Silence.
It was a full silence, not empty. A heavy silence, pressing against his eardrums. The silence of predation.
Thump... Thump... Thump.
Kang Ji-Won could hear his heartbeat in his ears, a booming sound so loud he feared the creature could hear it. The rusty crowbar was slippery in his sweaty palms. He didn't feel the cold now. Every drop of blood in his body was either frozen in place by fear or boiling with adrenaline.
It's waiting. What is it waiting for? For me to blink?
The red eyes didn't blink.
No. It's not waiting.
It's enjoying this.
Then, it vanished.
It wasn't a movement. It wasn't a jump.
It was... a disappearance.
In a split second, the spot where the creature had stood... became empty.
!!!
Ji-Won's mind screamed. There was no time to think. There was no time to assume a "baseball stance." There was only the instinct of a mouse seeing the shadow of a hawk blotting out the sky.
It's here!
The movement came from the right side. A gray blur.
Ji-Won didn't try to attack. It was a chaotic, desperate motion. He twisted his torso and raised the crowbar horizontally in an instinctive block, squeezing his eyes shut at the exact same moment.
CLAAAANG!
A deafening sound.
The sound of metal hitting something... as hard as metal.
Shock.
His arms shook from the elbows to the shoulders. A sharp, burning pain, as if a lightning bolt had struck the crowbar and traveled straight into his bones. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears.
I... I blocked it?
He forced his eyes open.
The creature flew backward, not because of the force of the blow, but from the recoil of its own attack. It landed lightly on the blue moss ten feet away.
CHYEEEEET!
The creature let out a shriek, but this time it wasn't anger. It was... surprise?
Ji-Won looked at his crowbar. The faint light from his helmet revealed... a scratch. A deep, shiny silver scratch on the rusty metal, where nothing had hit it before.
It hit its claws.
Oh God. If I hadn't raised this thing... those claws would have been in my face. Just like the dead man.
No.
Ji-Won looked at the shredded corpse beside him. It hit his chest. This thing... was aiming for my head.
Hah... hah... hah...
He was breathing now, painful, ragged breaths. Adrenaline surged through his veins like hot poison.
It didn't kill me.
I'm not dead.
I blocked it.
The creature, having landed, was shaking its arm. It was looking at its glistening black claw, as if inspecting it.
Did... did I hurt it?
The creature raised its head. That damned yellow grin was still there. But the red eyes were no longer cold.
They were burning.
It's not playing anymore.
Klak. Klak. Klak.
The creature began to circle. Slowly. Moving to Ji-Won's left, moving with terrifying grace, trying to flank him, to cut him off from the escape route to the Gate.
No. Don't let it get behind you.
Ji-Won moved, his heavy foot pivoting in the wet moss. Squelch.
He had to keep the creature in front of him.
The Gate is behind me. The corpse is beside me. The cave is in front of him.
It's cornering me.
No. I'm cornering it. It is between me and the goblin corpses.
What a stupid thought. I'm not here for the damn mission. I'm here for my life!
He raised the crowbar again. His arms were still trembling from the impact.
The dance had begun.