Chapter 5: CUT. Welcome, Mr. Serial Killer
by fnovelpia
The serial killer woke up.
As he sat up, his head spun.
His mind was a bit foggy and he felt a sense of unease.
Just moments ago, he had been holding an axe, but now he couldn’t feel its handle.
He was about to unleash a massacre in the forest… but this was not the forest.
It was a strange place.
A narrow room filled with rectangular boxes stacked to the brim.
Inside the boxes were videotapes and thin discs of unknown identity.
The discs were horror movie DVDs, but the serial killer had no way of knowing that.
After all, he came from the 1980s, before DVDs were invented.
Where the hell is this?
How did he teleport from the forest to this place?
The killer tried to recall, but nothing specific came to mind.
It was a mystery.
He walked into a space that looked like a bathroom.
Instinctively, he stood in front of the sink mirror.
The reflection revealed an unbelievable truth.
“…This is……”
The face in the mirror was not the killer’s.
It was the face of a boy he had never seen before.
The rough, bearded face was gone.
The arms and legs, once as thick as logs, were now thin.
From a menacing man enveloped in murderous intent, he had become a weakling who looked like he couldn’t even kill a fly.
Despite the shocking situation, the killer suppressed his confusion and composed himself.
He considered himself a hunter of humans, delighting in the screams of his victims.
What he desired was blood.
Broken bones.
Severed flesh.
Gouged out eyeballs…
He must never forget his duty as a killer, no matter the circumstances.
However, in truth, he had never successfully killed anyone.
He possessed the strength to effortlessly snap human necks with his bare hands, but he always failed to kill at the crucial moment.
Yet, he still thought of himself as a ‘killer’.
That’s how he identified himself.
A killer without experience in killing… like a commander who has never served or a racer without a license.
The killer took a disc (DVD) out of the box. It was thin but fairly sturdy.
It looked as if it could be used in the same way as a circular saw blade.
Cutting a neck with this could offer a taste of unique arterial blood.
Holding the disc, he opened the front door.
He saw a woman passing through the corridor.
She was perfect as his first victim.
He decided to kill her first.
By cutting her neck and drinking her blood, he believed he could return to his original world and body.
Despite never having harmed a stranger before, he felt no guilt.
He was a killing machine who thought only of murder.
He approached the woman’s back like a leopard.
Raising the disc, he assumed the posture for murder.
At the critical moment to swing the disc at the woman—the killer found himself frozen in place.
…Why is this woman so tall?
It was the first time he had looked up at someone.
The killer was a giant at 210cm, always looking down on others.
But no longer was he 210cm.
As he was bewildered, the woman turned her head.
“Uh……”
Their eyes met.
She had long, flowing hair, skin so fair it was almost transparent, and a face that was youthful yet seductively charming.
Despite her tall stature, her body was slim.
She was beautiful, but something about her seemed dark.
The long bangs covering about a third of her small face gave her a sinister vibe.
“……”
The woman silently looked down at the killer.
The killer was a ruthless cold-blooded murderer.
It was unthinkable for him to be intimidated by a woman without a weapon.
Yet, the unthinkable happened.
He was completely overpowered by this woman.
“…A <Hostel> Blu-ray disc…?”
The woman said, upon seeing the disc. Her voice was pleasant to hear.
Normally, the killer would have been pleased. He had found prey who would scream beautifully.
But now, he was just sweating profusely.
Slowly, the killer lowered the disc he was holding.
It was a miserable gesture of admitting failure at murder, but the woman misunderstood.
“Oh… are you lending that to me…?”
Before the killer could reply, the woman took the disc.
“Thanks, Yeoreum…”
“Yeoreum?”
“Yeah. Yeoreum. Han Yeoreum… That’s your name, right…?”
“……I’ve never heard it before.”
The woman tilted her head.
“My name is Yu, Yuna Yeon… Ah, you know…?”
“I don’t.”
“We go to the same college… the same film department… I always sit behind you…… don’t you remember…?”
“I don’t.”
“We’re also in the same elective courses…”
“I don’t know.”
Was the original owner of this body acquainted with her?
Yuna Yeon closed the distance between them.
Up close, the difference in height was very apparent.
“I… I live right next to you… But we’ve never talked until now… Hehe… and now we’re talking like this…”
“I don’t know you.”
“Ahaha… Anyway, thanks for talking to me…”
The killer imagined in his head knocking down this woman, Yuna Yeon, and cutting her throat.
But he found it hard to even imagine properly.
Yuna Yeon was too tall.
If he acted rashly, he might get overpowered instead.
For the first time in his life, the killer felt intimidated by a woman.
An overwhelming sense of intimidation.
“When you presented your assignment… Yeoreum, the screenplay you wrote was really interesting… I recorded it and listened to it over and over again… Hehe, Yeoreum, you might be a genius…”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“Playing dumb… Thanks for lending me the <Hostel> Blu-ray disc… But, I don’t have a Blu-ray player at my place…”
Yuna Yeon glanced at the killer’s home.
The eyes of a criminal that didn’t match her beauty.
It felt incongruous.
“Ye, Yeoreum, you have a Blu-ray player at your place, right…?”
“Blu-ray player? What’s that?”
“I saw it in your living room the other time… Ah, I didn’t mean to look on purpose, just happened to see it while passing by…”
A good plan crossed the killer’s mind.
To lure Yuna Yeon into his house.
He could catch her off guard and then pull out a kitchen knife to stab her to death.
The mutilation would be thrilling.
“If you need it, take it.”
“Uh… really…?”
“Yes.”
The killer opened the door to his home, like a spider drawing prey into its web.
“No, no…! I can’t accept something so expensive…!!”
Yuna Yeon waved her hands in refusal.
He didn’t know what a Blu-ray player was, but it must be something valuable.
If she couldn’t accept it, then she could borrow it.
Pleased by the killer’s kindness, Yuna Yeon blushed and nodded with a shy smile.
The killer suppressed his laughter.
Foolish. Walking into a dreadful death.
“Wow…!”
Yuna Yeon exclaimed as she looked around the room.
<Evil Dead>, <Terrifier>, <The Omen>, <Sleepaway Camp>, <Silent Hill>, <The Purge>…
Horror movie DVDs and videos surrounded the room like the outer walls of the Colosseum.
The original owner of this body liked horror movies quite a bit.
“So many horror films…! We have the same taste…!”
Yuna Yeon sat on the floor, excited like a kid at an amusement park.
“Hehe… It’s my first time in a boy’s home…”
“A boy? Do I look like a child to you?”
“Oops… Sorry…”
Yuna Yeon glanced at the killer.
“But Yeoreum… how tall are you…?”
“Height? 6 feet 8 inches.”
6 feet 8 inches. That is, 210cm.
Because he was American, he used the imperial system.
“6 feet 8 inches…? Is that around 160cm? From what I know, Yeoreum, you’re 159.2cm… Ah, I found that out by chance by the way…”
Damn woman. Why ask if you know.
Not only was this body pathetically weak, but it was also short.
The killer felt desperate.
“Ahaha… I… I wish I could give you some of my height… I’m 185cm… too tall for a woman, right…? That’s why my high school nickname was ‘Eight-Feet-Tall Ghost’…”
So what.
The killer went to the kitchen and drew a knife.
The sharp blade seemed to cry out for blood.
With the knife raised, he approached Yuna Yeon.
What kind of scream would burst forth when he sliced her white nape?
Holding the knife, the killer stood proudly in front of Yuna Yeon.
Come on, let’s see that pretty face of yours contort.
…But Yuna Yeon did not scream.
She didn’t even look horrified.
Staring blankly at the killer, she suddenly clapped her hands and exclaimed.
“Correct, Michael Myers…!”
“What?”
“Are you, are you doing a Michael Myers impression…? From <Halloween>… Ahaha…”
Yuna Yeon got up and approached.
She smiled pleasantly and patted the killer on the head.
The killer was dumbfounded. He felt like a petted dog.
Yuna Yeon suddenly pulled her hand away, startled.
“Ah, sorry…! It was so cute I did it without thinking…”
“What’s cute?”
“Ye, Yeoreum’s face… your personality is cute too… even your sleeping habits are cute… and it’s so cute that you look innocent but like horror movies…”
The killer was shocked as if struck by lightning.
He had always been an object of fear.
A man so fierce that he could commit murder with his gaze alone.
To be called cute.
It felt like a total denial of his being.
“Did… did that upset you…? I… I meant it as a compliment…”
“……”
“Am I too forward…? I went to all-girls’ schools, so I never had the chance to make male friends… Of course, I also had no friends to talk about horror movies with…”
The killer put the knife back.
The desire to commit murder vanished.
Now, he just wanted to be alone.
He told Yuna Yeon to get lost.
She looked visibly disappointed.
“Yeoreum… If you’re ever bored… I live right next door, so come over… Let’s watch horror movies together…”
A blush spread across Yuna Yeon’s pale face.
After hastily sending her away, he slammed the front door shut.
He decided to put murder on hold for now.
Committing murder in this body, in this world, was absurd.
Returning to his original world, the 1980s America, was the top priority.
But before going back, he was determined to kill that woman, Yuna Yeon.
He would definitely give her the worst death possible.
The killer made this vow.
0 Comments