Necromancer Survival

At that moment, the child talked to me.

[Lee-kyung-ssiii–]

The voice was similar to the one I heard when my eyes were closed earlier.

I cautiously looked down at the child who had called out to me; he opened his mouth–it looked like the entrance to a huge, black pit.

I backed away, wary of the child. But the child simply stood still and closed his mouth as he looked at me. Then, he tilted his head as if he found my actions strange.

[I saved Le~e-kyung-ssi.]

“……”

[Are you suspicious of me? I’m a good kid.]

Speaking in a strange tone, the child reached out and grabbed the tattered end of my combat uniform.

I inadvertently took another step back when I saw the child’s shocking hand holding my hem. What looked like a hand at first glance was actually a tentacle split into five strands.

“N-no way… Are you Hui-seo-ssi?”

[Lee-kyung ss~ii–].

The child kept tilting his head, not responding to my question.

I looked alternatingly between Koo hui-seo’s body in the distance and the unidentified child that appeared in front of me. I gulped, then I carefully passed by the child to approach Koo Hui-seo. “…Hui-seo-ssi.”

Of course, the man didn’t react. However, I lifted his neck off the ground just in case.

Of course, my hands trembled with fear… but when I actually looked at Koo Hui-seo’s face, I felt more pity and sadness than fear. His expression appeared cleaner and more at peace than I had expected. If it weren’t for his severed neck, he would have looked as if he were asleep.

“…Hui-seo-ssi, you…”

[……]

Then, almost automatically, I looked back and talked at the child; he blinked his black eyes and looked at Koo Hui-seo’s face in my arms.

The child soon stretched out his arm and began to wrap it around Koo Hui-seo’s neck while lifting the head up. Though I wasn’t certain what was happening, nothing seemed foreboding, so I stayed silent.

As a result, Koo Hui-seo’s head gradually approached the child; their faces drew close, as if they were locking gazes. After a long moment of staring, the child suddenly opened his mouth wide.

Schloorrpp–!

“…….!”

I was shocked but couldn’t cry out. Nevertheless, I felt as if what I was witnessing might not be real–it felt so surreal.

Black and shiny tentacles, like the pistils of a flower, began to pour out from the child’s wide mouth. The tentacles penetrated every feature on Koo Hui-seo’s face, and soon it seemed like the child’s face and Hui-seo’s face were connected by string.

The tentacles, once embedded, steadily pushed into the head, and eventually black tentacles started pouring out from his neck.

Goosebumps rose all over my skin as I traced the movement of the bulging tentacles crawling beneath his skin, but I was looking forward to what might happen next. I desperately wanted Koo Hui-seo to open his eyes.

[Hui-seo… is a good kid… so… won’t… break… promises…]

It was then.

As if my wish had been heard, Koo Hui-seo’s closed eyelids trembled. Afterwards, a strange voice emanated from the space between the two.

A woman’s hysterical voice gave way to the jumbled amalgamation of a deep man’s voice and a rambling child’s voice, like a chaotic recording just spitting out noise.

Finally, the individual tentacles that extended from Koo Hui-seo’s severed neck began to wriggle. The child took the head and walked towards the separated body.

[Today’s… taboo… is to… sit still… in a box… playing hide and seek… until… your name… is called.]

After those incomprehensible mumbles, Koo Hui-seo’s head settled on his neck. It looked slightly askew, which was a bit worrying, but fortunately, his head and neck started aligning properly.

Then, the child’s body dried and withered rapidly, but I wasn’t too worried; honestly, the child didn’t really seem human at surface glance anyway. The child was more akin to some alien energy being absorbed and vanishing.

As I expected, the child transformed into larger, sharper tentacles which clung to Koo Hui-seo’s body.

Cr-r-r-rack–!

The joints, from the neck to the shoulders, waist, knee, and ankles, slowly twisted and snapped back into their original positions. Hui-seo’s body resembled a device that had just been turned on.

Within a few seconds, the child completely disappeared; the tentacles that formerly protruded out of his body completely ensconced Koo Hui-seo’s chest.

The tentacles appeared as if they sank beneath the skin, but they weren’t completely hidden. It looked as if there were huge, black veins that were just barely visible underneath translucent skin. Perhaps Koo Hui-seo’s body had always been like this.

When the tentacles finished permeating into his body…

[Huu…. Whooo…. Huu…]

Koo Hui-seo made strange gasping sounds as he shuddered. A very pale rosiness–the faintest signs of life–began to emerge on his pale face.

As soon as I saw that, I ran to Koo Hui-seo and placed my palm atop his chest.

Ba-dump, Ba-dump…

I felt a faint heartbeat.

But even as I placed my hand over Koo Hui-seo’s heart, I realized that the handcuffs around my wrist were still intact. I turned my head towards where Moon Isaac lay.

Fortunately, Moon Isaac was still lying there, showing no signs of waking up. However, the firmly closed handcuffs proved that he had only lost consciousness and was not dead.

‘I can’t believe he didn’t die after spilling so much blood…’

What on earth am I supposed to do?

As I contemplated, Koo Hui-seo finally opened his eyes.

“……”

“H-Hui-seo-ssi. Are you alright?”

First, I needed to leave this place with Koo Hui-seo. After deciding on my goal, I carefully tapped him on the cheek.

However, Koo Hui-seo didn’t say anything for a while–his mouth just gaped open. His glass-bead-like eyes looked up at me.

Although there was a slight difference in his usual demeanor, I attributed it to his general mood, as I couldn’t scrutinize him closely. Above all, considering he had just come back from death, it wasn’t strange that he might not be in his right mind from sheer shock.

So, I looked at Moon Issak once more and confirmed the lack of movement. A sense of urgency slipped into my voice as I said, “Hui-seo-ssi. You, right now… Y-you almost died and survived. You understand, right?”

“……”

“I have no idea how Hui-seo-ssi came back to life, but…. In any case, we can’t stay here. We have to run away for now.”

“……”

However, Koo Hui-seo continued to be silent.

I thought he might be too shell-shocked to make any sort of decision, so I tugged him into my arms with all my might–after all, even if I had to carry him on my back, I needed to run away from Moon Issak.

‘We’re probably going to be tracked, though…’

There was a high probability that Moon Issak would come to catch us as soon as he regained consciousness because of these handcuffs.

Looking at Moon Issak lying defenseless in a heap, I wondered if it would be best to finish him here. I still had the dagger that Garam-ie handed me in my inventory…

‘But… What if I attack him clumsily and end up waking him…?’

In that scenario, I wouldn’t even be able to run away and would be immediately caught.

Honestly, I was sure I wouldn’t die at his hands, but Koo Hui-seo was in trouble. I don’t know if Koo Hui-seo would be able to survive again, and if Moon Issak kills Koo Hui-seo again… Hui-seo would have to experience another horrible fate because of me.

‘Escape comes first!’

I should rejoin the Servants before Moon Issak could chase after me–I had made up my mind. So, I started to assess the basement door Moon Issak had dragged me through.

But, at that moment, a chilling voice came from Koo Hui-seo.

[Lee-kyung-ssi~ii. Is this person Lee-ky~ung-ssi? Ouch. Ouch. It hurts. My neck is twisted. Owie Owie.]

It sounded like a little while ago, when the child was speaking through Koo Hui-seo’s body. I shuddered and pulled Koo Hui-seo away from me.

Though I abruptly pushed him away, he soon jumped to his feet and stared straight at me, as if he had never been weak at all.

[Lee-kyung-ssi~i…. I need blood. A lot. A lot a lot.]

With that said, Koo Hui-seo opened his mouth wide.

His mouth was filled with pitch-black darkness.

—-

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TL: The horror is going rampant lately