Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
[The Main Scenario has arrived.]
【Main Scenario #1 - Prove Your Worth】
Category: Main
Difficulty: F
Clear Condition: Kill one or more living beings.
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Reward: 300 Coins
Failure: Death
It was a notification sound commonly heard in everyday life. Yet, the message it carried was chillingly opposite.
Every sense was on edge, and I struggled desperately to deny the reality of the situation.
As if mocking those efforts, my vision captured the sight of people with their heads blown open.
My sense of smell caught the metallic scent of blood wafting from the corpses.
My touch felt the lingering heat emanating from bodies that had not yet grown cold.
My hearing captured the chaotic screams of people paralyzed by terror.
And finally, my sense of taste—swallowing dry, flavorless saliva as I tried to reject it all.
Every single sense reminded me of the one fact I absolutely refused to acknowledge.
The cruel truth that all of this was real.
[Well then, good luck, everyone. Please show me an entertaining story.]
Flash!
The Dokkaebi, as if accustomed to such scenes, sneered at everyone in the carriage and vanished in a burst of light, just as suddenly as it had appeared.
"The police aren't answering! What do we do, what do we do...!"
"Yoo Sangah, calm down. Yoo Sangah. You've played that game the development team made recently, right?"
As soon as the Dokkaebi vanished, the carriage erupted into a cacophony of terrified murmurs and desperate attempts to call the police.
Sangah was among them, but no matter who called, no one was connected.
Seeing her panic, Dokja stepped in to soothe her.
Our Dokja... even though she's a girl, her skill at flirting with women is just... I'll have to warn her later so she doesn't get stabbed.
"You know, that game where the world is destroyed and only a few people survive."
"What? Suddenly, what are you...?"
"Just think of it like this: imagine we've entered that game."
There wasn't a single wrong word in what Dokja said.
Scenarios like this would appear endlessly from now on, and unless one adopted that mindset, survival would be nearly impossible.
Both physically and mentally.
"Sangah, it's best to listen to Dokja. Otherwise... it'll be very hard on you mentally. It's easier if you just think of it as a game."
"...Yes."
She agreed, but it would be difficult to actually accept.
Even for me, it wasn't as simple as just thinking of it as a game.
Until a moment ago, this was a normal day, and then suddenly, the novel Dokja had mentioned became reality.
Who could possibly accept that easily?
Wait... a novel?
Every novel has a protagonist.
Yoo Joonghyuk. I remember that was the name.
"Dokja, come here."
"Huh? Oh, okay."
"Lean in. Listen."
"...Alright."
From the moment the Dokkaebi appeared, both Dokja and I could vaguely guess that the Ways of Survival was unfolding before our eyes, and that it would only continue.
Dokja seemed to have already realized that any conversation I wanted to have in this situation would naturally be about the Ways of Survival.
"Dokja. This is definitely that Ways of Survival novel you've read until you're sick of it. Right?"
"The Dokkaebi with the antenna, the corpses strewn like trash across the carriage, the office workers shaking in blood, and the grandmother praying in the priority seating. It's definitely it."
"Why do you have to be so long-winded just to say yes?"
When a mere suspicion turns into a certainty, the shock is always doubled.
It wasn't just that the situation was similar to the Ways of Survival; every single sentence described in the novel matched the current reality.
There was no longer any room for doubt. No, we had no choice but to accept it.
For reasons unknown, the novel—which one of us had read for over ten years and the other had heard about for over ten years—had become the reality unfolding before us.
"Damn it. Then, where is she—no, where is the protagonist?"
"You mean Yoo Joonghyuk?"
"Yeah. Yoo Joonghyuk. If I remember correctly, it all started inside a subway train."
"...True. Now that I think about it, Yoo Joonghyuk should be on the train too."
We scanned our surroundings, trying to find Yoo Joonghyuk, but she was nowhere to be seen.
That left two possibilities.
First, she was in a different carriage, not carriage 3807 where we were.
Second, she was on a completely different train.
Either way, there was no way for me to know.
"Now, everyone! Please calm down. Take a deep breath. Everyone, please stop what you're doing."
Amidst the chaos, a sturdy man was skillfully attempting to quell the panic, but once the hysteria had peaked, it wasn't easily suppressed.
His build is slightly smaller or about the same as mine. Looks like he works out regularly.
"I am Lee Hyunsung, a First Lieutenant in the Army, currently serving in the 6502nd Unit."
"Dokja... I didn't mishear that, did I?"
"No, you heard it right. I heard it too."
If my memory served, Lee Hyunsung was one of the major supporting characters in the Ways of Survival, someone who always appeared alongside Yoo Joonghyuk whenever Dokja talked about the story.
I expected it, but to think a character from the novel would actually appear.
I had assumed Yoo Joonghyuk and others would show up, but seeing Lee Hyunsung right in front of me—knowing who he was—made the situation feel even more surreal.
Dokja likely felt the same.
"That's... the real Lee Hyunsung, right?"
"One hundred percent. His behavior and way of speaking are exactly as described."
"Open that novel. Let me see too."
"Well..."
"Ah, maybe it won't open because the internet is down?"
Looking outside the subway, it was absolute mayhem; in reality, the internet would have been the first thing to go. There was nothing to be done.
After all, you need the internet to access a novel site.
"Dokja... Dokyun..."
"Ah, we've been talking only to ourselves. I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright. You're family, so it's only natural to worry about each other in a situation like this."
Fortunately, she mistook our conversation for family members worrying about one another.
Of course, though I didn't say it aloud, there was no doubt that we were worried about each other.
I didn't know about myself, but Dokja must not die.
No, Dokja will not die.
I will make sure of it.
That was my sole reason for surviving in this ruined world.
"Brother, what are you thinking about so deeply?"
"It would be weirder not to think. By the way, what is this?"
"They say it's a speech by the Prime Minister."
[To my respected citizens. We are informing you that unidentified terrorists are currently active in various regions, including Seoul.]
It was obvious they hadn't even investigated properly.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they *couldn't* investigate.
Still, this situation should not have been described as mere "terrorism."
"Turn that off, Sangah. It's useless to watch."
"What? But we should still..."
"Sangah! These are bastards who can blow people's heads apart just by snapping their fingers!! Does this look like 'mere' terrorism to you?!!!"
"...Brother. You're too loud."
At Dokja's words, I looked around to find the other citizens, who had been watching the speech, staring at me.
I must have raised my voice too much.
"Look down... this is embarrassing."
"Right..."
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
A sound that should never have been heard erupted from the phones of everyone watching the speech.
"The... the Prime Minister..."
Kzzzzzt—
[Everyone, I told you. This is not some joke like 'terrorism'!!]
The Dokkaebi, who had suddenly appeared before us earlier and blown people's heads apart, had now appeared in the Prime Minister's speech and killed him.
And then, it sneered at us—at the humans—beyond the screen.
[Well, it seems there are some humans who grasp the current situation quite well.]
Snap.
[Sangah! These are bastards who can blow people's heads apart just by snapping their fingers!! Does this look like 'mere' terrorism to you?!!!]
"That's me..."
With a snap of its fingers, the Dokkaebi showed everyone the scene of me shouting at Sangah.
It was chilling; it had been watching everything.
[I'd love to give a reward since you seem to know your place, but it seems some of you still haven't understood. Let's call it... collective responsibility. If you die, it is because of the people standing next to you.]
Though it was speaking from behind a screen, it felt as if it were staring directly into my eyes.
Since it could see me, it might actually be looking at me.
[Now then... shall we raise the difficulty a bit?]
"That... that's..."
The timer visible to everyone began to decrease rapidly as the Dokkaebi finished speaking.
[The remaining time has decreased.]
[Current remaining time: 10 minutes.]
Along with a mechanical announcement, the scenario's time limit was revised to 10 minutes.
Once again, everyone, including Dokja and me, froze in place.
[As an additional penalty, if the 'first act of murder' does not occur within the next 5 minutes, all living beings in this carriage will be annihilated.]
Terror spread once more.
Everyone had seen it.
They had seen a person's head explode before their eyes.
They had seen the Prime Minister murdered on screen.
Anyone could tell that if no murder occurred within five minutes, everyone would truly die.
They knew those words would become reality.
"Soldier! What do we do now? Why aren't the police coming?!"
"Hey, you! You said you liked that monster earlier!! You beg it for us!!!"
They lashed out at Lee Hyunsung, who had tried to calm the situation by identifying himself as a soldier, and clung to me, the one the Dokkaebi had mentioned, begging for their lives.
Despite the fact that there was nothing I could do, nor anything Lee Hyunsung could do.
"Murder happened in the carriage behind us!"
As death drew closer than ever, their terror grew.
And as always, growing terror paralyzes reason.
"Do something!!!" Paralyzed reason can do nothing, so it shifts all blame onto those it can hold responsible.
And those who could be held responsible were Hyunsung, the soldier who claimed to act for the people, and me, whom the Dokkaebi had singled out.
Just as a storm of harsher words was about to break upon us—
[Haha, while some places have become quite interesting, others haven't even started yet.]
Snap.
The Dokkaebi openly declared that it was watching and snapped its fingers again.
Flash.
A scene showing what looked like a school appeared on the screen.
"Huh...? Wait... that's the Typhoon Girls' High uniform?"
Before the words could even finish, the screen filled with a mixture of noise and screams.
[The time limit has expired.]
[Paid settlement begins.]
Slide.
"...Brother?"
"Don't look. You know what's going to happen. Adults are one thing, but... you never get used to seeing children die."
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
I covered Dokja's eyes, and she covered her own ears, as if she didn't want to hear the sounds.
Crash!
After some time, everyone fell silent.
"It's... okay now."
"Brother... but still—"
"Even if they are children, we have to get used to such deaths if we want to survive."
Saying that, she pushed my hand away from her eyes and stared at the screen.
On the screen where everything had ended, only the usual mechanical announcement played.
[#Bay23515 Channel Survivor.]
[Typhoon Girls' High, 2nd Year Class B, Lee Jihye.]
Sick taste.
To force a mere student to commit murder and then show it to us.
I wondered how she would react if she knew about this.
Conversely, I wondered how any of us who knew this would react if we ever met this girl, Lee Jihye.
[Well? Isn't it entertaining?]
Everyone looked at each other and instinctively drifted apart.
Especially away from Lee Hyunsung and me.
They were openly expressing the thought that the person right next to them could be the one to kill them.
Since Lee Hyunsung was a soldier and I had a similar build to him, it seemed to be even worse for us.
"Dokja...?"
Dokja had moved my hand away and was already clutching her phone.
A phone even in this situation... she really is an addict. I knew it from when she was a kid, always glued to her phone reading novels. I wonder if addiction centers are still operating in a world like this?
Dokja often did things that made me think deeply.
Usually to an excessive degree.
Ding!
Ding!
What is it this time?
The notification sounded again, just as it had when the scenario arrived.
Let's see...
[You have acquired a Personal Attribute.]
[Personal Skill slots have been activated.]
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