The goblin ran.
Jumped.
Ha Joon's eyes went wide.
The impact took both of them down, the stone floor slamming into Ha Joon's back so hard his teeth clacked together and air punched out of his lungs in a single violent gasp.
The goblin's weight pressed down—light but desperate, all bone and hunger and teeth.
Its mouth opened.
Long teeth.
Small.
Sharp.
They sank into Ha Joon's right shoulder.
Through the black jumpsuit.
Through the gray T-shirt.
Into skin.
Like a red-hot knife cutting through butter.
Blood came out warm and fast, the pain spreading like liquid fire through his shoulder, down his arm, into his chest, burning everything it touched.
Ha Joon screamed.
The goblin's yellow eyes filled his vision, bleeding red at the edges, pupils dilated and feral.
Instinct screamed louder than thought.
Ha Joon's right hand curled into a fist and exploded into the goblin's face.
The impact jarred his whole arm.
Bone met bone.
The goblin's head snapped to the side but it didn't let go—teeth still buried in his shoulder, jaw locked, drool and blood mixing and dripping hot onto his chest.
Ha Joon hit it again.
Harder.
The goblin's claws raked down his back, tearing through fabric, scraping skin, and they rolled across the damp stone floor, bodies tangled, limbs thrashing, blood smearing the wet ground.
The air smelled like rot.
Like old meat left in the sun.
Like the damp stone and rust and something sour that made his stomach turn.
Ha Joon's back hit the wall.
The goblin's weight shifted.
Its teeth tore free from his shoulder.
Ha Joon gasped.
The goblin lunged for his throat.
---
*Porter.*
*Carrying equipment.*
*Bags on my back.*
*The dream was to kill a monster.*
*Awaken.*
Ha Joon's hand shot up and caught the goblin by the throat.
His fingers dug into thin green skin, feeling the pulse underneath, rapid and weak and desperate.
The goblin snapped its jaws inches from his face, yellow teeth clicking, drool spattering his cheek.
Hot.
Wet.
Disgusting.
*Mana.*
*Can't sense it.*
*Nothing.*
His mind flashed.
*Normal people—contact with mana—body fights it.*
*Losing battle.*
*Die from the inside.*
*Cells breaking down.*
*Skin purple.*
*Then black.*
*Pitch black.*
*The Rot.*
The goblin twisted in his grip, claws digging into his forearm, drawing blood, but Ha Joon squeezed harder.
His other hand grabbed the goblin's jaw.
Pulled.
The creature thrashed.
Screamed.
A sound like metal scraping stone.
Ha Joon's arms shook.
His shoulder throbbed.
His back burned.
But he didn't let go.
---
*Mom.*
*Pale skin.*
*Black hair.*
*Hospital bed.*
*Broken-down room.*
*Waiting.*
The goblin bit down on his hand.
Teeth piercing his palm.
Ha Joon screamed and ripped his hand free, tearing skin, blood gushing hot and thick between his fingers.
The goblin scrambled back.
Crouched.
Watched him.
Yellow eyes calculating now.
Not just hunger.
Survival.
It was learning.
Ha Joon's chest heaved.
His vision blurred at the edges.
Blood ran down his arm.
Down his back.
Pooled on the stone floor beneath him.
Cold.
So cold.
The goblin lunged again.
Ha Joon didn't think.
Just moved.
His fist came up.
Connected with the goblin's jaw.
Bone cracked.
The goblin stumbled.
Ha Joon lunged forward.
Grabbed it by the head with both hands.
Slammed it into the floor.
Once.
The goblin's claws raked his chest.
Ha Joon slammed it down again.
Harder.
The creature's skull hit stone with a wet crunch.
Ha Joon lifted it.
Slammed it down.
The goblin's movements slowed.
Its claws scraped weakly at his arms.
Ha Joon lifted it again.
And for half a second—
He saw it.
The creature's yellow eyes.
Dimming.
Afraid.
Just an animal.
Starving.
Chained.
Dying.
His hands hesitated.
Just for a moment.
Then the goblin's teeth snapped at his wrist.
Weak.
But trying.
Still trying.
---
*All that time.*
*Dangerous dungeons.*
*Fighting.*
*Surviving.*
*Eating scraps like a rat.*
*It was for her.*
*I could never kill anything.*
*I was scared.*
*But not today.*
---
Ha Joon's grip tightened.
His vision tunneled.
Red at the edges.
Black in the center.
He brought the goblin's head down.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Each impact sending vibrations up his arms, through his shoulders, into his chest where his heart hammered so hard it felt like it would break through his ribs.
The goblin stopped moving.
Ha Joon kept going.
Blood splattered his face.
Warm.
Thick.
Metallic taste on his lips.
His hands were slick with it.
His breathing came in ragged gasps, each one scraping his throat raw, and he couldn't hear anything except the sound of bone breaking and wet flesh splitting and his own voice screaming—not words, just noise, just animal sounds that didn't belong to him.
He kept hitting.
The goblin's skull collapsed.
Brain matter mixed with blood on the stone.
Ha Joon's fists kept moving.
Hitting stone now.
Not flesh.
Just stone.
His knuckles split.
Pain shot through his hands.
He didn't stop.
Couldn't stop.
Until—
His arms gave out.
Fell to his sides.
Heavy.
Dead weight.
---
Silence.
Ha Joon sat there.
On his knees.
Breathing.
Each breath wet and shallow and wrong.
His hands rested on something.
He didn't look down.
Couldn't.
The smell hit him.
Blood.
Rot.
Bile.
His stomach lurched.
He leaned to the side and vomited.
Nothing came up but acid.
It burned his throat.
His chest heaved.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Dry heaving now.
His whole body shaking.
Not from cold.
From something else.
Something that started deep in his chest and spread outward until his hands trembled and his jaw wouldn't stop clenching and his vision blurred not from tears but from something he couldn't name.
He tried to wipe his face.
His hand was covered in blood.
He smeared it across his cheek instead.
Warm.
Sticky.
He stared at his hands.
Both of them.
Red.
Dripping.
Knuckles split open.
Bone showing through in places.
They didn't feel like his hands.
They felt like someone else's.
Like they belonged to something that wasn't him.
The water dripped somewhere in the dark.
*Drip.*
*Drip.*
*Drip.*
Ha Joon's breathing slowed.
His chest rose.
Fell.
Rose.
Fell.
He looked down.
Finally.
At what was left.
Green skin.
Blood.
Bone.
Pulp.
His stomach lurched again but nothing came up.
He sat there.
Still.
Silent.
Alive.
The goblin wasn't.
He didn't know how long he sat there.
Seconds.
Minutes.
Time felt wrong.
His shoulder throbbed.
His back burned.
His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
He tried to make them stop.
Couldn't.
They just kept shaking.
And shaking.
Opened.
Light spilled in.
Ha Joon didn't turn.
Didn't move.
Just sat there.
Breathing.
Staring.
Waiting for whatever came next.