episode_0339

I’ve lived with a noose around my neck.

In the most literal sense.

…….

I strangled myself over academics.

The [Euncheon Academy] that the association had transferred me to.

I didn’t even last a year before writing my withdrawal letter.

I strangled myself over love.

I had no family, and instead became a deranged woman playing house with aberrations that tried to kill me.

I strangled myself over festering resentment.

I carried the [Black Book] in my suitcase wherever I went.

The mounting hatred.

Though the reasons for them all differed, the suffocating weight that made me bow my head was the same—

So Eunha saw them as lifelines cast down to her.

“Huu…”

Academics, love, hatred—

Like the rope in old folktales.

Could holding on and clinging to them bring happiness?

Creak…

The lifeline she barely managed to grasp.

She lacked the resolve to cling to it desperately.

So instead, Eunha fashioned the rope into a noose and hung it around her neck.

She didn’t want to let go.

Creak… Crack…

But reality wasn’t a fairy tale, and there was no one to pull the rope up from the heavens—

So Eunha climbed the very rope she had hung herself with.

At least she didn’t have to worry about falling.

Even if she lost her grip, only her neck would hurt a little.

And then she’d climb right back up again.

‘What am I even thinking? Is my brain lacking oxygen?’

Creak…

Turning the rope into a noose.

In this case, the noose likely referred to the [Self-Recovery] skill.

Even if she faltered, it would force her to cling to the rope—

Making her hold on, lest her throat tighten if she let go—

An inescapable noose until she finally climbed to the unreachable sky.

“Kkh—! Keh-hek!”

She climbed the rope alongside her wishes.

To safely complete the promotion exam.

To avoid hurting others.

To live as a hunter.

……To be happy.

“Keh-hhk…! Whew… What a waste. It keeps coming undone… Maybe this isn’t the right way to tie it?… I should just make a ribbon knot. Ribbons are pretty.”

Living with something wrapped around your neck.

For Eunha, it was a familiar routine.

…….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Don’t stare at a bad ending.

– There are many ways to end a life. But most endings won’t be pleasant.

– Have you encountered someone who met such an ending during your hike?

– Bow deeply and distance yourself quickly so it cannot see you.

– If it hangs from a branch, it wishes for you to stand at eye level with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘This… is a nightmare.’

The thick-headed golden boy of [Heaven-Sword Sect].

A woman who, despite making long-term plans, often forgets them, living literally day by day.

D-Rank hunter Kim Sarang was convinced she was trapped in a nightmare.

…….

“Listen here, punk! This master has captured suspicious cultists! Summon the constables for their trial.”

Minutes earlier, after the outer walls of [Goryongsan Breach] crumbled from a bomb attack—

When she sliced the fleeing team leader Jang Min’s car clean in half, Kim Sarang had been in high spirits.

Her mother Kim Hayang and Eunha would praise her for doing well.

Even as she handed the captives over to the checkpoint staff, she swaggered with pride, boasting about finally doing something worthy of a sword demon.

“Then this master shall reinforce the collapsed eastern breach! The western side will be handled by Her Majesty Mother.”

“Ah, understood, Hunter! May I ask your—”

“This master has no name… Only the title of Sword Demon, the Ghost-Blade… Call me Sword Demon.”

“………Huh? But that’s…”

“Then this master takes leave—Adios.”

Spouting her pre-prepared line blindly, she turned toward the eastern sector.

Jjongi would be fine in the car with scout Jeong Sora, who was surely calling for backup from [Heaven-Sword Sect].

Tak!

Not the dull ‘hunt’ of her promotion exam, but a true ‘battle’ against the hordes of monsters flooding through the collapsed wall.

The unfamiliar yet exhilarating thrum of her heart filled her with anticipation.

‘Eunha, my Dao Companion, will be fine. She’s far hardier than this master.’

Swoosh—!

She sprinted full speed along the perimeter of the breach, tracing the ruined eastern wall.

“…….”

But what awaited Kim Sarang—

Standing before the gaping hole in the breach—

Was a woman dressed in pure white.

Her mood soured the moment she saw her.

“You are—”

“You shouldn’t go in.”

The thing blocking her path with an impassive face, halting Kim Sarang’s frontline charge.

A silver cross adorned the white robe’s hip.

Whoosh—

Suspicious.

Kim Sarang drew her sword.

“Who are you?”

“…Don’t remember? We see each other at the café every day.”

“An assassin from Yukshidangga?”

“Tsk… I warned you. Don’t go in.”

The woman stood guard before the breach.

Rather than facing the incoming monsters inside, she stared toward the outskirts—where Kim Sarang had come from.

As if to bar entry into the breach itself.

Clang—!

A primal instinct screamed not to recklessly raise her sword.

Kim Sarang sheathed her blade and flicked her pitch-black martial sleeves.

“……Why stand in my way?”

“Eunha would be sad.”

“Why would my Dao Companion Eunha— Wait, where is she? Is she alright?”

“…….”

The white-clad woman didn’t answer.

She merely stepped aside, expression unchanging, as if she’d done the bare minimum.

Plop…

Perched lazily on the rubble, the thing stared blankly.

“Fine. Go in if you want. I won’t stop you now. Nor anyone else.”

“…….”

“But… if you cross here, everyone but you will die.”

She didn’t understand.

Kim Sarang stepped past the [Woman in White] and entered the breach.

…….

Swishhh—

As she traversed the breach’s usual fog-veiled terrain—

The first thing she felt was a biting cold that pierced her skin.

Like a spring breeze reversing course, ushering in winter.

[Goryongsan Breach] was inexplicably frozen over.

‘Why… is it so quiet?’

Inside, there was no sound at all.

No footsteps of monsters flooding through the broken walls,

No rustling of leaves,

Not even the faintest whisper of wind.

Her vision was clear, but the absence of noise—

Made it feel as if she’d stepped into a stifling, cramped corridor.

“……Huu…”

So quiet it threatened to deafen her.

Taking an exaggerated deep breath, Kim Sarang tightened her grip on her sword and pressed forward.

Crunch. Crunch.

Had her footsteps always echoed this loudly?

She muted them in the frigid silence.

‘No signs of life. No monsters’ steps… It’s eerily still.’

All she saw were budding sprouts.

Trees lush with verdant leaves.

Yet the air was icy.

As her eyes traced the uphill path, dense foliage obstructed her sight.

“…….”

Suffocating.

Would slashing down every tree bring relief?

Crunch. Crunch.

Her footsteps were bizarrely clamorous.

She began ascending the ridge.

‘Silent. Did no monsters come this way?’

As if disturbing this deathly quiet was forbidden.

Goryongsan, brimming with new life, lay as barren as winter.

Something was wrong.

…Creak…

Then—

A sound reached her.

The groan of a heavy weight swinging from a branch.

A noise that shattered the frozen silence.

Kim Sarang’s ears locked onto it instantly.

The direction—somewhere beyond the dense thicket.

Heading there might yield answers.

Thud. Thud.

Not the heartbeat of anticipation before battle—

But the clammy throb of dread.

“……Huu… Right. Checking anomalies in breaches is part of a hunter’s duties, I remember.”

Steeling herself, Kim Sarang ventured toward the overgrown woods.

…….

Creak. Crack.

Crack.

Creak.

Gak. Creak.

Creak. Crack.

And then she saw them.

Monsters,

Hanged from the trees.

“Ugh… Heup…”

She stifled her breath.

Was this why there had been no sound?

Flattened against the ground, she lifted her head in slow, staggered motions.

Creak… Crack…

The dangling feet of the suspended monsters swayed in an absent wind.

‘A nightmare. This is a nightmare.’

She’d seen monster corpses before.

Had slain countless with her own hands.

Creak…

Crack. Creak.

Crack… Crack…

But these monsters, hanged like meat in a slaughterhouse—

Were so foreign, so chilling—

That it stole her breath.

‘Danger danger danger danger.’

Primal instinct screamed at her to flee.

She needed to escape.

Kim Sarang began crawling on all fours, slinking out of the woods.

Creak… Crack…

Retreating toward the eastern breach.

She had to go back.

Creak…

But even in the stretch she had just crossed, corpses now swung from the trees.

Monsters that hadn’t been there moments ago.

Kim Sarang crawled beneath the hanging bodies.

Creak… Crack…

Horrible sounds echoed behind her as she crept forward.

The cacophony of countless monsters’ final moments.

In her peripheral vision, countless dangling feet swayed.

If she didn’t look up, she’d be fine.

Kim Sarang slithered beneath them.

Thud—!

“Eeek—!”

The sound of something falling beside her.

Had the rope snapped?

She crawled forward without turning.

“Grrraaagh—!”

Scratch scratch—!

The fallen monster scrambled toward her on all fours before vanishing into a [Pitch-Black Pit] in the ground.

Clenching her teeth, Kim Sarang pressed on.

First [Euncheon Academy], now this—why did she always run into terrifying things?

Creak…

And then, at that moment—

Crack…

As Kim Sarang crawled beneath the dangling feet—

Ggroooan—

One of the swaying bodies’ feet—

Brushed her back.

“…….”

…….

Thud!

The hanging monster stepped onto her back.

It was alive.

Astoundingly.

“Ghhhaaak! Uwaaah!!”

It had found footing.

The noose strangling it loosened somewhat.

The monster standing atop Kim Sarang’s back.

It inhaled sharply before unleashing a terrified scream.

“Kyaaaaah!!”

The touch against her back was the creeping chill of the dying.

The monster, now standing atop Kim Sarang, exhaled its held breath—

And instinctively, she screamed too, flailing wildly as she scrambled forward.

Creak!

“Kehk!”

Then came the horrifying sound behind her.

The dying screech of a monster bereft of footing—truly gruesome.

“Eek—!!”

She didn’t care anymore.

She wanted out of this damned forest—now.

Snap!

If she didn’t look, she’d be fine.

Kim Sarang squeezed her eyes shut and charged ahead blindly.

Crack! Creak!

Monsters bumped against her.

Gurgling sounds.

This was a nightmare.

She barreled forward, shoving past the barely-alive bodies.

Crack! Graaak!

“Sorry! Really damn sorry!!”

And so Kim Sarang—

Apologizing to the monsters she jostled, keeping her eyes shut even as she crashed into trees—

Ran blindly—

Squelch.

And plunged face-first into something soft and warm.

“Eep—!”

Thud.

Startled, she recoiled and collapsed onto her rear.

The familiar plushness.

That warmth she’d buried herself in before.

……Surely not.

“…….”

Still on the ground, she hesitantly lifted her head.

Kim Sarang peeled open her tightly shut eyes—

And cautiously looked up.

…Creak.

Crack.

Familiar shoes

Swayed gently before her.

“Uhh… Eunha… Eunh—…”

Where had it all gone wrong?

She couldn’t tell.

『…Kehek…… Run…』

The suffocating voice from above left her gasping for air.

Hic—

Hrk.

From afar, the creaking of monstrous necks snapping rang like phantom echoes.

『No one… can enter…』

A nightmare.

For the monsters.

For Kim Sarang.

…….

…….

She’d had a nightmare.

About Eunha, wiping out every monster that swarmed the eastern breach.

On the surface, it sounded like proud news—but why did Eunha have to paint such a gruesome picture?

Now, for a while, Eunha would haunt Kim Sarang’s dreams.

“Waaahhh—!!”

A moment later,

Kim Sarang dashed down the ridge with all her might.

Toward the collapsed eastern breach.

Eunha stayed behind in the forest, saying there was more to clean up.

Apparently, more monsters would soon arrive from the west.

“Waaaahhh—!”

Thud!

She screamed.

Because it was too quiet.

That was the only reason.

Rustle…

“Eeek?!”

From the brush ahead, an insectoid monster emerged.

Perhaps it had slipped past Eunha’s massacre earlier, lurking as it awaited its brethren.

Skree!

The monster raised its claws at the wailing Kim Sarang.

Crack! Bam!

In an instant, Kim Sarang seized its forelimb, twisted it backward, and yanked it into a crushing embrace.

“Waaaahhh—! You’re alive! You’re alive!!”

“Skree?!”

It wasn’t just the limb that broke.

Forgotten was the cold-blooded, frost-handed sword demon act—reverted to an ordinary academy student, Kim Sarang hugged the monster tightly, savoring proof of life.

A living monster.

How terrifying.

“Waaaahhh—! Now die—!”

Crack!

Having vented enough, Kim Sarang—

Drove her knee into its side, snapping its ribs instantly, then hurled the corpse aside as she bolted for the breach.

Right. This was how monsters should die.

Not strung up like grotesque slabs of meat.

This was all Eunha’s fault.

She’d smush her to pulp at the café later.

“……Tch.”

At the breach, the [Red Dame] perched on the rubble, clicking her tongue as she returned from patrol.

The impassive woman.

Perhaps finally realizing she’d escaped the nightmare,

Kim Sarang—having sprinted nonstop—slumped before the Red Dame and let out a pitiful wail.

Maybe her tear ducts had weakened since Jjongi’s near-death incident.

Or maybe she just needed to scream.

“Waaaahhh—!”

“…….”

The weeping sword demon, smeared with the blood of the monster she’d slain, crumpled onto the ground, calling for Eunha.

Perhaps it was too pitiful to watch.

Silently observing from the rubble, the Red Dame—

Whoosh…

Rose to her feet,

Reached out toward Kim Sarang as if to embrace her—

“Waaaahhh—ah wah wah wah!!”

—and proceeded to flap the loudly sobbing girl’s mouth open and shut repeatedly.

You know, that trick.

The one that makes kids cry even harder.

“Stop.”

“Wah wah wah—! You psycho!!”

“Right. Kids shouldn’t cry.”

Was she actually insane?

“Ah… Delicious. Crying for us. A rare sight… So Eunha herself made someone cry for the first time.”

“Shut up!!”

Kim Sarang was miserable.

The most miserable day in recent memory.

…….

…….

“……And so. If you wish to pass, you must first defeat this master.”

Thus, shortly after—

Eyes reddened from crying, Kim Sarang—

Channeling her overflowing misery, stood firm before the breach, blocking the hunters trying to enter.

“……That uniform. Aren’t you Kim Hayang’s daughter from [Heaven-Sword Sect]? Shouldn’t you be guarding the inside against monsters? Why stop us? At least explain.”

“It’s just…”

Skreeee—

“W-wait! Look over there!”

“……! Holy—, everyone, run!”

Skreeeeech…!

From the fog of the breach surged a [Swarm of Pitch-Black Bugs],

Like a tide, sealing the broken walls anew with ‘barricades’—

At that very moment.

…….

…….

What’s the best repairman in the world?

Probably ‘bugs’.

“……And you are?”

『We are the princes-consort of this land.』

The western breach.

Where the black tide began.

Skree…

Amid the melody of a flute echoing through the west—

Kim Hayang, eyes closed, conversed with the [Pitch-Black Bugs].