Exerting even more force, Kai smiled and whispered, "You know what… I get you. I really do. Seeing you like this is really, really, REALLY making me happy. Perhaps I judged you too harshly… oh well! Either way, thanks for this euphoria!"
His veins bulged, muscles tensed, and sweat leaked down his body. Yet he felt euphoric.
He was blinded by that 'happiness', that sense of ease, control and victory. So much so that he was entirely numb to pain. His brain didn't even register the agony from his torn calf.
There was only one thing in his mind: make the guy in front of him stop breathing and moving. And he was doing everything he could to accomplish that.
Moments later, the man's flailing stopped. His limbs went limp, his body slackened. It became easier for Kai to choke him.
"Finally…"
Whispering to himself, Kai felt a rush of relief wash over him now that the wretched man was dead. He collapsed against the wall, breathing hard and uneven, his face flushed and drenched in sweat, his arms trembling with exhaustion.
Then something strange happened. The man's body began to change… in a horribly peculiar way.
Black pus started forming across his skin, coating him entirely. The next second, his body began dissolving as if drenched in acid. His flesh boiled, bubbles swelling and popping across it as it melted away.
The black pus didn't stay still. It moved. Toward Kai. Toward the walls. The ceiling. Spreading through the corridor.
The sheer strangeness of it made Kai's instincts bristle. He backed away immediately and sprinted from the creeping black mass.
"This is definitely the worst day of my life."
From the way things were progressing, it seemed the day was far from over. Within seconds, the black pus had overtaken the corridor and was now edging toward the kitchen, where Kai had retreated.
Not wanting to risk touching it, he bolted again. But this time, he had nowhere to go. The entire front of the kitchen was already covered.
"Shit."
He scanned desperately for an escape. His eyes landed on the living room. If he could jump from the kitchen counter and use the momentum, he might just make it.
The problem was the distance. If he misjudged the jump, he'd dive straight into that pit of black pus.
"It's not like I have an option."
One last glance at the advancing mass made bile rise in his throat. The uncanny repulsion alone was enough to push him forward. He stepped back and took a deep breath.
Then he sprinted as if his life depended on it and leapt onto the kitchen counter. Maintaining his momentum, he jumped again toward the living room.
He curled his legs inward, trying to get as much distance as possible. The black pus spread just beneath him. He begged the air for more distance, more height.
Time felt as if it had completely stopped. Each breath stretched into eternity. The living room floor was right in front of him, drawing closer as his whole body cut through the air toward it.
Just then, something moved within the black pus. It bubbled violently, and a hand stretched out from inside it.
It was thin and scrawny like the man before, the hand clamped onto Kai's leg and yanked him toward the mass.
Midair, Kai could do nothing but watch as his body was dragged toward the black pus. His hair stood on end, his body jerked, trembled and shivered. An inexplicable fear surged through him, one he couldn't describe yet felt with absolute clarity… a fear made of pure dread and despair.
A moment ago, he had been hopeful of escape. The next… he was drowning in despair.
"No… NOOO… NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
His gut-wrenching, blood-curdling scream tore through the air, echoing through the empty corridors of his home.
Splush—!
A cold, wet sensation smeared across his back. From the edge of his vision, he saw his body collide with the black pus.
Tears erupted from his eyes without restraint. He couldn't explain the reason for this overwhelming dread… but one thing was undeniable. The black pus made him feel small, weak, pathetic. It stripped him bare and forced him to face the helplessness buried in the pit of his being.
Squelch—!
A gory spectacle erupted. From the tar-like sludge, now resembling thick blood, countless hands burst forth. Each belonged to a different shape, size and person. They emerged in a way that made him think they were ripping their way out of someone's gut.
Tearing through organs. Bursting through flesh. Slow and deliberate, as if savoring every ounce of agony their original owners might have felt.
All the hands turned in unison toward Kai. Then they began crawling toward him.
"No! NO! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAYYY!!!!!"
Kai knew, with bone-deep certainty, that something truly horrible would happen if those hands touched him. He wanted to stand, run, scream, anything—
But he was paralyzed. All he could do was watch them come closer.
Then the hands reached him.
They grabbed him, each taking a different part. Some clawed at his eyes, some his nose, some wrapped around his shoulders, others tangled around his fingers. Together, they pushed with a single intent: force him downward.
But the floor beneath him was solid. He didn't budge.
So the hands increased their strength. Tripled it. Their fingers sank deeper into him.
His eyes were gouged. His nose ruptured. His shoulders cracked. His fingers twisted grotesquely in their grip.
The pain he felt at the moment couldn't be put into words. At that moment, he had forgotten about escaping. He wished for one thing only: DEATH.