Boy Monster Chapter 98

Underneath the darkness, countless phantoms swarmed. Walking a tightrope on the blade that forms the boundary between the human realm and the hell realm, Jae Eunho’s spirit encountered numerous souls.

Many images overlapped and passed over the evil spirits. Sometimes, the man and woman in the poster at the entrance of Shi Taehyun’s house were replaced by a massive demon and Jae Eunho. The beast that violated Jae Eunho ejaculated a massive amount of bodily fluid into Eunho’s stomach. Red eyes flashed above Jae Eunho, who was agonizing with his head thrown back.

He had wanted to be dead for a short while without any consciousness, but perhaps because he was such a unique existence, the spirits of the hell realm swarmed like a flock of bees. Jae Eunho walked upon the blade and examined the inside of it. Could that child, who was seventeen, perhaps be among those things?

「Any form is fine. Please appear.」

He quickly searched through the evil spirits and demons, but the boy’s spirit was nowhere to be seen. Jae Eunho thought to himself: You must be in the heavenly realm, not here. Because your soul deserves to be.

Jae Eunho stopped in his tracks before a dark red lump of flesh that appeared on top of the pile of horrific souls. The severed flesh was drenched in blood, and incantations in black letters were carved all over the skin. The corpse, covered in Chinese characters, had its waist more than half-sliced open, exposing the internal organs; it was missing one arm, and the remaining arm and thigh were also severed. Above the dismembered corpse, a rotting human face turned backward.

「Tsk. Why are you appearing?」

Eunho thought so, but he did not speak aloud in front of the deceased. To Eunho, who showed a minimum level of courtesy, the deceased spoke.

「You shouldn’t be here right now, should you?」

There were over twenty lacerations hacked ruthlessly across the face of the deceased. The empty socket of an eyeball where a knife had been stabbed and pulled out was sunken deeply, with maggots swarming inside, and the white of the remaining eye was a blood-soaked red color. Eunho answered the evil spirit.

「As you can see, I am still in the human realm. Even if I want to fall into the hell realm, I cannot go because of someone, you see?」

Dragging his dismembered corpse, the former head of the family, who had crawled beneath the tightrope, smiled.

「Haha, that mouth of yours is just the same as ever. Indeed, when I came here, neither your parents nor that lover you slept around with day and night were around.」

Eunho grimaced with one cheek for a moment. However, the evil spirit’s mockery failed to provoke Eunho any further than that. In just five minutes, Jae Eunho would step off this boundary.

The deceased looked up with envious eyes at Eunho, who stood leisurely looking down above the boundary line. Eunho scoffed at the corpse inside the black swamp.

「You were the one person I never wanted to see even in my dreams. I was truly happy that you didn’t appear in my dreams for several decades, but seeing that pathetic state directly with my two eyes today makes me even happier. I should have invited you to my dreams sooner.」

「That fellow acting as my son will not come.」

「Your son?」

Eunho scoffed lightly again. The deceased continued speaking.

「Yes, that empty spirit that appeared with the exact same appearance as the guy you devoured by diligently working your noble body and lower hole. Didn’t you put on this kind of show to call him out? He will not come.」

At the words of the deceased, Jae Eunho realized that this place was not the actual boundary of the hell realm, but an illusion created by his own deep subconscious. Jae Eunho’s subconscious was speaking the fears inside his heart, borrowing the mouth of the deceased whom he wanted to forget the most.

「Do you think he would trust Sa Yeonri, who killed him once? Even if he trusts you, wouldn’t the future be obvious? Won’t he just be consumed for your unit? Won’t it be the exact same future of being used for the greater cause? Would he not have calculated that, Shi Taehyun?」

「…….」

「What is it that you want? Do you want him to appear and help you? Do you want him to satisfy your personal greed regarding Jang Hwonwoo? Or do you want him to wipe out the terrorist organization you need to deal with? With what kind of shamelessness, exactly?」

「…….」

「There is absolutely no reason for him to help you, Eunho. You know it too, don’t you?」

「Don’t call my name.」

Eunho clearly opposed the voice spat out by the depths of his own mind.

「If we clear up the misunderstandings and communicate continuously, his empty memories and ego might be filled. Right now, it is empty because it hasn’t been long since the nurturing ended, but perhaps….」

「Perhaps you might be able to get that boy back? Hahaha!」

「Don’t interrupt me.」

「Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? You didn’t love the guy. You only utilized him. Have you ever given an answer that you love him back to Jang Hwonwoo even a single time?」

「…….」

「To think that he would respond to your call, why did you make such a calculation error? Shi Taehyun is not Jang Hwonwoo. Even if he were Jang Hwonwoo, he wouldn’t trust you anymore.」

「…….」

「That is always your problem. The will to believe that the impossible is possible. That is why the grand undertaking failed too, wasn’t it?」

Jae Eunho was looking for the cause of all failures within himself. That subconscious guilt was also the source that drove Eunho crazy with work.

「It is the same now. Please do not mistake vain hope and miscalculation for a dream. The flow of power and trends, people, fate, love that will absolutely never change…. Why on earth are you trying to change such things? What is left other than having tangled the strings of fate? At that point, it’s an illness.」

Jae Eunho might have temporarily resolved the foul emotions that had rotted away for a long time through Lim Geonhwi’s sexual acts, or covered them up with work. However, there hadn’t been only regret and self-reproach in the passing years. Eunho had kept his promise to his lover, with whom he shared the same dream. He had not a single shred of regret regarding that point.

「What about you? You’re worse than me.」

「…What?」

「You rode the trend that would absolutely never change, and now you’re here begging me for mercy. In that state.」

Eunho spat venomous words to the end at the deceased, whose face was turning red and blue.

「Yes. I lost that child, my lover, and everything else while trying to change the world and the trends, but you lost yourself in addition to everything. I’m sorry, but I, who twisted fate, won.」

「…….」

「Goodbye. I hope you reincarnate into a good place someday. Into the human realm that has been refined by the deaths and sacrifices of countless souls belonging to people like me. If you can return, that is.」

Now the boundary line became faint. It was time to leave the subconscious. Amidst the void of darkness, the shout of the deceased caught onto Eunho. It seemed his subconscious was trying to give a final hint.

「A month from now will be your 8th death. Do you want to break the curse?」

「I have no time, just speak the core point quickly.」

「If you want to know where my remains are, look for the Manshin.」

The Manshin? That shaman died long ago. It was an affair from several decades ago. A funeral was held, and she hadn’t been sensed by any spiritual resonance since then. Seeing Eunho’s frowning face, the evil spirit said.

「Think about it, you who are in this place right now. Knowing how easy it is to fake death, did you not question that?」

「……!」

「What is the inevitable limitation of your ability? It is that you cannot connect via wavelengths with someone whose brainwaves are faint. For instance, someone in a vegetative state or a deep sleep state….」

A mixture of realization and shock struck his heart. His heartbeat fluctuated from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, violently pounding against his soul. Something pounded hard inside his ribcage as if it were about to burst out.

「It should be enough to say up to this point…. Since you were the number one in Sashimcheon when it came to rolling your brain….」

The darkness filled with blood and evil spirits shattered in an instant. Waking up from the coma, Jae Eunho convulsed violently in his right leg and gasped for breath.

“Heup! …Ha-eu…! Heup!”

His breath swirled violently inside the respirator. The sound of helicopter rotors and busy footsteps violently struck his ears. Amidst the noisy commotion, a heavy sigh of relief burst out.

“Ah, he has recovered! Captain’s breathing is back, Captain! Captain! Can you see me? Captain, breathe!”

The large eyes of Hyeon Jaewoong, looking as if they would drop tears at any moment, flickered before him. Jae Eunho hastily raised his upper body. The sensations in his body were dull, and his uncomfortable left leg still wouldn’t move well. A doctor attached themselves to the roughly breathing Jae Eunho and checked his condition.

“As many as 15 minutes have passed! Ha…! I seriously thought I was going to die too!”

Choi Jungkyung shouted in a hoarse voice. All sorts of emergency sounds and shouting resonated from the walkie-talkie and the smartphone speaker. Jae Eunho spoke while knitting his brows.

“What… what is going on. Report the current situation.”

After regaining consciousness, the most puzzling thing was the speed of the helicopter. The altitude of the helicopter flying at high speed was also much lower than before.

Don’t tell me a monster appeared and caused a riot? If 15 minutes had passed in a state of suspended animation, it was more than enough time for Sa Hwelju to perceive Sa Yeonri’s death. Even so, that miraculous power isn’t foolish, so surely it wouldn’t have created such a mess?

Or else….

Did he really come in the form of Shi Taehyun and sweep the scene clean? Did Shi Taehyun come.

As that thought occurred to him, his chest pulsed greatly again. Hyeon Jaewoong supported Eunho, who was trying to look at the laptop after removing the respirator. Choi Jungkyung explained.

“Poison gas. Nerve gas has been sprayed. There are already five police casualties.”

“What? Where, at the gambling house?”

“There was a factory near the gambling house, and some of the gambling ring members who fled hid there. An attack suddenly broke out at that factory. There are 50 civilians on duty alone! Damn it! They must have sent psychics here after seeing the news. Aren’t they completely crazy bastards, they have no brakes!”

“Enough with the lamenting! Did you modify the operation and give instructions? You should prioritize civilian protection!”

“I gave instructions, but too much time was delayed because we had to airlift gas masks in a hurry. On top of that, it seems one guy has attached himself to our helicopter.”

What welcomed the awakened Jae Eunho was a crisis situation report stating that the terrorist organization had carried out an attack with an even greater provocation in response to the provocation. There was no news about the beast or Shi Taehyun.

After confirming the situation below the helicopter, Eunho pulled out his personal smartphone. The message sent through the chatting application was in a state where it hadn’t even been checked yet.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose once and then adjusted them again. Dry saliva swallowed down his hollow throat.

The beast did not react to Sa Yeonri’s life-threatening crisis.

He hadn’t anticipated this degree of non-reaction. He thought it would cause an earthquake or send Shi Taehyun. His prediction was completely off the mark.

The reason was clear. There was no need to think long. From the perspective of Sa Hwelju’s ego, even if Sa Yeonri dies and the monster’s body disappears, they would just think they can aim for a resurrection after that, and from the perspective of Shi Taehyun’s ego, he doesn’t care whether Jae Eunho dies or not.

Why would he appear? For what reason would he save you?

He couldn’t help but repeat the castigation with the voice he had thrown at himself inside his subconscious. It felt as if his chest were being shattered into pieces by the shock.

Right… every single judgment might have been a mistake. Until now, Jae Eunho had just seen things the way he wanted to see them.

That Shi Taehyun listened to Jae Eunho’s groans in that house and imagined violating and ruining Jae Eunho in the photo?

It could be a fact that he had guessed entirely wrong.

That fellow is originally such a nymphomaniac, and wouldn’t he have committed such acts even if the subject of his tailing wasn’t Jae Eunho.

Those groans were made for blackmail or insurance purposes, and in truth, the possibility that he desired another man or woman is also fully sufficient. While living in the human world for over a year disguised in the form of Jang Hwonwoo, he might have lost his heart to someone else. It is a sufficient possibility!

The women he used to stay close with at the Dasarang Finance & Big Wing Errand Center office and the model agency business cards came to mind. The reason why he kept those business cards instead of throwing them away was also… right, perhaps those are the truth.

He had committed an error of perception and judgment. Just like how he didn’t doubt the death of the Manshin, he had misinterpreted the phenomenon.

There is no reason for Shi Taehyun or Sa Hwelju to become Jae Eunho’s ally! Even more so out of private emotions!

Only now did Shi Taehyun’s cold gazes come to mind one by one. He had helped with Eunho’s work during that time, but that was ultimately just for his own safety as Sa Hwelju, and he did not show any special emotions toward Jae Eunho. He had only openly suspected and mocked him.

That bastard, perhaps, after revenging himself upon Jae Eunho at the end of his tailing, might have spoken of sex and appealed his interest to someone else.

Shi Taehyun cutting off Sa Yeonri’s limbs to confine him so he cannot move, and passionately having sex with another person. Or Shi Taehyun indifferently looking down at Jae Eunho who had become a machine.

The expression of such a bastard was only drawn out now….

When he turned off the chat window that had no answer and put the smartphone into his inner pocket, emptiness and pain rushed in like a tidal wave.

Right, Jae Eunho’s rationality was an exception only for that boy from back then until now.

Even if he was a fake, he had wanted to see him that much.

Jae Eunho withdrew the fluttering wings of the butterfly roaming the night sky beneath the helicopter. Giving up was agonizing. It pierced his heart like a skewer. However, even a brief sentiment was not permitted to Eunho right now.

He put on his headphones and sat in front of the laptop. As always, he overlays loneliness and agony with work.

It was just when he started analyzing the factory CCTV amidst the commotion.

Zzzt. Zzzzt.

The vibration of the smartphone rang three times in a row inside Jae Eunho’s suit inner pocket, but buried under the vibration of the helicopter, no one noticed it.