The man whispered while hugging the man in his arms, Kang Hyeonjoo. The monster took one more step closer to them. Blood that fell from the monster’s thigh touched the man’s foot.
“Team Leader Yeon… We’re going first.”
Joo Seonghan ran. He kicked off from his spot, putting strength into his ankle that was generating hot heat. Puuk. He forcefully thrust the knife into the monster’s grotesquely swollen belly. The leather was too thick so the blade didn’t go in deep. Rather, his hand, unable to withstand the force, slipped off the handle and even onto the blade. His palm stung. Keuaaak! Although it was shallowly stabbed, it still hurt as the monster screamed and roughly grabbed Joo Seonghan’s face and slammed it to the floor. Uuut, he groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. The man who had been watching with startled eyes pushed Kang Hyeonjoo aside and rushed in.
“Hold on tight!”
It was said to Joo Seonghan, but rather, Joo Seonghan was in a situation where he was being held by the monster. Fortunately, the monster didn’t let go of Joo Seonghan’s face. Tang! The man shot his gun.
“Heuah!”
The monster’s hand fell off Joo Seonghan’s face, and hot blood poured over it. Joo Seonghan tightly closed his eyes and mouth and turned his head. Without even thinking of wiping his face soaked in blood, he barely opened his stinging eyes and looked up. The monster with its bright red eyes wide open was stopped right above his head. The man who shot the gun after shoving it into the monster’s mouth kicked the monster’s shoulder while groaning haa, haa. Kudangtang! Along with the monster that fell backward, Joo Seonghan was dragged along. It was because he couldn’t let go of the hand holding the knife.
“Wow, crazy. Team Leader Yeon. We survived.”
The man who reported in a bewildered voice grabbed Joo Seonghan’s wrist. He applied weak force to make him take his hand off the knife. Joo Seonghan’s hand with its torn palm trembled uncontrollably.
“Good work. Survivor-nim is our benefactor.”
“……”
No words came out at all. The man who pulled him down from on top of the monster’s legs covered in soft fur wiped Joo Seonghan’s blood-stained face with his sleeve.
“Survivor-nim, this is just a fucking nightmare. Go home and rest comfortab…”
“Sunbae-nim.”
A small voice interrupted. Joo Seonghan and the man turned their heads and looked at Kang Hyeonjoo, who was lying face down with his eyes open thinly.
“…Guimun…”
“What?”
“Run, away…”
Tak. His ankle was grabbed. He lowered his head. The monster’s sharp claws were digging into Joo Seonghan’s ankle. Isn’t it dead? The moment he thought that, the ground under his feet split. Blood drops flowed from the monster’s wide open eyes. Huk- its body caved in instantly.
“Fuck! Team Leader-nim! The Guimun opened!”
Joo Seonghan fell endlessly while hearing the man’s loud shout.
“Ah, fuck! Kang Hyeonjoo! Hey! Grab my hand! Survivor! Grab my hand!”
His mind was completely blank. Joo Seonghan, who couldn’t escape from the monster’s grasp, barely reached out his hand toward the man. The man who had Kang Hyeonjoo tucked under his side grabbed Joo Seonghan’s hand with his opposite hand. Cheolpeok! As soon as he did, they fell onto the dirt ground.
“Haa, haa…”
His heart seemed overloaded. The pain that came up through his hand was too vivid to dismiss as a nightmare. The wound on his palm stung too much.
“Ah, shit… Are you okay?”
“…Yes.”
“Then I’ll look at this side first. Right now this bastard is a bit serious…”
In appearance, Joo Seonghan was the most intact. While the man soaked in sweat took care of Kang Hyeonjoo, Joo Seonghan shook his head and lifted his right hand that had been pressing on the ground. Sticky mucus was stuck to the wound. He quietly looked at his palm then examined the dirt ground. There were eggs in the place where brownish grass grew haphazardly. One, two, three… A total of seven eggs had flowed out of the monster’s body. One of them was broken. The cloudy mucus that leaked from there was what was on Joo Seonghan’s hand.
“Any broken bones?”
“No, but I lost quite a bit of blood… I used up all the hemostatic agent.”
“I have mine. Where are you hurt?”
“My side.”
While listening to their conversation, he brought his palm close to his nose. The smell was strange. He bit his lip and wiped his palm on a nearby blade of grass. An even stranger smell began to emerge. He frowned and plucked the grass and examined it. It looked like a reed but was smaller in size and the shape was also a bit different. He looked down at it then raised his head. Only then did Joo Seonghan begin looking around and opened his mouth blankly.
Was there a forest of this scale in our country? It wasn’t a mountain. This place was an endless forest. The bluish dawn just before daybreak, or the evening preparing for darkness to descend. There was no sun, and only stars floating above his head and a large crescent moon were guarding the sky. Joo Seonghan looked as if entranced at the stars embedded in the dark blue sky, shining unrealistically. Basa-sak. At the small noise heard from afar, he lowered his head that he had been raising. The lush tree leaves in a place a bit away swayed greatly.
“Does it hurt?”
“I’m okay. But the transmission to Team Leader Yeon went through, right?”
“What good does it do if it went through? Who would be crazy enough to cross over the Guimun?”
“Still…”
“Excuse me.”
“Think about it logically. Who would cross over recklessly to a place like this? Even I wouldn’t come, fuck.”
“It’s the first time, right…? There was never any talk of anyone entering the Guimun.”
“Yeah. We’re the first. Be happy.”
“Excuse me.”
The man who roughly pulled the small radio from his ear turned to look at Joo Seonghan.
“Ah, right. Give me your hand.”
The man tried to tear open disposable disinfecting gauze he took from his chest. Joo Seonghan said no and forcibly removed the monster’s hand still wrapped around his ankle.
“Do you have bullets left?”
His heart went thump, thump. I wish this were a dream. If I could wake up, that would be really good. He held his freed ankle and looked at the man with a stiff face. The man who frowned turned his head toward behind Joo Seonghan.
“Let’s find a place to hide for now. Why are there only fucking weeds?”
The man who spoke in a low voice picked up a gun lying nearby and loaded it. Then he aimed at the swaying tree. It was far to shoot with a handgun. The distance was well over 100 meters. Nevertheless, the man pulled the trigger without hesitation. Bang! The bullet powerfully left the barrel. After a moment, the tree stopped swaying.
“I have good eyesight.”
Was that really a matter of eyesight? Joo Seonghan looked at the man with surprised eyes.
“For the record, I recover quickly.”
Kang Hyeonjoo, who had been sprawled on the dirt ground, said. Watching them toss out one comment each, Joo Seonghan pressed his lips tightly shut. The man who put the gun in his shoulder holster, took out a silencer from his chest and threw it somewhere, glanced at Joo Seonghan.
“Our survivor here seems to have good judgment.”
He didn’t know what they were trying to do in this situation, but perhaps thanks to the playful remark, his heart wasn’t as unstable as before. Instead, his head throbbed a little because of the lingering alcohol. And the monster’s blood on his face had hardened shallowly, giving him an uncomfortable feeling. Joo Seonghan rubbed his cheek with his forearm and let out a sigh.
“Should we introduce ourselves? Well, we’ll probably die before long anyway.”
The man who checked his disconnected phone stood up while speaking pessimistically. Even so, he kindly extended his left hand to Joo Seonghan, who was sitting down.
“Semi-Human Department Team 3 member Han Jaejun. Just call me by my name.”
Joo Seonghan, who had been looking up at Han Jaejun, took his hand and stood up. He didn’t know what Semi-Human Department Team 3 did, but it wasn’t a situation to ask.
“…I’m Joo Seonghan.”
He had nothing to add, so he only said his name. Han Jaejun simply answered, “Yes,” without any further questions. Crack. As he let go of the awkwardly held hand, he heard the sound of bones being set from the side. Kang Hyeonjoo, who had raised his upper body to sit up, was rotating his arm around.
“I think I’ll live now.”
He fiddled with his knee a few times and stood up lightly. He didn’t look like someone who had been dying five minutes ago.
“Sunbae-nim, you should explain in more detail. Hello, Joo Seonghan-ssi. I’m Kang Hyeonjoo, a member of Semi-Human Department Team 3, a special agency directly under the President that handles the monsters you just saw. I have a bit of a cooldown, but my recovery ability is exceptional.”
Though it was lacking to be called detailed, Joo Seonghan didn’t ask further and greeted him, “Hello.” Then he turned his head toward the dense forest where tall trees were gathered. There was a sound of leaves rustling. As if he heard the same sound, Kang Hyeonjoo looked around.
“Sunbae-nim, let’s move quickly. There seem to be a few more.”
Han Jaejun, who looked at the dense forest following Kang Hyeonjoo’s gaze, answered “Uh,” and grabbed Joo Seonghan’s wrist.
“Ah!”
Without warning, he slapped disinfectant gauze onto the injured palm. His hand felt like it was burning. Groans kept escaping, so he bit his lips and looked down at the bubbling wound.
“Hey, come here and hold this.”
