6 Chapter 5 (1/2)
Jinwoo's shout reached all the Hunters' ears .
”!”
”Instruments?!”
Hope returned to their eyes .Unlike the time where Jinwoo asked them to bow, the Hunters this time did not hesitate to respond .Of course, if Jinwoo was wrong on his guess, they would be massacred when they approached the statues .But in this moment, there was not one Hunter who remained suspicious of Jinwoo's directions .
Mr . Song was the first to arrive at a statue holding an instrument .
”…”
Holding his breath, Mr . Song slowly looked up at the statue .As if responding, the statue's fingers moved, and it started playing the harp in its hands .
It was a beautiful sound .
”He was right!”
”Move to the statues with instruments!”
Each Hunter, with renewed hope, ran towards the various statues holding instruments .
Trumpets, flutes, lyres .Soon, the harmonious melody of different instruments filled the entire temple .
Mr . Kim, who had been running until his breath ran out, collapsed and knelt before a statue holding a mandolin .
strum~ strum~
As the mandolin's melody rang through the air, the Statue of God that was chasing Mr . Kim slowed to a stop .Unable to hold his emotions back, Mr . Kim burst into tears where he knelt .
”Uwaaaaah-”
And the Statue of God turned away from him .Scanning the rest of the temple, it found its new target .
”Shit!”
Meeting its eyes, Jinwoo cursed .And he started running, his heart beating like it was about to explode .His sweating back was soaked .
'Why! Why is this one not playing?!'
Jinwoo glared at the statue he had arrived at with resentment .Holding drums in its hands, its silent figure made no indication that it would play its instrument .
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
With terrifying speed, the Statue of God closed the gap between them .As the Statue, which had been at the opposite end of the room only moments ago, neared them, Jinwoo gulped .
'Is it because Juhee and I are both here at the same time?'
That must've been the answer .As he looked around, no other Hunter had trouble with their statues .
'I don't have time to think about this,'
He put down Juhee and prepared to run to a different spot .
”Jinwoo…”
A terrified Juhee held onto his sleeves .Jinwoo calmly whispered into her ears,
”We'll both die if I stay . ”
As he saw tears forming at the corners of her eyes, Jinwoo knew that there was no time to explain .He gently pulled away her shaking hands from his sleeves, then ran with all his might towards another statue .
*Ba-Bum* *Ba-Bum* *Ba-Bum*
He heard the beat of the drum starting from behind him as he ran .
'Thank god . '
There was only one thing left .To safely make it to another statue!
Jinwoo was now the only one who had not made it to the protection of statues holding instruments .Accordingly, the complete rage of the Statue of God was now focused solely on him . Jinwoo ran away from the crashing footsteps of his chaser and sped across the room .
BOOM!
BOOM!
As he barely dodged and rolled away from the Statue's stomps, his panting became heavier and heavier .Although he was the lowest of the E-rank Hunters, as a Fighter-class Hunter, his body offered what little help it could in this situation .
'Just a little bit more!'
Taking notice of the Statue of God's footsteps closing in on him, he focused and strengthened his legs .His speed increased . There was but a few steps until he reached his target statue .
”NO, NOT THAT WAY!”
Mr . Song had shouted at him .
Having focused on the Statue of God's movements until now, Jinwoo turned his attention to the statue he had arrived at .
”Ah!”
'It's not holding an instrument!'
He now realized what appeared to be an instrument in the statue's hands was actually a shield .Without mercy, the statue raised and brought down the shield in its hands .
”Uwah!”
Jinwoo threw his body to the side .
”Kiyaah!”
Juhee screamed .
As he rolled across on the floor, he looked up .The Statue of God was almost upon him .
”Out of the frying pan…”
His tumble on the ground had opened a cut on his forehead .Blood flowed down to his eyes, obscuring his vision . Jinwoo rapidly looked left and right .
'Instrument, instrument…'
But no instrument registered in his eyes .
The Statue of God raised its foot .
”Shit!”
BOOM!
Jinwoo barely evaded the stomp by throwing his body to the side .But he was reaching his limits . Feeling faint, he found it hard to maintain balance for some reason .
'Please…'
If there was a God, he wanted to pray to it .In that moment, Jinwoo noticed a statue that was neither holding a weapon nor an instrument .
'That's!'
He crawled with last vestiges of his strength, placing his hopes on the statue .With a final twist of his body, he threw himself at the feet of the statue with a book in its hands .Facing the Statue of God that was heading toward him, he realized he had no strength left to move . Panting heavily, he looked at the face of the Statue of God .As if made worse by his persistent resistance, the anger in the face that looked down upon Jinwoo was greatly magnified .
It stopped before Jinwoo .
Faced with a giant as tall as a building, Jinwoo struggled to breathe .
'Guess I'm a cornered rat…'