Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: Child of the Centipede (1)
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Deep in the mountains, a girl was running.
In a place with no path, relying only on the light of the full moon, she pressed forward.
Though she had grown up in the mountains, this was her first time running through them in the dead of night.
Normally, the better you knew the mountains, the less you'd venture into them at night. You understood just how dangerous they became when visibility was limited.
Even those who had no choice but to enter the mountains at night always watched their step. They knew disaster could strike otherwise.
The girl knew the mountains well too. But she couldn't slow down or take the time to look around. A sound from behind was chasing her.
Crack-crunch—crackle-crunch—!
A grotesque noise echoed through the mountains. It sounded like joints snapping or metal grinding—terrifying and bizarre.
Kee-rik, kee-rik. Woooodrrrrk.
The girl didn't know what was making the noise that set her entire body on edge. But instinct told her she'd die if she stayed put.
The moment she heard it, an overwhelming fear gripped her, forcing her feet to move and spurring her into hours of frantic running.
It was the kind of sound that tapped into humanity's primal terror.
She had been running for so long that she was utterly exhausted. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her legs throbbed. One shoe had come off sometime ago, leaving her with a dirt-caked sock, and the other was still on but in worse shape than a rag.
Yet she couldn't stop.
Every time exhaustion made her try to halt, the hissing threat from behind—like sshh-shhh—echoed, refusing to let her stop even when her lungs burned.
Physically, she had reached her limit, but fear kept her going.
Then, she failed to see a protruding tree root and tripped.
“Ah!”
It had happened several times already. Each time, she had scrambled right back up. She could guess what would happen if she stopped. That's why she had gotten up again and again, no matter how many times she fell.
But this time, she couldn't rise. Nothing was broken or sprained. It was just that her overworked muscles all over her body refused to obey.
Tears welled in her eyes. She knew she'd die if she stayed like this.
The silver lining was that, for the moment, the pursuing sound had stopped.
There was still a chance.
Catching her breath, she crawled to the base of the largest nearby tree. She drew her legs in, curled up as tightly as possible, and breathed slowly. Careful not to make a sound, she panted softly.
“Hoo….”
Once she stopped, she found she couldn't move at all. Her legs trembled. Whether from fear or her body hitting its limit, she couldn't tell.
How much time passed? A clacking sound began to approach from behind, slow and steady.
It was still distant.
‘Should I run again? But my legs….’
She couldn't go any farther like this. Even if she tried now, it would catch up in no time. She decided to stay quiet.
It was a gamble. She'd escaped so far because whatever was chasing her was slower than her while running. A little more rest—just a bit more—and she could make it.
It was still the chilly night of early spring, and the dirt beneath her felt cold. Even that chill from the earth was welcome now. It cooled the heat radiating from her body.
‘If Sis saw me, she'd worry I'd catch a cold…. I wonder if Sis is okay.’
She fought back tears. She missed her sister so much. But if she didn't escape now, she'd never see her again. She had to survive first. No other choice.
That's when she noticed a faint mist around her. She couldn't tell if it had suddenly appeared or if she was only now able to pay attention to her surroundings. Maybe her body, pushed to the brink, was making her see things.
Either way, it didn't matter. If there was mist, it was better for hiding. She decided to think positively.
‘Clack, clack.’
She focused on the sound from behind. It was searching the area slowly. Circling nearby, steadily drawing closer.
‘Should I move?’
She tried to shift her legs, but it was still impossible. She wanted to bolt right then, but her body wouldn't cooperate.
Trusting the mist, she waited. She didn't know what was making that eerie clacking, but she held her breath, hoping it would pass.
Suddenly, the constant sound stopped not far away.
‘Did it find me?’
The silence terrified her more than the noise. She waited like that for a long time. Not even the rustle of leaves came from anywhere.
It might have been brief, but to her, it felt eternal.
The utter quiet made her chest tighten with anxiety.
She wondered if whatever had been chasing her had gone somewhere else.
She wanted to look back. The uncertainty of whether it was behind her was unbearable.
She decided to peek around the big tree she was leaning against.
After hesitating several times,
She slowly poked her head out from behind the tree and looked around.
“Phew….”
Nothing.
Where the sound had come from, nothing at all.
“That's a relief, ah—”
Clack, clack.
But her relief was short-lived. The chilling sound started up again from somewhere.
She hurriedly clamped her hand over her mouth. Then slowly turned her head.
It had already moved not behind her, but elsewhere.
Far off,
Ssshh—clack, clack.
In the deep darkness, she saw something enormous.
“N-No way….”
It was staring right at her.
What she'd been fleeing from all this time was something she could hardly believe.
She sprang to her feet at once. And bolted again. She had to run now. Or she wouldn't survive.
The mist made it hard to see ahead. But she ran forward without hesitation. Not because she knew the way. There was just no time to stop. She ran straight ahead. Kept running.
Then, suddenly, the ground gave way beneath her feet. A steep slope appeared in front. No one sprinting full speed without seeing ahead could stop on that terrain.
In the end, she tumbled forward, sliding down the slope.
For a brief moment, she blacked out. But she came to quickly.
At least, thankfully, though bruised all over, nothing was broken or seriously wrong.
She groaned softly at the stabbing pain through her body, just for a second.
But she had no time to check her injuries. Confirming only that her limbs moved without being broken, she mustered all her strength to stand.
“Ah, ah…”
But she collapsed again right away. She thought this was it—she was going to die. She wanted to close her eyes and drift off.
Tap-tap.
Then footsteps approached, and a shadow fell over her face. She opened her eyes and stared ahead.
“A p-person…?”
A man stood before her. Seeing him, relief washed over her, and her mind went blank. Her exhausted brain couldn't process the situation or what to do next.
All she could think was that she had to warn him.
“B-Behind me, something…”
But her breathing was too ragged for words.
“Oh dear, you've been through quite the ordeal already.”
The man squatted down in front of her and spoke. His laid-back tone stunned her for a moment. But she quickly pulled herself together.
“We're running away right now…!”
“Yeah, I know you've been chased. But you're safe now. Want some water first?”
He said that and handed her a bottle.
The moment she saw the water, without a second thought, she lurched up and snatched it, gulping it down. It tasted sweet, like something was mixed in, and she drained the whole bottle in one go.
“The mist you just crossed is their boundary. Coming out beyond it is quite risky for them too. So it absolutely won't come this far. Well, it could try, but it'd be done for the moment it did.”
While she chugged the water, he kept explaining. Even through her gasps, she heard him clearly. She didn't fully understand, but she got that whatever had been chasing her couldn't follow anymore.
Relief hit her, and the instant she finished the water, she slumped back down.
“What do you say? If you want, I'll save you. What'll it be?”
He looked down at her. Her breathing hadn't steadied yet; she could only pant, no answer. While she caught her breath, she heard the clacking again from behind.
Struggling, she turned to look. Nothing in sight. Maybe it was hiding under a distant tree.
The fear that it might still be watching made her tremble all over. The man placed a hand atop her shaking head.
“It's okay. It can't come here.”
“E-Even so,”
She barely squeezed out the words. She didn't finish, but his expression said he understood, so she stopped.
With a look like it couldn't be helped, he cracked his knuckles, then scooped her up in his arms.
“I knew your answer anyway. So I'll just take you along for now. We'll go by car, so sleep till we get there.”
He said that, picked her up, and started walking. She was startled but didn't resist.
Unlike where she'd been fleeing wildly, this was an actual path.
She worried he might be a bad guy, but her exhausted body left her no choice but to hope he was good.
Maybe because she let her guard down, drowsiness suddenly overtook her.
‘Ah, I'm gonna pass out for sure.’
Just then, a distant scratching ‘kee-rik’ sounded. But before she could register it, she fell into a deep sleep, nearly unconscious.