The Thorn that Pierces Me

How many times had she come face to face with zombies—or maenok—by now?

No matter how many times she saw them, she could never get used to their ghastly appearance: the whites of their eyes bulging, and their familiar human forms twisted into something monstrous. The horrifying realization that these zombies were once her fellow passengers flooded her mind with gruesome images.

‘I can’t die in such an absurd way.’

She managed to maneuver her feet to change the direction of the chair. She knew she had to move toward the zombie to escape the hut—a dreadful necessity—because once a zombie locked onto its prey, it ignored everything else.

“AAAAAAGHHH!!! HELP!!!”

The terrifying scream of a man fueled her resolve. Channeling every ounce of strength she had left, Heesoo dragged herself forward, her face and shoulders scraping against the floor. She felt no pain—only raw determination.

It was that moment.

A foot appeared right in front of her face as she wriggled on the floor like a caterpillar. She barely raised her eyes and met those of a man dressed in black.

From her position on the floor, he seemed like a giant. It was a mystery how such a towering presence could have materialized out of nowhere, without even making the slightest sound.

“Toi aussi, t’es un voleur ? Comme des mecs là-bas. (Are you a thief too? Just like those who were out there?)” The man said.

His calm, low voice was not directed at Heesoo.

“Aidez moi! Aidez-moi! (Help me! Please help me!)”

He passed by Heesoo as if she were invisible, and entered the hut to collect the coins and treasures dropped by the man eaten by the zombies.

He also picked up a magic stone necklace that had been seized from Heesoo by those men.

“Faux. (Fake.)”

He briefly looked at it before throwing it on the floor, apparently uninterested.

Even while witnessing a gruesome scene of a man being eaten alive by a zombie, he didn’t show even the smallest signs of fear. It seemed like he was completely unaware of the danger.

“S’il te plaît Aidez moi! (Please, help me!)”

Regardless of the man’s desperate cries, he completely ignored him, scanning the hut for anything else worth taking.

For a fleeting moment, Heesoo thought she had caught his interest.

‘Help me! Please save me!’

But it was a mistaken belief. He was about to leave the hut, heading towards the door. Heesoo screamed as loud as she could,

“Ugh... MPHHHHHH!”

Her inability to form coherent words filled her with frustration.

Fortunately for Heesoo, the man looked back before leaving the hut. Heesoo stared at him with desperate eyes, pleading for rescue from this hellish place. Yet, his renewed interest was for a completely different reason.

A bright blue flame ignited in the man’s hand, widening Heesoo’s eyes in shock. The blue flame spread to the hut’s door. This was no ordinary fire, as Heesoo had seen it before.

‘Flames that can burn zombies.’

There was a reason why the man did not fear those zombies at all. He was someone who could create blue flames.

Zombies did not burn in normal fire, but they ignited instantly and disintegrated like paper when exposed to that mysterious burst of blue flames.

The problem was, that fire didn’t just burn zombies.

The flames quickly spread across the hut, and Heesoo shrank back as she felt the heat approaching her legs.

“Ugh....”

She had faced death countless times since arriving in this world, but this time, the end felt truly near.

The man, aware of Heesoo’s presence, chose to ignore her. A sense of heat more intense than the flames rose up to her throat.

「Heesoo.... You must survive. If you can’t return to that world, at least stay alive in this world.... Promise me....」

And more.

「...Heesoo, Mother’s sorry....」

As death loomed closer, she found herself recalling even her mother, whom she had long loathed. The face she had despised floated before her eyes.

Living in a world where the boundaries between life and death were meaningless, she had often thought it would be better to die than to live such a pathetic, lifeless life.

「...Heesoo, Mother’s sorry.」

She had never managed to apologize to her mother.

「Heesoo, you must survive. Please, You have to.」

She also felt guilty towards Minjoo, who had died in her stead.

She couldn’t die like this.

She had to survive, no matter what.

Fueled by sheer desperation, Heesoo slammed her head against the floor.

“UGHHHHHHHH!!”

Desperately trying to attract the man’s attention, she smashed her head to the floor while rocking her body back and forth, causing the chair to produce an irritating creaking noise.

The man, who had been focusing on the zombies, glanced down at her briefly.

Heesoo instinctively trembled, feeling her torn attire was more obscene than being completely naked.