—————————————
[Preparing for vacation]
The girl was always hungry.
“I’m hungry….”
The earliest memory a girl can recall.
Those were the days when I was clutching my hungry stomach and tossing and turning because I couldn’t sleep because of hunger.
And every time that happened, there was a hand caressing the girl’s dull hair.
“baby. “I’m sorry, mom…”
As the mom’s hands caressed the girl’s head and cheeks for a while, the warmth quenched her hunger a little.
“Mom…”
Her mother’s crying voice came into the ears of a girl who was slowly falling asleep from exhaustion.
“sorry. “Because my mother is not good enough…”
The girl snuggled into her mother’s arms. Mother and daughter endured the hungry days by hugging each other.
*
The second memory the girl could recall was the day she broke up with her mother.
The mother combed the girl’s hair early in the morning and dressed her in the neatest clothes among her tattered clothes. The girl was very happy that day because she ate bread for breakfast.
When a strange man came to the house in the afternoon, the mother knelt in front of the girl and made eye contact.
“baby. “From now on, listen carefully to your mother.”
The mother said that the girl would go to a rich family as a maid.
The girl didn’t know what a maid was, but she felt good because she was full, so she smiled and nodded.
“huh!”
“If you go there, you won’t be hungry. If you listen carefully to what the owner says, he will feed you to your heart’s content. So you have to listen carefully? Understand?”
The mother hugged the girl tightly. Until the girl whined that she was in pain.
“I’ll be sure to go find my mom later.”
“yes!”
The mother took the girl to a man who was waiting with a bored expression.
“let’s go.”
The man with a grumpy expression put the girl in the carriage. Inside the carriage were several boys and girls of similar age to the girl.
Dirty straw and leaves were spread on the floor of the wagon, and boys and girls in shabby clothes were crouching on it.
“…….”
The girl became intimidated by the gloomy atmosphere and went to a corner and sat down.
I put my knees together, took out the bread my mother gave me from my pocket, melted it little by little, and ate it.
“What is your name?”
The girl was startled by the sudden voice and hid the bread. When I looked to the side, a girl of similar age was looking at me.
She was a girl with pretty blue eyes. The blue-eyed girl spoke again.
“I won’t take it away. What is your name?”
The girl said with a timid look on her face.
“…Lily.”
The blue-eyed girl said, coming up next to Lily.
“I’m Wendy. “It’s because I’m cold… Can I stay next to you?”
“…yes.”
That day, Lily made a friend her age for the first time. It was awkward at first, but soon we chatted like a parrot.
Wendy was one year older than Lily. However, he was much more mature than his age and listened well to stories.
When that night came, Lily dozed off on Wendy’s shoulder and said,
“Mom… when will you come?”
Wendy brought her knees together and buried her face. Wendy was very cold.
“I’m not coming. “I’ll never see my mom again.”
Lily said, pouting.
“lie. “Mom said she came to pick me up.”
“…….”
Wendy closed her eyes instead of answering. After a while, the two girls fell asleep, leaning against each other.
*
By the time Lily had given up counting the days on her fingers, the carriage had arrived at its destination.
A man with a grumpy expression opened the carriage door and said.
“Get down.”
It was not a rich man’s mansion.
A huge cave tens of meters high to the ceiling. The boys and girls got off the carriage and looked around with scared faces.
“Where am I…”
“I said I was going to the city…”
“I’m so scared.”
At that time, one of the men waiting in the cave stepped forward. He was wearing a hideous-looking goblin mask.
“Kids. “Stop whining and follow me.”
“Where am I?”
Among the children who got off the carriage, the biggest boy argued and listened.
The boy was named Zenon and served as the captain of the carriage. Zenon opened his eyes quite defiantly and said.
“We decided to go to the city! But why…”
Goblin Mask grinned. He took the whip from his belt.
“Anyway, there is always one. “Things I don’t even know the subject of.”
Sigh!
The whip tore through the boy’s face and he fell screaming on the floor.
“Ugh!”
A desperate scream echoed through the cave. The boys and girls became as hard as stones.
“Hi!”
Wendy held Lily’s hand tightly as she hiccupped. Goblin Mask glanced at the two girls and then spoke again to the children.
“Do you have any more questions?”
““…….””
“Then shut up and follow me.”
The children were locked up in a large prison. There were children who came to the prison earlier, but no one showed any interest in the new children.
Coo-ung!
A goblin masked man spoke from behind the tightly closed iron bars.
His lips revealed beneath the mask were smiling.
“Welcome to hell.”
*
One by one, the children who came with us disappeared.
*
“…….”
Lily was lying on a flat stone. It was an operating table.
The girl was lying naked on top of him, looking up at the ceiling with a dazed mind.
The voices of many people could be heard infrequently in my ears.
“Is this child already having his…th surgery?”
“That’s right. Essence of Hwaryeong…piece of Blood Balrog. “All were transplanted successfully.”
“The anesthesia wasn’t completely effective.”
“After undergoing surgery multiple times, I developed resistance…”
“I guess it doesn’t matter. “What is the body’s rejection reaction?”
“As of now, none. But…”
Lily would rather sleep. But the voice continued to be heard.
The oldest voice spoke in an excited tone.
“…the possibility is high. “Let’s get started.”
A black magic circle was drawn over Lily’s body.
Bizarre spells and magic reagents sprayed all over the body. And a sharp blade penetrated into the body.
“…….”
Lily didn’t feel any pain. While she looked up at the ceiling in a daze, everything happened regardless of the girl’s will.
How many hours or days have passed like that?
Voices full of joy were heard at the same time.
“It’s a success! …Baptism has settled into my body!”
“Finally, our long-held wish….”
“Are there any side effects?”
The oldest voice said.
“We don’t know yet. Even if it exists, it doesn’t matter.”
A very cold hand caressed the brand of an entity beneath Lily’s navel.
“This guy will become a monster that devours everything.”
From that day on, Lily got hungrier much more quickly.
*
Lily clutched her stomach, crouched down, and shed tears due to the extreme hunger that came all the time.
“I’m hungry…”
It was pain rather than hunger. Although the young girl could not yet clearly distinguish between the two.
It was thanks to Wendy that I was able to endure that hunger.
“eat this.”
At each meal, Wendy divided her portion of bread in half and gave it to Lily.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“But…”
When Lily hesitated, looking at her, Wendy pretended to throw the cut bread on the floor.
“If you don’t eat it, I’ll throw it away.”
“Then I want to eat it!”
Lily devoured the bread Wendy gave her. Wendy hugged Lily tightly.
*
As time passed, Lily became more and more obsessed with food.
It wasn’t something I could tolerate.
Something inside my body kept asking for food.
“I’m sorry I’m hungry…”
Every time she said those words, Wendy smiled and handed out bread.
“I’m not really hungry.”
*
*
“I am the only surviving children.”
At the words of the man wearing the goblin mask, the man wearing the orc mask standing next to him nodded.
“I like the look in your eyes.”
The eyes of the two men were directed at the two girls inside the prison.
““…….””
A girl with red eyes and a girl with blond eyes. Lily and Wendy held hands and glared at the two.
The orc masked man chuckled.
“That’s interesting. Are you two friends?”
The goblin masked man answered in confusion.
“yes. The two of us have been together since we came here. I tried to separate him, but he wouldn’t even eat and would throw a tantrum…”
“Ha. “It’s a friendship that brings tears to my eyes.”
“This is the report on those two.”
The man in the orc mask read through the documents brought by the man in the goblin mask.
Inside were detailed records of the experiments performed on the bodies of the two girls.
After a while, the orc masked man sighed and said.
“The money spent on those kids is enough to build a country.”
Goblin Mask said, bending his waist to 90 degrees.
“yes. That’s why I’m paying a lot of attention.”
“Is that the unit price?”
“yes?”
The man in the orc mask rolled up the document and hit the goblin mask on the back of the head.
puck!
“If you spend this much time and money, you should see results. “Does it make sense that I haven’t even been able to awaken my abilities over the years?”
“That…”
A goblin mask sweating profusely. The force hitting the back of his head gradually became stronger.
puck! puck! Pow!
“Isn’t this proof that you didn’t do your job properly?”
“I’m sorry for my sin…”
It was a goblin mask that reigned like a devil to the children who were dragged into the cave, but now they were like a mouse in front of a cat.
“Kick!”
The two girls who saw this covered their mouths and laughed. Then the orc mask laughed and stopped its hand.
“We’ll have to do it right from now on. “You won’t have much time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind!”
After the Orc Mask left, the Goblin Mask glared at the two girls with its throat turning red.
“You guys… From now on, I’ll show you what hell really is.”
Wendy harshly responded to those words.
“Can you do it? “You said you don’t have much time?”
“This bitch!!”
*
One day, Wendy quietly woke Lily up from her sleep.
“Lily. “Wake up.”
“Ugh… why?”
“Look at this.”
All the guards were asleep. After checking it, Wendy held out her palm to Lily.
Damn it.
An ice pick the size of a fist bloomed on Wendy’s palm. Lily whispered with wide eyes.
“How did you do it?”
“I don’t know either. “It happened suddenly.”
It was the ‘awakening’ that Goblin Mask so desperately wanted. Of course, Wendy had no intention of telling him that.
Blah blah blah blah.
The ice on my palm kept changing its shape. Wendy learned her abilities frighteningly quickly.
At the same time, Wendy’s blonde hair turned blue.
Ssssssut.
After a while, Wendy’s mood changed completely and her eyes glowed coldly.
“Lily. “Let’s get out of here.”
“…huh.”
That night, the two girls escaped the cave.
But it didn’t take long before I was caught up.
*
“You stupid bitch. “I never thought you would have awakened already.”
“Let go! “Let go of this!”
The goblin mask grabbed Wendy by the throat. A creepy smile appeared on the corner of his mouth that was revealed under the mask.
“Let Wendy go!”
Lily struggled as she was grabbed by the sturdy men. But the goblin mask didn’t even look at Lily.
“If you had told me earlier, we wouldn’t have had such a hard time.”
“die!”
Damn it!
Wendy stretched out her hand and shot ice at the Goblin Mask, but a transparent shield protected the Goblin Mask.
“We won’t know in a few years. “It’s not even close to me yet.”
The goblin mask laughed and Lily fell into despair.
“Kkkkkk. “You are now on a leash and will serve us for the rest of your life.”
But it wasn’t Wendy.
The blue-eyed girl had no intention of going back to prison, even if it meant dying.
Wendy said, looking at Lily.
“Remember what I said before? “If we escape from here…”
“Wendy…?”
“If you can survive, please do me a favor.”
Before hearing Lily’s answer, Wendy unleashed all the power in her body.
A blizzard swirled around the girl’s body.
Jeok Jeok Jeok Jeok Jeok-!
A bitter cold that rapidly freezes everything around it and even freezes itself.
“Kwaaaaaak!”
The goblin mask with frozen arms screamed, and the men who chased the two girls with him also began to freeze.
And at that moment, a flame rose from Lily’s body to protect her master.
Grumble!
A smile appeared on Wendy’s face when she saw that. Wendy moved her stiffening lips and spoke.
‘thank god.’
“Wendy!”
Then the goblin mask with one arm shattered shouted.
“Catch that kid!”
‘Run!’
The blizzard got stronger and Lily started running.
I ran until all the voices following me disappeared and my eyes turned yellow from hunger.
I don’t know how many days I ran away.
The moment the dimensional gate appeared in front of her, Lily jumped in with joy.
Because I knew there was someone there who could help me.
“mister!”
After crossing the dimensional gate, Lily soon spotted a familiar figure behind her and shouted.
“mister! mister! Help me! “Wendy…”
Lily grabbed the arm of the familiar figure behind her and turned it around.
“You mean me?”
The person who turned around was Goblin Mask.
*
“Ha!”
Lily woke up screaming. My forehead was full of cold sweat.
Even after waking up from the dream, Lily couldn’t fall back asleep and was shaking. It
was her first time having such a vivid nightmare.
Is it because Daein said earlier that we should go to the Gaia continent?
Lily could hardly calm her anxious mind.
After a while, Lily carefully opened the master’s door and entered.
Squeak.
“Uncle… are you sleeping?”
“…….”
There was no answer. Lily carefully crawled into Daein’s bed.
“mister. You know…. I don’t want to go back….”
“…….”
“But I have to go back….”
“…….”
“I miss my mom and I miss Wendy too. I promised…”
“…….”
The great man tossed and turned to the other side.
Lily buried her face in his broad back.
“I wonder if Mommy is okay…”
Lily began to tell her story while muttering.
A story that has never been told. A story that could not be told.
A young girl who
wanted to forget everything while eating delicious things on Earth
managed to tell a story that was too terrible for her to experience in a tearful voice.
Afterwards, my pronunciation became all muffled and I couldn’t even understand it.
“Huh huh~.”
Meanwhile, the great man did not move a muscle.
Lily talked until she got tired and fell asleep.
Quickly….
When the child’s breathing finally calmed down, the adult slowly opened his eyes.
“…….”
The great man slowly got up from the bed so as not to wake the child.
I covered myself with the blanket, carefully wiped my puffy eyes, and left the room.
“It’s a goblin mask…”
I had a feeling that this vacation would be a bit long.
[ Vacation Preparation ] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang