MLTMH 04

Chapter 4

‘If I want to kill it, I have to attack its head.’

The novel explained that when someone was bitten by a virus monster, they would become infected and transform into a bizarre monster.

Dealing with humans who had turned into monsters like that was a little difficult. Sometimes, depending on the person’s physical condition before they were infected, a monster with an enormous body or one with unbelievably fast speed could be born.

‘But they had weaknesses.’

Their eyesight was poor, while their hearing was very sensitive.

That meant they could easily be lured by making a louder sound.

They were also weak against things that were extremely hot, like fire.

So I remembered a method I had seen in movies and even made some Molotov cocktails to bring with me.

I put kerosene into wine bottles, stuffed cloth into the openings to act as wicks, sealed the openings, and then lit them when needed.

As my main weapon, I had bought an axe.

I placed the axe into the holster on my back and made sure to hide it under my loose robe.

‘When the monster appears, I’ll throw a Molotov cocktail to scatter it first, then attack its head with the axe.’

It was a perfect plan.

While I was thinking about this, I saw a figure in the distance and held my breath.

It was obviously the figure of a woman.

She was also wearing a robe and looking around, so she looked just as suspicious as I did.

‘Is that Aurora?’

In the novel, there was a reason Aurora had specifically come to 61 Notium Street.

Someone had sent her an anonymous letter.

[Come to 61 Notium Street. If you do, I’ll tell you the secret of your birth.]

I remembered that was what the letter said.

The heroine, Aurora, had been adopted by the Lancaster ducal family at the age of fifteen after losing her memories.

The Duke of Lancaster and her older brother, Eden, surrounded her with love, but it was only natural that she would always be curious about the secret of her birth.

It was a very protagonist-like story.

However, because the novel had been put on hiatus, the secret of her birth was never revealed.

It was also never revealed who had sent the letter.

“Ah!”

The light scream brought me back to my senses.

The robed woman who had been approaching with quick little steps had accidentally stepped wrong.

She almost fell flat on her face, but somehow managed to regain her balance and stand up.

Then she looked around.

She was probably checking whether anyone had seen what happened to her.

‘She’s kind of clumsy. Cute.’

It seemed that woman really was Aurora.

After all, she was standing around in front of the mansion at 61.

‘She looks like she’s in danger.’

Still, she was the protagonist, so she probably wouldn’t die or get seriously hurt.

But you never knew.

The virus monster was going to appear right there, of all places.

After thinking for a moment, I decided it would be better for me to enter the mansion at 61 myself.

The Elpinus herb was supposed to be kept inside the mansion anyway.

‘I’ll climb over the wall.’

I immediately lowered my body and entered the alley beside the mansion, doing my best not to be noticed by anyone.

The wall wasn’t very high, and all the lights in the mansion were off, so it didn’t look like anyone was inside.

I stood the Molotov cocktails inside the belt bag so they wouldn’t spill, then easily climbed over the wall.

After landing safely in the mansion’s yard, I took out the Molotov cocktails from my belt bag and checked them.

Fortunately, not a single bottle had broken.

The mansion was completely dark and silent.

There wasn’t even a sign of anyone being there.

That made it even more dangerous.

The monster might attack while I let my guard down.

I slowly approached the front door of the mansion.

The tightly closed door felt like the entrance to a tiger’s den.

‘No, a monster’s den is scarier than a tiger’s den.’

My lips were dry, and my palms were sweaty.

I slowly placed my hand on the doorknob.

I hoped someone would defeat the monster while I was doing this, but that kind of miracle didn’t happen.

So I turned the doorknob myself.

Click.

The unlocked doorknob turned.

Then the rusty hinges moved and made an unpleasant—

Creeeak─.

The first-floor lobby visible through the open door was dark.

Only cold air filled the space.

It looked like no one had been here for quite some time.

‘No. I don’t actually know that.’

As far as I remembered, the infected person had stayed alone in this mansion for several days and somehow survived.

Even the novel never explained where or how that person had been infected.

‘Why did the novel go on hiatus without explaining anything useful?’

I grumbled to myself and looked around again.

Anyway, the monster should be starving because it hadn’t eaten a person for several days.

‘I have to stay completely focused.’

I held a Molotov cocktail tightly in one hand and prepared to take out the oil lighter from my belt bag and light it at any moment.

Thankfully, this was a nineteenth-century European-style world where industry had developed.

‘Yeah. A world without guns while dealing with zombie-like monsters wouldn’t make much sense.’

I slowly walked inside while thinking about such useless things to distract myself from the tension.

There were two staircases leading to the second floor from the first-floor lobby.

I stood in front of them for a moment, wondering where the Elpinus herb might be and where I should search first.

Then—

Thud.

A small box fell right in front of my feet.

I was so startled that I thought my heart had dropped.

There was a picture of a plant that looked almost like an insect on the outside of the box.

A plant that looked like an insect?

This was it!

It matched the description from the novel.

It was the box containing the Elpinus herb I had been searching for.

‘What? Where did this fall from?’

I quickly picked up the box and put it inside my belt bag.

Then I raised my head.

And my eyes met those of a man staring at me from over the railing of the dark second floor.

‘Fuck, that scared me!’

The man’s eyes grew wider and wider.

“W-wait! Wait!”

The man screamed and ran down the stairs.

Then, perhaps because he missed a step, he suddenly fell and rolled all the way down.

Thud─!

He eventually collapsed right in front of me.

W-what was going on……?!

“Help me. Please save me! Save me!”

The man quickly regained consciousness and hurriedly raised his upper body.

His right leg seemed to be broken.

Even after managing to get himself up, he continued limping badly.

Fortunately, he didn’t look like he had been bitten by the monster.

There wasn’t even a single bloodstain on him.

I first moved the man behind my back to protect him.

Then, just as I took the oil lighter from my belt bag and was about to light the Molotov cocktail—

Boom─.

The floor suddenly shook.

Holding the Molotov cocktail, I looked around.

It was difficult to tell where the sound had come from.

It felt as if the entire mansion was echoing.

Then a thick green liquid dropped onto the floor right in front of the toe of my shoe.

Drip─ drip.

‘Fuck.’

I barely managed to move my stiff neck.

Like a broken robot, I slowly looked up at the ceiling.

Only then did I see three enormous eyes staring down at me.

The thing hanging from the chandelier had long arms and legs like a spider.

Its body was swollen and bloated as if it had been soaked in water, and its head was twice the size of an ordinary person’s.

Even the sharp, pincer-like fangs visible between its open lips looked like those of a spider.

Green saliva was constantly dripping from between them.

It was an extremely disgusting sight.

‘Gross.’

If the world really ended, would I have to keep fighting things like this?

The situation was so unbelievable that my entire body stiffened from head to toe.

I couldn’t move.

The monster didn’t move right away.

Hiss─ hiss─.

It only made an unknown sound while remaining on guard.

Still holding the Molotov cocktail tightly, I quietly asked the man hiding behind me,

“Were you bitten anywhere?”

“Y-yes? Uh……”

“Answer me properly. I’ll help you. Did that thing bite you?”

“N-no. When I came to this mansion, that monster was tied up in a room. My younger sister hadn’t contacted me for several days, so I came to check on her, but there was this monster……”

It had been tied up in a room?

Then that meant someone had tied the monster up.

“Where are the others? Is anyone else here?”

“Uh, no. There was no one else. Nobody.”

I watched the monster, which had been keeping its eyes on us, slowly move its legs.

Then I lit the wick of the Molotov cocktail.

At the same moment, the monster charged toward us.

I calmly threw the burning Molotov cocktail at it.

Whoosh─!

The monster caught fire and fell to the floor while letting out a terrible scream.

“GRAAAH!”

It continued struggling in agony.

“Save me!”

Meanwhile, the man kicked open the front door and ran away on his injured leg.

‘Yeah. Just run away. You’re only getting in my way.’

I pulled out the axe from my back and approached the monster, intending to cut off its head.

But the monster was quick.

It immediately ran out through the open front door.

“Damn it! No!”

I ran after it without thinking, crossing the yard and rushing toward the gate.

Unfortunately, it was heading straight toward Aurora.

“It’s dangerous! Get out of the way!”

I shouted at the top of my lungs, hoping Aurora would hear me, and ran until I was out of breath.

And just as the monster smashed through the gate and escaped—

I swung my axe at it.

Thwack.

I missed its head, but the blade of the axe sank directly into its body.

“GRAAH!”

The monster let out a terrible scream and collapsed onto the ground.

“Aaaah!”

The woman I assumed was Aurora screamed and collapsed in front of the gate.

Fuck.