MONSTER 1

I should have killed you the moment we first met.

⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

The world had collapsed. The city had been devastated, and countless people had died.

Looking back, it did not happen in a single moment. Starting with the sinkholes that appeared in multiple locations, all sorts of hypotheses and conspiracy theories, such as a great earthquake or a great catastrophe, overflowed as fear spread rampantly.

However, most people continued their lives peacefully. Apocalyptic theories had always existed throughout history, and for the most part, they were absurd falsehoods.

Even as the ground rose up, buildings collapsed, landslides occurred, and communications were paralyzed, people could not easily bring to mind the word “ruin.”

But when they faced that, which was so alien they had never seen it before, everyone must have thought of it at once.

Ruin.

“He, help me! Ughhh!”

A scream from far away tore through his thoughts. His five senses on high alert, his gaze moved quickly toward where the sound had come from. Beyond the concrete debris, something long and sharp flashed in the empty air. It was shaped like a praying mantis’s foreleg and was as long as a person is tall. The moment it plunged downward in one swift motion, Han Yuseong immediately turned his back.

From now on, there was only one thing he had to do. Run away.

“Ahhhhhh—!”

No matter what sounds he heard from behind him, he had to look only forward and run. He had to run without stopping, even if his urgent steps tripped on a stone and his hand was scratched by a sharply protruding rebar.

Han Yuseong panted as he surveyed his surroundings. Piles of concrete and dirt, and nameless grasses that grew between them. His gaze quickly swept past.

At some point, the screaming had stopped. Perhaps the person was being torn apart by sharp teeth while dead.

Glancing to the side, Yuseong spotted people crawling under a dented car. They were probably companions. Just like him, who had fled as soon as he heard the scream, they too must have run without hesitation. It was a natural reaction.

“Gasp, haah….”

He was out of breath. It was no ordinary task to run, pushing his way through the mess of collapsed buildings. Besides, for the past few days, the only thing he had put in his mouth was a little water. His stamina had hit rock bottom, so he could not push himself any further.

He saw a gap under a pile of stones, just big enough for him to squeeze his body into. If the debris shifted from an external shock, he would be crushed to death, but that might be better than being eaten by a monster. Yuseong hid himself there.

Gray dust rose up, but he covered his nose and lips and barely managed to swallow a cough. Huddled in a narrow space where he could not even straighten his shoulders, he listened to the sounds outside.

Thud, thud. Rustle, rustle.

The sound of heavy footsteps that could not be human, and the sound of small stones being crushed and scattering. It was getting closer.

Muttering a curse, he looked around. The space was narrow, but he might be able to get out through the other side.

Pressing the back of his hand against his nose, he crawled little by little. Sunlight streamed in from various cracks, so the inside was not very dark.

His gaze following a sunbeam where dust was wavering, Yuseong’s eyes widened in surprise. He could see a person outside, through a gap about the size of his head.

The man, who seemed to be around his age, was somewhat strange. He stood still among the piles of rocks, a sharp-tipped iron pipe held in his hand, which hung listlessly toward the ground, showing no sign of being wary of his surroundings.

Did he not hear the scream? Frowning, Yuseong fumbled on the ground. He picked up a small stone that his fingertips touched and immediately threw it out of the hole.

Thump. The stone hit the middle of the man’s long leg. Even so, he just stood there blankly, staring at some point in the air.

He might have lost his mind. It was the fifth year since the world had ended, and there were times when it felt like sane people were the rarer ones.

Han Yuseong observed him again. The man was standing with a straight back, not even leaning on one leg. It did not seem like he was unable to move from exhaustion, and his pale face looked well-cared for, as if he had been eating well. He was also very tall, and had a good physique. Yuseong did not know what he was thinking about by himself, but if he could just snap him out of it, he would surely be able to escape on his own.

With the thought that this was the last time, he threw a stone he could grab at him. Only after throwing it did he realize it was a fist-sized rock, and of all things, it hit the back of his hand squarely with a thwack sound. It was a blow that would surely leave a bruise. Just as he was about to hide and pretend he did not know about the situation, which had turned into a provocation rather than help, it happened.

The man finally turned his head. His indifferent face turned this way, and a bright light shone on his pupils. For some reason, his bluish eyes looked familiar.

Have we met somewhere before? He could not search his memory for long. Because the man smiled gently as he stared straight at him.

Is he a crazy bastard?

After a brief look around, Yuseong mouthed the words. ‘Run away, monster.’ He repeated it several times in case the man could not understand.

The man’s smile deepened as he seemed to be carefully watching the shape of his mouth.

…Let’s give up. He does not seem to be in his right mind, and it would be a problem if I got dragged into it too.

Han Yuseong gathered the stones rolling on the ground and methodically blocked the hole. It seemed like the white face was staring only at him, but he absolutely did not lift his head.

Only after completely blocking the hole did he cast a belated glance. Yuseong hugged his knees and stared blankly at the faint light seeping in. From a distance, there was the sound of sand scattering. How far had the monster come?

Is that guy still standing there motionless? His gaze, which had been wandering in the air for a moment, returned to the same spot. At that moment, a small stone fell inside with a thump.

I placed it carelessly, so it must have fall—

“Wha, what the.”

The stones that had been plugging the hole came pouring inside with a clatter. Then a strange face popped in, surprising him so much that he made a sound, forgetting that he had been holding his breath.

It was the same person from a moment ago. Bending at the waist, he was looking down at him motionlessly. As the man stared fixedly at him without even blinking, Han Yuseong slowly got on his hands and knees on the ground, preparing to crawl away. He seemed like a weird person, so it seemed best to avoid him.

As he was cautiously sizing him up with a sideways glance, the man tilted his head slightly. At that moment, he strangely felt a chill. The coldness that ran down from the nape of his neck to his spine urged him to move. Yuseong looked back at his escape route and moved his knees. It was not a space large enough to turn his body, so he intended to retreat back the way he came.

But he could not get far. This was because a huge hand that had suddenly burst into his hiding spot grabbed him by the hair. His knees and palms scraped the floor as his body was dragged helplessly.

It was such tremendous strength that if he had not seen with his own eyes that it was a person, he would have definitely thought it was a monster.

“Let go…!”

He tried to push away the hand gripping his hair, but every part he touched was as hard as a rock. When he thought he would be no match in terms of strength and grabbed the knife tucked in his belt, the hand slipped out from his hair. His scalp tingled.

He rolled his smarting eyes and glared outside, and the white face appeared again. For someone who had just grabbed a stranger by the hair and dragged them out, he wore a very nonchalant expression.

“What the hell are you doing,” Han Yuseong said in a low voice, his face crumpling into a scowl. The man, who had been staring at him blankly, slowly opened his mouth.

“Sorry. You can’t go that way.”

Goosebumps spread across the skin where his low voice reached. Why had he thought that he would not speak? He found himself mulling over the combination of ordinary words he had uttered.

And belatedly, he heard approaching footsteps. Too noisy to be a person’s.

Did he know the monster was coming and try to stop me? That would explain his aggressive action. However, he had no intention of leaving the pile of rocks in the first place, and had only wanted to avoid the somewhat strange man.

“Wait here.”

The man, who spoke as if whispering, disappeared from his sight. He might have been going to hide himself as well.

Not long after, he heard a monster’s cry from very close by. Han Yuseong reflexively covered his mouth and lowered his body. Thud, thud. A loud noise continued, and he could not tell if it was the sound of footsteps or the sound of it striking the ground with its sharp, blade-like arms. Unless it was targeting prey, the monster did not bother to make a commotion….

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘Wait here.’

That person who gave him unnecessary help and disappeared, He must be dead, he thought.

No screams were heard in the meantime, but if your stomach is pierced, you die instantly without even being able to scream. Yuseong curled up and covered his ears. The monster’s cry was unusually loud.

Sometimes, he even found himself strange. That he was still afraid, even after witnessing so many deaths and facing monsters countless times.