The Man Who Rolled In — Episode 1

Tae-san had never believed the old saying that even monkeys fall from trees. Not until seconds ago, anyway, when the captain who'd been smiling at him like a saint buried a knife in his side.

"You messin' with me, mister? Right now?"

"I warned ya ahead o' time. Told ya the currents 'round here ain't nothin' to sneeze at—said don't do it."

Before he even had time to glance down at the knife handle jutting from his belly, a violent shove sent him sprawling off balance. Splash. The churning sea swallowed him whole.

"Eee, have a safe trip now~"

"You son of a—"

The captain's grinning face receded in an instant, and then the black water took Tae-san completely.

The Yanggido Public Health Sub-clinic: peaceful, and yet anything but.

The weather beyond the window had turned foul. Pit-pat, pit-a-pat. Rain lashed mercilessly against the old slate roof as Yun-seo pulled the blinds down in one long strip.

On an island village like this, staying holed up indoors on days like these was simply good for the body. It was one of the few rules of survival she'd learned during her time on this worn-out little island.

-Who… who are you… who gave you… gave you permission to…

Yun-seo shuffled over to the television, which was crackling with static. The reception was a mess, the actors' faces twisted into grotesque smears.

As usual, she thumped the top of the set with her fist—a couple of good knocks—but it wouldn't budge. Right at the scene where the murderer's blade flashed across the screen, the picture froze solid.

"I knew things had been too quiet these past few days."

Strangely enough, the whole month had been peaceful. No breakdowns from her electronics, and even the footsteps of the elders who usually hounded her for prescriptions had grown sparse. The survey crews flitting on and off the island, spouting about redevelopment and whatnot, had vanished too—leaving her with a vague, creeping unease.

At this point, an accident ought to happen for things to be normal around here.

Thankfully, it seemed one busted old television was enough to pay off her bad luck for now—or so Yun-seo reassured herself.

"Please, let that be the end of it."

The instant she straightened up while unplugging the television, the clinic door burst open with a violent clatter of wind and rain. Through the inrushing storm, a drenched figure staggered in and hollered.

"Oomeh, Yun-seo! Eh? Yun-seo, you in there!"

It was Grandma Kkeut-dan, who lived right across from the clinic.

Right. It would've been stranger if nothing had happened. Yun-seo squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, wiping the tremor from her face.

"Yes, Grandma. I'm here. What's the matter?"

"Oomeh, it's bad. That thing—there's been a big, big trouble, there has."

"The survey crew? Or—"

"Eee, an Ominous Thing came rollin' ashore!"

Whenever a fierce storm blew through, nameless corpses would sometimes wash up on the waves. The villagers found the very word corpse too ill-omened to utter, so whenever such things appeared, they resorted to the euphemism—Ominous Thing.

Swallowing a sigh, Yun-seo gathered the first-aid kit and her emergency tools.

"Where?"

"Over yonder, past the rocky shoals, down by the breakwater shore."

"Please don't trudge all the way here—just call me next time."

She turned to add this as the grandma, drinking water from the purifier, wiped her mouth with the back of a wet hand.

"Phone don't work."

"The phone?"

"Eee, that's right."

So along with the television, the phone lines were on the fritz too. Honestly, this godforsaken corner of an island couldn't stay in sync with civilization for a single day.

"I near about died walkin' over. At my age, bein' the youngest means I'm the one gets sent runnin' errands clear out here. My poor knees are plumb give out, I swear."

"You know where the instant coffee mix is, right? Rest here a moment. I'll be right back."

"Eee, all right then. Guess I'll get these old bones thawed out a bit."

Yun-seo pulled on her rain poncho and stepped out of the clinic. Cutting straight through the relentless sheets of rain, she headed for the shelter beside the building, where a battered four-wheeled ATV stood stubbornly enduring the sea wind.

"Whew."

She loaded the folding stretcher and the emergency kit into the cargo bed, one after the other. Squeak—thunk. She cinched the straps tight, climbed on, and kicked the engine to life.

Vroom-rumble!

The dull-throated engine roared out, cleaving through the storm. The red ATV tore off toward the shore without hesitation.

"Yun-seo's here! Get over quick and take a look!"

When she reached the shoreline, where ink-black waves heaved and rolled, villagers in rain hoods stood huddled in a tight cluster. Yun-seo parked the ATV and flung off her helmet.

Shouldering her way between the villagers, she saw the shape of a man slumped limp across the rocks.

"Somebody done stuck a knife in his belly, they did. Lord have mercy—scared the life right outta me."

Blood washed away by the rain was staining the ground a deep crimson, and through his torn shirt, a savage gash gaped clearly. And then—

"He's still alive!"

Seeing the faint rise and fall of his chest, Yun-seo dropped to her knees urgently at his side. She pressed her fingers to his pulse—a fragile throb still fluttered at her fingertips.

"We have to move him to the clinic right now. Grandma Sunpil! Grandpa Yang Guk! Somebody help me, please!"

Despite her desperate shout, the villagers hesitated, somehow unable to step forward.

"Do we even know what kind of man he is—?"

"That's right! One look at 'im and ya can tell he was out doin' some gangster's dirty work somewhere and caught a knife in the gut for it. Takin' in some fella nobody knows, rolled in who-knows-where—are ya plannin' on stirrin' up trouble for us all? Send up a distress signal and the coast guard'll come over from Bondo before long."

Yun-seo looked at the villagers with a face taut with anxiety.

They had a point—the man's appearance was viciously intimidating. His body, bared by the rain, was hard and honed as if he'd trained somewhere, and the old scars scattered across his forearms and shoulders seemed to speak of a brutal past.

But this godforsaken island had not a single cop or firefighter to its name—when something like this happened, the villagers had to handle it with their own two hands.

Of course she wanted to request an emergency medevac to Bondo, but the storm had already knocked the phones dead. Even if a call somehow went through, there was no way a boat or helicopter would brave this insane squall, and for the coast guard to cross over from Bondo, they'd need a full day at minimum until the sea calmed.

Which meant the man's lifeline, right now, was held in the hands of—

"Look at the weather, people! If we don't move him now, he dies right here!"

Only under the frost-sharp glare of Yun-seo's eyes did the villagers hastily roll up their sleeves.

"Eee! R-right! Save the man first, then we'll see…!"

Grandpa Yang Guk, bustling about in the confusion, fetched a stretcher and unfolded it. When they carefully lifted the man's upper body, his storm-soaked frame felt as hard and heavy as rock.

"Now, on the count of one, two, three, we lift."

"Ya think I ain't done this a time or two? Don't ya fret."

"One, two, threeeet…!"

The man's body was barely loaded onto the stretcher. They had just hurriedly set off toward the clinic when it happened. On the violently swaying stretcher, the man who had lain there like a corpse suddenly snapped his eyes open.

A moment later he dragged in a groaning breath and pushed his upper body partway up.

"Oomeh, that startled me!"

"Ah… damn it. I'm dizzy as hell, seriously."

At the low, gravelly voice cutting through the torrential rain, the surrounding air froze in an instant. With the villagers merely blinking at the menacing aura pouring from his scrunched, bloodshot eyes, the man reached a hand toward his shirt pocket.

The tips of his long fingers prowled inside the pocket, slow and deliberate. Yun-seo's gaze followed the movement instinctively.

Flash—

In an instant, a bolt of lightning split the sky, and something cold and sharp gleamed at the man's fingertips.

For one suspended moment, all Yun-seo could see was the smooth gleam of a blade. The torrential rain, the thick darkness, and sheer terror short-circuited her reason.

The image of the murderer from the television screen superimposed itself over the man's face. And the moment the worst-case scenario painted itself vividly before her eyes, instinct outran reason.

"He's dangerous!"

"What—"

Before the man could even finish turning his head, Yun-seo snatched off her motorcycle helmet and swung it at his temple without mercy.

CLANG. The dull crack of impact against his skull rang out loud and sharp.

"Good grief, Yun-seo! What in the world are ya doin'!"

Hit square by the helmet, the man's head lolled sideways. The stretcher, its balance gone, tipped sharply to one side in an instant.

"Ah—!"

Yun-seo, snapping back to her senses too late, grabbed for the stretcher again, but with only the elders and herself, the weight of a grown man was far beyond them.

The stretcher's handles twisted savagely, biting into their palms.

THUD!

Before Yun-seo's horrified eyes, the man's body rolled off and crashed heavily to the ground.

The spray of kicked-up mud slapped her squarely across the face.