Revenant Resonance Ch 9

Chapter 9

The body of the delusional patient squirmed, and human limbs severed like those of teddy bears began to crawl out one by one. The fear that had been forgotten in the lull of Je Ilheon’s calmness surged back. That’s right. This was the strange place where humans were hunted, killed, and eaten by monsters.

He curled up, clutching his head with trembling hands, but the afterimage of those humans with blunt limbs rushing at Je Ilheon like marionettes controlled by strings lingered thickly on his retinas, refusing to fade.

…This is my playground. Don’t interfere. I’ll kill youuuuhhh… Offerer, though you have returned from death, your faith is lacking, so I shall guide you myself. You too, my mate. Where is my rice grain? Sob sob sob. Did you eat it? You cruel bibimbap. I’ll mix up your tasty meat and eat it all…

He closed his eyes, but he couldn’t shut his ears. The voices of the grotesques, indistinguishable from one another, surged from all directions without pause.

He felt as if he were trapped inside a large container being shaken by a giant outside—his consciousness a muddled mess. It was laughable how he had thought he could just meet them one by one and pick them up, without even knowing what this strange place truly was.

“The welcome’s so fiery I don’t know where to put myself. Did you miss me that much?”

Yet Je Ilheon’s voice, cutting through the grotesques’ sounds, was leisurely. It filled the gap in his shaken heart. Yu Jiha bit his lip to hold back a pointless scream, so as not to disturb him, and endured the fear.

“Huu…”

Before he knew it, the shrieks of the grotesques ceased. The wet squelching sound of their flesh and fluids dropping to the ground also vanished. Even the reverberations within the hospital building had quieted. The only sound filling the now suddenly silent hallway was Je Ilheon’s roughened breathing as he regulated it.

Carefully, Yu Jiha opened his eyes. In the hallway, tilted from the impact, chunks of flesh unrecognizable as once-human lay scattered. Amid them stood Je Ilheon, his back turned to him. Just like in the beginning, shielding him with his own body. Unchanged.

Yu Jiha slowly came to realize that though grotesques’ flesh and fluids were smeared all around, the area in front of him alone remained clean.

Je Ilheon swept his disheveled hair back and looked down at his palm. The fire axe in his hand had embedded itself so deeply into his flesh that it appeared fused to his body. Even Yu Jiha, watching from afar, flinched at the horrific sight, yet Je Ilheon showed no surprise.

Rather, as if accustomed to it, he casually tore the axe out with his other hand. Flesh that had fused with the grotesque object tore away, and blood splattered. The horror didn’t end there. The gaping wound, so severe that white bone peeked through, began to heal rapidly.

Ah. A clear realization flashed by. Even if he had gouged out his eyeball, the wound would’ve healed right away.

“Jiha, you’re not hurt, are you?”

Je Ilheon approached, shaking off the remaining blood. As the tall man bent at the waist, Yu Jiha’s vision was filled with his dark shadow. Perhaps worried by his pale face, the man reached out to examine him.

It was the same hand that had held the fire axe just moments ago. The same hand that had healed instantly after tearing out his eye. The same as when Yu Jiha had first mistaken him for a grotesque.

Unconsciously, his shoulder flinched. The hand approaching his cheek hovered awkwardly in the air, then withdrew.

“I scared you, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”

With a bitter smile, the man put some distance between them. So his presence wouldn’t become a source of fear.

Je Ilheon leaned against the wall on the other side of the hallway. Arms crossed and eyes closed, his posture seemed to wordlessly proclaim that he meant no harm.

“I must look scary, but I can’t say for sure that this place is safe yet. The Bureau agents will be here to rescue us soon, so would you wait just a little longer?”

A hot something surged up Yu Jiha’s throat and scorched his chest. Why had Je Ilheon even fought those grotesques in the first place? It was him—Yu Jiha—who had asked him to save others when he’d intended to escape quietly.

Yu Jiha pressed a hand to the left side of his chest. Suppressing the still-anxious beating of his heart, he took a deep breath. So what if he was a monster? If it weren’t for the man, he wouldn’t have made it this far—he might’ve died, his blood drained by that alcoholic.

“…Um, Mister.”

He carefully opened his mouth. At that moment, the air, heavy with a metallic stench, stirred rapidly from beyond the corner. Red laser sights snapped into focus, all converging on Je Ilheon.

Four figures, looking like special forces, had appeared without warning, aiming rifles at him.

“This is Big Crow. Secured one male victim, estimated early twenties, on the third floor. Located one grotesque of adult male type. No Blind Eater detected. Over.”

The commander of the Annihilation Execution Unit from the Bureau of Monster Containment, tasked with searching Pal-Sang Psychiatric Hospital, finished the transmission and quickly reassessed the scene. The victim looked extremely pale, but no injuries were visible to the naked eye.

That meant their immediate concern should be the grotesque, presumed to be a new type. The commander and agents fixed their wary gazes on it.

The more human a grotesque looks, the more dangerous it is. And this one resembled a human with startling precision. From its natural clothing, to the way its ribcage gently rose and fell with each breath. Even its appearance mimicked what humans commonly perceived as ‘beauty.’ If encountered outside, they might’ve mistaken it for an unusually handsome man.

But this was a grotesque space. The agents, seasoned in traversing such realms and battling grotesques, knew with gut certainty: this thing was not human.

Still aiming his rifle at the grotesque, the commander offered a compromise.

“We are with the Bureau of Monster Containment. If you’ve stayed here long, you know we didn’t kill the grotesques or initiate the closure of this place. We’re only here to rescue the victim and then we’ll leave quietly.”

“What’s a Blind Eater?”

They weren’t equipped to handle a grotesque of such strength. To the commander’s proposal of staying out of each other’s business, the grotesque opened his eyes and spoke. His voice was so fluid and human-like that it made the commander even more tense.

“You call them something else, I suppose. Characteristics: mouth on the floor, giant jaws, black flame, chains.”

“Ah, that one?”

The grotesque chuckled and gestured toward the victim.

“That thing was killed by this kid. He figured out its weakness.”

“…What did you say?”

“He’s a possessor of the True Eye.”

The unexpected claim made the agents momentarily stir. In that split second, the grotesque lunged, snatching a nearby agent’s rifle with one hand, twisting his arm, and subduing him from behind. At the same time, he drew a machete from the agent’s belt and pressed it to his neck.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, leaving even the trained agents too stunned to react.

“You son of a…!”

While the agents were agitated, the grotesque calmly continued speaking.

“I just want to talk. If I don’t do this, you’ll ignore anything a grotesque says, right?”

“If you want to talk with us, start by blowing your own damn head off!”

“I’ll do that later. For now, if your Bureau is still in contact with these individuals, could you let me meet them? Choi Beomseok, Kang Sukja, Bang Hyeonjeong, Im Sangho…”

A glint of menace crossed the commander’s face. Not only was this grotesque spouting nonsense about a Blind Eater being slain by a mere True Eye possessor, now it was demanding a conversation. Just speaking to grotesques could contaminate the mind.

What’s worse, it had even acquired the names of retired or deceased agents, mentioning them deliberately. The agent being held hostage was a loss they’d have to accept. Better to neutralize the grotesque before more damage occurred. The commander was just about to give the attack order when a hesitant voice came from behind. It was the victim—until now, ignored.

“If the monster I met in Room 404 really was the Blind Eater, then yeah, it’s gone.”

“And how do we know you’re telling the truth? You could be contaminated.”

“Well, what happened then was…”

Though still clearly terrified, the victim flailed his arms and spoke earnestly, trying to describe the incident in detail. What caught the commander’s attention was his account of reading the essence of the Blind Eater through his True Eye.

‘[SoakAndMelt]… over and over, huh…’

That was more accurate than the previously known True Eye phrase, ‘Soak■■■■■■and■■■■■■■■■’, and matched several characters. After a short moment of deliberation, the commander made his decision.