“I saw a well.”
At Kang Hyeonjoo’s words, Joo Seonghan quickly looked around the inside that had become somewhat bright. As he said, in one corner of the basement, a small well made of stone was embedded in the ground. The three approached the well.
“Is this why there were so many semi-humans here….”
Park Gyujin, who stopped in front of the well, muttered. His claim seemed plausible at first glance. Because there was a short tree bearing red fruit near the well. However, Joo Seonghan couldn’t give strength to his speculation. Beside the red fruit tree, a yellow fruit tree that semi-humans hated was planted like a twin.
“Enough, just open the Guimun for now. We don’t know when the semi-humans will charge in.”
Kang Hyeonjoo said while looking at the dim passage diagonally behind the well. It seemed to be the entrance to the basement, but anyway, as long as there was a yellow fruit tree, this place was safe. Joo Seonghan couldn’t decide whether he should or shouldn’t tell Kang Hyeonjoo and Park Gyujin that fact, so he kept his mouth shut.
It was Yeon Dogyeong who told Joo Seonghan that semi-humans hated yellow fruit, and when Joo Seonghan said no one else knew that fact, he said he should tell the others when they met. However, even though there were countless opportunities to speak when they reunited, Yeon Dogyeong didn’t inform them of that fact. To say he simply forgot, something weighed on his mind and his mouth wouldn’t open easily.
“Is it okay that it’s empty?”
Kang Hyeonjoo asked Park Gyujin while looking down into the empty well. First things first. Joo Seonghan emptied his complicated head and approached Park Gyujin, who sat down in front of the well and was rummaging through his bag.
“Yes. I’ll, I’ll fill it.”
What came out of Park Gyujin’s hand as he spoke in a more confident voice than ever before was a silver circular container made of stainless steel. The container looked quite heavy. Park Gyujin, who lifted it with both hands, examined the bottom of the container, pressed several buttons, turned and opened the lid. And he poured what was inside into the well. It smelled like iron and blood.
“Blood…?”
Perhaps because it wasn’t a direct question, Park Gyujin, who gave no answer to Kang Hyeonjoo’s words, shouldered his bag, stood up, and stared intently at the well. His expression was tragic. Joo Seonghan and Kang Hyeonjoo, who became serious as well, also looked at the small well filled with blood. More than 30 seconds passed. Nothing happened.
“Is this the end?”
Joo Seonghan asked Park Gyujin while looking at the well that was only calm. Park Gyujin, who stuck out his tongue and moistened his lips, rolled his eyes here and there as if flustered.
“As, as far as I know, this is all…. If we wait a little longer….”
Boom! A loud explosion cut off Park Gyujin’s words. The basement’s walls and ceiling vibrated and dropped dirt powder, and dust and wood pieces poured down wildly from the passage Joo Seonghan and his group had entered through. Thud. A roar was heard once more. The roof seemed to have collapsed. Due to the aftermath, the passage above their heads was blocked. Joo Seonghan, who confirmed this, looked around with a hardened face, and Kang Hyeonjoo took out the last pistol he had put in his chest and aimed the gun and flashlight at the dim passage he hadn’t examined properly.
Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap, tap-tap. Footsteps could be heard. He couldn’t distinguish whether they were human footsteps or semi-human footsteps with soft yet firm feet. This place is safe. Joo Seonghan repeated inwardly and clenched his fist. Tap, tap-tap, tap. The sound grew closer. Joo Seonghan confirmed with a sidelong glance the position of the rifle Kang Hyeonjoo had leaned against the wall. Tap, tap, tap. The owner of the feet that had been walking as if running slowed their speed. The sound of Kang Hyeonjoo holding his deeply inhaled breath could be heard. Tap. A semi-human revealed itself.
Bang! Kang Hyeonjoo, who immediately shot off the semi-human’s head, approached the dim passage. Tap-tap, tap, tap, tap-tap! Footsteps similar to before that could be heard from afar echoed through the passage and basement.
“Open it quickly. Do whatever it takes to open the Guimun.”
Kang Hyeonjoo said while rolling the flashlight to Park Gyujin. And he took out a knife with his empty hand while keeping his gaze on the darkness. Joo Seonghan took the rifle set aside and the yellow fruit he had plucked and went to Kang Hyeonjoo’s side. He threw the yellow fruit inside the passage and raised his gun muzzle. If the semi-humans came here crossing over that yellow fruit, it would be difficult to survive.
“I, I don’t kno… I don’t know…!”
“Don’t say you don’t know, open the Guimun!”
Kang Hyeonjoo yelled loudly. The footsteps of the unknown thing running through the passage became as loud as his voice.
“Just, just! We can just block that entrance! We can throw a bomb there!”
Then what about Team Leader Yeon and Han Jaejun-ssi? Joo Seonghan looked back with an absurd face. The passage Joo Seonghan and his group had entered through was ruined by the earlier explosion. Therefore, this passage that Joo Seonghan and Kang Hyeonjoo were aiming at now was the basement’s only entrance. And yet he was saying to block it here out of the blue.
“Crazy. There’s someone more insane than me here. Hey, Park Gyujin-ssi. Shut up and just open the Guimun.”
Likewise annoyed by Park Gyujin’s words, Kang Hyeonjoo wrinkled his brow and spoke.
“I said I don’t know…. All I heard was to pour blood into the well!”
“That’s not my concern. Open it right now.”
Bang! Kang Hyeonjoo fired his gun. Kiyak! Starting with the semi-human’s crying sound, dust began to be visible. The semi-humans ran. Rat-tat-tat-tat! Bang! Joo Seonghan and Kang Hyeonjoo fired their guns. As soon as their eyes accustomed to the darkness perceived movement, they pulled the trigger. The semi-humans fell—thud, thud. They kept approaching forward while jumping over their comrades who had become corpses. The yellow fruit that fell on the floor was trampled by the semi-humans’ feet. Joo Seonghan bit his lips and was shooting when he opened his mouth at a thought that suddenly occurred to him.
“Park Gyujin-ssi, you said there would be a picture drawn on the floor! Did you find that?”
“Uh….”
As soon as Park Gyujin’s slow sigh ended, Kang Hyeonjoo threw the pistol at the semi-humans. And he took Joo Seonghan’s rifle from his hands as if snatching it. Joo Seonghan, who caught on to the intention, stuffed all the remaining magazines in Kang Hyeonjoo’s tactical vest and ran to Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin was making a tearful face and examining the floor near the well. Joo Seonghan, who took out a flashlight from the backpack he was still wearing, examined the floor with him. He tried sweeping the dirt with his hand and tried moving small rolling stones. Nothing appeared, so he roughly swept his hair back and straightened his bent waist. The trees entered Joo Seonghan’s eyes like that.
Why would there need to be trees inside here? How did they think to plant trees inside the pitch-black basement? Joo Seonghan, who was pondering deeply, went under the red fruit tree and dug up the dirt. Something hard caught on his hand. When he shone the flashlight, a flat stone could be seen. It seemed the basement’s floor was originally stone, not dirt.
“Try digging over there too.”
He pointed under the yellow fruit tree to Park Gyujin while speaking, then cleared the dirt more widely. Two small circles were drawn on the stone.
“Stone, stone came out…! Oh, a picture!”
“How many?”
“Eight, eight!”
Joo Seonghan raised his head. He stood up as he was and plucked two red fruits and threw them into the well. Park Gyujin, who had been watching Joo Seonghan’s actions, plucked eight yellow fruits. He brought the fruits he gathered in one full hand to the well.
“Ah, fuuuuck!”
Fuuuuck, fuuuuck…. The profanity echoed. Joo Seonghan and Park Gyujin looked at the passage where Kang Hyeonjoo was showing his back with their mouths hanging open stupidly. Kang Hyeonjoo also seemed surprised as he stopped shooting.
“Bastards, get lost!”
Kiyak! Kaaaak! Between the semi-humans’ high moans, gunshots burst out intermittently. Perhaps because there weren’t many bullets left and he was entering while killing semi-humans with a knife, the sound of slicing flesh was more frequent.
“What’s this, why are there so many corpses here. Team Leader, please push this.”
Thud! Kraak! Following the semi-human’s death throes, semi-human corpses poured toward where Kang Hyeonjoo was. Kang Hyeonjoo stepped back and laughed.
“Crazy. Hey, did I tell you to mark the glow sticks well or not?”
“…You did. We marked all the paths we took.”
Thud. Han Jaejun staggered down from the highly piled semi-human corpses. Unlike his lively voice, his condition wasn’t good. It was close to serious.
“You’re lying…. Didn’t see a single stick.”
Blood flowed from Han Jaejun’s torn head. He wiped around his eyes with the back of his trembling hand and looked back. Thud. Yeon Dogyeong, who looked safer than Han Jaejun, jumped down from the corpse mountain. Joo Seonghan swallowed his dry saliva.
“Did you open the Guimun?”
Yeon Dogyeong, who glanced at Joo Seonghan, asked Park Gyujin. Park Gyujin hurriedly poured the fruit he was holding in his hand into the well.
“Probably, it’ll open in a little while…. Actually, all I heard was to put blood in the well, but the paper that information was written on was so old…. Plus, it wasn’t preserved well, so bugs ate a lot of it. So we didn’t know exactly either.”
While listening to Park Gyujin’s words that flowed out breathlessly, Kang Hyeonjoo supported Han Jaejun and sat him against the wall near the well. He wiped his face with his sleeve. Han Jaejun giggled.
“Did you eat something wrong?”
“Be quiet. Before I put you down as a debt.”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who spoke with a stiff expression and tone, took out hemostatic agent and bandages he had put in one corner of his vest. Han Jaejun playfully tapped Kang Hyeonjoo’s leg.
“You’re worried about me.”
“Did your head split open and make you crazy?”
“Watch your manners with your sunbae. The bastard who chased me around for days throwing a fit because I stole one lunchbox, now he’s acting like this because I’m being nice to him. If you’re not worried, maybe it’s time to die.”
“Sunbae-nim, please be quiet. Before I wrap bandages around your mouth too.”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who spoke with annoyance, poured hemostatic agent on Han Jaejun’s head and painfully wrapped the bandage. Ah! Han Jaejun shouted loudly and slapped Kang Hyeonjoo’s thigh hard.
