to die as late as possible… as late as humanly possible.
“Ugh. Forget it!”
He had given a very detailed statement at the station. They said they would contact him once things progressed, so he would just have to wait and see.
He heaved a long sigh, kicked off the blankets, and sat up. His eyes met the divine statue of Okhwang Sangje.
“Wait a second…”
Had the spirit helped him?
A sudden odd feeling struck Su-hwan. The way the man had suddenly screamed and vomited had definitely not looked normal.
And of all moments, it had happened right then.
“Hmm…”
He had opened his mouth three times now. So he could no longer claim for certain that no god stood by his side. Meeting the statue’s gaze, he murmured carefully.
“…General-nim?”
Naturally, no answer came.
“If it’s you, General-nim, make the candle flame flicker.”
Su-hwan stared at the candle beside the statue. Once again, nothing happened.
“Be honest. If you say it was you, General-nim, I’ll add another peach tower right here. Plums too.”
Contrary to his hopes, the candle flame did not so much as waver. Looking at the total lack of reaction, it probably hadn’t been the General.
Or… then who the hell was it, really…
Su-hwan shook his head, picked up the bowl of sacred water, and headed for the kitchen.
Whoever it had been, if they had saved his life, he was genuinely grateful.
Before he knew it, ten o’clock arrived and the reserved client showed up. A woman. She poured out her romantic woes without pause.
“That’s right! You have to put in the effort. That’s how the other person comes around!”
“B-but still!”
“But nothing… You said he has zero interest in you. Then you have to seduce him. Make his eyes roll back for you.”
What kind of rotten attitude was it to do absolutely nothing and still expect the other person to come crawling?
Another difficult client today. He was just about to swallow a heavy sigh when—
Brrrriiiing!
“Honestly, don’t you think that much effort would be enough to win him over?”
Yeah. No.
Su-hwan ignored her and checked his phone.
All of a sudden…?
The old man had never once called this early in the morning. An ominous feeling that something must have happened crept over him.