Necromancer Survival
chapter-418

To avoid running into the monsters, I watched from a distance as they all crowded into the dining room. Shortly thereafter, the last monster I had seen on the map also entered the dining room.

I wondered whether the dining hall was large enough to accommodate all of the giant monsters, and I still wasn’t sure. Strangely enough, I could hear no noise inside.

I wanted to judge what I should do next after listening in on what was happening inside the dining hall, but the silence stretched longer than I had expected. Eventually, I wondered if I could find a way to peer inside from behind the arched passageway.

“Ack! Why are you pulling at me?!”

The monkey suddenly began to yank my hair. Startled, I tried to stop it, but the doll didn’t back down.

The pain in my scalp was intense–perhaps because of my long hair. Just as I was about to push the monkey away with my hand—

Pop–!

I heard something popping in the previously quiet restaurant; a familiar, bloody scent began to waft out. Despite the monkey’s attempts to hold me back, I couldn’t resist. At that moment, I feared Dawon might have been harmed.

I moved closer to the interior of the dining hall. I felt that I had to take risks.

[——-.]

“Where? Say it properly!”

But, as I approached, I heard a voice that wasn’t audible before. The familiar young boy’s voice filled me with both relief and tension.

‘That’s Dawon-ie, right?’

I couldn’t see his face, but I guessed he might be talking to someone inside the room.

I tiptoed to the door and peered through a crack. The first thing that caught my eye was how the dining room had ‘expanded’ far beyond its original size.

‘This mansion… What is this–toy blocks? Legos? How did the space get larger?’

At least it meant the monsters weren’t crammed in uncomfortably, but still, this change was puzzling.

However, the monsters inside behaved weirdly. The various monsters had all bowed their heads, lying flat on the ground as if they were worshiping something or someone. They bowed towards where Dawon and I had been sitting together for a meal earlier.

‘The table…isn’t there any more?’

Though the enormous tower of food and long table couldn’t have been cleared away in such a short time, they had all disappeared as if they hadn’t existed.

Instead, a tall, gargantuan chair had replaced the table. Young Dawon sat on that huge throne, like an emperor. From my angle, I couldn’t see his face, but the clothes he wore and the voice were unmistakably his.

And Dawon… Dawon was angry at the monster lying prone at his feet. “What do you mean you don’t know for sure? What are you saying?”

[——-.]

“Then, why did you bring that up?”

Though his words were uncharacteristically harsh for a child, there was a hint of youthful impatience in his tone, as if he was struggling to control his temper.

Perhaps that’s why I wasn’t too frightened, even after seeing this bizarre scene. It felt more like a child throwing a tantrum in a chair. Rather than watching someone dangerous, I felt as if I was watching theater–a play. In both senses of the words.

‘What a relief… It seems the Monsters can’t harm Dawon-ie…’

Just as I was giving myself a hard time for being so foolish, Dawon waved his hands in the air…

Thud–!

Simultaneously, the head of the monster that had been bowing close to Dawon’s feet was severed clean off. A fountain of blood erupted belatedly as the headless body collapsed to the floor. I couldn’t help but widen my eyes at the sight.

[——–.]

All the monsters in the mansion all began to tremble, backs shaking at the sight. Though I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, the atmosphere of sheer terror, as if the monsters were even afraid to swallow, was palpable—even to a human like me.

At that moment, Dawon said, in a cold tone, “Find Hyung-nim and bring him to me. Right now.”

I took a couple steps back, faltering at his command.

Dawon’s harsh commands didn’t stop there. Looking at the near motionless monsters with their heads nailed to the ground, he continued, “He’s probably holding the ‘Technician’s Sword.'” ¹

[——.]

“It would be good if you could bring him to me unharmed… If he’s carrying the [Technician’s Sword], take it away by all means possible. If he resists, you can rip off his limbs.”

‘…What?’

[——-?]

“You don’t have to bring the sword back to me. Dispose of it separately. That’s all. Now, move.”

Just as I was about to gasp in shock at those heartless commands, the monkey doll tugged at my hair again, before the monsters could start moving. The tug finally snapped me to my senses, and only then did I stumbled away, retreating from the dining room.

“Da… Dawon-ie…”

He couldn’t possibly do something like that to me.

Was it the [Vengeful Ghost Memory]’s influence? I tried to suppress my disappointment by remembering the various Dawons in each memory that had been violent towards me.

However…

‘…Coupled with his youthful appearance, it’s just too much.’

A mix of frustration and uncertainty about my next moves weighed on me.

The Shikigamis–should I call them Dawon-ie’s subordinates now?–were hard to overcome on their own…but now, they were organizing according to Dawon’s wishes.

[Kyaaaaack–!]

But I didn’t have time to dwell on those thoughts for long. I could hear the monsters spilling out of the dining room; their sounds echoed from not too far away.

First things first, I took the most convoluted path towards the garden and the living room. I chose this path because there were plenty of rooms to escape into if I encountered anything in the corridors.

[Clunk Clunk–!]

‘Tsk…’

However, monsters appeared in droves, and I could see more than half of them heading in my direction on the map. I regretted my choice, wondering if I had taken the wrong path; my immediate area quickly became surrounded by monsters.

“Damn, there’s another one in front of me…!”

The number of monsters kept multiplying. While running, I briefly locked eyes with a servant at the end of the hallway; suddenly, the [Monster–In the Middle of Mutating] label appeared above their head–on the spot.

I frantically ran down the hall for fear of the mutated monster chasing after me. Just before turning the corner, I hid myself in a small boiler room I had just noticed.

[Crash–Crackle–!]

Just a minute later, a porcupine-like monster marked as [In the Middle of Mutating] appeared from behind. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to notice that I ducked away, and I watched through the crack in the boiler room door as it moved away. The sound of its spines scraping against the walls sent chills down my spine.

“Haah, haah…” I caught my breath and wiped the sweat that dripped off my skin like rain.

[Ookkeekkee…]

‘Ara, the monkey?’

I suddenly heard the monkey doll from outside the door. Through the gap, I could see the monkey rolling about in the hallway. Without thinking, I opened the door to retrieve it, but…

[Puhuhuhu….]

The massive caterpillar monster I had briefly encountered earlier had picked up the monkey doll. The monkey was caught in the longest and thickest of the monster’s many arms.

[KkeeKkeekee!]

The monkey struggled to get out, trying whatever it could…But, it was clear that it couldn’t escape the monster’s grip. After all, it couldn’t escape when it was caught in my own hands; what could the monkey do against the monster’s immense strength?

I stood there, paralyzed, unable to do anything as I helplessly watched the caterpillar monster bring the monkey doll closer to its mouth.

“…No…!” I almost opened the door and ran out. The monster must have noticed my presence; it stared intently at the boiler room before slowly approaching closer. Then, through that thin crack between the door and frame, it stared at me. Each of its ten eyeballs on its face scanned my face.

‘Am I…going to fail like this…?’

Just when I was plunged into despair…

[PuShweeee…]

The caterpillar monster released a deep breath and then brought the monkey doll close to the crack in the door, as if it wanted to show the monkey to me. The monkey, seeing my face, began to wail desperately for help.

[Eeekkeekeekkk!!!]

‘…Is it trying to coax me?’

I felt troubled, but I had no other choice. The boiler room was a dead end; there was nowhere else to run. I ended up opening the door and exited, as the caterpillar monster wanted.

Thud–!

The caterpillar monster placed the monkey doll atop my head as soon as I stepped out the door. The monkey immediately leaped onto my back, burrowing itself into my clothing as if trying to hide, still shaken from the earlier threat to its life.

However, even stranger, was the caterpillar monster’s ensuing behavior.

[Puhuhuuuuu….]

The caterpillar monster gently pushed me back into the boiler room and then stood, blocking the doorway. Moments later, I heard the sound of the hedgehog-like monster, the one that had been chasing me earlier, approaching.

[———-]

The hedgehog monster stopped in front of the caterpillar and seemed to say something, but I couldn’t understand their conversation. After exchanging a few words, the hedgehog monster turned and disappeared back down the hallway.

Click–!

Then, the caterpillar monster stepped aside and opened the door for me. It cradled my shoulder with its big hands. It didn’t hurt at all.

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TL: As kind as a caterpillar monster may be, I do not want a giant bug to caress me ngl.