Mak No-sam was a boy who survived the last section and joined the group led by So Yeowol.
Although he has the smallest build among So Yeowol’s group, he had pulled his weight through sheer tenacity.
And that small man was lying on the floor dead. His appearance was truly miserable, as he had been brutally beaten up to the point of death. His face was mutilated to the point of being unrecognizable, and his body was full of black bruises.
The appearance of the Mak No-sam was enough to bring out the anger of So Yeo-wol and the crowd
“Who the hell did this?!”
“I won’t let this go! You bastards!”
The children burst out in anger.
It was difficult to believe in their eyes.
There was only one reason for the death of Mak No-sam. He was the weakest link of So Yeowol’s group. And it is said that he has a habit of sparingly eating his rationed food.
There were traces of food on his hands. It meant they were attacked before eating.
Song Cheonwoo frowned and asked the children.
“Did anyone see who did this?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Damn! We need to know who did this to get revenge.”
Song Cheonwoo burst out in anger.
Even though he wanted to take revenge, he couldn’t do it because he didn’t know the culprit which made him even more furious.
So Yeowol opened her mouth.
“It doesn’t matter who.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It doesn’t matter who made Mak No-sam this way. The important thing is that someone who followed us died.”
“That’s…”
“Even though Mak No-sam is dead, if we decide to stay still, everyone will start to look down on us.”
“Yeah but to get revenge, we need to know our opponent–”
“But it will be too late. It will take at least a day or two to find the person who killed Mak No-sam, and if we fail to find the culprit, we’ll just be wasting our time and that will certainly make the other groups look down on us.”
“You…”
“We must take revenge now in the same manner…”
So Yeowol did not say who the subject of their revenge will be. But Song Cheonwoo already has an idea who she’s talking about.
A weak and powerless child like the youngest among the other groups.
They were So Yeowol’s targets.
That night, the group led by So Yeowol moved secretly. And the weakest child in the group led by Go Youngsan died.
It was the beginning of the war.
* * *
Pyo-wol scratched the wall with his fingernail.
It’s been a while since he had scraped his hands against the wall recently. Pyo-wol brushed a considerable amount of moss that he had gathered into his mouth at once.
It still tasted disgusting, but it was still better than starving.
The children’s war also affected Pyo-wol. The war was so brutal that it was hard to believe that it was conducted by children in their early to mid-teens.
It was difficult at first, but once they saw others’ blood spilled, the children stopped being hesitant.
If they don’t find the courage to kill someone then they will be the ones who would die.
Food was scarce, and it was impossible for everyone to share equally. In such a situation, the children chose to reduce the mouths to feed one by one.
From the beginning, harmony and coexistence among them was impossible.
Every time a night passed, someone was always found dead.
One night, it would be one of So Yeo-wol’s group that had died, and on another day, the child would be from Yeom Iljung’s group.
When the situation came to this, distrust flared up.
The children who belonged to some groups began to leave one after the other. Since the leader decided that he could not completely protect them, he decided to survive on his own.
So the four large groups were divided into eight smaller groups.
The children did not trust each other. The food became less and less day by day, and the children’s fighting grew fiercer.
The already hellish underground cave literally became hell in itself.
No one could be relieved, and no one can guarantee one’s own survival.
Hunger-stricken children have become as ferocious as beasts (織鬼).
Fortunately, the children have yet to reach the point of entering the space where Pyo-wol is staying. Children instinctively still felt fear towards the space they were initially confined in.
In particular, the deep darkness which hinders them from seeing anything ahead, greatly stimulated their fear. Even if they were holding a torch or light, they would still hesitate in coming into such darkness.
Thanks to this, Pyo-wol has been able to live more comfortably than the other children. He can eat moss peacefully.
But that peace seemed to have ended today.
Thrack!
A small rustle came to Pyo-wol’s ears. It was the sound of footsteps rubbing against the floor. The sound was so subtle that it would never be detectable by someone unless they have sensitive hearing like Pyo-wol.
‘They’re here.’
In the dark, Pyo-wol’s eyes shone sharply.
It wasn’t just one or two.
At least four people were moving together.
Pyo-wol’s residence was in the deepest area, so it was not a place where one could accidentally get lost. It was a place that could never be reached unless someone visits intentionally. So, the people who appeared here must have come to Pyo-wol for a certain purpose.
A bad one at that.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Y-Yeah, I’m certain”
“Why is it so dark? I can’t even see anything in front of me.”
The voices of the visitors echoed in the darkness.
They tried to whisper, but given that there was no furniture or objects in the room that could absorb the sound, their voices still resonated quite loudly.
Then one of the children set fire to the torch he was holding in his hand. He wanted to move as secretly as possible, but when his vision was limited due to the darkness, he had no choice but to light a torch.
When the torches were lit, their faces were revealed.
They were Yeom Il-jung and the three more children who followed him.
After losing one eye to Pyo-wol, Yeom Iljung was waiting for a chance to get his revenge. However, the memory of the day he lost his eyes to Pyo-wol was so strong that he couldn’t help but hesitate.
Even though he was the leader of a group, he was only in his early and mid-teens. It’s never easy to shake off the fear once imprinted in one’s head.
If not for the lack of food, the children would be in a peaceful situation. This would consequently cause Yeom Iljung’s revenge to be delayed.
However, the sudden decrease in food led to a fight among children. As the death-and-death situation took place every day, his fear of Pyo-wol faded away.
Yeom Iljung himself killed as many as two children. He became a beast that has tasted the blood of others. He thought that now was the moment to overcome his fear by killing Pyo-wol.
After killing Pyo-wol, he will fight So Yeowol and Kang Il and become the sole leader of the underground community.
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