SL:R

Chapter 38

‘I hate ants.’

It’d been decades already. That was always ‘his’ habit of speech.

The reason why he started to dislike ants?

He had been having nightmares periodically since some time ago. Once a year, or once every two years, the vivid nightmare returned when he least expected it. In those dreams, he was always running in the darkness, chased by countless ants.

‘Oh, don’t come near me! Don’t come!’

‘Kieek! Kiehk!’

‘Aaaah!’

He ran frantically like that. But no matter how hard he tried, he found himself at a dead end when he came to his senses.

The ants surrounded him. And in the middle of them, a giant ant, as big as a human, was walking towards him.

And…
‘Kieeeek-!’

Its mouth opened wide and swallowed his head whole…

Thunk!

“Aaaah!”

A middle-aged man screamed and sat up in bed.

His wife, sleeping beside him, looked at him worriedly, rubbing her eyes at the noise. “Honey, did you have another nightmare?”

“Huff, huff…” Cold sweat was dripping down his forehead. He quickly drank the cold water he had left on the nightstand. “Gulp.”

The sound of the water splashing helped him snap back to reality. He looked at his wife, who had woken up because of him, with an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“Well… it’s been a while since the last time.”

“That’s right. Don’t worry about me; go back to sleep now that everything is okay.” As he gently patted her back, her eyes closed again.

“Phew.” The man sat on the edge of the bed and wiped his face with both hands.

‘It had been a while since I last had one…’

He sighed and muttered to himself as if it were a mantra.

Yes, it’s a dream.

It’s just a dream.

I’m still alive.

Fortunately, the spell worked.

His heart, which had been pounding like it was about to burst, gradually began to calm down.

‘That damn ant dream…’

For some reason, he felt like something was going to happen today.

He didn’t have much time to sleep, so he decided to get ready for work a little early. Quietly, he got up to not wake his wife and left the room.

His wife was a teacher at a school, teaching Korean history. He knew how difficult her job was, having worked as a tutor for a brief period when he was young.

‘If I keep her up all night because of my nightmare, she’ll be in big trouble if she mixes up the years during class.’

With various thoughts in mind, he skillfully finished getting ready for work and put on his clothes.

‘Oh no, I almost forgot this.’

He hung the ID badge issued by the Korea Hunter Association around his neck.

[Korea Hunter Association]

Min Byung-gyu

(Consulting Doctor)