The Serpent's Verdict
A colossal roar, reverberating through the entire layer as it echoed out of the forest.
At that ferocious cry, ordinary people fainted without even managing a scream, while Shin Jae-jun and his subordinate froze in place, too paralyzed to even think of fleeing.
"Wh-what the...?!"
"B-bro?!"
The panicked voices of Shin Jae-jun and his lackey rang out through the woods.
Snapping out of it late, Shin Jae-jun hurriedly tried to move.
"Damn it...! Run!"
"R-run? B-bro, what about these guys...?"
"Fuck! You got time to worry about those bastards right now?! Don't you see the situation?! We barely have time to save our own asses...!"
Shin Jae-jun's shout cut off abruptly.
He had spotted scarlet eyes glaring at him from beyond the underbrush.
"Sh-shit... fuck...."
Those glaring crimson reptilian eyes.
Suddenly, Shin Jae-jun recalled that day three years ago.
The day he first realized his true nature and began his full descent into crime.
That single pair of eyes staring at him dredged up faded memories of his once-pure past.
Though those memories weren't exactly beautiful nostalgia.
"B-bro!"
His subordinate called out to Shin Jae-jun, who stood rooted, unable to move forward or back.
At the urgent voice calling him, Shin Jae-jun snapped to his senses.
The instant he tried to bolt, those scarlet eyes moved first.
"Gah!"
He couldn't even react.
In the blink of an eye, a scream erupted from his subordinate behind him.
Whirling around, Shin Jae-jun saw his lackey dangling limply in midair.
"G-gaaah─!!!"
A massive snake gripped his subordinate in its jaws.
A three-headed serpent, no less.
Its bulk loomed like a mountain, its body so long the end vanished from sight.
Before he knew it, the serpent's enormous coils encircled the clearing like a living wall.
"B-bro! S-s-s-save me─!!!"
The left and right heads clamped onto his subordinate's arms and legs, tugging like they were competing over a toy.
His subordinate floated helplessly in the air, shrieking in agony.
And no matter the peril his lackey faced, Shin Jae-jun couldn't budge an inch.
Because the central head fixed him with a silent stare, poised to lunge if he so much as twitched a finger.
'Fuck... floor boss? Area boss? What the hell is a monster like this doing in the forest zone?'
Shin Jae-jun couldn't even guess the beast's rank with his own power level.
He only knew it had no business being on this upper floor.
"G-gaaah─! It's t-tt-tearing...! Bro, it's ripping apart...! S-save m─!!!"
A gruesome crack echoed with the wretched scream.
Shin Jae-jun cautiously shifted only his eyes and saw his subordinate's body finally give way under the strain, snapping with a sickening pop.
Something crimson rained down like a downpour.
"Urk...."
Shin Jae-jun swallowed the bile surging up his throat.
Even for someone like him, who'd seen plenty of ugly sights, this blatant gore was a first.
The left head, claiming the larger share, gleefully shook its mouthful of limbs.
Another splatter of red.
Undeterred, the right head calmly gulped down its portion.
Not satisfied, it eyed the left head's prize.
Soon, the two heads snarled at each other.
At this trivial spectacle, Shin Jae-jun finally lost it and vomited violently.
"Bleurgh... bleeech──!!!"
The central head watched Shin Jae-jun impassively from start to finish.
It stared silently as he heaved up every last bit of food from before entering the labyrinth.
"...Fuck, fuck...."
Wiping his mouth frantically, Shin Jae-jun stared up at the monster ahead with a dazed, vacant expression.
"Damn it... goddammit...."
The beast merely gazed at him from beginning to end, making no move to touch him.
Did it have no intention to kill? Yet the murderous aura it exuded at the slightest twitch suggested otherwise.
For Shin Jae-jun, the monster's demeanor was maddening, driving him to the brink.
That silent, glaring gaze was horror incarnate.
Any horror flick he'd seen paled in comparison.
After an eternity of this staring contest, Shin Jae-jun's patience broke first.
"Rotten... you monster bastard! What do you want?! What the hell do you want from me?! If you're gonna kill me, do it! If not, let me go!"
The monster finally reacted to his near-suicidal outburst.
Not the central head that had stared so long, but the left one.
Shaaa──!!!
As it lunged forward with a menacing hiss, Shin Jae-jun convulsed in terror.
How could he not flinch when a head several times his size thrust right in his face?
Shii───
Satisfied with his reaction, the left head withdrew.
Its low hiss sounded almost like mocking laughter.
"Fuck... what... what the hell is this...."
Shin Jae-jun muttered in a trembling voice of pure fear.
To him, the situation felt like a nightmare.
A high-rank monster that shouldn't exist on these upper floors.
His subordinate torn apart like a rag doll.
And the beast just staring silently, doing nothing.
If this insane scenario wasn't a dream, then what was?
"Yeah... fuck... it's all a dream... gotta be... no way this bullshit happens in reality...."
Finally losing it, Shin Jae-jun mumbled deliriously.
Unable to accept it rationally, he dismissed everything as a dream to cope.
Then, a low voice reached him.
[Shin Jae-jun.]
His body jolted at the deep voice resonating calmly in his mind.
He frantically scanned around for the source.
"F-fuck! A-anyone there? Help! There's a monster here...!"
[No one will save you.]
The voice returned as he cried out desperately, clutching at any lifeline.
Suddenly, Shin Jae-jun sensed who it belonged to.
His eyes, trembling uncontrollably, turned to the monster before him.
"N-no way...? Impossible...."
Shii───
As if confirming his denial, the three-headed serpent let out a quiet hiss.
"A m-monster talking...? Y-yeah, definitely a dream. All a dream...! What a fucked-up nightmare...! Where's that damn maknae? Wake me up already... hurry... hurry up...!"
[This is no dream.]
"...Goddammit...!"
Shin Jae-jun screamed at the top of his lungs.
Not content, he sprang up and bolted—but the serpent's coils blocked the clearing like an impenetrable wall.
He pounded futilely on the scales towering like a cliff.
"Fuck...! Fuck...! What is this?! What the hell is going on?!?!"
[Stop the pointless struggling. Let's talk first.]
The serpent called calmly to Shin Jae-jun hammering its scales.
At that steady voice, his panic and fear began to subside.
"Y-you'll let me live?"
[Come here.]
Ignoring the question, the firm command left Shin Jae-jun trembling back to his spot.
The three heads watched him silently as he returned.
"...What do you want?"
Realizing it wouldn't kill him just yet, Shin Jae-jun asked in a steadier voice.
True to his underworld rep, he spoke with some bravado.
Having accepted the situation somewhat, plans for the future bubbled up in his mind.
'A monster that can talk to humans... this is a golden opportunity!'
Viable ideas already surfaced, and with more thought, even bigger ones would follow.
Moments ago a massive threat, now it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
'If I play this conversation right...'
His eyes gleamed at visions of a rosy future.
But in his pointless scheming, he overlooked key details.
Like how the monster knew his name from the start.
[Do you often pull stunts like this?]
"...Stunts like what?"
The serpent's heads glanced at the fainted civilians.
Shin Jae-jun tilted his head puzzled, then nodded.
"Pretty regularly. You interested in humans? Like, as food or something. If you want, I could supply them periodically...."
Greed flickered in his eyes.
Eager to score points, he blurted it out.
Procuring people was easy anyway—no big deal.
Just lure in desperate folks or idiots like always....
[And you feel nothing after doing this?]
His thoughts shattered.
At the serpent's sudden question, he cocked his head.
"Feel nothing? What do you mean?"
[No guilt for killing your fellow humans.]
"...Ah. That."
Shin Jae-jun smirked.
How did he take that? He replied nonchalantly.
"Nah, not really. Too far gone for guilt. World's survival of the fittest anyway. Monsters too, right? The victims were just dumb and shitty."
[......]
The serpent fell silent, merely staring.
Something felt off to Shin Jae-jun.
As unease crept in and he opened his mouth, the serpent spoke first.
[You haven't changed at all. If anything, you're worse.]
"...What the hell suddenly—?"
[Kim Jun-su was similar, but you... no, this works better for me anyway.]
—No need to hold back on the revenge.
Before he could process the added whisper, the serpent moved.
Ssslr—its long body shifted slowly.
"W-wait! Hold on! What's this all of a sudden?! We were talking...!"
[Conversation's over. Nothing left to ask anyway.]
"What the—?! Did I do something wrong?! If I messed up...!"
[Your mistake was three years ago.]
"...Three years ago? What're you—?"
No answer to his dazed question.
Instead, the massive serpent's body erupted in light.
Fwosh─
Shin Jae-jun shielded his eyes from the blinding flash.
When he looked again, the serpent was gone—replaced by a man.
Shin Jae-jun's eyes bulged.
"Y-you? That form...?"
It could turn human too?
His earlier fear vanished; excitement surged at a talking, shape-shifting monster.
'Jackpot...! I can make a fortune...!'
Future plans formed instantly.
Of course, they were worthless delusions.
"Don't you recognize me?"
"...Huh? What...?"
"You and Kim Jun-su both forget so easily. I've never forgotten."
Shin Jae-jun frowned at the man's casual mutter.
"Kim Jun-su this, Kim Jun-su that since earlier...? You mean that moron I know?"
"Yeah. The Kim Jun-su from the raid party you formed three years ago."
"...Three years ago...."
Shin Jae-jun's face twisted oddly.
Memories from three years ago, as the serpent had mentioned, flooded back vividly.
"...You the snake that chased us that day? Grew this much since...? Whatever we did wrong, sorry, I guess...."
The man-turned-serpent scoffed at his cautious words.
Completely off-base.
"Yeah, three years is a long time... too much to remember some worthless porter you could squash underfoot."
"...Porter?"
Shin Jae-jun's expression warped again.
Suddenly, realization dawned—his eyes widened.
His gaze locked on the man's face.
Vaguely familiar.
Changed a lot, but definitely...
"Y-Yu Jun-young... the porter?!"
The man nodded lightly instead of answering.
"N-no way! How...? What the...?!"
"Same script every time. Kim Jun-su said the exact same. Oh right, you two were always glued together back then."
—Like the trash you are.
The man muttered flatly and moved.
"W-wait! Hold on! How are you...?! No, what the hell is this?! You died that day...!"
"Boring. Your excuses'll be the same anyway—no point listening."
"W-wait! Just hear me out...!"
Shin Jae-jun kept yelling, but the man ignored him, just like with Kim Jun-su.
He calmly did what needed doing.
A horrific scream shattered the quiet forest.