Chapter 0 – Prologue

As dusk settled at dawn, the exhilarating winter air pierced my lungs.

*Gasp, gasp, gasp.*

A desolate mountainside at 4 a.m.
Climbing the mountain at the crack of dawn and taking deep breaths, I felt invigorated.

“I came here because I wanted to. But do I really have to do this?”

*Rustle, rustle.*

I carefully removed a white, angular lump from the plastic bag and illuminated it with my cell phone light.
High-quality tofu, costing more than 5,000 won per piece.

For a long while, I stood there, lost in thought, admiring the tofu’s form.

“Hmm…”

As I contemplated the act I was about to commit, a wave of guilt surged from deep within.
I closed my eyes and retraced the steps that led me here.

—It was beyond my wildest imagination. Using hot tofu…

*Pfft. Chuckle, chuckle. Ah, damn it.*

Just thinking about that picture I saw on the internet made me laugh. To come here to do something like this at the age of twenty-four. I slowly stroked the knot on the tree I had been investigating for a long time.

‘Appropriate height, depth, length. And appearance. Undoubtedly, this tree is the most erotic.’

Upon closer inspection, it seemed to resemble a female organ.

‘Am I really going to do it here?’

Initially, I had no intention of doing this, but ever since I was a child, I had been a remarkably curious individual. In kindergarten, I was shocked to discover that girls didn’t have a penis and promptly stripped the underwear of the girl sitting next to me. I had been a madman driven by curiosity since childhood. What I planned to do this time was also part of satisfying that curiosity.

It wasn’t lust, but curiosity. A simple question. Fulfilling it was the purpose of my life, and following my desires was my amusement and delight.

I looked at the tofu in my hand. The tofu I had just bought was still warm. It was soft when I gripped it, and the rich texture of the plump tofu protruded between my fingers.

“Ugh.”

After sighing, I pushed the tofu into the knot. The hot liquid from the freshly made tofu flowed down the rim of the hole. Steam wafted in the cold air. This marked the end of preparations for self-pleasure.

-Ziip!

I unzipped my pants and pulled out my flaccid penis. To arouse it, I took out my phone and played a porn video.

-Heuuugh, Ahhhhhh!

Soon, the moans of a woman lost in lust came through my wireless earphones. As blood rushed to my lower body, I inserted myself without hesitation.

-Zziiick!

Fluid coated my lower body. It felt somewhat unpleasant.

“Is it unsatisfying?”

-Thuck! Thuck! Thuck!

Slippery and hot. I repeated the thrusting motion a few more times, but I didn’t feel good enough to reach climax.

-Thuck, thuck, thuck!

No excitement came, even when I increased the speed. My interest had fizzled out.

“Ah, forget it.”

The reason I came this far was simple curiosity, not to satisfy my sexual desire.

I knew I wasn’t feeling well, so I decided to stop immediately.
It was clearly a mad act, but it was already done, so what now?

*Zzzzip.*

I tucked my now cold penis into my pants and zipped them up.
Then, I scooped out the tofu that filled the hollow of the tree.

*Poke!*

“Huh?”

In that moment, I felt something excessively hot on my hand as it touched the hole.
Startled, I pulled back and saw something stretched like a thread on my fingertip.

“What is this? Is there a spider web inside?”

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a spider web but a sticky liquid.
Had there been something inside the cavity from the beginning? It was far too viscous to be water that had sprung from the tofu.
As I scooped the tofu and stepped back, a sense of strangeness enveloped me once more.

“Why is the tree so red?”

I had my doubts, but I thought that perhaps the rising sun was making me mistake the tree’s original color.
What would I gain from questioning the tree?

Time to go back.
I hurriedly began heading down the mountain.

From this moment on, the first day of the delectable end of the semester, my mind was brimming with thoughts of reveling in the exhilarating campus life of an outsider.

****

The following morning.

I gazed blankly at the door of my digs.

“…Take responsibility.”

There stood a girl with an astonishingly bright lime-green hair, accusingly pointing at me.

“Take responsibility for my mother!”