Chapter 29 : Goblins in Human Skin

The morning came too quietly.

No birds. No wind. Just that cold sort of silence that settles after grief and gunfire.

We were all gathered in the living room. Seo-yeon is in the room with the kid. The sheets had been washed, and the sunlight leaking through the cracked blinds gave the space a false warmth. The little girl lay curled in bed, still asleep, her arms wrapped tight around a torn teddy bear that looked like it had seen war.

I entered that room and sat near the foot of the bed, back against the wall, eyes on the little form breathing softly.

Then she stirred.

Seo-Yeon, sitting at her side, leaned in gently. "Good morning."

The girl blinked slowly, groggy, confused—then her eyes widened when she saw me.

"You…" Her voice was soft, a bit scratchy. She looked down at her teddy. "You picked me up. You carried me here."

I gave her a small nod. "Yeah. I found you outside. You collapsed into my arms."

She clutched the teddy tighter. "Thank you."

Everyone entered her room.

Mother walked over next. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

The girl hesitated.

"Eun-ha," she finally said. "Han Eun-ha."

"Beautiful name," Seo-Yeon whispered. "I'm Seo-Yeon. And this is Ye-Jun. Over there is Aunt Mi-Sun, Ye-Rin with the axe, Sang-woo with the scary face, and In-Ji—he's the one with the guns but a soft heart."

In-Ji scoffed from the door frame. "Soft heart? You trying to ruin my rep?"

Eun-ha smiled faintly. It didn't last.

"We were hiding in our house. Grandpa and I... we stayed there. Yesterday... he told me to hide under the ..... I heard him screaming."

Her voice cracked. Her eyes didn't.

I leaned forward. "You're really brave, Eun-ha."

She looked down again, then slowly crawled from the bed—legs wobbly, but determined. She walked to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"I saw you on TV before the monsters came. I liked your videos," she mumbled.

I blinked. I forgot that I used to be a streamer before the world became hell.

I placed a hand gently on her back. "...Thank you."

After leaving her room, we all agreed to visit Eun-ha home once to bury her grandpa.

We carried Eun-ha home.

The house was a ruin—windows shattered, dried blood along the walls, the smell of decay lingering in the corners. But it was still a home. Her home.

She guided us to the backyard with slow steps. We found her parents' bodies wrapped in old blankets, and her grandfather's near the kitchen entrance and small footsteps, footsteps of the young girl who walked over the blood of her loved ones.

Ye-Rin dug. In-Ji covered the corpses. I covered Eun-ha eyes.

Eun-ha didn't speak the whole time. She just stood near me, holding my hand, her teddy under her arm.

When we finished, she knelt beside her grandfather's grave and pressed her forehead to the dirt.

"Goodbye."

The wind picked up then, and for a second... it felt like the world had exhaled.

This young girl matured too much.

By noon, we had gathered what little clothing remained that wasn't soaked in blood or mold. A few tiny sweaters, some jeans, a pair of bunny slippers that miraculously still fit.

Eun-ha didn't argue when we packed. She just followed, her teddy peeking out from a backpack we stitched together with spare belts.

Now, the important question. What do we do with her now? Leaving her here alone would be dangerous but bringing her with us on a battlefield was heart wrenching as well.

"She's coming with us," Seo-Yeon said, voice firm. "No debate."

We didn't argue.

The sword was our last target. It had stopped moving on the system's mini-map—resting inside an abandoned warehouse district, maybe three kilometers south.

We found the warehouse just as the sun began to slip behind the buildings. The light turned orange, then blood-red, casting long shadows across rusted girders and broken glass. The metal walls were half-collapsed, the sign above was unreadable, and silence pressed in like a trap.

Inside, something glinted.

A single black van sat in the middle of the empty space like a relic in a tomb.

"Mini-map says the sword's here," In-Ji whispered, "That's it. Memory 3."

We advanced slowly—Sang-woo and I in front, weapons loose, eyes alert. Eun-ha clung to Seo-Yeon's hand behind us. The others spread out, tense.

The moment Sang-woo took one more step—

CLANG!

The van's door slammed open.

"BACK OFF! STAY BACK, STAY BACK!"

A man stumbled out like a lunatic jack-in-the-box. Shirtless under a military vest, face gaunt, eyes bloodshot, hands jittering around the grip of an assault rifle pointed directly at Sang-Ho's head.

He was barefoot.

"Step back!" he barked. "You come one centimeter closer and I'll paint the floor with your intestines!"

"Woah—woah!" Sang-woo threw up his hands, spear lowered. "Easy! We're not here to rob you!"

"YOU'RE HERE FOR THE SWORD, AREN'T YOU?!" he howled, pacing in a circle, the barrel swinging between us. "I KNEW it! They all want the sword! The goblins want it too! They whisper at night—I heard them! You're not real!"

"What—?" I blinked.

His whole body twitched as if his skin was trying to leave him. He raised his rifle toward me now, lips curled.

"You talk like one of them," he hissed. "You talk clean. Goblins talk cleanly when they wear human skins!"

Mi-Sun stepped forward carefully. "We're survivors—like you. We're human."

"Bullshit! Human? HUMAN? You look too calm!" he screamed, laughing like it burned. "No one's human after Day Five! Have you ever eaten rats raw in the dark? No? Then shut up!"

Eun-ha whimpered. Seo-Yeon pulled her behind her back.

"In-Ji," I muttered, "if he even twitched—"

"I know," In-Ji replied, already drawing a bead with one of his pistols.

The man suddenly crouched and slapped the side of the van. A loud buzzing sound erupted. The whole vehicle lit up with glowing wires, like a trap.

"I rigged it," he whispered. "Rigged the whole van. If I die, everything goes BOOM. You'll all be goblin soup. So don't move."

Mother Mi-Sun narrowed her eyes. "You're alone, aren't you?"

"I'm NEVER alone!" he shouted, gesturing wildly to the air around him. "They talk to me. The guns, the walls, the sword—it tells me things. It told me you'd come."

Seo-Yeon stepped forward. "Please. We have a child here. We're not enemies."

"Children lie," he muttered, voice suddenly low and eerie. "They pretend. That's how the goblins got my dog. My dog lied too. Said he wouldn't leave me. But he did. He ran. And the goblins wore his skin and waved at me."

Eun-ha gasped.

He suddenly threw his arms wide. "But I survived! You hear me?! I lived! I—!!"

His face spasmed.

He dropped to his knees.

Silence followed.

Just the sound of our breath, the static crackle from a half-broken radio, and the wind sighing through shattered windows.

I finally stepped forward.

He didn't move.

"Hyung," I said gently, "What's your name?"

He looked up. Face pale. Eyes wet.

"Hyun-Tae," he whispered. "Corporal Hyun-Tae. Third Battalion. I survived. I watched my squad die. One by one. Ate ration bars made of bugs. Buried my own lieutenant in a shopping cart."

Everyone stood still.

Mother walked toward him. "We believe you. You did survive."

He sniffed, trembling. "I just want to keep what's mine."

Mi-Sun crouched next to him. "You have the sword, don't you?"

He looked away, then pointed at the glowing, rune-etched blade strapped to a stand inside the van.

"I bought it at an auction. Thought it was a fake. Used to hang it over my bunk for good luck."

We tried convincing him to leave, to come with us, to relocate to a better place to survive the goblin siege.

But Hyun-Tae wouldn't budge.

"This van is my base. My fortress. You want the sword? Try prying it from my bulletproof case."

We didn't try. Not yet.

We found a nearby rooftop across the street with solid cover and wide visibility. With only two days left before the goblin attack, we turned the place into our temporary base.

Barricades were set.

That night, I sat beside Seo-Yeon near the sleeping bags.

Eun-ha was curled up in her embrace, finally asleep again.

"She's not like other kids," Seo-Yeon said softly. "There's... something older in her eyes."

I nodded.

"Maybe. But it feels worse on her."

Silence.

Then she added, "I'm staying with her when the battle starts."

"You sure? I still think you should talk with In-ji first."

I looked over at her.

She was staring at the stars.