Chapter 196 – Indeed
In the original story, it was not the Werewolves that tormented Ratel and Jing.
“Everyone, steel yourselves. If you cannot cross this cave, none of you will be able to defeat the monsters. For this moment alone, no matter what happens to your companions, think only of your own survival.”
Mona’s voice echoed among the people as he told them something completely contrary to what I had said.
The enormous fissure in the rock that Mona indicated faced the group like a gaping black maw.
It clearly did not look like a place anyone should enter carelessly, so no one volunteered to go first.
“Is that place safe?”
Adol must have been anxious as well, because his voice trembled slightly.
“What can we do if it isn’t? It’s not as though we can quit now.”
Adol glared sideways at me after hearing that.
Meanwhile, one courageous person at the front approached the fissure to look inside.
However, he was soon overwhelmed by the seemingly endless darkness and stumbled backward.
“You want us to go inside there?”
“What? No one told us about this.”
Murmurs arose throughout the group.
“He claimed he had killed Werewolves before, but didn’t he probably just escape while everyone else was being eaten?”
Some even began questioning Mona’s plan.
“Shut up!”
As the complaints grew louder, Enil shouted with a growl.
Although everyone fell silent briefly, it did nothing to quell their dissatisfaction.
“Enil, stand back.”
“But……”
“That’s enough.”
After ordering Enil, who had been about to shout again, to withdraw, Mona spoke.
“You all came here to hunt Werewolves, so you should already know this. A Werewolf is a monster that is neither wolf nor human. They operate in packs, but their intelligence and physical abilities far surpass those of ordinary wolves. If humans approach even slightly closer to their territory, they immediately become vigilant. That means they may escape before we can attack—or they may hunt us instead.”
He removed the protective covering from his hand and placed his palm against the enormous rock towering over everyone.
Among the scars covering his hand, the most conspicuous was a long wound beginning in the gap between his thumb and forefinger.
Broader and rougher than a sword wound, it continued beneath his sleeve, making it impossible to see where it ended.
It resembled a scar inflicted by a beast.
“Through countless sacrifices, we discovered a shortcut leading to their lair. It is both the safest and most dangerous path. Dawn will arrive soon. Once the sun rises, the monsters become sluggish. If we raid them before they regain their senses, we can kill more of them. This passage will serve both as our route of attack and our route of retreat.”
Someone swallowed at that dreamlike promise.
“I-If you’ve already attacked them several times, wouldn’t they have naturally moved their lair?”
Enil shook his head at the question.
“We do not know why, but they never leave this area. No matter how many times they are attacked, they always return to the same place.”
“If the end of this passage leads to the monsters’ nest, why hasn’t anyone else discovered it? It is completely exposed.”
At the nearby man’s question, Mona raised the corners of his mouth slightly.
“Did I not tell you that it is both the safest and most dangerous path? Only those capable of crossing the long, dark passage without losing their minds can defeat the monsters and claim the spoils. Or perhaps finally complete their revenge.”
After finishing, Mona turned his gaze toward Adol, whose neck was craned beyond the side of the formation.
The startled child quickly pulled himself back into the line and bumped into me.
Regardless, Mona’s lengthy speech continued.
“Those driven by desire should follow me. I survived this path, so I will serve as your guide.”
With those final words, Mona disappeared into the darkness.
While everyone held their breath, Enil followed him without hesitation.
“Damn it! We didn’t come all this way just to return empty-handed!”
The two burly men who had been panting at the front followed them into the darkness.
That marked the beginning, and the others disappeared through the rock fissure one after another.
“……”
I saw Adol gulp as he watched them.
“I think we should hold hands.”
“What?”
“I’m frightened, so I think we should hold hands.”
Apparently believing I was mocking him for being afraid, Adol’s eyes sharpened once more.
I opened my mouth to correct his misunderstanding.
“I don’t mean you. I mean me. I’m frightened, so I think I need to hold someone’s hand.”
“……I can’t tell whether you’re merely insane or have completely lost your mind.”
Even so, when I continued holding out my hand, he sighed and irritably extended his own.
By the time I grasped the reluctant boy’s hand, the person immediately ahead of me was already moving forward.
My steps felt heavy as I followed those people, unsure whether they were simple-minded or merely strong-willed.
Honestly, I did not want to enter.
Part of the reason was my distaste for Mona’s speech, which had used every possible argument to inspire the others.
But more importantly, I could already anticipate what I would see inside.
I had never intended to follow them into a place this dangerous.
I clenched the fist I had extended into the darkness and advanced one step at a time.
At last, both my heels and the hand grasping Adol’s were swallowed by the darkness.
Silence and darkness descended upon me.
Adol, who had been beside me, had already disappeared.
Because we had been holding hands, I knew that with absolute certainty.
Even those who had not taken someone else’s hand must have noticed something strange.
If we had merely entered a dark cave, there was no explanation for the complete disappearance of all sound.
With so many people entering, it was impossible that not a single noise could be heard.
However, by the time anyone noticed, it was already too late.
Thinking myself a fool for entering despite knowing what would happen, I continued forward.
I did not care even if a monster waited ahead with its jaws stretched wide.
No, perhaps that would have been preferable.
As I walked through darkness deeper than what I saw with my eyes closed, so much time seemed to pass that I could no longer tell whether my eyes were truly open.
The moment I forced myself to take another step, someone behind me seized my shoulder.
“You worthless bastard. I told you that you couldn’t escape from me, didn’t I?”
The words came with a torrent of vicious abuse.
It was a familiar voice.
A voice capable of returning me to a horrific past with only a few words.
“Are you ignoring me right now?”
The owner of the voice, trembling from his addiction to alcohol, seized my hair and yanked it.
I finally turned around and opened the eyes I had closed.
As expected, a familiar space unfolded before me.
My only refuge—the cramped room of an old apartment building—and the repulsive man occupying it.
“Wow, it’s exactly the same.”
I muttered unconsciously.
Perhaps my unexpectedly calm voice angered him further, because he raised his own voice.
“You little bastard. I told you not to look at me like that!”
I finally raised the eyes he hated so much and looked at the man glaring at me as though he wanted to kill me.
His bloodshot eyes were filled with burst vessels, his face was badly swollen, and his gaze overflowed with hatred.
It was my father.
Once my vision cleared, the stench of stale alcohol, cigarettes, and phlegm burrowed into my nose.
He was exactly as I remembered him.
A sense of urgency warned me that my revulsion was about to take physical form and crawl up my throat.
I needed to shake this off and escape immediately.
However, when I gathered strength to free my shoulder and head from his grip, I noticed my hands and feet.
They were smaller than they were now—smaller even than they had been before I entered the world inside the book.
Ah, right.
My body returned to the past as well.
Watching my father raise his hand as though mocking me, I closed my eyes.
Damn it. I had hoped I would enter Ran’s memories instead.
* * *
“Hey! Hey, Ran! Snap out of it! Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
Adol desperately ignored the heat gathering behind his eyes from fear and shook the hand with which Ran was firmly gripping him.
But the man who had been spouting needless remarks until moments ago now stood completely silent.
“Damn it. What happened?”
The interior of the rocky cave was darker and more spacious than he had imagined.
Although admitting it wounded his pride, Adol continued forward while drawing reassurance from their joined hands and the force with which Ran gently pulled him onward.
At least, he did until Ran stopped walking.
Ran’s steps, which had been neither fast nor slow, gradually became slower before stopping completely.
At first, Adol assumed that Ran was playing another ridiculous prank.
“If this is another one of your stupid jokes……”
The child attempted to become angry to conceal his fear, but soon realized that Ran had not stopped there of his own volition.
Adol looked around.
As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw other people standing motionless just like Ran.
Flustered, Adol pulled Ran by the hand.
Fortunately, Ran did not collapse or fall. He slowly moved wherever Adol guided him.
Feeling pathetic for taking even slight comfort in that fact, Adol approached another man standing like a statue.
“Hey, can’t you hear me? Why has everyone stopped?”
“……”
However, just like Ran, the man did not answer.
Now Adol was becoming genuinely frightened.
The realization that he had been left alone in this vast, profound darkness sank into his very skin.
Where was he supposed to go?
Forward?
Or backward?
The more he looked around in confusion, the dizzier he became.
Thud.
The sound of a footstep reached the ears of the child who felt as though fear were about to devour him.
Adol regained his senses like someone who had been submerged in deep water and barely dragged back to the surface.
“Hey, is someone there?”
Adol perked up his ears and looked in the direction of the sound.
Thud.
Another footstep echoed.
This time, it came from farther away.
Only then did Mona’s existence return to Adol’s mind.
It had to be Mona.
Hadn’t he said that he had passed through this place several times?
Adol did not know what method Mona had used, but it seemed he was capable of crossing the cave.
“Hey, wait!!!”
Afraid that the distance between them would increase, Adol was about to rush after the footsteps when he abruptly stopped.
Ran’s hand was still holding his.
If he delayed for too long, he might lose their only guide.
Chasing after Mona while dragging Ran, who could barely move, would not be easy.
Adol hesitated briefly.
‘Strictly speaking, he hasn’t collapsed. Couldn’t I simply leave him here?’
Ran’s grip on his hand was not particularly strong.
It would not be difficult to shake him off.
However, it was not Ran’s strength that held Adol’s hand.
—This isn’t a request. It’s advice—and a transaction. If you save me, I’ll save you too.
It was an insignificant promise.
Thud.
The footsteps echoed again, and Adol followed them.
He carried a burden in one hand and moved somewhat slowly.
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