Chapter 4: Chapter 4: He has a Few Screws Loose (4)

Monster.

 

It was a monster.

 

Like the ones one would see in a nightmare, or a movie. 

 

“GWHAH?” 

 

A nasal sound spread through the dark place as the eyes of the being moved. Eyes, dozens of them. All over its giant head and torso were dozens upon dozens of eyes and mouths.

 

I gulped.

 

Vera was unmoving, and so was I. Both of us were rooted to the ground in fear and so were the three remaining kidnappers behind us.

 

Then it happened.

 

The monster’s eyes gleamed, and all of them stopped.

 

At us. It was staring at us.

 

“GAGA!”

 

An ear-ripping scream passed through the air as the front of the monster tore apart. Its eyes and mouth were separated as the fissure on its body spread. It cracked and its teeth came out like a hundred knives staring back at us.

 

Its tongue wiggled.

 

It was coming.

 

“FUCK!”

 

Vera tightened his grip and jumped. He dived the open stairs and off to the ground floor. At that very moment, the monster’s tongue came thundering out of the mouth like a harpoon. It cut through the air as it passed right where we stood. 

 

The sharp tongue grazed my legs, missing my skin by a hair’s breadth as it tore apart the rope tying me up. 

 

By the time I could blink, Vera had already wrapped me up and we both went crashing down to the ground. A thud sounded out as Vera cushioned my fall with his own body. I could feel my vision blurring away again, but I bit my tongue and sealed Vera’s mouth with my palm to stop him from screaming.

 

I could see the pain in his glistening eyes.

 

Slowly, I turned my head back.

 

Hanging from the giant monster’s tongue, pierced through their chest, were the remaining three kidnappers.

 

Blood. Blood was everywhere. 

 

I didn’t notice my hand, no, my entire body trembling in fear as the monster reeled its tongue back in, like a butcher dragging dead meat through the ground.

 

Slowly, very slowly, I took my trembling hands off Vera’s face and got off him. Like a snail, slow and steady, I moved away. My nails dug into my palm to distract my shaking knees as I tried to stand up as quietly as possible.

 

It was still there in his hands. Vera, that crazy bastard, was still carrying his pizza. He quietly got up too, the fear in his eyes not hidden. Just how stubborn would one have to be to still keep a pizza on hand?

 

I held his shoulder with my tied hands and tried to help him up. We were like two ants running away from the falling foot of an elephant. As fast as we could, as quietly as we could, we stood up and started walking.

 

Vera’s feet slipped, and his posture trembled. I could see him wincing in pain. Despite falling a floor down to a ragged construction ground, he still didn’t utter a sound as he followed me away.

 

But he didn’t last long.

 

His foot slipped on a broken stone and a fleeting bang followed.

 

The two of us stopped.

 

“grah...?”

 

My heart raced. The monster heard us.

 

It heard us. It heard us. It heard us. It heard us. It heard us. It heard us. It heard us. It heard us.

 

Heard us. 

 

My mind cooled down in an instant. The place was too dark for it to see us, but we could still make out its shape thanks to its gleaming eyes. It was operating on sound.

 

At once, I ducked down and picked up a broken brick. Tossing the block as far as I could in the other way, I grabbed Vera’s hand and started running.

 

A whistle spread through the air as the tongue of the monster ripped through the skies and landed in the spot where the brick fell. It gouged out the ground as its tongue left a cloud of dust in its wake.

 

We didn’t look back, we only ran. But the monster was fast. It was way too fast for us.

 

“GRAAAAH!”

 

And now it was enraged about us tricking it.

 

The entire building quaked as the heavy monster slammed its way down the stairs. I looked at Vera with widened eyes and pulled him along faster.

You are reading story I Don’t Want to be A Hotshot in Murim! at novel35.com

 

Something.

 

I had to think of something.

 

We turned through the floor to a passageway with rooms on both sides.

 

Running away was useless. That thing would catch up in no time.

 

My thoughts were brought to a standstill as the wall next to me suddenly melted.

 

“What in the...”

 

“Don’t stop, benefactor!” 

 

I bit my lips at Vera’s words and started rushing ahead again. We didn’t dare turn to see it, but it was here.

 

The monster was just behind us.

 

Suddenly, something pushed my back. I toppled over to the front and fell on my face.

 

“AAHK!” 

 

A visceral scream, and then another and another. I turned back in a rush while trying to get up.

 

With the pizza placed on his head, Vera covered me with his body spread wide...

 

... And behind him, the monster shot acidic spit after acidic spit right at his back.

 

“Bene...factor.”

 

Benefactor?

 

Me?

 

I could see his eyes staring at me. Even till the end, the frightening glow in them didn’t fade. Forcing through the pain, Vera continued. 

 

“Run.”

 

“Ah...”

 

It was over.

 

It was hopeless.

 

A monster. We were up against a real monster. I knew it long back. Just accepting my fate and lying low would be the most painless way of passing away.

 

Yet.

 

“AHH!”

 

I screamed and scrambled to my feet.

 

That man’s cold face cracked into the smallest smile I had ever seen. 

 

Summoning all my strength, I kicked off the ground and ran ahead. I didn’t know where the path ahead would lead. Heck, most of these passageways usually took one to a dead end. Still, I ran.

 

A thud rang out from the distance.

 

Vera must have fallen over.

 

I didn’t look back but ran ahead.

 

Anytime, the next hit would come for me.

 

It would have been smart to lie low and try to hide, but I still ran. As if I was cursed by his words.

 

Before the monster’s attack could even begin, a voice boomed throughout the entire place.

 

A cold, annoyed, unfamiliar voice. A tone that had no care in the world, nor any fear. 

 

“Where’s that damn pizza I ordered!? Why are there dead bodies here instead?”

 

My mind was turning blank again. Was I hearing things?

 

That couldn’t have been the case, because the one who couldn’t even move anymore answered back.

 

“YOUR PIZZA!! IS HERE!!”