Hang woke up tied to the bed.
For a moment, mangaka had terrible thoughts. [ Don't tell me that I'm going to be spinning in an endless cycle of death and rebirth: dying, spawning and dying again, like the Diablo from Jojo. ]
No, the same people were at the bed: a cheerful girl, a bully girl, a mistress and... a lady in a red hood.
[ God, my seat! My body aches. Lord, I didn't hurt anyone in my previous life. On the contrary, I helped my mother and uncle with the housework, gave classmates to copy, always spoke politely to everyone if it were not inveterate utyrki.
For what? I'm asking, Lord! Now I... I... I don't know! I need to calm down, motherfucker! ]
Hang Bin took a deep breath, Hang exhaled. Inhale-exhale without fuss.
[ I'm still alive. It's fine. I'm tied up and my ass hurts. It's not that great. Apparently, that needle is used for treatment. Was the owner of this body ill? Got sick and died? ]
The girl with long sleeves reacted to me in a friendly way, I am her relative, or rather… Yes, biologically, physically, definitely yes. We have the same long black hair…
So there is "my" family around? Here are some wonderful relatives: two slaps and a deeper needle to kill!]
A finger was tapped on Hang's forehead.
The lady in red snorted contemptuously and began to talk about something.
Hang did not know the language, however, he understood a lot from the twisted face of the lady.
The mistress next to her interrupted the lady. The lady raised her voice to the mistress. She blocked Hang and put her hands on her hips.
The two women exchanged acrimonious phrases for a long time.
"Nigo ro, Leroo. Nigo ro hak!" the mistress insisted.
"Kipa nigo ro puama Kumta", the hooded lady growled.
"Uzeh. Ku ino Kumta".
"Yaro kumta?! Ku ino Kumta!!!"
"Ku ino kumta", the lady turned up her nose.
"Ku! Ku! Ino kumta! - the lady pointed at the madam with her finger and spluttered with saliva.
"Ku ino kumta", the mistress said calmly.
"Glyaaaa!" the hooded witch stomped hysterically.
Soon she left, slamming the door.
"It looks like "kumta" is a swear word."
The mistress turned to the bully girl and handed her a book. "Wait, is this even a book?" Hang looked closely and opened his mouth wide. "Eyes, a book with eyes!" The book's gaze briefly swept over the mangaka, forcing the latter to turn away.
After receiving the big-eyed book, the bully sighed.
"Kipa, onigomahu! Gerla inn gerli".
"Hang had no choice but to remain silent. The bully adjusted the purple bow on herself and began to untie Han".
But instead of relief, he felt suffocated. Eighteen huge purple hands squeezed, lifted and carried after the bully.
The mistress was muttering angrily under her breath.
Hang was being carried down a narrow corridor. The pugnacious girl turned around halfway, looking sadly at the young man.
"Kipa..."
" Kipa, " Hang repeated.
The hands froze.
"Kipa to?"
"Kipa to?"
The girl pointed to herself:
"Moyi".
"Moyi", Hang forced a smile.
The bully was thinking about something. The hands pulled Hang closer, and Moyi whispered:
"Koren yaro limi ku. Koren ku limi nai tho?"
Hang said nothing.
The bully sighed. A tear rolled down the delicate nose. Moya continued walking down the corridor. At the end of it, a garden was opened to the travelers.
"A garden right in the house? God, it's so beautiful. Especially this strange butterfly with six wings and that spotted flower! "
The butterfly gracefully fluttered around the smiling Hang Bing, then sat on the spotted flower.
"They are so beautiful together!"
Thorns burst out from the middle of the flower. The juice of the entrails poured through the wounds of the pierced butterfly. On his bad smell, they climbed out of the petals… They resembled both roots and live worms. A second was enough for them to end the torment of the poor insect.
Hang smiled out of inertia, paling and paling.
There were many flowers in the garden and even more "cute flowers". Hang squeezed his eyes shut.
"Good. What is the probability that I was carried to the slaughter? It is clearly there, it is not zero, but it is not one hundred percent either".
Mangaka has heard that thinking in a foreign language makes it more calm.
Moya's girlfriend led Hang Bin to the miniature outbuildings. Red, White and Purple. I knocked on the white one – the door opened by itself.
"Yes, it doesn't look like a mortuary".
Moyi waved to Hang, and the hands threw him inside.
The stench. Cold. The darkness. Inside, Han's opinion of this cute house has changed.
"It smells... it smells… That was the smell of raw meat in my uncle's kitchen… It smells like blood." My stomach asked to come out.
Hang pushed open the door through which he got here. The pathetic piece of wood wouldn't budge.
"What a naive fool I am... okay, don't panic. They couldn't have sent a relative to certain death, could they? Or could they?
Oh, sweet, sweet new home!"
Hang pressed his back against the corner and clenched his trembling fists. "It's shaking. What kind of terrible beasts are lurking in the darkness?"
Mangaka held his breath. Silence enveloped the house. There are no signs of danger. "We need to find a weapon urgently. At least a stick," Hang decided and carefully headed towards the darkness.
The floorboards creaked under his feet. "The eyes gradually moved from cones to sticks: I can see where I'm stepping... of course, it won't help much if I meet a hungry beast with only bare fists."
Hang wandered down the dark corridor. The board under him collapsed.
"Damn it!" Hang covered his mouth, listening.
And he heard it: chomp-chomp. Either slurping steps, or jumping next to him-behind his back.
Hang began to feel feverish jitters. The sounds stopped beside him. Mangaka bit his lips.
Don't move. Don't breathe.
Wet breath ran down my back.
[God, I don't want to die...]
The unknown monster remained behind and breathed hoarsely. Monotonous.
I wanted to fall. Hang wanted to fall down and curl up, but then the monster clearly ...
[What is this damned imp waiting for? Is he playing with me?! His breath was getting heavier, squeezing Han's shoulders and neck.]
Soon the breathing became quite dense. A wet, very wet and cold tongue touched Han.
First the neck, them shoulders, shoulder blades, then the lower back. Mangaka's kimono was soaked.
[What's the point? Am I going to die now or in five minutes?" "Just fall down. Fall down and forget yourself in eternal sleep... although ... no… I will definitely survive... The monster has not yet shown a sign of aggression; can it be safe?]
Hang remembered the spotted flower in the garden and that poor butterfly, from which any naive illusions were dispelled.
[Okay, we have to go, until...].
Something sharp was stabbed in the back. Hang ran down the corridor, screaming.
"Help me! Somebody! Save me for the sake of all the saints!
It was followed by slurping jumps. "God, I'm a fool! Isn't it poisonous? It's poisonous, right?" Molten pain was spreading through the solar plexus.
The slurping jumps were getting closer... closer…
Sooner or later…
Feeling absolutely helpless, Hang began to go off the rails.
"Please don't kill me, sir monster! Please, if you let me live, I'll... I'll ... I'll give you a free tattoo... do you want? To hell with it, he doesn't understand a damn thing anyway – I'm finished anyway!"
Hang's shoes slapped on something soft. [Bozhechki, what is it made of… Oh, goddammit! It's... like... like this… Did I get into a fucking body horror or something?]
Hang's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and he could see the large swollen veins on the walls and floor. The stench of rotten meat became more then distinct.
[This is my meat grave.]
And the wound on my back did not even think to stop hurting.
My strength was draining away. The joints are sluggish.
[Is this my death, the final death? There will be nothing after it? No scents, no images, no music, no thoughts?]
Hang remembered his mother and uncle.
[But I promised them to achieve success in this life. How funny! The only thing I can do is to sweat the damn monster.]
Hang began to sob. The monster was slapping three meters behind.
[I would be at least a little happy if I could hold... my graphic pen at my last moment.]
Han's steps slowed down, and mangaka finally lost hope of salvation.
[Ha, what a hypocrite I am... didn't I strive to write an entire manga about how there is always a way out? So why shouldn't I try to listen to this damn morality at least at this damn moment?!!]
Hang gave a sharp push. My heart started pounding.
Mangaka took a deep breath and turned around to see the enemy.
A jelly-like monster with three legs and about a hundred eyes was jumping behind Han. Hang turned pale.
[Calm down! Calm down, Hang! Don't panic! Your life depends solely on whether you will be calm and sane. Imagine that an ordinary dog is chasing you, okay? You've run away from hungry dogs before, haven't you? And this monster is essentially no different from a dog.]
The only thing that was with Hang was a kimono, pants and shoes. Without hesitation, mangaka took off his kimono on the run. He turned around abruptly.
The pale mangaka gritted his teeth.
The monster jumped towards him.
"To-o-o-o-r-r-r-o-o-o!" Hang said hysterically, opening the kimono in front of him.
The monster bit through the kimono, wanting to get to the mangaka's body, but it was located on the side, behind the kimono. Without a second thought, the mangaka kicked the kimono, hitting the teeth. I kicked again. Again. A kick. A kick. Kick!
"Go to hell, you half-finished slug!" Hang connected his fists.
The monster was growling. He jumped, but as his eyes were closed, the escape failed-against the wall and on the floor.
"Yaaaah!" Hang screamed like a girl and continued pounding on the monster through his kimono.
The clothes draped over the monster's face were blackened, soaked with slime. He did not move, did not make any fluctuations.
Hang stopped. The corridor was filled with his convulsive breathing. Mangaka leaned against the meat wall and slid down.
My legs were shaking, as were my hands. A scorched taste appeared on the tongue.
"The Merciful L-Lord".
[I haven't felt so bad since summer camp, where I was running away from several stray dogs. I thought they would bite me to death… How I don't like dogs… Oh, thank you, God, for protecting me even in this world.]
Tears streamed down Han's cheeks.
[I'm tired of being scared. If this continues, I will die of a heart attack ... ha-ha-ha. I remembered that foreign web series, Russian. And what was his name? There seemed to be a nice little man on whom a mad scientist was conducting experiments.
And one of these experiments was the torture of fear. In that episode, it was said that ten, or eight, hours of fear would lead to a fatal outcome.
Although it was a long time ago. Maybe my memory was wrong…
Mom taught me to be critical of memories ... Mom... ]
Hang finished crying. Mangaka sat motionless and quiet with a gray face.
[How are Mom and Uncle? They... found my body. Oh, my God.]
Mangaka clutched his head. Bile rose in his throat.
Hang imagined a terrible picture.
[I'm their only relative! My brother has been missing for a long time! And without me, they can only… No! No!
I have to get back to them! But how? Is there any way back at all? I don't remember hearing that an alien from another world appeared in our world.
And then only my soul has moved, so crossing the border of the worlds is very difficult.]
Hang shook his head.
[I will definitely find a solution. But now ... now my ass is deep in a bee's nest. At any moment...]
There was a slap on the meat floor. The twilight of the corridor was saturated with an even more terrible stench. Fear was spreading through my veins like rot.
Hang pressed himself against the meat wall in silence. And the unknown guest was coming closer.