Chapter 136
“Lee Hoin.”
In the end, as if conceding, Kim Taekjin called him by name instead of “student.”
He followed after him as he spoke.
“I misspoke. I’m sorry.”
He admitted fault… but it didn’t feel particularly sincere.
It felt like something said just to get past this moment.
It was hard to tell what he really meant.
His face was expressionless, he bowed his head to apologize, and his voice sounded genuine… but in Lee Hoin’s mind, he had already become nothing more than a slick, insincere face he didn’t even want to look at or think about.
As the fragile silence between the two cut through the forest… so still that even the sound of the wind had disappeared… a sound finally came from ahead.
At that moment, everything returned.
The wind.
Distant screams.
All of it.
But sound, in a moment like this, wasn’t something to welcome… so Lee Hoin immediately raised his sword.
Step.
Step, step.
Hearing the staggering footsteps, he tensed and stopped.
Kim Taekjin shone a flashlight past him.
The figure that finally appeared…
“…Nam Muyeong?”
It was Nam Muyeong… with not a single part of him uninjured.
***
The atmosphere’s pretty tense.
I let out a sigh and leaned against a nearby tree.
Dragging my battered body all the way here out of worry… it was a relief that the two of them looked better than expected.
At least I managed to get them back.
The place they had been trapped in earlier was probably… ‘An item.’
I didn’t know whether Doul made it or already had it, but I picked it up near where they had disappeared.
Right on the boundary that had narrowly separated me from them.
Doul knew full well that giraffes roamed around here; there was no way he hadn’t prepared something.
He must’ve set up a barrier that activates when a giraffe approaches, and thanks to terrible timing, I was the only one left outside.
‘If it trapped the giraffe, only the giraffe would’ve gone in… not them.’
I casually tossed the crumbling item in my hand.
Sticky blood ran down my palm.
Fragments dug into my already mangled hand, tearing it open again.
‘Would’ve been nice if I could recover it… But I don’t know the mechanism.’
So I broke it.
I couldn’t just wait for it to release them at some unknown time.
Letting out a sigh, I calmed Lee Hoin, who had come over saying something, and said:
“…Let’s go down first.”
I wiped the dark blood splattered on my cheek.
The dried blood clung to my skin, itching faintly.
…Tired.
“What the… Hey, just get on. I’ll run down.”
Before I could respond, he lifted me.
Then he started running.
The ride still sucked… but I didn’t have the energy to complain.
Back at the base, when they shone a flashlight to check my injuries…
I realized I was in worse shape than I thought.
“…Oh my god.”
My clothes were shredded… and through the torn gaps, my skin had been scraped raw.
I heard people say it might scar, but I just exhaled.
What does it matter if it scars…
My eyes kept closing.
***
People moved in perfect coordination.
At this odd hour before dawn, they rushed around, wiping Nam Muyeong’s body with towels, applying medicine.
What the hell had he done… to end up like this?
“Did he roll on the ground…? What is this… why are the wounds like this… his wrist is really swollen…”
Shin Giyeon spoke with concern as she treated his wrist.
Even to Lee Hoin, this wasn’t normal.
At first, Muyeong had been covered in blood, so it was hard to tell how badly he was hurt.
He thought it wasn’t that serious… but now that the blood was cleaned off…
His whole body was a wreck.
Lee Hoin silently brought fresh water.
He rinsed out the blood-soaked towels in a bucket and wiped him again.
A few men lifted the cleaned-up Muyeong and moved him.
Shin Giyeon taped and secured his wrist after covering him with a blanket.
“Um, Hoin… want to rest a bit? You look tired too…”
She didn’t ask what had happened.
If someone looked like this, there was only one reason.
Lee Hoin nodded vaguely and exhaled.
***
Two days.
Two days spent cleaning and disinfecting wounds that kept oozing.
Waiting to receive the appraised items as well.
We were here to reorganize.
And right now, what I saw in front of me…
“…Hmm.”
Kim Taekjin stared out the window.
And Lee Hoin, expressionless, twitching his brow as he sharpened his sword with obvious irritation.
For some reason, the atmosphere between them had completely collapsed.
Well, if you had to pick a reason… it’d be Kim Taekjin.
…Damn, my head hurts.
As I pressed my brow and looked between them… a scream suddenly echoed from far away.
‘Again.’
Lately, screams had been happening more often.
It was daytime, so it wasn’t too dangerous… but hearing a woman’s scream still bothered me.
It wasn’t a mutant.
Whenever those screams happened, people from the base would move in unison toward the source.
Something was definitely wrong.
‘They told us not to get involved since we’re patients… which is the problem.’
Today, everyone had gone out to gather food.
So here, it was just us…
“Ah…!”
…and Kim Woohyun.
Woohyun, who had been in the hallway, suddenly ran somewhere.
From the half-open door, he rushed in, and the sound of breaking objects and screams spilled out.
The cold tension between the two slightly broke.
Lee Hoin raised his eyebrows fully and looked over, while Kim Taekjin muttered:
“It’s probably Woohyun’s older sister.”
As if he already knew.
“She wasn’t in great condition even when we left the mart. She already looked mentally fragile.”
Thinking about why Woohyun left the mart…
‘PTSD?’
As I focused on the sounds,
I heard Woohyun trying to calm her down.
“Noona, wa–”
“Stop…”
Her voice was drenched in sweat and panic.
The room fell silent again.
Crash!
Something shattered… and instead of a woman’s scream…
“Aaagh!”
…it was Woohyun’s.
“Noona, noona!! It’s me! Me–Woohyun! Noona!!”
At that, both Hoin and I jumped up and ran into the room.
As soon as we entered… we saw a disheveled woman on top of Woohyun, pinning him down, holding a shard of broken glass.
Her hand dripped blood… filled with killing intent.
Startled by our sudden appearance, she hissed and screamed, gripping the shard even tighter.
Where did that come from?
Looking around… it seemed to be from a glass-topped table.
‘A glass table in a room with a PTSD patient?’
—
[This isn’t a hospital. What can you do?]
—
Still, it was clear some precautions had been taken.
The bed area was padded to prevent injury, and shredded fabric, probably gloves, were scattered around.
They must’ve covered her hands to stop her from hurting herself…
‘Did she tear them off?’
As Lee Hoin moved to rush in and save Woohyun,
I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t approach carelessly. Don’t provoke her. Slowly. Lower yourself.”
I forced him to crouch.
Then gently took what he was holding and tossed it outside.
With both hands empty, I spoke:
“Hello. Can you hear me?”
Lowering my body, showing I meant no harm, I took off my outer clothes… until I was left in just a T-shirt and pants.
So she wouldn’t think I had anything hidden.
Her messy hair obscured her face.
I moved slowly, almost crawling.
“Hello. I’m Nam Muyeong. I’m Woohyun’s friend. You know Woohyun, right? Kim Woohyun. I heard you’re his older sister.”
Calmly, slowly, I repeated who I was.
“This is our first time meeting. Is it okay if I come closer? I don’t have anything.”
Because of the bandages wrapped around my wrists and hands, she didn’t scream again.
Slowly, I pushed aside glass shards with my knees as I moved.
So stepping on them wouldn’t startle her.
“I’m not here to hurt you. It’s dangerous here, and Woohyun is very scared, so I was wondering if I could take him away. Can you hear me? Is it okay if I keep coming?”
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Blood still flowed from the shard in her hand… but I didn’t point it out.
And then…
I realized I had forgotten something.
There was another person who needed calming.
“Huaaagh!!”
Another one, consumed by fear and panic.
Kim Woohyun reached out toward his sister, trying to take the glass shard from her… and in that instant, she reacted to everything as a threat… and swung her hand.
Too many variables.
It was killing me.
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