“W-w-water, you are giving me water...? Thank you....”
Yohan, flustered, turned his head this way and that before awkwardly bringing his mouth closer. Grasping the unidentifiable thing in his hand, he carefully licked it. A trickle of something like spring water flowed down, cooling his lips and the back of his throat.
“Mm, nngh....”
Clinging to it, Yohan drank the water. After quenching the terrible thirst, he felt like he could live a little longer. In this case, perhaps it was better that he could not see anything. After all, a grown ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) adult drinking water in such a manner would surely look shameful.
With his thirst gone, he had the composure to think of other things. He called out the names of his teammates, but no response returned. He sensed no trace of anyone. Growing anxious, Yohan squeezed and fumbled with the thing that was wrapped around him with just the right amount of strength.
“When will I be able to go out? Once it’s safe, you will let me out, right?”
Again, no answer. Yohan guessed at how much ability Lee Hyunmook must have used, and how far his contamination must have risen. Surely, he would have long since become a madman. Just like Yoon Seungryong, who after using his powers excessively at first showed symptoms of mental disorder and soon became a monster resembling a centipede, Hyunmook must also be in a similar state. Still, Yohan forced himself to expect positively that his companions were safe somehow, just like him.
Thud-thud-thump—. Suddenly something rolled into his arms. He flinched, then carefully touched it, even sniffed it. It smelled sweet. Fruits—apples and bananas among them. Famished, Yohan peeled one by touch alone. He ate eagerly, but then, suddenly worried, asked aloud into the air:
“Did you get this from Seungryong-hyung?”
Still silence, no reaction.
“You did bring it, right...? You didn’t forcibly snatch it, right...?”
Yohan decided to believe that the banana peel in his hand was proof that Yoon Seungryong was alive and well....
After eating the fruit, the hunger eased, giving him a bit of strength. He wanted to fall asleep, but in a place he had never experienced before, utterly alone, he could not bring himself to. He resolved to explore a little. But relying only on touch to move around in total darkness was even harder than he imagined.
Dragging his feet, Yohan finally sighed and sat down again. A terrible silence and lonely stillness fell. In some ways, it was even worse than being buried alive in the Black Mountain. If he spent just a few days alone here, he would not be able to maintain his sanity. Even though he told himself that Lee Hyunmook was beside him, he was still afraid.
Sniffling, Yohan slowly lay down. His hand groped along the ground until it brushed against a different texture. Lifting his head, he saw that the tears falling from his face faintly lit the floor.
“This is....”
Beneath the soft, yielding ground was something solid. As he pressed, the soft layer gave way, exposing something smooth and hard beneath. Enchanted, Yohan traced it with his fingers and muttered:
“Eternal Stone...?”
But how could it be this large? Was this really an Eternal Stone? And the long smooth line had a sunken section, as though a chunk had been cleaved off. A sense of déjà vu struck as his fingers followed the hollowed groove, and he froze.
“What was that just now?”
Was it a hallucination? It felt like he was reading someone’s memory, an indescribable sensation. His heart pounded violently. Hesitating, he crawled forward and pushed his trembling finger into that hollow spot....
With a shock like electric current, someone’s memory surged into him....
...
...
I felt a deep despair. This cursed place sickens the body from the moment one breathes. No—it is more than simple illness....
If only I had fallen here alone. As a high-rank Awakener, my sharp senses caught every shred of despair, fear, and anger my teammates tried so hard to conceal. The crushing weight of responsibility pressed upon my shoulders, yet I showed nothing. If I crumbled, the others would never survive here....
...
...
All food was gone. We searched for something edible. No—nothing here can be eaten. Everything is rotted, spoiled. But to survive, one must eat. I was injured while hunting the first monster. I feel my regeneration waning. I do not know if what I feel now is normal or not.
Is it not natural to feel depressed and miserable in such a place?
...
...
We butchered the monster we hunted. The stench was revolting, the taste worse still. We tried roasting it, but it only grew fouler. The others refused to touch it, preferring to starve, but Seungryong devoured it all. He gagged, yet seemed pleased....
...
...
Hoyoung kept running away, avoiding battle. Covering for him was no issue. But Yakrin and Seungryong quarreled more and more often, shouting with broken bodies.
The biggest problem was Chanha. He alone suffered more terribly here. He could not sleep, then began scratching himself yesterday. We barely stopped him from tearing off his own skin. It is bleak and horrific. Yet so far, none have died....
But eventually he ripped, shattered, devoured. They devoured one another. No longer recognizable. Becoming beasts.
...
...
Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram. Bumram.
Are you satisfied now? Perhaps all of us?
Perhaps this is what we wished for.
...
...
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps this place is Hell.
Perhaps we have already all died. Is that good? Should I rejoice? But truly, we are not allowed to die, so we have not....
I tore my poor ones apart and scattered them evenly in all directions.
Do not grow well. Stay nailed in place, rotting as slowly as possible.
Endless pain and despair alone kept us alive....
Forever, forever, never wholly rotting away, endlessly....
Today I buried the last scrap of flesh deep, unable to rest, endlessly.
My reason shattered, yet I could not surrender, and so could not wholly flee into madness.
Endless wandering. Bitter solitude.
Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness! Loneliness!
The air filled with rot and malice.
Limitless grief and despair supplied without end.... The floor beneath the floor....
But, Yohan.
You need not know all of this.
...
“Hhk—” Yohan gasped for breath. Only fragments of the other’s memory had been conveyed, yet he was so overwhelmed by those emotions that his face was drenched in tears. His pale, bloodless face twisted, sobbing raggedly.
He had guessed, but had not known it was this horrific....
The agony and despair, drawn out unbearably long, far beyond three years—sharing even a fraction of it made him convulse. He could not endure the pity and grief. Breaking into tears, he collapsed, clutching the Eternal Stone. Milky tears dripped, soaking the space filled only with emptiness and darkness.
Enough now.
Something strong, gentle, and kind embraced him. The cheek that wept in a daze was licked, then sucked. Yohan sobbed, hugging what felt like part of a beloved lover. Sweat and tears were sucked away by the unseen presence, as he pitied and sympathized.
Perhaps mindful of his exhaustion, something moist again touched his lips, just like before. He opened his mouth to receive water—but what caressed his lips was not tongue or hand. Then it probed inside. Shocked, Yohan widened his eyes, his sobbing cut off.
What clutched his body, what gently licked at his parted lips—none of it lacked tenderness. Frozen in place, Yohan gathered a bit of courage and sucked softly at what brushed only his lips.
“Mm....”
At his action, the damp end slid a little deeper. Slowly filling his mouth, it swept carefully over the salty space inside. Like a kiss, it sucked and caressed his tongue. Yohan’s nerves sharpened toward that sensation.
“Mm, ngh, ...hhuuh....”
It was fortunate the darkness hid everything. If he had seen with his own eyes the shape of what touched him, he might have screamed and fled. But in this near-blindness, Yohan could only entrust himself to it. Only after entering Hyunmook’s deepest, darkest depths did Yohan realize that everything touching him was made of affection....
More tendrils brushed Yohan’s body. They traced his flushed ears, swept teasingly down his nape where goosebumps rose. Before long, Yohan half-forgot the grief he had felt earlier, lost instead in this strange, frightening, yet enthralling act.
