A Body Stacked Like a Mountain
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I know nothing.
The back door of the church had simply vanished. No, the entire rear wall of the church had collapsed completely, leaving the interior wide open for all to see. The roof had sagged inward as well, leaving only the front facade of the church standing intact. And the interior, now reduced to a battlefield, pulsed with a chilling cold that carried the stench of blood. The source of the foul smell that had drifted through the village from the beginning was inside the church. Moreover, the air itself reeked of scorched flesh. The entire interior had been blackened by fire, nothing left whole or unmarred. Hwan once again plunged into shock.
He stepped forward, then felt something press beneath his shoe. Looking down, he saw the face of Jesus Christ. It was charred black, lying tumbled on the floor. And it was not the only horror. From there, blackened crosses and the shattered remains of the collapsed building filled the space. But what struck Hwan even harder was something else.
Hwan began to tremble, barely able to contain the tremor. The source of that even fouler stench, stronger than blood or scorched flesh. Something was there. Something piled high like a mountain of charred corpses, shaking like a pine tree as he approached. His heart felt as if it would burst. “W-what is this…” Even seeing it with his own eyes, he could not believe it. Accepting it was far too difficult. He kept swallowing dry air, his breath shallow and ragged. Momentarily unable to draw proper air, Hwan unconsciously backed away until his foot caught on something. He crashed to the floor with a heavy thud.
Before him lay a mountain of corpses. They were blackened, yet he knew. A mountain of bodies piled high, arms and legs jutting out, heads severed clean off. Who on earth could have committed such a monstrous act? Hwan’s parents flashed through his mind. Had they also…? Aah! He frantically shook his head to wipe away the negative thoughts and began searching the mountain of corpses. In the end he could not hold it in any longer and vomited everything inside him. “Uek… ek!” He could not stop. He had not eaten anything, so only bile came up, yet the nausea refused to cease. Aah! His stomach twisted. Even as he continued retching, Hwan kept searching the horrific mountain of corpses for his parents.
He did not know where to begin. The bodies looked like village residents no matter how he looked. Mostly elderly people. Perhaps the old man Yoon had done it. But even if he was mad, could he possess such strength? To slice through every villager’s throat and pile them into a mountain to burn them? Suddenly the old man’s words of resentment toward him resurfaced. Why? He had screamed that everything was his fault. Moreover, ‘sacrifice’… What exactly was sacrifice? It was then.
“All of them have no heads… it’s obvious they were torn away by beastly fangs.” Miho said with a cold gaze.
⟨ BEAST FANG ⟩
The word “beast fangs” brought back that eerie roar he had heard while climbing the mountain. Could it really have been that thing? What exactly was its true nature… Hwan found it almost impossible to confirm the corpses. Eventually he retched again. Clutching his burning chest, enduring the agony, he made sounds like he was about to pass out while vomiting for a long time… In the end he could not find even his parents’ bodies.
It was then that Miho pointed. “There are bodies over there too.” She indicated the shattered pulpit below the collapsed cross. Hwan felt a chill run down his spine at that moment. His bloodshot eyes trembled greatly… hesitation filled him. At the same time, the content of his ominous dream flashed through his mind. In the dream his father and mother had hung from the pulpit and the cross. Below them the village residents bowed their heads, waiting for someone. No, that was not a human. It was a beast, yet not an ordinary one. A colossal gwoeyi that could not be called a beast… and it was… Hwan’s heart sank to the bottom. He frantically shook his head and hurried toward the collapsed pulpit.
He checked the fallen marble pulpit and the shattered cross beneath it. And there… he saw a body wearing the sacred collar worn by priests. Yet… again, the face was missing. “A… aaah…” Hwan plunged into shock once more. His legs gave way. “N-no…” His body staggered, his trembling limbs guiding him to the body that remained, and he finally collapsed in a heap before it. Staring at it blankly, he swallowed air with a sharp “Hah!” and covered his mouth with both hands. Then he retched again. After vomiting for a long time, Hwan wiped away tears and carefully touched the body. Of course it would not move. Yes, of course it would not. “A… aaah…” A moan escaped Hwan’s lips. His breathing became ragged as if he had overexerted himself. His heart raced and blood rushed to his brain. “A, aaah…” What should he say? He tried to speak but no proper sentence formed. The words escaped his memory. He touched the body again. Please get up… There was no way. Absolutely… absolutely… He tried to deny reality, but in the face of the tears that would not stop, the familiar clothing and body size were unmistakably his father’s. “Hic… h-hic…” Sobs burst out. He had hoped it was not. He gently squeezed the hand. The limp, cold hand felt too hard and frozen as if it had turned to ice. The cheap watch on the wrist… that was why he could not tell whose it was. “A… Dad…” The word “Dad” barely came from Hwan’s throat. It was a sound like air being sucked from his lungs. A voice strained to its limit. But there was no reply. “Dad… Dad… a… da…” He shook the body over and over, calling for Dad. But there was no movement. It would not wake. “Calm down… First, where is Mom? Where is she?” Miho asked the screaming Hwan. Only then did Hwan turn his head, searching around for his mother’s body. But he found nothing. Only the remnants that had once been the cross remained, and there was no trace of his mother. Hwan grew frantic. Thoughts filled him that he had to find his mother at all costs. Meanwhile, Miho seemed to speak to him, but sadly Hwan could not hear any words. He only wiped away the tears overflowing from his eyes and forcibly shifted the debris around him in search of Mom. His hands were scraped raw and his nails were falling out as he dug through the debris. Before long his body and face were covered in soot. Just then.
“What? Who are you!”
A sudden voice did not make Hwan react. He only repeated “Mom” over and over, frantically shifting the collapsed debris. At that moment police officers began running wildly, and soon they grabbed Hwan’s body. But Hwan, in a nervous frenzy, slapped their hands away and continued digging through the debris. “Mom… Mom… Mom!! Where are you! Mom!!” The police officers looked extremely bewildered by Hwan’s reaction. More police officers rushed over and tried to restrain him again. Hwan began screaming even louder. He let out heartbreaking sobs and kept calling for Mom, but sadly he could not find the body of his mother Hyeon.
It was then that a hand landed on Hwan’s cheeks. And it said, “Who are you? Why are you here? What exactly happened here!” Hwan could not say a word. ////////// How much time had passed Hwan did not know. Hwan did not speak. No, he could not speak. He himself did not know either. He had to meet several people who looked like police officers or those in suits and talk about many things several times. In fact, at the beginning he could not have a single conversation. It was because his shock was so great that he lost consciousness for a moment. It was only after several days that conversation became possible to some extent, but even that was not easy. Above all, Hwan did not know how to explain what had happened to him. He only said that people seemed crazy. After more time passed and Hwan calmed down a little, he began to tell what he knew to some degree. He had been studying hard at home when he suddenly woke up from a nightmare. He found no one at home. Then village residents came, but he tried to ignore them. They broke the windows and entered the house by force. Too scared, he had run away right then. The memories from that time began to surface one by one. Every time, anger and fear swelled up. Surprisingly, his wounds had all healed, but the pain of that day still lingered in his body. Because of that, whenever he told the story, he would have an attack and foam at the mouth and collapse. It was not until after Hwan calmed down again that the situation progressed smoothly, and several more days passed after that.
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