The feeling was fleeting, sharp—a sudden and terrifying void where his past should have been. A beautiful face he once loved… now mere grains of sand slipping through Clark's fingers.
All that remained for him now was his name: Clark.
This forgetting was incredibly potent. Clark felt an intense headache in every pore of his head. He began to see his surroundings. He was wearing rusty metal armor. When he looked ahead, he saw a strange man. He was calm, holding a nearly empty bottle of liquor.
This man had lit a fire and was sitting beside it. Next to him was a rotting, dead corpse. The stench of blood was piercing, revolting to Clark's senses. Clark was tense, his hand on the sword beside him. He didn't understand why, but it was the survival instinct within him.
The man looked at Clark. His voice was unsettlingly calm.
• "Don't trouble yourself reaching for that sword. I didn't kill him, I found him like this with an empty bottle."
Clark ignored the dizziness and sat beside the man, his hand still on the hilt. Clark's voice sounded as if his vocal cords were frayed from hunger.
• "Who are you? What is this place?"
• "My name is Jin. I woke up in a field of corpses. You were the only breathing thing. So I dragged you here." I was hoping you had answers. About me. About any of this."
Clark's expression froze. He hadn't comprehended that he had amnesia. "What do you mean 'about you'?"
Jin replied with a helpless smile. "I don't know. I've lost… everything. All that's left for me is instinct. The need to survive. That's all."
Clark hesitated at first, but sat next to Jin, moving closer due to the intense cold.
• "I don't trust you. But… we're in the same damn boat. I don't know who I am either."
Jin laughed as he answered.
• "Hahahaha, then I suppose that makes us even."
Jin grabbed his liquor bottle, took a strong sip, then offered it to Clark. Clark quenched his thirst, but his mind was screaming with questions.
He was angry at his inability to remember, to remember anything.
After long thought, sleep overcame Clark.
Clark woke at dawn. He felt a ravenous hunger. His eyes were bloodshot. Even speaking was difficult for him in his state, but he heard a sound of chewing and tearing.
Clark turned to see the source of the sound. Jin was hunched over, tearing the arm of the dead soldier with his teeth.
Hunger had overpowered him. What distinguishes humans in situations like this is the survival instinct.
Clark's stomach tightened. His mind was conflicted. He wanted to eat. He no longer cared about the type or anything; he just wanted to put something in his mouth. His eyes became worse and worse due to the hunger. He no longer cared. His resolve now was to eat the corpse with Jin.
Before he could move, the silence was broken by the sound of heavy footsteps—the sound of hooves or something.
Jin raised his head. There was a strange smell, the smell of a wild animal or beast.
The footsteps approached… they were incredibly strong… until they revealed their source!!!
It was a beast, broad and terrifyingly massive, with immense strength. It had the face of a lion, enormous horns, and red eyes.
Jin looked in fear.
• "Then what is this?"
At that moment, a light began to ignite in the lion's mouth.
Boom!!!!
A ball of energy shot from its mouth. Jin barely dodged it, but it pierced the tree behind Jin.
Jin was shocked.
• "I almost felt my head flying off its place!"
Clark quickly drew his sword.
• "We must kill it and eat its meat."
The lion charged, attacking Clark, as beasts naturally attack the first one to move.
Clark dodged the lion's claw.
Clark was shocked by his sharpened combat instincts.
He then lunged, delivering a powerful kick to the lion.
But the lion wasn't much affected.
Jin was watching intently, calculating things carefully.
Then he joined the fight as well.
The lion sensed danger. It hadn't touched either of them yet.
What is happening? Clark was terrified by the sight.
Something strange began to emerge from the lion's sides, as if its bones wanted to tear out of their places. Shock was evident on both their faces. Soon, the lion's sides tore apart, and golden-feathered wings emerged, covering the area in gore due to the transformation.
Jin was stunned.
• "Was this bastard testing us?"
Both were shocked.
They felt they were being hunted, not hunting the beast.
It charged with astonishing speed to attack.
It collided with Jin. Jin tried to hold back its horns.
The lion's momentum was powerful.
Its speed increased once its wings appeared.
The lion pushed Jin back forcefully, but Clark grabbed him.
• "Listen, this damned beast's weak point is its head! In truth, its whole body is armored except for its head. Forget its horns! If we can land a decisive blow, we can kill it!!"
Jin nodded in agreement with Clark's plan.
Soon, the lion charged, preventing them from thinking.
Clark pushed Jin back and blocked the lion's powerful strike.
Sparks flew from Clark's sword and the lion's horn.
Jin shouted.
• "Let it charge at me!"
Clark was afraid to remove his sword and be trampled to death by this stupid beast. Clark didn't understand. The momentum force of this beast wasn't even something found in normal animals.
But Clark had no room for thought. So, he grabbed the lion's horns and flipped to the other side.
The lion could no longer change its direction. Jin dodged it.
Bam!!!
It crashed into the tree it had previously struck with lightning. The tree had little left before falling, but the lion finished the job and brought it down on itself, dying.
With an attack like that, of course, the tree would fall on the lion and kill it.
Clark looked and said.
• "You thought of a really good plan, actually."
Clark frowned after processing the situation.
• "Damn! Now how do we get its body out?"
• "I really don't know. But maybe there's something else we can eat."
Clark grimaced intensely, grinding his teeth in his mouth from severe hunger.
They extinguished the fire and left.
While the two were walking, something occupied Clark's mind.
• "This bastard… I won't rule out his malice. Weren't we planning to strike its head? Why did the lion crush itself? Did it just want me to starve more?"
• "In truth, this analysis is logical. That bastard was watching me while I fought the lion. It seems I was right; he truly is a cunning dog."
The two stopped walking. They had reached a fresh, beautiful river.
Both were happy because animals always come to water sources.
Jin and Clark sat behind a rock to observe.
At the thought of animals, Clark's hunger intensified greatly.
Time passed—an hour, two, even three—and yet Clark and Jin hadn't moved an inch, staying very quiet, waiting.
Then Clark heard the sound of footsteps, hooves. It seemed to be a deer. It appeared from the other side of the river.
Clark moved away quietly, circling to the other side. Jin watched what he would do.
Clark tore a piece of his clothing and tied it around his sword's hilt and his hand to create a spear-like grip. The deer was calm and watchful, actually trying to smell something.
Then the deer's nose moved, having noticed something.
The deer realized a female deer was approaching.
Clark was happy, because once the female appeared, the male deer wouldn't focus on its surroundings.
Then everyone listened to the sound of hoofsteps. It was a pleasant rhythm.
A beautiful female deer appeared.
Then the male and female began to approach each other.
At that moment, Clark gripped his sword in a throwing stance with absolute stability. The veins in Clark's hands were prominently visible.
Kill! Clark threw with all his strength and killed the male deer. Its neck poured out blood profusely.
Jin laughed and said.
• "What a clever plan! You knew the deer was waiting for something and would lower its defenses."
Clark didn't respond to Jin. He felt no comfort towards Jin.
Clark held the sword hilt in his mouth and swam to the other side.
Jin followed as well.
Clark's saliva was flowing; his skin was cracked from hunger.
The two began gathering firewood to light a fire.
Using white quartz rocks, Jin created small sparks, causing a fire to appear. He intensified the paper and firewood to strengthen the fire and stayed with it.
Meanwhile, the other was cutting the deer meat. He took its thigh and cut it into small pieces to put inside his sword and cook it.
A very primitive method—meat without anything. But when hungry, nothing else matters.
Clark approached the sitting Jin. He handed Jin a sword with meat slices on it.
Clark placed his own sword and began roasting his portion.
They didn't cook it well. There was still some blood, but they didn't care, eating quickly. They were in a damn forest and didn't know what was coming for them.
In his mind, Clark was screaming.
• "I haven't tasted meat in ages!"
They finished the food. Then something happened they thought would be their escape from misery, but the situation soon changed.
A humanoid figure appeared—or so they thought. Its skin color was like that of the dead, its veins bulging, its eyes a dark black. To their misfortune, it didn't appear from the other side of the river, but from their own side.
Clark said.
• "This isn't good."
Both drew their swords.
Then several shadows appeared. Jin was terrified and said.
• "These… these are the same ones I woke up next to the corpses of! How… how are they awake?"
A giant skeleton appeared among them, its eyes intensely red.
Then the undead charged.
Clark asked.
• "So… is this how it ends?"
To be continued...