As I stood motionless, Lee Jeong-Uk spoke, his voice full of doubt. “Hey, So-Yeon’s dad.”

He was nervous too. I could sense the desperation in his voice. He had never confronted the black creature before.

He was probably wondering why I’d stopped moving. I made my way through my underlings and covered his mouth. He hadn’t expected that. His eyes flew wide open, and his entire body shook.

“Does he think I’m going to eat him?’

A glimpse at my nervous expression made him realize that something else was going on. He carefully removed my hand, blinking as hard as he could. He was signaling to me that he could keep quiet.

Splash.

I heard it again. My teeth chattered with fear. A distance away, on the opposite side of the school, I saw the creature I never wanted to confront again.

The elongated shadow, fashioned by the moonlight, walked slowly toward the school with a big smile on its face.

‘A shadow? No.’

It wasn’t a person. This shadow was a grim reaper.

Splash.

The creature’s eerie footsteps echoed along the silent street.

The zombie blocking its way let out a cry out of fear.

Crack!

I almost gasped in astonishment. My eyes went wide, and I covered my mouth in surprise. It had all happened in an instant. The black creature ate the zombie’s head. Murky black liquid was oozing out from the zombie’s neck. It had been sheared through cleanly, as if cut through by a guillotine blade.

The zombie’s body fell to the ground like a reed blown by the wind. I felt like I was about to lose my mind. It was eating its own kind. The black creature swallowed the zombie’s head without hesitation, as though it was eradicating a useless pest.

Gulp.

I heard someone breathing heavily behind me. My gaze flicked towards the source of the sound, falling on Lee Jeong-Uk, whose eyes were full of fear.

‘Oh shit.’

I looked back at the horizon, and saw the creature staring in our direction.

* * *

Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier?

Maybe, just maybe, I’d been denying its existence as some sort of defense mechanism, as a means of retaining my sanity. I’d been arrogant in thinking that it had left Haengdang-dong for good, and that it wouldn’t appear in front of me ever again. I felt my stomach tingle, then begin to throb painfully.

The black creature was walking slowly toward me. I stood as still as a stone statue, frozen with fear. I knew better than to scream or fight back, unless I wanted to meet the same end as the zombie that had its head bitten off.

There was no guarantee I was going to survive if I tried to fight that thing off. I was well aware of its physical capabilities.

I knew running away wasn’t an option. I just had to hope it directed its attention elsewhere.

Grr…

It finally reached me. It made an unpleasant cry that made my hair stand on end. I didn’t dare look at its face. My head sagged like a frightened animal. It circled around me, smiling all the while. It kept on circling me, as if it was trying to intimidate me, reminding me of my station compared to it.

Splash, splash, splash.

Its slow gait and clear, distinct footsteps heightened my senses. Its proximity paralyzed my every nerve. I stood there, frozen, as it stopped right in front of me. I didn’t know how much time had passed. It just stood in front of me, sowing in me fear, despair, and helplessness, like a farmer sowing his seeds. I carefully lifted my head to catch a glimpse of it. Just looking at it made my knees go weak.

It was smiling. I had no doubt that it was smiling.

The corners of its mouth were lifted as far up as it could manage. All I saw was its red gums. It was laughing at my fear. It had teeth as sharp as a shark’s, with no gaps in between. I couldn’t tell how many teeth it had. Its silent smile was a constant reminder of my place within the food chain. I felt as though I was at the bottom, not even close to ‘it’.

I lay on the ground shaking, my body wracked with spasms. It looked at me for a while more, then shifted its attention toward its original target—the school.

‘Is it letting me live? Is it being merciful toward the weak?’

It quickly clambered onto the top of the wall, and curled its body in preparation for a jump. Its thigh muscles clenched, while its calves folded like springs. It floated upwards like a butterfly, or a ghoul that was trying to make its way from the depths of hell and into heaven. It jumped so high and moved so quickly that I couldn’t follow its movements.

Splash.

It landed on the school rooftop with ease. The only sound it made was a gentle tap, despite such a big jump.

GRR!!!

It let out a shriek that was loud enough to split eardrums. It sounded like a Dementor, sucking up every soul around it. [1]

My head was ringing, and it felt as though all the air around me had been sucked away.

‘What the heck!”

“What was that noise?”

I could hear the exclamations of the people on guard duty.

‘It’s Death. They’re going to die.’

I shook my head violently, trying my best to come back to my senses. As my faculties returned, I noticed Lee Jeong-Uk on the ground, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

There was no time to lose. I felt sorry for the people at the school, but I had to use them to buy some time to run away.

I grabbed Lee Jeong-Uk by his arm and forced him upright. Now wasn’t the time to care about the zombies around us. We had to get away. We had to run without looking back.

The silver lining in this situation was that the zombies around us were also fleeing the black creature’s cry. It was an opportunity for me to escape with my underlings. I assumed it would be harder for the black creature to distinguish us from the other zombies that were also running for lives.

I ran as hard as I could, the buildings of the darkened city zooming past me. Everything passed by in a blur, as if I was looking out the window of a moving train.

My body was driven by one, overriding thought—to keep on running. I picked up speed, as though my legs were driven by motors. Every single muscle in my body was being controlled by the danger signals being sent by my mind.

With the sun down, I could run much faster compared to during the day. I made a beeline for our apartment while commanding my underlings to keep watch on our flanks, and to monitor Lee Jeong-Uk in the case he got left behind.

There was no time to make a detour to avoid the zombies. We had to take the most direct route. There was no need to look back.

All I could hear was the sound of my ragged breathing.

After running for an eternity, I heard a gasp from behind. As I turned around, I saw Lee Jeong-Uk drenched in sweat and dry heaving. There was no time to rest. There was no telling how far the range of that black demon was. I swung Lee Jeong-Uk onto my back and kept running.

‘We have to get further away. Even further!’

I ran like a madman, surrounded by my underlings. As I kept on running, I spied our apartment in the distance.

‘We’re there. We’re almost there. Just a little bit more then we’re back at our apartment…’

A demonic howl split the air.

The shriek sent chills up my spine. With effort, I turned my stiff neck to see what was going on behind us. I glimpsed the creature a distance away, jumping from roof to roof as it made its way toward us. It had caught up to us, and was now following us.

‘There’s no way all of us can make it out together.’’

No matter how hard we tried, it would outpace us.

Cough, cough.

I heard Lee Jeong-Uk coughing behind me. I knew he’d run with all his might despite his foggy mind. He had probably run at full speed for a couple of kilometers, with no thought to pacing himself.

He was already exhausted. In those few moments, I collected my thoughts and ordered my underling to take Lee Jeong-Uk back to the apartment.

My underlings grunted in reply and prepared to run.

Just then, I felt a tug.

Something grasped my clothes tightly. I looked down, and my gaze fell on Lee Jeong-Uk, bathed in cold sweat. He was pale and breathing heavily.

“Don’t die.”

I was taken aback. I knew he meant it from the bottom of his heart. His eyes were barely open, but I knew he was looking at me. However, I didn’t know how to react.

‘How can I fight this black creature?’

Fighting it was the last thing I wanted to do. The best I could do was run away or beg for mercy. Surviving a fight with that thing was unimaginable. Lee Jeong-Uk’s request for me to stay alive was almost a pipe dream. After a moment, Lee Jeong-Uk’s arm fell limp. He’d fainted from exhaustion.

‘Go ahead. Go!’

At my order, my underlings dashed toward our apartment. Seeing me and Lee Jeong-Uk split up, the black creature stopped its advance through the buildings momentarily. It was probably contemplating on who to feast on first. If it went after Lee Jeong-Uk, its next prey was obvious.

‘So-Yeon.’

I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let it go after Lee Jeong-Uk. It had taken us well over forty minutes to walk to the school, a considerable distance. However, this creature had followed us persistently. With it around, I couldn’t ensure the safety of the people in the apartment.

I couldn’t direct it to where So-Yeon was. No, I absolutely could not send it there. I had to fight it off somehow. The situation had taken a ridiculous turn. I looked at the receding figure of Lee Jeong-Uk and took a deep breath. His slouched form seemed so small and insignificant from here. Nevertheless, I hoped that that hunched-over silhouette would make it back safely, to take care of So-Yeon.

I yelled as hard as I could toward the black creature.

“GRRRR!!!”

The unpleasant, throat-rending cry tore through the silence of the city. The black creature stopped and looked toward me.

‘It’s this way, you idiot!’

It was time for the weak to fight back. The creature howled, even more angrily than before. I wondered if it had heard me curse at it. It ran toward me like a bull reacting to a red flag.

My skin tightened in fear, and I could sense the creature’s killing intent enveloping my body.

I yelled at it with the intention of scaring it somehow, but it didn’t do much. Fighting it face-to-face was suicidal. I started running in the opposite direction of our apartment on stiff legs.

‘Alright, let’s think. Think, think, think!’

I didn’t know if that black demon could think, but right now, I had to concentrate fully on my own survival.

Its hellish scream blasted through the air behind me.

Despite all my efforts, I couldn’t put any more distance between us. On the contrary, its cry sounded even nearer. I knew it was getting closer. It was a matter of time before I got caught.

‘You five in the back, block the black creature! No, kill it!’

I kept on running as I gave my orders to my underlings.

Grr! Argh! Grr!

I heard their cries as I gave out more orders. It seemed that the creature had already caught up to them. I glanced behind me sporadically to check out what was going on behind me. I saw my underlings being torn apart, their flesh flying everywhere. Suddenly, I saw a green head flying toward me.