The creature’s upper body shimmered like a transparent IV bag, while its lower half appeared as if multiple human legs had been stitched together. Its face looked like it had been carelessly molded from clay, with narrow, cataract-like white eyeballs bulging grotesquely across it. Then, waving its two long pairs of arms, the monster lunged straight for Lee Hyunmook’s torso. But Hyunmook moved even faster.
Snap!
As if he’d anticipated the attack, Hyunmook seized one of its swinging arms and crushed it.
SCREEEEECH!
Shrieking in a high-pitched screech, the monster rapidly scuttled up the wall and clung to the ceiling. It hung there upside down, leaving a trail of sticky footprints, and then split open its upper body. A revolting fluid gushed out, stinking like a cross between disinfectant and poison.
Hyunmook swiftly leapt from the counter to avoid the falling liquid. While Yohan gagged at the stench, Hyunmook crushed two of the monster’s legs in one swift move and grabbed for another with his hand. In seconds, four of its legs were broken, and it could no longer support itself on the ceiling. With a heavy thud, it crashed to the floor. Groaning and flailing in pain, its gaze suddenly snapped to where Yohan had been hiding.
BOOM!
Its body slammed into the wall, reducing half of it to rubble. Yohan thought he was going to die—until he realized that Hyunmook had wrapped himself around him, shielding him from the impact. Bottles shattered, pillboxes burst, and the remnants of medicine scattered across the floor.
“No!”
Yohan screamed, but it was short-lived. Just as Hyunmook had thrown himself around him, the monster rammed into their exact position. The last of the medicine was crushed. With a look of hollow disbelief, Hyunmook grabbed Yohan and hurled him as far from danger as he could, then charged straight at the creature.
Half-conscious, Yohan sat dazed, watching as Hyunmook fought. The monster thrashed wildly, but Hyunmook systematically broke its legs, one after another, tearing them off. Once none of them could move, he turned to its torso and began punching.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Flesh and fluids from the monster’s soft, jelly-like upper half spattered in all directions.
Soon, its body lost all strength. Only after it was completely torn apart did Hyunmook finally step away. And with the danger over, reality slammed into Yohan like a wave.
“Hh-huuh... huuuh...”
He crawled toward the collapsed pharmacy, sniffing. Every container was destroyed—either burst open or smashed—leaving even the intact meds mixed and unidentifiable. The pain in his leg was nearly unbearable. Still crying, he reached out one more time—only to have a strong hand seize his wrist.
“You. Why the hell did you come here?”
Yohan tried to shake him off and resume searching, but froze when he looked up.
It was Hyunmook—the real Hyunmook. Though his eyes were shadowed, the red gleam was gone, and his gaze was cool, calm, intelligent. Seeing him like this, Yohan’s grief broke loose again. Tears welled instantly, blurring his vision as he sobbed out loud.
“Hwaaaah... waaah...”
He didn’t even notice /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Hyunmook’s eyes narrowing as they locked on the blood dripping from Yohan’s hand. The stare he gave the red trail flowing from his torn skin down his wrist was just as intense as when he had ripped the monster’s legs apart.
“Lee Hyunmook... if I... if I die here, huuuh... what do I do...?”
“...I must really be insane. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
Hyunmook sighed. Yohan’s sobbing was so intense it made him incomprehensible. With effort, Hyunmook tore his eyes away from the blood and extended his hand. He gently lifted Yohan’s limp body and immediately felt the unnaturally hot fever pulsing through him. It wasn’t hard to guess why he’d risked coming into such a dangerous area.
Without a word, Hyunmook left the ruined pharmacy. As he walked down the hallway, faint echoes of monsters scuttling away could be heard—beasts too scared to stay near him after witnessing what had just happened. Among the rooms on the second floor, he picked the one that felt least ominous and pushed the door open.
He set the still-sobbing Yohan down on a dusty hospital bed and swept his eyes over him. It didn’t take long to find the problem. With his hypersensitive senses, he easily picked up the rotting stench emanating from Yohan’s lower leg. As Hyunmook reached toward his calf, Yohan flinched but obediently extended his leg. Hyunmook rolled up the loose sweatpants with a strange expression on his face.
“Do... do you have to cut it off?”
Yohan asked in a pitiful whisper, seeing Hyunmook simply stare at the inflamed wound. Hyunmook rolled the pants leg back down.
“If the damage gets any worse, then yes.”
Yohan collapsed sideways onto the dusty bed and burst into loud sobs again, not caring that the sheets were filthy. For the first time, Hyunmook looked a little startled.
“Waaaaah! I’m gonna die! My leg’s gone! I’m gonna be a one-legged wreck!”
“...Why are you crying over a leg that’s still attached?”
Hyunmook pulled Yohan up, though the bed now had a smeared gray stain from Yohan’s tears and grime. He rummaged through the backpack, finding bottled water and a few chocolate bars. Picking one Yohan had clearly been saving, he unwrapped it and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Sniff... hic...”
Tears still streaming, face flushed with fever, Yohan began chewing the bar. After drinking a few sips of water, he finally started to calm down. Hyunmook, frowning in thought, finally remembered his name.
“Yang Yohan.”
With puffy, inflamed eyes, Yohan looked up and finished the last bite of his chocolate bar.
“How long’s it been since we met last?”
“Prolly... hic... four days...”
Hyunmook tilted his head slowly, looking genuinely confused.
“How did I come back to my senses so soon...?”
Yohan also remembered Hyunmook once saying it’d take months, maybe years, to recover his mind. But the thought was fleeting—quickly washed away by a new tide of dread. Yohan’s body trembled, tears brimming again.
“If I die here... hic... what happens to me? Do I get buried... or burned? Or... or do you... eat me, Lee Hyunmook?”
Shivering violently from fever and fear, Yohan looked up at him like a vibrating alert bell. Hyunmook paused, then shook his head slowly.
“...I won’t eat you. I won’t let you die either. Don’t worry.”
“But... hic... the pharmacy’s all crushed...”
“We can check the compounding room or the supply storage.”
Only after hearing that did Yohan’s tears finally stop. He wiped his face on his sleeve, leaving smudges of dust behind, and asked with a faint glimmer of hope,
“Compounding room and... what was the other one?”
“Supply storage. This isn’t just any clinic—it’s a large hospital. Most big facilities have a pharmaceutical department. Basically a storeroom just for medicine. They usually keep at least a week’s worth on hand.”
He didn’t know what half those words meant, but it was clear there was another medicine storage besides the pharmacy. Finishing his chocolate, Yohan swung on his backpack again. His face was still stained with tear-streaked dust. Hyunmook looked at him and, remembering the question from earlier, asked dryly:
“Did I really try to eat you? I thought I hadn’t resorted to cannibalism yet.”
“...I’m not sure. It kinda... kinda felt like you were just trying to nibble, maybe...”
Yohan looked away awkwardly. Hyunmook gave a crooked smile, then glanced once more at the streak of dried blood on Yohan’s arm before turning his gaze elsewhere.
They returned to the shattered in-house pharmacy. Hyunmook gave the monster’s remains a few more careless stomps. Yohan couldn’t tell whether he was acting out of spite or just making sure it was dead.
Then Hyunmook began clearing the collapsed debris. When Yohan tried to help lift a chunk of concrete, he was waved off. It was a small gesture—but one that nearly brought Yohan to tears. Communicating with the “madman version” of Hyunmook had always felt like shouting into a void.
