GHLL Ch 18

“I had a feeling it would be like this. Kim Daesik, you are not the kind of man to meekly accept my proposal.”

He tapped the floor with the tip of his toe before turning his body toward me. Then, with an expression that was nothing short of gloomy, he pulled his lips up into a smile.

“It was you who found a way for us to live when we were just waiting to be devoured, and it was you who said you would leave on your own when all of us chose castration, unable to leave this place.”

I let out a sigh and slumped my shoulders.

“Kim Yoonsik, just let me go. I do not care what you do here. It has nothing to do with me, as I am already an outsider.”

Kim Yoonsik nodded his head, pretending to agree.

“That is right. You are just an outsider who left this place a long time ago. And yet, even just before she died, the Director called you her son and missed you. I thought of her as my mother and gave her all my devotion, but it was a futile effort.”

He added a nasty, choking laugh and spoke cheerfully.

“It would have been nice if you had returned while the Director was still alive. The Director has passed away and everything is too late, but Kim Daesik, you have returned to where you belong. This is your home and your world.”

I clicked my tongue with a tsk.

“It might be your world for you, who has never once been outside in your entire life. But not for me. My world is out there.”

Gyeol, who was outside, was my world and my everything. The thought that I had to return to his side made me grip the knife in my hand tightly. I knew I had no chance against six firearms, but I just could not let go of the knife. But Kim Yoonsik did not listen to me.

“The outside is crawling with ghouls anyway, is it not…? The only safe place is right here, Pyeongseong Prison.”

Kim Yoonsik, who spoke as if making a final judgment, gestured at me with his chin. Soon, the castrated bastards, with their guns pointed forward, came over to my side, took away my knife, and forced me to my knees. And then they bound my limbs.

Kim Yoonsik approached me, my freedom once again stolen. He reached out his hand and caressed my cheek, then bared his teeth and smiled.

“I am taking back my offer to make you a king.”

“……”

“Instead, you will have to become a stud horse.”

Soon, a hood was pulled over my head, and I was struck on the back of the head. My skull rang with a throbbing pain as my consciousness rapidly faded away.

🖤

When I came to my senses, I was on a bed.

On a bed made by joining several mattresses, I was thrown about like a tranquilized frog. Startled, I tried to sit up, only to see that both my hands were bound by shackles. Every time I moved, the metal chains connected to the steel post made a clattering sound.

Unless I broke my own thumb, they were shackles that could never be undone by normal means. As I was dismayed by this, the door opened and women appeared. Not just one, but a whole group of them swarmed into the room, and I let out a groan. At this rate, there was a high probability that I would be trapped here and overworked for days on end until not a single drop of semen was left.

I gritted my teeth and tried to pull at the shackles, but they only made a loud, clanking noise. They would not budge an inch. Is this it, I thought, looking at the women surrounding the bed with a sense of resignation. The only remaining option was to coax these women and get them on my side. But the women were not fools, and trying to talk my way out for the purpose of escape would be useless.

“Wait a minute.”

Despite that, the words of restraint involuntarily burst out of my mouth when I saw a woman crawling onto my bed.

“Kim Yoonsik is trying to use you all. Since he cannot produce children himself, he is trying to get an heir by taking my seed. If this continues, Pyeongseong Prison, which the women have painstakingly protected, will be handed over entirely to a man… no, not even a man, but a castrated bastard!”

Yelling at the top of my lungs about whether they wanted to be reduced to the status of livestock like in the old days, I, who had retreated to the edge of the bed, began to spout whatever came to mind.

“Above all, it is useless to try and squeeze my semen out. My penis is as good as useless when it comes to women. It has been so long since it only reacted to one person that it is of no use!”

At that moment, the woman who had come right up to me suddenly took a key out from her bosom. I saw it and my eyes widened. Soon, the woman who had unlocked my shackles with it propped herself up on her knees, and pulled down the hood she was wearing on her face. Revealing her face like that, she frowned and spoke.

“Good grief, you are so loud.”

“……?”

“Do you, do you not remember who I am?”

I frowned, trying hard to figure out the person’s identity. It was a face I had definitely seen before, but I could not remember who it was. It was only after the person bared her teeth and scowled that I remembered where I had seen the face before me.

“I guess you do not remember, even after I split your back in half?”

I let out a sound, “Ah.” I thought she was someone I knew from here at Pyeongseong Prison back in the old days, but she was not. She was the very person I had encountered while wandering with Gyeol in search of food a long time ago, but whom I ultimately had no choice but to let go.

“You are that person from back then…”

“That is right.”

As the woman moved away from me, creating some distance, her face became clearer. The image of her sweating, holding a small baby, overlapped with the person in front of me. I, who had told her the way to Pyeongseong Prison but had not thought she would be able to survive, spoke in admiration.

“You really made it here.”

“Thanks to you, I fought tooth and nail to survive and came here.”

Feeling an unexpected sense of gladness, I opened my mouth to ask, ‘What about the child?’. But I could not see the child beside her. Instead, the place was filled with women. It was only then that I realized the atmosphere of the women was strange. Every single one of them was properly dressed and armed. They did not seem to be filled with the expectation of pinning down a man and having fun. Rather, their eyes were shining with a restrained tension and anticipation, and I instinctively sensed that these women were on the verge of something important.

“What is it, what is happening tonight?”

At my question, the women stepped aside, and someone who had been in the back stepped forward. It was none other than Seo Bokhee.

“Tonight, we escape from this place.”

“Escape?”

The question escaped my lips on its own, and Seo Bokhee continued.

“After the Director passed away and the castrated bastards took over Pyeongseong Prison, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The surroundings are teeming with ghouls, and with not a single human in sight, we are short on everything, food and supplies. We cannot survive cooped up in here.”

“So, are you going to kill Kim Yoonsik and throw him to the ghouls or something?”

“Whether Kim Yoonsik and the castrated bastards build a kingdom of men here or whatever, it is none of our business. But Kim Yoonsik has the map.”

“A map?”

“Did you not see it too? It should have been in the safe.”

I recalled that I had swept the contents of the safe into my backpack without properly looking at them. I thought there might have been a map among them. When I asked, “What about the map?”, Seo Bokhee continued.

“The place where the sun rises is marked on it.”

I froze, struck with a shock as if by lightning. That symbol, left behind in crumbling cities and collapsing ruins. Was the silent cry to go to the place where the sun rises not a lie?

“The place… where the sun rises?”

Seo Bokhee nodded at the words I uttered in a trembling tone.

“What do you think is the reason why there are fewer and fewer people on this land?”

“That is because, people eat people.”

“There is that, but it is also because all the survivors have left in search of the place where the sun rises. The ones who brought us that map were the same.”

According to Seo Bokhee, a group of people had come to Pyeongseong Prison a few months ago. To be precise, they had encountered the patrol members and conveyed their opinions, but anyway, the group, which consisted of a single family, had asked for help from Pyeongseong Prison, claiming they knew where the place where the sun rises was.

“The fact that the clouds of ash are clearing and the sun is coming out means that the world could be recovering. It is a miraculous thing, but not everyone welcomes that miracle. There are bound to be those who believe that the perishing world is their world.”

Seo Bokhee was right. A long time had passed since the world fell to ruin, cannibalism became rampant, and ghouls flourished. Since most of humanity did not know the original world and had come to take cannibalism for granted, there would certainly be those who were not pleased with the restoration of civilization.

“It seems there is a place where the sun rises beyond the dried-up sea, and the reconstruction of humanity has begun there, calling for survivors. But it seems there are bastards who are obstructing it. I heard there is a group coiled up on the path to the place where the sun rises, waiting for survivors to pass by, only to devour them.”

The family, having learned about those bastards, judged that they could not break through that place with their own strength and sought out Pyeongseong Prison. They had proposed that if they were told the location of the place where the sun rises, they would defeat the bastards together and leave for a new world.

“At that time, Pyeongseong Prison was already surrounded by ghouls and the situation had become difficult. The prevailing opinion was that it was better to leave for the place where the sun rises than to be trapped here, eating each other and starving to death. But…”

“Kim Yoonsik opposed it.”

“Right. Kim Yoonsik secretly sent the castrated bastards to slaughter the family and issued a stern warning that no one could leave Pyeongseong Prison. We, who could not know where the place where the sun rises was without them, were greatly frustrated. We decided we could no longer stand by and watch Kim Yoonsik and decided to strike him… but we found out that he had not discarded the map marking the new world, but had hidden it in the safe.”

In the midst of all that, I had shown up and caused a commotion by looting the entire safe and running away. Thanks to that, they had realized that I knew how to open the safe and were now seeking my cooperation.

“As you know, the safe in the Director’s office is damn sturdy. We were planning to torture Kim Yoonsik to open the safe, but if by any chance something went wrong and we failed to get the password, there would be nothing we could do. We would have to wander the outside world teeming with ghouls without knowing exactly where the place where the sun rises is. So you have to get that map for us.”

Seo Bokhee reached out and grabbed my arm. Then she pulled me, who had been sitting slumped on the bed, to my feet, and placed a knife in my hand, saying.

“Let us go to the place where the sun rises together.”

In a place where brilliant sunlight pours down from a clear sky, there would be no need for people to eat people. Perhaps there might even be a way to cure the body afflicted with the cannibalism disease. Even if the disease that had already taken hold could not be cured, it might be possible to manage it so that it does not break out.

It felt as if a destination that had been only vague had suddenly come right before my eyes. A thrill ran through me at the expectation that a hope I could not even dream of might become a reality. I calmed my pounding, turbulent heart, gripped the handle of the knife firmly, and nodded my head.

🖤

The problem was the guns.

It was true that the women were divided on the issue of whether to leave Pyeongseong Prison or not. Some were so afraid of leaving Pyeongseong Prison that they thought going to the outside world was no different from dying. But even those types would not risk their lives to protect Kim Yoonsik.

Thanks to that, we only had to deal with the castrated bastards to stop Kim Yoonsik and secure the map. But it was dangerous because those bastards had a monopoly on the firearms.

Above all, we did not know exactly where the map was. I had swept everything inside the safe into my backpack earlier, but that backpack was taken by Kim Yoonsik. It was unclear whether he had put the contents of the backpack back into the safe or had put them somewhere else.

So we decided to use a diversionary tactic. The plan was for the majority of the personnel, including Seo Bokhee, to pretend to attack Kim Yoonsik, provoking the castrated bastards and making them waste their bullets. In the meantime, I would open the safe in the Director’s office and confirm the location of the map.

Now that we had a plan, there was no reason to hesitate. First, Seo Bokhee and the women caused a commotion, yelling “Waaaaah!”. While they were looking for Kim Yoonsik, shouting “Let us drag out Kim Yoonsik!”, I headed to the main building with Park Eunhye, whose life I had saved. Then, with Park Eunhye’s help, I found a ladder and looked into the Director’s office through the window I had broken through.

If there was no one guarding the safe, it meant the map was not there. But a duo armed with guns was waiting in the Director’s office. Thinking that the map was highly likely to be here, I sent a hand signal to Park Eunhye below to enter the Director’s office. Seeing it, Park Eunhye entered the building and went up the stairs to the second floor. Then she drew the attention of the ones guarding the safe.

“Who is there!”

The bastards guarding the safe spotted Park Eunhye and turned their muzzles in that direction. In that gap, I kicked off the ladder and jumped into the window. At the same time, I struck the backs of the bastards who were standing with their backs to me.

“Keuak!”

“Eueok.”

As the bastards fell with a single scream, I kicked away the guns that fell from their hands. Then, while Park Eunhye finished them off, I quickly went to the safe and opened the door.

In the safe, there were a few sticks of instant coffee mix, a miniature liquor bottle, and a few chocolates rolling around. But the all-important map was not there.

While I was checking inside the safe, Park Eunhye, who had picked up a gun, checked the chamber. Confirming that it was empty, she clicked her tongue.

“It does not seem to be here.”

To her murmur, having realized the safe was a decoy, I nodded my head.

“If it is not here, Kim Yoonsik must have it.”

Although I did not say it out loud, if Kim Yoonsik had taken the map, he might have destroyed it. If he had no intention of leaving Pyeongseong Prison, there was no reason to have that map. Nevertheless, the fact that he still had it suggested a high possibility that he would use it as a bargaining tool.

Park Eunhye and I left the Director’s office and exited the main building. Then we crossed the chaotic prison and began to search for where Kim Yoonsik was.

Finding Kim Yoonsik was not difficult. He was isolated in a guard post on the eastern side of the prison wall. He was holed up there, armed with a gun. Seo Bokhee and the other women had already surrounded the area, but every time they approached the entrance to the guard post, bullets flew, leaving them in a stalemate.

I hurried over to Seo Bokhee and said.

“The map is not in the safe.”

At those words, Seo Bokhee frowned.

“Does Kim Yoonsik have it?”

“He must. He will probably threaten to destroy the map if we corner him.”

Seo Bokhee scratched her head as if it were a headache. Soon, she took a megaphone that someone had brought and opened her mouth.

「Ah, ah ah. This is a message for Kim Yoonsik. You are surrounded. There is nowhere to run, so surrender peacefully.」

Soon, Kim Yoonsik’s screeching voice could be heard from beyond the broken glass window of the guard post.

“It is you bitches who should surrender! How dare, how dare you defy me, the Director? You arrogant things!”

Seo Bokhee retorted as if annoyed.

「Whether you play Director here or not is none of our business. What we want is the map. If you just give us the map, we will leave this place peacefully.」

“Says who!”

Kim Yoonsik, who had shouted loudly, boldly revealed himself at the window. Then he waved a piece of paper that seemed to be the map as if he would tear it.

“Nobody is getting out of here. Not a single one, from the old woman to the young one, can leave me. Whether you like it or not, you are going to be with me here in Pyeongseong Prison forever!”

「Crazy…」

Seo Bokhee, who had uttered a stream of vulgar curses, ground her teeth.

「You witless bastard, do you think the women here are your property? Why are you deciding who leaves and who does not. No matter what you say, we are leaving this place and going to a new world! You can not stop us no matter what you do, so give up! Give up and hand over the map peacefully!」

“You think it will be paradise just because you go to the place where the sun rises? No! It will be a hell worse than this!”

「We will be the ones to judge whether it is hell or not.」

Seo Bokhee gestured with her chin at those who were looking for an opportunity to enter the guard post. A few of them covered their heads with iron plates they had brought from somewhere and headed towards the guard post. At that, Kim Yoonsik hurriedly fired his gun. But because the distance was far and his aim was poor, the bullets flew to strange places. Eventually, Kim Yoonsik gave up shooting and grabbed the map.

Seeing the worn-out map being torn in two, Seo Bokhee growled with a fearsome expression.

「Stop, stop!」

The women who had reached the entrance also could not enter, for fear that the map would be torn to shreds and fly away in the wind. It seemed like the stalemate, where neither side could do anything, would drag on. But as I watched the scene, I noticed something strange.

“Where did all the castrated bastards go?”

At my question, Park Eunhye, who was next to me, looked around with a new awareness. I had thought all the castrated bastards would be by Kim Yoonsik’s side, protecting him, but for some reason, none of them were in sight. It seemed that Kim Yoonsik was the only one in the guard post, which felt strange.

“Do you not think they bailed, knowing things had gone south?”

At Park Eunhye’s words, I shook my head.

“No, they are not normal guys, they are castrated, so they have no choice but to side with Kim Yoonsik, who is just like them. They know better than anyone that if the women abandon Pyeongseong Prison and leave, they will be the first ones to be hunted.”

At those words, Park Eunhye looked at the women standing around and shouted, “The men are gone. Find the castrated bastards!” The women then scattered to look for them, when suddenly a loud roar echoed.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

A huge impact shook the earth’s axis, and my body was thrown backward as if struck by a whip. I could feel my uncontrolled body tumbling and tangling with the falling debris. When my body, rolling over and over like a rag doll, finally came to a stop, I was completely disoriented. A high-pitched ringing, beeeeeep—-, dominated my ears, and the pain from hitting everything struck a beat later.

“Uuugh.”

I let out a groan and lifted my eyelids. Just doing that made my whole body ache terribly. Still, I could not help but lift my head. The main building was visible, looking as if it had been half-destroyed by a tremendous shock. The dilapidated walls had cracked and crumbled, and the whole area was a mess of bricks, window bars, and concrete fragments that had been flung everywhere.

I knew what that madman Kim Yoonsik had done. As if he really intended not to let a single person out of Pyeongseong Prison, he had blown up the entrance made in the basement of the main building.

But Kim Yoonsik’s atrocity did not end there. As the ringing that lingered in my ears subsided, and the ash and dust that had risen to obscure my vision gradually settled, I saw that the worst possible situation imaginable had occurred.

“Geueooooo.”

“Kkeureureuk.”

“Geuweeeeh!”

What appeared, pushing through the ash, debris, and sparks, was a swarm of ghouls. The castrated bastards, under Kim Yoonsik’s orders, had not only blown up the passage but had undoubtedly opened the gate that had been blocking the ghouls.

This was not just about preventing the women from leaving. This was a scheme for everyone to die here together.

“Hahahaha…”

From high above, a faint, crazed laughter could be heard. Kim Yoonsik was enjoying himself, looking down on the ground from the guard post. It was truly an act of madness, but I had seen far too many bastards who gave up in such a manner. The ones who could not wait to accelerate the destruction in an already dying world were the real monsters among monsters.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself up. As I did, I grabbed the knife that was rolling on the floor. By then, the swarm of ghouls was already within reach. Although they had been pushed into the prison by the aftermath of the explosion, the bastards, who had been hesitating due to the ash and dust, belatedly spotted their prey and began to drool from their rotting mouths.

Leaving behind Seo Bokhee shouting from somewhere, “Get a grip! The ghouls are coming!”, I ran towards the guard post. Without even breathing, I climbed the stairs in one go and kicked the locked door.

Kwaang!

The doorknob popped out from the military boot’s kick, and the door opened. Kim Yoonsik, who had been standing by the window, looking down at the pandemonium on the ground as if he were a god, turned to look at me, startled. And he gripped the map with both hands as if to tear it to pieces.

“Do not come any closer!”

I twisted my lips.

“Why, so you can tear that up?”

“I said do not come any closer!”

“Unfortunately for you, I am different from the women here. A world where the sun rises, I am not very curious about it. For you and me, we are already too much of a monster to live like humans in a place like that, are we not? So tear it or not, do as you please.”

“I… I will tear it, I will tear it up! I will really tear it to pieces!”

“I am just going to kill you.”

“Uwaaaaaaaahk!”

At the same time as I kicked off the ground and swung my knife, Kim Yoonsik dodged and flung the map away. Because of that, the map, torn in half, fluttered into the air with one piece overlapping the other.

The moment I saw that, I threw my body. Contrary to what I had said to Kim Yoonsik, instead of killing him, I dropped my knife, stepped on the window frame, and then pushed off, stretching out my hand with all my might. The map, which had been fluttering in the wind, about to fly away somewhere, touched my fingertips.

With a pak sound, I snatched the map and felt my body tilting into the air, and I reflexively reached out. My fingertips caught the window frame, and I barely, just barely, avoided plummeting down below the guard post. But it was too early to be relieved. As a hell of ghouls and people intertwined unfolded beneath my feet, a chilling presence crept up behind me. When I turned my head back, I saw Kim Yoonsik making a strange expression.

There was no way to know if that face, stained with tears and ash and distorted beyond recognition, was laughing or crying. But I knew that his appearance was not much different from my own, having been born and raised as prey here in Pyeongseong Prison. Had I also chosen castration and remained here in Pyeongseong Prison, I might have made the same choice as him.

No, even if I had not met Gyeol, I would have been exactly like him. I would not have dreamed of, believed in, or wished for a world where the sun rises, and would have given up on everything. That is why, the moment Kim Yoonsik stretched out his hands to push me out the window, I had no choice but to despair.

I should have at least kept my promise to Gyeol before I died. The frustration of ultimately not being able to feed him the chocolate tried to drag me down to hell.

It was at that moment.

“……Keok.”

The hand that was about to push me stopped in midair. Instead, Kim Yoonsik coughed up a torrent of black blood from his mouth.

Watching the scene, not knowing what had happened, I saw Kim Yoonsik’s body sway and falter. It was only then that I saw the tip of a knife that had pierced through his ribcage. As it retreated back, Kim Yoonsik collapsed on the spot.

Thud.

I did not watch him fall. I could not. When Kim Yoonsik disappeared from my field of vision, I could see who was standing behind him.

“……Han Gyeol?”

It was utterly unbelievable, but it was Gyeol. Gyeol was standing there blankly, the bloody tip of his knife held upright. He opened his mouth, his face pale as if the excitement and shock of the murder had not yet subsided.

“Please, I am begging you, get down from there.”

“……”

“I am scared to death you are going to fall, so just get down first.”

Only then did I realize that I was still hanging precariously from the window frame. As I managed to bend my body and shift my center of gravity to the inside of the window, Gyeol finally reached out his hand and pulled me.

Pretending to be pulled by him, I threw my arms around him in a tight hug. And with the hand clutching the map, I repeatedly stroked his back and spoke in a trembling tone.

“You, you, how on earth did you know about this place.”

Clatter! I heard the sound of the knife Gyeol was holding falling. As he hugged me back with his blood-stained hands, the body in my arms finally began to tremble.

“How did I know. Because you, you did not, did not come back.”

Even his voice was trembling uncontrollably, so I rubbed his back over and over again.

“Did you come looking for me?”

“It seemed like… you were, you were captured here.”

“You did well to figure out I was here.”

“Who do you take me for, a fool? This is Pyeongseong Prison, after all.”

To his softly added words, the place you were born, I nodded my head. Then, Gyeol pushed me away with some effort and lifted his head.

“This is not the time for this. Soon the ghouls will be here too…”

As soon as I faced him, I grabbed his face with both hands, squashing his cheeks, and pulled him in. Then I pressed my lips against his and thrust my tongue inside. Gyeol squirmed as if to say this was not the time for kissing, but I ignored it and sucked his tongue forcefully.

“Euu-eung……!”

In the end, I only let him go after his tongue had been bitten to the point of pain. At that, Gyeol, his face bright red, huffed and got angry.

“I told you this is not the time!”

“Right. This is not the time.”

I smiled, picked up his knife for him, and gripped my own. Then I headed for the stairs, intending to leave the guard post with Gyeol. But the ghouls were already pushing their way up the stairs.

It was a single path, so there was no way down other than the stairs. Since we had to break through those ghouls somehow, I stepped back and looked at Kim Yoonsik, who was lying dead on the floor.

“Let us lift that together.”

I tucked my knife into my belt and put my arms under Kim Yoonsik’s armpits. Gyeol, catching on to my plan, quickly lifted Kim Yoonsik’s legs. And we carried him outside the door and threw him to the swarm of ghouls that had come within reach.

“Geueooooo!”

“Krrrrrrruk.”

The swarm of ghouls descended upon the freshly dead corpse that was spilling fresh blood, truly like ghouls. The necks of the ghouls bent as they stuck their noses into the corpse. I kicked off the backs of the crouching bastards and held out my hand to Gyeol. Then I pulled Gyeol with all my might and began to use the ghouls’ backs as stairs to climb down.

But there were too many ghouls. Kim Yoonsik’s corpse was not enough to satiate the swarm of ghouls that kept pushing forward, drawn by the smell of blood. They finished off Kim Yoonsik’s body in an instant and turned their attention to us, and we had not yet managed to get off the stairs.

Gyeol and I fought desperately against the ghouls pushing up the stairs, trying to break through, but when the ghouls that had torn apart the corpse above started pushing down from behind us, we were completely trapped. It was fortunate that the steep stairs were narrow. The ghouls were in a frenzy, getting tangled up with each other, falling off the railing, sliding down the stairs, trampling one another, and getting crushed as they climbed, a complete mess. Thanks to that, we were able to buy some time. Nevertheless, there was a limit to how long we could hold on.

What should I do, what on earth should I do. As I was fighting desperately with that thought, I saw a sight of someone clearing a path, beating back the ghouls that were packed tightly at the entrance below. As soon as a space was created, with a tatadadang! sound, an automatic rifle was fired indiscriminately, and the ghouls’ heads burst like rotten pumpkins. Taking that chance, I shouted at Gyeol.

“Push!”

“Euryaaaa!”

As Gyeol, with a spirited yell, kicked and pushed the swarm of ghouls, they poured down in a cascade. Hearing the sound of the spines of the ghouls that had tumbled down the stairs snapping, we threw our bodies down the stairs.

As we landed on the ground, practically crashing into the dead and fallen ghouls, we saw Seo Bokhee and her group, who were surrounding the entrance and securing a space. Seeing us, they shouted, “Let us go, hurry!” and began to break a path.

Once we escaped the cramped passage of the guard post, the density of the ghouls decreased drastically, and we could breathe. Since Seo Bokhee and a few others had firearms, we were able to quickly break through the swarm of ghouls and enter the half-collapsed main building.

The building, heavily damaged by the explosion, looked like it could collapse at any moment. But it would be safer to escape through the underground passage than to go out through the main gate where the ghouls were constantly pouring in.

When we went down to the basement along the half-destroyed stairs, the women had already secured the crumbling passage to escape. Using the walls as cover, they were firing their guns generously to provide cover for the women who had fled to the main building and letting them into the passage.

As soon as we reached a safe place, Seo Bokhee urged me on.

“The map?”

I unfolded the map, which had become crumpled from being stuffed in my pocket, with my palm and handed it to Seo Bokhee. Seo Bokhee’s expression brightened upon seeing the map, and she slapped my back with her pot-lid-like hand with a loud pang pang sound.

“You pretty little thing! You did it, you really did it!”

But the joy was short-lived, and the crisis came quickly. When the bullets ran out, the speed at which the ghouls pushed in quickened. It was not the time to dawdle, so I immediately turned around and grabbed one of the several ropes that were hanging down into the sewage pipe. There were not enough ropes, so some jumped down with their bare bodies, and some ropes broke because too many people hung on to one.

Having reached the sewage pipe, Gyeol and I ran, but since several people were crowded together at once, we could not pick up speed. Time kept being delayed as we helped up people who had fallen while running in fear. It was not out of some sense of humanity that I helped them, but because if one person fell, they would become an obstacle and block the passage.

Despite such efforts, the escaping procession began to be caught up and devoured by the swarm of ghouls. In the end, Seo Bokhee handed the map to another woman, turned her body, and drew her sword.

“Those who have lived long enough, let us fight and die with me!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Perhaps judging that it would be difficult to reach the place where the sun rises even if they escaped outside, quite a large number of them stopped in their tracks, following Seo Bokhee. They slowed down the ghouls with a human-wave attack. But the ghouls that passed them began to catch up to us one or two at a time.

I swung my knife and knocked the bastards down so they could not pass me. But a greater number overtook me. Those bastards were dealt with by Gyeol.

We could not go far like this. In the end, we stopped in our tracks and fought the ghouls.

Thwack! Gurgle. Thud! Stab! Gggck.

The sound of the knife hitting, striking, and breaking the ghouls was clamorous. The entrance of the passage seemed to be completely submerged by the swarm of ghouls, and not only Seo Bokhee but also the women fighting alongside her disappeared from view. At the same time, the torches that had been flickering on that side went out.

With no light to speak of, our vision was engulfed in darkness, and we could not distinguish between friend and foe. While I relentlessly swung my knife to tear apart the ghouls that lunged at me, I was tense, wondering if Gyeol might be nearby. Fearing that my blind knife might mistakenly cut Gyeol instead of a ghoul, I screamed my lungs out.

“Han Gyeol! Gyeol, where are you! Answer me!”

Not too far away, a ghoul gasped for breath with a gasp and fell, and from somewhere, Gyeol’s voice echoed.

“I am here! Where are you?”

I was about to answer that I was here too, but I bit my lip hard. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before we were surrounded by ghouls. We had to get out quickly, but since I could not see anything, a fear arose that the swarm of ghouls would attack the moment I turned my back.

Someone had to stay here and act as a shield. Only then could one of the two get out.

I opened my mouth and shouted.

“You go, quickly!”

“What is that supposed to…… mean!”

Gyeol’s words were cut off as he struggled, seemingly also running out of strength. Rather than retreating, I instead advanced and said.

“I will hold them off here, so you go!”

“How are you going to…… hold them off here by yourself?”

“I will not last long either, so hurry up and go! Go with the women to the place marked on the map! Go to the place where the sun rises!”

If there was a place somewhere on this earth where one did not need to become a monster that eats people, I wanted to send Gyeol there by any means necessary. In a place like that, he might one day be able to try the chocolate I could not feed him, and he would be able to see a dazzlingly blue sky, a burning sunset, and a night sky pouring with stars.

Gyeol said it did not matter if he could not see those things since he did not know what they were, but my thoughts were different. Once he saw them, he would surely come to love them. He would be able to think that he had done well to survive, that he was happy to be alive. So it was okay even if I died and fell here. By any means necessary, I absolutely wanted to send Gyeol.

But Gyeol did not grant my wish.

“I will not go alone, I can not go!”

“Hey, Han Gyeol……. Are you not going to listen to me?”

“What is the point of going to a place like that without you?”

“Please…… please……!”

I begged, but Gyeol, being my hope and despair, was stubborn.

“I would rather die here together than survive alone……!”

Having spat that out, Gyeol came and pressed his back against mine with a thud. It was a pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen, but strangely, as he touched me, I could tell that it was Gyeol.

How much of a great relief his body temperature, his very presence, brought.

I had no choice but to admit it. The desire to die with him was just as strong as the desire to sacrifice my life to save Gyeol and send him away. Even if the netherworld I had to go to was a purgatory worse than the reality teeming with ghouls, I wanted to be with Gyeol.

This wish of mine was selfish and ugly to no end, but I was insanely happy that Gyeol willingly said he would stay by my side. In the pitch-black darkness where I could not see an inch ahead, surrounded by ghouls and about to be eaten alive, this moment felt like the happiest in my entire life.

I did not wipe away the flowing tears. There was no need to, since nothing was visible anyway. I did not have the energy to do so, as I was relentlessly swinging my knife. I simply let the tears flow and nodded my head.

“Yeah, let us die here together.”

It was at that moment.

“Die? What do you mean, die.”

Someone’s words, as if finding it pathetic, brushed past my ear. Soon, that voice shouted, thunderously loud.

“Close your eyes!”

I reflexively closed my eyes, and even though I closed them, I felt a pain as if my eyeballs would fall out from the flash of light that penetrated between my eyelids. Before I could get used to it, I heard another shout.

“Now, get down!”

I immediately bent my waist as if collapsing to the floor, and I felt something fly across the air. Then, for a moment, there was silence. After shouting as if something big was about to happen, why was nothing happening, I wondered, bewildered.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

With a tremendous roar, a huge shock hit my entire body. I was knocked off my feet, and soon, a torrent of ghoul flesh, broken bones, and torn limbs poured down.

When I opened my eyes again, I had adjusted to the suddenly brightened light. Thanks to that, I could clearly see that my entire body was covered in the remains of ghouls. Amidst the sticky bodily fluids and fragments that exuded a terrible stench, I lifted my head and saw Gyeol over there, in the same state as me, letting out a groan and getting up. Just as I was relieved that he was safe, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

It was Park Eunhye. She was looking at me, holding a high-intensity flashlight in her hand.

“Get a grip and get up, quickly!”

Seeing the ghouls blown to smithereens and turned into a bloody mess, it seemed like a grenade had been thrown. But that alone would not be enough to stop the swarm of ghouls. Thinking we had to hurry, I shouted “Run!” and urged Gyeol on. And as I followed Gyeol, who took the lead and started running, I realized that the swarm of ghouls was not the only problem.

Kugugugung……!

The entire sewage pipe began to shake with an ominous sound. As all sorts of debris rained down from the ceiling, the roar of something, whether it was the main building or something else, collapsing began to spread through the passage.

Perhaps the after-effects of the explosion planned by Kim Yoonsik were only now occurring. According to the original plan, the entire passage should have collapsed in the first explosion, but it had held on until now due to a lack of firepower, and it seemed that the grenade thrown by Park Eunhye had acted as a trigger, finally causing the passage to collapse.

If we dawdled, we would be crushed.

Since I could not decide which was worse, being eaten alive by ghouls or being buried alive, I ran for my life. Following the light of the flashlight that Park Eunhye was shining, I ran like mad towards the end of the drainage pipe, which would have originally been blocked by iron bars.

“Hah, hah!”

How long did I run like that?

The exit, which was the size of a fingernail, quickly grew larger, and finally, it swallowed my body. I knew I had escaped the passage, but I ran for a while longer out of inertia.

When I stopped in the middle of a riverbed that had dried up, with only ash thick in the air, a tremendous amount of dust and a roar spewed out of the passage we had escaped from. A few ghouls followed us out of the passage, but they were slaughtered by the women who were guarding the entrance.

Soon, with a grumble, the ground trembled, and ash shot up into the air like a wave. It swept across the ground like a tsunami and came crashing down on my entire body.

“Cough…… cough cough!”

As I hurriedly pulled up my collar to cover my nose and mouth, slowly, very slowly, the ash that had risen due to the collapse began to settle. Only then could I see the scenery of Pyeongseong Prison in the distance. I could see that the main gate was wide open and still teeming with ghouls. They seemed not to care that the buildings were collapsing in a chain reaction due to the collapse in the basement.

“……”

Somehow, it did not feel real that I had come out of there alive. Not just me, but everyone who had miraculously escaped was staring blankly at Pyeongseong Prison. Some of them, perhaps seeing Pyeongseong Prison from the outside for the first time, were gazing at the place where they had been born and raised their whole lives for a long time, as if looking at something completely unfamiliar.

I did not pay much attention for long to the place I had left a long time ago. I quickly turned my head and started looking for Gyeol. Soon, I found Gyeol sitting slumped on the riverbed and approached him to speak.

“Are you okay?”

Gyeol tossed away the knife he had been holding until then and lay down flat on his back.

“I am not okay.”

But as if his anger quickly flared up, he shot up from his spot, grabbed me by the collar, and shook me.

“It is because of you! I almost died because you stood your ground and spouted that nonsense!”

I looked vacantly at Gyeol, who was mottled with ash and all sorts of filth. The elation I felt when I decided to die with him had not yet faded. Did Gyeol feel the same way as me? I did not know, but one thing was certain.

“I will not talk nonsense anymore.”

Hearing those words, Gyeol faltered. As I loosened his grip on my collar, I said gently.

“I will never, ever again tell you to go on alone and leave me behind.”

It was difficult to protect Gyeol in this godforsaken world. On the other hand, it was easy to die with him. That is why I had no choice but to suspect that my desire to die with him was merely an evasion of my responsibility and burden. If so, then I had to choose the difficult path.

As if my promise was not enough to soothe his feelings, Gyeol’s lips pouted. Even though he was extremely dirty and a complete mess, I was so head over heels for him that he was cute as hell. So cute I wanted to bite him. Gyeol grumbled as if he hated the sight of me grinning.

“Your saying you were going to get water was a lie from the start, was it not? Why did you disappear without a word to me?”

“There was something I wanted to get from Pyeongseong Prison.”

“What on earth was it that you almost died for……”

Instead of explaining every little detail, I took something out from my bosom. Seeing it, Gyeol’s eyes went wide.

“That is……”

“It is chocolate.”

Although the gold foil was a bit peeled off, the chocolate I had put in my inner pocket and brought with me was intact. It was something I had not forgotten to grab when I went to the Director’s office to find the map and had come back empty-handed.

“I went through some trouble to get this.”

Even though I tried not to, I felt a swell of pride, and my shoulders squared. I imagined Gyeol jumping up and down with joy, asking if this was really chocolate, and I swaggered, but the exact opposite of my expectation happened.

Thwack!

I was punched in the jaw by Gyeol’s fist and staggered. The unexpected attack was more bewildering than painful, and when I looked at Gyeol, his face was all crumpled up.

“Hey, you idiot!”

Even in that situation, I bent down and picked up the chocolate I had dropped, worried I might lose it. Gyeol jumped into my arms. As he spread his arms and threw his whole body to hug my shoulders, I had no way to withstand it.

I sat down and fell backward. Soon, I felt the cheek pressed against mine burning hot.

“To get a piece of chocolate like this……! Leaving me alone……! Doing whatever you want……!”

His intermittent words were mixed with sobs. I listened to his fierce reprimand, my face being washed by the tears he shed.

“How much I…… how much……!”

Unable to continue speaking and just sobbing, I placed my hand on Gyeol’s back and did not utter the words that I had wanted to feed him the chocolate no matter what.

This was the Gyeol who had chosen to die with me, forsaking even the place where the sun rises. To him, the chocolate would no longer hold any particular meaning.

Although the chocolate I had gone to great lengths to get had become useless, I was not disappointed. Instead, I stroked the back of the sobbing Gyeol several times, and when I realized he showed no signs of stopping his tears, I unwrapped the chocolate. Then I put the chocolate in my mouth and lifted Gyeol’s chin.

I pressed my lips against his, moving the melting chocolate from my mouth into his, and mashed it with my tongue. The rich chocolate cream melted stickily on our tongues. The sweetness that seemed to seep not just into the tongue but into the whole body was subtly salty. Gyeol’s tears mixed in, and it tasted of salt, and of a sea I had never been to.

Until all the stickily melting chocolate was gone, I licked every corner of his tongue and mouth, and bit and sucked his lips over and over again. The chocolate was gone in an instant, but his lips, romping in my mouth, did not disappear.

What a relief.

I separated our lips with a deep, very deep sense of relief. Then I saw that Gyeol’s face had cleared up like after a rain. His face, cleansed by tears, was swollen, but to me, it was exceedingly beautiful. With that beautiful face, sniffling, Gyeol murmured.

“……It is delicious.”

Since those were the very words I had wanted to hear, all the past hardships and fatigue were forgotten. I opened my mouth and smiled, saying something that Gyeol would like even more.

“There are a few more.”