By Zephyria 
112
Tae-muk gave a short laugh at Ho-eun, who had his mouth firmly shut. As if he could read Ho-eun’s mind.
“Your eyes say you don’t have it.”
Tsk, Tae-muk clicked his tongue and moved a little closer to Ho-eun. Ho-eun almost took a step back without realizing it, but barely managed to stop himself. No matter how shameless he was, surely he wouldn’t make him suck that here, would he? You know, down there.
In truth, Tae-muk didn’t say or do anything special. Instead, he took something out of his pocket and placed it in Ho-eun’s hand. It was heavy and hard—a Pistol. The Pistol his father had given him.
“…….”
Ho-eun looked down at it with dry eyes. He had held a sword and bow for the first time today, so there was hope, but he had already been through many battlefields with a Gun, so there was no hope. None at all.
Ho-eun held out the Pistol, which was his but didn’t feel like it, back to Tae-muk and said,
“I’ve already shot a Gun. But it couldn’t pierce the Helmet Bone of the Devouring Ghoul.”
“I never told you to pierce it there.”
“……Yes?”
Tae-muk came to Ho-eun’s side and stood next to him. Then, he bent down slightly, placing his eyes at the same level as Ho-eun’s, and stared at the Devouring Ghoul.
“Look.”
Ho-eun looked at the Devouring Ghoul, following his gaze. Soon, Tae-muk’s low voice tickled one of his cheeks.
“Those bastards don’t die just because you break their Helmet Bone.”
“Yes?”
“You have to crush what’s inside their heads.”
“Inside?”
“Yeah. But to crush what’s inside, the clearest way is to break that Helmet Bone, so that’s what you attack. But you don’t have the strength to break that bone. So what should you do?”
“Um…….”
“How do you attack what’s inside without breaking the bone?”
“…….”
Ho-eun stared silently at the Devouring Ghoul. The Devouring Ghoul was still alive, opening and closing its mouth like a goldfish. Each time, its red palate was briefly visible.
Suddenly, Ho-eun’s eyes narrowed. Wouldn’t that place be a little vulnerable? After all, it was soft flesh. It seemed like a bullet could pierce it.
……But to do that, the Devouring Ghoul had to open its mouth. He could only attack when it opened its mouth to tear him apart. And maybe the bullet would collide with its teeth and bounce off. It was too dangerous.
Then another place, a place he could attack……
Ho-eun searched the Devouring Ghoul’s flat head, looking for a soft spot. Suddenly, the Devouring Ghoul’s bloodshot eyeballs rolled. Seeing this, Ho-eun gasped.
“The eyes! Can’t I attack the eyes?”
“Yeah. The eyes.”
A smile appeared on Ho-eun’s lips. He was happy to have guessed the answer correctly. But that joy didn’t last long. He looked at Tae-muk with a bewildered expression.
“Are, are you telling me to shoot the eyes? But they’re too small. I won’t be able to hit them.”
“They’re small compared to that thing’s body, but if you pulled them out, they’d be as big as your fist.”
“A fist……?”
“Yeah. You should be able to hit something that size, shouldn’t you?”
“…….”
Ho-eun clenched his hand tightly. It wasn’t that big, but it wasn’t that small either. If he was generous, it was about the size of an apple. At that point, he thought, ‘Maybe I can hit something the size of an apple?’ It was another moment when hope sprouted.
“I’ll, I’ll try.”
Ho-eun aimed the Pistol at the Devouring Ghoul. But before he could even aim properly.
“You have to hold it with both hands.”
Tae-muk said.
“With both hands?”
“If you don’t hold it properly, the muzzle will wobble when you shoot, and you won’t be able to aim properly.”
“Ah, yes.”
Ho-eun immediately took his advice. Tae-muk continued to give advice after that. It was a very different, meticulous teaching than when he used a sword or bow. It was as if he knew what kind of weapon Ho-eun would be handling.
“Grip the handle tightly.”
“Yes.”
“You have to put strength in your arms too. So it doesn’t shake.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Your shoulders are raised. Relax.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Keep putting strength in your arms.”
“Ah…… I’m, I’m sorry.”
“Bring your upper body forward a little. Like you’re pushing.”
“Like this?”
“Now look at the sights and aim.”
“The, the sights?”
“Here, here.”
Tae-muk tapped the pointed protrusion on the top of the Pistol.
“Ah, yes.”
Ho-eun aligned the sights with the Devouring Ghoul’s eyes. Then, he repeated the words Tae-muk had said a moment ago and checked his posture again. After that, with his eyes still on the Devouring Ghoul, he asked Tae-muk,
“Shall I shoot?”
“If you’re ready.”
“…….”
Ho-eun took a deep breath. And with his breath held down, he slowly pulled the trigger. The moment the trigger was fully depressed.
Bang!
With a deafening sound, the bullet was fired. Ho-eun’s upper body shook from the recoil, but it wasn’t enough to make him step back. This was because he was subtly leaning his upper body forward, as Tae-muk had advised.
The fired bullet flew in an instant and struck the Devouring Ghoul’s Helmet Bone with a thud. It was about two spans above its eyes. And as expected, the bullet couldn’t pierce the bone. Just as Ho-eun’s eyebrows were about to droop in disappointment.
“Again.”
Tae-muk ordered.
“Ah, yes!”
Ho-eun aimed the Gun at the Devouring Ghoul again. Slightly lower than before, but not too low, just enough for the sights and the red eyeballs to line up perfectly. And he pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Thud.
The bullet struck the Helmet Bone again. But this time, it struck about a span away from the eyes. The result was still a failure, but he was still happy. Ho-eun’s neck unknowingly stretched out in excitement.
“Again.”
“Yes!”
At Tae-muk’s command, Ho-eun aimed the Gun again. And he pulled the trigger.
Squish!
A different sound echoed. At the same time, thick, red blood spurted out of the Devouring Ghoul’s eyeball. And the Devouring Ghoul’s movements, which had been gaping its grotesque teeth, stopped. Dark red blood poured out of the gaping eyeball, gurgling, gurgling.
“…….”
Instantly, Ho-eun stopped breathing. He stared at the Devouring Ghoul with wide eyes. The Devouring Ghoul was dead. He had killed the Devouring Ghoul. He couldn’t believe it. But it was definitely motionless and didn’t bite. It was truly dead.
“I, I did it. I did it!”
Ho-eun’s heels lifted slightly and then lowered, and then lifted slightly again and lowered. He couldn’t jump up and down, so he was expressing his joy in that way.
“I, I can kill Devouring Ghouls now!”
Ho-eun smiled brightly. But Tae-muk didn’t smile. He asked Ho-eun with a somewhat stiff expression.
“Do you think so?”
“……Yes?”
“You don’t think they’ll always be lying in front of you with their heads cut off, do you?”
“…….”
At those words, Ho-eun stopped breathing. He turned his head back to the Devouring Ghoul. The Devouring Ghoul had died from Ho-eun’s bullet, but when he thought about it, he hadn’t killed it. Tae-muk had killed it all, and he had only cut off its breath.
“You have to hit the eyeball of a moving one. That means you have to hit the eyeball of a guy who’s running at you to eat you.”
“…….”
“You might be running too, or maybe riding a horse.”
“…….”
“Can you kill it even in that situation?”
The situation Tae-muk was talking about was vividly drawn in his mind. Because he had already experienced it several times. He had to shoot a Gun while riding a running horse. It was almost impossible for Ho-eun, who was struggling just to hold onto the reins.
The corners of Ho-eun’s mouth drooped more and more. He thought he was finally going to do something, but it was like this again…… How much training would he have to do to reach that level……
He sighed deeply, and Tae-muk warned him.
“So don’t try to do anything with that skill. Let’s stop here for today.”
And as he turned around, Ho-eun stopped him with words.
“Al, already? Can’t I shoot a little more?”
At that, Tae-muk turned around to look at Ho-eun with a look of annoyance.
“With that hand?”
“Yes?”
Ho-eun looked down at his hand as if wondering what was wrong. But his hand was trembling. It was convulsing so violently that he could hear the bones rattling. He had experienced all kinds of illnesses, but this was the first time his hand had trembled like this.
“Why is this…….”
“It’s because you’re excited.”
“Excited……?”
Ho-eun frowned slightly. Excited. It was an unfamiliar emotion. Until now, Ho-eun’s life had been so quiet that it was almost silent.
“……Is it bad?”
Tae-muk snorted at Ho-eun, who seemed somewhat frightened.
“It depends on what you do and feel.”
“…….”
Ho-eun blinked slowly. He tried to deduce what he had done to get excited, and the answer came quickly.
He killed a Devouring Ghoul with his own hands.
He still had a long way to go, but Ho-eun had just killed a Devouring Ghoul. That elation and excitement were coursing through the blood vessels of his entire body.
Ho-eun looked down at his convulsing hand again.
“…….”
So this is excitement. This is what it’s like to have your heart race, your brain tingle, your muscles stiffen, your spine tingle, and your cheeks flush.
It wasn’t easy to digest a new emotion. Ho-eun, who had been slowly touching his trembling fingertips, nodded.
“Yes. Let’s go back for today.”
As Tae-muk said, it seemed impossible to continue training with this hand. The bullets would probably fly out in all directions.
Even after saying that, Ho-eun couldn’t take his eyes or hands off the Pistol. He kept fiddling with the Gun. He held it with his left hand, then with his right hand, wiped the muzzle with his sleeve, and unnecessarily held it up to the moonlight.
Suddenly, he felt attached to the Gun, like, what should he say, he felt attached to it. It was a similar feeling to what he felt for the horse he always rode.