NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Self-Healing (2)
"Hu~ That was tough."
2 a.m.
After finishing cleaning the bathroom, Eunha took off her rubber gloves and smiled refreshingly.
Looking at the spotless bathroom, as if nothing had happened, felt satisfying.
A regular bathroom cleaner would have had a hard time removing the caked-on bloodstains, but fortunately, she had a special cleaner for Hunters at home, so the job was easy.
Eunha, feeling proud of the sparkling bathroom, grabbed a heavy black plastic bag and stepped out into the hallway.
Inside the bag were the flesh and severed limbs that had clogged the drain.
She had cleaned up the bloodstains, but she had no idea how to dispose of these, so she hurriedly stuffed them into the bag.
If she carelessly threw them into the apartment trash bin, there would be a huge fuss about a serial killer or something.
Burying them in the mountains wasn’t a great option either—nowadays, there were too many Hunters with bizarre skills, and who knew how they might be discovered later?
'Should I chop them into small pieces, burn them completely black, and throw them away as food waste? ...Seems like a waste, though.'
For now, she decided to watch how things unfolded. There was no harm in being cautious.
She would store them in the freezer for the time being and gradually dispose of them when she came up with a good idea.
Struggling with the weight of the plastic bag, she headed for the living room.
The living room was just as much of a mess as the bathroom.
It seemed like [The Red Woman] had rummaged through the entire house, leaving red handprints and footprints everywhere.
The bedroom and kitchen were probably in a similar state.
At least, unlike the bathroom, she only needed to wipe away the bloodstains.
Eunha went to the kitchen and shoved the black plastic bag deep into the freezer.
'Yeah. Honestly, it's about time for a thorough cleaning. Might as well tidy up while I'm at it.'
She wondered why she was doing all this exhausting work in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, but she chose to think positively.
Eunha placed the kitchen knife from the bathroom into the sink and returned to the living room.
"…Huh? My soy sauce egg rice…"
Plopping onto the sofa, she frowned at the table.
On the table were [The Black Book], the TV remote.
And an empty bowl.
She distinctly remembered stopping halfway through eating her soy sauce egg rice when [The Red Woman] appeared.
Yet someone had polished it off completely.
Not a single grain of rice was left—it had been scraped clean.
And the spoon on the table had red handprints on it…
…So, she ate it.
Judging by how clean the bowl was, she must have enjoyed it.
The thought of [The Red Woman] munching on the soy sauce egg rice made Eunha chuckle.
She must’ve been bored just eating. She should’ve at least turned on the TV.
Grinning, she picked up [The Black Book].
The strange illustrated bookmark had disappeared at some point, and the book still contained the "guide" about [The Red Woman].
Once written, the text didn’t seem to disappear.
Or maybe it meant that she could come back again.
Throb…!
As she thought about [The Red Woman], pain throbbed through the wounds all over her body.
Eunha touched her scar-covered chest.
'…Why is it bigger than this morning?'
She barely had time to process this unpleasant realization before regaining her composure and carefully reading through [The Black Book].
She had just checked—the contents had been updated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
※ Guide to Safe Home Living ※
1. If someone knocks on your front door.
~~ Omitted ~~
2. Avoid going out at night.
- Due to recent maintenance, the apartment corridor lights are not functioning.
- The apartment interior is quite dark, so it is not recommended to leave your home or wander inside the building after sunset.
2-1. If you are outside the apartment when the sun sets.
- It is recommended that you stay elsewhere for the night.
- However, if you must return home due to unavoidable circumstances, knock on the security office window at the entrance and explain your situation to the security guard.
3. When sleeping, keep the balcony window closed, but do not lock it.
- If a window that was always open suddenly gets locked, anyone would feel uncomfortable.
4. Perception is the connection of existence.
- Have you ever heard the saying, "Knowledge is power"?
- Every action of recognizing and understanding each other will bring "them" closer to you.
5. Occasionally, there is a knocking sound from the next-door wall…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow, that’s a lot. What does number 3 even mean?"
No, more importantly—are there other monsters besides [The Red Woman]?
The more she read, the more a hollow laugh escaped her lips. She stopped midway and closed the book.
For some reason, she felt uneasy about the balcony.
Did she lock the balcony door?
With her heart pounding, she glanced at the living room balcony.
Beyond the outer wall of the balcony, 'something' peeked its head out—
And their eyes met.
……Eunha smoothly turned her head back as if nothing had happened.
Ah! So they were on their way up.
Could it be the downstairs neighbor? It must have been noisy earlier because of [The Red Woman].
'So, according to guide rule number 2, I shouldn’t leave the house at night, right? What a shame~ I was planning to escape this damn place and go to Bangwool’s house right away~ …Might as well finish cleaning.'
Eunha clenched her teeth and ignored the 'thing' on the balcony as she got up from the sofa.
She needed to clean up quickly and get some sleep.
If she wanted to work at Bangwool’s café tomorrow, she had to go to bed early.
Smiling as usual, she took the empty rice bowl from the table to the kitchen sink, then grabbed the cleaner she had used in the bathroom to wipe the blood-stained floor.
It was a trusted Hunter-exclusive cleaner that removed grime, mold, and even bloodstains all at once.
For reference, the "Hunter-exclusive cleaner" was originally invented to wash Hunters’ gear, which often got drenched in monster fluids from [Rift Zones].
Monster fluids were extremely sticky and toxic, making them nearly impossible to remove with regular bleach.
But throwing away contaminated gear wasn’t an option either—Hunter equipment was incredibly expensive.
That’s why the Hunter-exclusive cleaner was created.
Its name: [Hunt’s Clean].
It was about five times more expensive than other cleaners, but its effectiveness made it a must-have, even in regular households, for tough grime removal.
A while back, Eun Bangwool had ordered too much cleaner for her café and had gifted Eunha an entire box.
It was proving to be incredibly useful.
Eunha silently thanked Bangwool, who was probably in dreamland by now, and resumed cleaning.
……And so, the deep cleaning that began in the middle of the night finally ended at 5:30 a.m.
Since the blood-soaked blankets and bed sheets were soaking in the bathtub with detergent, she had no choice but to sleep on the living room sofa today.
‘I need to check my body too… but I’m too exhausted. I’ll do it properly tomorrow.’
Her phone alarm was set for 7 a.m., giving her less than two hours of sleep.
But with all the pain, trauma, and exhaustion piled up, the moment she lay down on the sofa, a heavy drowsiness washed over her.
She felt like she was going to die. Well, she had almost died for real, but… anyway.
She just needed a little sleep before heading to work…
Creak—…
Just as she turned off the living room lights and lay down on the sofa…
The balcony window slid open, and ‘something’ entered.
It was the same figure that had quietly peeked over the balcony railing earlier.
It was still here.
She could feel its gaze on her.
‘It’ stood close to the sofa, silently watching her sleep.
"……."
『…….』
A suffocating silence.
She had a feeling that if she fell asleep now, she would never wake up again.
The sound of an unfamiliar woman’s breathing hovered near the sofa.
Time passed meaninglessly like that,
Until 7 a.m.
Beep beep beep—. Beep beep beep—.
As soon as her phone alarm rang, signaling 7 a.m., ‘it’ finally moved, retreating beyond the balcony.
"Haa… Just kill me already, you bastards."
In the end, Eunha hadn’t slept a single wink.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 3rd.
29 days left until the ‘Hunter Promotion Exam’ next month.
At a small café called [The Fox and the Rabbit] in Euncheon District, Eunha and Eun Bangwool were having another peaceful day.
Including the owner, Bangwool, the café only had two employees.
With its relaxed atmosphere and an adorably charming owner, it had gathered quite a few regulars—it was, in a way, a hidden gem.
"Yaaawn…"
"Are you okay? You look really tired."
"Mm? …Ah, I’m fine! Bangwool, nothing unusual happened last night, right?"
"For me, it’s always the same."
Placing the tray with a customer’s coffee and bread on the counter, Bangwool glanced at Eunha, who had been yawning nonstop since she arrived.
Eunha, rubbing her sleepy eyes, flinched.
But soon, she flashed her usual drowsy smile and took the tray from Bangwool, heading to the customer’s table.
She wobbled slightly but managed to reach the table and set down the coffee cup while chatting cheerfully with the regular.
Bangwool puffed out her cheeks, clearly displeased.
A mask covering her face. A cap pulled low. A black scarf wrapped around her neck. Gloves.
She was dressed in layers, as if trying to hide her skin.
Her voice had become subtly softer.
Her hair had suddenly grown noticeably longer overnight.
And even her chest, slightly pushed up by her loose apron…
Bangwool thought to herself.
Eunha was acting strange.