Chapter 5
Samchung was a monster that parasitized animals and instantly scraped out their internal organs. It was likely moving quickly even now, following the traces of humans—prime prey.
Moreover, Samchung was, strictly speaking, a monster above A-class, with each part—Sangsi, Jungsi, and Hasi—possessing power comparable to an A-class monster. Scholars had differing opinions on whether to classify this monster as three separate creatures or one, but it was finally categorized as three distinct A-class creatures. If it had been classified as a single entity, there was a small possibility it might have been S-class—it was not an easy monster to deal with. The situation would have been better if they were inside a dungeon where there was no need to protect civilians.
Dohyuk, who’d been tracking Samchung’s presence, raised his head. His frozen gaze flashed more coldly than usual.
It was the moment a dilapidated animal shed filled his pitch-black eyes.
Kwueeek! A sound like a pig having its throat slit vibrated loudly from the corner of the shed, which had appeared empty. It was the desperate scream of an animal having its organs ripped out while still alive. Immediately drawing a conclusion, Dohyuk extended his hand, condensed his energy, and then exploded it precisely in the direction of the cry, like firing a bullet.
The dark poison energy—swirling an ominous black—swallowed not only the pig that had been squealing while turned over but also the entire shed. Despite knowing his attack had landed properly, his voice never relaxed its tension until the end, snapping at Seungmin.
“Park Seungmin. You take the 2 o’clock direction, underground!”
Having hidden behind the melted skin and avoided the lethal poison, Samchung continued to wriggle incessantly, trying to regain its balance while overturned, moving its many legs sluggishly. Judging from what had emerged from the melted pig’s belly, it was undoubtedly Jungsi. It had been pursuing humans but couldn’t resist hunger and devoured the livestock’s internal organs first.
Before Jungsi could regain its balance and hide its body again, Dohyuk swiftly drew a dagger made from processed dungeon byproducts from his leg holster and leaped toward Jungsi.
The moment Dohyuk’s dagger—crawling with pitch-black poison energy—cleanly bisected Jungsi, the monster’s corpse began to melt viscously. The monster’s bodily fluids and poison energy intertwined and bubbled up.
It was a chilling sight that would make any living being tremble upon witnessing it.
The sticky poison energy left only a dark, murky trace without even soaking into the ground. Only the almost completely melted remains of the livestock that had unfortunately fallen victim to Samchung lay bare before Dohyuk’s eyes.
The green light on the choker gripping Dohyuk’s long neck slowly began to blink.
Only after the tension that had firmly gripped his neck relaxed a bit did Dohyuk become aware of the cold sweat flowing down his jaw. He wiped his face with the back of his hand while looking around.
Park Seungmin was an Esper who could handle Hasi on his own. Therefore, Dohyuk decided to focus on finding Sangsi as quickly as possible to prevent human casualties. Without a moment’s hesitation, he pressed his in-ear device to attempt radio contact with Yoon Ayoung. Meanwhile, Dohyuk’s legs continued running toward the evacuation shelter without stopping, at the same speed as a car.
The blinking speed of the choker’s light gradually increased.
“Have you scanned Samchung’s coordinates?”
[Scanning complete. Beginning position materialization!]
Simultaneously, an opaque map—clearly created by Ayoung’s ability—spread out before Dohyuk’s eyes. Latitude 37.601338, Longitude 126.492475. Looking at the map, Dohyuk bit his lip.
That was a campsite about 300 meters away from the university designated as an evacuation shelter.
***
Haeandong Road was empty, with vehicle traffic controlled due to the state of emergency.
Dohyuk ran at incredible speed on the paved road without resting for a moment. The surrounding landscape of vinyl greenhouses and low houses changed rapidly. Ayoung’s voice—which had been accurately reciting the real-time moving coordinates of Sangsi through the radio—stopped.
In less than a minute, Dohyuk, who’d moved just under a kilometer, saw a bright blue sculpture marking the campus entrance appear before his eyes.
It was the most desperate situation he’d been hoping to avoid throughout his entire run. Under the clear autumn sky, the flowering trees in the campus garden foolishly swayed their red blossoms. Fortunately—among the unfortunate—Sangsi’s last position was not near the gymnasium that served as the evacuation shelter, but toward the student union building. However, the campus wasn’t large, so he was in a hurry.
Bang!
Arriving at the student union building like lightning, Dohyuk quickly stomped his foot where he felt the enemy’s presence. The choker around his neck made a short beep. It was a signal that it would soon turn yellow. He needed to find a way to eliminate Sangsi with minimal power.
Among Dohyuk’s possessions was a supply drug that produced a guiding effect. However, it had a major side effect of affecting the user’s nervous system, slowing reaction time, and causing hallucinations.
With his obsession for always maintaining a clear mind, Dohyuk—who was sensitive enough to restrict even small amounts of alcohol—could not possibly take that drug before battle.
In fact, the drug itself was only meant for emergencies. It was typically taken by Espers who, due to unavoidable circumstances after combat, would have to wait some time before receiving proper guiding—chewed and swallowed for its short-term effect.
[Esper Choi Dohyuk. After securing additional support personnel, I will move to those coordinates. Over!]
He couldn’t respond to the radio sound echoing in his ear through the in-ear device. Sangsi had keenly noticed the deaths of Jungsi and Hasi. That’s why it was probably trying to move secretly to where prey was, through the underground. Or perhaps it was hiding underground, waiting to rip apart Dohyuk’s skull the moment he showed an opening.
As soon as his cool gaze fell on a large hole dug through the soft soil in the garden, Dohyuk inserted his hand into the hole and spread poison mist.
The plants that had bloomed in the garden began to wither rapidly. The moment the saplings shriveled like branches dried for years in just a few seconds, the soil under the withered trees bulged up.
Ssssst!
As if confirming that what Dohyuk had found was indeed Sangsi’s breathing hole as it hid underground, a monster much shorter and rounder than Jungsi burst out like an arrow, breaking through the mound of soil. A chilling sound came from Sangsi, which was frantically wriggling its many legs as if it had inhaled poison.
The yellow light on the choker blinked slowly. If he could stab the poisoned Sangsi’s vital point with his dagger before it regained its senses, he could barely end this. Surrounding the dagger with poison energy would allow him to eliminate Sangsi quickly, but creating and condensing poison energy was far more burdensome than exerting superhuman force. Because of this, Dohyuk planned to end it with force alone, even if it meant more of a struggle.
As Dohyuk—who’d been calculating the power allowed to him—quickly readjusted his grip on the dagger and rushed toward Sangsi, the monster, which should have been desperately charging at Dohyuk in its final struggle, spat out green mucus and leaped high to distance itself from him.
Had it lost its sense of direction due to the poison? Dohyuk’s pupils dilated as he pondered the question.
“Ah, what is this!”
“Suhyeon!”
There was a child and parents at the spot where Sangsi was frantically closing the distance.
Since the student union building and gymnasium were less than 200 meters apart, they were clearly evacuees who’d walked out of the gymnasium, mistakenly believing the campus was safe.
The evacuation shelter managers probably hadn’t accurately relayed the information Ayoung had delivered, trying to prevent panic. In the meantime, there was a high possibility they’d left the designated area amid the confusion.
Dohyuk bit his lip. The young-looking couple, though screaming in shock as the centipede-like creature charged at them, still staggered forward, suppressing their fear with the sole instinct to protect their child.
“Mommyyy!”
Whose scream was it?
In such an urgent situation, time entangles itself arbitrarily and remains ambiguous. The thin, wailing voice raised its nails to scratch at Dohyuk’s mind and body.
Dohyuk, even while breathing heavily, urged himself on.
What are you doing? Move, protect, guard. With all your might!
That’s what you exist for!
Choi Dohyuk!
Dohyuk threw his body forward like an explosion and plunged his dagger into Sangsi.
Ordinary people are weak. If you don’t kill it instantly, they can easily die from even the slightest struggle of a monster. That thought alone churned in his mind.
Poison energy continuously flowed from his fingertips, riding along the dagger to tear Sangsi apart. The malice—that he would kill it to save others—opened its black maw and chewed the monster into pieces. Against such enormous power, the monster couldn’t even struggle. Before it could go berserk, it melted like a sticky nightmare.
Beep, beep, beep.
A warning sound came from somewhere.
Despite the stinging sensation at the back of his neck, Dohyuk stubbornly focused on pouring his power through the dagger.
His arms and legs gradually stiffened. The discomfort of the drug’s effect—spreading rapidly with his excited, pounding heartbeats—seized Dohyuk by the hair.
Although he dropped the dagger, Dohyuk clenched his fist violently in defiance until the very end. He was too anxious to lose consciousness, feeling as if he couldn’t breathe.
Footnotes:
Samchung (monster type) with its three parts:
- Sangsi – head/upper part
- Jungsi – middle part
- Hasi – lower part
Mechanical choker with warning colors:
- Green light – safe state
- Yellow light – warning state
- Red light (implied) – danger state
