Chapter 15: The Path to the Peak

So that was it.

Hanjun couldn’t just ignore someone who needed help.

It was a side of him I hadn’t noticed at the boxing gym.

He had seemed blunt and ill-mannered to the members, but apparently he was soft toward elders.

Swallowing back tears, I politely raised one hand to get attention.

“Um, let’s change clothes before we go. If we climb like this, we might freeze to death.”

Freeze to death, or get attacked by a monster while climbing and die.

Either way, death was death, but I wanted to raise my survival chances even a little.

If I was going to stick close to a savior, I’d have to endure this much.

Half resigned, I trudged back to where the car was parked.

I took out spare clothes from the trunk.

With the forest wide open around us and nowhere to hide, I had no choice but to strip off my wet clothes right there.

“You’ll be cold, hyung.”

As I pulled off my T-shirt, Hanjun began wiping my body with a towel.

It was unnecessary kindness.

With the pressure of climbing 1,915 meters to Cheonwangbong over two days weighing on me, I had no mental space for anything else.

“Aren’t you changing your underwear? It’s soaked.”

“Here?”

“It’s damp.”

“Is it?”

Conscious of the woman standing guard with her rifle in the middle of the path, I turned slightly and lowered my underwear.

As I took out a fresh pair and glanced back, I caught Hanjun staring directly at my backside.

“…What?”

“What do you mean? Hurry up and change.”

Could you move your eyes, please?

The words rose to my throat, but I only turned away stiffly.

His gaze on my backside felt strangely scorching.

Did I have something stuck there?

I felt self-conscious and hunched over slightly.

But Hanjun merely shrugged as if I were the strange one for being aware of it.

After changing even my underwear under his burning stare, I laid the wet clothes out over the hood.

Preparing for the worst, we packed food and weapons into two backpacks.

I made Hanjun carry the heavier one.

“All right! Let’s go!”

I shouted energetically after finishing preparations.

But—

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

The woman led the way with her rifle.

Hanjun followed steadily with the heavy backpack.

And I, in the safest middle position with the lightest load, was the only one gasping for breath.

I was in no position to complain, yet my breathing grew rougher and rougher.

How could they climb without stopping?

They were incredible.

“Huff, ma’am. Huff. Couldn’t we rest a bit?”

As my breathing became ragged, the woman pressed her index finger to her lips and narrowed her eyes, scanning the surroundings.

It seemed she had heard something suspicious.

She focused to the right and loaded her rifle.

Click—

At her alertness, Hanjun also pulled the baseball bat from his backpack.

I swallowed hard and looked around frantically.

All I could see were trees, rocks, and more trees.

That made it even scarier.

You never knew what might jump out from where.

My pounding heartbeat echoed loudly in my ears.

“Hyung, over here.”

As I trembled like a frightened rabbit holding my pocketknife, Hanjun gestured to me.

I carefully shuffled backward and pressed close to his side.

No matter how I thought about it, if a monster appeared, I’d be the first to die.

The woman aiming calmly looked like a seasoned hunter.

Hanjun, who seemed incapable of fear, didn’t look easy to defeat either.

Even if someone got hurt, it would obviously be me, shaking like a Chihuahua.

So I grabbed tightly onto Hanjun’s collar.

You have to protect me.

I prayed silently.

Rustle—

A subtle, unfamiliar sound came from the bushes.

It sounded like something pushing through the undergrowth.

It was quiet, but I could feel it drawing closer.

I trembled and looked around, but couldn’t pinpoint its source.

I kept swallowing nervously as cold sweat trickled down my temple.

“Up.”

Hanjun said firmly, looking toward a tall tree.

The moment he spoke, the woman aimed her rifle upward.

I quickly raised my head and saw it—

A centipede monster dangling from a branch.

It had too many legs to count, and its face was lined with square, human-like teeth.

The centipede stared down at us.

The moment it realized it had been spotted, it dropped straight toward our heads.

Whoosh—

I almost fainted.

It was about the size of an eight-year-old child.

With the speed it was falling, it could’ve knocked us unconscious.

I scrambled to dodge—

Bang!!

By sheer luck, the woman’s air rifle struck its body midair.

The centipede veered slightly off course.

But something that large wouldn’t be taken down by a single bullet.

It immediately skittered across the ground and lunged for my ankle.

Thud!! Thud!!

Before it could bite, Hanjun smashed its head mercilessly with the baseball bat.

After about three blows, it writhed, its dozens of legs twitching violently.

Its long body twisted like wrung laundry in agony—

Crack!!

With the final strike, its head burst, and it went limp.

“Huff… huff…”

I had contributed the least to killing it, yet I was the most shaken and exhausted.

My legs trembled so badly I couldn’t stand straight.

I clung to Hanjun’s shoulder with shaking hands.

“Ugh…”

Tears blurred my vision.

I really thought I was going to die—bitten by a centipede with human teeth.

Usually blunt, Hanjun gently patted my back.

“Are you okay?”

“It was… so scary.”

I whimpered quietly so only he could hear.

“Don’t leave my side.”

His steady voice calmed my racing heart.

“Young man, this isn’t the time to cry.”

Cry?

I wasn’t crying—just trembling.

Both Hanjun and the woman seemed fine.

Only I was shaking like a coward.

Out of pride, I straightened up and nodded.

“Cry? I’m fine. Jun, what are you doing, scared? Let’s go!”

“Hang in there, scaredy-cat. We need to move before sunset. We have to reach the mid-mountain lodge.”

I was trying to act brave, yet she bluntly pointed out that I was a coward.

Embarrassed, I dragged my shaking legs up the trail again.

As she said, the sun set quickly in the mountains.

It was better not to rest.

The dark forest would be even more dangerous.

The woman was tough.

Perhaps because she had lived near the mountain for years, she climbed skillfully.

Hanjun, whose stamina was far better than mine, didn’t seem tired at all.

The only one dying was me.

From the most dangerous rear position, Hanjun must’ve grown tired of watching me suffer.

He moved beside me.

“Grab my arm.”

“Huff… no, I’m fine.”

I might look pathetic, but I didn’t want to be a burden.

“I said grab it.”

“Well… maybe just a little.”

He had offered twice.

Refusing again would be rude.

Holding onto his arm, I climbed more easily.

As we reached higher ground, a ridge like a delicate ink painting spread before us.

Clouds wrapped around the mountain waist like a belt.

Autumn had painted the trees in brilliant colors, and the view from the ridge was breathtaking.

“We’re almost there.”

Following the ridge path, we finally saw the lodge.

It was only 5 p.m., but this seemed like a good place to stop.

The only monster we had encountered so far was the centipede, so we had relaxed a little.

“There’s no one here either. Where did the lodge keeper go?”

The woman tilted her head and opened the lodge door—

Crunch, crunch—

A yellow beast was gnawing on something inside.

We froze.

Not because it was about the size of a person—

But because of what it was eating.

It was a headless human corpse.

“Keaaak—”

The monster lifted its head and screeched sharply at the sound of us.

Its eyes gleamed at the sight of new prey as it charged on four legs.

The woman aimed her rifle, but seeing the corpse had shaken her composure.

Her hands trembled.

Bang— bang—

Her shots missed.

The monster was almost upon us.

It opened its jaws wide—

Wide enough to swallow a human head whole.

It leapt, about to devour her.

Without hesitation, Hanjun dashed forward and jammed the baseball bat into its jaws.

“Get back!”

He blocked the monster and shouted for her to retreat.

They seemed evenly matched in strength.

Neither yielded.

“Ugh!”

The monster tried to slash at Hanjun with sharp claws.

I had been frozen, clutching my knife.

But I couldn’t just watch him get hurt.

I clenched my teeth and charged.

“Don’t touch Jun, you damn monster!!”