DI Ch 146

Somewhere…I faintly hear the kind of sounds a dying person would make. Who…uh, why is this room so cold? It felt like I opened my eyes shivering from the cold, but I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but it was when I regained consciousness again.

As my senses returned, the increasingly distinct sounds of wind and rustling leaves made me instinctively frown. When I wondered why it was so cold, the room window seemed to be open. It was obvious even if he didn’t look at it. It was clear that Seo Yi-yeon opened the window again to ventilate.

Having a younger sibling who occasionally goes around opening all the windows and doors in the house is annoying. She says it’s because the house feels stuffy, but then why does she leave the air purifier on all day? Or at least she could leave my room alone.

I shivered from the cold I felt from within. It’s been a while since I came down for the weekend, but I’ll have to go back up with a cold. Perhaps I was already sick. I must have caught it very badly. From my head to my arms and legs, there’s no part that doesn’t hurt.

It was so bad that it couldn’t be explained as a simple cold. What. Did I get hit by my father again yesterday? Dazed, I inwardly let out a wry laugh. Habits are scary – even as a college student, my mind immediately goes there. My father stopped hitting me after I became a high school student, saying I had become trustworthy…

No, didn’t I get hit before? I momentarily paused at the uncertain memory. …How long has it been since I graduated that I can’t remember? It’s shocking. Could the rumor that memory deteriorates after graduating high school actually apply to me?

Even when I fell asleep again, I tried to remember what I had done yesterday when I was drifting in and out of consciousness. Did I pass out somewhere after drinking? Then I must have hit my head. Hangover aftereffects. Judging by the splitting headache, it all makes sense.

Forcing my heavy eyelids open, I was met with fallen leaves half-stained red right in front of me. The rich earth tones amidst the reddish damp leaves bathed in warm sunlight looked beautiful. Was the floor of my room this color? Dazedly losing focus, I raised my gaze. Trees. Thick trees shedding leaves.

“…?”

Wait, what trees? Startled, my swollen eyes shot wide open. I tried to get up and look around, but as soon as I raised my upper body, I flopped right back down. Trembling violently as if in a seizure, I squeezed my eyes shut and clutched my throbbing head. What is this? I’m really going to die. It hurt to even breathe, so I hunched over painfully.

As I carefully let out a painful breath, my vision abruptly went dark as if something short-circuited.

When I regained consciousness, I was utterly drained. It was so difficult to even utter a sound of agony; I could barely breathe. Even though I wasn’t in a good state, it was worse than I thought. In the end, all I could do was glance around in agony.

“…”

… Forest? It’s a forest.

I was dumbfounded. A club activity…no, I’m not even in a mountain climbing club, so what mountain is this? My already stiff mind came to a complete halt from the bewilderment. Unable to comprehend the current situation at all, I could only clutch my aching head as I lay there dazed for a long while.

Oh, so… did I get stranded? Am I stranded right now?

My face turned ice-cold as if all the blood had drained away. I tilted my head up towards the narrow sky peeking through the leaves. The purplish-blue hue, an exquisite blend of vivid blues and pinks, was so beautiful. Blinking slowly, I watched the setting sun sink lower and flocks of birds flying far away.

Strange. I could clearly see the sun earlier… Did I pass out with my eyes open? This was driving me crazy. First of all, I wasn’t in a state where I could get up right now, so I just scraped together the information I could see in front of me and made a wild guess.

I can see traces of falling from above to where I am currently lying. Given the circumstances, I thought I may have had an accident while hiking. When I barely turned my head to the other side, I saw a slope close to a cliff, and my heart skipped a beat. It was a miracle that I didn’t fall further and just passed out here.

With a creaking sound, I lifted my head and my eyes landed on a coat and pants unsuitable for hiking. They were in such a tattered state that “wretched” would be an apt description. The knees were completely ripped, blood-soaked, and one shoe was also missing.

I just looked around here and there without moving a muscle. There was a lone sneaker left up there. Licking my dry, peeled lips, I felt the ground. Too weak to call out asking if anyone was there, and fearing wild animals might appear, I had no choice but to try getting out on my own somehow.

With hands that felt incredibly weak, I clenched the ground as hard as I could. Crawling on all fours, I barely made it onto the flat ground with the shoe. Before a sense of achievement could set in, seeing the trail too rugged to call a path instantly deflated my motivation.

Although I couldn’t make sense of the situation at all, I could tell that I had taken the wrong path and had an accident. This is driving me crazy. Losing my way in the mountains. Isn’t this a really dangerous situation right now?

The sky was already darkening and sweat was dripping like someone who just took a shower. Breathing heavily like an old man, I lay there motionless. I almost fainted again. This was a problem not only because of the depleted strength from climbing uphill in this state, or the significantly deteriorated physical condition…

It was because of this damn backpack that nearly made me lose my mind. The weight pressing on my back was so unsteady and precarious.

Looking at the size of the backpack, I was tempted to curse because it was so big and heavy that I thought I came here to live. Anyway, I was trying to check what was in my bag, but the first thing I caught in my hand was an empty water bottle. For a moment I wanted to swear, but fortunately there was a tumbler with water.

Even though this wasn’t the middle of a desert, just having water made me happy enough to stretch out my legs comfortably.

Now properly rummaging through the bag…there’s quite a lot of stuff inside. Click, click, click. Fiddling with the flashlight unnecessarily, I sighed at the bright light. It hit me that the woods had grown dark. Although I don’t get cold easily, the thought of spending the night in this condition made me uneasy that I might not make it through.

My pale, numb hands were as cold as a real corpse. I vigorously rubbed them to try to get my blood flowing as I looked around again. … This is a small mountain, about the size of a mountain behind the neighborhood, right? Although it seems too dense and deep for that. In a rush of unease, I hastily searched my pockets. I need to find my phone.

However, there was only a crumpled piece of paper in the coat pocket, so I turned the intact bag upside down and shook it out. As the darkness deepened, the need for the flashlight became more apparent. What would I have done without this?

Anyway, there was everything in the backpack, but there was no phone. Why did I have a mini-torch instead of a lighter? With the pages and clips, there were 10 detached lottery tickets, making me doubt if these were really my belongings.

And strange doodles. They seemed intentionally silly. Did I really draw these? Art was a skill I should have abandoned long ago. Anyway, I hurriedly turned on my laptop and tablet since I had those… but it was no use.

It was impossible to report or request rescue, so my motivation dwindled into a distant emptiness. This was driving me crazy. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I didn’t have the strength, so I picked up a biscuit and ate it, but at that moment, the feeling of nausea hit me once again.

“Ah…”

Somehow the more anxious I felt, the more my stomach churned, so I turned off the flashlight for a bit to save battery and bowed my head. I could feel cold sweat dripping. As the autumn wind blew, my body temperature was taken away, but there was nothing I could do.

Just making a little sound seemed to have hurt my torn throat even more. It hurts like a person who has screamed. It’s strange that even though I drink something, it keeps tasting like metal.

After blankly staring at the dim ground, I painfully raised my head. When I turned on the flashlight, I saw a small rock that had been lodged in my forehead fall away. As I gazed at it dully, a lump caught my eye. It’s a hot pack. Clutching the bundle of warmers in my cold hands, I slowly sat up. I had no energy but didn’t want to die of hypothermia, so I opened my coat to find spent hand warmers already attached.

… How many days has it been since I got stranded?

In order not to lose my composure, I took another sip of water and calmed down my anxiety. Meanwhile, my feet were so cold that I reached for the sneakers lying nearby to put on the shoes I had forgotten, but something firmly attached to my thigh caught my eye. An axe.

“…?”

Wearing such uncomfortable clothes, makeshift hiking gear, and now an axe. Why did I have this? In a confused state, I clumsily put on my shoes, but the soles of my feet were completely worn out and touched my fingertips. I checked and found that it was a detachable crampon.

The more new information was updated, the more confused I became, but I steadily replaced it with a new one and took out the thick blanket. I wrapped it around my shoulders like a cloak and checked the sky again. The beautiful starry night suggested nice weather, but the bleakness only made me feel more stifled due to the feeling of despair.

My stamina was worn out, and the mountain after sunset was dangerous, so I wasn’t sure if it would be okay to move carelessly, but I still packed my bags to move. Of course, staying still might be the better option for rescue. But staying here would mean certain death from hypothermia.

As risky as it was, I had to crawl to find some shelter from the wind, even if it wasn’t easy. Anywhere sheltered would be better than this exposed area. In the process, I grabbed what looked like a strange telescope. I tried it on to see what it was, and it turned out to be night vision goggles.

… Park Kang-woo! His goofy grinning face immediately came to mind, making my expression sour. There’s no way I would have bought something like this. It must be that guy’s.