Even a hedgehog finds its own baby soft. Are humans any different? It was only natural for parents to cherish and love their children. Though, this was not true for everyone. A weak child, who couldn’t even reach an adult’s waist, was being brutally beaten with a club, as if threshing.
“Die! Die, you bastard! It’s all because of you. Everything is your fault!”
“I’m sorry. Please spare me. I’m sorry...”
There was nothing the child could do except beg, even as their flesh tore and bones broke. Even though it hurt, they couldn’t say, “Don’t hit me.” They knew that telling them to stop would only make it worse.
In his childhood, Do Kyeong was nothing more than an ordinary child, not the infamous Martial Master known as the Bursting into Laughter. The problem was that his family was worse than animals. His parents, who were always drunk and obsessed with gambling, had given him nothing but his name. He didn’t know why, but he was the target of their blind hatred. If his parents were angry, he had to bear their wrath, and if they hit him, he had to take the blows. If he showed pain or cried, the beatings would become even more brutal.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry...”
Even in moments when he felt like he would die from the pain, Do Kyeong would smile and apologize. Though people around him knew of his situation, no one helped him —except for one person...
"Need some help?"
It was a man whose eyes were filled with madness. His eyebrows and hair were as white as snow, yet they seemed as blood-red as crimson. However, Dokyung could not refuse the man's offer and nodded. Then the man smiled faintly and placed a dagger, which he had been holding, into Dokyung's hand.
"Have you ever held a knife before?"
Although he asked a question, it was as if he had already received an answer. He had been watching as Dokyung's expression stiffened in response to the cold touch of the dagger on his hand. But it seemed that it wasn't something that concerned him. The white-haired man overlapped his hand on Dokyung's, gripping the dagger tightly once again. Not stopping there, he tore a thick piece of cloth and wrapped it around Dokyung's hand like a bandage, ensuring that Dokyung wouldn't hurt his hand or lose his grip due to lack of strength.
"Remember this. The only one who can help you is yourself."
Dokyung was captivated by the madman's whispering in his ear. That night. In the small, shabby house that had driven Dokyung to hell, there was no sound. The voices that cursed and tormented Dokyung, and even Dokyung's own voice that begged for forgiveness without knowing the reason, were silent. Dokyung had carried out the man's words. To escape the seemingly eternal cycle of pain. Even those who pretended not to hear Dokyung's cries or see his wounds while he was dying were the same. The dagger, wrapped and firmly secured with cloth, plunged into flesh, then pulled out, repeating dozens, hundreds of times.
"Die! Die! Die!"
They were both bystanders and perpetrators. After finishing everything, Dokyung approached the stream. The first thing he did was remove the blood-soaked bandage. As he approached to wash the blood that had hardened and made his face feel sticky, he saw his reflection in the water. Why was it? Dokyung discovered that he was smiling brightly.
"Ha, haha, hahaha!"
That day, Do Kyeong was Bursting into Laughter, since then, up until the present, whenever he appeared in the murim.[1]
