A Stuffed Cheonma in my Head - Chapter 26



Only Noblemtl

Episode 026. Oh, it’s Josh.

* * *

The boy looked at the stranger who suddenly appeared out of the darkness.

He could barely see the shadows of people in the thick darkness that had descended on the alley.

As if a shadow had risen.

“But this kid is real.”

Perhaps thinking he was joking, one of the thugs spat and strode into the darkness where he was.

Sling-

The boy’s heart sank at the cold metallic sound of the dagger being pulled out.

His name was Josh, known as the master of the dagger.

There was no one in this area who handled a dagger better than him.

Unfortunately, the unnamed man was destined to be brutally torn apart by Josh’s dagger.

“Josh. Instead of killing that kid, bring him here.”

“Let’s kill him at least after seeing his face.”

The attention of the thugs who had been beating the boy was drawn there.

Taking advantage of the gap, the boy slowly backed away, dragging his hips while wrapping his arms around the girl.

“Oh, brother.”

“fizzle.”

The boy stepped back as quietly as possible and stared into the darkness.

Josh’s mumbling could be heard in the darkness.

“Hey, hey. You fearless little brat. Do you think I’m joking?”

“… … .”

“If you die here, no one will know. You think the guards will come and protect you? Huh? Is that so? That’s too bad. They don’t come here either.”

“… … .”

“You’re crazy. What were you thinking? If you had just gone back, nothing would have happened, but you insisted on coming back and urging me to do something. Are you an idiot?”

“… … .”

“Do you know who I am? I am Josh, the Ghost of the Dagger―”

Josh’s continued speech was suddenly cut off.

Boom! Boom! … Boom!

A dull sound was heard, followed by an ominous silence.

At first, the thugs giggled, thinking it was Josh’s prank, but as the silence grew longer, their expressions gradually hardened.

“… …Josh?”

Then, something flew out of the darkness.

It looked like a rock, and it flew overhead, emitting black smoke, before landing between the thugs and the shivering children.

Black smoke rose in thick clouds, separating the boys from the men.

“What, what is it!”

The thugs and kids were startled and fell back from where the black smoke was rising.

“What the hell is this?”

“away!”

“Be careful not to touch it!”

“Josh! What’s going on?”

As the thugs were panicking, a voice was heard from the darkness.

“Run away, kids. If you don’t run away, I’ll kill you.”

Then, the children, who were bewildered by the sudden situation, ran away in fear.

The thugs shouted at the sound of the children’s panting footsteps running away from beyond the black fog.

“The kids are running away!”

“What the fuck is the problem now? What happened to Josh!”

The boy and girl also tried to run away after them somehow, but the boy’s legs would not listen to them.

It seemed like he had been hit too hard and something was wrong with his leg.

“Oh, brother. Oh, hurry.”

“Ugh… … !”

Another sad piece of news was that the boy and girl were trapped inside the black fog with the thugs after being beaten by them.

But there was still time.

The black fog was spreading upwards, so there was still an empty space below.

It was a small gap, but it seemed like I could probably get through without touching the fog if I tried.

The boy spoke to the girl who was struggling and pulling him towards her despite her lack of strength.

“Evelyn. You go first.”

“Poetry, I hate it!”

“I’ll follow you right away, so go ahead.”

“That’s a lie!”

“I don’t know when it’ll close. So hurry up and go!”

“Oh, I won’t go, leaving you behind, brother!”

The girl, with tears in her eyes, put her arms between the boy’s armpits and pulled him with a struggle.

“Evelyn. Won’t you listen to me? I’ll tell you to go first!”

“Poetry, I hate it!”

“Is this the time to be stubborn? Aren’t you going quickly? Your brother will get angry.”

The boy spoke in a mockingly angry voice, but it was no use.

My sister continued to pull me towards her, shedding tears like chicken poop.

“Go, let’s go together!”

‘Shit.’

The boy, who sensed that the girl would definitely not listen, put all his strength into his legs.

‘Please, please.’

The boy braced his legs as he watched the black fog spread in thick clumps.

But I kept losing strength around my thighs and every time I tried to get up I fell back down.

Meanwhile, the gap disappeared.

The black fog had completely spread out and became a wall blocking the alley.

“no!”

There was no way now.

The boy left the girl behind him and stared into the darkness.

‘Somehow, I’ll save Evelyn.’

The thugs were barking into the darkness like scared dogs.

“Josh! Answer me!”

“Stop kidding me, kid!”

“Is this the time to joke?”

Then an answer came from the darkness.

It was a thin, mocking voice.

“Oh, it’s Josh. I went to the afterlife first. It’s cozier and nicer here than I thought. Come with me.”

“이 개새끼가!”

Unable to contain his anger, another man drew his sword and lunged into the darkness.

This time it was the same.

There was a dull sound, and then it was quiet again.

The expressions on the thugs’ faces completely hardened as they realized that this was no joke.

They each took out their swords and stared into the darkness.

“Come out, you little shit!”

“Okay. I’m going out.”

A man appeared under the faint moonlight.

Long black hair that seemed to have grown out of control, and blood-red eyes visible underneath it.

He was giggling as if he had found a funny toy.

“Huh.”

The thugs gasped.

The expression on his face was one of shock.

The man’s identity leaked out like a scream from one of their mouths.

“The devil with red eyes!”

“What!”

The boy’s heart sank.

The red-eyed demon.

The boy had heard of it too.

I couldn’t not know.

Because his wanted posters were posted everywhere on the streets.

Besides, terrible rumors followed him around.

He single-handedly turned Barranquilla into a wasteland.

He is a merciless demon who uses cursed black magic.

“iced coffee…….”

The girl’s legs gave out and she collapsed.

The red-eyed demon, who had been laughing and watching the gangsters’ reactions, opened his mouth.

“Our brave gentlemen. The little boy was having a blast. Why are you acting so scared? Like an idiot.”

“… … .”

“If you catch me, you get 100 gold. Any volunteers?”

At this point, one of the thugs shouted.

“There’s no need to be afraid! He’s alone. We just have to all attack him at the same time.”

The other thugs, encouraged by him, also shouted, one by one, as if trying to shake off their fear.

“Okay! Let’s catch it and split the 100 gold!”

“If we had that money, we could leave here too!”

“Fuck, rumors are always exaggerated! You know that?”

The thugs, who suddenly gained courage from the 100 gold, began to slowly surround the demon.

The devil just watched those thugs with a curious smile.

The boy knew he had to run away somehow, but he couldn’t look away.

Curiosity and fear waged a vicious tug-of-war.

“now!”

“Kill him!”

The men rushed at the devil at the same time.

But instead of dodging, the devil laughed and rushed at one of them.

puck!

A thug was suddenly lifted into the air.

Almost at the same time, a “Pubberbuck!” sound was heard, and the thugs who had been running towards us with their weapons drawn began to fall one by one.

It was literally a blink of an eye.

“What, what is it!”

“Kill him! Kill him!”

The remaining thugs were angry, but they were all knocked down before they could do anything.

Suddenly, only one remained.

He asked, the tip of his sword trembling.

“You… … Who the hell are you?”

The devil answered with a grin.

“A traveler on a trip down memory lane.”

“Eww!”

The thug swung the sword he was holding with all his might.

The devil thrust his fist straight at him.

For a moment, a bright light seemed to flash from his fist,

Bang!

The sword is broken.

“What, what is this… … .”

The thug looked at his broken sword in disbelief.

“Oh, great. It can be like this too.”

The devil nodded in satisfaction and kicked the thug in the side.

bang!

“Take it… Ugh… … .”

The thug hit the wall and then passed out.

“Master. This can be applied to punching too? Ah, it all depends on how you think about it. That’s great. It can be used for kicking or headbutting. The man from the stars. That’s me.”

The devil muttered something to himself, then turned his head towards the boy.

The boy met her blood-red eyes.

In that moment, I felt my whole body freeze.

“What the heck? Why don’t you guys run away and do whatever you want?”

Thud. Thud.

The devil approached slowly.

“I’m sure he said he’d kill you if you didn’t run away. Do you want to die?”

Thud. Thud.

The boy reached for the pocket knife he had secretly hidden in his bosom and grabbed it.

My hands were shaking.

But it has to be done.

Otherwise we all die here.

“Ah, ah.”

He felt the girl’s frightened hands gripping his back tightly.

The boy quickly whispered to the girl behind him.

“Evelyn. Listen to me. When I tell you to run, run without looking back. Got it?”

“Poetry, I hate it!”

“Listen to me.”

“Go, let’s go together!”

Thud. Thud.

There was no time to persuade.

The devil came closer and crouched down in front of me like a thug.

He was in a very defenseless state, either underestimating himself or not.

Even if I can’t kill them, I can at least buy them a little bit of space.

‘now!’

The boy stabbed the demon in the eye with his sword, determined to protect his sister.

shouted at the same time.

“Run!”

But the operation was a huge failure.

“… … !”

The demon blocked his full-force strike with two fingers, and the girl’s hands, which were still tightly holding onto his clothes, did not let go of his back.

A smile appeared on the devil’s lips.

‘It’s over.’

The boy shut his eyes tightly.

“Pass.”

‘what?’

Before I could ask what passed, the devil got up again and went back to where the thugs were lying.

Then he stabbed the fallen thug in the chest with the sword the thug was holding.

Phew!

There was no hesitation in that action.

There was no sign of anger, sadness, joy, or guilt.

He just went around stabbing people in the neck and chest as if he was doing his job, making sure to kill them.

The boy was speechless and just stared blankly at the sight.

The devil stabbed the thugs one by one without any thought and then returned to the boy.

The devil asked.

“Do you know why I killed those guys?”

“… … .”

“Look into my eyes.”

“… … !”

“If you talk, you’ll lose. Got it?”

Nod nod.

The boy nodded silently.

The devil said.

“hand.”

The boy blinked for a moment, wondering what he meant, then hesitantly held out one hand.

The devil placed a dagger on it.

“Put that fucking knife away and use this. This is the level of skill needed to protect your little brother.”

“… … .”

The boy looked at the dagger he had received from the devil with bewildered eyes.

It was the dagger Josh used.

The devil spoke again.

“hand.”

The boy who was examining the dagger reached out his other hand in surprise.

About ten silver coins poured into the boy’s palm.

Before the boy could say anything, the devil’s words poured out.

“Take this and leave this place right now. If you go west from here, there’s a place called Akhenaten. It’s a pretty good neighborhood compared to here. Go to the mercenary guild there and do whatever you can to earn money. The branch manager there is a nice guy, and the mercenaries aren’t all that bad. There’s an inn called the ‘Hungry Gypsy’ there, and the food is delicious. There’s a kid there who’s about your age. You could be friends.”

The boy opened his mouth and barely managed to spit out one word.

“why…….”

The question was why they were helping themselves.

The devil answered with a blank expression.

“Shut up. It’s my mind.”

“… … .”

Then he examined the boy’s legs.

“I was wondering why you didn’t run away, did you hurt your leg?”

Before the boy could say anything, the devil scolded him.

“You pathetic brat. Is that the only way you can protect your little brother?”

“… … .”

The devil touched the boy’s leg for a moment, then muttered to himself.

“Master. It looks like a muscle tear. Can acupuncture help with this? Oh, um. Okay.”

Then he poked my legs here and there with his fingertips.

“Now move.”

The boy got up from his seat with a bewildered look on his face and tried to move his legs.

A warm feeling spread through the area pricked by my fingertips, and my legs moved as well as before.

“Go, thank you… … .”

“Shut up.”

“… … .”

The devil nodded his head twice as if satisfied, then looked into the boy’s eyes with renewed eyes.

“Now that I look at it, your eyes are unique.”

The boy reflexively covered one of his eyes.

There was a reason the bullies called the boy “dark-eyed.”

Because one eye was a plain brown color, while the other was blue.

The devil scolded the blindfolded boy.

“Idiot, why are you hiding it? You should beat to death the guy who looks at you and says something strange.”

“… … .”

The boy slowly lowered his hand that had been covering his eyes and asked the devil.

“How can I… … become so strong?”

The devil stared at the boy for a moment and then asked.

“Kid. What’s your name?”

“Odd.”

“It suits you.”

The devil glanced at the girl shivering behind the boy, then stood up and said.

“If you have something to protect, you will become stronger on your own. Don’t worry.”

The devil turned around and walked away, saying:

“Don’t make your little brother cry.”

The devil just walked down the dark alley without any hesitation.

It was as if he had finished everything he had to do.

The boy blankly watched the back of the devil as he walked away.

The moon in the sky illuminated the sleeping city, but the path the devil walked was filled with darkness.

“… … .”

To be saved by the devil.

The boy began to doubt whether the man was really the devil.

In fact, it didn’t matter to the boy whether he was a devil or an angel.

All that matters is that you have found a ray of hope in the pitch-black darkness.

“Evelyn, let’s go.”

“Uh, yeah.”

The boy held the girl’s hand and ran through the dark streets.

The moonlight shone brightly on the path the boy and girl were running along.