Chapter 3
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Repeat
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Thud. My body collapsed limply to the floor.
“Argh!”
“Han Ji-eon! Ah, shit……!”
I faintly heard Ma Heo-yun’s voice and hurriedly lifted my head. But all I saw in my vision was the back of Ma Heo-yun’s head as he fled.
“Hey!”
Amid the surging anger and betrayal, my body scrambled to its feet. And unconsciously, I glanced behind me, catching sight of what had struck my back squarely.
“…….”
A head. A human head. Cleanly severed, turned into something like a ball, drenched in blood.
That wasn’t the only thing that entered my sight. I shouldn’t have looked back.
Bodies slammed into walls, bodies with twisted joints, bodies with limbs hacked apart, and more. Things I’d never seen in reality—no, things I had no business seeing—flooded my vision all at once. My body froze in place as if it weren’t my own, my breathing growing ragged.
“Huh…….”
I needed to move, but my body wouldn’t listen.
It was like those movie protagonists who don’t run in dangerous moments. Back then, I’d wonder why they didn’t move, calling them idiots, but now I was experiencing that exact sensation, bitterly regretting my past self. Far from running, I felt like I’d faint any second.
“Huh……. Hah.”
My mind grew hazy as the monster approached. Not even tears came.
Screeech. The monster dragged its body across the floor toward me. The path it passed was littered with corpses.
The metallic stench of blood assaulted my nose, but I had no time to care. I had to move.
‘One step back, back.’
My legs trembled like aspen leaves, but I barely managed to shift one foot backward. My face brightened instinctively at the spark of hope.
‘Like this, if I run…….’
But the happy thoughts were short-lived. It was a fleeting hope.
A massive shadow engulfed me. Even though it was just a shadow, the world turned pitch black.
That damned thing was right in front of me, no doubt.
‘Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.’
A torrent of curses and negative thoughts overwhelmed me.
I shouldn’t look up. That’s what I thought, but my body still wouldn’t obey. Or maybe it was acting on my will—who knows—but in my fractured state, I had no time to analyze.
My head creaked upward like a broken machine. By the time it finally tilted up, as expected, I regretted it. Deeply.
“Ha… ha.”
Grotesque eyeballs stared at me. Mocking, they fixed on me intently, unblinkingly.
But that sight lasted only a moment.
Boom!
“Guh—!”
My neck was seized, and my body slammed into the wall. Every bone in me screamed in agony, but from my mouth came only choked gasps amid the strangling.
“No, get off. Kek.”
Sentences, words—they wouldn’t form, scattering apart. I clawed wildly at the mass around my neck, kicked my legs desperately, but it only drove home how utterly powerless I was.
“Kahk, guk.”
It was in the midst of my struggles.
Something shot in suddenly, grazing past me. Blood gushed from where it passed.
“Ah.”
By the time I realized, it was far too late. The monster saw me as a toy, and I was already being toyed with to death.
“Aaagh!”
The attacks kept coming. My body began to break down. The corridor’s blood stench now emanated from me.
Amid countless wounds, I could only scream—do nothing else.
I couldn’t do anything.
No more thoughts came. Fear, once planted, had consumed my body. Pain over sorrow, fear over pain.
“Just kill me. Please…….”
I didn’t want to die. But enduring longer would end the same, so I wished for a peaceful end. In unbearable terror, I prayed for death to come swift and sudden.
At that moment, the fierce attack halted, and the monster rolled its eyes as if understanding.
“Kill me. Please.”
The monster seemed to hear my fading voice and gaped its mouth wide. The maw opened limitlessly, revealing its innards fully in my sight.
The roof of its mouth oozed pus, repulsive beyond words, lined with teeth sharper than shark fangs, sprouting everywhere inside.
“…Ugh.”
Terror surged anew, rebelling against death. But it was too late. A disgustingly long tongue licked my mouth in preparation to devour me. To me, it was pure hell.
“Let… go, let, let go.”
My weak, cracking voice circled my ears without reaching the monster, then faded.
“Save, sa, guk!”
I tried to beg for life, but my neck clenched tighter, ending in failure.
I’m dying. The thought consumed my mind. Truly dying, no lie.
What happens when I die? If it eats me, my body? Mom and Dad will be okay, right?
“…….”
My vision blurred from the tightening grip.
Anyone. Anyone. Please.
“…….”
One phrase looped in my head.
Save me.
It echoed inside, unable to escape.
My body slowly descended. The monster’s heat was sickeningly intense. My eyes closed.
Fainting before being chewed seemed a mercy—and at that thought, my body jerked up, soaring into the air.
“Kuhek!”
Fresh air hit, triggering coughs. As I coughed uncontrollably, I felt my body set down on the floor. I snapped my head up.
A white half-mask covering the eyes. Black hanbok like from a folk village, red sash. Finally, a pitch-black sword entered my view.
The masked man stood. I glimpsed his face briefly, but it was certain. No illusion.
“…Hyung?”
It was definite. Time had passed, but his face was unchanged save for his build— the same one I’d always seen—so I recognized him instantly.
At my question, the man halted, paused, then spoke.
“…Sit.”
With those words, absurdly, I blacked out for real.
♧♣♧
I ran madly through thick darkness. But no matter how far, no end in sight.
My soles shredded, body on the verge of collapse, yet I ran frantically—
“…Hah.”
I woke from the dream.
“…What kind of dream is this crap…….”
I tried to sit up, but couldn’t. The ensuing pain made me confront that everything wasn’t a dream.
“…Damn it.”
Goosebumps tore through my skin. I’d died and come back. No other way to describe it.
“Hah, haha.”
My eyes heated up. Something trailed down my cheek.
“Ugh, uh.”
Tears I’d held back in terror now poured endlessly.
The ceaseless flow stopped only after much time, leaving my eyes burning, forcing a grimace.
Cleared by tears, my mind sharpened—I realized I was in a hospital. Embarrassed, I mumbled about the time, scanning around. My familiar phone lay by the pillow. But it was wrecked.
“Ah…….”
Screen completely shattered. Though intact would’ve been weirder, it still sucked.
‘Will it turn on?’
Pushing aside sorrow, I pressed the power button. Mercifully, it worked. I jabbed the barely responsive screen, skipping incoming messages to check Mom and Dad’s texts.
[Mom]
[You okay?]
[What happened?]
[Ji-eon?]
I replied I was fine, asked if she was okay, hit send—but it hung on infinite loading.
“…Sigh.”
They’re fine. They have to be.
I steadied my breath, checked messages before internet died: friends, group chats, disaster alerts. All of them. From “You okay?” to “Save me.” Seeing the misfortune swelled my anxiety, so I set the phone aside.
‘Calm down…….’
To calm, I thought nothing. No surprise messages or net wouldn’t work. Monsters hadn’t hit just our university.
…Still.
‘It was definitely hyung.’
Half his face masked, but I knew instantly; his voice confirmed. Unchanged after three years, of course I’d recognize.
Recalling hyung in that familiar yet strange hanbok made my head spin more.
‘What the hell is going—
Clunk!
Before finishing, the door opened. I jolted, body springing up. Calming my pounding heart, I looked toward the door when a familiar voice hit.
“Huh?”
“Ji-eon!”
Someone rushed in, enveloping me in a hug.
“Thank goodness, oh dear.”
“Mom?”
And Dad too.
“How’s it he—”
Confused, I glanced around, and someone hidden by them stepped forward.
‘…Hyung?’
Hyung. Standing behind. Same as before, minus the mask.
“Ah.”
Hyung brought Mom and Dad.
Obvious. He’d saved me, likely carried me here.
“Wa, wait…….”
“Oh dear, you’re hurt. Sorry.”
Mom released me, caressing my cheeks.
“You’re really okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank goodness it’s not serious. We need to sign for admission, so Dad and I will be quick. Stay with hyung, okay?”
“Take your time.”
Clunk. Parents left, leaving just me and hyung in the room.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence filled the hospital room. Neither of us spoke.