EP.8 A monster lives in the basement
Fucked.
It is a conclusion that has been reached after careful deliberation.
Maybe I’m screwed.
As soon as I took a step into the underground armory, regret flooded in. It would probably be more comfortable if you went into the mouth of a whale. At least whales don’t feed on human blood.
It is a night domain where the monster, a vampire who sucks human blood, has lived for several decades. The blood that ran through my body from the moment I set foot on it was not mine. The blood raging under the veins is concentrated to one side. I keep trying to deviate from the thing that should breathe life into my body.
It is not a problem that can be solved by mind reading. If a vampire decides to kill me, the moment he harbors such a murderous intent… my body will become a skinny mummy before I even have time to resist.
Are regressors okay? The more sensitive you are, the more pressure you will feel.
‘It’s a great energy. The power is no different from the previous episode… But this point is before [the incident] happened. Do you want to be more violent or more moderate? Before [the problem] is resolved, Tyrkanjaka will lend me his strength.’
What is [the case]? What is [the problem]? Please don’t think only you know and can’t you reminisce?
‘Let’s not worry. I haven’t regained the strength to compete with Tyrkanjaka yet. If you die, you die.’
good. That’s it. It turned out that it was best not to associate with the regressor. It is one of many lives that can go back to someone, but it is only one life for me.
Should I die if I die? If you are with someone who has this kind of thought, even ten lives are really not enough.
I turned around and headed out the door.
“ruler. Shay Trainee. The only thing I have to do is trainee Shay, so I’m going to go away…”
Bang.
The iron door closed before my eyes. A strange red glowing brand flashed in front of my eyes as if it hadn’t even begun.
Seeing me devastated, the regressor snorted.
“huh. bye. If only I could go.”
The retreat is blocked. A pitch-black darkness enveloped me, unable to even see my body. I sighed and followed the regressor.
“why. You said you were going back?”
“Come to think of it, we need to figure out why trainee Shay visited the underground armory. Shall we accompany you for a moment?”
“That’s it.”
A community of destiny that has come this far anyway. The regressor nodded happily. In the pitch-black darkness, I groped along with my finger on the wall. I couldn’t even see my feet, and it was subtly slippery, so it took a lot of concentration to take a step.
shit. Stairs will follow soon. Aren’t you sliding all the way down there? If a man named Military Instructor slipped out of the arsenal, he would be laughed at and even suspected.
Rather, what would the regressor do in this darkness?
‘Seven color eyes, open eyes, blue eyes.’
Then the regressor pricked his eye with his finger. Tears glistened in her eyes and began to burn blue. Even in the light-swallowing darkness, the blue flames followed the outlines of objects.
‘The five-color blue eyes of the seven-color eyes see depth. I can see through the darkness gathered by vampires.’
There are all sorts of skills. Would a person with only mind-reading ability live in sorrow?
Cheongan sees the world of lines and planes. It does not detect fast-moving objects or round parts with blurred outlines, but it can grasp the overall structure even in the dark. The regressor threw a blue gaze here and there. The tightly blocked ceiling and walls block the view. The only passage is down there. In the regressor’s field of vision, a trapezoidal line narrowing like a ladder extending far into the distance appeared blurry. There were stairs going down to the basement.
The regressor stretched his feet toward the stairs without the slightest hesitation. After going down a step or two, he suddenly glanced back at me.
‘Let’s see if you can get through this darkness?’
thanks. for looking at me
I didn’t notice, but the stairs started right in front of me. Even the corner was broken and the stairs were cut in half. If I had stepped in hastily, I would have fallen all the way down there.
hey i’m glad I stepped carefully avoiding the broken stairs. Then there was a clicking sound from the front.
‘Did you see through the darkness that vampires have gathered? He’s a man who can’t understand the bottom. A stupid looking guy destroys the darkness of my heavenly cherry blossoms and vampires…’
This is why people have to experience things a little lower. As I return, I always meet great people like swordsmen and saints, so I can’t tell even when I see a really ordinary person. That’s why people’s experience is necessary.
Anyway, the regressor and I headed underground side by side.
‘Why are you walking so close? intrusive.’
The regressor seemed uneasy about my approach, but I persisted. It was because if the distance widened now that I was borrowing her sight, I might not be able to see my feet. Feeling half carried, I followed the regressor down the stairs.
After arriving at the underground armory, the regressor looked back at the bunker with blue eyes.
The arsenal, which could be used as a bunker in case of emergency, had a long hallway and spacious rooms on either side. If an emergency happens, it is a space made to hide in that narrow room and wait for rescue, but there was a guest who came first.
The regressor glared at the faint shadows peeking this way from the back with blue eyes. A large horse with its head touching the ceiling was glaring at us.
‘Is it her familiar? I heard that most of them were lost during the Great War… but it seems that the blood horse Ralion is still alive and well.’
How the hell are you using the underground armory? Why is the big horse using the bunker all by itself? It’s better than me for a familiar subject. guarantee human rights
The regressor, who cast his eyes on the blood demon for a moment, turned around and started walking again. I hurriedly followed him.
At the end of the long hallway, there was a strange door.
Military countries that value efficiency and rationality do not mix art on doors or walls. The purpose of the door is to open and close the space, and the wall is to divide the space. Rather than attaching decorations to the doors and hanging frames on the walls, inefficient and unproductive acts such as carving sculptures on iron doors and painting murals on the walls were regarded as sins.
However, it seems that even such a military nation wanted to pray to God in front of the founder.
The door, which was cast from solid steel, was engraved with a picture that would have been suitable for an illustration in the Bible. There was a painting on the wall of a beautiful angel with great wings blowing a trumpet. The direction of the trumpet was toward the inner door, so it seemed that if someone sinister came out through the door, they would immediately punish it.
Sculptures and murals that you would only see in a church. The underground armory was dark, but the carvings and murals were clearly visible to my own eyes.
Yes, those majestic sculptures and sacred paintings in this darkness.
It was soaked in fresh blood and glowing red, as if holding a bloody festival.
Faced with the painting, I creaked and turned my head.
“…excuse me. Shay Trainee.”
“why?”
“Shall we go back?”
“Are you scared?”
“yes.”
The regressor made a puzzled expression at my honest answer.
no that’s too scary this. I’d rather not see it.
If the Seonghwangcheong had seen this scene, they would have dispatched the Heretic Questioner, calling it blasphemy. However, if they hear that the other party is the progenitor Tyrkanjaka, they will quickly cancel the dispatch and pretend they didn’t see it. That would be like giving only the Heretic Questioner’s blood as a gift.
The originator of vampires is such an existence. An existence that is not strange even if I am strong or weak.
The regressor glanced at me and said.
“You are more scared than you think.”
“Thanks to that, I am still alive. Fear of danger is an indispensable factor for survival.”
“is it?”
‘Maybe that’s why I died thirteen times.’
ah. I think so. It doesn’t matter if you die suddenly felt sad
“The guy who says you’re scared calls her an old man?”
“Are you an old man?”
“Eh. Let’s not talk.”
Let’s not talk means that we will do as we please. The regressor strode forward and put his hand on the door. I didn’t even apply much force, and the door opened by itself. Like the jaws of an animal waiting for its prey.
“Oh damn. Earth Mother.”
Can not help it. If it was eaten anyway, it wouldn’t make much of a difference whether it was in the mouth or across the throat. Before the door closed, I followed the regressor into the final room.
A perch is hanging on the wall, which is a bit anachronistic compared to the modern day where lighting and electric lights have become commonplace. It was an elegant perch made by cutting stones directly with iron nails and chisels to resemble a birdcage, and then turning it upside down. The craftsman’s soul dwells in the nest-shaped ornaments carved stitch by stitch, and it seems that a phoenix will rise from the inside with its wings spread at any moment.
Flames red like blood soar upward, coveting the sky. However, the flight of sparks did not last long. This is the lowest place in the world. The lower level of a prison in the bottomless pit. It is too harsh a place to fly to the sky. The flames that touched the ceiling crumbled, and bodies of light flew in all directions.
Unfortunately, light has meaning because it fades away. The last room is gloomy. The scattered light hitting the ceiling creates a red shadow.
Thanks to that, I could see what the room looked like.
It wasn’t just because the flames were red that everything was red. blood. Thousands of liters were covered in what could have been blood. on the ceiling, floor, and walls. As if the room itself were a huge heart, so much blood was flowing.
However, even though there was so much blood flowing, there was not even the scent of blood. The smell of blood is also part of blood. Because it was under the authority of the progenitor.
Without Tyrkanjaka’s permission, the regressor and I wouldn’t even be able to smell the blood.
[Why did you come to see me?]
A black wooden coffin in the middle of the room. An exquisite item with a body made of precious incense wood, carefully lacquered and engraved with a red cross with wings. A voice came from within.
blood runs rampant I wanted to jump out with socks to greet my loved one who longed for the blood to be dedicated for my life beneath the veins.
overwhelming power. The regressor who encountered it.
“Tirkanjaka. I have come to offer you a deal.”
Faced with the vampire, he spoke confidently.
“Teach me the Blood Sculpture.”
Words that suddenly came to me and asked me to teach them a skill. It must be absurd, but the vampire wasn’t surprised at all. because you got used to it. For over a thousand years, the number of people who came to her to get something exceeded four digits.
The power to control blood. Hearing that name for the first time in a while, the vampire asked quietly.
[Are you trying to become a member of my household?]
When you become a vampire and receive the blood of the ancestor, you naturally gain the power to control your blood. Since ancient times, there have been countless people who have coveted or demanded the blood of the founder, aiming for immortality. Feeling a bit trite, the vampire turned to the regressor and asked if he was one of those countless people.
However, the regressor had no intention of becoming a vampire. Instead, it demanded something deeper and more fundamental.
“No, I have no intention of getting it that way. Teach me the skills you learned before becoming a vampire.”
Emotions fluctuate in a very brief moment. There was great bewilderment and confusion in that coffin. In an instant, all the blood in the room gathers as if it is tightening.
However, the opponent is a vampire who has lived for over a thousand years. There’s no such thing as getting blood hot just by doing something like this. The vampire calmed his excitement and replied.
[How did you find out?]
The regressor faced the vampire. With thoughts that only regressors can do.
‘You told me about it in the last episode.’
The smiling regressor fell into sentimentality for a moment, very briefly.
Before the vampire turned into a vampire, when she was a human. Back then, the girl said she could handle blood. Countless people benefited from the little girl who worked hard to help her father, who was a member of the council, run the clinic. When he was a human, he had only the ability to stop flowing blood at most. That alone was enough to make people smile.
The vampire from the previous episode insinuated that fact, advising him to learn it… and then quietly died without anyone remembering him.
The flashback is over. I put my head on the throbbing feeling of being thrown out of the depths.
this is a flashback It was a very short and fragmented memory, but it had its own results.
Not only did I read a bit of the regressor’s memories, but I also found out a little bit about the ‘disaster’.
It seems that disaster is coming. A catastrophe so powerful that even the monster, the founder Tyrkanjakara, could not stand it and died.
[Don’t ask again. How did you find out?]
“If you tell me, I can tell you?”
[…Curious.]
Short silence. slow thinking. Thousands of thoughts pass by and disappear. then at some point. The vampire’s attention turns to me.
[That one. What do you think?]
No suddenly? I was obviously quiet, but why did you single out me? I answered shyly.
“Do as you wish.”
[…Elderly?]
What? Blood just squirted. Are you hot? I said urgently.
“My job takes precedence over my age, so I will call myself a trainee. However, the Tyrkanjaka trainee is a bit chubby. The military does not give any special instructions or orders to senior trainees. Me too. You can act freely as long as you don’t get out of the training center, so it doesn’t matter if you stay lying here.”
fit. Something black brushed my cheek. Very thin incontinence occurs. The blood that had regained freedom by squeezing through that gap slowly flew towards the vampire. fluttering like a swallowtail butterfly.
It was not even visible. I didn’t avoid it because I had no intention of killing, but even if I tried to avoid it, nothing would have changed.
Feeling appalled, I took a deep breath and stopped talking.
A soft, angry voice came from inside.
[…Since you’re old, why don’t you stay in your room?]
“No. Not really. Please continue as you have been.”
[I don’t want to hear it.]
The lid of the black coffin was opened. Like the outside, the inside of the coffin is black and full of darkness. Through the darkness, a thin, white hand is heard.
My blood flew through the air and landed on her hand. Then it soaked through the dry land like rain.
I felt a slight displeasure from the vampire who harvested my blood.
[…As expected, even blood has no taste. It’s completely opposite to me. He’s a guy who doesn’t have a favorite corner…]
But that’s why.
And then the coffin rose up. Pushing himself up into the rolling darkness, he faced me and the regressor.
[I only take the blood of virgins who are inherently pure. The blood of men like you is usually… used as an ingredient.]
The inside of the coffin is still dark. Only a lifeless white hand protrudes from the crack in the coffin. Another blood flowed into that hand. It was the blood of the regressor shed to open the door.
The vampire wet his hands with the blood and said,
[But your blood is fine. It’s the first time for a man… To drink man’s blood while living my life…]
That’s because it’s a woman… Even with that kind of manly disguise, the vampire couldn’t even imagine the possibility that the regressor was a woman. The regressor clenched his fists at the positive sign.
The vampire said calmly.
[good night. I’ll let you know.]
“Thank you.”
[…It’s been a while since I’ve had a guest, so I’m tired. Let’s go out now.]
The vampire closed the lid of the coffin after saying that. After receiving a positive answer, the regressor desperately controlled his expression, holding back the desire to jump.
‘Cheer up! Success! I didn’t expect to succeed so easily!’
Suppressing his excitement, the regressor cautiously asked.
“When are you going to start? I want to do it as quickly as possible.”
[Then… Shall we start when the next moon is waning?]
It meant about a month later. Of course, it was unacceptable to a regressor who was in a hurry.
“what? It is too late. It starts tomorrow.”
[What is so urgent? Starting now or starting a month later, there is no difference…]
“There is a difference! The difference between heaven and earth!”
[Be patient. The moon waxes and wanes because the goddess of the night slowly closes and opens her eyes. You need that much time to see things properly.]
The two are arguing about something again. It’s time for me to step in to resolve the conflict.
“Ugh! Shay Trainee!”
I shouted and started blocking the regressor.
“A month may seem like a long time to you, but to a Tirkanjaka trainee who has been living for over 1200 years, it is a short amount of time! Take care of others a little more! Time seems fair to everyone, but in fact, it is more relative than anyone else. That person…”
“…Why don’t you just care about the other person?”
huh? what. I already care enough about my opponent. How can you treat your opponent like this if you treat your opponent like this?
As the two of us were arguing, a slow voice came from inside the coffin.
[…okay. The reason why my actions are slow is because I’m too old?]
“No, I’m not really saying anything. To teach this spoiled fellow the difference in age.”
[OK. If that’s the case, let’s start right away from the next day.]
While the regressor who achieved what he wanted was happy, the vampire put me in his sights and added a word.
[Both of you.]
“Yes?”
No, why am I suddenly
It was the moment I tried to refute something.
[Stop going now.]
I had no choice but to express that the world had become farther away. The body of the regressor and I moved spontaneously. No, we didn’t move.
The wall is the floor and the door is.
Hallways, ceilings, rooms, stairs— pushed forward. The world passes from back to front. Just like watching a river flowing violently from a moored boat, the dark and watery liquid follows the path that passed us and flowed-.
Before we knew it, we were standing at the entrance to the underground armory without moving a single step. The thud of the steel door closing brought me back to reality.
“crazy.”
For some reason, I felt like I was in the jaws of a tiger from the moment I entered.
Literally on the inside… it was like the body of a vampire. The vampire just spit us out.
The regressor brushed off his body as if he was used to it and said.
“Kuk-kuk. It’s pathetic. Are you surprised?”
“…not really.”
I just realized that a freaking scary monster had in fact become a transcendently terrifying monster. When I answered, the regressor covered his mouth and laughed at me.
“Let me give you one piece of advice. You better not tell your age in front of Tyrkanjaka. That’s what a woman’s heart is.”
The regressor boasted a lot and then lightly turned around and walked away. I looked at the receding regressor with cold eyes.
I didn’t do it because I didn’t know how to feel.
what happened He didn’t explain anything to me either, so I won’t bother explaining.
I shook my limbs and turned around. oh my. My back hurts from being so nervous. Shall we go early and rest today? I’m going to go to the restaurant and see if there’s any leftover canned food….
That’s when I turn around.
“bruise.”
I heard a sound I shouldn’t have heard. I slowly turned my head.
There was an aji who chased after my scent with the determination to play ball, and found a leather ball while digging through a pile of concrete rubble.
no way. No way…
“bruise!”
Took. The ball falls. in front of my feet. And Aji wiggles his tail and flicks the ball with his nose.
The meaning is obvious.
throw a ball human.
“That’s me.”
I attempted a negotiation that would never happen again in history. A dog king and a man. A great attempt was made for a dramatic compromise beyond race and race.
“Am I really tired today? So that.”
“bruise! bruise!”
“…a little bit. If you procrastinate…”
“Wang! promise!”
Fak Fak. Aji wiggled his forelegs in displeasure. Wind pressure shakes the hem of my clothes. Something getting closer seemed to say that if you didn’t throw the ball, I’d beat you with these paws.
When did you learn the word promise? Who the hell taught dogs useless things like promises? It’s not about harshly teaching a child who doesn’t have the ability to take responsibility. Even if he breaks his promise, I can’t get anything in return, but if I break my promise, he makes an excuse to force himself.
“Grrr.”
I mean like this. I looked up at the invisible sky and sighed.
“after. sorry my shoulder I’ll finish it within 250 pitches today.”
Do you feel like this when you force yourself to step up? I caught the ball. Aji’s face was very sad with a wide smile.
