By Zephyria 
“Hup…!”
It was thanks to a survival instinct honed over a short period of time that he managed to swallow his scream. He had bitten his lip so hard that the taste of blood spread through his mouth.
「…….」
Terror surged, telling him he would be devoured at any moment, but the Aberration merely looked down at him in silence. Summoning his courage, he tried to scoot his hips back a little. The part that seemed to be the Aberration’s face followed his movement.
As he grew accustomed to the darkness, the Aberration’s form gradually came into view. It was the shape of a man standing in a straitjacket, like something seen in a drama. Not only were his movements sealed so that he couldn’t budge an inch, but a large blindfold covered his eyes and a gag was stuffed in his mouth. Countless Talismans were plastered all over the straitjacket, which was wound tight with iron chains.
From the dimly revealed outline of the face, he could only guess that it was a man. Though he didn’t know if gender even existed for monsters.
And beneath the Aberration…….
Glancing down, Yoo Jiha swallowed hard and recoiled. On the floor, a blood-red circle was spread out, featuring a wide, grinning mouth that looked as if it were about to tear open. It looked as though the mouth were trying to swallow the Aberration standing right in its center.
While black flames boiled silently within the giant mouth, the iron chains rose up from those very flames. As Yoo Jiha absentmindedly traced the chains upward, he realized there was an error in the scene he had just witnessed.
The chains weren’t wrapping around the Aberration’s body; they were piercing through it. It was as if the giant mouth were holding the Aberration captive to torture him.
[StainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainMel…….]
The moment he realized this, letters rapidly floated up.
Even after reading the letters, he had no idea what kind of monster it was or how he could escape.
「…….」
The Aberration continued to just watch him without any reaction. He couldn’t just stay slumped on the floor facing a monster. He didn’t want to die in a place like this.
Mustering his courage, Yoo Jiha kept an eye on the Aberration and slowly crawled toward the door. It was then.
「……!」
The iron chains thrashed violently. As the chains piercing his body tightened and surged fiercely, the Aberration’s neck snapped back sharply. The straitjacket convulsed as if shaking. It was a look of such agony that he would have let out a scream if not for the gag.
Simultaneously, the black flames flickering in the mouth soared upward. The black flames flickered like tongues, swallowing the Aberration while sweeping across the surroundings. If he were caught in that, he would be dragged into the mouth and devoured.
He tried to flee in a panic, but his sprained ankle happened to slip on the floor. Seeing the flames flying toward him, Yoo Jiha reflexively shut his eyes tight.
A few seconds passed, feeling like an eternity. However, he was still in the darkness, and he hadn’t been dragged into the monster’s maw. When he cautiously opened his eyes, he saw the iron chains pulled taut right in front of his nose. A backward-curled tongue was struggling, and sparks crackled and flew in all directions. Despite there being no wind, the Talismans attached to the Aberration’s body fluttered violently, and the chains creaked incessantly.
Yoo Jiha squeezed his palms, which were drenched in cold sweat. Was it an illusion, or did it feel as if that Aberration was trying to save him from the flames?
And.
[StainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainAndMeltStainMel…….]
A new word formed amidst the flowing letters.
[Jeil Heon]
“…Je, il Heon?”
He had merely read the unfamiliar words absentmindedly, but an unusual change occurred. The raging fire soared high toward the ceiling. For some reason, it didn’t feel like the monstrous momentum of a creature, but rather like a final, desperate struggle.
[Jeil Heon]
The word, which had been so faint it seemed it might vanish at any moment, grew bold.
This was it. He didn’t know exactly what the situation was, but he instinctively felt that reading this word would be a critical blow. Steadying his trembling voice, he opened his lips.
“Jeil Heon!”
The thick iron chains vibrated with a low hum. The Talismans tore apart. Yoo Jiha squeezed out the last of his courage and shouted loudly.
“Jeil Heon!”
The moment the syllables were completed, the flames that had risen as if to fill the hospital room exploded. The fragments of the black-burning fire became sparks. Since the flames themselves behaved like a separate living entity, the sparks scattering in all directions were likely equivalent to pieces of torn flesh flying.
Thinking of it that way made for a very grotesque impression, but Yoo Jiha gazed at the scene with an almost captivated look. It was likely because he sensed something that would be beyond the fluttering sparks.
Finally, the last fragment descended silently. The man who had been crouching beyond the darkness slowly raised his face.
Yoo Jiha quietly interlaced his fingers. The trembling of his fingertips, which had been twitching thinly, subsided slightly. The darkness was still deep and his features were not clear, but the blurred silhouette let him know that this man was the same person as the restrained Aberration.
Mr. Aberration? Mr. Monster? Just as Yoo Jiha was intensely debating how to address the man and let out a frail voice saying, “T-Teacher…?”, the call seemed to act as a fuse. The man suddenly covered his face with both hands and screamed.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
It was a wretched howl, as if a long-crushed agony was being released all at once. In the painful scream that seemed to tear through and shake the darkness, there was a sorrow that solemnly subdued even an unrelated observer.
Yoo Jiha’s heart, which had been pounding with a strange tension, soon began to thud with horror.
‘H-He looks like he just plucked out his own eyeball?!’
As expected, this guy was a monster too. The sorrow vanished like an ebbing tide, and only fear filled the void.
He scrambled backward desperately. Soon, his back hit the door with a thud. Outside the door, a monster was waiting to suck his blood, and inside the room, there was a monster that plucked out its own eyes. Which monster would kill him less painfully? Yoo Jiha wanted to cry.
“Haa….”
The Aberration let out a long sigh that sounded as if dry dust were piling up. As he stood up, it wasn’t a straitjacket, but an ordinary field jacket that swayed once. The Aberration’s left eye, staring directly at him, glowed in the darkness. Like a vicious beast with a reflective plate.
The man’s lips parted slightly.
“You look delicious. How old are you?”
“Hieek!”
It would have been less scary if a tongue like the black flames from before had flickered out. Trembling violently, Yoo Jiha desperately argued the worthlessness of his meat.
“I-I eat tteokbokki and late-night snacks every day and don’t exercise properly, so I’m n-not tasty! Since I’m over 20, aging has started, so my meat is really tough! I had a summer cold recently, so there are still viruses left. You know the summer cold that even dogs don’t get, right? A-And also….”
After desperately appealing while casting aside his dignity as a human, he cautiously looked up when no reaction came back. A stifled laugh could be heard from beyond the darkness.
“It’s a joke, a joke. You looked so terrified that I wanted to help you relax.”
As if one could possibly relax at such a joke.
“Why eat human meat? It doesn’t even taste good.”
It sounded as if he would eat it if human meat actually tasted good.
“Do I look like a monster that would eat human meat?”
He did.
But what could he do? A prey before a predator could only shiver while pretending to laugh at the joke.
The man, who lightly stretched his body a few times, asked again.
“What year is it now?”
It was a gentle and soft tone, completely unbecoming of someone who had just plucked out his own eye. There was even a hint of an old Seoul dialect in his accent.
“I’m asking what year it is this year in the Gregorian calendar.”
He was even kind, as if he had never raised his voice or hurled an insult in his entire life. If he didn’t answer, he might be eaten. Yoo Jiha barely managed to respond.
“2, 202☓…”
“Ah.”
The man let out a low exclamation, and there was a sound of him rubbing his face. Jiha flinched, wondering if he was going to pluck out another eye, but he had merely stroked his chin. He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but a heavy sigh tinged with melancholy seemed to flow.
The man’s gaze silently traced Yoo Jiha. It was a gaze from which not a shred of malice could be felt. It felt as if a look as warm as his voice was softly enveloping him, or perhaps studying him with curiosity, and the chest that had shriveled in fear gradually relaxed. However, it was also true that the single eye glowing brilliantly in the darkness was terrifying. After all, wasn’t he a monster?
After staring for a long time, the man took a step toward him.