Dystopia Of Night - Chapter 3 Part 6

Anyway, the humans had to survive today, and even though they hadn’t reached a conclusion, the monsters came for them.

The remaining eight individuals dealt with the tentacle monster and the snake monster as they had done before. They knew that when the snake monster died, a tree monster would emerge, but they couldn’t tolerate the eerie sound it produced and couldn’t let it live for long.

“It’s coming!”

As the snake monster died, one of the trees began to shake violently and transform into a tree monster. It was different from the one they encountered yesterday.

The people, who were on guard, were initially startled and screamed in terror.

“Aaaah!”

Among them, the middle-aged police officer, Gangsik, screamed the loudest. He had refused to take a frontline guarding role and was placed in the rear, which unfortunately made him closest to the newly appeared tree monster.

“Do as planned, Mr. Gangsik!”

Hansol tried to draw Gangsik’s attention and stop him from running away blindly, but he was too scared and began to flee. At that moment, as if choosing its prey, the previously motionless tree monster extended its branches at an incredible speed.

The monster was faster than Gangsik’s running speed. He couldn’t escape in time, and the sharp branch pierced through him, drawing out blood.

They panicked and began to forget the plan and started running away. However, the monster didn’t show any interest in other humans until it finished devouring one prey.

‘It’s a tree monster, right? How does it see and hear without eyes and ears?’

Suddenly, Yuju’s words came to Sehan’s mind.

“Trees don’t need eyes and ears…”

Something flickered in his mind, as if an idea was about to emerge. Sehan became determined and started to carry out the operation alone.

Unlike animals that die when their heads are cut off, plants’ roots are more critical. Some plant species can revive with just their roots, so the weakness of the tree monster, a plant, would likely lie in its roots.

Sehan brought the fire he had prepared earlier close to the base of the tree, near its roots.

“Sehan!”

Yuju regained her senses and approached, trying to ignite the base of the tree as well. She thought it would burn fiercely like a dry thorny bush, but there was no response. Sehan, who had approached with the common knowledge that trees are weak against fire, clicked his tongue.

“It seems fire doesn’t work at all. We’ll have to cut it down directly or…”

Sehan, who was trying to confirm the hardness of the tree by kicking its base, looked at Gangsik, who was in a pitiable state with all the blood drained from him, and dropped to the ground.

There was no time. The tree started searching for its next prey, and unfortunately, Sehan became the target.

As soon as Sehan saw the tree branch reaching towards him, he quickly moved away from Yuju. As he started to move, the branch approached him at an even faster speed.

Sacrifice. Originally, Sehan’s plan was that if either he or Yuju couldn’t avoid an attack, he would use someone else as bait.

However, the determination he had to use another human as a meat shield started to waver. He was afraid of how Yuju would look at him after committing such an act.

That was Sehan’s struggle. He found Yuju’s potential disappointment scarier than sacrificing others.

“Sehan!”

As Sehan hesitated for a moment, he gritted his teeth and watched Yuju digging the ground frantically. He couldn’t die yet. Even if it meant facing Yuju’s disappointment, it was better than leaving her alone here.

He scanned his surroundings with a cold gaze. He spotted Hansol lingering nearby. Hansol was relatively loyal, so it was better to choose someone else.

Sehan’s speed was faster than the tree monster’s, and he narrowly evaded its attacks. However, as a human, he had his limits in stamina. Sehan considered hiding behind cover and observed the tree monster’s movements.

‘How can a tree monster see and hear without eyes and ears?’

Yuju’s words once again echoed in Sehan’s mind. Because she was a special person to him, he unconsciously attributed a lot of meaning to her words.

‘How does it detect me?’

And then, his gaze fell upon Yuju, who was trying to attack the tree monster’s roots. The tree monster seemed to be ignoring her frantic digging.

‘Ignoring?’

While everyone else was running around in panic, she was the only one who held her ground.

Sehan increased his speed and returned to Yuju. The monster’s branches chased after him at a terrifying speed. Just as they were about to pierce through his head, Sehan lowered his body and rolled to the side.

“……”

Halt. The tree monster that had been pursuing the targeted person wherever they ran stumbled as if in fluster.

When the monster initially targeted Sehan, he had been kicking its base and moving around. Then, he leaped and evaded the chasing monster.

However, it seemed that the monster couldn’t detect Sehan when he remained still.

“Everyone, don’t move!”

Sehan shouted loudly.

The monster’s branches showed no sign of movement and remained suspended in the air.

The tree monster had no eyes or ears. Sehan finally seemed to understand its meaning.

“Sehan! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, so don’t move!”

Yuju nodded as she saw the monster stop.

“W-what happened?”

Yeonji murmured in a small voice.

“Thanks to Yuju.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Yuju said that the tree monster has no eyes or ears, so it can’t see or hear us.”

“I-I said that?”

Yuju covered her mouth with a surprised expression and tilted her head. While she might have said something similar before, she had never spoken with such conviction.

“Yes, you said that.”

Regardless of her reaction, Sehan directed his explanation to her and the others.

“Plants don’t have senses. They don’t have sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch. None of that exists for them.”

“Then how do they find us?”

“Here, there exist unknown laws. The appearance, behavior, weaknesses of the monsters — all are determined by some rules.”