Reaper of the Drifting Moon

He opened his eyes.

All that he could see before his eyes was black.

There he was in the dark darkness that spread like a tabernacle before his eyes, unable to distinguish any shape.

He thought there was something wrong with his eyes so he blinked.

Even after closing his eyes a few times and opening it, all he could see was still a thick darkness.

A pitch-black darkness took over him.

He was in a completely dark place with no light coming in.

He tried to move his limbs. But it felt like it was tied with chains

His body didn’t move like he wanted it to.

There was no strength in his hands and feet.

His whole body felt helpless.

The only thing that can move is his eyelids. He couldn’t control the other parts of his body at all.

This did not go in. (이 들어가지 않았다.)

‘There is nothing wrong with my eyes.’

He couldn’t be sure because he couldn’t even recognize his own limbs right away, but he instinctively realized that there’s nothing wrong with his eyes.

If he became blind, he would have felt something like pain. But there was no abnormality in his senses.

Then it meant that there’s nothing wrong with his eyes, but that the space in which he lay was unusually dark. A pitch-black location with no light coming in.

‘Underground?’

He thought of the possibility.

He had never heard of a building built with human technology that can block out light so perfectly.

If so, then there was a high probability that the space he was lying in was a basement or a perfectly closed space where light could not reach him.

‘Why did this happen?’

He slowly traced his memory.

Who was he?

And why was he in this situation?

His head throbbed as he tried to jog his memories.

He couldn’t think of anything, as if his brain had been struck.

It hurts.

Tears were soon streaming from his eyes. It was as if someone had put a finger in his head and swung it around.

He forcefully swallowed the scream.

It was painful, but he didn’t stop thinking. Then, little by little, his memory returned.

‘My name is Pyo-wol. I am fourteen years old.’

A drifter who aimlessly wanders the world like an orphan without parents. (부모 없는 고아에 정처 없이 천하를 유랑하는 떠돌이.)

He has no roots, no dwelling place. (근본도 없고, 거처도 없다)

He, Pyo-wol, furrowed his eyebrows in a frown.

Again, the pain rushed in like a tidal wave. Yet he forced himself to thinking. As a result, he was able to fully remember who he was.

Now it’s time to figure out why and how he ended up here.

‘Him.’

Pyo-wol recalled the man who remained in his last memory. A middle-aged man whose characteristics was a plain face and sharp eyes that do not match.

The man who he had stumbled upon in the midst of begging had said, “You look good enough.”

That was the last memory of Pyo-wol.

At the end of those words, Pyo-wol lost his consciousness and woke up in the dark.

The man in his memories must be related as to why he was left alone in such a space where no light enters.

Pyo-wol did not know the man’s name nor identity.

He didn’t even know why he was locked up like this.

It couldn’t be because of a grudge.

There was no way that he, an orphan who was just wandering aimlessly, would be the target of a resentment so deep that someone would do this.

‘There must be some kind of purpose— a goal.’

If the captor’s aim was to kill him, then they would have already killed him. They would not have gone through the trouble of locking him up without killing him. So they obviously must have some need or purpose for him.

His head ached as if it would break.

Trying to think deeply with his abnormal state had already consumed a great deal of mental power.

Pyo-wol closed his eyes.

Whether he opened his eyes or closed it, there was no change. He wondered what it meant to close his eyes since his surroundings remained dark.

Still, closing his eyes was less painful than keeping them open.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

Whether he had already lost his mind or was maintaining it, the boundaries were blurred. (정신을 잃었던 것인지, 혹은 유지하고 있었던 것인지 경계가 모호했다.)

His head was a mess.

Still, Pyo-wol struggled to find a clear spirit.

After a while, his mind became clearer as if his efforts paid off.

“Hu!”

Pyo-wol was surprised with the involuntary sigh that escaped from him.

The last time he woke up, he couldn’t even breathe heavily.

All he had to do was keep breathing hard, and he couldn’t even dare to take a deep breath like this. (억지로 가쁜 호호흡을 이어 가는 것이 전부였을 뿐, 이렇게 크게 숨을몰아쉬는 것은 엄두도 내지 못했다.)

Being able to breathe deeply was clearly a sign that body functions were returning to normal.

Maybe it was an illusion, but he decided to think positively.

It was painful to be alone in the darkness without a single light. The darkness made a person think a lot.

Thoughts would flood in like a tidal wave, controlling over the mind and body. The overflowing thoughts would be enough to drive a person crazy.

Even more for Pyo-wol, who was unable to move.

The sense of isolation, as if alone in the darkness of the beginning, corroded his mind little by little.

If time continued to go by like this, it was clear that he would go crazy with his own thoughts.

Therefore, Pyo-wol tried to think positively and cleared his mind.

‘My name is Pyo-wol, fourteen years old, my father’s name is Pyo-in-hak, and my mother’s name is Lee Sun-hong.’

In the midst of his countless thoughts, he tried to think only of things related to his identity.

The only way to keep one’s mind intact in the onslaught of thoughts was to solidify his identity.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

It could have been just one day, or it could have been weeks.

It was impossible to comprehend the flow of time in such deep darkness.

Moreover, Pyo-wol’s whole body was paralyzed.

All the activity of the body had fallen to the floor. (신체의 모든 활동이 바닥까지 떨어진 상태였다)

As long as he was barely holding his breath, most of the functions were at a standstill.

Because of that, he couldn’t even feel hunger.

It was like dying alive.

This was the most terrifying moment of Pyo-wol’s life.

To overcome the fear, Pyo-wol muttered endlessly.

“My name is Pyo-wol…

Time continued to pass like that.

* * *

His fingers moved slightly.

It was proof that power was returning to his body.

Although he wasn’t sure what kind of expression he would be making because there was no light or mirror, his face must be glowing with joy.

Little by little, the sensation of the whole body was returning.

Power entered his fingertips, and his sense of smell was revived.

The damp smell felt through the tip of his nose was telling him that this place was underground, as Pyo-wol had guessed.

However, the fact that this place was underground was not very important to Pyo-wol.

The most important thing for him is that the senses of his whole body are returning.

His fingers wiggled, and he could feel a cold sensation in his toes.

Pyo-wol felt that he was alive. And he was grateful.

It was unfamiliar for him to feel grateful just for the slightest sensation, but just being able to feel the fact that he was alive somehow made him feel more breathless. (이런 사소한 감각만으로도 감사함을 느끼는 자신이 생소했지만, 어쨌거나 살아 있다는 사실을 느낄 수 있다는 것만으로도 한결 숨통이트이는 기분이었다.)

Pyo-Wol was going crazy in struggling to maintain his identity. If only a little more time had passed like this, he certainly would have gone crazy. No, he couldn’t even be sure if he was crazy right now.

No, that doesn’t matter at all, he thought.

He was just happy to know that now the sensation of his limbs has returned.

With a little more effort, he will soon be able to move his arms and legs.

But there was one downside.

As the senses of his whole body returned, the functions of his organs were also revived.

As the function of the organs was restored, he began to feel extreme hunger.

The squeezing feeling in his stomach as if washing laundry was painful.

His mouth was so dry that he could feel his own bad breath.

It was then that Pyo-wol realized that he was dying.

He couldn’t eat anything while he was trapped here, so (이곳에 갇혀 있는 동안 아무것도 먹지 못해 아사(戯死)가 진행 증인것이다.)

It was clear that if he did not eat food for a few more days, he would die.

There were only two options left for him.

Go crazy, or starve.

Peowol’s mouth was twisted.

Deep in his heart, anger rose toward the man who had locked himself here.

Anger soon became hate. (분노는 곧 살의가 됐다.)

‘What the hell did I do wrong?’

It’s a question he had asked himself dozens of times. But no matter how much he thought, he didn’t do anything wrong.

He didn’t even beg in front of the man.

He was literally just passing by.

But the man had grabbed him and thrown him in this hellish place.

Respect for human beings, courtesy towards oneself, etc. did not exist even after washing my eyes. (인간에 대한 존중, 자신에 대한 예의 따위는 눈을 씻고 찾아봐도 존재하지 않았다.)

No matter how insignificant he was, he shouldn’t have been treated as inferior to an insect.

At least if you’re human.

It was clear that the man did not consider himself human. That’s why he had found himself in such a hellish place.

‘Why?’

He questioned why he should be locked up here if he didn’t do anything wrong.

If he didn’t do anything wrong, then there was no reason to be trapped here.

Still, if he had been trapped here, it was clear that the man had done so with some clear purpose.

Pyo-wol contemplated on what the purpose of the man was.

But there was nothing he knew about him

If he knew anything about him, he could possibly infer even a little bit, but he didn’t have any information about the man.

Pyo-wol bit his lip.

He felt the flesh ripping out and the blood flowing. Even after such a mess, his blood still seemed warm. That fact relieved Pyo-wol.

He still felt like he was alive.

* * *

Fingers moved.

It was not at the level of being paralyzed like before, but it was enough to open and close it as he wanted.

The sensation in his feet has also returned.

Now he was able to turn his ankles slowly.

The hunger was still the same. So it remained painful. Still, Pyo-wol was not frustrated.

He looked like he was going to die of hunger, but the fact that his hands and feet were still moving– gave him hope.

Pyo-wol held on to that glimmer of hope.

What he needed now was a faint hope that he could live.

He knew well that the moment he let go of that hope, he would fall into a pit from which he could not climb again. So, he held onto hope like crazy and stretched out.

One good thing is that the extreme hunger opened up all his senses.

His nose smelled a variety of odors that he would never normally smell.

The smell of moisture in the air, even the moisture rising from the floor.

His ears were also wide open.

His senses were so sharp that he could hear the faint sound of water running down the wall.

What he needed most for his survival now was a sip of water.

He really felt like he could sell his soul to the devil just for a sip of water.

“Huo!”

A rough breath came from his lips.

His mouth was dry and cracked like a dry paddy field, and his upper and lower lips were glued together. In such a situation, the sound of harsh breathing was squeezed out and it hurt as if his flesh was being torn.

The more force was applied to the abdomen, the harsher breath flowed out, making it painful for Pyo-wol. Still, Pyo-wol did not stop giving strength to his abdomen.

He didn’t want to be hungry anymore.

He didn’t want to be thirsty any more.

So, to turn over, he applied strength to the abdomen.

He struggled to transmit the power from his abdomen to his limbs.

He had been motionless for a long time, and his whole body was as dry as firewood.

If he had time to spare, he would have studied how to slowly revive his muscles, but unfortunately he didn’t have much time left.

If he keeps on waiting like this, he will soon run out of breath.

He had to move before that.

“Kkeueu!”

In the darkness, a groan like the cry of a beast rang out.

Pyo-wol really did everything he could to death.

His body trembled slightly as if his efforts had paid off.

The excitement grew, and when it finally reached its peak, Pyo-wol exploded the ever-gathering power in a short time.

“Kerhyuk!”

With a scream, Pyo-wol’s body flipped.

He felt the touch of the floor on his chin and forehead.

Pyo-wol shivered at the terrifyingly cold yet humid feeling. After a moment, Pyo-wol began desperately crawling towards the place where he could hear the sound of the running water.

He wriggled like a snake and advanced a little.

Sark! Sark!

His jaw was torn and blood flowed on the floor, but Pyo-wol did not stop moving.

Time passed like an apocalypse. (억겁과 같은 시간이 흘러갔다.)

He finally managed to stop himself and reach the wall.

Blood splattered as he hit his forehead against the wall, but Pyo-wol didn’t even feel pain.

Pyo-wol stuck out his tongue.

His tongue touched the wall.

A refreshing feeling on the tongue.

It was water.

Pyo-wol licked the flowing water hurriedly in panic.

“Huh! Hoo-eup!”

In the darkness, only the sound of him desperately drinking water echoed.