Tokens in the Mouth, Demons from the Grave
Kim Jin-seo kept fiddling with the three tokens she'd received from Mun Yo-seop. They were her first acquisition, but more than that, there was something about them that made her feel unexpectedly cherished, drawing her hands back to them again and again. Above all, his words "birds of a feather flock together" kept echoing in her mind. It wasn't praise or anything specific, just an ambiguous remark, but for some reason, it left her feeling good.
"You okay?"
She turned her head toward the child and asked.
"Huh? Uh... yeah!"
The child startled for some reason and replied. He said he was fine, but he didn't seem fully recovered yet. He wasn't panting like before, but his pale lips hadn't regained their color.
"Got it."
Kim Jin-seo nodded without pressing further. Whether he recovered or not, as long as he didn't become a burden, that was all that mattered to her. Worrying more than necessary would just be a nuisance.
The child followed silently behind her, staggering occasionally.
After that, acquiring more tokens was a breeze. Compared to Mun Yo-seop's tasks, the assignments from the other clerics were laughably easy. Kill a few mock demon species, dismantle and analyze a blessing circle and answer questions... That was the extent of it.
The child felt like he was being a burden to Kim Jin-seo, so he insisted on carrying the tokens himself. But once they exceeded ten, even using both pockets and both hands wasn't enough.
In the midst of that, Kim Jin-seo snagged two more.
"Uh... I, I don't have any hands left."
The child showed her his hands, overflowing with tokens, his face flustered.
Kim Jin-seo held the two tokens and pondered for a moment before suddenly thrusting them toward the child's face.
"Then bite them in your mouth."
"Huh?"
"Say 'ah.' Hurry up."
The child unwittingly opened his mouth. Kim Jin-seo shoved the tokens between his teeth. Then she nodded in satisfaction.
"Mm, looks good."
"Mmph?!"
"Pfft... You look kinda cute like that."
Kim Jin-seo said with a small chuckle. The child stared at her in a daze before realizing the situation, his cheeks flushing red. He tried to glare by narrowing his eyes, but even that just looked adorable to her.
She plucked the tokens from his mouth and pocketed them.
"...Pfft, what the hell!"
The child finally exhaled the breath he'd been holding and snapped at her.
Kim Jin-seo smirked at the sight.
"Just messing with you. Your reactions are hilarious."
"Not funny."
"Speak for yourself. I think it's funny."
Kim Jin-seo looked down at him with narrowed eyes and a faint smile. The child couldn't muster another word. Even meeting her gaze felt overwhelming. Emotions he had to suppress kept rippling inside him.
The two walked on in silence.
Before long, the weather had cleared, but the path grew rougher and the air darker the further they went.
"...Where is this place?"
"Inside the exam grounds, somewhere."
Kim Jin-seo replied coolly to the child's question as he looked around.
Stepping outside the grounds would trigger a warning on their smartwatches, and above all, the instructors were guarding to prevent it. In that sense, "somewhere inside the exam grounds" wasn't sarcasm—it was fact.
"Kinda feels chilly."
"You're wet from the rain."
"Not really..."
The child muttered uneasily, glancing around. Weirdly shaped weeds grew as tall as a person. There were depressions in the ground and tall piles of dirt. They looked like traces of dug pits.
The pits and mounds created a gloomy, graveyard-like atmosphere. Before the battle with "Wrath," this land must have been fields or paddies when people lived here. But now it was barren enough that no one would dare farm it. The soil looked rotten even at a glance. It was astonishing that weeds could grow in such a place.
Rumble...
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Occasionally, the ground vibrated beneath them with eerie sounds—like insects gnawing on a corpse. Each time, the child trembled in instinctive fear, with no rational basis.
That was when it happened.
Kim Jin-seo halted abruptly and stared at something. The child looked up at her curiously.
"What?"
"......"
"Wh-what is it?"
The child stammered in surprise. An expression he'd never seen before was on Kim Jin-seo's face. It looked like terror, or perhaps just blank shock. It was scary enough already, but her weird behavior made it worse. Yet she remained motionless, her gaze fixed on one spot.
She was staring at the largest dirt mound among many.
Crack.
Movement stirred in the mound she watched. Dust puffed up as a long arm burst from the ground. Soon another arm followed. Once both arms emerged into the world, it was instantaneous. A head rose, then a torso, and finally legs pulled free.
A light rain still fell over the exam grounds. The "thing" tilted its head back toward the sky as if washing off the dirt from its underground stay, letting the rain hit it.
"What the... Kyaa!"
The child's words cut off. Kim Jin-seo had grabbed his collar and yanked him close, hugging him to her chest. He was small in stature and light as a feather.
She drew a blessing circle. Holy light wrapped around her legs.
Kim Jin-seo recalled what So Do-jin had taught her: a technique to maximize efficiency temporarily at the cost of duration.
Whoosh!
She kicked off the ground and leaped. Muddy soil and rainwater splashed. The child clung to her neck, speechless, desperate not to fall.
She carried him to the nearest pit and crouched, hiding. Embracing him tightly, she clamped her right hand over his mouth.
"Quiet... stay quiet..."
Kim Jin-seo whispered. Her hand over his mouth trembled faintly. The child nodded slowly, holding his breath. He couldn't see her face, but he knew without doubt—she was terrified.
"......"
Kim Jin-seo tried to steady her breathing. But it wouldn't calm. She held her breath unconsciously or inhaled too deeply. Her head spun, vision blurring. Her body shook against her will. Her stomach churned as if she'd vomit, though she hadn't eaten. Her mouth tasted of blood.
Squelch, squelch.
The demon species' sticky footsteps echoed. Sometimes nearing, sometimes fading. The horrific scene she desperately wanted to forget replayed before her eyes.
Kim Jin-seo knew this demon species.
Twelve years ago, her adoptive mother had been slaughtered by one identical to it. Torn into hundreds of pieces, mangled beyond recognition.
This was leagues beyond the mock demons she'd slain countless times in training.
"Hah, hah...!"
Her breaths grew ragged. Her heart pounded like it would burst. The footsteps still sounded from behind. At least the rain was a blessing. Demons had poor eyesight but keen hearing and smell. The rain's patter and scent muffled their senses, keeping them undiscovered—for now.
This was their only chance to escape. Creep from pit to pit, slowly distancing themselves. Once clear, call the instructors and clerics via smartwatch.
Squelch.
But she'd thought too long. A sticky, ominous, heavy, chilling footstep had already closed in behind her.
The drizzle tapered off completely. Clouds parted, sunlight illuminating the child, Kim Jin-seo, and the demon.
Its rain-slicked, sturdy carapace gleamed.
"It's been... a while..."
The demon greeted them like a human. Its raspy, cracked voice belonged to a monster, but its tone was eerily affectionate.
Kim Jin-seo tried to stand with the child in her arms, but her legs felt leaden. Her body wouldn't obey.
"You're... Jin-seo..."
The demon leaned down, whispering into her ear. Its cold breath tickled her skin.
*
Han Su-ryeon and Yeo Min-seo panicked at Do Seon-woo's sudden appearance. It wasn't entirely unexpected—they'd planned for him before approaching the paladin squad. Blind him with a holy flashbang, then Yeo Min-seo clash blessing circles for an explosion, and whip his neck in the chaos...
Everyone has a plausible plan until they face the enemy.
The plan crumbled the moment Han Su-ryeon mistakenly fired a smoke grenade instead of a flashbang.
Now, their only option was to run.
"Don't let them escape—!"
But Kang Dae-man wouldn't allow it. His shout snapped his teammates back; they pursued Yeo Min-seo and Han Su-ryeon or blocked the cathedral's main doors.
Han Su-ryeon, running with her grenade launcher, glanced at Yeo Min-seo.
"Wh-what do we do?"
"No idea—run first!"
Yeo Min-seo waved her off and bolted. Kang Dae-man's team swarmed like bees behind them. Even mid-to-low rankers aspiring to paladinhood were fast runners. Han Su-ryeon lugged heavy gear, and Yeo Min-seo limped on her injured ankle. No time for chit-chat.
"We're totally getting caught like this..."
Yeo Min-seo said. Sharp pain stabbed her ankle with each step. At this rate, Han Su-ryeon might barely escape, or both would be nabbed.
Yeo Min-seo racked her brain, assessed the situation, then channeled holy power with resolve. Her fingers danced, drawing two blessing circles.
Han Su-ryeon's face twisted in horror.
"Hey, don't! I said don't!"
"The living survive!"
The completed circles collided and tangled—precursor to explosion.
Yeo Min-seo grinned at Han Su-ryeon.
"Remember me!"
"You crazy bi—!"
Boom!
The blessing circles detonated. Kang Dae-man's pursuers flew back from the shockwave or froze in shock. Han Su-ryeon tumbled too. But Yeo Min-seo used the blast for propulsion, soaring out of the cathedral.
Thud.
The doors slammed shut. Yeo Min-seo had sealed them, abandoning Han Su-ryeon.
She was trapped now.
"Y-you... fucking psycho...!"
Han Su-ryeon was too stunned for proper words. Not that she was disappointed in Yeo Min-seo—she'd never expected much. No time for betrayal's sting now.
She scanned: cracked pillar from age. Chandelier swaying from the blast. Broken window from Kang Dae-man's earlier wall-smash.
Too high to jump directly. Climb pillar to chandelier, then to window.
Grab.
Suddenly, someone seized her wrist. A teammate with handcuffs tried cuffing her.
"Got you—!"
"Hya!"
Thwack!
Han Su-ryeon squeezed her eyes shut and swung her grenade launcher wildly. Meant as a feint, it hilariously nailed the teammate's jaw. He rolled his eyes back and collapsed.
Han Su-ryeon stared down in bewilderment.
"S-sorry! Really sorry!"
Apologizing, she quickly drew her holy mark, then a blessing circle. Holy light enveloped her legs.
Hop!
She leaped to the pillar's crack, wedging her toe in to cling. Gently withdrawing her foot, she hopped to the chandelier.
It wobbled precariously from the blast.
"Whoaaa!"
She didn't land gracefully but grabbed it somehow. Dangling mid-air, she looked down. Kang Dae-man and his team gawked like dogs chasing chickens.
Using momentum, she flipped onto the chandelier like an acrobat and balanced on a sturdy spot. The sway actually helped her steady herself—riding unstable things was second nature.
"Whew."
Han Su-ryeon caught her breath. She'd use the sway to leap to the window. Preparing her run-up, she glanced below.
Kang Dae-man and team still stared blankly. And Do Seon-woo.
"......"
Kang Dae-man was too bulky to climb pillars. His team too. But Do Seon-woo could catch her if he wanted.
Yet he didn't pursue, just watched with a smoke grenade, eyes strangely intent.
Han Su-ryeon knew that look. The hunter spotting prey. Her archery and hunting mentor—her father—had those eyes during hunts.
"Can't you just let me go?"
She called to Do Seon-woo. Yeo Min-seo said he'd once sniped a high-flying bird-beast with a fist-sized rock. He'd nail her mid-jump with the smoke grenade.
"Think that'll work?"
Do Seon-woo snapped back sharply.
Han Su-ryeon gave a wry smile, eyes dropping.
"Give me one pass."
"Quit yapping and jump. Make it easy."
Do Seon-woo said seriously, no smile, already poised to throw.
Han Su-ryeon sighed deeply.
"Ugh... screw it! I'll live here forever. Till the exam ends."
"Yeah?"
As she sulked, Do Seon-woo nodded like he'd anticipated it. Without resetting, he hurled the smoke grenade. It grazed her face, severing the chain linking chandelier to ceiling.
"Wha—heyaaa—!"
Crash!
Han Su-ryeon screamed. The chandelier plummeted to the cathedral center with a roar. Dust billowed waist-high.
Kang Dae-man's team shielded faces, but Do Seon-woo strode through unperturbed toward her.
Han Su-ryeon lay sprawled, shock keeping her down—no major injuries, good landing.
"Told you to just jump."
Click.
Do Seon-woo cuffed her wrists and said.
(To be continued in the next chapter)