Chapter 10: Ch 10

Seong headed towards the danger outside of his sanctuary, following his stomach rather than his brain.

—Jump. Whoosh!

He floated around freely, listening to the whistling sounds of the wind as he passed by debris. But then, an ominous sound flooded his ears like a whisper.

—Doom, doom, doom.

Seong’s eyes flashed as he jetted straight to it.

—Thump, thump, thump!

“Just… Forget.. You bastard!”

“…eah?.. About this you… Damn!”

The voices kept fading in and out.

—Crash!

When he had gotten there, a man had crashed onto the floor, creating a pit. The man trembled while picking himself up, but he dodged an attack that was immediately casted on him, as if he wasn’t slammed on the floor just earlier.

“Aghhh! Stay still!”

The both of them were like cat and mouse.

“Y’know what?! Forget this!”

The man playing mouse turned around as streams of water surrounded his arms, they acted like tentacles as they tried to bind the slippery cat.

—BAM! BAM! BAM!

The cat dodged the tentacles, slowly creeping closer and closer until they were right in front of the mouse.

—Punch!

“PFFT!”

The tentacles then quickly spun around them, grasping them both tightly in the middle. 

“Now you’ve bounded both of us, what’re you going to do now?”

“I can just concentrate all of my ability for maximum efficiency since you’re not moving anymore.”

“Wouldn’t you be implicated-“

—Fwooooshhhhh…

Something overshadowed the ground, something big… No, larger—no wait.

‘What-‘

—SPLASH!!!

A wave swallowed both of them up, the cat flailed around while it constricted his breath.

‘Now if I just hold him down like this with my ability maximized like this…’

The cat pulled at their neck, nothing was there but he tried to grab the invisible hands on his neck. He unconsciously opened his mouth as muffled bubbles escaped from it.

‘I’m!.. Going to… Die!!!’

At that moment, the cat shot open his red eyes, gathering his air bubbles quickly around his hands.

“Huh?”

Then jutting his arms to his sides with force, mana poured into his hands and into the air pockets within the wave. Using that mana to increase the swiftness and strength in his hands, he brought his hands together.

—CLAPP!!!

Like tectonic plates rubbing against each other, the wave split open for a second. And like opening a car’s door underneath the ocean, the pressure swooped in and erupted the wave into a tsunami.

—RUUMBLEEE…

Both of their screams soon got swallowed up by the tsunami.

“I’ll-hah, I’ll get you next time!! Gasp!”

—Whiiishhh!!!

Both of them had been swept into two sections, Seong followed one of them within close proximity.

***

The wave had died down and left the man out of breath, he threw up the water he had swallowed.

He touched his bruised face with his feeble hands,”That really took the piss outta me.” 

Seong observed the man,’Maybe because his attribute is water, he’s still conscious even after that crash.’

But the man was most likely out of mana now, he would need at least a few hours to replenish it. Now was the best time to take advantage of it.

Seong crept closer, he was about to grab the man by the neck until…

—Tuk!

The man suddenly spun around, but Seong kicked him in the head and stomped on his chest, he was pretty sure a few ribs cracked.

“Cough, cough! You-“

—Stomp, stomp, stomp!!!

The man tried to kick Seong away but, Seong’s hammer-like kicks never stopped, as if he was a robot programmed to do something over and over again.

“Huek, stop- Huek!”

Blood spluttered onto Seong’s face as the man tried to hold in his coughs, but like pressing down on a bag of chips, the air has to get through somewhere…

“PWECK! Cough, cough! …Pwah! Huek, sob…”

Seong stared at the man as he silently cried,’I think this is enough.’

Looking for anything useful in the man’s pockets, he found something sharp. Taking it out, he placed the object against the man’s neck.

“No hard feelings, alright? It’s not like you wouldn’t do the same, at least I’m giving you an easy death.”

“Uungg…” He gnashed his teeth together as he stared at Seong with hostile eyes.

—Slash!

“Gasp! Gasp!”

“Oh wait, that wasn’t deep enough.”

—Slash!

[11.]

‘Now… I can-‘ Seong stopped.

He looked down and felt his stomach,”What? I was just-“

The hunger gripping within his walls was slowly released, the rush of vigor flooded his veins, and his thinking became clearer.

‘What? What is this?’

Seong scoffed at his realization, then that scoff turned into a winded chuckle, then it turned into maniacal laughter.

“What? This- Ha!”

His realized his effects, his madness… His starting addiction. Once you had a taste of something and have it deprived from you, you’ll do anything just to have a taste of it again.

“Oh this-this is great! Haha! Hahahahaa…” The laughter trailed on and on…

“…But, this isn’t enough.”

Even if his hunger was gone, he needed something on his tongue… A taste to feel alive, something juicy and something to refresh his senses…

The perfect candidate for that is, the man right in front him. 

“Ah, I’m sure people would understand. It’s for survival, you need something to eat and there’s a piece of flesh in front of you ready to go.”

—Sssk.

Slicing through the man’s flesh, Seong grabbed at any meat he could rip off and began stuffing his mouth full.

—Chew, chew, chew.

Needles pricked at his tongue as the sudden new flavor flooded his senses. Seong savored the moment, even if he flinched at the taste of iron from the blood, he forced it down his throat. 

—Chew.

He stopped, feeling over fed from his binge. He looked at the gutted carcass, the sight would be extremely disturbing to walk upon.

Seong chuckled at the thought, propping him up against a wall.

“Goodbye now.”

That was the start of Seong’s addiction—survival. If you have nothing to eat but something dies right in front of you, wouldn’t you indulge yourself in it? It’s called survival, everybody wants to live, people would understand, right?

And if they don’t, it’s not like they’ll know what happened. This is a dungeon, anything can go wrong. As long as you don’t say anything, no one will know.

***

Seong walked a hefty distance to digest, until he remembered what he did just earlier.

“Ah!”

Not the eating part, but the bloody part—the messy, filthy, gooey part. His face and clothes were still covered in blood, though it hadn’t dried yet. 

“How… How do I get rid of it?” Then he remembered the man’s ability, it was water.

‘AHHHH, why didn’t I prepare for this?!’

He quelled his distress, standing still and thinking about a solution…

Water moves fluidly, and you could say blood is the same but thicker. Now if you could move blood the same way as water with that ability-

“But I don’t have that ability…”

But abilities cost mana, except in smaller quantities. However, since there are no abilities, using mana is the best way to mimic it. Although it’d be wasteful.

“Why is this so tedious…”

Wrap the mana around the particles of blood, separate it from everything around it. Then, move it at will.

The blood slowly seeped out from his clothes, the flaky blood on his skin peeled away. 

‘Out, out, out. Get away.’

Seong flicked his hand, the blood moved along with it, then it poured onto the floor. 

“Urp!” Seong fought at the lump and swallowed it.

‘I don’t need anymore blood spilling.’

***

“Hahhh… I was fighting with that jerk and he made a total natural disaster. I think he should be here-“

  He leaded the way until he stumbled across some blood,

“Ah, knew it. Shouldn’t be far…”

He was right, it was right in front him if you tilted your head just a bit and…

“O-oh… Oh my god…”

“Step aside.”

Someone breezed by him with a firm tone, only to then stop in his tracks,

“This…”

The blood seemed like a stream, trailing from them to…

“Jae-Ho…”

The carcass looked as if it wasn’t dead for long, maybe an hour or two. It’s flesh was absolutely torn apart, there was an open wound around the chest area to its stomach, as if it was gutted like a fish.

The heart was visible, it looked as if it were on a display case at a museum.

“What kind of crazy bastard would do it to this extent?” Hyun-Woo barely held their bewildered face together.

***

Something rolled around on the floor, the night was still young. Hyun-Woo hovered over the lump.

—Rumble~

Hyun-Woo quickly grabbed at his stomach as the lump shook, opening its eyes.

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“Hm? Hyun-Woo-ssi?”

Seong lazily rolled onto his back, staring back at him.

Hyun-Woo crouched down,”Usually your stomach growls by the time I’m back.”

“…”

“It’s quiet now.”

“…Because I’ve gotten use to it…”

“Oh?”

“Your body will adapt to it soon.”

Seong showed off his skinny wrist to emphasize his words. Even though he did eat “dinner”, it doesn’t mean you’ll gain a noticeable amount of weight. But he still looked as dead as ever.

‘Though I hope I don’t look too different tomorrow.’

Seong waited for Hyun-Woo to ask more, but he seemed hesitant.

“Are you ok, Hyun-Woo-ssi?”

“Mm… I just… Saw something.”

“What was it?”

“Someone…” Hyun-Woo clicked his tongue,” I think someone here turned mental.”

“Uh?” Seong tilted his head.

Hyun-Woo hesitantly narrowed his eyes at Seong, looking him up and down. There were no scent of blood nor evidence of it on his body, he was clean head to toe… 

Almost too clean…

“Yun Chan-Woo, how come you look like you just dressed up?”

“Hm?” Seong picked at his clothes,”Because I’ve been here and not out there?”

Hyun-Woo pressed on further,”Even things left alone can gather dust.”

“And…” Seong’s eyes trailed off to the side,” I think a preservation spell was casted here.”

“You want to elaborate?”

“Have you ever felt thirsty? Have you ever felt grimy? No, right? I think that thing up there,” Seong indicated the being that speaks to them, the one who oversees the entire arena,

“…Casted a spell to preserve our other necessities.”

“Then why not our hunger as well?”

Seong inconspicuously sneered,”…To turn us like rabid dogs.”

Place two friends on an island, they’ll do anything to help each other and will stick by each other’s sides. But what if their food resources are running low?

They’ll eventually turn desperate, meaning turning on each other is their only option. Because in their eyes, they’re just pieces of meat, animals in the neck of the woods.

Their survival instincts kick in and their mental health deteriorate, their humanity starts to waver and in the end…

One can live another day on the island.

Hyun-Woo looked disturbed as he thought about the situation, it’s exactly how it played out to be. 

Everything is a danger to him, everything can kill him, everything is against him. No one should be trusted, doubt every intention, suspect every movement.

He bit his lip as his mind spiraled, Seong smirked as he watched this happen.

Closing his eyes while knowing that he plagued someone else with his own realization.

***

The days have begun and ended, but in the midst of that, something changed.

“Hyun-Woo-ssi, I think I’ll go too.”

“Finally getting off your ass? About time.”

“…You have anything nice to say to me?”

“…Go die, I guess.”

Seong huffed, but he knew what he really meant. Out there was dangerous, especially with a ‘savage’ on the loose. It was a warning for him, but…

‘It’s more suspicious if I stay here.’

“Later.”

Hyun-Woo jumped, the wind carried his body elsewhere while Seong went in the opposite direction. 

Hyun-Woo’s behavior became more distant than usual, but it’s not like he wasn’t monitoring Seong the whole time anyway. He was always worried if he became weaker, Seong would eventually take advantage of that.

But Seong noticed it, trying his best to put an end to his suspicions the past few days. Slowly gaining his trust and wrapping him around his finger, as if he was a dog on a leash.

And Hyun-Woo slowly fell into the pit, Seong was his only company, but using him more for information and thoughts. Seong was someone he thought was trustable, the only one he could feel vulnerable with.

And that leash on his neck, only clenched on tighter. 

‘Ah.~ It’s easier to mend someone to your liking when they’re all broken.’

With this, he could at least avoid detection for awhile. 

Anyway, Seong wasn’t sure about being able to win a fight with anyone. He was lucky when his first kill was weak, and when his second kill had their strength drained. He had to be incredibly lucky to find another situation like that.

‘Hahhh, I forgot my original purpose was just to watch how other people fight. I need one to happen now-‘

And as if it it read his thoughts, a terrifying boom grabbed his attention.

—BOOOOOM!!!

The battle was deafening his eardrums, just what could be happening for it to be this loud?

Seong covered his ears as he trailed the sound, except he stopped because something zoomed right by him.

—Crash!

‘Oh my god!’ Seong quickly hid himself behind an old pillar, the space was crowded with run-down wooden buildings yet to be destroyed. 

If someone had fire, they could just burn it all down. But it seemed none of them had that kind of ability. The person who got flung was struggling to get up, their skinny body seemed to be bruised.

“Ahaha! You can’t do anything!”

“B-because of you!-“

“Me? Are you telling me to wait?”

The women continued their dogfight. But the one on the ground was totally famished, being overpowered.

—Bam!

She was being held against the ground as the other pushed their knee further into her neck. 

“Why should I wait for you? Even after what you did to my hammer?!”

‘Oh, it’s that girl?’

The woman on the ground groaned, coughing for air. Her trembling hand grasped the leg on top of her, straining with all her strength.

“What’re you trying to do now-“

The cold, stale air started to wave and swirl, the smell of roasted meat—

“AAGHH!!!”

—Skin tingled Seong’s nose.

“Damn you!”

The woman on the floor feebly got up while the other swatted at her singed leg. 

“Unnie, you’re too greedy…”

“Don’t you dare call me that, Min-Hwa!”

Min-Hwa breathed deeply, the air around her got colder as her body started to heat up.

The woman’s eye twitched, she grabbed the rich dirt on the floor and bolted towards Min-Hwa. 

Min-Hwa then shot open her glowing orange eyes, her mouth that leaked glowing embers soon opened to send forth a raging fire.

The woman braced herself against the scolding heat and threw the chunk of moist dirt into Min-Hwa’s mouth.

“Pwa-!”

The raging fire shrunk as its source was suddenly clogged.

Min-Hwa gagged as she coughed up the dirt, like how a cat would cough up a hair ball.

“Min-Hwa…”

—Bash!!!

“Don’t think I’ll fall for your trick twice.”

The woman’s hand clenched tightly as her muscles bulged, Seong admired in awe at her magnificent figure. 

‘Ah~ I need to work harder.’

Seong completely ignored the brutal bashing until his eyes trailed off to the burnt branches. One of them were still lit, but it was a small flame.

‘Ah!’ Seong looked back at them, blood sputtered here and there, but they were distracted. 

Seong sneakily crawled to the burnt branches, taking many of them and the flame into the wrecked house. He compiled the smoked branches together and held the flame above the smoke.

The sparks trailed down the smoke and relit the branches.

—Fwoosh.

Seong blew at the small fire, enlarging it as it trailed across the floor to the wall. 

—Crackle.

As soon as Seong heard that sound, he searched around for something heavy. There was a large wooden pillar leaning against the wall, Seong picked it up and trudged towards the flaming wall.

He then dropped the pillar onto the wall, the pillar hit the wall with a loud thud. With the flames weakening its strength to hold itself up, it fell with the pillar’s force.

—Creaaakkk…

“Huh?” The woman looked up for a moment, dodging the falling wall full of flames. Min-Hwa also moved swiftly, but the wall ended up scraping her ankle.

—Pat!

With the wall hitting against the floor with great force, the fire started to rage as it was hit with sudden air. The fire started to surge, spreading up the house and across the ground, then to the other wooden houses the fire could find to gobble up.

“So you still had another trick up your sleeve?!”

“N-no! Jae-Hee-unnie, I really didn’t-“

“You’re still trying to act innocent?! Look behind you, you’re the one who made that mess! Who else could’ve done it!”

Min-Hwa looked despairingly at the burnt branches, but it shouldn’t have spread that far…

In fact, it wasn’t on fire. There was a strange spot between the fire and this burnt place. Why was this spot not burning like the house?

As her head turned around, a swift fist was aiming straight at her face. 

—Punch!

Min-Hwa tumbled backwards as the sounds of crackling from the burning houses surrounded them.

“Damn it… It’s spreading really fast…”

Min-Hwa hesitated on what to do as she heard Jae-Hee say those words, would it be better to run away? No, she would catch up. But, if she could hide herself within the flames, then she wouldn’t want to get close.

Min-Hwa breathed in to gather the smoke into her lungs, fueling herself with just enough strength to stand up.

Jae-Hee noticed,” You, you’re still fighting?”

“I don’t want to anymore.”

“So?”

Min-Hwa breathed in again, twisting her mouth, she then leaned in on one of her legs.

—Dash!

Min-Hwa dashed through the fire, leaving Jae-Hee behind. 

Instead of fighting, she chose to run away.

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