Chapter 11 (2/2)
Out of the blue, noises containing both loud shouts and hurried footsteps could be heard from the distance. Kahng Seok blinked his eyes a couple of times, before shooting right back up. Excluding the sleeping Seol, everyone present scanned the barriers.
”Which one? Which one is it?” (Kahng Seok)
Jeong Min-Woo pointed towards the middle barrier on the opposite side. Since Seol had ”taken” over the left barrier there, that particular one had no owner as of yet. Kahng Seok seemed to be incredibly disappointed by this development as he looked at Hyun Sahng-Min.
”It's still not too late, though.” (Kahng Seok)
”….I told you, I'm fine.” (Hyun Sahng-Min)
Kahng Seok spat out Uh-whew, and stood there with his hands across his chest. His att.i.tude was of a man who had just found something interesting to spectate on.
The noise got closer very soon.
There were three people running up as if they were being chased by something - a middle-aged pair of a man and a woman, and a young girl. The middle aged man wearing a worn out business suit and a pair of gla.s.ses were leading the woman holding the young girl's hand. His necktie danced uncontrollably as he ran up in a huff. It was none other than the man who asked for Kahng Seok's help earlier on.
”Just a little bit further! Just a bit…. Huh?!”
He rounded the corner in a hurry, but as soon as he saw the metal spikes on top of the stairs, his steps came to an abrupt halt. He must've not considered the possibility of the path being blocked, and thus despair began to dye his expression pale.
Soon, though, he discovered Kahng Seok past the spike barrier. The two females following him ran into the middle-aged man's back and awkwardly bounced back. And finally, the sharp and familiar-looking hooks pounced on them. All these happened at roughly the same breath.
”Help us!!”
The bespectacled man ran up to the barrier without hesitation and shouted out.
”Let us in!!”
[A new user has been registered.]
With a loud clang!, the metal barrier slid open. The wide open entrance caused the expression of stupor to appear on the man's face. And when he turned around to look behind him while still carrying that expression…..
”Help us!!”
….He couldn't help but flinch. Both his wife and daughter were already in the grips of the chasing monster.
”Help us!!! Help!! Dear!!”
”Dad!! Save us!! Daaaad!!”
They pleaded, yet the man's steps were halting and retreating. And when he met the gaze of the monster and its large, bloodshot eye…
”De, dear…… My, my child….”
He couldn't move. He was completely frozen up.
*SFX for wet, sticky footsteps*
Step by step, the sticky footsteps got nearer. The middle-aged man's expression descended into an unsightly mess of tears, snot and uncertainty, and he cast his glance over to Kahng Seok's direction, asking for help again. However, the young man bluntly spat out.
”Quickly make up your mind, will you?” (Kahng Seok)
”Uh….. Uh…..?”
”I'm saying, make up your mind to enter or not, right now. You planning to kill us all, too?” (Kahng Seok)
Was it because of Kahng Seok's shouting, or the threatening atmosphere emanating from his back? The middle-aged man finally made his decision and moved.
Slam!
”D, dad?!”
”Dear!! No! Don't leave us!!”
The middle-aged man chose to enter the waiting area.
”Daaaaad!!”
”Don't abandon us!!! Dear!!”
A pair of jet-black hands grabbed the legs of the screaming mother and daughter. The man squeezed his eyes shut after seeing his family being lifted up into the air, hanging upside down.
Rip!
The sickening noise akin to a sheet of silk being ripped up in one go pierced his ears. The terrified, pained screams rang out loudly from the stairwell. The man collapsed on the floor and hurriedly covered his ears. He violently shook around on the dusty and unclean floor.
He never lifted his head up again.
Not until all the screams finally died down.
It was only obvious that Seol would wake up from his light sleep due to all the unfolding chaos. By the time he had fully regained his consciousness, the screams couldn't be heard anymore.
He hastily got up and took a look past the metal barrier, only to see the corpses of the mother and the daughter - both ripped in half.
What shocked Seol the most, though, was their expressions. Their expressions that hadn't eased even after they died. Their expressions, twisted and corrupted by the combination of pain and terror, despair and fury. It was plain to see their ardent desire to live, right up until their last breaths.
”I, I, I…. I don't, I don't know…. I, I didn't do that, I'm not responsible….”
The middle-aged man remained on the floor, huddled and not moving, except that his entire body trembled and shook all the time.
”There…. there was no helping it….. There was…. nothing I could do….”
No one said anything, yet he continuously spat out incoherent babble while sobbing pathetically on the floor.
”Kek.” (Kahng Seok)
Out of the blue, a short burst of laughter leaked out from someone's lips. The middle-aged man's trembling came to a sudden halt, hearing that. Meanwhile, Kahng Seok hurriedly covered his mouth up.
”Kek, keh, ahahahahaha!!!” (Kahng Seok)
Even though he looked like he was trying to keep it in, in the end, he lowered his head and his shoulders shook from the unrestrained laughter. The middle-aged man's hands clenched tightly into fists, nails digging in under the skin.
The wise old they once said that, even if you were not planning to give something to a beggar, you shouldn't at least kick his begging bowl. Recalling that old saying, a deep frown formed on Seol's face.
'He could actually laugh in a situation like this?' (Seol)
It was then, they could all hear another metallic clang. Yun Seo-Rah walked in from the last remaining door that had no a.s.signed ”owner.”
As if she too had searched through the school premise, she was holding a handful of A4 papers. Just like back when she was in the a.s.sembly hall, she swept her gaze around the waiting area once, found a quiet spot for herself and settled down there, before concentrating on the paper.
And with this, the confirmed number of survivors was seven. It was not even half of the starting 36.
Within the quiet silence, time continued to flow. Every now and then, they could hear some kind of chaos unfolding downstairs, but those died down eventually.
Seol thought that, at least as far he could tell, there shouldn't be any more survivors left. However, his thought was proven wrong when only around 30 minutes remained on the time limit.
”We are almost there, everyone. We'll soon arrive there, so go up as quietly as possible.”
Contrary to his expectations, more survivors showed up. And it wasn't just one or two, either - a group of five, as a matter of fact. Among them, Seol knew two.
One was s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah, the woman who raised her voice at Kahng Seok back in the a.s.sembly hall, and other one was Yi Sung-Jin, the younger brother of Yi Surl-Ah. Regardless of what they did, there they were, successfully arriving at their destination.
It was truly unfortunate then, that they chose to utilise the path occupied by Kahng Seok and his cronies.
”Oh, my gosh. Look who it is!” (Kahng Seok)
Kahng Seok blinked his eyes and threatrically exclaimed out in surprise.
”So, you managed to make it alive! A cry baby has done it!” (Kahng Seok)
”Eh? Eh?” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah had been climbing the steps cautiously, but finding the barrier, she fell into a state of confusion. Seeing the people beyond the metal spikes, she blankly muttered out an question.
”What… what is going on? Why is the path blocked?” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
”Oh, that?” (Kahng Seok)
Kahng Seok smirked like a snake. It was as if the moment he'd been waiting for all his life had finally arrived. Seeing that oily smile, s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah couldn't help but frown deeply.
”What now?!” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
”What do you mean, what? I'm the owner of this barrier.” (Kahng Seok)
”The owner…. of this barrier?” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
Kahng Seok burst out in laughter and began to gleefully explain things. It was as if he had transformed into a well-paid private tutor - he explained everything one by one, bit by bit, and in full gory detail.
Of course, his audience wouldn't be able to concentrate on this useless yammering. s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah became even more anxious as she kept on looking back behind her. The tone of her voice became ever so urgent as well.
”I get it now, so you can open this barrier, right?” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
”Oho, aren't you a smart cookie, unlike how you look? Was my explanation that good?” (Kahng Seok)
”I get it, so open up already!” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
”Hiyaa~ Really now, how did you manage to show up here? I mean, for a Contracted, you even managed to evade the monster?” (Kahng Seok)
Kahng Seok showed no indication that he heard her plea and seemed to be genuinely enjoying this situation.
”I, I don't know. We nearly got discovered, but this boy used something he got from the Random Box. We all escaped somehow during the confusion, okay?” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah pointed at Yi Sung-Jin. The boy's complexion was still dark and aimless. It seemed that the death of his older sister had hit him real hard.
”Oh, of course. Yeah, sure. He's an Invited too, wasn't he? So, at a minimum, it wasn't all down to luck, was it.” (Kahng Seok)
”Okay, now. Open the barrier so that we can enter.” (s.h.i.+n Sahng-Ah)
”Hmm….”
Kahng Seok slowly opened his mouth.
”But, I don't want to?” (Kahng Seok)
A truly disgusting smile crept up on his face.
< 11.=”” the=”” large=”” group=”” of=”” humans=”” (2)=””> Fin.