Record of Mad Love - Chapter 5.1

Each ikjae had a different appearance, size, and characteristics from another ikjae.

The ikjae in front of Mugeon’s eyes was slightly smaller than him. There were several wings from head to tail along the long body that looked like a snake. No one knew if some of the wings stopped working because they weren’t functioning or if they were needed. Only the wings in the middle were flapping.

Uniquely, there was no part of this ikjae that could be called the eye. Nevertheless, it was facing straight towards where Mugeon was. Perhaps it was an ikjae that specialized in hearing or smell in the place of having no eye.

Then, that ikjae cried once again.

“Schirrp.”

Rather than the sound of a bird, it was more similar to the squeaky sound of the old hinge. He got goosebumps on his whole body. As if to confirm the ominous foreboding, the misfortune came in a very specific form.

Black outlines swarmed in from afar after hearing the cry of the small ikjae. Looking at the side of the sky that was covered in darkness, Mugeon’s jaw unknowingly dropped.

Flap, flap. Chirp, schirrp.

After hearing a signal that a human was present, the starving ikjaes scurried to taste him. It wasn’t time to be absentminded. He would surely die if he continued like that. He was determined to at least set his hands and feet free.

“Fuck!”

While spitting out a curse, Mugeon jabbed the knife against the rope. Fortunately, it was cut in no time, accompanied by a thud.

“Ugh!”

He ended up slashing his left palm and right wrist. But, basked in the excruciating pain, it wasn’t time to hesitate.

Attempting to sit up properly, he struggled to cut the rope tying his feet with the worn-out blade. Even at that moment, the ikjaes were still coming closer.

Perhaps the first ikjae that appeared was a kid. An ikjae that looked like its parent wrapped the young ikjae with its wings and brought it to its arms.

Mugeon examined the situation with a side glance and gritted his teeth. It wasn’t easy to cut the knot because his hands were frozen. In addition, blood continued to gush out from the wounded palm and wrist. Nevertheless, with a determination to survive, Mugeon tried his best to cut the rope.

And finally.

Thud.

The rope tore from his grasp and his feet were set free. Mugeon immediately grasped the knife and stood up. However, having lost strength from being tied up for so long, he fell again. When he had fallen pathetically to the ground, he let out a groan.

“Keugh…!”

His feet tingled and his whole body throbbed with pain. Mugeon lifted his head and checked the group of ikjaes that were swarming in. The ikjae pulled in the smaller ikjae earlier and stared at Mugeon’s pathetic figure.

That ikjae mother’s eyes and mouth were quite big. The more he looked at that figure, the more he felt like it was laughing at him.

Ikjaes weren’t simply monsters. Maybe because the first ikjae was human, there were quite a few parts of them that were similar to humans. The only thing that separated them was their power and their odious appearance, which looked like it was made of rotten garbage. They had no gender, but they also had a parental relationship, and they can be differentiated between children and adults. The immature ones were dull-witted, but the adults were intelligent. They had such patience not to attack even though their food was right before them. It meant they knew about pleasure.

It was impossible for any human to escape from the group of ikjaes with their average feet. The ikjaes already knew about that, and as if they wanted to scare him, several ikjaes began to slowly spin above Mugeon’s head. Just like the eagle that waited patiently for its prey.

Surrounded by those gazes, Mugeon stood up once again. This time, he got up slowly and avoided tripping back like before.

Fwoosh.

The sound of the cold wind rushed past his ears. Mixed in was another cry of the young ikjae. It sounded like a cry that it wanted to quickly eat that human.

“…”

Mugeon grabbed the knife tightly in his right hand. The blood that gushed out of his wrist flowed down the knife and dropped to the ground, painting it red. If things went wrong, he might die from bleeding even before he got bitten by those ikjaes.

Although Mugeon realized a very vivid moment of death had found him, he attempted to empty his mind. He emptied the fear of dying and replaced it with just one thought.

Jin Ye.

He would come to her again. If the thing called fate set by the god existed, he believed it would bring him back to Jin Ye.

He closed his eyes for a moment to calm down his nervousness. Then a dream came to him. The dream was covered in darkness, making him wonder if he had lost consciousness.

In his dream, Mugeon saw numerous white threads. He grasped one of the threads, which glowed the warmest light, and he realized that the end of that thread was connected to Jin Ye. Mugeon pulled that glowing thread to him.

Then he awoke from the dream and opened his eyes wide. He immediately regained his senses.

“Schirrp!”

“Chirp!”

Several ikjaes cried at the same time and flew out at him. The one that was closest to him was the ikjae he saw first, the one with no eye and had a figure like a snake with wings. That thing opened its mouth wide right in front of him.