I won't let you have your way.
The blade of the scythe pressed against his throat again, sharp and insistent. "Stay still... If you try any funny business, I swear to god... I'll fucking kill you for real. You think I won't? Huh?"
The chilling threat came again and again. Every time the old man jabbed the scythe against his neck, Hwan couldn't move a muscle. He watched helplessly as the two police officers were slaughtered right before his eyes. The last flicker of hope inside him shattered completely.
The old man holding the scythe had been watching the scene too. He stared at the corpses of the officers he'd just killed and muttered in clear annoyance, "Well, this has gotten troublesome." There wasn't a trace of panic in his voice. It was eerily calm, as if this wasn't the first time he'd done something like this. He sounded more irritated by the extra hassle than anything else.
That calm demeanor terrified Hwan more than anything. Ah... Now I understand. These people were serial offenders. They had clearly murdered outsiders who settled in the village before. This couldn't have been their first or second time. He didn't know why they were doing it, but just like the old man said, they had been sacrificing people to something. Yes, it was all starting to make sense.
Why the land prices here had been so cheap. Why the house prices were so low. Why there wasn't a single young person left in the village. And why these people had been so welcoming when he and his family first arrived... It had all been deliberate. They had walked straight into a trap from the very beginning.
Then what about his parents right now...?
Fresh tears spilled down his face. He was sick with worry for them. The fear that they might have already been killed in the same meaningless way clawed at him. The terror only grew stronger.
And then—
'Run...'
The voice came again. Hwan flinched hard. It was the same woman's voice he'd heard back at the house. He still had no idea who she was. Trembling violently, he carefully scanned his surroundings, but the world around him was pitch black. There was no sign of any young woman.
Was it really a ghost?
But one thing was certain: this mysterious voice had been trying to save him all along.
Hwan swallowed the metallic, blood-tinged saliva in his mouth and focused harder on the sound. The roar of the pouring rain. The old man's irritated cursing from behind him. And then—
'Push him and run.'
The woman's voice rang out clearly.
Hwan bit down hard on his lip.
'Right now...'
The urging continued.
'And come find me.'
The voice kept pressing him, growing more urgent.
'Hurry... Hurry... Hurry... Hurry... Hurry...'
It wouldn't stop. It felt like his eardrums would burst.
"Ugh... Uuuugh..."
The more the voice tormented him, the more the old man with the scythe looked puzzled.
"What the hell? What kind of trick are you pulling now?"
"Ugh... Uuuuugh..."
That was the moment. Whether it was pure desperation not to die like this, or the pull of that unknown woman's voice, a sudden burst of courage surged through Hwan.
'He can't kill you... No, he must not kill you.'
Following the strange woman's voice, he realized the old man wasn't allowed to kill him. There was a reason... Yes, Hwan had felt it too. There had been countless chances to kill him, but the man hadn't taken them. So—
"Aaaargh!!"
Hwan suddenly screamed and slammed his shoulder into the startled old man with all his strength.
"Whoa!"
Caught off guard, the old man stumbled backward and crashed to the ground. His head slammed against the floor with a sickening thud. Then he went completely still.
Hwan gasped in shock as he stared at the motionless old man. But the voice came again.
'Run! Run!! Run!!!'
The voice repeated relentlessly. Hwan clenched his teeth against the pain and broke into a desperate sprint. Just moments ago the agony had been so bad he could barely walk, yet now strength surged through him from somewhere unknown. He couldn't even feel the pain anymore. This was his only chance. It had to be now.
So he ran with gritted teeth.
'Come to me... Yes, hurry and come to me...'
Ten minutes before midnight, Yoon-ssi’s face had gone deathly pale. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone gathered inside the church looked the same. The promised time was almost here. They should have finished all the preparations by now… but they hadn’t. Every single face was drained of color. A massive wave of terror had fallen over them.
Yoon-ssi’s glare fixed on the elders who had let Hwan escape. He strode over, stopped in front of the one who had failed, and slapped him across the face with all his might.
Smack!
The old man crumpled to the floor with a sound that made everyone’s skin crawl. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"You fucking bastard… You said you caught him? You said you had him! So why the hell did you come back empty-handed?! You son of a bitch! Does this look like a fucking game to you? You think this is kids playing around?! Our lives are on the line here! So why the fuck are you empty-handed, you piece of shit?! Are you trying to get us all killed?!"
"B-Brother… I-I’m sorry… It’s just that…"
The old man couldn’t even finish his sentence. Yoon-ssi had already lost his mind in rage. He kept slapping the fallen elder’s face over and over. The villagers watched with their eyes squeezed shut or tears streaming down their cheeks.
Even as it happened, time kept flowing mercilessly.
In the end, several other elders had to rush over and physically restrain Yoon-ssi to calm him down.
"Elder! This ain’t the time for this! First things first, we gotta catch that damn rat!"
"Fuck… Aaaah! Fuck… Yeah! That’s right… We still have ten minutes! Catch him first and think later! Search every inch if you have to! If that fucking rat tries to run again, snap his ankle tendons and drag him back! You hear me? Move! I said move! Fuck, all of you! Get out there and find him!! Stop sniveling in here and get the hell out!"
Yoon-ssi screamed furiously at the others who were still sobbing. Only then did the people finally shuffle out of the church in a rush. In the end, only Yoon-ssi and the unconscious elder lying on the floor remained.
Yoon-ssi scratched at his head furiously, glaring down at the collapsed Mr. Jeong before turning his gaze to Hwan’s parents, who still hadn’t regained consciousness.
"Goddamn it… You fucking worthless pieces of shit…"
Eight minutes before midnight. There was truly no time left. He would descend soon. He would come down to claim the sacrifice… but they were one short. One was missing…
Yoon-ssi couldn’t control the anxiety gnawing at him. His whole body shook like a leaf in the wind.
Meanwhile, Hwan ran and ran. He followed the direction of the voice… He had no idea where he was going. His vision was still pitch black. He kept falling, getting up, and running again until he finally spotted what looked like a storage shed.
He slipped inside and found a scythe. Only then was he able to cut through the ropes binding his hands, neck, and ankles.
He coughed dryly, tears pouring down his face, then crept out of the shed once more. Flashlight beams were sweeping everywhere. The entire village was now hunting him. The realization sent a chill down his spine. It meant they had all been in on it from the start.
His body wouldn’t stop shaking. The pain was excruciating, but he didn’t want to die like this. No, he absolutely could not die here. He had to keep moving somehow. Somehow.
Then the mysterious woman’s voice came again.
‘Come to me…’
Yes. He didn’t know who she was, but right now the only thing Hwan could rely on was that eerie voice. Limping badly, he followed it once more.
Before long, he found himself climbing an unnamed mountain. The slope was brutally steep. Climbing it was pure agony, made even worse by the pouring rain. In the end, he had to crawl upward on all fours.
From behind him, the voices of the villagers searching for him echoed loudly through the darkness. It was absurd. Why were they acting like this? They were practically wailing as they called out to him. Some were even begging him to please show himself.
It was strange. Incredibly strange.
But Hwan only snorted in contempt. He would never, never let them have their way. Gritting his teeth, he continued climbing the mountain, following the voice.
How much time had passed? At last, the clock struck past midnight.
"Kyaaaaaaaaoooo!!"
Suddenly, a roar that could not possibly belong to any beast reverberated throughout the village. Hwan froze in shock. He turned to look back.
The village, still drenched in pitch-black rain, revealed nothing. Then, not long after, blood-curdling screams began to erupt from within the village. This time, they sounded like the screams of the villagers themselves.