Stepping Back into Hell
I, all too familiar with it, inevitably stepped back into that hell once more. Flames rising high. The faint scent of blood lingering at the tip of my nose. Screams echoing from all directions from those dear to me. And before my eyes, a warm life cooling. The plain yet bitter nightmare from 18 years ago unfolds again.
No, nightmare isn't the right word. This is an undeniable fragment of my life.
"Jeonghyeon... run, quick! Mom's fine—."
My mother, who kept shouting at me to flee, had her abdomen pierced. With trembling eyes, she looked at me without so much as a scream. She just mouthed the words.
Go. Hurry and go. Run.
That silent plea didn't last long before fading away. Seojin, who had pierced my mother's stomach—no, what used to be Seojin—rose and turned toward me. Looking into his already clouded eyes brought back a flood of memories we'd shared. Those brilliant, warm memories had once given me the strength and will to live.
But now, they've become chains binding me instead.
"......."
What a wretched, horrific scene. Every time I recall it, my breathing falters, my heart crushes, and my eyes tremble uncontrollably. A sight that could shatter a person's mind and bury them endlessly in the past. A pain that could make one want to drown forever in those days.
But I'm not afraid. To be precise, I can't be afraid.
Because...
"...I'm here."
This is a scene all too familiar to me.
Even now, when I lie down to sleep, this horrific sight sometimes resurfaces. It's been that way nonstop since 18 years ago. My father's arm scatters into the air. My mother loses her life to Seojin, turned erosion entity. And weak-bodied and -minded me desperately flees.
This tragedy has repeated dozens—no, perhaps hundreds of times already. And so, as I endlessly ran from it, I eventually realized.
That fleeing from the past is meaningless.
This tragedy is my history. Proof of my life. The driving force that moves me and the root that brought me to this present.
No matter how horrific it is. No matter how heartbreaking.
No matter how wretched, painful, heart-shattering, or degrading it reduces me to—something less than human.
I can never forget this moment.
And I've vowed to everyone that I won't.
So how could I fear the past?
I've never once escaped this hell.
I walk step by step toward Seojin, now an erosion entity. He growls without a hint of hesitation and thrusts that vicious hand toward my heart.
And I don't dodge.
-Crunch!
With the sound of something bursting, Seojin's hand tears open my left chest. But strangely, no pain comes. I don't know why. Maybe because this is just an illusion conjured by the Nightmare Slime Swarm. Or perhaps the pain has worn away after being ground down so many times.
Doesn't matter which.
As my consciousness fades once more, I feel a damp sensation at my eyes and tilt my head, rubbing them.
"......."
Hot, red tears of blood stained my fingers.
A ruined street. Acrid smoke rising. A field of cold corpses scattered everywhere.
"Hah... hngh...!"
Karen panted raggedly as she kept running. She couldn't remember when she'd started. Her heart pounded like it would burst, but she couldn't stop. If she did, the ones chasing her would really rip her heart out.
The sudden disaster shattering her peaceful days had taken everything from the girl. All a frail girl like her could do was flee endlessly from the erosion entities.
But the thought kept rising: to just let go, give up. If she stopped—just once—it might all be easier—.
"H-Hey, don't stop!"
A voice from beside her snapped her fraying mind back. A voice already ragged from disrupted breathing. But it brimmed with raw will to survive.
Gasping for air, Karen turned her head right. There, gripping her hand and fleeing the death line with her, was a boy. One she'd never even heard the name of, let alone introduced herself to. Maybe they'd met a few times before—or perhaps just today.
But Karen couldn't let go of his hand. In that moment, it felt like the only lifeline saving her life.
Vowing never to release it, she clung desperately to the nameless boy's hand.
But Karen's frail stamina quickly hit its limit. Her body wouldn't move.
"I... I can't anymore...!"
As Karen gasped it out, the boy fell silent for a moment, scanning desperately around. Then, spotting something, his face brightened.
"...Just a bit more. Hang in there."
He yanked her hand, pulling her somewhere.
They arrived at an alley with a half-smashed wardrobe toppled over.
"Here. Hide in this."
Into the wardrobe—big enough for one child—the boy shoved Karen.
"W-What about you...?"
The boy didn't answer her trembling question.
"...Don't come out no matter what. Got it?"
Karen dimly realized what he was thinking. Strangely, the first thought in her head was:
Ah, good. I can live.
She felt relieved. On the brink of life and death, morality twisted into something irrelevant. Shamefully, she wanted to survive.
The boy looked at her and gave a small smile. Releasing her hand, he mouthed something faintly.
No sound reached Karen, but he clearly said:
-I liked you.
And the moment their hands parted...
.........
........
.......
.....
...
..
.
"....!"
Karen screamed silently and bolted upright.
"W-Wah! Warn a girl before you barge in. You scared me."
What was this situation? Just moments ago, she'd been...
"......."
Catching her breath, Karen slowly looked around. No screams anywhere, no rising flames. No bloodstains on the ground, no pain in her legs that felt ready to burst. The boy who'd held her hand was gone.
Instead, there was Park Jeonghyeon, stroking his own chest with one hand.
Why, though, did her right hand feel so warm? Tilting her head down, she saw Park Jeonghyeon's hand firmly gripping hers.
.....
"...C-Crazy!?"
Karen jumped back, yanking her hand away like it burned. The warmth that had heated her hand faded quickly.
"I told you not to touch me without permission!"
Karen growled, and Park Jeonghyeon let out a hollow laugh in response.
"Jeez, unbelievable. You grabbed my hand first. You looked wiped, so I lent it."
"I...?"
"Yeah. Gripped it so hard I thought it'd break. Must've been one hell of a memory, huh?"
Only then did Karen piece together what happened. For some unknown reason, the Nightmare Slime Swarm's corpse had exploded, forcing her to relive that horrific memory.
"H-How long was I out?"
"Rough guess, about 30 minutes."
She'd thought hours passed. It felt no different from a nightmare.
"But you pulled through in the end. I knew you'd beat it."
Saying that, Park Jeonghyeon stood and offered his hand. Staring at it blankly, Karen suddenly wondered.
That frail boy who'd held her hand and run with her—what happened to him after?
"......."
Probably died. She was the only survivor from the village that day.
"Not getting up?"
"...I am."
Answering curtly, Karen took his hand and stood. Today, the warmth from his hand felt especially comforting.
"So, that's really the end of it? You said that Nightmare Slime Swarm was the boss, right?"
Karen, who'd stood holding my hand, scratched the back of her head awkwardly, avoiding my eyes as she asked.
"For real. I told you—I know everything about this dungeon."
"Oh, yeah? So that's why you freaked out when you didn't know the boss explodes after dying."
"Well..."
I couldn't retort to Karen's snide jab. It was undeniable fact that my carelessness caused this mess.
What's the real reason, though?
While Karen battled her trauma, I'd speculated on why the Nightmare Slime Swarm exploded, but nothing came to mind. Maybe some unknown factor I didn't know about, or a rare special event? No clue.
"Sorry. My bad. I'll watch out more, so cool it, yeah?"
"Not mad."
Karen's lip twitched green with amusement for a split second as she replied. Yeah, that sly upward curl—definitely not mad. I'd worried something might linger from this, but seeing that eased my mind.
"Alright, time to claim our hard-earned reward?"
With a small chuckle, I headed to the coffin where the Nightmare Slime Swarm had slumbered.
Something to enable my Limit Break should be inside.
"You look like a grave robber."
"Shut it."
Brushing off Karen's quip, I unhesitatingly cracked open the coffin.