The Story of Becoming a Married Man in Another World

038 Kill Every Last One of Them

Juhwan bent down and examined the ground closely. Several footprints were left in the snow and fallen leaves.

They looked similar to human footprints but were slightly different. The toes and nails were longer than those of a human. And they were small. Much smaller than those of an adult male. Maybe similar to Lizzy’s feet. Perhaps a bit larger than Lizzy’s.

‘It’s not human.’

If it were a person, they would have worn shoes. But it’s not an animal either. It’s something that’s neither human nor beast.

The footprints didn’t seem old. But Juhwan hadn’t heard any sound when he came near. It must have been a while since they passed.

Juhwan stood up. He felt uneasy. His heart was restless.

He followed the trail of footprints. The footprints seemed to lead from deep within the mountains to this place. There weren’t just one or two. There were at least twenty or thirty. Maybe even more.

Following the trail a bit, it looked like they wandered around chaotically. But they weren’t going just anywhere. There was a specific direction they were heading.

It was a different path from the one Juhwan usually took, but he had a rough idea of where it led. It was a roundabout way, but definitely.

‘Maybe they’re going in a completely different direction. It’s a mountain without a set road. There’s more than one path.’

Juhwan left the trail of footprints and returned to the path he usually took. The fastest way home was this way.

Before he could think, his body moved on its own, cutting through the air as he sprinted. Juhwan started running like mad, his feet barely touching the ground.

He didn’t know who the owner of the footprints was. But he was sure they were heading towards his home, where Lizzy and Dorothy were.

Please, God, if there is a God in this world, in this universe, and on the Earth that might still exist somewhere, don’t take anything more from me… If you’re going to take it away, don’t give it to me in the first place. Please, please, I beg you so earnestly.

His heart felt like it was about to burst at any moment.

*

“Oz, we’re having stew today. We’ll eat when Dad comes home.”

Mom’s stew is full of meat. It’s delicious. My mouth was already watering.

The baby rabbit wriggled, trying to get out of the pocket.

“No, Oz! Are you going to be such a bad rabbit?”

Dorothy frowned and looked down.

Lizzy’s mom had made a pocket in her clothes. A big pocket. The baby rabbit was inside it.

Great, perfect. It’s the end. Dorothy nodded, repeating the words her late father often said. It’s the end! Her father had said that many times when she was little. She didn’t know what it meant, but it seemed to fit perfectly here. Dorothy nodded again.

“It’s the end!”

The baby rabbit’s face was completely inside the pocket. Its ears were sticking out a bit, but there was nothing to be done. The rabbit’s ears were too big. If she tried to fit all the ears in, the pocket in Dorothy’s clothes would be too big. That wouldn’t do. It would ruin the pretty clothes Lizzy’s mom had made.

—

Dorothy peeked into her pocket and lowered her face. Baby bunny Oz looked up at Dorothy with its black eyes from inside the pocket.

“Oz, you have to be calm to be a good bunny. Got it?”

“….”

No answer, but that’s okay. Bunnies can’t talk. Oz is a baby, so it can’t talk even more. So, it can’t be helped.

Dorothy put on the new coat her mother made over the dress that had become heavy because of the bunny. It’s warm and pretty.

She said the words she had already said many times to the bunny in her pocket again.

“This was made by mom. It’s new. It’s mine. I’m wearing it for the first time. No one else has worn it.”

For some reason, she felt happy and proud. Dorothy puffed out her chest.

Her mother, who was tasting the stew in the kitchen, giggled. Dorothy was happy because her mother was happy. Good. Dorothy felt so happy that she unconsciously spoke in a very loud voice.

“Mom, I’m going to meet dad.”

“Okay, Dorothy. It must be hard. Be careful.”

“Yes!”

“Oh, don’t forget what dad said.”

“Yes! I know!”

Dorothy came out holding the pocket, which had become heavy because of the bunny, with both hands. The bunny had come down to her belly and legs, making it hard to walk. She waddled.

As soon as she opened the door and went outside, a cold wind blew. The sun was high in the sky, but it was very cold.

Mom said every day, “It’s so cold, and dad has to go out and work hard. I’m so upset.”

“Dorothy is upset too.”

Waddling, Dorothy told Oz that. Oz must feel the same way. Oz is Dorothy’s bunny. So, they think the same.

Oh, I forgot Toto. Toto would want to meet dad too. Dorothy hesitated whether to go back home to get the doll, but it was almost time for dad to come. There was no time to go back. It would be a problem if dad came while she was gone.

“Dad said he would be very happy if Dorothy says, ‘Welcome home, dad.'”

So, she couldn’t miss meeting dad. She told Oz that, but the baby bunny just moved its ears here and there. It seemed it didn’t understand properly.

“Oz, you need to study more!”

Ha, really, Dorothy is so busy. She has to meet dad and help mom. Mom said that Dorothy has to taste the food when she cooks to make it properly. Plus, she has to take care of and teach the baby bunny and the doll bunny.

“Ah, busy, busy.”

Dorothy hurriedly ran to the fence gate. It was still early for dad to come, but.

“Huh?”

It seemed like she heard a sound from outside. Dad must have come already. Dorothy clung to the door, holding the bunny in a fluster.

The door was locked by laying a wooden stick sideways. If she lifted the stick up, it opened easily. Dad had worked hard to make it so that Dorothy could open it too.

The door was to keep bad animals out, but if something got inside, Dorothy had to be able to escape easily. So, the door was easy to open. Dorothy could do it.

—

Dorothy put her hand on the rod to open the door, but then she let out a sound, “Ah.” Mom did that too. She must not forget what Dad said. Dad told her several times to be careful.

“Before you open the door, you have to make sure it’s Dad. Got it? Dad insisted on it! I didn’t forget. I just didn’t think of it for a moment. Really.”

After telling Oz that, Dorothy put one eye to the crack in the door. When Dad arrives home, he lowers his face to the crack so Dorothy can see him. Then Dorothy and Dad’s eyes meet. Even now…

“!”

Their eyes met.

But it wasn’t Dad. It was completely different from Dad. The whites of the eyes were yellow with red threads like veins. It looked like a beast. The terrifying eyes were staring at Dorothy’s eyes.

“Hee.”

A strange sound came out. She was so scared that she couldn’t even cry. Her body was frozen like cold ice, unable to move. She knew she had to run away, but she couldn’t move.

A strange smell wafted from the thing outside the door. A strange sound like laughter came through the door.

Dorothy couldn’t move at all, only her eyes moved. A hand moved on the other side of the door. Dorothy’s eyes followed the movement of that hand.

It raised its hand and brought it close to the door. It had long nails. The long nails came close to Dorothy’s face. They were moving to come through the crack in the door.

She was watching but couldn’t move. It felt like someone had tied her body with invisible ropes.

“U, uee.”

She started to cry. But her body wouldn’t move. What should she do? What should she do? She had to run away, but her legs wouldn’t move at all. She didn’t know what to do.

“Ueeeee.”

A cry burst from her mouth, and the long nails slipped through the crack in the door.

At that moment.

Suddenly, the nails were pulled back outside. The yellow eyes disappeared. The strange person was grabbed by someone and pulled away from the crack.

“Dad!”

Dorothy shouted loudly. It was Dad. Dad came and grabbed that strange person and threw them away.

Hearing Dorothy’s voice, Dad turned his face to the door for a moment. He smiled as if to say, “Don’t worry, Dorothy.” It’s okay, Dorothy. His lips didn’t move, but it felt like Dad was saying that.

But Dad immediately turned his body towards the strange person.

Through the narrow crack in the door, she could see many strange people running from afar. They were monsters. She understood because Dad was with those strange things. They weren’t people. They were monsters. Monsters were running through the trees.

Whether it was because of Dorothy’s voice or something else, she heard Lizzy Mom’s shouting from where the house was.

“Dorothy!”

When she turned around, she saw Mom running madly towards her.

“Mom, it’s Dad! Dad’s here.”

She had been scared a moment ago, but now she was okay. Really, she was okay. Dad was here. Dad, who was incredibly strong, was here, so Mom didn’t need to worry.

She tried to say that, but no voice came out. For some reason, only crying sounds came out.

Mom came close and suddenly pulled Dorothy away. Dorothy was pulled back from the door and into Lizzy Mom’s arms. Lizzy Mom’s chest was pressed against her back. Her back was warm.

—

—

Dorothy’s mother, holding both Dorothy and the rabbit, was trembling. Dorothy looked at her mother’s hands in front of her belly and realized that her own body was also shaking tremendously.

Strange. Dorothy wasn’t scared at all when her father arrived, so why was she trembling like this? It was really strange. Droplets of water were falling from her eyes onto her mother’s hands.

“….”

What should I do? There are too many monsters. There’s only one dad, but so many, so many monsters have come. If dad disappears like the father who died in the mountains, what should I do then? If dad disappears.

“Waaaaaah!”

A huge cry burst out from her mouth.

*

When Juhwan ran home, the first thing he saw was a monster crouching and standing awkwardly. It was standing in front of the fence.

He had never seen one in real life, but he knew what it was. He could tell right away. It was a figure he had seen many times in movies and cartoons.

The creature had skin that seemed to be a mix of green and brown. Its ears were slightly pointed. It was short. It seemed smaller than Lizzy. But its feet were relatively large. It was wearing something that looked too shabby to be called clothes, just a piece of cloth wrapped around its waist.

‘Goblin.’

Juhwan quickly scanned the surroundings of the house.

The other creatures were still far away. They were still in the forest. This one seemed to have arrived earlier than the others.

The creature was bending its body awkwardly, looking through a crack in the door.

‘Dorothy!’

The child was always waiting at the door to greet her father. His chest felt like it was going to overheat and explode.

Right now, I have to get rid of that creature from the fence gate.

Juhwan’s running speed increased. It felt like his feet were on fire.

The goblin seemed to be grinning. It raised its hand and inserted its much longer-than-human nails into the fence crack.

A faint sound of a child crying could be heard.

Juhwan kicked off the ground and leaped into the air. He stretched out his hand.

He barely grabbed the creature’s head. Its sticky, slippery head had some rough hair on it.

In an instant, he wrapped the creature’s hair around his fingers and pulled it back. The creature was yanked back like a paper tiger.

When he glanced at the fence, he saw round eyes beyond the crack where the goblin’s long nails were pulling out.

Thank goodness. It wasn’t too late. The child’s eyes were wide with fear but unscathed. There was no red blood on the small bit of skin visible through the narrow crack.

The child called out to him, “Daddy.” After reassuring her with a smile, Juhwan turned his body.

Goblins were running from the forest. There were dozens of them at a glance.

Juhwan pulled out the axe he had tucked into his waist. He was still inexperienced with the bow and arrow. He wasn’t confident in his accuracy in an urgent situation. It would be faster to fight with his body.

Juhwan gauged the distance to the goblins far away and took a few steps towards the goblin he had thrown.

These creatures, I’ll kill them all. Not a single one left, I’ll kill them all.

—

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