A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

The mud lake was expanding as if it would burst.

The mud that wouldn't remain on the ground shot upward and began taking on a form similar to crustaceans.

Calling it a crustacean was being generous.

There was no other way to describe something covered with writhing, swollen tumor-like growths.

"Ye, seong."

"Just hold on a little longer."

He hugged Yurik, who was continuously spitting mud from his nose and mouth, and slowly swam to the edge of the mud pond.

The snake coiled around his wrist had also gotten soaked in mud and was struggling, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He had to get away from this mud pond as quickly as possible - its identity was surely Yog-Sothoth, Yurik's biological father.

When they barely managed to get onto land, Yurik rolled on the ground and violently vomited up the mud he had swallowed. Yurik's arms, which were struggling to support him on the ground, were shriveled and dried up like an old man's.

It was certainly connected to Yog-Sothoth gaining enough power to take physical form.

After coughing for a long time, Yurik reached out his arms.

He lifted the child and asked.

"Why did you go in?"

"That, that thing called me, so I thought Yesung would be there."

"You fool. I was with the snakes. How could I have gotten there?"

He could hear Yurik sniffling with his face buried in his shoulder.

With a child, a thick book and pen, and even a small snake all at once, his legs began to shake.

What sin had he committed in his previous life to receive such punishment? Damn it.

"Wait a little. Elder Things came around here. They were with a Shoggoth."

"Do we have to go back there?"

"Of course not. We have to run away. There are still snake-people in the wasteland, so we have to go around the other way."

In the meantime, the fog surrounding the lake had thickened. The densely packed fog made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.

It looked exactly like a scene from a horror movie, which was somewhat chilling, but the footprints remaining from their journey here became a ray of hope.

He thought they could go in the opposite direction and was earnestly trying to determine direction and run when.

Yurik, who was being carried and looking behind him, suddenly screamed.

"Behind! Yesung, behind!"

"What's behind... Ahhhhh!"

He glanced back and ended up screaming along with him.

The crustacean-like form of Yog-Sothoth rising from the black lake behind them remained the same. But his body, deprived of its power source, was collapsing and the black lake that was part of him was overflowing with it.

It was obvious that being touched by that would result in something unpleasant.

Even if he didn't know, Yurik would certainly be devoured.

"Grit your teeth! You'll bite your tongue!"

His feet kicking off the soft ground felt heavy.

The soil kept swallowing his feet. Looking down, he saw that the ground that had been fine just moments before was becoming squishy and sinking downward.

The black mud lake wasn't just on the surface.

It had seeped into every grain of soil beneath the earth, in this black ground.

Still, he gritted his teeth and ran.

Even if his feet kept sinking, even if Yurik screamed next to his ear as if he would tear his eardrums, even if the startled snake bit his forearm, even if the book slipped and its corner stabbed his stomach.

He felt like he would die from being out of breath. He just wanted someone to kill him and end this suffering.

Damn it. If only his body had been a bit healthier.

But he didn't stop. He couldn't stop.

With the fog becoming a hazy wall that made it impossible to see ahead, he had no choice but to run blindly.

Was he going the right way?

Was this right? Was he continuing to go in the opposite direction from where they had come?

Wasn't he just going in circles in some strange place? The worry that he might get caught by Shoggoths or Elder Things made his feet even heavier.

Yurik suddenly exclaimed.

"I smell it! I smell the wind from the wasteland!"

"Can you, smell that?"

"Yes. It's coming from very close by."

"Thank, goodness..."

He was panting so hard he could barely speak properly.

Sweat poured down his body that was already soaked with blood and mud.

Just as his stamina and muscle strength were simultaneously reaching their limits, Yurik suddenly came down and ran into the white fog.

"Yesung! Here! It's here!"

Yurik's figure quickly disappeared. He tried to follow but suddenly his leg strength gave out completely, forcing him to stop for a moment.

But where was this anyway.

"Ha, damn it. God, Buddha...!"

Thank you. Really, thank you.

Tears pricked his eyes as his head spun.

He didn't know if it was physiological or tears of relief.

This regression hadn't gone well from the start. In fact, nothing had gone properly at all.

But now his luck was finally turning.

He wiped away his tears and walked straight ahead, but something was strange.

He couldn't find Yurik.

"Where are you?"

"I'm still here. Yesung, where are you? Why aren't you coming out?"

"...What?"

The voice came from behind him.

The direction Yurik had gone was definitely in front of him.

"Where are you? Stop playing around."

"I'm here... I'm not playing around."

"In front? Or behind?"

"Huh?"

Something was strange.

The young voice beyond the fog also carried bewilderment.

Young Yurik wasn't the type to play pranks in such situations, so he was confused too.

"I, I'm just here."

"Stay right there. Don't move."

He immediately turned around and walked back.

Without carelessly changing direction, carefully watching which way he was going, he headed toward where the sound was coming from.

"Where are you?"

"I, I'm still here. I haven't moved!"

This time it came from the left.

His sense of direction became confused. The fog monopolizing his vision made it worse.

Had he gone forward or backward? Or had he unknowingly changed direction in between?

He walked toward where the voice was and asked.

"You're staying there the whole time, right?"

"Yes. It's outside here. It's there with the red soil where we came from."

"......"

This time to the left from there.

Why on earth?

When he turned in that direction and took a step.

An ominous sound came from beneath his feet.

-Splash.

It was black mud.

The mud that had overflowed from the lake had caught up to him.

Ground that swallowed feet, overflowing black mud, Yog-Sothoth who had lost Yurik.

The reason the mud had chased them this far was obvious.

Coming this far, he could only laugh hollowly.

"Am I supposed to be a substitute?"

But thinking about it, it might have been a surprisingly logical result.

If this were a game, this would be a branching point of choice. Whether to ignore Yurik and just leave, or save Yurik.

If he hadn't been there, young Yurik would have entered Yog-Sothoth's domain and been devoured, sinking beneath the black lake.

But he had saved him here, and the sacrifice that was to be offered to Yog-Sothoth had disappeared.

An empty role. An element needed to fulfill the probability that Yog-Sothoth could be active in the future.

A substitute qualified to replace young Yurik was needed.

And that would be him, who could perform the most similar role to Yurik.

"How is it that this world has nothing but things trying to backstab me or suck me dry to the bone..."

He coiled the baby snake around his wrist onto the pen shaft.

The snake that had been covered in mud opened its mouth irritably, but a tiny thing without proper teeth trying to threaten him wasn't even funny.

"Where are you now?"

"I'm here..."

"Catch this."

When he threw the book first toward where the voice was coming from, there was a surprised "Wa!" sound from beyond the fog followed by a thudding sound.

"Did you catch it?"

"Yes."

"Then catch this too."

After cleanly throwing away the pen along with the snake, he collapsed flat on the ground.

The sound of bubbling mud could be heard clearly.

"Yesung?"

"Listen carefully. I can't go with you right now."

"Why, why? I'll go back in and show you the way. Then Yesung can also..."

"No. You can't come in."

His body was gradually submerged.

Ah, if he had known this would happen, he should have abandoned the heart he lost in the snake den and run out.

Yurik might be able to use it effectively in the future.

"Listen carefully. You heard that there were Shoggoths and Elder Things nearby earlier, right? They might still be looking, so you need to go as far away as possible."

"Why? Why are you only sending me away?"

"Be careful of the snake-people and their father Ig. Since you've gotten on their bad side, who knows what they'll do if they meet you."

"Ye, Yesung come too. Can't you do that? Don't send just me away."

"I can't. I'm too sleepy and... tired, so I need to rest a bit. I'm okay. This place is quite cozy and nice too. I'll be able to get out someday."

The part about being sleepy was a lie, but wanting to rest a bit was true.

He didn't know when he would open his eyes again from here. An unpredictable moment had arrived.

Closing his eyes, he wondered if there was anything he needed to say to Yurik and asked.

"Come to think of it, do you remember talking about diaries before? You said you wanted to write one too."

"......"

"How about trying to write a diary in that book? I'm not saying you have to write every day, but if something memorable happens, it would be good to try writing it. If we meet again later, show it to me. How about it?"

"...Yes."

"And... besides the things we've met, there are others too. Elder Things, Ig, snake-people, Shoggoths - other life forms exist too. It would be good to go and meet them."

"Who should I meet?"

"Well."

There were no humans yet. Yurik might have to endure loneliness alone for a long time until humans evolved.

"I hope there's a species that treats you well. Not one that wants your blood or flesh, but just a species that's favorable toward you."

He couldn't let him have his heart stolen like with the snake-people.

"First, look at many things."

"Many things?"

"See and observe as much as possible. And you have no choice but to determine whether they're favorable to you or not. If you don't receive kindness, don't give it to them. Don't let yourself be taken advantage of."

"Taken advantage of?"

"That's a thing."

His body was heavily wrapped in the writhing mud. Now he really couldn't escape.

Lifting his chin slightly at the sensation of unpleasant viscous material rising to his neck, he continued speaking.

"Don't go around hungry. Drink more than ten glasses of water a day. Don't carelessly hit or bother other species. Don't let yourself be ignored anywhere. Don't use bad words, only use kind words. What else was there."

"I, I can't go alone..."

"You have to go."

Idiot. In other worldlines, you weren't a character who whined like this.

Was it because you were still young? Or was it because you were indeed a different person?

"Originally, everyone leaves alone when they grow up."

"I won't grow up, I won't grow. I just want to stay here too. I want to go in too!"

No, why did he keep saying such foolish things?

"I'm not sending you away alone. I gave you the book too. And if you look at the pen, there's a snake there. It's my friend, so take good care of it. Understand?"

As mud touched his ears and cheeks, he realized the truly final moment was approaching.

"Don't be lonely. You have the snake, the book, stories, and... you have me too. We'll be able to meet again later."

"Later, when? When will we meet?"

"When you become strong. We'll meet then."

If there was one thing that bothered him, even if he substituted for Yurik and entered the mud here...

He wondered if Yurik would even remember.

Human memory became hazy after just a few months.

If the terrain and everything changed completely, it would be difficult to find where he was buried.

Ah, thinking about it now, it might be quite problematic.

Wouldn't he end up buried in the ground like a fossil later?

He could hear Yurik wailing loudly beyond the mud. The sound of a young child crying wasn't very pleasant to hear.

Still, well.

"See you later, Yurik."

He wouldn't die anyway.

And so the black mud covered his eyes.

Throughout his slow descent into the mud, Yurik's crying never left his ears.