Well of the Dead – Chapter One
The sky was raining.
People stayed inside their homes.
Nobles enjoyed their banquets, never once tasting hunger or poverty.
Somewhere else…
Inside an old house in the middle of the slums,
a mother was choking her own child.
A boy with black hair and crimson eyes.
He was smiling at her…
even as she tried to kill him.
Stuttering, he said,
"L… I love you, Mom… do you love me too?"
But her answer was cruel.
Another attempt to end his life.
She tightened her grip around his neck.
So he stabbed her hand… and ran away, crying.
Her scream chased after him.
"You little bastard! I'll kill you, Jin-Mu!"
Under the cold rain, Jin-Mu cried.
He didn't understand.
Why did she hate him?
He muttered to himself,
"She must be jealous…
Her neck hurts… but mine doesn't."
He kept walking until morning came.
Wandering through the streets, lost.
The way people looked at him felt like blades cutting into his skin.
"I don't even know… why I was born."
Someone stopped him.
Whispers began to spread.
"Isn't that the son of that whore… the brothel manager?"
"Yeah… and he dares to show his face here."
A man stepped forward, hatred filling his eyes.
"Let's take our revenge on that whore… through her precious son."
Then—
They rushed him.
Beating him.
Blinded by anger.
Forgetting…
He was only a child.
Jin-Mu didn't cry.
Didn't scream.
He simply endured.
A punch.
A kick.
A stick.
And he didn't even know what sin he had committed…
to be hated this much.
An hour passed.
Blood covered everyone's hands.
No sound.
Only heavy silence.
A man whispered, trembling,
"H… he's dead."
A little girl screamed.
Only then did they realize what they had done.
They panicked.
Ran away.
And left him there…
on the edge of death.
That night—
Jin-Mu opened his eyes.
His small body was bleeding. Barely holding together.
He murmured weakly,
"I'm used to pain…"
Silence filled the air.
Only one question echoed in his mind.
Should I just run away?
Is running… the only answer?
Slowly, painfully—
He stood up.
Took a step.
And decided…
to run.