The Brave Three Mouse Brothers
Once upon a time, in a little village, there lived three mouse brothers.
It was a lovely house with white brick walls, small windows, and pretty yellow curtains.
But one day…
The sky suddenly turned pitch-black, and a massive snake monster burst through it.
“Waaaaah, a monster!”
“Everyone, get inside the house! Stay quiet! Got it?”
Big brother mouse shouted.
The little mice were so scared they nearly burst into tears, but they held it in and answered.
“Yeah… big brother.”
So the three mice closed the curtains, turned off the lights, and hugged each other so tightly not even a breath could be heard.
When the monster’s shadow swept over the roof, they squeezed their eyes shut and said not a single word.
After the monster passed, they were as if nothing had happened, and they could play in the sunlight again.
That was the story of the brave three mouse brothers.
You have to remember this!
The bravest thing in the world isn’t fighting — it’s living quietly.
***
Kugugugu.
The walls rattled, the ceiling shook.
Fluorescent lights flickered, scraping the air with a metallic screech.
“Hiiik… oppa, I’m scared.”
“It’s fine. Nayeong-ah… Oppa’s here. So be quiet, okay?”
Oppa Jongsu covered his little sister Nayeong’s mouth with his hand.
The heartbeat pulsing through her skin sounded like a bomb countdown.
The apartment was caught in the monster’s claws.
Concrete walls vibrated. The windows trembled as if they would shatter any second.
Outside, a heavy breathing sound came in.
It wasn’t wind. It was the monster’s breath.
“Shiiiiiiik…”
With each exhalation, the air tore open and dust swirled.
“…Shh.”
Jongsu whispered with only his lips.
“Right now, you’re a mouse. Got it?”
His sister nodded.
Tears slid down her cheeks and landed on Jongsu’s hand.
That small “tok” sound was so loud it felt like the whole world had stopped.
The monster’s shadow slid across the wall.
The ceiling shuddered. The floor held its breath.
And then the bookshelf collapsed, and a picture book fell.
On the old, wrinkled cover, a single clear letter:
*The Three Mouse Brothers Who Hide Quietly Under the Monster*
The kids held their breath again.
This wasn’t just a fairy tale.
This was the very first survival textbook these kids who still carried books instead of guns had to learn.
“Oppa… but what about Dad and Mom? Are they okay?”
At Nayeong’s words, Jongsu closed his eyes for a moment.
The metal creaking from upstairs had gone silent for a second.
“Don’t worry. They’re on the floor above for a little bit. They said there’s a shelter radio there, so they probably sent an SOS.”
“Really…?”
“Yeah. They’ll come back down soon. So right now, we hold our breath and wait.”
Nayeong’s eyes were already glassy.
Jongsu wanted to cry too.
But if he fell apart, so would his sister. One sound, and the monster would turn straight toward them.
So he gritted his teeth and forced a smile.
His face muscles locked up, like a machine faking an expression.
His teeth clicked together with tiny sounds, but he swallowed even that.
Then—
Kung—
Another shock hit, as if a giant hand was squeezing the apartment again.
“Kyaa?!”
“Hold on! Don’t fall!”
Under the table, in a narrow gap.
The siblings hugged each other and crouched.
The ceiling shook. A glass cup crashed.
Kwaaang—!
Shards sliced his face.
Burning dust and blood mixed, stinging his nose.
Jongsu wrapped his arms around his sister’s head.
His fingertips went white.
Even through that, he covered their mouths with his palms so no screams would escape.
…And a few minutes later.
The shaking stopped.
Silence.
The whole apartment was as still as if holding its breath.
Drip.
Something fell.
“Ah… my teddy bear…”
Beyond the table, next to a toy box.
One brown ear was half-buried in dust.
A small hand reached out instinctively.
He just wanted to get his familiar doll back. That was proof the world was still okay.
But the air twisted.
Light vanished.
All sound was sucked away.
“…Huh?”
“N-Nayeong!”
His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
The air itself felt frozen.
Then, a single eye appeared by the window.
A giant pupil covered the entire window.
Not through glass — a gaze that pierced the whole world.
No iris, just an unfathomable ocean of black.
Like a black hole, once you fell in, you could never come back.
A humming vibration pierced his ears.
It was noise without meaning or purpose.
For a second, Jongsu’s heart stopped.
A headache exploded in his head. Ashy flashes burst in his vision.
That eye said nothing.
It was simply looking at the entire human species at once.
Even without wind, the curtains fluttered. Even without broken glass, the vibration spread.
It twisted space itself just by looking.
And that eye blinked slowly.
In that instant, Jongsu felt it.
His and his sister’s existence was peeling away a single layer from this world.
They were going to die.
Clearly, they were going to die soon.
He hadn’t even gone to first grade yet, so no “hero timer.”
But strangely, every single thing from that morning until now replayed perfectly in his mind.
The morning sunlight. The bread on the table. Dad and Mom’s laughter. Nayeong’s girlish giggle. All of it slid across his mind like transparent film.
Then, before fear, survival instinct surged.
His eyes turned toward the living room behind, the front door.
The door they came and went through every morning with school bags.
“If I go out there… maybe I can escape that eye.”
That thought filled his head.
His legs trembled, but his body reacted first.
One step. Another.
Every time his toes touched the floor, dust broke and scattered.
A living vibration climbed up his feet.
“O-Oppa…”
“…!”
“Save me…!”
But then—
Squelch.
The sight of his crying little sister on the floor hit him.
Urine soaked her panties, her tear-streaked face pale.
In that moment, something inside Jongsu snapped with a sound.
Crunch.
His small hand clenched into a fist. His heart raced like crazy.
Slowly, he lifted his head. He met the monster’s gaze. The eye reacted.
The monster tilted its neck back. All three eyes spun at once.
Its huge beak slowly pulled back, then swung forward.
The instinctive stance right before striking.
The kid couldn’t explain it, but he instinctively knew.
*It’s about to bite me.*
His body shook.
His legs went limp, and he peed himself like his sister.
But he didn’t back away. His sister was right behind him, still looking for him even in this situation.
“Nayeong-ah… go out the door.”
“W-What about you?”
“I’ll handle it. Go! Now!!”
He screamed until his throat tore.
His voice was a sob mixed with desperation.
Then, a glinting toy knife caught his eye next to the teddy bear.
The toy sword he always used for monster play.
The handle was cracked, the blade plastic, but right now it was all he had.
“Run! Run as fast as you can!!”
“Kyaaah—!!”
Finally, the monster’s beak came flying toward them.
The window exploded. Glass shards rained down.
At the same time, Nayeong turned exactly as he said and dashed past him.
A tiny gasp brushed his ear.
That tremor traveled straight into his heart.
And he charged forward with all his strength.
He gripped the toy knife with both hands and swung it with every ounce of power.
In comics, that’s how you win.
No, he had to win.
No matter what, if you refuse to give up protecting the precious, miracles rise.
You can do anything if you fight with courage.
“Ugh… ugh!”
That’s what I was told…!
Even once would be enough.
Even if it was just for Nayeong.
Just a little longer, just one second!
But this was a world where heroes like that were discarded by the setting.
Miracles don’t work here.
Kids’ dreams always shattered in front of reality.
The rule of this world was simple.
Resisting monsters only delays death a little.
Even that kid’s hope was about to be crushed.
…It should have been.
“…Huh?”
The tip of the toy knife touched something.
But — nothing happened.
Time seemed to freeze. Air, the monster’s scream — everything vanished.
Jongsu cautiously opened his eyes and realized.
The blade he was pointing wasn’t at the monster.
There, standing like a shadow, was someone wrapped in a dark cape.
A black silhouette that swallowed the light.
And on its face, a pure white mask.
Then, a low, gentle voice came.
“You fought to save your sister?”
“…!”
“Amazing, kid.”
There was an oddly warm resonance in that voice.
And his gaze naturally moved beyond it.
The window had shattered.
Glass and dust floated in the air, but right in the center the monster’s beak was buried there.
Yet everything had stopped dead.
As if there was an ‘unreachable space’ between them and the monster.
“Hi… ero?”
“Yeah.”
“Real… hero…?”
“Yeah. So you can relax now, kid… I mean, Jongsu.”
The moment his name was called, Jongsu’s eyes trembled.
It was the moment the one word he wanted to believe most became reality.
And the hero lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap.
“Um?!”
“W-Wah… candy!”
Then, sweet candy fell into both kids’ mouths.
The tears stopped instantly.
Clothes that were filthy with dust turned spotless in a blink, and the air even smelled fresh.
“I heard your parents talking about you.”
“Mom, Dad?! Are they safe?”
“Yeah. They’re already waiting for you downstairs.”
At that, Jongsu and Nayeong looked at each other at the same time.
Instead of tears, laughter burst out. The little siblings’ shoulders trembled as they hugged each other tightly.
But that peace didn’t last long.
“Kyaaah—!!”
The monster roared again.
Its beak pulled back, and weird waves rattled the air.
It sensed it instinctively.
That being who had stopped its attack.
This wasn’t just prey anymore — it was an enemy that had to be torn apart.
So this time, without hesitation, it poured all its strength into driving its beak down again.
But the hero didn’t even look at that monster.
Instead, he looked down at the little boy who had tried to protect his sister and asked,
“Jongsu.”
“…Yes?”
“How should I handle that bad monster?”
“!!”
Because repaying the courage he showed…
“Kill it for me!”
He grinned.
“Yeah.”
That was a hero’s virtue.
Kwa-jik—!