Chapter 137
Awoo-ooo!
Just then, the sound of a wolf howling came from far away.
"Damn it."
I turned my head urgently, only to see Eunji tilting her head at me with a bright smile. I glanced back and forth between Eunji and the dark stairs below, pondering.
"I guess we should go down, right?"
Awoo-oo!
The following wolf howl made me decide to go down without further hesitation.
'I need a torch.'
Scanning my surroundings, I picked up a long wooden stick and unwound the bandage around my forearm. Fortunately, the wound had stopped bleeding, so applying medicine shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I placed the bandage on the ground and took out a lighter from my crossbody bag. I soaked the bandage with lighter fluid, wrapped it around the end of the wooden stick, and looked at Eunji.
"Eunji, a little fire, please."
At my request, Eunji spat out a small, fist-sized flame. The bandage caught fire, and a blazing torch was lit.
I reached out my hand toward Eunji. As if she had been waiting, Eunji climbed up my arm and rested her head securely on my shoulder.
And so, we descended the stairs. Only after coming all the way down below ground did I reach out to the wooden plank at the entrance of the stairs and close the door.
It was so dark that it was hard to distinguish anything. With the meager light of the torch, I slowly descended the stairs.
I gripped the loaded Flares tightly in my other hand, extending it forward so I could pull the trigger at any moment, and guarded my surroundings. My shoulders were stiff with tension.
I don't know what's at the bottom of these stairs, but I hoped it would be better than the Monsters on the surface.
After a long time, the stairs ended, and my feet touched solid ground.
I raised the torch to illuminate the surroundings and saw a corridor where it was difficult to see properly due to the darkness. The corridor was very narrow and low, only allowing small people to enter.
Perhaps men with large builds like Enoch and Kaiden wouldn't be able to pass through. That made it feel even more eerie.
'Who could have made something like this?'
Zenas, perhaps?
Rather than exploring this suspicious space alone, it might be better to sit on the stairs and go up when the sun rises.
'But I can't just pass by without properly investigating.'
Even now, the information we have about the island is very limited.
It means that if even a fingernail's worth of information is given, we must actively investigate it. Another space like Zenas's Cabin might appear.
I took a deep breath and moved my feet. Because the space was narrow, I held the torch out in front of me and moved carefully. Perhaps because it was a corridor made of stone walls, it was cool and chilly.
Drip. Drip.
The sound of water droplets was unusually loud. Feeling strangely eerie, I walked forward and then turned the torch around to look behind me.
There was no end in sight ahead, and since I had walked for a long time, the same was true behind me.
I stood blankly in the middle of it all, and then Eunji, who was on my shoulder, raised her head and rubbed her scales against my cheek, which brought me back to my senses.
"Thank you."
After whispering to Eunji, I moved my feet again.
\ \ *
I feel like I'm running out of oxygen.
I was seriously contemplating whether I should turn back the way I came.
'Wouldn't it be better to go outside and find Enoch and Kaiden?'
But who knows where they are.
I stood blankly in the dark corridor, pondering, and eventually walked again. There was no end in sight to the corridor.
Then, Eunji, who was wrapped around my arm, stretched her head out and bared her sharp fangs as she looked straight ahead.
Kyaak-
I stopped, tense.
I stretched out the hand holding the torch, but all I could see was barely an inch ahead.
And at that moment, I heard something approaching from far away.
Dudududududu-
It was a terrifying sound, as if something huge was rolling.
There's nowhere to hide here. Because the corridor was narrow and low.
Damn it. I don't know what it is, but am I going to die here in vain like this?
...No, I can't.
'I have to run away now!'
I turned around to go back the way I came. Then Eunji, who was on my shoulder, suddenly climbed up my head.
"Huh? Eunji!"
I was surprised and called out to her, but she leaped up without hesitation. She must be blocked by the ceiling, but she disappeared into the darkness.
Surprised, I raised the torch and saw tree trunks intertwined like a steel frame. Eunji was hanging in between them, licking her tongue at me.
Dududududududu-
The faintly heard sound gradually became closer. It was a sign of how long the corridor was.
I quickly put the stick part of the torch in my mouth, jumped up, and firmly grabbed the tree trunks on the ceiling.
Then, like doing a pull-up, I bent my legs and put them between the tree trunks, hanging from the ceiling.
'Damn it, I feel like I'm going to fall.'
The hand I was hanging with was trembling like an aspen leaf. I was always the last in pull-ups during high school gym class. Besides, my arm is injured right now.
The torch in my mouth might touch the vines. That made it even harder to maintain my posture.
'But, I have to live.'
That desperate desire not to die created strength I didn't have.
Dududu-
The sound that had been heard from afar was very close. I thought it was the sound of something like a rock rolling, but when I listened carefully, it felt a little lighter than a rock.
Hanging from the ceiling, I looked down upside down and saw something moving far away at the end of the inverted view.
Huge rats were rolling together in a ball.
I was horrified to see them getting closer. I pressed my body tightly against the ceiling and just waited for them to pass safely through the corridor.
Soon, the rat ball rolled under me and passed me by.
I sighed in relief, but then,
Tudok.
The vine I was holding with my right hand broke. Hearing that sound, the rat ball that was disappearing in the distance stopped abruptly.
Tududok. This time, the vine I was holding in my left hand broke. As a result, my upper body tilted downward.
'Fucking hell, I'm fucked!'
I put strength into my legs to avoid falling to the ground. And I grabbed the torch in my hand and stretched it forward to secure my vision.
The rats that were clustered like a ball in the distance suddenly scattered and ran towards me.
I hurriedly landed on the ground and waved the torch at them to prevent them from approaching me. As the flames were swung, the rats hesitated, stopped, and retreated.
At that moment, Eunji, who had been hanging on the ceiling, came down to the ground.
The rats' reaction to belatedly discovering Eunji was unusual. They made a fuss as if they were having a seizure and started to run away, and some were cautiously watching. It was only natural, since the predator Anaconda had appeared in front of the rats.
The problem was that those rats were also Monsters, so Zenas might have figured out my location through them.
'Damn it.'
Eunji crawled down to the ground and wriggled in front of me. She glanced at me sideways.
"Do as you please."
As soon as my permission was given, she shook her tail once and then opened her mouth wide. As she inhaled in that state, even the rats that were far away were rolled in by the wind and sucked into Eunji's mouth.
Due to the strong suction, the wind swirled in the narrow corridor, and the flame of the torch seemed to die out. After a while, the wind stopped, and Eunji's snout returned to its original size. There wasn't a single rat left in the corridor.
Eunji glanced up at me and stuck out her tongue. Do snakes burp?
Who cares. Eunji isn't a real snake anyway.
"Good job."
At my praise, Eunji spun around in place as if she was in a good mood. Cute.
'I would have been in big trouble if it weren't for Eunji.'
Eunji is the best after all. I picked her up, put her on my shoulder, and walked towards the end of the corridor again.
In fact, it was a gloomy space where rats could pop out at any moment. Judging by the fact that Eunji ate them, they seemed to be rats with Mana.
I quickened my pace a little. I had to quickly find out what was at the end of this corridor and then meet Enoch and Kaiden.
It was when I had walked for about thirty minutes in my perception. A faint light flickered at the end of the corridor.
I took out the Flares that I had put in my bag for a while, loaded them, and carefully approached the light.