Chapter 8 (1/2)

Episode 8

*Dun Dun Dun Dun!*

*Yaaaaaaaaahhh!*

*Insert Horn Noise Here*

“Aghhhh! Why! Why! Why! Fucking hell!”

Se-young got up in a fit of rage, kicking at the air above his bed with bloodshot eyes.

In short, people are anxious when seeing things for the first time. Eventually, after encountering the same scenario over and over again, the feeling of unfamiliarity fades and disappears entirely. Similarly, fear and worry typically stem from the unknown, inexplicable, or unsolvable.

Se-young overcame these two emotions in a single week. At night, he set an alarm that coincided with the mysterious sound. During the day, he stared at the unmoving sword and wondered Where? and Who?

Was it scary?

The pounding of drums echoing through his brain, the roar of battle cries, the sound of horn blasts. What about the fire, which haunted his roof like a ghost?

The answer to that is: Prolonged exposure erodes fear.

Is it possible to surprise someone in the same place, at the same time, every single day?

Can it even be considered threatening anymore?

Thus, the only thing left for Se-young to feel was a tightly wound ball of irritation and annoyance. And that ball was getting squeezed more and more by the day.

That’s why.

Se-young’s patience and reason finally snapped.

——

*Clang!*

*Huff!*

Se-young kicked open the front door with slippered feet and marched towards the sword in the middle of the roof. His face was distorted with anger and annoyance, the dark bags that encompassed his eyes seemed to reach all the way down to his chin, and his reddened eyes were ready to drip blood at any moment. He hadn’t slept properly in over a week.

Though the fluttering fire which spread across the rooftop was at knee-height, Se-young walked through the flames without hesitation. Even in the dead of night, the bothersome sounds persisted.

“Shut up! Shut up!”

Se-young kicked at the two-handed sword, without observing any noticeable back and forth motion.

*Ting!*

“Well?”

The recoil from the blow caused Se-young to lose his balance and tear his pants as he staggered back.

“Hah? Ugh!”

Se-young stood up out of the flames with a crumpled expression. He felt like he was hitting a wall. After failing his initial goal, Se-young went back into the house and began to rummage through his boxes. When he returned to the roof, he was carrying a small camping hammer.

“Ahhhhhh!”

Se-young lost his temper and screamed at the top of his lungs into the quiet night, swinging his hammer at the handle of the sword from the right. At that moment, a quiet “tick,” much like the sound of a toothpick breaking, rang out peacefully, and the head of the hammer snapped off.

There was no resistance, only the feeling of recoil. A tendon in Se-young’s forehead tensed as he squinted incredulously at the hammer, whose head had been blown clean off, leaving only the handle.

“…This motherfucker?”

Se-young opened his eyes, slapped both sides of his face, and went back into the rooftop room. This time, he returned with a shiny black baseball bat.

*Thwack. Thwack.*

Se-young grinned as he slapped the bat against the palm of his hand.

Let’s see if you can endure this.

It had been left in the corner for several years, but the bat was an expensive one that Se-young obtained after bargaining extensively with his father and mother. The bat was made of aluminum, but the surface was coated with a titanium plating.