#42. Nightmare

He was a mere resident of the damp Underworld.

No. To be precise, he was more like livestock raised by the inhabitants of the Underworld.

When he was young, he grew up sucking the milk of an unknown monster instead of his mother's, and as he grew up, he lived in a slum where only dim lights were available, eating all sorts of filth just to sate his hunger. To him, that small, dirty chicken coop of a home was his whole life.

It was dark and there was nothing to play with, but he lived peacefully day by day, mingling with other beings as the days passed.

On some days, he could even eat some decent food, and if he was sleepy, he could lie down and sleep at any moment. It was a shallow world, but to him, it was a comfortable one.

But there is no such thing as forever.

As thick, black hair started to grow between his legs and his body started to become bulkier, he was kicked out of the coop.

His small but comfortable world was no longer, and in its place was a vast and foreign world that awaited him.

The first thing he received in this new world was a terrible-smelling bag. And with that, his fate was decided.

Aside from the bare minimum amount of sleep needed for a living thing to survive, he spent the rest of his time awake digging through dirt and rock.

From the darkness, a one-eyed, mysterious being kept watch over him. No, it wasn’t just watching over him. It was watching over everyone digging alongside him.

Occasionally, the weaker workers would mess up work that required a lot of strength, and the Spider Overseer would beat them senseless. The cries that echoed across the worksite weren’t uncommon.

Despite the horrific cries, he would perk up his ears and enjoy the sound. It wasn’t because he was sadistic. It was because that was the only break he had from the monotony of his life. However, his moments of entertainment never lasted long, for the weak workers were never to be seen again.

The daily routine repeated itself over and over again, as his body memorized the work required of him.

There was no special reason for him to be so deeply immersed in his labor. He had no sense of calling in his work, nor did he diligently work out of fear of physical punishment. It was simply that for the first time in his life, he had something to be immersed in. Without that, boredom would kill him first before anything else.

He wondered how much time had passed as he continued to dig up the dirt and stones, day in and day out. Slowly, his work area moved deeper into the tunnel. While he had initially started out digging up dirt at the tunnel entrance, by now, he was working fairly deep inside it, going inside and coming out carrying a sack.

It was a minor change, but he was satisfied with it. Breaking from his previous monotonous routine and slowly working his way into the tunnel, he took it as a brand new game of life he could play.

But he had no idea that this new game he was entertaining himself with was leading him closer to his own demise.

As he had matured and grown into an adult, it was no longer sacks of debris that he had to carry. For the first time in his life, he was carrying an odd, long rod with a bent piece of metal at the end. The metal had a blunt tip, but it seemed suitable for digging.

He only understood later on that what he was carrying was a pickaxe. He was also told by the old man that gave him the pickaxe that he was what others called a ‘tunnel digger’,  and that receiving a pickaxe meant death was imminent.

The Underworld was filled with endless tunnels and labyrinths. Most of the inhabitants of the Underworld lived in cramped spaces and never moved throughout their entire lives.

Thus, he had mistaken himself as a fellow inhabitant of the Underworld as well. But when he was told that he was a ‘tunnel digger’, he felt some form of relief.

Unfortunately, he was further informed that although he was not an inhabitant of the Underworld, he was in fact a ‘slave’ helping to expand the labyrinths for the Underworld Nobles.

However, he did not understand the concept of a slave, and simply nodded. It was strange to him that someone would voice resentment about the food given to him, the labor he had to go through, and his lack of freedom.

Eat if you’re hungry. Sleep if you’re sleepy. It was a comfortable life, and he couldn’t understand what was so terrible about being a ‘slave’. At least, not yet.

As they exchanged their thoughts and beliefs, he was able to gain an understanding of many things around him. His conversation partner held nothing back as he revealed his entire life to him.

He was able to remember a lot of things in retrospect that the old man spoke of, but most were insignificant matters. Through the strange old man, the most important things he learned were how to speak, and what a name was.

His work subsequently became a little bit more enjoyable. He kept running his mouth off, even as he continued to work with his pickaxe. Many who passed by him looked at him with interest.

Everybody asked for his name, but he couldn’t understand what they were talking about. He just happily listened to all the stories they told him as he continued doing his work.

A long time passed.

He met even more beings as his work carried him more than halfway through the tunnel. The amused beings eventually called him “Yappy” for constantly yapping and chattering away.

He was briefly excited for a moment, thinking that he had finally obtained a name, but a passerby told him that a nickname was different from a name. With that knowledge, he tried his best to come up with a name, but he was unable to due to his lack of knowledge.

One day, he met that person. He couldn’t see well in the dark, and was often picked on by the others, but they instantly clicked. They talked for a long time, but he could now remember none of it.

But he could remember one thing clearly, and that was the man’s name. Kim Jin-Woo.

He could only remember the name. The old man who couldn’t see well in the dark disappeared a few days later from his worksite.

Thousands of beings had come and gone from the worksite, and he had never been curious about their whereabouts. Someone would always come to take their place, thus there was no need for him to pay attention to such a trivial matter.

But for the first time in his life, the disappearance of the man named Kim Jin-Woo was a special piece of memory that he couldn’t erase from his mind. And since he knew that those who disappeared from the worksite never returned, he devised a cunning plan.

It was the first time in his life that he felt so proactive. He decided to take the name ‘Kim Jin-Woo’ for himself.

He kept yapping on as usual, but now, he would yell “My name is Kim Jin-Woo!” from the start to the end of his work, and everybody suffered from his constant yelling.

For the first time ever, he was beaten up by the Spider Overseer. Bruises covered his body all over, but it did nothing to extinguish the joy he had at having his own name.

Despite the pain from the beatings, he, no, Kim Jin-Woo, continued to work as he yelled out his name. A couple of his fellow workers looked at him with pity.

In their eyes, Kim Jin-Woo was no different from domesticated cattle. He knew nothing of personal freedom or happiness, and only worked by going through the motions. In their perception, he was just like a horse or a cow.

Nevertheless, he was as happy as ever. He was happier than others who were despairing over being overworked and had a negative outlook of their future.

Ironically, he was happier and more free than others.

To them, Kim Jin-Woo was an outlier. A strange entity. And he was slowly moving the hearts of others. One by one, they found themselves wanting to be in Kim Jin-Woo’s presence.

Before coming to this worksite, they had been carpenters, lawyers, soldiers, and engineers. There was even a singer, a cook, and a businessman.

They all told him stories of their lives. And that was when Kim Jin-Woo learnt an important lesson: That listening to someone else’s stories was as fun as telling his own.

Kim Jin-woo became a singer with their help, and an officer who commanded soldiers. He also became a skilled baker.

Because of them, Kim Jin-Woo gradually developed self-confidence. He realized what joy was, and what kind of life he was missing out on.

And he grew desperate. He realized he wasn’t able to escape this tunnel. Unlike them, he didn’t know about the blue sky, nor did he know how beautiful the stars in the night sky were.

And slowly, he instinctively realized that such an opportunity would never come to him.

Kim Jin-Woo slowly fell into despair, day by day. He started skipping meals and kept his mouth shut. The workers around him belatedly realized this, but it was already too late.

Kim Jin-Woo, who had never kept his mouth shut in the past, never spoke again, and the existence that shone so brightly among the workers had disappeared.

And while Kim Jin-Woo remained stagnant in his work, his fellow workers slowly progressed one by one.

Desperately, his fellow workers tried to leave something behind for him one at a time. They knew their time was up, but they had faith in Kim Jin-Woo and his future, and waited to leave a piece of their legacy behind with him.

But they also knew that Kim Jin-Woo was closing in on the same fate they had. Despite this, they did their best to comfort the one shining beacon among them, and to keep the flame of hope alive, by telling him all kinds of new stories and information.

And Kim Jin-Woo continued to listen to them as he worked away with his pickaxe.

One by one, his fellow workers started disappearing. And by the time Kim Jin-Woo realized that his surroundings had turned silent, there was only one other person left with him. He enlightened Kim Jin-Woo with the truth.

They were workers in a labyrinth run by the Underworld Dukes. The further they went in, the closer they got to their own deaths, and the moment their tunnel met with another tunnel, they would meet their end.

And soon, even that person left Kim Jin-Woo’s side. In their place, beings he had never seen before began to rush forward.

Giant spiders with a terrifying appearance, many times larger than the Spider Overseer, whom he had once thought to be the scariest spider in the world, charged toward him.

Kim Jin-Woo was frozen with fear at the first sight of such beings, and quickly rushed forward desperately. And the moment he reached the front of the tunnel, he could see the fellow workers he had longed to see.

“You idiot! Why are you here!?” the man who had declared himself to be a former South Korean soldier shouted at him. He was the first person to shout at Kim Jin-Woo.

Even the Spider Overseer had only beaten him with his long legs, but had never shouted at him before.

Feeling a wave of emotions overcome him, Kim Jin-Woo started tearing up. Confused but concerned, the other workers gathered around him.

“What should we do… Hyung-Tae, how much more is left?” the former soldier asked the worker beside him.

“I don’t know! It’s just up ahead! The other side is digging through toward us, so it shouldn’t be long!”

For some reason, his response only seemed to sadden the other workers.

“I… I just… see you all…” Kim Jin-Woo barely pieced the words together as he tried to speak to the other workers. But they consoled him instead.

“We’re not angry. Don’t cry.” The one who had shouted at him stroked his head instead.

It was the first time someone’s hand had touched him. But somehow, it didn’t feel bad. Kim Jin-Woo stared blankly, feeling confused.

The workers all took pity on him. They were feeling sorry for Kim Jin-Woo, who had rushed toward them without knowing that he was walking to his own death.

“Listen carefully, Jin-Woo.”

The sound of clanging could be heard from deep within the tunnel. Shouting could be heard from the other side of the wall.

“We’re tunnel diggers. We’re simply workers digging tunnels at the forefront. And now, we’re very close to another tunnel. Do you know what I’m trying to say?” A former non-commissioned officer looked into Kim Jin-Woo's eyes as he continued speaking. “Once this wall disappears, this place will become a battlefield. And we’re the weakest existence in this place. Neither our allies nor our enemies care about what happens to us.”

Kim Jin-Woo simply blinked at his words.

“No, this won’t do, Jin-Woo. Alright, just do as I tell you to. Once this wall breaks down, hide yourself no matter what. And don’t show yourself until you hear nothing. No matter what. Even if you’re hungry or curious about what’s going on, never show yourself until everything is quiet. Do you understand?”

Kim Jin-Woo couldn’t fully understand what the man said, but he did understand that he had to hide. He nodded, but the man kept repeating himself.

“You must hide yourself.”

“You must live.”

“Our poor Jin-Woo…”

Everyone took turns to hug him as they said their final goodbyes.

Kim Jin-Woo felt comforted by the warmth of the hugs and wished that they could go on, but the workers had already turned around by then.

Feeling disappointed, Kim Jin-Woo tried to reach forward to them when the ground suddenly shook.

Rumble!

There was a loud roar, and the shrieking noises behind him had caught up. There was unknown shouting from all over the tunnel.

“The tunnel has been breached!”