Attic of a Doomed World
[This work has no affiliation with any specific religion or organization.]
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The fear that engulfs my whole body is keeping my feet from the ground.
Jungkook and Jihoon were also frozen and trembling.
Hey, what the hell are you doing! Move!
Minji, who had fallen down after being pushed by Jihoon, suddenly stood up and struck the frozen three with all her might.
“Huh, huh? Yeah!”
Only then did Jeongguk, Jihoon, and I come to our senses and we started running with all our might towards the place where the arrogant being was not.
Minji spit out curses that she couldn't bring herself to say as Jihoon ran towards her, shouting, "Fuck!"
(Look at their actions carefully, you idiot! Don't you think they react to sound?)
At Minji's words, the rest held their breath and stopped in their tracks.
Reacting to sound? I looked closely at the arrogant beings, and although I couldn't easily distinguish their pale, glowing eyes, I didn't feel like they were looking at me or Jeongguk.
"hey!"
When I shout at the giant being with all my might, the three of them startle me and whisper to me, asking what I am doing.
"So this is what it means to be temporarily excluded from the goal."
Jeongguk listens intently to what I say, then says, “Ah,” and lets out a sigh as if he realized something.
The places where Jeongguk's worried eyes landed were Minji and Jihoon.
(I get what you're talking about. You're talking about that flower pot, right?)
Minji, who is quick-witted and perceptive, also nods as if she has realized something and speaks.
He takes a deep breath and opens his mouth again.
[Is it safe for you two to make noise?]
At Minji's whispered words, Jungkook and I nodded at the same time.
Jihoon, let's keep our mouths shut and go.
Ji-hoon was about to ask why they were doing whatever they wanted, but he glanced at the arrogant beings and kept his mouth shut.
Ji-hoon must be very scared too.
Looking at the movements of the giant beings, it seems like they are chasing after several students who are running away while screaming.
I can't miss this precious opportunity.
“The first goal is to get off the school grounds.”
At my words, the children nodded and began to walk away quietly as if dead.
I often felt like I was being watched by some arrogant being, but I knew it was just looking around to see if there was any other target.
Just as we were about to leave the school playground, someone came running towards us, shouting.
[You, what method do you have?! Please. Please take me!]
In the empty playground, the arrogant beings who had been concentrating all their attention on just listening to sounds turned their heads and looked at each other with an unpleasant look as soon as they heard the sound of words.
There are roughly four arrogant beings that are only present in the playground, which is a sufficiently dangerous situation.
If it was just one or two, it might not be a problem, but all four of them turned their gaze towards us.
“Hey, be quiet for now!”
When I covered the child's mouth with my hand, whose face was so wet that I couldn't tell if it was tears or snot, he raised his eyebrows and whimpered.
Don't take him away.
The rest of the kids and I just talked silently with our eyes.
Even if we take him, this child is seriously injured, and it is impossible to know whether he is useful or not in the current situation.
Park Ji-hoon is strong, Kim Min-ji is smart, and Jeon Jung-kook is versatile, so they go together, but then, from their perspective, wouldn't I just be adding to their numbers? I'm not that useful.
“Where does it hurt? Why do you look so sad?”
Jungkook pressed his face against mine and whispered to me.
“No, nothing. Anyway, what are you going to do with this kid?”
The three of them frowned as if they were thinking about my question.
We decided to vote on whether to take him or not, and the result was as expected.
Don't take 1, take 3
Of course, I was the one who voted not to take it.
I thought Kim Min-ji wouldn't take me, but this was completely unexpected.
"Okay, then let's take it by majority vote."
Before I could finish speaking, someone suddenly popped out from behind the tear-stained child.
Before I could turn my hood over and look at his face, the person who passed by quickly stabbed the child's leg deeply with the sharp blade he was holding in his hand and immediately pushed him into the presence of the arrogant beings.
[Eww!]
The child clutched his leg while groaning in pain. Thanks to that scream, the gaze of the giant beings was drawn to that child and not to us, and soon the giant beings came closer, swinging their long limbs to 'hunt' their 'target'.
[Just jump out.]
The man who had stabbed us with the blade dragged us outside.
Hey, what are you doing? Why are you abandoning him?
The bullying and reprimanding of the child continued. However, Jeong-guk, who had raised his hand to take him away, simply stared at the playground in silence.
The arrogant beings, who felt that there was no longer a goal on the playground, stood still like stiff statues, looking up at the sky.
Today, my routine was ruined and my life fell apart.
Who would have thought something like this would happen? No way.
The anxiety that surged in like a tidal wave, wondering if I could ever get my original life back, gripped my heart and filled it with a heavy weight.
Thump thump, I feel my heart beating faster and faster and my vision is getting blurry.
My body was leaning forward more and more, teetering on the verge of collapsing onto the floor, and all I could do was try to quickly relieve this anxiety.
As I staggered, sweating profusely, the boy who had been covering my hood grabbed me.
As his center of gravity shifted and he tilted, his hood fell off, revealing his face.
"...taehyoung kim?"