After Han Su climbed out the window, he took a look around and felt slightly relieved. The black rusty pipe running right alongside the castle was still there, stretching straight up the side of it.
The damage and little items inside the castle that he had made use of—candles and the like—would be repaired, disappear, or be moved somewhere else when he was brought back after escaping. But things that originally belonged to the castle, like the pipes and staircases, usually stayed the same.
Han Su had noticed this pattern long ago, though he couldn't explain why.
Maybe the bunker itself never changed?
He had no time to think about it. He climbed out the window and made his way up the rusty pipe. Though he was still small, his movements were nimble, so it was quite easy.
After a few quick steps, he reached the window above and tried pushing it. His heart sank a little.
Last time, he had climbed in here to reach the third floor. The pipe was still there, but the window he'd been able to open before was unexpectedly locked.
Han Su considered it for a moment, then gritted his teeth. Clinging to the pipe with both hands, he kicked hard at the window.
The glass shattered with a crash. Han Su quickly checked where the remaining shards were, then carefully let go of the pipe and climbed through the window into an unfamiliar room on the third floor.
It looked like a huge repair room. Dust-covered precision instruments and parts lay everywhere, and gears of all sizes were piled together, giving off an eerie feeling.
Many of the gears looked like human eyes or organs.
Every time Han Su saw these gears, he felt an inexplicable chill, but he had no time to waste on them. He softened his steps and quickly approached the door.
The sound of him kicking in the glass had been obvious.
Even though smoke was rising from the first floor, firelight flickered, and the sound of a child crying drifted faintly up from below, which might cover some of the noise he made, it still wasn't safe. The monsters in this bunker were all keenly aware of what was happening in their territory.
Pressing his ear to the door, Han Su heard what sounded like a woman's shrill laughter somewhere outside.
The wall thumped and rattled, as though a spider were scurrying quickly along its outer surface.
His heart leapt into his throat. Han Su couldn't tell how much time he had. He had no idea whether the woman on the third floor would come looking for him in this room right away.
Fortunately, at that moment, a loud bang rang out from outside, as if a door had been thrown open. Then came the sound of unsteady footsteps running down the hall.
Good timing...
As soon as he heard the footsteps, Han Su slowly opened the door.
He rushed into the long corridor and spotted someone not far away: a monster whose body was only half intact. The top half was wrapped in bandages and looked like a beautiful woman with long, loose hair, while the bottom half was an intricate mechanical contraption, like a spider body. She was crawling along the wall.
The monster had nearly reached the room he was in. A sinister light shone in her eyes.
Han Su could even see the delight and greed with which she looked at him, as if she'd found a treasure she hadn't noticed before.
But at the same moment, farther down the hall, a little boy wrapped head to toe in bandages glanced over at him. The boy held a rusty strip of iron wrapped in cloth, stared blankly for a moment, then turned and ran.
He was the one who had opened the door just now.
He was the third boy to be chosen and brought upstairs. Only a few hours had passed since then, but he was already covered in gauze and bandages, with blood faintly seeping through. He ran with a pronounced limp.
The Third Floor Irritable Boy...
When Han Su saw him, he couldn't help letting out a long breath.
This guy's still running every night, just like before...
He wasn't the only one trying to escape.
The route Han Su took to escape the bunker changed each time. He'd encountered this little boy trying to flee at least two or three times.
And the boy was the first one to die on the fourth floor the last time Han Su escaped.
He seemed stubborn, even more determined to escape than Han Su. Sometimes he didn't make a plan at all—he just ran.
But since he was always playing this game with the half-woman on the third floor, apparently never tiring of it, he drew the monster's attention and made it easier for Han Su to get away.
For Han Su, the way out was on the fourth floor, while the half-woman on the third floor was the most terrifying monster. She could crawl along walls, spit mechanical silk, and move with uncanny speed and reflexes.
Without the little boy on the third floor, Han Su would have had a much harder time dealing with her.
Sorry, buddy. I respect your guts, but this isn't going to work...
Thinking this, Han Su turned and ran toward the staircase opposite the boy, making sure he looked tense and frightened.
The mechanical monster crawling along the wall hesitated for a moment. But her hesitation was brief. She glanced at Han Su, then turned without the slightest hesitation and rapidly scuttled along the wall on her mechanical feet, chasing after the little boy.
As she ran, she let out laughter like a bleating sheep, echoing down the corridor.
She seemed to be having a wonderful time.
But she hadn't expected Han Su, who had only run a few steps, to immediately turn back, hug the wall, and follow behind the half-woman, sprinting toward the staircase at the other end of the hall.
There were staircases on both sides of the bunker, but the Right Staircase to Fourth Floor had collapsed. A child couldn't jump over the gap. Once, Han Su had seen the huge hole and been forced to retreat and find another way before finally reaching the fourth floor.
Up ahead, the half-woman was chasing fast and had nearly caught up with the limping little boy.
The boy realized she was after him and calmly made a decision. He spun around and darted into a nearby room. A moment later, the sound of countless bottles and jars breaking rang out from inside.
Amid the crashing, the little boy shouted, "Monster, I'll fight you to the death!"
"Bah, bah, bah! Bah your mother!"
"Ugly freak, come fight me!"
Han Su didn't stay to watch the fierce battle. He hurried down the corridor and rushed up the Left Staircase.
He felt it was a shame. Setting aside the boy's character, his fighting spirit was truly formidable. If he could run, he ran. If he couldn't, he led the monster in circles. And if that failed, he started mouthing off...
Unfortunately, Han Su knew that the boy's repeated escapes and resistance were pointless. The Ancient Castle had long since repaired all the flaws that might have allowed the children to escape. From his fifth escape onward, even Han Su could only succeed by using the door that appeared when summoned by a key.
Everything the boy was doing now was really just giving the half-woman a source of amusement.
It was like a game she never tired of playing.
"Clatter..."
Sure enough, as Han Su hurried past the room and toward the stairs, he heard a whole row of Iron Racks topple inside and couldn't help glancing back.
He saw that everything in the room had been knocked over. The boy was using the clutter to hold the half-woman back.
But the woman, who crawled along the walls as easily as if she were walking on level ground, cleared the obstacles with ease and crept up behind the boy. One mechanical foot planted itself firmly on his back, pinning him to the floor. Grinning with excitement, she drove her sharp metal foot through his shoulder blade.
The little boy lay facedown on the floor, his expression filled with frustration.
At that moment, he managed to lift his head and saw Han Su passing outside the door. He immediately raised his hand with all his strength.
Is he asking me for help?
Han Su didn't know, and he wouldn't slow down for that. But then he saw the little boy swing his arm with all his strength and throw a black object out through the doorway.
It clattered onto the floor.
It was the Cloth-Wrapped Knife.
The boy's final gesture had been to throw him the knife...
That had never happened before.
Han Su's heart stirred. Had this Violent Little Boy realized he couldn't escape, and thrown him the only useful tool he had so Han Su could get away?
Han Su quickly bent down, grabbed the knife, then sped up again and continued toward the Left Staircase, taking the steps to the fourth floor two at a time.
As he finally relaxed a little, the scene from just now flashed through his mind.
When he picked up the knife, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye. The half-monster's metal foot was embedded in the boy. Beneath her hanging black hair, her eyes held a strange smile as she slowly raised her head and stared eerily at him.
Under the metal foot, the little boy stared fixedly at Han Su as he disappeared from sight, then slowly lowered his hand, disappointment in his eyes.
"Why'd you run..."
"You were supposed to take the knife and use it on her..."
"..."
Before you continue