Episode 354:
Why are they being chased by cotton doll monsters when they had enough time to smoke and contact the survivors at the police station? To explain how it got to this point, we had to first talk about how they got into this sinkhole.
It wasn’t that difficult to get to the sinkhole in search of Pompitz, the first abandoned dog monster. Pompitz, who was restless on the mountain behind the mountain wondering what he was feeling, immediately caught up with Kang Min-ah, Kwon Yeon-hee, and Vivian when they visited. As if he knew how the situation was going, Pompitz took the lead in helping find Jaeheon Lee and Yeonwoo Kim.
‘Wow, there really was a road here…?’
‘I was worried about how to find it because I was moved every time.’
The safety of the search team was secured by finding a spiral staircase leading down to the bottom of the open sinkhole.
‘I guess I smell like the manager!’
‘No matter what, can I trust a monster this much?…’
‘Ah, just follow me! There’s no other way.’
It was also easy to find the way inside the sinkhole, which was difficult to distinguish because they all looked the same.
Even Pompitz was a clever monster that could understand human speech, so it not only followed Lee Jae-heon’s scent, but also quickly understood the words, ‘I need a place to rest for a while’ and ‘Please find a place without monsters’ and led the survivors. . Since these requests were faithfully met, finding Lee Jae-heon’s scent would not have been a trick of the abandoned dog monster.
And in fact, they even found traces of Lee Jae-heon and Kim Yeon-woo.
‘Isn’t this the vest of Constable Kim Yeon-woo?’
‘That’s right, a police vest…! I think it was here!’
The sinkhole in the center of the apartment resembled a circular tower that had been made a mess. The large hole in the center had a long spiral staircase that made it difficult to tell where it went down, and on the wall of the sinkhole was a housing complex on each floor.
However, because the residential buildings looked so similar and there were random stairs and traps to go down random floors, if you lost your mind for a moment, you could end up in a house you didn’t intend to.
“Aaaah…!”
The reason they are being chased now is because they fell into a trap.
“Bian, help Yeonhee!”
“I will take you comfortably.”
In the end, they were able to escape the chase after Vivian carried Kwon Yeon-hee like a bag of rice and ran around for a while, avoiding the dolls and hand monsters. The Pompitz monster played a big role in drawing the monsters’ attention and showing them places to hide.
It was only when the sound of the footsteps of the cotton doll monsters, jumping around with their legs swinging back and forth, faded away that they breathed a sigh of relief.
“I didn’t die by accident.”
“If we had come alone… we would have died…”
“It seems that way.”
Yeonhee Kwon made a crying noise and awkwardly approached Pompitz.
“Thank you… ugh… thank you….”
Nooooo.
“I don’t know what it means, but thank you…”
Maybe it was because her gait was so strange, but the Pompitz monster licked Kwon Yeon-hee’s outstretched hand once and whined and quietly backed away. Kwon Yeon-hee, whose hand was licked, also quietly withdrew her hand. I received a lot of help, but I was still scared of dogs. Moreover, the opponent was a monster.
Kang Min-ah, who was checking Kim Yeon-woo’s vest, opened her mouth.
“Why did you take it off and leave it behind?”
Kim Yeon-woo usually lived with his vest zipped all the way up. If the purpose was to buy time by throwing it at a chasing monster, Lee Jae-heon’s coat would have been better. It was easy to take off and the area was large, so it would have been easy to block the monster’s view. Nevertheless, there was a high probability that there was some intention in the fact that Kim Yeon-woo’s vest was left all over the corner of their path.
Vivian, who was worried about Kang Min-ah’s question that wasn’t a question, presented her opinion.
“Your attention may have been drawn to the vest.”
“Sight?”
“Like a lizard cutting off its tail, did the police officer’s vest attract the attention of the stuffed monsters?”
“…Contrary to the mall monsters that avoid the police, cotton dolls can actually chase the police?”
“In the first place, mall monsters don’t avoid the police because they don’t recognize them.”
Vivian rolled her eyes and continued speaking with her characteristic dull face.
“The mall monster didn’t seem to have any good feelings about the police either. If they avoid things they dislike, the monsters here do. So….”
“Do cotton doll monsters show that as an expression of aggression?”
“Or maybe they grabbed the vest and just took it off. “I think that’s all I can think of right now.”
“If that’s true, Yeonwoo….”
“There is a possibility that the situation may be a bit dangerous.”
Vivian asked as she saw Kang Min-ah frowning.
“…How about taking a break and coming back? Of course, it will be difficult to get out as we have entered so deep, but if you have Pompitz, I don’t think escaping will be that difficult.”
Vivian, who had already recognized Pompitz’s abilities, spoke without hesitation about getting help from the monster.
The residential buildings that lined the walls of the sinkhole seemed like a never-ending town. When you enter the residential buildings on either side of the messy road, you come across another door and another door, and even if you do not enter the building or manage to get out, there is another door blocking the narrow street. If you can’t find your way, you’re stuck in an infinite door.
In addition, the ant cave-like ceiling was a dull ivory color, which created an unpleasant feeling, and the path was more complicated than an actual ant cave, making it impossible to determine the direction. In addition, the width of the road to travel was narrow, so I developed a sense of claustrophobia that I didn’t have before.
If I were caught by a monster while I was so frantic, I would die helplessly.
‘No matter where you go, the environment is similar, so even if you move around, it won’t be noticeable… It would be perfect to be trapped and go crazy if you mess up.’
Vivian sighed quietly.
Fortunately, Pompitz knew all the ways. At least he knew where to lead them based on smell and sound, and he saved the search team like that more than once or twice over the course of four days.
The entrance to the sinkhole would be the exit from their perspective, but Pompitz already knew the place, so it seemed like there would be no problem getting out even if it took some time.
“….”
“Sister.”
But Kang Min-ah shook her head.
“I even found the vest, but I can’t go back now.”
It was an inevitable answer for her.
Kang Min-ah thought that since she came all the way here, she had to find Kim Yeon-woo and Lee Jae-heon and go back. Since we had gone this far, we would soon be able to find Kim Yeon-woo and Lee Jae-heon.
‘It has to be so.’
Kang Min-ah still vividly felt the touch of the hand I had let go of. Lee Jae-heon’s hands without any fingernails. That thought continued to linger in Kang Min-ah’s mind the entire time she was descending this sinkhole.
‘What if we die while we’re on the way up?’
So in the end, if what Kang Min-ah found was Lee Jae-heon’s body, she didn’t think she would be able to bear it.
I don’t know what the consequences of not being able to endure it will be, but…
“Are you okay, sister?”
Kang Min-ah nodded to Kwon Yeon-hee’s question.
“are you okay.”
“….”
“…Should we move once we’re all rested?”
Kwon Yeon-hee and Vivian stood up without answering her words.
It was said that the path was found quite easily with the help of Pompitz, but in the end, this was a kind of dungeon created by the underworld. Kwon Yeon-hee and Vivian were also gradually becoming exhausted in this crazy space that crushes the human spirit. Kang Min-ah hoped that these poor people would not be ruined by her stubbornness to relieve her guilt.
Kang Min-ah muttered to herself.
‘Sorry.’
If only she had caught Lee Jae-heon well, she wouldn’t have put so many survivors in danger. I guess I was just staying in the garden with a peaceful mind like before. In the end, it was his fault for not being able to prevent misfortune in advance.
Kang Min-ah had to take responsibility. It is not these poor people who were dragged into her mistake, but Kang Min-ah herself who made the mistake.
“Maybe it’s because Pompitz is a monster, so he doesn’t get tired.”
“For us, this is something we are thankful for.”
A blue light flickered in her eyes as she looked at Yeonhee Kwon and Vivian.
* * *
Kiing…
The Pompitz monster, which had been finding its way up until now, hesitated and made a groaning sound.
“Now… you seem confused.”
“If there are this many doors, even the country gets confused.”
Vivian and Kwon Yeon-hee’s expressions distorted as they looked at the numerous doors in front of them.
Although it looked like a cute house like something out of a fairy tale book, I was naturally shocked to see such a twisted scene. No other fairytale house would have this many doors.
‘If something like this comes out as a fairy tale, I’ll be sued. ‘All the kids cry.’
The doors were clean and brightly colored, but they were all of different shapes and were spread out in a central heating system, ignoring the heat and heat.
A ladder was installed, perhaps out of consideration for its appearance, but unlike a typical ladder, it was twisted here and there. I felt like if I really had to use that ladder, I would have to go through a lot of trouble.
However, since it was a Pompitz monster that had never hesitated even after seeing a road as twisted as an anthill, the survivors guessed that something was wrong, contrary to the assumption that it was because there were many doors.
“Fitz, what’s wrong?”
When Kwon Yeon-hee, who had become quite friendly with Pompitz over the past four days, asked a question, the abandoned monster dog looked up at her.
Sigh.
“Tell me what’s bothering you.”
Ugh….
Pompitz, who was hesitant, soon took a step forward.
“…?”
“…oh…?”
When Pompitz returned to its original position after touching two of the many ladders, the search team realized what this little monster wanted to say.
“It looks like it’s split…? “Beyond the door that leads to the ladder on the other side is the manager, and on the other side is Yeon-woo…”
In response to Kwon Yeon-hee’s muttering, Pomfits made a small sound like ‘keung’ as if it were correct. As if the nature of an abandoned dog monster, which is particularly sensitive to humans, is not going anywhere, he raised his voice and glanced at the dog, but as a member of the search team, I was just grateful. Should I say that I learned how important a monster that communicates well is in the underworld?
Kwon Yeon-hee said in a somewhat bright voice.
“It was rewarding to become friends with Fitz while the manager took the food at the park!”
And it was immediately refuted.
“That’s not it.”
“It’s true that it’s helped a lot now, but that doesn’t mean that my hand got bitten like some kind of dog gum….” “
Oh, I’m just saying that I tried it too.”
But other than that, the current situation was a bit embarrassing.
“But we can’t be divided into two teams.”
“Not only is the number of people vague, but we wouldn’t have even dared to explore if Pompitz wasn’t there in the first place. “We have to come together.”
After thinking for a moment, Kang Min-ah asked.
“…Where did Kim Yeon-woo go?”
I wanted to find Lee Jae-heon first, but I was concerned that Kim Yeon-woo’s bloody vest was left abandoned on the side of the road. It was a question he had been holding back, but Pompitz looked up at Kang Min-ah, tilting his head as if asking, ‘Who is Kim Yeon-woo?’
Kang Min-ah described Kim Yeon-woo’s appearance.
“Why that short hair? It has a cat-like face… and mainly black clothes…”
??
“…I guess so.”
I heard somewhere that dogs have poor eyesight. Contrary to her memory, even if dogs were creatures with good eyesight, the eyesight of an abandoned monster with plastic button eyes did not seem to be very good. Just being able to communicate basicly would be amazing.
At that time, Kwon Yeon-hee spoke boldly upon seeing Kang Min-ah’s stuttering appearance.
“Sweet-smelling man!”
huh?
“Sweet like a glass apple…!”
Yes!
Pompitz seemed to understand what Kwon Yeon-hee said and got up and headed toward one of the doors. They all looked the same, but it was clearly one of the doors that Pompitz had pointed to just now.
Vivian looked at Kwon Yeon-hee at the unexpected development.
“Sweet smell? “Did he use perfume?”
“It’s not perfume. It smells like Yeonwoo Kim’s shampoo. “It smells nice when you get close.”
“Aha….”
“I heard you don’t wear perfume because it might interfere with your work.”
“okay.”
Anyway, I’m glad the conversation made sense.
“….”
Of course, I can’t help but be very worried about Lee Jae-heon’s condition…
“Ah, it’s home again.”
“I’m more annoyed by the unnecessary decoration.”
“I feel like I was somehow deceived…”
Kang Min-ah swallowed her heart as she watched the two people lamenting the sight beyond the door.
It’s not that those two didn’t worry about Lee Jae-heon, but they weren’t in a state of guilt like Kang Min-ah. Vivian and Kwon Yeon-hee must have been the same because they were concerned about the fact that Kim Yeon-woo threw away the vest to force her feelings and demand that she find Lee Jae-heon first. So, he must have followed Kang Min-ah’s decision without saying a word.
‘I’m doing well.’
Kang Min-ah thought like that and soothed her anxiety.
“Ahh…! Mr. Yeonwoo, Mr. Yeonwoo!”
“Those crazy dolls are real!”
In the end, her choice was right.
“Everyone…!Please save me!”
Various tools are placed in front of Kim Yeon-woo, who is tightly tied up.
So, to explain, it was a situation where Kim Yeon-woo’s skin was on the verge of being torn off.
(Continued in the next part)
