Chapter Text
A team of explorers had entered an abandoned building, seeking thrills. The man at the front had a flashlight, looking around the place. There was debris everywhere—this place had most likely been destroyed. Whether it was on purpose or not, there was no way to truly find out.
The other people that were accompanying him also looked around, as if in search of anything interesting other than the scraps of whatever this building was intended to be.
A young woman crouched down next to a mound of debris, inspecting for any items. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found anything even after roughly five minutes of close search. She stood up, dusting off the dirt she had on her clothes. Sighing, the young woman told her companions of her findings: nothing.
Her companions appeared disappointed. It seemed like this exploration would turn out fruitless. However, they were already in too deep to give up that easily.
Nodding in agreement, the group walked forward. Guiding the path, the man walked steadily towards whatever was to follow. Whether it was just trash, it was fine.
They had fun on the way here anyway. It wouldn’t be much of a loss—they would just waste their time.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally saw a change in their surroundings. It was clean, not as dirty as the entrance was.
It resembled a library, with the airs of wisdom and old books. However, it wasn't a complete library. It had many things inside, which they couldn’t name as they were unknown.
A small spark of curiosity bloomed within them, but soon, they figured it was just the ruins of an old library that had mixed in with whatever was left of the entrance.
The young woman stole a glance to the head of the group, she found he was staring in a certain direction. Following his gaze, she traced it back to a pair of heavy-looking doors.
“There might be more.” She spoke after a few seconds of deliberation, looking at her companions.
The man nodded, agreeing with her. Decisively, the group walked towards the wooden doors.
When getting closer, a pungent smell emanated from behind it. It was horrible—like rotting meat mixed in with feces. Perhaps worse. The young woman had the feeling of throwing up, but could not get it out.
Their companions at the back could smell it too, and audibly complained about the smell.
“What is that? It’s disgusting! What could possibly be behind that door that smells that bad?” A young man spoke up. He had short black hair, and hints of a stubble growing.
“We can’t be sure. But I do wonder what could be there.” The young woman at the front shrugged, holding back her nausea.
“I can’t believe we’re heading inside. I have a feeling this will stick to us! I can’t bear it!” A woman with blue eyes at the back spoke up.
“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” The woman at the front answered.
“I’m not saying I’m not going in with you guys. I just don’t like the smell.”
The young woman at the front chuckled, shaking her head. Then, she took a step forward in front of the head of their group. She lifted her hands, a bit hesitant on opening the door.
She exhaled. Then, with a bit of struggle, pushed open the heavy wooden doors. What she saw left her perplexed.
Behind the doors she had just pushed open, there was an even cleaner place. It emitted a holy aura, yet, it seemed to not be holy at all. The smell intensified, yet, she seemed to forget about it in its entirety.
Her companions gasped and were awed at the sight. It appeared to be a cathedral. It was huge, with plenty of room to spare. Rows of wooden seats were organized neatly, with books that may have been bibles in the seats.
A red carpet was spread in between the seats, dividing them in two sections. That red carpet led to the front, where a lectern held a book and gavel. The reason for the gavel was unknown, but they all instinctively knew what that book was and its purpose.
It was a holy bible, meant to teach the word of God.
Looking upwards, the young woman felt something traveling up her throat, urging her to spit it out.
Behind the lectern, there was a huge mass of maggots eating a black meat. It was rotten, pus flowing out. This was the source of the putrid smell. She could faintly see eggs, and maggots coming out.
The man at the front was equally shocked and disgusted, and could not help but vomit on the red carpet. He felt ashamed. He threw up in the house of an omnipotent being, and felt it was disrespectful.
The young woman at the front had looked down in an attempt to forget the sight. The people at the back were less affected, they couldn’t get a clear view.
However, the woman with blue eyes walked forward, ignoring her companion’s reactions. She looked past the moving mass of maggots, up. There were huge letters on the wall, with an eroded symbol that was barely recognizable. The letters appeared to be Korean.
The woman with blue eyes did not know the language, yet she oddly understood what was said. Her gaze trembled, as she screamed in fear and ran back.
She did not understand why she acted that way. But she knew that if she involved herself further, she would end up regretting it. She knelt down when she reached the library. Following that, she sat down with her knees to her chest, trying to calm herself from whatever she read. Oddly enough, she did not remember. She didn’t know Korean, after all.
The young man with a stubble was shocked to see her reaction, and then he looked back at his two companions, who had thrown up and their expressions were sickly green.
Whatever they saw, it was bad. Fearful, he approached with his gaze lowered. He gently guided them back to the library, confused.
Lowering his backpack, he took out a few towels and water bottles. He needed to calm down his companions, for their sake and for his. He felt like he was going insane, he wanted to know what had caused these reactions so bad, but was equally afraid.
…
Their way back was painfully silent, no more chatter and laughter. They were all either afraid or shocked by what they saw. The young man with black hair walked forward, constantly looking back to check on his companion’s condition.
As they finally reached the way out, they all let out a collective sigh of relief. Their muscles visibly relaxed. Their expressions brightened, except, there was an underlying fear in there.
To not bring back any bad memories, they all agreed to not ask.
The two young women had decided to head home earlier, and gave each other their contact information. Perhaps to discuss whatever had happened, without alerting their other friends.
It was the same for the two men. One had decided to call the police, just in case. The other had decided to go home right after befriending the young man with black hair.
…
The police officers that were sent to check on the situation all had similar reactions. They seemed to not be able to bear whatever that was. They didn’t understand what it was, yet there was an instinctive fear.
Fear of whatever that was. Fear of what had happened, fear of what those words meant.
The official forces could not understand what was there, but the effects were severe enough. The police officers seemed to have developed a fear of the word ‘name’ after entering that cathedral. It had been bad enough to affect them in a psychological way.
Eventually, a certain Foundation got wind of it.
Agents were sent in to investigate. Perhaps it was only how horrid it looked and smelled.
■■ walked forward, his steps steady. Weapon in hand, he entered the cathedral. Multiple Mobile Task Force agents followed behind, wary.
■■ followed the red carpet. As he reached the end, he looked up and past the lectern. There were maggots strewn on the floor, surrounding a black mound of rotten flesh. It trembled, moving as it formed a tall figure. A few larvae joined in, aiding in the process.
■■ raised his weapon, as did the other MTF agents.
His finger hovering over the trigger, he looked at the moving mix of rotten flesh and maggots. It slowly formed into a human-like silhouette.
A tall man with black hair and eyes, dressed in an office suit. There wasn’t much remarkable about him. He looked like an overworked office worker. However, his gaze gained a red glint. The next moment, his regular-looking figure shifted into a horrific black being.
It wore a black robe with belts which seemed far too tight. Almost as if trying to mold something. It also wore a vest, hangul characters on it. There were numbers, paired with a symbol of two squares and a backwards E. A small lantern hung by its side, perhaps an extra just in case.
Its head had pitch black antlers, with a tiny bell wrapped around one. It wore a gas-like mask, however, it was attached to an animal’s skull. The skull appeared to belong to a deer, the texture resembling wood bark. Multiple eyes blinked, closing all except for the main two. Its chest had a lantern-like light source, fluorescent. Multiple ribs protruded out and wrapped around this light.
It was intimidating. It looked down at ■■, staring without intensity. Simply… observing him. As if looking for something, yet without much motivation to do so.
When approached by other MTF agents, it did not react. Instead, it looked around to where it was, observing everything. Until finally, its gaze landed on the words on the wall. It seemed to freeze.
Taking this opportunity, the MTF agents took action.
The deer-like creature had reacted a second too late.