Emojis
ForTestingPurposeThe Mimic Beast was, of course, a terrifying entity, much like an urban legend, but it had no ability to mesmerize or control people with just its voice.
EmojisForTestingPurposeSo, the reason he couldn’t bring himself to move his feet right now was purely because of his own indecisiveness.
EmojisForTestingPurpose“Haa.”
EmojisForTestingPurposeEven the breath he inhaled felt scorching hot.
EmojisForTestingPurposeWhile he hesitated—neither running away nor advancing—the flames had already stretched out, blocking even his escape route.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe fire could not grow beyond a certain extent, flaring up and dying down repeatedly.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHowever, the witch persistently reignited it, gradually closing off the space.
EmojisForTestingPurposeNo matter how quick Hans was, it was nearly impossible to break through in the brief openings.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBut if he didn’t take that risk, he would end up as a well-roasted corpse.
EmojisForTestingPurposeShould he throw himself into the flames, or remain frozen in place and be consumed by the encroaching heat?
EmojisForTestingPurposeIt was another impossible choice, just like when he had first fallen onto the hill of corpses—where neither option was the right one.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe witch’s puppet that had protected him, the monster saint who had once healed him—both were gone now.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThey were probably dead.
EmojisForTestingPurposeFortunately, there was no need to mourn their deaths.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThey were monsters, after all.
EmojisForTestingPurposeUnfortunately, there was no time to mourn them, either.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe would be following soon enough.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe didn’t know whether humans and monsters met in the same hell, but—As his mind grew hazy from the heat, and as Hans was about to resign himself to his fate—Rustle.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHans saw a part of the corpse pile twitch and shift.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe sound was too clear to be a mere mirage caused by the heat haze.
EmojisForTestingPurposeIt was as if something was swimming through the sea of corpses, heading in a single direction—toward the very center of the spreading flames.
EmojisForTestingPurpose‘No way…?’
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe thought struck him like lightning, and Hans dove into the pile of corpses.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe moved his limbs without rest, digging through the decaying bodies, crushing their brittle forms to make his way forward.
EmojisForTestingPurposeUntil now, he had never seriously considered diving deep into this mound—it had been too unsettling, too overwhelming.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThough he called it a hill, it was more accurate to describe it as an ocean of corpses.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBut if throwing himself into this hell meant adding one less body to it, then so be it.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBy all logic, the moment a spark touched these dried-out remains, the fire should have spread across the entire hill in an instant.
EmojisForTestingPurposeYet some invisible force—something beyond his understanding—was restraining the fire, keeping it from spreading any further.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThat same restraint applied not just above, but below as well.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHowever, as soon as he escaped the heat, another danger found him.
EmojisForTestingPurposeNo matter how brittle and easy to break these bodies were, they were still corpses.
EmojisForTestingPurposeWhen piled by the dozens, by the hundreds, their combined weight pressed down on him with crushing force.
EmojisForTestingPurposeLike being squeezed by deep-sea pressure, Hans found himself suffocating beneath the weight of the dried, crumbling corpses.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe couldn’t even open his eyes properly, afraid of the dust and bone fragments that would get in them.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThen, suddenly.
EmojisForTestingPurpose‘ …! ’
EmojisForTestingPurposeAs he struggled through the corpse sea, Hans instinctively opened his eyes at the sensation of something grabbing him.
EmojisForTestingPurposeShe was there.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAmidst the weathered, indistinguishable dead, one face alone remained vivid—alive.
EmojisForTestingPurposeFrom the void of the girl’s hollow eyes, crimson seeped out, dyeing the world of white decay.
EmojisForTestingPurpose“…M!”
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe dust filled even his ears, making it impossible to hear properly.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe could only try to guess the words from the shape of her mouth.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAlje had grasped Hans by the wrist and began pulling him somewhere.
EmojisForTestingPurposeIn a situation where he could make no rational judgments, Hans instinctively followed the flow she created.
EmojisForTestingPurposeSo her injured legs had been a lie, after all.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe weight of the corpses could not hold down a body that surpassed human limits.
EmojisForTestingPurposeEach time she swung her arms, the corpses yielded and parted.
EmojisForTestingPurposeA tunnel opened, collapsed, and then was carved open again through sheer force.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe two of them, who had sunk to the bottom of the hill, slowly clawed their way upward.
EmojisForTestingPurposeGuided by an instinct that neither humans nor monsters could sense, but only the saint could feel.
EmojisForTestingPurposeLittle by little, the heat seeped back in.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAt some point, Alje stopped swimming through the corpses.
EmojisForTestingPurposeShe pulled Hans closer.
EmojisForTestingPurposeIn the midst of all these dry, lifeless remains, something warm and soft pressed against him.…?!
EmojisForTestingPurpose“What?”
EmojisForTestingPurpose“EL!”
EmojisForTestingPurposeWith his mouth open, bits of corpse dust poured in, making proper speech impossible.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAlje opened and closed her mouth several times before, at last, releasing Hans’s wrist.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe warmth that had briefly connected them was severed.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAnd in the next moment, she vanished—diving back into the sea of corpses at a speed incomparable to when she had pulled him along.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHans was left behind, buried among the dead.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBut these were mere husks—drained of blood, devoid of decay, immune to corruption.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAnd now, having been lifted up by Alje, Hans found himself able to shake off the crushing corpse weight and move.
EmojisForTestingPurpose‘Up.’
EmojisForTestingPurposeThere was no rational thought, no logical analysis, no suspicion toward the monster girl.
EmojisForTestingPurposeDrowning in this suffocating abyss, Hans obeyed the single command given to him without question.
EmojisForTestingPurposeDesperately flailing his limbs, grabbing at skulls, stepping on tentacles, breaking and shoving through the bodies as he clawed his way up.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAnd then—At some point, his body broke through the corpses and shot upward.
EmojisForTestingPurpose“…!”
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe suffocating heat engulfed him.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe was now at the eye of the firestorm.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHis reaction was instinctual.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe witch’s floating eye, spinning wildly in the air, ceaselessly spewing flames in every direction.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe moment it flinched upon seeing Hans suddenly emerge from below—Hans let out a monstrous roar, one more beastly than any monster’s, and lunged forward.
EmojisForTestingPurpose“Khaaaagh!”
EmojisForTestingPurposeHis voice, hoarse from inhaling corpse dust, was a rasping growl.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBut the hunter’s hand did not miss its mark.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe snatched the floating eye out of the air.
EmojisForTestingPurposeNo matter how transcendental her power was, the witch’s body was no different from that of an ordinary human.
EmojisForTestingPurposeOf course, she was likely immune to her own magic.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAs the searing heat surged from the eyeball in his grasp, and just as something was about to burst forth, Hans clenched his fist.
EmojisForTestingPurposeSquish.
EmojisForTestingPurposeWith a sound so absurd it was almost laughable, the eyeball was crushed under his grip.
EmojisForTestingPurposeUnlike the other corpses in this place, it oozed fresh fluids and thick juices.
EmojisForTestingPurposeFragments of the optic nerve twitched and writhed in his palm.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBut there was no time to recoil in disgust.
EmojisForTestingPurpose“Ah…”
EmojisForTestingPurposeBecause something far more excruciating was consuming him.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe was standing in the very center of the inferno that the witch’s eye had been wildly igniting.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe final burst of flames it had attempted to unleash had been extinguished along with its destruction.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHowever, the fire it had already spread continued to rage.
EmojisForTestingPurposeIt would burn out soon—but in Hans’s current state, even that brief “soon” felt unbearably long.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHis body wavered, on the verge of collapse—And then, once again, a hand reached out to grab him.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThe hand that had pulled him up before was now dragging him down.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThis time, the touch felt cool rather than warm.
EmojisForTestingPurposeIn that short span of time, Hans’s body had become so heated from standing in the heart of the inferno.
EmojisForTestingPurposeBefore the flames could spread to where they stood, Hans once again plunged beneath the shifting tide of husks.
EmojisForTestingPurposeWhat happened after that—his disoriented mind could barely recall.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe had already been half-unconscious from lack of air.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe was tossed around, dragged back and forth by the hand guiding him, smashing through the dried-out, hollowed corpses as they ascended, then descended, then—And finally, with one last surge -“Pwah.”
EmojisForTestingPurposeCold air touched his cheeks.
EmojisForTestingPurposeNo, it was probably lukewarm in reality, but to him, it felt incredibly refreshing.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe inhaled deeply—only to cough and splutter, the lingering dust of the corpses still clinging to his face.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe spat it out, sucked in another breath, and wiped the fine, powdery residue from his eyelids.
EmojisForTestingPurposeThen, he took in his surroundings.
EmojisForTestingPurposeA vast white hill stretched before him, with a massive black streak cutting across it.
EmojisForTestingPurposeHe and the girl had emerged far from it, suddenly breaking the surface.
EmojisForTestingPurposeEmbers still flickered and danced, faintly illuminating the dark underground cavern.
EmojisForTestingPurposeIn that dim light, the dying crimson sparks painted the space with a fleeting beauty, a momentary eternal dance.
EmojisForTestingPurposeAnd beneath that flickering glow—Even as she failed to completely conceal the sharp protrusions on her form.
EmojisForTestingPurposeEven as her layered amber eyes gleamed with a color no human could possess.
EmojisForTestingPurposeWith nothing but pure sincerity—With a worry and kindness so clean and vivid that no decayed soul in this labyrinth, Hans included, could ever dare to hold.
EmojisForTestingPurpose“Are you okay, mister?”
EmojisForTestingPurposeA girl was looking at him.
EmojisForTestingPurpose