episode_0283

Sagagakㅡ.

It was the sound of fingernails or something tapping the floor.

Or, it was the sound of a giant raccoon crawling across the walls and ceiling.

… … .

Sagak…

Today, too, the peaceful ‘Saetbyeol Apartment’.

The quiet scent of grass comes in through the slightly open window.

The scent of grass that had once ventilated the hallway disappeared up the stairs to the 10th floor.

The hallway was dark. It was as if something black had covered the ceiling, and the light that was supposed to illuminate the hallway was blocked by something.

A ‘something’ that moves like waves mimics a shadow in the dark hallway.

Sagak-.

Summer is over.

A mosquito traveling in search of the lost heat.

A forest mosquito with three white lines on its thin lower abdomen enters an apartment through a slightly open window.

A mosquito that had been quietly looking around the 9th floor hallway of ‘Saetbyeol Apartment’ flew up the hallway as if possessed by something.

It was a strange smell.

A warm smell of blood, something I’ve never smelled before.

I want to suck the blood of that smelly owner even if it means giving up my life.

The mosquito flew towards the tightly closed ‘Room 904’, disregarding even its own life.

Sagak-.

The mosquito was happy.

I flew in the direction the smell of blood led me.

Square… square.

The mosquito would have been happy.

Sagagakㅡ. Knock knockㅡ.

Even though ‘small bugs’ fall one by one from the dark ceiling and gnaw at his back,

Even if my wings are eaten away and I fall to the ground,

The mosquito would have been happy, buried in the warm scent of blood.

『Only those listed in the ‘Landlord’s Manual’ are allowed to suck her. Read the manual carefully.』

Those were the last words heard by a mosquito whose entire body was eaten by black bugs.

Sagak-.

A girl in a pitch-black gothic lolita dress.

‘That thing’, blindfolded by an antique lace parasol, moves gracefully down from the 10th floor.

The leisurely sound of insect footsteps can be heard inside the floor-length, billowy skirt.

“Is it time for my companion to come out soon…?”

The girl who entered the 9th floor hallway… [Bug Princess] looked around and twisted the corners of her mouth.

The hallway was a mess.

The windows are cracked like spiderwebs, the windowsills creak, and the ceiling and floor of the ninth-floor hallway are cracked as if a major earthquake had passed through.

Knock knock…

[Bug Princess], who stopped in the middle of the stairs coming down from the 10th floor to the 9th floor, looks down at the messy 9th floor.

This is the result of the ‘rabbit monsters’ fighting each other to the death.

It’s so sad to see them fighting over the fact that fakes should die, even though they’re all fake.

I still clearly remember the image of the old security guard who came up to the 9th floor late at night, laughing heartily and biting his lower lip.

Thud…

A bit of gravel falls uneasily from the ceiling.

It was as if a bomb had exploded, but no noise was heard in the Galaxy House.

Maybe the hallway and each house are different spaces in themselves.

『Still… I guess you’re not a proper human being since you damaged this apartment.』

Neither human nor monster.

It’s interesting, but I’m not really interested.

Because that rabbit is not ‘my’ story.

Strictly speaking, it is the story of Eunha and [Doll Girl].

Binggleㅡ.

I turned the umbrella clockwise.

At that moment, the door to ‘Room 904’ opened and a warm-smelling woman ran out.

Boom!

“Receive a gift.”

“Ah, Red… Hello, Eunhong. What kind of gift is it?”

“Me.”

“I don’t think it’s something you can say while sitting down and looking down on someone.”

Eunha collapses on the cracked corridor caused by the fight between the ‘rabbits’.

Following this, a woman in a pure white dress who came out of ‘Room 904’ climbs on top of Eunha and looks down with a sullen face.

Sagak-.

[Bug Princess] secretly watched the two women.

The ‘cross decoration’ on the pure white dress of the [Red Woman], who is sitting on the Milky Way, catches the eye.

“Why the sudden gift…”

“The rabbit gave me a present too. It’s my turn.”

“… … Oh. Did you see that?”

The galaxy underneath tried hard to push away, but its weak strength only tickled.

Is the light in [Red Woman’s] eyes a light affection or a heavy possessiveness?

Shiver…

But the galaxy couldn’t do that.

The tips of my fingers began to tremble slightly, perhaps because I remembered the time I got my butt chopped off in the bathroom.

But, not wanting to show my trembling face to the monster in front of me, I hide my trembling hands behind my back.

Swish.

Eunha lying on the floor with both hands hidden behind her back.

The woman looking down at her, who had become even more defenseless, smacks her lips.

“Ha. The resentment is building up.”

“Huh?… Ahem. If I give you myself as a gift, does that mean… that I should call you later if I need you?”

“No.”

“… … ?”

“Even if you don’t call, I’ll come if you need me.”

Because I am yours.

I didn’t say it out loud.

Before she could even utter those words, the woman’s face was already as red as a carrot.

Because there was no more room for embarrassment.

Po-ok.

As her name suggests, she became the Red Lady and took over the galaxy.

『… … Huh, really… What’s so good about that blind thing?』

A morning with drifting clouds.

[Bug Princess] sat on the stairs and killed time.

The girl’s expression was hidden behind the parasol.

… … .

Beep!

After a while.

[The Red Woman] left, and Eunha put on her boxy shirt.

Then, a polar bear came closer, howling, and waved its hand vigorously.

[Doll Girl] approaches with pure eyes.

As he is held in the embrace of the galaxy, the soft polar bear’s cheeks are pressed like a steamed bun.

“Oh my. Is it because it’s a holiday? There are a lot of customers since morning.”

“milk.”

“If you suddenly start a fight, it hurts my feelings. I decided to go to [Crack Field] with people I know today?”

“cow.”

“Ah, you were just saying it slowly.”

『Amazing. You can call your friends even if you say it separately.』

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

It hurts because it’s pure.

Galaxy, who was laughing, patted the [Doll Girl] who was jumping up and down.

『… … .』

September 12th.

The holiday is back, the day to go to [Crack Field].

There is still some time left until the time we were supposed to meet up with our group.

Galaxy, who got up from the dark hallway, is very fond of the polar bear in her arms.

… … Boom. Boom.

How much time has passed like that?

The ‘rabbit stuffed animal’ approaches from behind and takes a step closer to Eunha.

A neatly sewn, pure white rabbit doll.

It’s a cautious gesture, like touching a glass craft… with concerns about whether it’s okay for her to be here.

“… … .”

Eunha turned her head at the strange gaze.

She put down [Doll Girl], raised her heavy body, and approached the ‘Rabbit Doll’.

There was no word.

Is it because I don’t have the courage to have a conversation?

Po-ok.

Eunha has a complex smile engraved on her lips,

I warmly hugged the ‘rabbit doll’ that was standing there as if it had committed a sin.

The startled rabbit lowers its head in silence.

“It’s okay.”

The galaxy speaks.

Words that come out like a conditioned reflex.

It was a given for Eunha, but

It must have been a very warm word to the rabbit.

『… … .』

Beep beep…

The rabbit that Eunha held hugged her quietly.

… … .

… … thud.

“hmm?”

Parsac.

Then suddenly,

I heard a strange sound from under my feet.

[Bug Princess], who had been watching with interest, poked her head out from the landing.

“Oh? Huh? ”

It’s nothing special.

The 9th floor hallway is in chaos due to the rabbits fighting.

The walls and floors were cracked here and there, as if a bomb had exploded.

Kurururung…!

There, the wall that Galaxy leaned against without thinking, while embracing the rabbit girl,

It’s just the sound of a pass collapsing.

“Ah. My apartment.”

Bam!

I pushed the rabbit in my arms.

The galaxy, pushed in the opposite direction by the recoil, falls outwards along with the shattered wall.

『Galaxy…!!』

The pushed rabbit reached out his hand urgently.

But that was only for a moment, as the fluffy bunny doll witnessed a view from beyond the broken hallway… nine stories high.

A great height.

Fall to death.

The feeling of my body floating and my body struggling helplessly.

The dizzying feeling of a solid floor looming right in front of you.

『Hehe…!』

The rabbit unconsciously retracted the tip of his outstretched hand.

Beep!

The rabbit’s wax wings were torn off because of the fear of falling.

Just like it happened at [Cheongryong Department Store] one day.

I could only watch the galaxy fall.

“Uh…! It’s okay!”

Even though I fell from the 9th floor,

Eunha waves her hand and smiles brightly as if everything is okay.

“I won’t die…!”

Hot!

At the same time,

‘Someone’ who was loitering in the hallway on the 8th floor right below,

He quickly grabbed the falling galaxy’s ankle and stopped it.

… … .

Kkudangtang!

Things that fell from the 9th floor hallway landed in the flower bed behind the apartment.

An eerie vibration pierces the eardrums of the galaxy.

“… … .”

Wide open 8th floor hallway windows.

A slender hand stretched out from there and grabbed the ankle of the falling galaxy.

If someone hadn’t caught me, I would have ended up like the debris from the building that fell first.

Of course, I’ve fallen a few times before, so I know how it hurts… but isn’t there a saying that familiar tastes scary?

Eunha hesitated and lowered her head to check who was holding her ankle.

… but my vision was blocked by her large chest.

I had no choice but to release the strength from my body and look up at the ground.

Because I was hanging upside down, the blood rushed to my face and it felt hot.

“Don’t get hurt by things other than what’s in the guide.”

“… … The person downstairs?”

“Don’t even remember.”

‘Something’ looking down at the galaxy with a dissatisfied face.

Galaxy’s downstairs neighbor.

I don’t know your face. I don’t know your voice.

Even if I try to remember, it disappears from my mind like a white wave passing by.

Thud…!

However, it took more strength than you can imagine to catch a falling person.

Urgh! Urgh!

The ankle bone of the galaxy that [Saint of Oblivion] was holding is crushed by the impact.

The pain of flesh and muscle being torn apart.

My body trembles at the sight of the blood flowing down my calf.

But I endured it. It could be traumatic for the rabbit.

Eunha bit her finger hard to keep herself from moaning.

‘Don’t get hurt by anything other than what’s in the guide… Okay. Since you saved my life this time, I’ll die smiling this time.’

If it’s the person living downstairs, I can kill them.

Eunha blankly looked up at the backyard of the apartment where she almost fell.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

You can see ‘stuffed dolls’ in various animal shapes.

They are huddled together in a place where the galaxy will fall, with their arms stretched high into the sky.

Are you trying to catch me?

It looks like it’s trying to at least act as a cushion.

[Doll Girl] called her friends.

“Those… those cuties…!”

Still, wasn’t I just suffering in vain in this apartment?

I have a lot of friends.

『… … .』

Eunha looked at the dolls with a happy heart.

Stuffed dolls gathered in a huddle…

In the meantime, I made eye contact with a woman in a red dress who was shoving away the ‘dolls’ that were bumping into me with their chubby faces.

“That… That kid…!”

“what?”

“No, cutie! You too cutie!”

“……joy.”

[The Red Woman], with her head turned sharply, pushes the ‘dolls’ and enters the center.

The galaxy stops at the point where it is about to fall.

I guess I won’t die.

Eunha took out her cell phone one by one.

“What are you doing.”

“Who would be hanging on the outside wall of an apartment building with only their ankles held? We should take a commemorative photo.”

Crackle!

Once broken, the ankle begins to tear under the weight of the galaxy.

The blood flowing out, the pain. And the pain.

But pretend it’s okay.

Click!

Knock knock!

Soon, with the sound of a photo being taken, the ankle that [Saint of Oblivion] was holding onto was torn,

The galaxy fell quietly into the pile of ‘stuffed dolls’ waiting below.

Beep!!

The sound of a worthless doll.

It was surprisingly fluffy.

Of course, what was inside the ‘stuffed doll’ was bones and flesh,

Even if a person falls on another person, how much of a shock will it be?

Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

Kkudangtang!

‘Okay. Let’s do our best today too… I almost died this morning, but I didn’t. I gained a life, so I’ll feel less resentful if I die once today.’

Today is a holiday.

[Crack Field] The day we go exploring.

A galaxy that fell in the backyard of an apartment.

She looked up at the clear sky as she was hugged by [the Red Woman] who pushed past the other ‘stuffed toys’ and approached her.

It feels good from the start.

It’s a good day.

… … .

… … .

Sagak-.

The sound of bugs.

The noise of watching quietly.

『… … .』

[Bug Princess] raised the corners of her mouth.

In the 9th floor hallway where the galaxy had fallen, a ‘rabbit doll’ was sitting there in a daze, looking desperate.

The noise of all kinds of resentment piling up.

It sounded like the footsteps of an insect.

It’s a sound that a mischievous girl likes.

『… … Sister, I… was going to…』

I pass the muttering rabbit and head downstairs.

Behind [Bug Princess], who is elegantly descending the stairs, a tiny bumblebee cautiously descends.

It’s so hot.

The sound of bright yellow castanets.

The sound of crickets that I once smelled.

I remember the story of leaving.

“You will still laugh even without us. The story will continue even without us.”

The ‘black bug’ brings to mind the galaxy.

Sagak-.

Always smiling and saying it’s okay,

He said that anything was fine as long as it didn’t hurt and didn’t really resist.

[Bug Princess] liked the galaxy.

Because it reminded me of the past.

『… … .』

However, sometimes,

That kind of positive happiness of the galaxy, that smile that says it’s okay,

It feels like a kind of self-abandonment,

Could it be just an illusion?

『Yu thought the current distance was enough… but it wasn’t.』

[Bug Princess] looked out the window.

[The Red Woman] is seen hugging the safely fallen galaxy.

A ‘cross decoration’ is visible on her side.

“You will laugh even without Yu… Yu cannot laugh without you.”

It’s funny.

Sagak-.

Today is a holiday. The day the galaxy goes to a place called [Crack Field].

The ‘black bug’ left the apartment with the corners of its lips raised seductively.

… … .

… … .

“Galaxy, you’re here… Why are you limping on one leg?”

“I sprained my ankle on the way out of the apartment.”

7:55 am.

An ankle injury is a minor thing.

Eunha greeted Banharin in front of the meeting place, [Rabbit Latte].

First, we plan to gather here and then take Banharin’s car and move to [Crack Field] together.

Banharin, who was touching the ‘inverted cross hairpin’, approached the limping Eunha and helped her up.

“There are still 5 minutes left? What about everyone else?”

“The mouse is in the car trunk, Kim Sa-rang hasn’t come yet.”

“Why are you putting people in the trunk?”

“The trunk is a space for storing luggage.”

“That’s why.”

“When I put it like this, I feel at ease because it feels like it’s where it’s supposed to be.”

Po-ok!

Eunha, who had hit Banharin’s side hard, opened the trunk and took out the ‘mouse’.

The ‘mouse’, freed from the boss’s absurdity, wrapped its thin tail around Eunha’s waist and expressed its gratitude.

The rat’s tail, with the ‘inverted cross ring’ attached, sways gently.

“Can I hug you?”

“I already have it.”

“More here.”

“Like.”

Kwaaak…

Meanwhile, Banharin puts the carrier that Eunha brought into the trunk that contained the ‘mouse’.

She checked the time on her phone and ‘observed’ her surroundings.

Now, all that needs to happen is for Kim Sa-rang to come.

The destination is [Goryongsan Crack Field].

He said he would arrive right on time, but do you really think he will arrive at 8 o’clock sharp, the appointed time?

Bouwaangㅡ.

While I was thinking that, a luxury sedan that looked expensive at first glance approached the cafe.

There was about a minute left until the appointment time.

As the car bumper slowly approaches, Eunha, who had been hit by a car before, takes a step back.

Squeak.

Soon, in a sedan that stopped in the parking lot, [Changcheon Swordsman] guild scout… Hunter Jeong So-ra opens the driver’s door and waves to Eun-ha.

“Hello, Eunha! Please take good care of our idiot today!”

“It’s been a while, Jeong So-ra… What about Kim Sa-rang?”

“Just a moment!”

Rattling.

Jeong So-ra opened the trunk, shouting brightly.

Kim Sa-rang, who had been in the trunk, crawls out wearing a black dobok.

Are trunks in fashion?

Or maybe there are two pieces of luggage.

I thought the galaxy was just a trend.

“Hey… Do you have motion sickness medicine?”

“Why are you coming out of the trunk?”

“I just finished my closed-door training.”

That’s the concept.

I stopped asking any more questions.

Scout Jeong So-ra, who came looking for the guild leader’s daughter with her in her trunk, looks amazing.

“Phew… I got a word from the guild leader.”

“… … ?”

“[Crack Field] is a dangerous place where lives are at stake. So, if Sarangi doesn’t listen or does something dangerous, don’t hesitate to scold her.”

“Huh? Yeah, what.”

“And the guild leader said let’s have a ‘family’ meal next time. If you tell me a good time, I’ll come pick you up.”

“Huh? Yeah… What.”

“Galaxy’s way.”

“Huh?”

“Can I say something?”

“Yes.”

“It’s okay for you to be right.”

“What.”

Jeong So-ra put her hand on her forehead as if trying to relieve her headache.

Galaxy also touched her forehead.

Soon after, Jeong So-ra approaches Kim Sa-rang, who is absentmindedly touching her beloved sword, and taps her shoulder.

“Okay, love. What do you need to watch out for?”

“Mouth and snout.”

“Okay. If you just shut your mouth, you’re beautiful.”

“How can I be a beauty when the Milky Way is right next to me?”

A strange conversation.

After a while, Scout Jeong So-ra said goodbye to Eun-ha and drove off like the wind in the sedan she had come in.

Looks like you’re busy with guild work.

[Changcheon Sword Master] The guild leader’s only daughter went on an exploration of the [Rift Field], but no one followed her. It seems that Kim Sa-rang went along to Eunha’s [Rift Field] exploration because she was too busy.

‘So, are we leaving now?… Just a moment.’

Stop.

Eunha looks at the ‘inverted cross keychain’ attached to the handle of Kim Sa-rang’s favorite sword.

She looked at the various aspects of the [Crack Field] exploration that she undertook today.

Banharin, ‘Mouse’, Kim Sa-rang…

… … Aren’t they all people who have ‘opened their eyes’ to the monster?

“Are you okay…?”

I thought positively.

Even if another person were to come in among these people, it would certainly be unsettling, and they would only be anxious about when they would open their eyes.

Eunha thought positively.

Something will work out.

“It’s time to go. I’ll drive, so Eunha, you can get in the passenger seat.”

“Galaxy Doryeo will be riding in the back seat with me, so how can you say something like that?”

The weather is clear.

The mind is also clear.

Kim Sa-rang’s mind is also clear.

Rattling. Rattling.

“… … Yeah. Aren’t there four of us? Who else is in the trunk?”

“I guess it’s trendy.”

Sagak-.

Eunha got into Banharin’s car, passing the sound of bugs scratching her eardrums.