Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Close the Window, Mister! (3)
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Byung-su had taken a hearty swig of booze, and even though he'd startled and collapsed upon encountering the monstrous woman, he quickly pulled himself together.
At Byung-su's shout, Dong-jin, who had been staring at the monstrous woman, opened his mouth and screamed.
"Argh!"
Dong-jin screamed as he threw himself in the direction Byung-su was pulling him.
The monstrous woman, grasping at empty air, opened her lipless mouth and let out a guttural roar.
"Graaaah!"
The deafening roar echoing through the stairs made their ears ring and heads spin, leaving them unable to think straight.
The monstrous woman dropped from the ceiling with a thud and rose, her joints creaking.
Before she could fully stand, she reached out and grabbed Dong-jin's shoulder.
Dong-jin felt a powerful intent from the monstrous woman's hand gripping his shoulder.
'Killing intent.'
At that moment, Byung-su leaped between Dong-jin and the monstrous woman, kicking her in the gut with his foot and shoving her back into the one-room apartment.
Bang!
Then he quickly slammed the door shut.
"Run!"
Byung-su, who had lunged forward, shouted urgently and grabbed Dong-jin's hand, pulling him along as they ran.
A thick smell of alcohol wafted from Byung-su.
His legs wobbled from the overdrinking, his knees buckling.
"Oof, I'm out of breath."
He was panting after barely making it down the stairs.
He looked like he might collapse any second.
Byung-su and Dong-jin had no time to wonder about the monstrous woman's identity as they just bolted out.
Crash! Tinkle!
The sound of breaking glass came from the one-room the monstrous woman had entered.
She must have broken the window and come out without opening the front door.
"Oof! Why are those things coming out from over there?"
A young woman's scream came from across the street, on the opposite side of the building.
As Dong-jin burst out of the building, he glanced back and saw a long-haired woman standing across the street, clutching a black plastic bag. She bolted into the nearby convenience store like a madwoman and hid.
"I'm too out of breath to run anymore."
Byung-su, already exhausted, started to slump down.
In the meantime, the monstrous woman who had smashed through the window rounded the one-room building and charged toward Byung-su and Dong-jin, scuttling on hands and feet across the asphalt.
Not on two legs, but four—like a beast hunting prey—she raced toward them terrifyingly fast.
And the approaching monstrous woman had somehow multiplied from one to two.
"Damn it. Keep running!"
Byung-su, who had been about to sit down, jumped up and yelled.
Byung-su kept gripping Dong-jin's hand, running madly ahead without looking back.
Even in the frantic situation, Byung-su's act of holding his hand and running warmed Dong-jin's heart.
Out of gratitude, Dong-jin looked at Byung-su.
Sensing the gaze, Byung-su turned his head and said,
"Ah, damn! Shouldn't have come today. Park, why'd you keep calling and making a fuss?"
Byung-su was still holding Dong-jin's hand, running while venting his irritation and resentment.
'Still, thanks for coming, Team Leader. At least I won't die alone and scared.'
Dong-jin thought it was fortunate despite Byung-su's complaints.
Suddenly, a monstrous woman leaped over Dong-jin's head. She spun around quickly and lunged at him with her yellowish fangs bared like a beast.
Dong-jin stepped back to dodge, but another monstrous woman came from behind, reaching for his neck with her hand.
He shrank back to evade the hand of the monstrous woman attacking from behind.
Byung-su rushed up, grabbed the nape of the monstrous woman coming from behind Dong-jin, and hurled her aside.
His left arm had turned green, with sharp claws extended long.
Byung-su lightly tossed the monstrous woman and immediately charged forward, smashing his fist into the face of another one with its mouth open.
The monstrous woman struck in the face by Byung-su tumbled to the ground.
Despite taking a solid hit, she rolled on the asphalt as if unharmed, then kicked off and leaped into the air.
With his front limbs transformed, Byung-su could handle the monstrous woman, but the rest of his body—including his legs—was human, so his lower body movements weren't fast.
Plus, after heavy drinking, facing two quick monstrous women was no easy task.
The monstrous woman twisted in midair, righted herself, and lunged at Byung-su with her hand hooked like a claw.
Byung-su dodged to the side and tossed something to Dong-jin.
His movements were swift and precise.
"Straight ahead—run! My car's right there!"
"What about you, Team Leader?"
"I'll catch up! Hurry!"
Dong-jin saw what he'd caught while running.
In his hand was a remote start key.
Dong-jin mashed the key fob buttons as he ran.
Beep!
A black SUV parked at the end of the alley responded.
The distance to the car was less than 10 meters, but to Dong-jin, it felt like 100.
He sprinted frantically, yanked open the driver's door, and jumped in.
Glancing back, he saw Byung-su staggering forward with two monstrous women clinging to his back.
Byung-su, looking like he might collapse any moment, stepped forward, reached back with his left hand, lifted one monstrous woman, tossed her, then grabbed and threw the other.
'What? How can he throw people around like that?'
As Dong-jin marveled at Byung-su's superhuman strength, the panting Byung-su yanked open the back door and climbed in.
"Oof, out of breath."
Through the rear window, he saw the monstrous women who had rolled on the ground get up and charge on all fours.
They closed the gap in an instant, kicked off the asphalt with their four limbs, and leaped into the air.
Thud! Thud thud!
Sounds of the monstrous women landing on the SUV's roof rang out.
Scraaaape—Bang! Bang!
Dong-jin panicked at the scraping and pounding on the roof and yelled,
"Eek! Women are on top of the car! What do we do?"
Byung-su yelled at Dong-jin, who still hadn't started the car.
"Drive out to the main road! Head for bright, crowded places. Hurry!"
Snapping to attention at Byung-su's words, Dong-jin floored it, peeling out of the alley with a sharp turn.
Scraaaape—Thud! Thud!
The grating noise continued, then the monstrous women slipped off the roof, tumbling onto the asphalt.
The ones who hit the ground got right back up as if unscathed and charged ferociously on all fours.
Their speed was astonishing.
"What the hell are those women? Are they even human?"
Dong-jin asked, looking at Byung-su.
Byung-su answered with frustration at the question.
"Do they look human? Ghosts, obviously. They look just like that female ghost that followed the knife from the mountain lodge and attacked Reporter Eun. Chuk-gwi—yeah, chuk-gwi!"
Dong-jin was shocked that they matched the chuk-gwi that attacked Na-rae.
"But the dokkaebi grandpa took them away..."
Byung-su in the back seat caught his breath and replied,
"Not those cat ghosts. Probably nearby chuk-gwi drawn by the knife's energy. Anyway, running on all fours screams chuk-gwi. Hanging from the ceiling, could be weasels, martens, cats... Just drive fast to a bright place."
Chuk-gwi instinctively hated bright light.
Dong-jin found the term absurd but had no time to ask more.
"By the way, we left that woman—the long-haired one. Is she in danger?"
"Who? Long hair? Millennium Queen?"
"What..."
"Long hair flowing, eyes wide open, and a thousand years pass like a dream in an instant. The eternal woman who's lived a millennium. Millennium Queen."
Out of nowhere, Byung-su sang an outdated anime theme song that didn't fit the situation.
He'd drunk way too much.
Dong-jin turned around and asked,
"What's that?"
"You don't know Millennium Queen? Turn the car around. Let's go save her. Millennium Queen."
* * *
Smack!
The rotten egg Mi-hee threw hit the chuk-gwi's head squarely as it climbed the wall.
Startled by the rotten egg, the chuk-gwi stopped climbing but didn't flee.
'Yes! Direct hit! But unlike dogs chased off by yangbap, these are persistent.'
The chuk-gwi bared their teeth at Mi-hee, who had thrown the rotten egg, but didn't leave the base of the window.
They seemed afraid of her rotten eggs.
The man yelled at Mi-hee.
'That idiot bitches even when I try to help.'
Mi-hee glared at the man but decided to ignore his shouting.
"Close the window, mister!"
The rotten egg Mi-hee threw hit the man.
She could see egg yolk dripping down his forehead.
It was pickled in her own urine, so she felt a bit sorry, but recalling how he yelled despite her help, she felt smug.
Only after being hit by the rotten egg did the man close the window.
'Phew, good thing. Had to hit him to listen. Anyway, with the window closed, they can't get inside.'
Through the closed window glass, she saw the man putting on his pants.
'Putting pants on now? Pervert.'
The man paced the room, then dragged a chair to the window base.
He climbed on the chair and peered down outside the window.
Looking down outside, the man suddenly turned back in shock at something.
Mi-hee found his actions odd and shifted her gaze to the window base.
She realized one of the two chuk-gwi at the window base was gone.
'Oh no! One crawled along the ground to that house's door. Did that idiot mister leave the door open?'
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Hearing the knocking, Mi-hee perked her ears and looked around.
The night was deep and quiet, so even from a distance, the door-knocking was clear.
'Good, door must be closed. Chuk-gwi can't open doors usually... as long as that idiot doesn't open it, it'll be fine.'
The man started down from the chair but paused in an awkward pose, looking at Mi-hee.
"No! Don't open the door!"
Hearing Mi-hee shout, the man nodded.
Mi-hee felt relieved but also anxious.
'If I stay like this till morning, that idiot mister is safe, but my legs will kill me. This is bad. Argh!'
No one dies from leg pain, but worried, she stomped her feet when her phone rang.
Checking, it was her sister Da-hee.
"Sis, where are you? Why aren't you home?"
"Yeah, I'm by the convenience store near home... blocking chuk-gwi from entering some idiot pervert mister's place."
"Oh? Idiot pervert? Chuk-gwi's no big deal. Got your talismans?"
"No, brought eggs."
"Huh, rotten eggs? Yangbap? Whoa, epic! Why'd you bring those stinky things? Not embarrassed?"
"Shut up. No talismans, had to improvise."
"Well, yangbap can chase off chuk-gwi, sure."
Da-hee spoke so casually, Mi-hee wanted to cry.
"They're not running! Not going anywhere! Stuck standing here till morning. Waaah."
Hearing Mi-hee's choked voice, Da-hee finally sensed the seriousness.
"I'm home, so I'll head out now. Don't worry, wait for me."
Mi-hee relaxed at Da-hee's promise to come soon.
"Argh!"
A man's scream came from the building.
'Ah! Something went wrong again. What? What do I do?'
Mi-hee intuited something urgent had happened.
She couldn't go check the scream while watching the chuk-gwi below, growing impatient.
Moments later, a bang sounded.
It sounded like an iron door closing.
To check the source, she tiptoed to peer into the room.
At that instant, a chuk-gwi shattered the window glass and leaped out.
The sudden chuk-gwi bursting from the room startled Mi-hee so much she collapsed.
The other chuk-gwi at the window base took off too.
"Oof! Why are those things coming out from over there?"
Shocked by the unexpected turn, she screamed and bolted madly into the nearby convenience store to hide.
The store clerk mechanically greeted the sudden intruder Mi-hee, then grimaced and turned to his phone.
The chuk-gwi ignored Mi-hee and raced around the building.
Through the convenience store window, she saw two men running down the alley.
Following them fiercely were the chuk-gwi.
The chuk-gwi clung to the back of the lone remaining man.
He had quite grotesque arms.
The man staggered while running with the chuk-gwi attached, grabbing one per hand and tossing them lightly.
"Whoa! What kind of strength is that?"
"Right? He's really strong. Did the eggs work, though?"
Somehow, her sister Da-hee was beside her.
Da-hee wrinkled her nose at the smell from the egg bag.
Mi-hee then realized why the clerk had grimaced.
She saw the car with chuk-gwi clinging turn the corner, shaking them onto the asphalt.