Dystopia Of Night - Chapter 3 Part 10

Yuju’s scream sent shivers down Sehan’s spine. He quickly approached her and examined her. Her forearm was slightly torn, and blood was flowing.

“It looks like you got cut by thorns.”

Not noticing the dense thicket of thorns was a careless mistake.

“The wound seems like it will leave a deep mark…”

“It’s not a severe injury, it’s alright.”

If it were Seoul, the wound would require about five stitches. It wasn’t life-threatening, but the smell of blood emanating from the reddened flesh, probably due to the chilly wind, was strong.

Although they had never seen carnivorous animals around, Sehan and Yuju did only emergency treatment and returned to the valley where the cars were gathered.

They wondered if there were any other teams meticulously inspecting the area like they did, but they seemed to be the last ones.

“Arghh!”

The first person Sehan saw was Hyeong-jin, scratching his face until it was red with bloodstained nails. Hansol, who had tried to stop him at first but got frustrated and started retreating, ran over to Sehan.

“Hyung-nim! Is he okay over there?”

“What happened?”

Sehan gestured towards Hyeong-jin. He had his face wrapped in his hands, seemingly in pain and sobbing.

“His face suddenly started itching like that.”

“All of a sudden?”

“Yeonji noona scratched his face. There was some moth on the wound, and since then, he’s been like that. Could it be some moth powder got into the wound?”

“Did you disinfect it?”

“I did. But it doesn’t seem to be of much use. I told him it should get better after taking painkillers and getting some rest, but he continues to be like that.”

Sehan briefly glanced at the area around Yuju’s shoulder where there might be a wound. She was wearing the black coat he had given her, so her injury was not visibly apparent.

“We need to keep an eye on his condition. Yuju, you should go inside first…”

“Aaargh!”

At that moment, Hyeong-jin loudly screamed and scratched his face. He exerted so much force that his fingers dug into the soft flesh around his eyes, causing blood to flow.

“F-Fuck. That again…”

Hansol, feeling disgusted, instinctively searched for a weapon. Hyeong-jin’s appearance resembled someone bitten by a snake monster.

“Don’t we have to kill him? There’s a guy who was bitten by the snake monster and turned into a monster too. What makes him any different?”

Yeonji, who had been quietly observing Hyeong-jin, clicked her tongue and cocked her gun.

“Do we have to kill every time someone gets hurt?”

Sehan spoke coldly and reached out his hand to the motionless Hae-jun.

“Do you have handcuffs?”

“What? Ah, yes!”

Sehan restrained Hyeong-jin, holding his arms behind his back and putting on the handcuffs. The flesh was swollen and soaked with blood, making it difficult to see the full extent of the wound, but small, bumpy nodules resembling insect eggs were visible around the cheek and eye area, sticking out like sand grains.

Thinking about Yuju, who might still be bleeding from her wound, Sehan’s vision darkened. He swallowed the curse that was about to escape his lips and gently laid Hyeong-jin on the ground. The subject was right in front of him, which was fortunate. Sehan calmly examined Hyeong-jin’s injuries with a composed gaze.

“Based on the external appearance, it seems that the wound has become a host for insect eggs.”

“Ugh. How about we remove the entire affected area and cauterize it?”

Suddenly, Yeonji approached, frowning as if disgusted.

“Heuu, because of you, arrrgh!”

Hyeong-jin groaned in agony, his bloodshot eyes glaring at Yeonji.

“Or we could just wait for the eggs to hatch. Eww, how disgusting.”

In Yeonji’s eyes, there was no human compassion, only malice.

“W-What should… Euhh!”

Hyeong-jin was hanging on to Sehan. Sehan, with great pains, stealthily avoided his touch. Whatever happened to Hyeong-jin was none of his concern. For now, he thought it would be good to try this and that.

“Doing something is better than leaving him like this. Let’s start by cleaning the wound.”

“Arrrrghhhh! Argh!”

As Sehan tried to fetch water from the nearby stream, Hyeong-jin’s screams grew louder, accompanied by strange sounds.

The sound of rusty metal pieces clashing together sent shivers down their spines. The source of the noise was a gigantic moth, almost two to three times the size of Hyeong-jin.

Whenever the vibrant purple-patterned moth fluttered its wings, an unpleasant noise filled the air. It sounded more like a rusty machine than a living creature.

“Ahhhhgh, it hurts. It hurts! Aaaargh! It hurts!”

Strangely, with each beat of the butterfly’s wings, a shower of white powder fell only on top of Hyeong-jin’s body. The amount was so large that it covered his nose and mouth, stifling him. Hyeong-jin let out a hoarse cry, like a person facing execution, with a choked voice.

It happened in an instant. The white powder that fell from the moth’s wings piled up on top of Hyeong-jin’s body like a layer of chrysanthemums, and as the insect’s eggs burst open, newly hatched moths emerged, covering his body like blooming flowers. Countless moths began to devour Hyeong-jin’s flesh.

The purple moth watched this scene for a moment and then disappeared into the forest.

“Huuk, huue… heugh!”

Hyeong-jin’s sobs mingled grimly with the sound of gnawing leaves. From his fingertips to his fragile bones, he transformed into a half-decomposed skeleton. Even as a mere skeleton, Hyeong-jin remained alive, groaning in agony, until he slowly died. Eventually, his voice could no longer be heard.

“Oomph!”

Unable to bear witnessing any longer, Yuju covered her mouth and crouched down. She felt like she was going to vomit from the overwhelming sensation.

At that moment, all the moths that had been feasting on Hyeong-jin’s body suddenly took flight. Among them, Sehan noticed one moth flying straight towards Yuju.

Bang!

The bullet he fired pierced the moth’s chest dead center and lodged itself into the tree behind. The moth, now falling to the ground, fluttered its torn wings briefly before crumbling into ashes like burnt paper.

***