The Ruined Family Trip (4)
Hyunwoo tapped Iseo's rigid shoulder and snapped out a quick order.
"Iseo. Get into the tent right now and wake up Noona and the others."
"O-Oppa... what about you?"
"Hurry!"
Under the urgency in his eyes, Iseo swallowed hard and nodded.
She scrambled to her feet and bolted for the tent pitched deeper on the terrace.
Hyunwoo strode straight toward the pile of debris he had cleared earlier.
A thick pipe—maybe a water main—caught his eye. He closed his hand around the cold steel. The solid weight of it brought a small measure of relief.
In that same instant, purple fog billowed thickly from beyond the boundary line...
Kieeeeek—!
A scream that tore at the ears ripped through the air, and a grotesque silhouette forced its way out of the fog beyond the boundary.
It looked like some unholy fusion of a giant centipede and a crayfish. Glossy dark-violet carapace armored every inch of its elongated body. Dozens of razor-sharp legs glittered as it clacked its jaws. Twisted teeth jutted densely from both upper and lower jaws of its snout.
Fuck... whatever the hell that is, it looks like absolute shit...!
Hyunwoo fought down the instinctive terror. He adjusted his grip on the steel pipe so the sweat already slicking his palms wouldn't make it slip.
The monster seemed unable to cross the blue-glowing boundary easily; it clacked its mandibles in clear irritation.
Clack... clack...
Then, as if sighing, it exhaled a thick stream of purple fog from between its jaws.
Chiiiiik—!
The damp violet mist surged straight toward where Hyunwoo stood.
"Ghk...!"
He clenched his teeth, but a pained groan still escaped. His nerves screamed—every inch of his body felt as if it had been sliced open with knives and then doused in alcohol, a searing, stinging agony.
Fuck!!! This hurts like hell!!!
Yet he did not give ground.
There was nowhere to run. Behind him were the people he had to protect. He kept repeating that fact inside his head, forcing his mind away from the pain as best he could.
If he fell back now, the monster would simply push forward, fog pouring out, and swallow the tent. He refused to imagine what would come after that...
How long did he have to hold? Every second stretched into a minute. Sweat already poured down his face from the sheer effort of enduring.
Teeth locked, he locked eyes with the creature. If it charged, he would stop it with his own body if he had to.
He only needed to last until his eldest sister woke. Hyunjin would think of something—she always did.
"W-What's going on?! Hyunwoo!"
The tent flap tore open. Hyunjin, Soyul, and Hyuna came tumbling out in a rush. Their eyes found Hyunwoo's back—drenched in purple fog, locked in a standoff with the beast.
"Hyunwoo!"
Soyul screamed when she saw his arms and face flushed crimson, sweat cascading down him under the fog's torment. Hyunjin spun, searching frantically, and grabbed for a water bottle by the burner, intending to splash him—but her hands shook too hard to seize it cleanly.
No... Oppa...!
Standing right behind him, Iseo watched his arms and back tremble with pain. Her heart hammered wildly. The sight of him enduring everything to shield them slammed into her mind like a blow.
I have to do something... even Oppa can't keep taking that forever!
She stamped her foot in frantic impatience. She hated her own helplessness; the thought that she might lose him dried the blood in her veins.
What can I do...?! Anything...!
Then a memory flashed through her mind like lightning.
Rocks...!
Her gaze dropped to the ground. The broken concrete chunks and rock fragments they had stacked neatly while clearing debris earlier came into sharp focus.
Those are too small... yeah, I need something this size...
Her eyes locked onto a concrete block the size of a human head—heavy enough that even a grown man would need both hands. Without hesitation she darted sideways, hands already coated in dust, and heaved the massive chunk off the pile.
The rough grit and solid weight filled her palms...
Iseo opened her chest wide and settled into form. Right foot planted firm, she tucked the heavy concrete block tight against the right side of her neck, just under her jaw. Every muscle in her body drew taut like a bowstring.
She was no longer an active athlete—no, even a current competitor would struggle to lift a block this size one-handed. It wasn't just the weight; the bulk and center of gravity made it nearly impossible. Yet Iseo ignored the concrete scraping her cheek raw and locked into position as if none of that mattered.
Deep inside her body, an unfamiliar mana began to boil up. She felt a heavy, explosive power course through every limb—power that felt ready to smash through anything in its path.
"Iseo?!"
Hyunjin's startled cry came from behind, but Iseo heard nothing. Only the loathsome head of the monster tormenting Hyunwoo stood out in perfect clarity.
She calculated the distance, turned her back for a moment to set her stance, then exploded off the ground, whipping her hips through a violent rotation. Power surged up from her lower body and flooded through her frame. The instant she faced the beast head-on, every ounce of force in her body concentrated into her throwing hand.
Paaaang—!
A sound like air itself rupturing cracked across the terrace.
The head-sized concrete block left her fingertips and streaked through the air in a dead-straight line—like a cannon shell fired from a gun.
No... it was launched.
The monster, entirely focused on spewing fog at Hyunwoo, never sensed the projectile racing toward it. By the time it noticed, it was already too late...
Kwaaaaaang—!
An explosive impact. The solid concrete smashed dead-center into the left side of the creature's head.
Kiaaaaaaak—!
A grotesque, desperate shriek tore from the beast as its head snapped sideways—no, was forced sideways. The sheer physical shock sent its upper body reeling. The fog it had been pouring out scattered in every direction and cut off at once.
The dark-violet carapace that had looked so solid moments before shattered, exposing the yellowish flesh beneath.
"Haa... haa...!"
The crushing pressure of the fog vanished. Hyunwoo gasped for air and snapped his eyes wide.
What the hell... was that just now?
He spun around in shock. There stood Iseo, face flushed scarlet, breathing hard, already gripping a second concrete block.
"Iseo...!"
"Oppa, stay still!"
The moment she confirmed the first throw had broken the monster's momentum, she prepared the second. As the creature shook its half-shattered head, trying to regain its senses, Iseo's second form locked into place.
"Die! You bastard—!!"
Shuuuuk—!
The second block flew true, slamming straight into the soft flesh exposed inside the broken carapace.
Peok—!
It punched deep into the head cavity and turned everything inside to pulp. The monster's eyes twitched grotesquely. It never even managed a proper scream—its whole body convulsed and twisted, then collapsed to the ground.
As its life faded, the corpse began to rise in thin wisps of fog, crumbling slowly into violet powder that drifted away.
Silence.
In the still, deep-purple void, only the group's ragged breathing remained.
"Haa... haa..."
Iseo dropped her stance and stared blankly at her own trembling right hand.
Hyunwoo lowered the steel pipe a fraction, eyes moving between the fading traces of the monster and the girl who had just destroyed it.
Iseo... I am never pissing her off. Ever.
"Whoa... holy shit, Yun Iseo..."
Hyuna, watching from behind, muttered with her mouth hanging open. Hyunjin and Soyul stared at Iseo with equally stunned faces.
Hyunwoo wiped the sweat from his face and let out a dry laugh. He had known she was a former athlete, but he had never imagined she still had this kind of power left.
She was a monster even in her prime... but this much even now? Did the muscle never leave? Is this what they call functional strength...?
Only later would he learn the truth: Iseo's monstrous athletic sense, amplified by mana, had produced destructive force no different from an actual cannon.
"Iseo."
"Y-Yes?! Oppa! Um... was that too much...? I really didn't mean to swear, I just... I..."
All the earlier ferocity vanished. Her face flushed pink as she waved her hands in flustered denial.
Hyunwoo tossed the pipe aside, stepped close, and gently ruffled her hair.
"No. Without you we all would have been in real trouble. You did great, Iseo."
"Hehe......"
One word of praise and a single stroke of his hand, and Iseo broke into a bashful grin.
Being petted feels so good! You did it, Yun Iseo!
The monster was down. The crisis had passed.
Meanwhile, Hyunjin's mind was still racing.
This incident had proven beyond any doubt that this place was not friendly. If they hadn't set a watch, if Hyunwoo hadn't been awake...
Someone—maybe several of them—could have died...
I was too complacent... Of course this isn't a normal, safe space. Stupid, stupid bitch...
That centipede-like thing had almost certainly been drawn by the smell of food and the noise. The thought of her own carelessness—allowing them to drink, of all things—and the horrifying possibilities it could have caused made her shudder.
Even just sitting around eating was a mistake to begin with...
We got lucky this time. I have to account for every possibility... I can't lose anyone...
Ever since their parents died, she had carried the weight of the eldest sibling's duties on her shoulders. The only reason she had endured was because she truly loved her family. She bit the inside of her cheek—raw ever since the funeral day—and forced her mind back into focus.
You can do this, Kang Hyunjin. You've managed this far...
Watching her habitually bite her cheek, Hyunwoo felt a heavy ache in his chest.
I wish Noona wouldn't blame herself so hard... She's still thinking she has to carry everything alone. We're adults now too...
Then Hyunjin began issuing orders to the group.
"Hyunwoo, you rest in the tent for a bit. Soyul, stay inside and look after him. Hyuna, keep an eye out for anything approaching. Iseo, come with me—we're checking inside the pension."
"Okay... Hyunwoo? Does it hurt a lot?"
"No, I'm fine now."
"Still, go lie down inside the tent for a while. And take all your clothes off..."
"My clothes...?"
"The smoke might still be in the fabric. We should shake everything out, right?"
"Ah... yeah."
Iseo suddenly found herself both curious about what would happen inside the tent and jealous of Soyul's nursing profession.
Unnie's so unfair... I want to nurse him too...!
"Iseo, maybe you should rest a little as well...?"
"No! Unnie, let's go!"
Embarrassed at even having thought such a thing, Iseo hurried after Hyunjin.
