NOVEL NEXT – Chapter 33
“Damn it!”
A figure was seen rushing down the slope at an insane speed.
Pale skin glowing under the moonlight, sunken eye sockets, and a torn mouth. Above all, the rusty kitchen knife held by those skeletal fingers flashed in the moonlight.
There was no time to think. I immediately opened the rooftop door and rushed down the stairs. My heart pounded as if it would burst with every step on the cement stairs.
I jumped down the last flight of stairs from the second floor to the first. My ankle twisted slightly upon landing, but the adrenaline surging through me made me feel no pain. The cold stone floor hit the soles of my feet.
Bang-!
As soon as I reached the first floor, I locked the front door. The sound of metal clinking signaled the lock clicking into place.
The sound of the old lock was surprisingly reassuring. But at the same time, I wondered if that lock could really stop that monster.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
Jo Seongmin, who had just come out of the bathroom, asked with a nervous expression. His face was already pale under the fluorescent light.
“It’s here.”
“What is?”
“That… the thing you saw.”
At my words, Jo Seongmin’s face turned even paler. His hands began to tremble.
“Do you have any weapons?”
Jo Seongmin thought for a moment, then hurriedly ran to his room. The sound of him rummaging through his things echoed in the darkness. The creaking of the wardrobe door, the sound of pulling out a box.
“Ah, here it is…”
A moment later, he returned with an aluminum baseball bat. It looked old but sturdy, probably something he’d used since his school days.
We waited by the front door on the first floor, just in case. The dim fluorescent light illuminated the entrance. Moonlight seeped through the windows. The tense air enveloped us.
And soon, the sound came.
Tap tap tap tap-
The sound of bare feet sprinting on asphalt. It was as fast as a marathon runner at full speed, but clearly beyond human limits.
The footsteps grew closer. The sound of bare feet hitting the asphalt resonated like a heartbeat.
“Why…?”
Jo Seongmin whispered in a trembling voice. His voice was filled with fear and resentment.
“Why did you look at it with binoculars?”
I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t understand the impulse myself. It was as if someone had controlled my mind, and in that moment, I couldn’t control my actions.
I unconsciously reached for the brooch on my left chest but stopped. The golden branch brooch wasn’t there. All I felt was the smooth fabric of my jacket.
‘Ah.’
I realized too late that I had forgotten the golden branch brooch at home yesterday when I sent my suit to the dry cleaner.
The effects of the reflective serum only made existing subconscious memories clearer; it didn’t enhance memory itself. That’s why I was overwhelmed by the urge to look at the monster with binoculars.
In short, I was bewitched by the horror story.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Jo Seongmin began to tremble and panic. The sound of the baseball bat clattering in his hands could be heard.
“What do we do now? What should we do? That monster… that monster…”
Now, Jo Seongmin’s voice sounded like a shrill scream. His face was pale under the faint moonlight, and beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.
“Calm down. When the supervisor arrives, it’ll be okay.”
I reassured him while pulling out a red spray from my pocket. To forget the fear, I needed the adrenaline from anger.
As I sprayed it into my mouth, a sweet strawberry scent filled the air, and irritation and strength surged. It felt like I had been deeply insulted, and strength surged through my body.
Bang- bang- bang-!
At that moment, the monster began pounding on the gate like crazy. The dull sound of metal being hammered echoed.
[Ugh, ugh-! Ugh, ugh-!]
A bizarre moaning sound could be heard. It sounded like the monster was moaning with something clenched in its mouth. I thought we just had to hold the gate, but…
Creak- creak-!
Contrary to Jo Seongmin’s story that the monster had just knocked on the door and left last time, this time it started slamming its body against the gate. The problem was that the hinges were slowly being torn apart.
The sound of rusted metal screeching like a scream filled the air.
“Seongmin! Come here and help me hold the gate!”
My voice cracked with tension. Every time the monster slammed into the gate, the metal screamed. The hinges were slowly being ripped off.
But Jo Seongmin was already in a state of panic. He crouched on the stone floor, trembling like a child. He hugged his knees tightly, his back pressed against the wall, looking pitiful.
“It’s coming… it’s coming…”
He muttered in a barely audible voice. His whole body shook as if having a seizure, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
‘Damn it.’
There was no choice. I gripped the baseball bat tightly and stood in front of the gate. The cold metal felt solid against my palm. The gate was bound to be torn off, so the only option was to swing the bat at the thing when it came in.
Creak-
Finally, the gate slowly opened. In the darkness, illuminated by the moonlight, the pale, emaciated monster revealed itself.
As it stepped in, grinning with a torn smile and holding a kitchen knife…
Whoosh- whoosh- whoosh-!
Something flew in and pierced the monster’s neck. My dark-adapted eyes saw that it was a hand axe. The rusty blade dug into its neck, and black blood spurted out like a fountain.
The monster froze and turned to look. I also looked in that direction.
There stood Kang Hana, a hand axe slung over her shoulder. The moonlight illuminated her black suit. Her sharp eyes were even more intense than usual, and her lips were tightly pressed with determination. In her hands, she already held a second axe.
‘Damn, I knew I could count on her!’
I don’t know what she was doing to be this late, but her timing was perfect.
“Supervisor Kang!”
Kang Hana kicked off the ground and charged at lightning speed. The asphalt slightly dented under her feet as she moved. Her movements toward the monster were filled with countless combat experiences.
Crash-!
The axe swung diagonally, cleanly splitting the monster’s head in half. Before the corpse could even fall, Kang Hana pulled out the hand axe embedded in its body and slung it over her shoulder. Black blood spurted like a fountain, drenching the surroundings. But Kang Hana’s expression didn’t waver at all.
Thud-
Kang Hana pulled the axe from the monster’s corpse and asked, “Jeong Woo, are you okay?”
Only then did I realize.
‘So, the rumors about her being strong against monsters were true…’
***
[You have successfully escaped the ‘Meng Speed’ horror story.]
[You have been awarded 50,000 Dalant as a basic reward.]
+50,000D
Since it was a horror story that could be exorcised physically, the Dalant earned from the Meng Speed horror story was only 50,000.
‘With this, I’ve saved about 2.5 million Dalant, right?’
The cleanup team arrived 30 minutes later. Employees in black uniforms stepped out of a black van and entered the scene one by one. Dressed in black suits and gloves, they looked like undertakers.
The first employee carefully placed the binoculars into a specially made case. The lenses still faintly reflected the moonlight.
The second team collected the monster’s corpse. Black blood still dripped from the body. The pool of blood on the floor took on an eerie glow under the moonlight.
“Biohazard level 3. Implement the isolation protocol.”
The man who seemed to be the cleanup team leader gave instructions over the radio. Soon, a specially made bag was brought in, and the corpse was sealed inside.
Jo Seongmin had been given a memory-erasing drug and was in a deep sleep. His face, peacefully asleep on the bed, looked serene, unlike when I first saw him. The traces of fear that had haunted him for days were completely gone.
“Cleanup complete.”
Only after the cleanup team leader radioed again did the tense atmosphere finally ease.
I took a bite of the chocolate bar I had brought and asked Kang Hana, “By the way, Supervisor, what kept you so late?”
The streetlight outside the window cast a faint glow. Kang Hana wiped the last traces of blood from her face with the back of her hand and replied, “Ah, the traffic was bad after work…”
She looked a bit embarrassed. It was a stark contrast to her usual sharp demeanor. The hand that held the axe was already clean, but her shirt still had dark red stains.
“Sorry, I should’ve come earlier.”
“It’s okay, you weren’t that late.”
If I had been killed by the monster before she arrived, I would’ve resented her, but that didn’t happen, so it was fine.
The sound of chewing the chocolate bar filled the silence for a moment. The sweet scent of chocolate spread through the air.
When we returned to the office, it was already late evening. The quiet office was filled with fluorescent light. Narae and Moon Jinwook seemed to have gone out for a separate horror story investigation, and Cheon Seungsoo was also out on a field assignment.
The sound of Kang Hana typing on the keyboard filled the quiet office. She was working on a report on her laptop when she suddenly looked up.
“Jeong Woo.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to have dinner at my place?”
Her eyes looked softer than usual. The collar of her black suit glowed white under the fluorescent light, and the hair tie holding her hair was slightly loose.
But I hesitated. It was hard to tell if it was just an invitation for dinner or some kind of flirtation.
As I was pondering, my phone in my pocket suddenly vibrated.
“Supervisor, I need to take this call.”
“Go ahead.”
I got up from my seat. As I walked toward the emergency stairs, I opened my phone. The name on the screen was familiar.
Park Chan-hee.
He was a senior I had attended lectures with during my time in the Korean Literature department.
“Hello?”
– Jeong Woo, sorry for calling so late, but do you have a moment?
A deep male voice came through the receiver. I immediately responded.
“It’s fine. What’s up?”
– I thought you might know something about this kind of thing.
His voice lacked its usual calmness. Instead, there was a deep fatigue and anxiety that could be felt even over the phone. Something serious had clearly happened.
“What’s going on?”
There was a brief silence. A deep sigh came through the receiver. And then, his next words were as follows.
– I think my younger sister might be possessed by a ghost.
At that moment, the fluorescent light in the emergency stairs flickered. Darkness briefly took over before disappearing.