## Chapter 1219 – Shurdick Great Desert

A childhood nightmare.

A countryside overflowing with innocence. But when you peeled back the layers, that innocence was nothing more than ignorance.

I’ve thought about it before, but the countryside feels like a place where there’s not much to do.

But that’s not the case for kids.

It was a place overflowing with things to play with, practically a paradise.

First of all, there’s a mountain nearby.

The mountain is full of strange and bizarre creatures. Bizarre insects that seem to have been torn from nightmares, strange mammals that make unknown cries, and reptiles that crawl like shadows here and there.

It was a countryside where even a home PC was hard to come by.

Information was something you could only acquire by seeing it with your own eyes. In such an environment, insects inevitably became the coolest toys for curious children.

And so, ‘Solitude’ was born.

Back then, the popular kids almost always had their own ‘Solitude’. Of course, there seemed to be more kids without one. ‘Solitude’ was an object of longing and envy, admiration and jealousy.

Anyway, the very act of collecting a bunch of insects and stuffing them into a container was an incredibly appealing act… and then the kids watched the movie *The Mummy*.

ㅡFlesh-eating scarabs.

One of the most spectacular things in *The Mummy* is these flesh-eating scarabs. These insane beetles can erase a human as easily as an eraser. They swarm over an unfortunate victim, burrow into their skin, and devour their internal organs and muscles from the inside out.

It’s horrifying just to hear about it.

Truly insects of terror.

The kids watched *The Mummy* and became afraid of insects… It didn’t take long for the jar of ‘Solitude’, which had only been made as a prank, to turn into a genuine cursed monstrosity.

“Ooh…!”

Nightmare… yeah.

It’s a nightmare.

The countryside was a nightmarish place overflowing with nightmare material.

The bogeyman that adults talk about. The ‘Solitude’, a curse-inducing ritual, was everywhere. The streets that darken in an instant when the sun begins to set, and the bizarre and dreamlike atmosphere unique to the countryside.

The mountain beasts that scream at night, and the drunken adults who roam the neighborhood every night looking for stray dogs. The shamanistic rituals that take place far too often. The bizarre shamans. The strange old woman who is said to live somewhere over there, and… the bizarre old man who only ever seems to crawl around… The village idiot who keeps following us… None of them are normal… Anyway.

The bogeyman grabs children with tongs and kidnaps them, putting them in the sack he carries on his back.

And he takes the children to his bizarre lair, which is riddled with countless holes like a honeycomb, and puts them in those small holes.

The inside was a kind of ‘Solitude’.

A jar of ‘Solitude’ filled with grotesque insects that could only come out of a child’s nightmare. It was only natural that the flesh-eating scarabs won… Imhotep was mummified alive and placed in a sarcophagus with the beetles because he had violated Anck-su-namun!!!

The children who were caught by the bogeyman are the same!!!

The children are sealed inside holes filled with scarabs!!!!!! I can guarantee that there isn’t a boy who hasn’t suffered from such a nightmare. Looking back, I get the feeling that having such nightmares was a social problem.

“Hoo.”

My heart wouldn’t stop pounding all the way to the ruins.

Yeah. Desert means scarabs.
Scarabs also mean desert.

If there’s something like that, I have to go see it. Maybe ancient rulers who have become mummies are sleeping there. Just like Imhotep and Anck-su-namun.

That’s why I started to get so excited.

The protagonist of the *Mummy* series, O’Connell, was the hero of the boys. Back then, O’Connell from *The Mummy* was unconditionally better than Superman or Batman or anything like that. When kids got together and asked each other what they wanted to be when they grew up, O’Connell would always come up. A few eccentric kids would act like they were going to be Imhotep.

Anyway, that childhood innocence.
Is currently burning in my heart.

“Hehehe.”
“Katt? Why are you in such a good mood?”

I chuckle as I reminisce about the past.
Cloudy saw it and said that.

“Just because. I feel happy because they say we’re going to see the ruins.”
“The ruins?”

*The Mummy* was a symbol of childhood dreams.

“Have you always liked that kind of thing?”

Karin expressed her doubts.
Come to think of it, have I ever shown that I like this kind of thing?

“No. It’s not like that. It’s a desert ruin. I’ve heard stories about the desert since I was a kid. So I’m just looking forward to it.”
“Mirkesha and the desert are quite far apart, aren’t they? Was there a story or something?”
“I wonder. What was there?”

I’m not from Mirkesha.

“Of course there is. There were a lot of bizarre stories about the desert. Well, there’s not much to enjoy there, so those stories spread a lot.”

But my heart already belonged to Mirkesha.

“I’m curious. What kind of story was it?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard this kind of story.”

Haven’t I said it before?

Anyway, there’s nothing much to do while moving, so I adapted the contents of *The Mummy* and explained it appropriately. Of course, I adapted it as naturally as possible based on what I saw and heard after coming to Shurdick.

Roughly, it’s the story of Imhotep, a priest who was executed for coveting the concubine of an ancient king, who was resurrected as a mummy due to the Book of the Dead found in the ruins, and after resurrecting his lover Anck-su-namun, they joined forces to conquer the desert.

Of course, warriors from the desert tribes, playing the role of O’Connell, stopped them.

“Hoo… Is there such a story? It seems to be quite well-organized.”
“Hehehe, right?”

It’s a movie made by Steven Sommers, a legendary director known as a master of the American film industry. Of course, it has to be well-organized.

For reference, Steven Sommers is a legendary director who created *Deep Rising*, an ultra-special deep-sea monster movie, and *Van Helsing*, a vampire movie that swept the United States.

If Korea has Bong Joon-ho, the monster director, then the United States has Steven Sommers of *The Mummy*. Among people born in my generation, there may be people who don’t know Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie, but there is no one who doesn’t know Steven Sommers.

If you don’t know him, you’re practically a spy.

He has that kind of status.

I don’t know for sure, but I’m sure that all the boys and girls in Korea who dream of becoming film directors have Steven Sommers as their role model.

“Well, it was an interesting story. Is there anything else?”
“So that’s where Katt-nim’s occasional Imhotep talk comes from!”

Did I do that at home?

“Ah, that’s what it was.”
“Every time that damn darkie did that, I wondered what he was talking about, but this was it?”
“Uh… right?”

What’s wrong with Imhotep?

“Anyway, Cloudy? How is it? Is there a story like this in the desert?”
“Huh? I’ve never heard of it.”
“What!!! Really!!!”

There isn’t!!!!!

I couldn’t help but be shocked!!!!!!!

“Ah, no. Katt. Calm down. It’s not like that. But it’s a story that could very well exist. Such beings crawl out of the newly discovered king’s ruins. I haven’t heard the same story, but there will be many similar things.”
“Hoo. That’s a relief.”

I stroked my chest.

That’s right.

This is bound to exist.

“Maybe there was someone from the desert natives who went to Mirkesha. It’s a story that person spread.”
“Right? Looking back, the people of Mirkesha liked these stories.”
“Hehehe, that’s a good thing.”

Anyway.

“Among them, I liked the story of the mummy and the beetles. So I collected insects as much as possible and put them in a container.”
“Damn darkie, you’ve been weird since you were a kid. You do that kind of thing after hearing that kind of story?”
“Katt is not unique, he is outstanding.”
“Haa. Sister is right.”

It’s really a memory.

“But I’m curious! What Katt-nim looked like when he was a kid! I think he would have been so cute!”

The moment Hilde said that, everyone looked at my face.

“Father’s childhood… I can’t imagine it.”
“Did he jump around back then too?”

In an instant, the topic shifted to stories about my childhood. Imhotep, O’Connell, and Anck-su-namun had long since disappeared from their minds… Oh, fleeting ghosts of the past.

But my childhood.

“I was quite a cute kid.”
“There’s no credibility in what the darkie says.”
“No. Looking at his personality, he could very well be. He’s originally very cute.”

Karin is right.

“You have quite a bit of cuteness.”
“Hehehe, right?”

Risha is looking at me properly.

“Katt. Will there ever be a chance to go to Katt’s hometown? I’m curious. I want to go.”
“Hometown.”
“Ah, it might be good to go sometime if you have time? I want to see Katt-nim’s hometown.”

I think I’d have to cross the dimensional wall to get there.

“There’s nothing to see in the land of barbarians. That’s why I ran away.”
“Hmm, is that so?”

In fact, there was nothing to see in Mirkesha. It’s just not fun there. One of the most boring areas is Mirkesha.

Anyway, my childhood and hometown stories came up, and I told them the stories from that time as we moved along.

“Well, I just lived moderately within the tribe. I thought this wasn’t it, so I ran away. I didn’t really do anything well back then. I thought it would be better to live outside the tribe.”

Then I went to Krasheim.

I’ve told this story a lot.

“Why, when I went down south, Krasheim came out.”
“Damn darkie, you lived like a beggar there back then.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, suddenly?”
“Just because.”

Winia suddenly said that while feeling sorry. I’m okay. Liztina said as she immediately put her hand on my head.

“Anyway, if you have a chance later, be sure to go to Mirkesha. There’s nothing to see, but I want to see our Katt-ssi’s hometown.”
“I agree! Let’s go see Katt-nim’s parents later!”

No, Hilde?

* * *

That’s how we were moving.

“Ah, we’re almost there now.”

Cloudy, sensing something, told me that we were almost there.

“Agh, but it’s still a bit far. Are we in the central desert area now?”
“Yeah. Dark elves will start to appear from here. Should I say that each race is fighting most fiercely in this area?”
“It’s a crime-ridden area.”

That’s right.

Anyway, if we go a little further, the ruins will come out, and I’m still looking forward to it. Of course, it’s said to be ruins that have already been excavated, but there’s no way there’s professional equipment in this desert, and the explorers must be flawed guys.

So definitely.

I think something will remain.

First, if I go near the ruins and take out the crystal, I’ll know something. If there’s something, the crystal ball will shine.

That’s how we were moving.

“Uh.”

Somewhere.

A sound is heard.

“Wait. I think something’s coming here?”
“Hmm?”
“Cloudy. Don’t you feel anything?”
“Ah. Yeah. I feel it. It’s coming?”

Only Cloudy and I were feeling it.

“Cloudy-nim? What’s coming?”
“With this kind of sound… a merchant or a raider?”

I felt like that was the case.

“Sister? A raider?”
“Yeah. It’s a sound of swarming.”

As expected, it’s a desert, so Cloudy’s senses were similar to mine. No. Is she sharper than me?

“Then we can take a break here for a while.”
“Let’s set up a spot.”

At Liztina’s words, Karin immediately started making a spot. Well, a place where raiders come out is our resting space. Shall we take a hard rest from now on?

How much time has passed?

ㅡDudududududududu!
ㅡDudududududu!

Sand dust started to rise from over there.

“Hiii-yaaaaaaaa!!!!”
“Aaaaaaaa!”
“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!”

Crazy bastards making strange noises were riding on camel-like vehicles, wielding curved swords, and running towards us.

“Uh.”

But when I looked at them, these bastards… all have brown skin and long ears.

“They’re dark elf raiders, Katt.”
“Crazy.”

Yeah… desert means dark elves. Dark elves mean raiders.

I got up from my seat.

“Since I’ve come to the desert, shall I do some volunteer work?”

From now on, I am Desert Volunteer Kim Katt.
I belong to Doctors Without Borders.