There’s a Monster Inside Me

Chapter 10

Bada Gurumi… 

A friend who shared a room with me at the dormitory in my past life.

“Do you also live in a seaside village?”

 That was the first thing he said to me when he realized we had the same surname. My response ended with a shake of my head.

…I was an orphan, so originally I had no surname. 

I only had a name until the headmaster gave me a surname. 

They say that when I was young and learning to read, I suddenly asked.

“What is the sea?” 

They explained the sea to me, but I apparently couldn’t imagine an endlessly vast body of water, and my eyes became foggy. 

They told me that waves constantly crash there, and those waves are so powerful they can erode huge rocks into tiny grains of sand. 

Hearing this made me look even more confused. 

They say I kept asking occasionally. 

“What is the sea?”

And again…

“What is the sea?”

 The name they gave me was ‘Bada,’ hoping that someday I would see with my own eyes that sea I could never comprehend. 

…I never told Bada Gurumi about this. Before I could tell him, Gurumi fled the Thousand-Year School as if chased away, and we never met again.

“Someday, let’s go to the sea together.” 

Gurumi was good at saying such pleasant things. That roommate who approached me with a smile couldn’t last even half a year before fleeing the Thousand-Year School. 

…It was because he was targeted by Geombau.

In my past life, when Gurumi reluctantly stood up at Geombau’s pointing finger, he defiantly showed his abilities. 

Although he wasn’t eager to do it, he seemed to want to flatten Geombau’s nose with his demonstration.

For Gurumi, it was a small revenge against a senior who was bullying juniors. 

However, his talent being too outstanding became the problem. 

A talent so incredible that one would be compelled to either destroy it or seize it!

Gurumi, who had been called out by Geombau, stared blankly at the sky. 

Geombau snickered, and his gang mocked. 

“Friend, come here.” 

The moment that child gestured toward the sky, white, beautiful clouds rolled in on the clear sky. The rushing wind was a bonus. 

“My friends.” 

When Gurumi stretched out both hands, the white, beautiful cotton-like clouds quickly turned into dark storm clouds. 

“Give me lightning!” 

CRACK! 

A blue flash of light tore the sky in two. 

BOOM! 

The thunder was so loud it felt like it would deafen me. 

“AAAAH!” 

The lightning struck precisely in front of Geombau. 

The gray rock that he had split in half shattered into tiny fragments. 

And suddenly, torrential rain poured down. 

The rain fell specifically near Geombau. 

Geombau was soaked, and the seniors nearby became flustered and panicked. 

“Stop, stop!” 

Only when Geombau shouted and waved his arms did Gurumi pull back the clouds. 

“Friends, disperse now.” 

The torrential rainfall stopped instantly. 

“My friends, sorry for the disturbance. And thank you.” 

Gurumi expressed his gratitude to the dispersing clouds. 

Under the suddenly brightened sky, Geombau was completely drenched.

 Finally, he uttered words of surrender. 

“We’ve seen enough of the freshman’s skills! Everyone disperse!” 

The freshmen secretly rejoiced, and even the seniors covered their mouths and laughed.

Gurumi’s name became known to everyone almost instantly after showing such a satisfying scene. 

Yes, for a brief moment it seemed like a satisfying victory. 

But it didn’t take long to realize that what Gurumi had shown was the worst possible choice for an initiation ceremony.

A few days after the entrance ceremony, a letter arrived for Gurumi. 

Politely called a letter, harshly called a challenge… 

It was by no means a fair challenge. 

On one side was Bada Gurumi alone, on the other side were seniors with years of experience and higher spiritual power coming in droves.

The challenge stated that he could bring friends if he had any, but Gurumi, who had just enrolled, couldn’t possibly have anyone to accompany him. 

The new students didn’t know each other well yet and hadn’t made friends. 

Moreover, Gurumi didn’t ask anyone for help. He didn’t want to put the young classmates who feared the seniors in a difficult position.

At first, when Gurumi received the letter, his face showed confidence. 

It certainly was that way for a while. 

He probably thought they would stop after a few confrontations. 

He didn’t know then how persistent and vicious Geombau’s group was. 

Moreover, no one could even guess that behind him lurked Geum Tae-min, who had the face of a sage but the heart of a demon.

As time passed, Gurumi’s face became haggard. 

The shadowed darkness in his expression gradually lost its cheerful smile, confident challenging spirit, and hope for life. 

They knew well how to devastate a spirited human being. It was the wicked method of those who had trampled and tormented others.

Gurumi became more and more battered as time went on. 

At first, he would return with a scratch or two, but later he came back with a broken arm, a broken leg, blood flowing all over his body. 

Only I, who shared the room, knew about the terrible wounds hidden under his clothes. I should have reported Gurumi’s situation.

If I knew I couldn’t resolve it myself, I should have sought someone’s help. But I was so weak that I couldn’t even think of that.

At some point, fear began to shadow Gurumi’s face whenever he received a letter. Usually, unopened envelopes would lay on his desk for days. 

One day, a letter caught my eye. 

The date written on it was that very day. I had a bad feeling.

On that day, anxious with worry and fear, I waited for Gurumi until late into the night. 

At dawn, as light was breaking. The child who tumbled in through the window was covered in blood. His face was so torn and swollen it was unrecognizable. 

Not a single part of his arms or legs was unharmed.

Most shocking of all was his hair. 

His bluish-black hair had been roughly cut short. 

Deep blue hair… Gurumi called it the color of the sea. 

He told me that if you dive deep into the sea and open your eyes, the deep sea is the same color as his hair. He said his hair contained the jewel-like sea. 

And the white band tightly wrapped around his head represented the foam created by waves.

Between his randomly, unevenly cut hair, white flesh and blood clots were visible. 

The roughly cut hair looked more terrible than any of his injured limbs.

They had shattered Gurumi’s most precious treasure, trampled his pride, and destroyed his world.

Though I trembled at their vicious scheme, I closed my eyes and ran away. 

I didn’t tell anyone about Gurumi’s situation.

The next day, when I returned to our dormitory room after finishing my daily routine, no trace of Gurumi remained. 

The only evidence that he had been there was the falling rainwater.

Rain fell all day at the Thousand-Year School after Gurumi left. 

The dark sky struck lightning madly, and thunder that shook the entire mountain rebuked my cowardice.

The terrible rain that seemed like it would swallow the whole world fell continuously for three days and nights.

During those three days, I also wept, beating my chest. 

I cried because I was ashamed of my cowardice, and I cried because I hated myself for stubbornly remaining here alone. 

If given the chance, someday… I wanted to ask if he would go to the sea with me. 

If we ever met again… I wanted to beg him to reproach me for what I’d done. 

And I wanted to tell him. 

That I would never leave him alone again.

That I would never abandon him in that hell.

That if I were to be reborn… I would stand by his side.

That was who he was.

He… was Gurumi.

***

I stood up abruptly in Gurumi’s place. 

Geombau’s gaze shifted from Bada Gurumi to me. 

“Oh-ho, what talent do you possess? Come, entertain the seniors!”

For Geombau, who smiled sardonically while pursing his lips, no talent would be satisfactory. 

If too outstanding, you become a target of surveillance; if too weak, you become a laughingstock. 

If forced to choose between the two, better to be a laughingstock.

I smiled and looked toward the seniors. 

Senior Pureum Usol entered my line of sight. 

With clenched fists, the senior somehow looked tense. 

Senior Usol knew through the divine official that I had no abilities. And she would know that my only power was the divine Imugi.

I understood her feelings well as she bit her lip with anxiety. 

If I, with my insignificant divine power, were to reveal the Imugi… 

I would become the target of overly greedy ones. 

A nobody like me should never reveal their divine beast to others. The more precious it is, the more it must be kept secret. 

Because it could become the blade that threatens my life.

I raised both arms high. The flowing sleeves revealed the snow-white bracelet wrapped around my left arm. Senior Usol, who had been sitting quietly, couldn’t stand it and rose. 

Her lips were saying ‘No.’

‘Yes, I know, Senior. I understand well.’ 

I answered in my heart.

How dangerous some people here were. That thieves full of greed were hiding their true intentions. I knew this better than anyone else here.

I put my hands together in prayer position after stretching them toward the sky and bowed to the seniors.

“Seniors, this junior confesses to lacking divine power and having neither learning nor talent. From now on, I will strive to learn everything the seniors teach and guide me, to become a proper divine person. With that in mind, I wish to pay my respects to the seniors.”

I tidied my clothes and knelt on one knee. 

“Following the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the World below! This junior offers greetings to the seniors!” 

I knelt and offered formal respect to the seniors.

At the Thousand-Year School, rituals don’t end with just receiving them. 

If you receive a greeting, you must respond to the ritual. 

The seniors placed their right arms on their hearts and answered. 

“Following the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the World below!”

The seniors’ simultaneous response was incomparably majestic.

Geombau could not stop me as I bowed my head and respectfully stepped back.

In reality, during the freshman welcome ceremony, freshmen only needed to introduce themselves in some way. 

A single word stating their name would suffice, or simply following the newly learned ritual was enough.

However, the freshmen didn’t know this fact.

That’s why they were anxiously worried about how to display their insignificant divine powers.

Thanks to my actions, the remaining freshmen heaved sighs of relief. 

“So that’s all we needed to do. We didn’t need to worry so much!”

Geombau had a sour expression, but he couldn’t deny that this was the way of the Thousand-Year School’s freshman welcome ceremony. 

He simply wanted to watch the freshmen fidget and tremble in fear.

Geombau acted as if he would punish freshmen who couldn’t demonstrate their abilities by smashing rocks before their eyes, but looking back, he never actually said such things. 

He merely created an atmosphere that made freshmen subconsciously accept it.

Now the hidden truth was revealed. And whether the revealed truth was real or an illusion could be confirmed by a few more volunteers.

“I’ll go next.” 

Bada Gurumi was the one who stood up raising his hand.

I knew well that Gurumi wasn’t the type to show off his divine power to others. 

While he disliked those who bullied the weak, he didn’t enjoy boasting himself. 

That’s why he had been sitting quietly until now despite having tremendous skills.

“My name is Bada Gurumi. I will pay my respects to the seniors. Following the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the World below! Seniors, I offer my greetings!”

Gurumi’s greeting was even shorter than mine.

 Nevertheless, all the seniors stood up and responded to his courtesy.

“Following the principles of Heaven, Earth, and the World below.”

As Gurumi respectfully greeted them and disappeared, Geombau clicked his tongue behind him. 

“Well, well, this has become boring!”

While this was extremely boring for him, nothing could be more delightful for the remaining freshmen.

The freshmen came forward eagerly.

They just needed to follow what Gurumi and I had shown them.

I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of my peers with their relieved, flushed cheeks. Good, this is a decent start!