Dystopia Of Night - Chapter 3 Part 7

Sehan initially thought that the vibrations in the roots were how the monster detected them. However, that explanation couldn’t account for why it couldn’t find Yuju. It didn’t notice her movements as she crouched and dug the ground.

“The rules of this monster are similar to the ‘it’ in a game of tag. If you move, you’ll be taken away.”

“So… do we have to keep staying like this?”

In a game of tag, the ‘it’ moves to find the next ‘it,’ which, in this case, refers to humans. So, what happens to the ‘it’ that fails to catch the next ‘it’?

In this world, the sun rises precisely at 10:42 a.m. according to Sehan’s watch. Despite the passing time, the sunrise remained fixed and unchanged.

Furthermore, whenever a new type of monster appeared, the time at which the monster came to find them was 30 minutes earlier. Sehan speculated that this might indicate the establishment of some system occurring at 30-minute intervals.

“These monsters have a sense of time. Just by looking at their appearances at specific times, it’s evident. From here on, it’s just my speculation, but wouldn’t you consider waiting for about 30 minutes as it is? If nothing changes, we’ll explore other options.”

There was no alternative to Sehan’s idea, and the tree monster remained calm. They agreed with his opinion and let the time pass.

As time passed, the monster gradually returned to its normal appearance as an ordinary tree. Seeing the tree monster slowly reverting to its original form, Hyeong-jin, who had relaxed, let out a sneeze.

“Achoo!”

Caught off guard, he sneezed and moved his body slightly.

Swoosh! At that moment, the monster’s branch reacted and aimed its sharp tip towards Hyeong-jin. If he had stayed still, it would have passed by without any problem, but he was startled and took a step back.

“Hyeong-jin-ssi, don’t move…”

“Ahhhh! Get away!”

Ignoring Sehan’s warning, Hyeong-jin tried to dodge the approaching branch. The leaves of the partially transformed tree monster rustled and made a chilling sound. The sound sent shivers down his spine, and Hyeong-jin completely panicked.

“Stop, Hyeong-jin-ssi!”

Just as he was running in Hyeong-jin’s direction, Yeonhee reached out her hand to stop him. Their eyes met. With his eyes bloodshot, Hyeong-jin pushed Yeonhee towards the approaching branch.

“Ahh!”

Yeonhee was pushed back by his force and the branch pierced through her abdomen.

“Unnie!!!!!!”

Yeonji rushed towards her, calling out her name, but the tree monster continued to suck her blood with a sucking sound. Unlike before when it rapidly drained human blood, this time, as time passed, its strength seemed to weaken, prolonging the agony.

“Yeonji… he, ugh… kuegh!”

Yeonhee struggled to speak and convulsed in pain. The sharp branch opened up like a thorny flower, tearing through Yeonhee’s organs and flesh. Even in that state, Yeonhee was still alive and looked at her younger sister with bloodshot eyes, blood trickling down her pale cheeks.

After draining all the blood, the monster discarded Yeonhee’s lifeless body on the ground and returned to its ordinary tree form. Yeonji caught her falling sister and gently laid her on her lap.

“Unnie! Unnie!”

The lifeless body trembled in her sister’s arms, her eyes no longer able to see.

Hyeong-jin looked at Yeonji, not Yeonhee, and anxiously bit his lips.

***

Yuju, Sehan, Hansol, Yeonji, Hyeong-jin, and Hae-jun.

The six survivors remained silent for a moment, then buried the dead Yeonhee and Gangsik in the ground. Even after that, Yeonji remained quiet for a while.

While discussing whether or not to move near the valley, she sat far away, seemingly lost in her thoughts. She stared blankly at the ground and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Yuju, who was so close to Sehan that they were rarely apart, hadn’t spoken to Yeonji, but since Hansol, who could be said to be the closest to her, hadn’t comforted her, she felt she had to.

“Would you like some water?”

Yeonji looked up at Yuju with hollow eyes. Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks. Her smudged lipstick and unusual eyes, with their wide whites, gave her an eerie look.

“… ry.”

“Yes? What did you say?”

Yuju leaned in, listening attentively to her words. Yeonji firmly grabbed Yuju’s approaching wrist. Her cool black hair brushed against Yuju’s forearm as she tilted her face at an angle. The small water bottle Yuju was holding slipped and fell to the ground with a thud.

Splashing droplets stained both of their sneakers, darkening the ground. Yeonji’s pupils glinted ominously.

“I’m angry.”

“Yeonji-ssi?”

Yuju let out a soft groan of pain as her wrist was tightly held. Yeonji immediately loosened her grip but didn’t completely let go. Tear-filled, swollen eyes looked at Yuju. The angry, burning irises were intense.

“What are you doing?”

Sehan approached and pulled Yeonji away. Yeonji, who released her hold on Yuju, stood up on her own. Then, as if she had shed all her sadness, she spoke in a composed voice.

“I agree.”

Sehan frowned as he examined the red mark left on Yuju’s wrist.

“We’re moving towards the valley. What could be scarier than this? There are monsters everywhere here.”

Yeonji glared at Hyeong-jin and twisted her lips.

“Hyeong-jin-ssi, you were against it, right?”

Hyeong-jin didn’t think staying in the valley was safer. Unlike the other four, he hadn’t explored the area around it, and being defensively inclined, the unknown forest felt too dangerous to him.

So, he had kept expressing his opposition, but he never expected that Yeonji, the only one among the six who had stayed with him in agreement, would suddenly support the idea so blatantly. Taken aback, he was scoffed at by Yeonji, who spoke coldly.

“Only those who agree will go. I don’t want to be in the same place as that bastard.”

Watching the tense situation unfold, Hyeong-jin turned around anxiously and spoke threateningly, clenching his fists.

“Yeonji-ssi, isn’t your way of talking too harsh?”

“Harsh? What you did to my sister was harsh! Is there anything worse than taking a life?”

“Fine, I get it. It was a mistake, okay? I was so shocked I didn’t even realize… gasp!”

With a ‘pak!’ sound, Hyeong-jin’s face turned away. The force of the hand with a ring slapping him caused his cheek to tear, splattering blood onto Yeonji’s face as well.

“Shut up, you bastard. Be grateful I’m not killing you right now.”

Yeonji glared straight at Hyeong-jin, wiping the splattered droplets of blood from her face with the back of her hand. The bloodstain smeared randomly.