Ire looked around the empty barracks. It was Saturday, so all his comrades had gone out on leave, but Ire couldn’t. He was under orders not to leave the base until his confinement was over. Thanks to that, all of Matteo’s get-well plans had fallen through.
With no other choice, he ate a simple dinner and then went outside to wander around the annex. He went into the gym and worked out until he was sweating, which made him feel refreshed. He took a shower in the shower room, and then returned to his room and flopped down on the bed.
When there was training, time flew by, but when he didn’t do anything, it was incredibly boring. He tossed and turned like that for a while before jumping up and sitting up. After pondering for a long time, he opened the closet.
He took out the least conspicuous of the clothes that Kim Ha-yoon had bought him and left the annex. He ran into some of the remaining Instructors on the way out, but they didn’t seem to suspect anything in particular.
As soon as he got outside, the cold wind cooled his head and cleared his mind. He pretended to take a walk, deliberately avoiding people’s eyes, and went around the building to the back. All sides were blocked by walls.
The walls were too high for ordinary people to climb, and there were surveillance cameras everywhere. Seo Young-jun had told him before that a strong current ran along the top of the walls, so if you climbed over them wrong, you could end up like a roasted chicken.
Ire looked around for a gap, but realized that there was no way out and made a disappointed expression.
“Damn it…”
As he was wandering around the area, a strong light poured down. He shielded his eyes with his hand, and at the same time, someone walked towards him with heavy steps.
“Who’s there?”
As soon as he gave a respectful salute, he heard laughter. Before he could think about why he was laughing, the bright light disappeared and a familiar face appeared before him. As soon as Ire saw that face, he felt a slight relief. It was Kim Do-cheol, whom he had seen a few times when he was with Kim Ha-yoon.
“Well, well, if it isn’t our precious trainee. What brings you here at this hour?”
He narrowed the distance with a mischievous tone. A strong smell of alcohol wafted over. He had heard that drinking was prohibited on the base. Judging by the lack of focus in his eyes, he must have drunk quite a bit.
“I came out for a breath of fresh air.”
“Ah, you’re under confinement, right?”
“Yes…”
“I thought you were going to climb over the wall or something.”
“Is there even a place to climb over?”
Ire subtly probed, and Kim Do-cheol rolled his eyes upwards and gave a strange smile. Just as he was about to change the subject in case he realized his intentions, he pointed somewhere with his hand.
“See over there? If you go around to the back, there’s an emergency exit you can use.”
He staggered a few times as he spoke, unable to keep his balance. Then he took a key out of his pocket and threw it. As soon as he caught it, he pressed his index finger to his lips.
“Shhh—this is a secret between us.”
Ire stared down at the key.
“Why are you giving me this if I might run away?”
Kim Do-cheol chuckled. Then he waved his hand and walked away. You can’t run away. You’ve been marked by that bastard. Poor you. To get caught by him of all people. You don’t know how cruel he is. He was muttering, but Ire couldn’t understand what he was saying at all.
After Kim Do-cheol had completely disappeared from sight, Ire, after much deliberation, moved to the place he had mentioned. It was a place a little far from the base, so he didn’t usually use it. After passing through the dense trees, an old iron gate appeared.
He put the key he had received from Kim Do-cheol in and pushed the door open as carefully as possible, and he heard the sound of metal rubbing against metal. With a nervous heart, he opened the door and went inside. His eyes soon adjusted in the darkness, and he could make out objects.
Everywhere was covered in moss, and there were stairs leading down. As he went down the stairs, he saw traces of fingernail scratches and bloodstains on the walls. What is this…? The back of his neck prickled. He stopped and started again, but then he came to another long tunnel.
“……”
No matter how far he went, the exit didn’t appear. Had he been tricked? He was usually one to make mischievous jokes, so was he trying to make fun of him? He regretted it belatedly and wondered if he should turn back. Then, thinking that he had nothing to lose, he started to move forward again.
As he passed through the tunnel, another door appeared. The large iron door could be opened easily enough by pushing it to the side. When he opened it, a space appeared with a heavy sound. The lights turned on automatically the moment he stepped inside.
Ire, who had been looking at the ceiling, lowered his gaze and stopped. It looked like a laboratory, and eyeballs and organs that appeared to have been removed were on display inside the glass cases. The experimental tools everywhere were covered in dust, so it was presumed that they had been used a long time ago.
Then he found a liquor bottle rolling around nearby and realized where Kim Do-cheol had been drinking himself into a stupor. It wasn’t just a day or two, as the bottles were piled up on one side like a mountain. He picked one up and checked the alcohol content, and it was almost like pouring in pure alcohol, not liquor.
He slowly looked around the inside, but he couldn’t see any exits that would lead him outside.
“Damn it…”
He sighed and plopped down on a chair. A sour and musty smell stung his nose. Annoyed, he rubbed his face roughly. There was no way they would have made the exit so easy to find in the first place. He frowned and got up from his seat, grabbed a lantern that was stuck in the corner of the lab, and went back the way he had come.
How much time had passed? He could faintly hear the sound of water flowing from the lower part of the tunnel. He lay down on the floor and listened, barely managing to find the entrance to the sewer. However, the square lump of iron didn’t budge, and after pondering, Ire returned to the laboratory.
He brought something that could be used as a lever and inserted it between the lumps of iron. When he applied force, it barely lifted. After fully opening it, he looked inside. He could hear the sound of water relatively clearly, and foul odors rose up. He thought he could get out if he followed the water.
After much deliberation, he climbed down the ladder for a long time. When he arrived and shone the lantern, the rats and insects that were attached to all sides scattered in unison. It was a decent city, but he was secretly glad that there were rats and insects here too.
When he put his feet in the flowing water, a foul stench wafted up. As he walked forward, he felt a presence. He thought it was just a rat at best, and shone the light. Something much bigger than a rat was lying flat on the floor.
Was it a beast? Or a person? It didn’t move even when the light touched it.
“Hey.”
Grrr—a bizarre sound echoed low in the sewer, and the thing in front of him slowly turned its head. In that instant, he realized that something was wrong. Its snout was covered in blood, and a rat’s tail was half sticking out of its mouth.
Grrr…
He slowly took a step back. He lowered the light a little so as not to provoke it. All he could hear in his ears was the strange sound that resonated in his throat, the sound of water, and his own breathing. As he slowly retreated like that, the thing completely raised its body.
Was this what they meant when they said you felt like you were going to pee your pants? He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He didn’t know when it was lying down, but now that he saw it, it was quite big. About the size of a sturdy man? No, it wasn’t even a size that could be compared to a person in the first place.
What was that? It looked like a dog on the outside, but it was a beast he had never seen in his life. He didn’t have any weapons, and all he had in his hand was a lantern. He was confident that he could fight, but he wasn’t stupid enough to fight that thing alone.
Kaaack—the thing lunged at him with its mouth wide open, and Ire turned around and started running in the opposite direction. Splish, splash, the water deepened and his calves got wet, and his shoes became heavier and heavier. No matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t see an escape route, and the tunnel continued to split and connect endlessly.
In the midst of all this, surprisingly, a bright light poured out from the front. He stopped walking. At first, he thought it was a soldier coming to catch him, but it wasn’t. Get down! As soon as he ducked at the shout, he heard a sharp screech from behind, along with a whooshing sound.
Panting, he turned around and saw the thing that had been chasing him plunged upside down into the water and struggling. Thud, thud, a man with a gun approached right in front of him, and he fired several shots at the beast. Only after confirming that it had completely stopped breathing did the gun barrel point at Ire.
The eyes of the man, whose face was covered with a black mask, were shining brightly.
“Who are you?”
Ire raised his hands to shoulder height and kept his mouth shut. What should he say? No, who was this person? Why was he here? Was he a soldier? He had a gun, but he didn’t look like a soldier. The gun the man was holding was old-fashioned and so old that it was amazing that it worked.
“Answer me! I’m asking what your identity is!”
Then he heard a voice from behind.
“Damn it! This way is a dead end! Huh? Who’s that?”
As he was about to turn around, the gun barrel pressed against his left chest.
“I told you not to move, you bastard!”