13. Sentinels of the Peach Grove
Countless people streamed through the grand gate of Dangsan Dowon.
It was like a wave of humans—a human tide.
Meaning, someone like me got swept along helplessly, carried by the flow.
Well, at least I don't have to expend any effort to move.
Looking around, my colleagues were in the same boat. Not just Song the junior staffer, but even the musclebound Ko Kyung-min and—shockingly—Choi Soo-jung.
Still...
Flower petals poured down like hail.
The air was thick with fragrance everywhere.
A massive peach tree loomed beyond the gate, its branches heavy with blossoms. The wind carried those petals, filling the world with a white, sweet scent.
Beautiful.
There was something overwhelming about that beauty, more than even Kim Jun-sik's voice.
Definitely a T-grade anomaly.
The company classified anomalies based on "mythology."
T-grade ones possessed narratives and legends that E-grade urban legends simply lacked.
And then...
The tales tied to Dangsan Dowon were on another level.
Or at least, that's what certain backwater regions believed.
...In other words, that was the lore.
That's what being minor means.
There was no actual proof this place was the afterlife.
Even as an afterlife, it was a myth clung to by just two or three remote villages deep in the Korean countryside.
Still... it's eerie.
Most afterlife myths were grim and horrific. Hell was the prime example, and the underworlds of Greek or Norse mythology were no different.
And...
It's about to start.
No matter the culture, era, or nation...
The afterlife always had its guardians.
Swish— swish— swish— swish— swish—.
The peach tree groaned. Was it the wind brushing through? Sunlight caressing the petals?
Neither.
Shadows ripened between the branches. Shadows with long arms, short legs, and thick lips.
With red eyes. Staring down at the crowd. Reaching out to summon their kin.
Swish— swish— swish—. That wasn't the wind.
It was beasts climbing the trees, pursuing the humans.
T-21-1, codenamed "Jannabi"
Jannabi is a type of cognitive hazard, serving as the guardian of T-21—the afterlife from the Maesan Dangchwirokgi legend.
It activates when 30 or more people enter Dangsan Dowon. Unlike the Jangseung forest, shaman huts, or peach tree, it manifests as one of the anomalous properties active during daytime in Dangsan Dowon.
Kyaak—! Kyaak—! Kyaak—!
The Jannabi roared from the treetops.
***
"Guh—?!"
Kim Mun-ho's jaw shattered under a sudden fist, sending him tumbling across the ground.
No time to wonder why the punch had come flying. A shoe sole slammed into his face next.
Chaos reigned around him.
People tangled with people. Crowds intertwined, staggering left and right in a heaving mass.
What the hell...?
Snapping to his senses with the vampire's power, Kim Mun-ho spotted unnatural colors mingling in the air and leaped up in shock.
It was dark. Ominous. And it gleamed.
The closest thing was the iridescent oil slick on a puddle by the roadside after rain.
An oil slick in the shape of a massive ape-man!
"Uh, uhhh?"
Turmoil. Violence. A mass beating in progress!
Just moments ago, these people had been blindly rushing toward the goal. Now they were blindly assaulting each other!
A scorching gaze fixed on him. Cruel smiles and flashing fangs filled his vision.
"Come here. I'll just beat you to a pulp..."
A growl named madness.
Overwhelmed in an instant, Kim Mun-ho fell on his ass. A hammer-like fist grazed his hair.
"Oh? Dodged it? Won't work. You need a beating."
That voice sounded like a monkey's howl, and...
It was right then—the fist flew again.
Thwack—! It didn't even complete the swing. A dropkick buried into the man's side.
"Gahk—!"
The dropkicker was a woman with a sharp expression. In her suit, she mounted him like a pro MMA fighter and rained down punches—making it all the more terrifying!
What the—? What's going on all of a sudden?
Kim Mun-ho crawled desperately to escape the brawl-turned-street.
Arms and legs whirled overhead, fists and feet, even foreheads and heels churning the air.
Has everyone lost their minds?
He still fancied himself special, even if his shine had faded a bit.
But this? This was too much. Uncontrolled madness terrified even him, with his vampire edge.
"What? Hit me? Bring it! I'll smash your ugly mug!"
"Dieeee!"
"What the fuck is this mess? Let's get outta here first."
"Where you going? You! Nice glasses. Gimme!"
Thud! Bang! Crash! And screams!
Someone's fist met someone's jaw. Teeth arced through the air, one landing on Kim Mun-ho's crown. He squeezed his eyes shut instinctively.
"Huh?"
His head smacked into someone's thigh.
A muscular giant with scars on his face.
That's the guy from earlier!
The man from the exam hall! The one who intimidated even his "special" self—a pinnacle of human physique... no!
Colors swirled around the giant's body. Just like battle aura from a comic!
If that hits, I'm dead! Vampire or not, total obliteration!
Instinct kicked in—what his pre-vampire self would've done facing this brute.
"H-Hiiiik—! Sorry! My bad! Spare my life, please!"
...Pathetically curling up on the ground.
"I'm skin and bones—no place to hit! Plenty of others over there—beat them instead!"
"...Pardon?"
"If you must, make it quick and clean! Please!"
"......"
The hulking man—Ko Kyung-min—looked down at Kim Mun-ho with piercing eyes.
To Kim Mun-ho, those firm lips looked like a predator pondering how to devour easy prey.
D-Dead! I'm really gonna die!
Of course, Ko Kyung-min was utterly baffled.
"Um..."
"Y-Yes! M-Mercy!"
"It's just..."
"H-Hiiiik!"
No communication. Ko Kyung-min scratched his massive head with a pot-lid hand.
That's when his transfer buddy, Oh Sung-jin, pushed through the inferno to reach him.
"Ko... Kyung-min-ssi!"
"Ah, Oh Junior Staffer... no, Sung-jin-ssi. You're here."
"Yes. But this guy...?"
"No idea. He just dropped prone out of nowhere."
"Pardon?"
"Yeah."
"So, yeah?"
"......"
Kim Mun-ho peeked up cautiously. Two men stood before him.
One was the musclebound guy. The other was the man who'd sat next to him in the auditorium.
They know each other?
That thought flashed through his mind when—
"What do we do with him? Fail him?"
"N-No. I know him. So, this..."
Oh Sung-jin gave a thumbs-up—the gesture for final pass on this exam.
But Kim Mun-ho didn't know that. Which meant...
Th-Thumbs up! If it goes down, that's death signal!
He'd wildly misinterpreted the gesture.
Terrified, Kim Mun-ho slammed his head down again.
As he trembled, two more voices joined.
"Whoa! Total shitshow!"
One was the spacey flower-child girl from the auditorium.
"...Tch."
The other was unknown. But definitely bad news!
And the rest seemed off too! Like they all knew each other...
Huh?
They all knew each other?
Kim Mun-ho's slightly sharpened post-vampire brain started turning.
He pieced together info, connected dots, and finally...
Study group? Yeah! Big corp like Mirae—sharing exam cheats in advance!
A ridiculous leap.
Couldn't be helped. His civilian imagination from a month ago peaked there.
So I'm a tentative pass?
Kim Mun-ho peeked up again.
The fourth arrival was the scary woman who'd sat in front of him. He dropped his gaze.
"So, what now?"
"Head to the rally point first."
"Force our way through?"
"Yay! I love breakthrough! Make tons of friends!"
"Song Joo... I mean, Ko-eun-ssi, what do 'friends' even mean to you?"
"I dunno fancy words!"
"Ah, right..."
But Kim Mun-ho had sharpened up.
He gleaned the truth from their mad-sounding talk.
Rally point? Cheats confirmed!
A lightbulb flashed in his head.
Looked like a free ride.
Kim Mun-ho loved raw deals. Sashimi, yukhoe, salad...
And exams too.
Alright. Let's do this.
***
"Kee-yooot—!"
"Ugh, annoying. If you're out, just sleep it off..."
Hwang Eun-hye watched her dimwit senior play tough, putting down a failed applicant.
...Pathetic. How'd he even get hired?
He strutted like hot shit, but sweat-drenched foreheads don't lie.
"Hwang Junior Staffer, see? That's how. Not saying do it now. Once you're officially in our division."
Aaah, so boring...
"Company's got some weird ideas this time..."
I don't get what you're saying.
"Huh? Hwang Junior Staffer, listening?"
Hwang Eun-hye plastered on a business smile. She'd learned it from her transfer buddy—worked like a charm.
"Y-Yes. L-List, listening. S-So, the c-company...?"
Her dimwit senior grinned and continued.
"This exam's off. You know, that Sisyphus thing."
"Ah, S-Sis, Sisyphus...?"
"Yeah. Company's not usually this life-preserving. But they said try not to let people die this time. Weird, right?"
Muttering that, her senior tsked and shook his head.
"This way, we'll just get worthless F-grade newbies. Too easy."
"Y-Yes..."
"Look over there. Some already cleared the first gate. Kids these days get exams handed to 'em."
Hwang Eun-hye followed his chin-point.
Far off, through the peach trees, a few climbed the hillside path.
She knew them.
...Sung-jin-ssi and Kyung-min-ssi. The two with them look company too.
The nagging bad luck prodded her mind.
Something was up. Big trouble. Maybe life-threatening.
Should I intervene?
No.
...That settled it.
If they needed her ability, the company would've exploited it somehow.
My own nose is barely above water.
Hwang decided to watch.
Her eyes fixed on one back.
Oh Sung-jin.
The rookie re-entering the underworld after so long.