Chapter 2

The droplet trickled down the curved surface of the wall. It was an extremely small amount, but to Pyo Wol right now, it was the water of life that allowed him to cling to his existence.

Pyo Wol licked the wall frantically.

As a small amount of moisture entered his body, his hunger subsided a little.

After drinking enough water, Pyo Wol’s reason slowly returned.

“Hoo!”

He let out a sigh, his back against the wall.

As water was supplied to his drought-stricken body, a bit of strength returned to his withered muscles.

Pyo Wol calmly evened out his breathing and moved his arms and legs.

As time passed, his joints began to loosen smoothly. His muscles, too, gradually regained some strength.

Once he felt a certain amount of strength, Pyo Wol pressed his legs, his back still against the wall.

“Keung!”

A pained groan escaped his lips, and veins bulged on his forehead.

Simply crawling on the floor and standing up on two legs required a level of strength and mental focus on a whole other plane.

For Pyo Wol, who had been lying on the floor with his entire body paralyzed for so long, it was an agonizing challenge.

If he had his way, he would have wanted to rest longer with his back against the wall. But knowing that if he did, he might never be able to get up again, Pyo Wol endured the pain and put strength into his two legs.

His legs trembled violently, and a cold sweat poured down his whole body like a waterfall. It felt as if all the water he had just drunk was being discharged as sweat.

“Keeeeuh!”

Pyo Wol clenched his teeth and summoned every last ounce of his strength.

His body swayed as if it would collapse at any moment. But Pyo Wol soon found his balance and barely held on.

He had finally stood up on his own two legs.

“Hooo!”

The breath he had been holding back burst out.

Pyo Wol stood, holding his thighs with both hands, and caught his ragged breath.

He couldn’t see to confirm it, but Pyo Wol thought that hot steam must be rising from his body.

That was how hot his body was.

Like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

Pyo Wol had to spend a long time cooling the heat.

When the heat finally subsided and he felt he could live, he looked around.

All he could see was still thick darkness.

Even though he had been here for quite a long time, his eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the dark.

In the end, Pyo Wol gave up on seeing with his eyes. Instead, he reached out his hand and caressed the wall in front of him.

The surface of the wall was slippery, as if water had been flowing down it for a long time.

He felt not only moisture on his hand, but also fine protrusions.

‘Moss?’

Where there was water, there was always moss. A humid place like this was the optimal environment for moss to grow.

Pyo Wol scraped the wall with his fingertips. The moss caught on his nails and was torn away.

He couldn’t tell what color the moss was, nor could he identify what kind it was.

Some mosses are edible, but others can cause serious problems for the human body. It could be poisonous, or it could carry disease.

If he could see it with his eyes, he could make a much easier decision, but right now, the only information Pyo Wol could get was through the sensation at his fingertips.

Pyo Wol felt a pain as if his stomach was twisting.

The hunger he had briefly forgotten had returned.

Drinking water was nothing more than a temporary measure. He had to eat something.

He couldn’t tell if the moss was edible just by the feel of his fingertips. Yet, the mere fact that he was holding moss in his hand made his mouth water.

His deliberation was not long.

Now was the time to eat something, anything.

Even if it was Poison.

Pyo Wol brought the moss to his mouth.

His mouth felt gritty.

A hellish taste that could not be described in words attacked his tongue. The taste was so vile that Pyo Wol almost screamed and collapsed.

Knowing that if he collapsed once in his current state, it would be impossible to get up again, Pyo Wol forced himself to endure.

Water streamed from his eyes and nose.

After losing his parents, he had wandered All Under Heaven and scavenged all sorts of things to eat, but this was the first time he had experienced such a hellish taste.

It was a taste he never wanted to experience again.

Even as tears and snot streamed down his face, Pyo Wol did not throw away the moss in his hand.

Hell was unfolding in his mouth, but fortunately, he felt no abnormalities in other parts of his body.

If the moss had contained a deadly poison, he would have lost his life the moment he consumed it. Even if such an extreme effect didn’t occur, he should have felt something wrong with his body.

But other than his sense of taste being paralyzed, he felt no other abnormalities.

It meant he could eat it.

Pyo Wol hastily scraped the moss and brought it to his mouth.

Since his mouth was already paralyzed, he no longer felt the hellish taste. It was still painful, but once he got used to it, it was bearable.

Scrape, scrape!

Pyo Wol scraped the wall indiscriminately to gather moss. When he had gathered a certain amount, he would shove it into his mouth, then repeat the motion of gathering moss again.

‘I will live. I will survive, no matter what.’

Pyo Wol muttered as he chewed the moss.

His tongue was almost paralyzed, so his voice did not escape his mouth, but his resolve was firm.

He had to survive, if only to take revenge on the man who had imprisoned him here.

He felt he could only rest in peace if he at least found out why he had to be locked up in this place.

He didn’t know how much moss he had scraped and eaten.

He didn’t feel full. Still, his hunger had subsided to some extent.

His tongue tingled as if it were paralyzed.

Pyo Wol caressed the area around his mouth with his hand. Fortunately, after some time, the sensation in his tongue returned to normal.

Pyo Wol thought it was a relief.

His life-risking gamble had paid off.

He didn’t know how large the space he was trapped in was, but since there was a good amount of moss on the wall, he would be able to preserve his life for the time being. Of course, he would have to endure that hellish taste every time.

After standing and resting for a moment, Pyo Wol soon placed a hand on the wall and began to walk.

It was to gauge the size of the space he was trapped in.

After walking about ten steps with his left hand on the wall, he came to a dead end. He was blocked by a wall.

He walked again along the wall that blocked him. This time, too, after about ten steps, a wall appeared.

‘A rectangular space, about three Zhang on all Four Rooms.’

Only then could Pyo Wol picture the size and shape of the space he was trapped in.

Pyo Wol continued to walk along the wall.

Thud!

Something caught on his fingertips.

It was a hard feeling, different from the moss.

Pyo Wol moved his hand along the foreign-feeling obstruction.

It was a single line.

A thin, long, continuous line.

A rectangular line, like the space Pyo Wol was trapped in.

‘A door?’

While he was at it, Pyo Wol knocked on the part he presumed to be a door.

Thump, thump!

A dull sound echoed in the underground space where he was trapped.

It was a distinctly different sound from the other parts.

‘A large, thick iron door.’

Pyo Wol fumbled around to see if there was a device to open the door. But the iron door was smooth, with no protrusions or indentations.

There was no way to open it from the inside. It seemed it could only be opened from the outside.

In the end, Pyo Wol could not find a way to open the door. But he did not despair.

He had survived the crisis of starvation.

There was moss and water to last for a while. It would be painful, but he could survive for a few days.

Pyo Wol leaned his back against the iron door and slowly sat down.

The fear that he would never be able to get up again was gone.

Now that he had filled his stomach, it was time to rest.

Only the sound of soft breathing echoed in the darkness.

＊＊＊

Pyo Wol opened his eyes.

In fact, he was confused whether he had opened his eyes or if they were still closed.

Because whether his eyes were open or closed, all he could see was still thick darkness.

Pyo Wol lay still and tried to gauge how much time had passed.

Judging by the fact that he didn’t feel hungry, it didn’t seem like a long time had passed.

For the past few days, Pyo Wol had survived by eating the moss off the wall.

He thought he would never be able to adapt, but surprisingly, he had grown accustomed to the hellish taste of the moss.

His tongue was still paralyzed, but it no longer felt as nauseating as before.

After resolving his hunger like that, countless thoughts would rush in like a tidal wave.

This place was silent.

Not a single sound from the outside could be heard.

He couldn’t see ahead, nor could he feel the passage of time.

Anyone trapped in this place would surely go mad quickly.

He had to hold on tight to his sanity.

If he let go, he would lose himself and go mad.

Pyo Wol constantly repeated his own name, trying not to lose his identity.

There was no telling how long he had to endure like this.

When he was hungry, he scraped and ate the moss on the wall and licked the water that trickled down.

He had to hold on tenaciously to live.

Pyo Wol thought he was getting thinner and thinner.

His already unimpressive muscles had wasted away even more. He was still maintaining his strength for now, but he didn’t know when his limit would come.

The moss on the wall was not infinite.

The day the moss was all gone would be his last. Still, he planned to hold on tenaciously until then.

He didn’t know why he was holding on so tenaciously.

If he just let go, his body might be at ease.

If he died, he might not have to suffer such pain.

Such temptations came to him frequently.

Each time, Pyo Wol bit his lip and endured.

From overcoming the temptation of death, the inside of his mouth was all torn and burst, so there was never a day the blood dried.

Pyo Wol suddenly sensed a presence.

When he lifted his head, he saw someone looking down at him.

‘Someone here?’

A question suddenly arose.

The iron door was clearly shut tight.

There were no signs of anyone entering from the outside.

Above all, it was absurd to be able to see someone else in such pitch-black darkness.

Pyo Wol still couldn’t even see his own hand.

‘This isn’t real. Is it a dream?’

Pyo Wol lifted his head and looked at the one looking down at him.

The man with a gaunt face and body, and empty eyes, strangely resembled him.

If he himself became gaunt before entering this place, he would surely look like that.

‘It’s me.’

Only then did Pyo Wol realize that the man he was facing was another version of himself.

To be precise, the self in his dream.

Or perhaps his true form lurking within.

He was seeing a form that could never be seen by normal means, in a situation where he was pushed to the extreme.

Pyo Wol asked his inner self.

“What is it?”

—What are you enduring so tenaciously for? Just let go. If you let go, you’ll be at ease.

His inner self answered.

Pyo Wol blinked his eyes.

It was because he hadn’t actually expected him to answer.

He asked.

—Why are you holding on so hard? For what? You have nothing. What is a bastard with nothing to protect holding on so tenaciously for?

“Do I have to have something to protect?”

—Isn’t it ridiculous? I don’t know why you’re struggling so much for a life worse than a maggot’s. Give up. If you give up, it’ll be easier.

“Will it really be easier?”

—What?

“If I let go, will it really be easier? I don’t think so.”

—Fucking idiot is spouting bullshit.

“I’m going to live. It’s a life worse than a maggot’s, but I’ll still survive to the end and see how it ends.”

—You’re wasting your energy.

“It’s unfair to die like this. If I die without even getting to stab the bastard who locked me in here, I won’t be able to close my eyes even in death.”

—…

“So I’m going to live. I’m going to live tenaciously and get revenge on all those who made me like this.”

His inner self squatted down and met his gaze.

—Are you really going to get revenge?

“Yes!”

—You won’t give up?

“Never!”

As if pleased with Pyo Wol’s answer, his inner self smiled.

Pyo Wol also smiled.

Their smiles were strikingly similar.

At that moment, Pyo Wol opened his eyes.

His inner self was nowhere to be seen.

Pyo Wol realized he had woken from a dream. At the same time, he noticed that the other self he had seen was not just because of the dream.

It was his inner Inner Demon.

If he hadn’t overcome the Inner Demon, he would have been devoured by it and gone mad. Or his ego would have split in two.

Darkness drives people mad.

Pyo Wol had passed a crisis without even realizing it.

“Hoo!”

It was when Pyo Wol let out a sigh.

Clank!

Suddenly, with a heavy sound, a hatch at the bottom of the iron door opened.

It was a narrow space, just big enough for a small plate to come through.

A faint light poured in through the space.

Even with the weak amount of light, Pyo Wol’s eyes ached as if they would burst.

His eyes, adapted to the darkness, were reacting violently even to the faint light.

Ssk!

A small plate was suddenly pushed inside. And then the hatch closed again.

Pyo Wol’s sense of smell was the first to react.

‘Food?’