Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 103

Episode 103

Samsaek, having been revived, would often bring back mushrooms or berries, as if repaying the favor.

Thanks to this, the twins didn't starve for a while.

But they couldn't live on raw mushrooms and unripe fruit forever.

Just as they were getting sick of them, the younger sister, who had gone outside, returned with good news for a change.

"Oppa! The temple is giving out food today!"

The temple would occasionally hand out food to save the starving people in the slums, and it seemed today was that day.

"I'll go and get your share, too!"

"Uh, uh-huh……"

His younger sister ran out with excited steps.

Normally, he would have gone with her, but the boy hadn't gone out much since reviving Samsaek.

He was afraid someone might have seen him revive the monster, and he was also worried about running into the village kids and being bullied again.

After confirming his sister was completely gone, the boy quietly asked the empty air.

"……Are you there?"

"……"

Naturally, it was a small, cramped room with only him in it, so no answer came.

But the boy's expression grew gloomier than ever.

The warm voice that always used to sound in his ears had cut off, as if by magic, ever since he revived Samsaek.

Had he done something wrong?

Or perhaps he had misinterpreted the advice…….

'But if that's the case, Samsaek came back to life just fine.'

Even if it meant the other monsters had to die…….

The boy violently shook his head at the sudden surge of guilt.

'No. Maybe it's not because of that. They were all badly injured to begin with……'

The boy tried hard to console himself that way.

Reviving Samsaek had happened so suddenly and frantically that the memory was hazy.

But when he had found them, most of Samsaek's kin were already dying, their heads smashed in.

So it might not have anything to do with his ability…….

"Nyaa-"

Just then. Right on cue, the creature he had revived leaped in through the crack in the window.

The furry, three-eyed monster ran right up to the boy and spat out what it had been carrying in its mouth.

It was a mushroom, as always.

"Th-Thank you. Samsaek……"

The boy reached out gratefully and gently stroked the monster from its head to the tip of its tail.

"Nyaa."

Samsaek, as if pleased, rolled over onto its back.

He was just tickling its plump belly.

SLAM!

Suddenly, the door to the small room burst open, as if to break it.

There was no way his younger sister, who had just left to get food, would be back already.

"This bastard…… Are you still letting monsters into the house to play?!"

Proving his thoughts, a fat man, thoroughly drunk and holding a liquor bottle, staggered into the house.

"F-Father……!"

The boy's eyes wavered anxiously at his father's unexpected appearance.

"I told you not to let this filthy thing in the house!"

The man staggered over and lifted his foot, as if to kick the monster lying in front of the boy.

"S-Samsaek!"

"Nyaaong!"

The startled monster shot up.

Fortunately, before the man's heavy kick could land, the monster quickly escaped through the crack in the window.

Before he could even feel relieved.

The kick that had lost its target naturally turned on the boy.

Thwack! Thud!

"Ugh! Oof!"

"Didn't I tell you we'd be kicked out if the villagers found out!"

"F-Father. I-I'm sorry……"

"If you're that old, you should go out and find some chores! If you can't, at least go beg or steal something!"

The boy curled up as much as possible to avoid the rain of kicks.

But the man, who had lost what little money he had gambling and needed someone to take his anger out on, was in no state to see his pathetic form.

"How long are you going to leech off the house like a parasite! I told you to have money ready by the time I came back, you goddamn worm!"

"Ugh! I-I'm sorry. I'll go earn money! I'll go earn it!"

Only after finally hearing the words he wanted did the indiscriminate violence stop.

The man tipped the liquor bottle he was holding, gulping it down, and then asked.

"Kheu…… Where'd your sister go?"

"Sh-She went to get food……"

"That one! I've never seen her at home when her father comes! If she were just a little older, I could sell her. Tsk!"

Thwack!

The man, who had kicked the chair next to the boy, seethed with anger.

The boy just trembled, praying he would leave the house again before his sister returned.

But the man, who usually left right after venting his anger, for some reason didn't leave. He staggered and crouched down in front of the boy.

"……Hey. By the way."

His murky eyes, glinting with an unreadable light, stared at the boy.

"On my way here, I heard something strange from the village kids."

"Wh-What……"

"They said you revived a dead monster by feeding it your blood……"

What he had dreaded had finally happened.

The boy's heart sank.

His face pale, the boy frantically shook his head at his father.

"N-No. Th-That can't be……"

"I was thinking about it. Your dead mother, she used to treat me with some miraculous method whenever I got hurt."

But the man didn't seem to be listening to the boy's words.

"She used to mix her blood in the medicine…… You, bastard. Is it the same for you?"

"N-No. I-I don't have anything like that, Father……"

"Hehe. If this goes well, I could be rolling in money. If your mother hadn't died after giving birth to you, I would've found out a long time ago."

The man, who had suddenly grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth, fumbled in his pocket and took something out.

A sharp blade was thrust in front of the boy's eyes. It was a jackknife.

"Hehe. I won't make it hurt. Let's just get a little blood. Huh?"

"H-Heueu……"

At the sight of the demon-like man slowly approaching him, thrusting the knife, the boy shook his head and scrambled backward.

But there was nowhere left to flee.

He was already cornered in the small room from avoiding the kicks.

Thanks to that, the man easily grabbed the boy's thin arm.

"Stay still if you don't want to get hurt. I'm just going to cut a little……"

Just as the cold tip of the knife was about to cut the boy's soft flesh.

"What do you think you're doing!"

Suddenly, someone roughly snatched the man's arm, the one holding the knife.

At the familiar voice, the boy's tightly shut eyes flew open.

His younger sister, who must have returned at some point, was screaming and yanking at their father's arm, which held the knife.

"Th-This bitch! Let go!"

"First it's hitting, now you're trying to kill him?! Why are you here again! Are you even human? We don't need you to act like a parent, just leave us alone!"

Wasn't she afraid of a man so much bigger than her?

Unlike him, who just took the beatings helplessly, his sister was fearlessly confronting their father.

The man's face was flustered by the unexpectedly fierce resistance.

"Who said anything about killing? I'm just taking a little blood. Stop making a fuss……!"

"Everyone! Come over here! There's a murder happening! Everyone!"

"Th-This brat! Won't you shut up?!"

The man tried to cover his daughter's mouth, and the sister twisted her head to avoid him, still screaming.

A scuffle broke out between the two, and the boy just stood there, unable to do anything.

And it happened in an instant, before he could even think.

"Let go! You dare to……!"

The man roughly shoved his sister, who was clinging to his arm for dear life.

Naturally, she, just a child, couldn't win against an adult's strength.

Thud!

His sister was pushed away powerlessly and fell face down on the floor.

"You disrespectful wench! Daring to stop your own father!"

The man, as if pushing her wasn't enough to vent his anger, raised his foot to kick his sister, who was lying motionless.

But at that moment.

Driiip!

Dark red liquid began to spread around his sister.

"Wh-What……"

"H-Heuk! Blood……!"

The boy, who had just been standing there, not knowing what to do, finally snapped to his senses and ran to his fallen sister.

When he turned her limp body over, he saw his sister, her eyes wide open, dead.

The jackknife the man had been holding was embedded in the middle of her neck.

"No, no!"

The boy screamed, unable to believe the reality.

Kwaddeuk!

He immediately bit his own finger and fed his blood to his sister.

But just as he had experienced when reviving the monster, what was already dead could not be healed, no matter how much blood he fed it.

"No, no……"

The boy sobbed, trying to stop the blood that was pouring relentlessly from his sister.

But it was impossible, as the knife was lodged too deep.

The warmth was slowly leaving his sister's body.

"Heueu, help me, Father! Please, help me!"

The boy, who had quickly raised his head, pleaded with his father for help.

But the man, as if sobered up, just stumbled backward, his now-clearer eyes shaking.

"I-I didn't do it. I-It wasn't me……"

Muttering that, the man suddenly turned his back.

He was trying to run away from the situation where he had murdered his own daughter.

Creak!

From the back of the man opening the door, the boy once again saw the threads, coiled around his body.

They looked much thicker and stronger than the ones on the dying monsters.

He unconsciously lowered his head. The threads wrapped around his sister's body were snapped and slowly fading away.

'I have to take those.'

At the sudden thought, the boy reached his hand out toward the man's threads.

As if answering their master's call, they began to unravel and fly into the boy's hand.

"Heok!"

The man, who was just about to step outside the room, stopped, as if struck by lightning.

But the boy did not stop.

His brown pupils were stained with a bizarre, silver light.