How long had it been since he last felt the cold asphalt beneath his feet? A thousand years? Or maybe ten thousand? He couldn’t remember exactly. Ever since he had fallen into hell, he stopped counting the time at some point.
It wasn’t a barren desert, a seething lava field, or a rotting swamp this time. Instead, there were cement buildings and asphalt roads made by civilization. Neon signs and LED lights shone so brightly that they hurt his eyes. But somehow, just the sight of it all made his dry tear ducts stir with a faint sense of joy.
And that smell.
“Haaa…”
The savory aroma of oil and crispy fried chicken wafted from a nearby pub. Now he remembered. That was the smell of chicken.
He recalled the days when he had craved it so badly, days that felt like pure agony. They had truly been hellish times.
Kang-joon’s feet moved toward the pub, almost as if he were in a trance.
Suddenly, a sharp scream echoed through the air.
“Kyahhh!!”
Kang-joon’s steps came to a sudden halt. A woman he had never seen before was covering her mouth and pointing a trembling finger directly at him.
It had been a long time since he returned to his “hometown”. Was she someone he knew? But the emotion in her eyes wasn’t recognition or joy; it was one Kang-joon had grown all too familiar with during his time in hell.
It was fear. And a very strong one at that.
“A-A devil!”
Only then did Kang-joon objectively take in his own appearance that was reflected in the woman’s wide eyes. He now stood well over two meters tall, his pupils a dark crimson that glowed menacingly even in the night. Long, sharp horns jutted from his head, and large wings that resembled those of a bat stretched out from his back.
Come to think of it, this was how he looked now. No matter how he saw it, he clearly didn’t fit into human society anymore.
As the woman’s scream pierced the air, every gaze around them shifted toward Kang-joon. People began to murmur in alarm, and the atmosphere quickly became chaotic.
“What? A devil?”
“I-It’s true! Someone call the Security Bureau!”
“Run! It’s going to eat us!”
A few people hurriedly pulled out smartphones from their pockets or bags—Kang-joon suddenly recalled that’s what they were called—some made calls, while others tried to take pictures of him.
Kang-joon who was watching these reactions couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled. The Earth he remembered was a peaceful place, and while his appearance might draw attention, it shouldn’t be seen as dangerous. Most people would have likely assumed it was a movie shoot or cosplay; it took him a while to even recall those terms.
Then a thought struck him. He remembered that numerous passages had connected Earth to Hell. If devils like him had crossed over in numbers before, it was only natural that people had grown somewhat used to the presence of devils by now.
Kang-joon sensed that if he stayed here much longer, trouble would soon follow. If his memory was correct, there were organizations on Earth responsible for public safety and maintaining order in the city.
But so what? Let the police or the military come if they wanted. Right now, the chicken he was about to taste for the first time in tens of thousands of years was far more important.
As Kang-joon opened the door to the pub and stepped inside, everyone froze as if they had turned to ice. Their faces went pale with fear, and they couldn’t even let out a small scream. It was as if they were terrified that making any noise would be the reason they died first.
Whether they were scared or not, Kang-joon’s mind was already consumed with thoughts of chicken. He slowly looked around the shop. No matter how desperate he was, he didn’t want to eat food someone else had already started. Then, his eyes landed on a freshly fried chicken, that was yet to be touched.
When Kang-joon walked toward the nearest table, the two men sitting there couldn’t even breathe properly; their faces turned white with fear. Just as one of the men couldn’t bear the looming terror of death any longer and squeezed his eyes shut, Kang-joon spoke.
“Move.”
“…Y-Yes?”
Kang-joon didn’t say it twice. He simply looked down at the man with his dark crimson eyes in silence.
The two men sitting at the table suddenly realized, albeit belatedly, that the devil had spoken in Korean and understood what he meant. They shot up from their seats and hurriedly fled the pub before the devil could change his mind.
Kang-joon didn’t stop them. Once the two men safely escaped, the owner and the other customers followed suit; they started rushing out of the pub in a panic.
Before long, Kang-joon was left alone inside. Now, there was no one to interrupt his meal.
“Finally…!”
Kang-joon grabbed the gleaming golden drumstick in his hand. A fork was placed nearby, but it had been so long since he’d used utensils that eating with his hands felt far more natural.
The chicken was freshly fried, though a little too hot to handle for a human, but that was a trivial matter. To Kang-joon who barely felt the flames of Hell as lukewarm the heat didn’t bother him. He took a big bite of the drumstick.
He crunched through the bone with ease, but to his jaw which could crush steel, chicken bones were nothing. And right now, bones were the least of his concerns.
The crispy texture of the fried batter spread through his mouth along with the oil and the tender flesh of the chicken. This was a heavenly taste for Kang-joon, who had spent his life gnawing on the tough, foul meat of devils.
Feeling as though the suffering of tens of thousands of years was being repaid all at once, Kang-joon’s hands didn’t stop as he continued devouring the chicken. In no time, he had finished an entire chicken, yet he still felt an unsatisfied craving and his eyes lingered wistfully over the table.
Then he suddenly noticed the untouched fries and beer. The fries were perfectly golden and crispy, while the beer was cold, with frothy bubbles gently rising to the brim of the glass.
“…….”
Gulp. Kang-joon’s throat moved noticeably as his appetite swelled inside him. He grabbed a handful of fries with one hand and began to chew them, crunching away.
The crispy exterior and soft interior filled his mouth, and the salty taste of the fries blended perfectly with the rich greasy flavor of the chicken still lingering on his palate.
After eating so much greasy food, his throat felt clogged. Without a moment’s hesitation, almost instinctively, Kang-joon grabbed the beer glass. He brought it to his lips and emptied it in one go, the cool carbonation sliding down his throat as a reflexive sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips.
“Keuheu~!”
This was it. This was the taste he had lived for, the reason he had survived all this time. In an instant, Kang-joon had devoured everything piled on the table, yet he still smacked his lips in dissatisfaction.
It wasn’t enough. The thirst that had built up over tens of thousands of years couldn’t be quenched by such a short meal. The way he was now, Kang-joon felt like he could eat mountains of chicken in one sitting.
At that moment, a sweet scent brushed past Kang-joon’s nose. It was the sauce-covered chicken left behind by the customers at the next table. Kang-joon’s appetite began to heat up again when he saw the beautiful appearance of the chicken mixed with red sauce.
His hand instinctively reached out toward the chicken.
***
In the narrow alleyways of the Seongsu neighborhood food district, black sedans began arriving one after another. Soon, men in suits poured out of the cars and quickly took control of the surrounding area.
They were all agents from the Special Security Bureau, a national agency commonly referred to as the Security Bureau.
Moments later, a limousine pulled up and a woman in a suit stepped out. She calmly walked to the scene and listened to the report from one of her waiting subordinates.
“And the civilians?”
“We’ve blocked off the surrounding roads, and all nearby civilians have been evacuated.”
“Good work. Where’s the target?”
“They’re inside that pub.”
“And the number of casualties so far?”
“Well… there aren’t any.”
Team Leader In Ha-young of Security Division 2 paused at her subordinate’s report. Her eyebrows twitched slightly at the unexpected answer, but she quickly regained her calm expression.
“A devil incident with no casualties? Are you sure?”
“Yes, Team Leade. As far as we’ve confirmed, there are no civilian victims. The target hasn’t shown any other movement besides eating chicken.”
“…Chicken?”
In Ha-young asked again, as if to confirm whether she had heard correctly. But her subordinate’s serious expression remained unchanged.
“Yes. The target is currently eating chicken inside a pub.”
“…Show me the footage.”
In Ha-young took the tablet from her subordinate and carefully examined the screen. The tablet was connected to a special security camera equipped with various high-tech functions like infrared, thermal imaging, and even the ability to see through thin walls.
But right now, none of those advanced features were necessary. The devil was plainly visible through the pub’s glass window. Inside, this devil was devouring chicken and fries without pause, while downing glass after glass of beer.
In Ha-young muttered in disbelief.
“No way, it’s real…”
A devil eating chicken instead of human flesh. It was something she had never seen before, but for some reason, she couldn’t look away. The devil on the tablet screen was tearing into the chicken with such relish that it was almost appetizing.
The devil crunched through the bones with satisfaction and the food disappeared into its mouth in no time. Then, washing it all down with a hearty gulp of beer, it looked less like a devil and more like a mukbang YouTuber.
Without realizing it, In Ha-young felt a sudden craving for chicken and beer herself; she swallowed the saliva that gathered in her mouth.
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