cheap sword
‘···Is that a real person?’
Dylan watched blankly, forgetting to run away.
At first, he thought he was just a crazy man who wanted to die. Dylan almost fainted when he saw that he couldn’t run away, but instead, he was drawing attention with his loud voice.
I knew that he was strong because I had personally faced him, but my opponents were dozens of cursed corpses. The others were all spread out and sleeping, so it was a situation where two people had to fight against those dozens. It was natural to run away.
No, if there was a way to escape when Dylan first encountered that cursed corpse, he would have run away on his own. There just wasn’t a way to escape.
But the madman pulled out his sword and ran forward instead. Dylan tried to run away when the madman got his attention.
I called him ‘hyung’ because I didn’t want to get hit, I didn’t have any good feelings towards him. He was the kind of guy who would throw a punch whenever he got the chance. If I had feelings, they were more like ill feelings closer to hatred.
At that moment, the madman killed a zombie.
In the short time it took to take a single breath, the guy who cut a corpse in half instead dug into the zombies.
“Huh···?”
Dylan let out a sigh of relief without realizing it. No matter how crazy he was, he must have lost his mind from fear to even think about jumping into the middle of that place.
Crunch.
At that moment, two blue heads rose into the sky at the same time. At the same time, the thing and the zombies tangled together.
He continued swinging his sword. When a corpse was attached to him, he would pull it off with his hands and destroy it one by one.
Sometimes he would smash someone’s head with his fist, and sometimes he would headbutt them. The madman had no choice but to use any means necessary, and the fight was so brutal that it was impossible to take your eyes off of it.
Corpses fell before that ignorant madman. A white steam rose from the body of the man covered in black blood.
Dylan looked at the sight, and he became more afraid of the monster than of the dozens of corpses.
Then, when the fallen bodies exceeded ten, Dylan was troubled.
‘··· What if that dog wins?’
Dylan squinted his eyes and weighed the scales.
If he won, it was clear that the Paul Potts family would not forgive him. No, they would not forgive me starting with that ten-year-old. A chill ran down my spine.
Considering that there was a guy like the knight earlier, it wasn’t like there was no chance of winning. That’s how great his military power was.
‘Can you win?’
Thinking about the unpaid commission, the balance of the scale tilted. After that bastard had unfairly swindled me of money recently, I was no better than a beggar.
‘···shit.’
Dylan bit his lip as he watched the big slab of the thing advance among the corpses.
I remembered the dice game we used to play at the bar. Dylan was always losing.
You are so scared that you can’t throw when it’s time to throw. That’s why you keep losing every day. I remembered the guy next to me grumbling.
Anyway, it was time to roll the dice again. This time, it wasn’t money, but lives that were at stake, so he had to win no matter what.
Dylan, having made up his mind, quickly went back into the house where the mercenaries were gathered. Despite the situation outside, these lazy guys were still sleeping sprawled out!
They were clearly some truly disloyal bastards. Dylan approached them with the intention of waking up the closest bastard first.
‘Why does this kid have such a face?’
Dylan tilted his head, looking at the swollen face of the guy. No, this was not the time.
“Get up, you punk!”
Dylan punched the guy in the face with all his might. Bam! The guy’s head rolled to the side, but he was still snoring.
“This damn bird?!”
How deeply must he be sleeping, that he doesn’t even wake up after being hit by this iron fist! There was no time to hesitate any longer. Dylan quickly pulled out his dagger.
‘Hands won’t work because you have to fight. This place will be good. You can’t run away.’
And without a moment’s hesitation, he plunged the dagger into the guy’s thigh. Did he thrust too deeply?
“···Ugh. Ugh···Aaaaah!! What the! You little shit!!”
The guy who had been groaning for a moment suddenly opened his eyes and got up. Judging from the way he moved, it seemed like he had stabbed him appropriately. Dylan quickly moved to the side.
‘If I go out late, that bastard might kill me.’
Dylan raised his dagger again, recalling the gruesome sight of a corpse’s head being smashed in with a large hand.
“Get up, you punk!!”
Dylan realized that the dagger was very effective in waking up the damn slacker.
***
Kwak-jik.
The neck of the skinny middle-aged female zombie was snapped into an L shape. The zombie then lost her balance and fell to the side. The sword could no longer cut through the bone.
‘Is the weather bad?’
Tsk. A cheap sword. He clicked his tongue and squeezed the hand holding the sword, tearing at the neck. Crunch. With an unpleasant sound, black blood sprayed out again. He leaned forward at the cold sensation he felt behind him.
after···.
He let out a ragged breath and swung his sword backwards sharply.
Crunch.
A dull jolt ran through the handle.
‘It was shallow.’
The sword got caught in the zombie’s ribs and he couldn’t go any further.
‘···Was it too much to throw away the sword?’
The regret that I thought I had left behind suddenly raised its head. I smiled bitterly at him and took back the sword. It was something that had already passed.
puck.
My body staggered as I felt a shock near my shoulder. One of the zombies was biting my leather shoulder pad. The guy had no sense of taste, and was chewing the leather shoulder pad as if it were flesh. I felt bad for disturbing him.
I changed my sword and grabbed the zombie’s head with my right hand. Crack. There was a strange sound and the zombie flashed. It must have had particularly strong teeth, because my leather shoulder armor was ripped off.
“Okay. You eat it.”
I slammed it into the ground. Bam! Maybe I didn’t have enough strength, but blood spurted out, and the guy squirmed. I clenched my fist and struck his head with all my might.
Ppujik.
There was a sickening sound, and the eyeball was pulled out and rolled on the ground. The rolling eyeball was stopped by a stone. I stared at the eyeball as big as a fist, and then stomped on it with my foot. A sticky feeling caught my foot.
after···.
My body was hot. The excitement of battle suppressed my feeble fear and silenced my pain. My vision grew distant, then closer.
The surroundings were buzzing with noise. The sound of zombies crying mixed with the heavy rain. I concentrated and found the nearest cry.
Crunch.
The day was over, so I stabbed him with a cheap sword that was more like a club than a sword. Crunch. I advanced, breaking the zombie’s Adam’s apple. The zombies behind me tangled.
‘What about the knight?’
He took a deep breath and swung his sword around, forcibly creating space around him.
bang!!
A blue light emanated from the house where Young-ae was. Fortunately, the knight did not seem to have eaten the delicious stew.
‘Was it a vegan article?’
He shook his head, muttering a joke that wasn’t even funny.
Kwaaaaang!
A bigger lightning strike than before, illuminating the surroundings once again. Zombies were everywhere, having caught people’s attention and instead delved into them. There were still many of them, but there were fewer of them than before.
‘···I’m getting tired.’
Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I’ve fought in this kind of mud. I feel like I’ve only cleared half of it, but the sword is heavy. It’s even more tiring because the sword is cheap.
“I don’t know!!! Charge!! Go away you punks!!”
At that moment, I heard a voice that was full of evil. I turned my head and saw a weasel running towards me, swinging an axe. The voice was brave, but the guy looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment. That sight was so funny that I forgot my pain and laughed.
Behind him, mercenaries were running with blood dripping from their thighs.
‘Why are those kids’ legs like that? And more importantly, how did you wake them up?’
The mouse didn’t even wake up.
“Hyung-ee-ee-nim!! Your brother’s younger brother! I, Dylan, am here to help!! I’m a little late because I had to wake up those lazy guys!! Get back!! Get away from your brother!!”
I laughed out loud at the sight of the weasel swinging its axe while screaming loudly. I knew I was watching it while biting my nails earlier, but it was really shameless.
‘···Well, it’s okay if you come late.’
I couldn’t blame the weasel, knowing how sweet running away is. After all, he made a better choice than I did.
Boom! Boom!
A loud noise erupted from the house where Young-ae was.
As the mercenaries and zombies clashed, the zombies that had been focused on me scattered. The battle became easier than before. The mercenaries fought the zombies well, even though they were limping.
This is how it was to eat a knife. If you don’t kill, the moment of death will come. If you hesitate at that time, a big wrinkle will appear on your neck. Everyone knew him, so he swung the iron while bleeding from his thigh.
‘We have to finish this as quickly as possible. I don’t know what will happen to the article.’
He swung his sword again. Rather than cutting, he felt like he was crushing and breaking. Cold blood spurted out, lukewarm raindrops washed him away, and he was covered in blood again… It felt like his body was being soaked.
The number of zombies gradually decreased. The mercenaries also fell.
Black blood and red blood mixed together, rotten flesh and raw flesh mixed together.
He thrust his sword deeply. Both of them fell backwards, skewered at the same time. He tried to pull out his sword, but only the sword handle was pulled out.
‘Fuck, cheap sword.’
As he muttered a curse, he threw the sword handle to the side.
An unusually small zombie stood in front.
[article!]
If you’re going to call me a knight, you should add ‘nim’ to it too.
[Then it seems like we’re not close! You’re my best friend!]
Whether you’re an old man or a knight, just choose one.
[Then… Sir Knight!]
“Gewoooooo···.”
A little boy, barely out of puberty, who couldn’t even grumble, was opening his mouth wide at me.
‘···You’ve grown quite a bit.’
I laughed bitterly because my mouth was dry.
And that sight reminded me of her, Udra.
***
That day was my first time in a real battle.
And that was also the day I first met her.
“Please···please···.”
My hands trembled at the sight of the man begging with tears and a runny nose. The man was forcibly holding back the intestines flowing out of his distended abdomen with his trembling hands. The sight of this horrible sight made me want to vomit.
Even if I don’t kill him, won’t he die? My weak heart suddenly raised its head.
It was then that the man holding the intestines suddenly moved his right hand.
The man’s right hand flashed. His head screamed at him to swing his sword, but his body was frozen in fear and he couldn’t move.
I shut my eyes tightly as the half-inch-sized knife approached me every moment.
“Oh my, youngest. Are you closing your eyes? Are you going to lie down?”
There was no pain as expected. I opened my eyes to a familiar voice.
Red hair that was disheveled like a lion’s. Red lips that looked like they were soaked in blood and eyes that were somehow out of focus. A beautiful woman, but a crazy woman who naturally avoided people because of her unique dangerous aura.
It was the deputy commander, Woodra. Woodra smiled, licking the red blood on his hands with his tongue.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s the first battle, so that’s understandable. I see you’re swinging your sword pretty well. But if you keep doing this… I’ll pull that out and sew it into your mouth.”
It could have been a scare, but coming from Udra’s mouth, it didn’t sound like that at all. That crazy bitch really could have ripped my shit off and stuck it in her mouth.
“Ah···, the captain told me to be kind to the youngest···. Hmm, then I’ll sew it in a special heart shape.”
I came to my senses at the sight of Udra smiling brightly and clapping her hands together.
It was well known that Udra’s sewing skills were the worst.
He hurriedly smiled between Udra’s wrinkled eyebrows, and only then did Udra smile with satisfaction.
***
Udra crawled forward, making a sound like she was chewing phlegm. Her lower body was devoured and nonexistent. Instead, her intestines were stretched out. Every time she moved, her intestines writhed and spilled out their contents.
This was a taunt from the guy. He didn’t use such low-level zombies, and he knew that I wouldn’t die from something like this.
It was just a bad joke from a guy who was just a loser and a runaway. The fact that I was able to run away in the first place was because he let me.
Where did it go wrong? How did he know we were coming?
Eventually, she came up to my feet and held out her hand. The delicate fingernails she trimmed every day were missing in some places.
Klunk. A handful of blood poured out of my mouth. I strained my eyes to hold on to my clouded mind. This time, my vision became blurry.
I held onto my senses and reached out to her as she tried to rip my foot off. She grabbed my arm and jumped.
For a moment, a tiny bit of hope rose in my mind, similar to her habit of jumping into bed every time and nagging me, but it disappeared the moment I saw her intestines hanging in the air.
[Hug me. I had a nightmare. I’m scared. Hug me. Hug me. I told you to hug me?]
‘···I hope it was a nightmare.’
It was raining, and my vision was blurry.
I held her tightly as she drooled and tried to bite the back of my neck. Her body, which was always warm, was as cold as ice.
She bit the back of my neck and scratched me here and there, but I just shut my eyes tightly and held her tighter.
Flesh was falling off and blood was flowing out, but I felt no sensation.
I just held her tightly until she stopped moving.
So that she won’t be lonely.
So that she, who was more cowardly than I thought, would not have nightmares anymore.
I prayed earnestly.
[Watch your face. Being handsome is the youngest’s only advantage.]
I pulled out the nail stuck in her face and buried it with her.
***
I held the child as I had held Udra that day.
Why do you keep calling me a knight?
[Of course, you always save me!]
The baby was kicking in my arms.
He gave me strength and broke my neck.
The child’s movements stopped.
There was a nail embedded in his forearm.
Invisible leash.
The child was right.
They were all wearing invisible leashes.
I had dozens of leashes.
A small leash was added to it.
I carefully put the child down who had stopped moving and got up.
If you give birth to four, two of them will die.
It was like just flipping a coin and getting tails.
‘This fucking other world.’
It was a place I couldn’t like at all.
[Let’s decide that the surviving chick will live a long time to get the rest. In that sense, should we all share where we’ve hidden our money? No, I’m not trying to steal it… What, a thief?! Whoosh?!]
Still, my mouth felt gritty, as if that fucking sandwich was still in it.
‘Yes. For a long time… and the rest.’
I closed my eyes and prayed.
I hope my child won’t fall into this hell next time.
The rain was pouring down, but it was fucking quiet.
