I only wanted to be bored for a single day. Then, wouldn’t every day after that not be boring?
Feeling so bored, I almost wished for death.
But then it hit . How much ti do I even have left as a jelly? To be honest, I didn’t have a clue about my lifespan even before I beca a jelly.
Since becoming one, it’s beco even harder to fathom.
When I think about death, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll even die.
I an, sure, if my "important place" were shattered to pieces, I’d probably die. But my real question is: do I even have a natural lifespan?
What even is natural death, anyway?
Cells stop regenerating and deteriorate until they fail, isn’t that how it works? For natural death to happen, aging must occur first, right?
But do I even age?
I’ve heard it has sothing to do with complex structures breaking down over ti.
But that’s just for humans and animals, isn’t it?
If I’m considered an animal, I guess I could have a lifespan, but… honestly, I doubt it.
If that were the case, wouldn’t my body have grown larger, even just slightly, without absorbing other jellies?
Of course, there might not be a direct correlation, but isn’t aging supposed to follow growth?
If this is all there is to my growth, that’s… kind of depressing.
I have no idea.
Being bored is making think of the weirdest things.
I scattered the jelly squad in all directions and now had nothing to do. Sitting idly on the floor, I aimlessly observed my surroundings.
At first, exploring this post-apocalyptic scene was fascinating and fun, but staying in one place for about… thirty minutes made sick of it.
Would a zombie or so monster make this more exciting? Half of thought it might, but the other half just wanted nothing to happen.
If I had to choose between not being bored and peace, I’d pick peace. But this was way too boring.
Oh, how great it would be to use a smartphone right now.
Sure, in a situation like this, I’d probably only be able to play Minesweeper or sothing. But even that would be sothing! I’d even accept Sudoku or a word puzzle at this point.
More importantly, the jellies I scattered haven’t co back yet. It feels like enough ti has passed, so why hasn’t even one of them returned?
It’s not like they were defeated or anything. I told them to co back if they found sothing… maybe they haven’t found anything.
And that could an two things:
First, this seemingly endless apocalyptic space is just that. Massive.
It might really… be a whole other world.
If this world is as vast as Earth, it’s not surprising that they haven’t co back yet.
They’ll probably return eventually if they keep walking, but considering the speed of the jellies, that’s not a realistic tifra to wait for.
Second, and more troubling… this vast space is truly empty.
I joked about this being an apocalyptic world, but it’s starting to feel like that might be the reality.
The world is wide, and the jellies are small. If I ventured far enough, I might eventually find sothing. But for now, it seems like there’s absolutely nothing nearby.
What is this place?
Looking around, I’m way past the point of thinking I’ve co down so stairs to an underground area.
This can’t be underground. The sky’s perfectly visible, albeit a dark one. Yet this isn’t Earth either. It’s far too barren.
Does that an I opened a door to another world?
What happened here to leave it in such ruin?
As I deduced various possibilities based on the jellies’ lack of return, I felt an inexplicable unease. Not knowing its cause only made the feeling worse.
The knowledge pouch pointing beyond the door hung limply as always, swaying when I shook my head.
...What a useless thing.
From now on, I’ll call it the "fool’s fluff" instead of the knowledge pouch. If it has a problem with that, it should find sothing useful!
While ntally grumbling about the now-dubbed "fool’s fluff," a more concrete sense of dread began to creep over .
I turned my gaze to the firmly closed door behind . The sa door I had entered without much thought.
Looking at the closed door brought back mories of scary stories I’d once read—stories about doors connecting to other worlds, parallel dinsions, or even doors that swapped entire universes.
They were fascinating to read about. But now, imagining such things might actually exist… It was horrifying.
Of course, I’m curious. Who wouldn’t be? But it’s far too risky to indulge that curiosity.
In hindsight, walking through that door might have been too careless. While I feel bored and at peace now, what if sothing, or soone, swapped places with and entered my world?
Would that be… dangerous?
It’s hard to say.
I looked at my reflection, which was as harmless as ever. My image hardly evoked a sense of danger.
But when I recalled others’ reactions to , a chilling thought bubbled up in my mind: “What if…?”
No. I have to go back.
I turned and grabbed the door handle to open it. It had opened easily before, so I applied the sa force.
Click! Click! Click!
The handle clicked repeatedly, but the door wouldn’t budge.
I shivered. Was this so sort of cruel joke?
Click! Click! Click!
No matter how many tis I tried, the handle just made a dull noise. It felt like encountering one of those locked doors in a video ga.
Why wouldn’t it open? It didn’t even have a lock!
My boredom disappeared instantly. I’d wished for sothing interesting, but not like this. Not this kind of thrill!
Panicking, I banged on the door.
Thud! Thunk!
Thud! Thunk!
A perfectly ordinary door suddenly felt like an impenetrable bank vault.
Maybe it’s because my hands are too soft. I hardened them and slamd against the door with all my might.
Boom! Boom!
The sound of rushing air reverberated, transforming into a monstrous wail that echoed in all directions.
A chilling sense of familiarity washed over .
As the truth dawned, I felt my jelly form shiver uncontrollably.
This sound… it was just like the scream that had brought here.
anwhile.
A man yawned loudly, wiping the tears from his sleepy eyes as he stared down the seemingly endless staircase.
How long had it been since that blue jelly creature descended?
It’d been a while. Long enough that the man and his group suspected sothing might have happened to her.
However, the last place she’d reached was inaccessible for normal humans.
How had she gone so far so quickly? If she kept going down, there was no way to bring her back.
"Maybe she’ll give up and co back up."
His casual attitude betrayed a lack of concern.
Hwangbo Yul, troubled by the situation, wasn’t present.
No one at the scene seed overly invested. The eerie scream, the very reason they called the jelly girl, had vanished, leaving the stairs seemingly harmless.
That noise had caused chaos before, driving those inside into madness. But without it, the stairs were just… stairs.
If the jelly girl resolved the problem but didn’t return, they could consider it a lucky resolution.
They didn’t want to think that far ahead, though. All they wished for was for the situation to end so they could return to normalcy.
"Hey, hasn’t the noise stopped?"
"Yeah… think the jelly thing fixed it? If so, she should co back up."
"Agreed."
They joked about her intelligence, wondering if she might still be heading downward instead of realizing the task was complete.
Just then, they heard sothing.
Thunk… Thunk… Thunk...
Sothing was coming up the stairs.
"Finally! Took her long enough, but it’s fine. Smart jelly."
They exchanged relieved smiles, each imagining a triumphant return. Maybe this ti, they’d even shake her hand.
But soon, they noticed sothing strange.
Thunk... Thunk-thunk... Thunk-thunk...
The sound grew heavier. It didn’t resemble the cute, squishy noise from before. This was… ominous.
“Sothing’s not right.”
The man’s muttered words froze everyone in place. Weapons were drawn, their expressions growing tense.
“You, go to the control room and report—”
“Behind you!”
The man issuing commands turned to see his comrade’s pale face before sothing black and monstrous grabbed him.
“Aagh! Help!”
“Don’t just stand there—attack!”
But it was too late. The man was dragged through the dark doorway, disappearing completely.
He couldn't return, perhaps ever again.
Reviews
All reviews (0)