No Vacancy in Hell (1)

The shadow receded, and a single shaft of sunlight pierced through the peephole. I sat in the entryway, clutching my sister tight, gasping for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠air. None of it felt real.

Even when we’d leaped across balconies to escape the zombies, even when we’d burst into the neighbor’s apartment and killed a man, the whole thing had carried that dreamlike unreality. But this? This was on another level.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a zombie apocalypse? I’d played plenty of games set in one, but I’d never seen anything like that. I’d considered the possibility that something like it could exist, sure. I just hadn’t expected the degree to be this extreme.

My wildest guess had been some grotesquely muscled monster—at most twice the size of a human. Even then I’d figured I’d need to stack every possible stat point just to stand a chance. But the thing that had come for us… even from the eighth floor, it had been monstrously huge. Just the serpent-like head alone was bigger than the truck parked right beside the building. And that was only the beginning. A body stretched down into the underground parking garage, impossibly long. The moment it sensed us it had scaled the apartment wall and thrust its face directly against the eighth-floor window. It had deduced the direction we’d entered from, shoved its head through the glass, and tried to track our movements. It was intelligent. And it was enormous. Even with a status window, the sheer difference in scale was insurmountable.

Fight it? Even if I had a decent weapon—say, a gun—I had no idea if it would work. Would the bullets even penetrate? And if they did, would they do any damage?

My teeth clacked together involuntarily. I tightened my arms.

“Ugh, ow, oppaaa… I can’t breathe…”

My sister’s whiny voice barely registered. I kept her locked in my arms, chest heaving.

“Oppa…”

Just like the status window had become my reality, that monster was real too. The difficulty level was completely fucked. At that size you’d need a tank.

A helpless laugh slipped out. I didn’t even realize I was cackling like a madman until a pleasant, warm scent suddenly flooded my nose and I froze.

It smelled like peaches. Even mixed with the metallic tang of blood, the scent that always clung to my restless, tossing sister at night was unmistakable. My mind began to settle.

She hugged me tighter. It was nothing new. My clingy little sister was always touching me—playing with my hands, begging for kisses. This was the same. But the reason was different.

The daughter who had mercilessly butchered her own parents. The woman who could feign tears and plead with the man next door, then slit his throat the moment he let ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his guard down. And yet here she was—Kang Ahyeon—sniffling as she held me, trying to comfort me.

All of them were my little sister.

I buried my face in her chest and focused on steadying the tremors running through her body. It didn’t take long. I had seen it with my own eyes, but I hadn’t faced it directly. It was huge, intelligent, and dangerous, but it hadn’t actually threatened us yet. I took a deep breath and held her close.

It was pathetic, but she never scolded or looked down on me for it. That’s what family was. And we were each other’s only family.

I stayed like that for a long time, wallowing in the entryway with my sister in my arms, before I finally managed to shake it off.

“Fuck. What the hell kind of bullshit is this? Did you see that thing? What do you think it was?”

I’d hoped it was some kind of hallucination only people with status windows could see, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

“A really big monster? I don’t know. It was huge and red. Kind of looked like a snake… I couldn’t see it clearly.”

Kang Ahyeon had seen it too. I rarely pushed her hand away when she cradled my head like this, but I didn’t stop her now. I’d forced myself to curse and act tough, but that had been far too close. A monster that size could have ripped the door off its hinges if it wanted. Maybe it didn’t know how, or didn’t understand doors. Or maybe—and this was the worst possibility—it had simply left because it wanted us to come out on our own.

If our luck had been even slightly worse… if that thing had decided to tear the door down… we would’ve been perfectly arranged toppings on a platter right on top of the entry door.

I closed my eyes, savoring the soft warmth of her skin, and organized my thoughts.

The original plan had been simple: get out of the apartment and head to the village or city nearby. That plan now needed a complete overhaul. There was no way to escape on the ground with something that massive waiting for us. Maybe if we had a car… but given its size, it could probably snatch a flying vehicle out of the air or crush it flat. It was only a possibility, but that was enough. There was no reason to take chances. We only had one life each. Unless the system decided to hand out immortality, respawns, or save points.

The way to survive was straightforward: avoid catching that giant bastard’s eye, scavenge every useful item in this apartment, complete quests, and gain enough physical ability to either fight or run.

And for that, I had everything I needed.

I closed my eyes in my sister’s arms and focused on the window floating in the air.

…Had that Plunder skill always been there? I couldn’t quite remember. It felt like it both had and hadn’t. But it wasn’t something to worry about right now.

It was hard to tell exactly what benefits Intelligence or Perception would give. The same went for skills. But Strength and Agility had clear, immediate effects.

After some thought, I finished allocating the points.

The answer was Agility. With weapons and proper nutrition, Strength 2 would be enough for now. Dumping both points into stats wouldn’t let me fight that monster anyway. And remembering how we’d been chased by the zombies locked in 806, what I needed wasn’t raw power—it was speed. Simple running speed might be affected by both, but reaction time was definitely governed by Agility. Besides, I wasn’t confident I could kill every leaping zombie without getting bitten even once. So Agility it was.

I opened my eyes and met my sister’s gaze. She had been gently stroking my hair.

“…What?”

“Nothing.”

“Then let go. It’s hot.”

“Hng.”

She deliberately pouted as she released me. Once I pushed her off and sat up properly, Kang Ahyeon pulled her knees to her chest and stared at me quietly. It was the usual routine. I wasn’t some perfect superhuman who never needed comfort. If I seemed upset, she always tried to soothe me—hugging me, stroking me, deliberately saying she liked me. And when I felt better and no longer needed it, she never got angry at my irritation. She’d just fake a sad little pout and let go.

I couldn’t even thank her for it. After all, I was her older brother. My pride wouldn’t allow it.

Today was the same. I pretended to be fine and leaned my head against the front door.

“Anyway, it’s clear we’ll die if we go out right now.”

Kang Ahyeon just stared at me without answering. Those innocent eyes had worn the same pure, childlike expression in front of our parents’ stabbed corpses.

“But we can’t just sit here doing nothing.”

“Yeah… there doesn’t seem to be much food left.”

“If we ration it we might last a while, but that’s still just enduring.”

In the end, there were only two options.

“Fight that thing or run away.”

“How are we supposed to fight it?”

“I don’t know. We don’t have anything ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that could even scratch it right now.”

I couldn’t imagine taking down something like that with a Chinese cleaver and a kitchen knife. In the story of David and Goliath, David hadn’t just thrown a rock—he’d used a proper sling. And even then, Goliath had only been about three meters tall. To face a monster dozens of meters long, we’d need a proper ballista capable of hurling boulders. Whether such a thing even existed was another question.

So rather than confronting it now, the priority was preparing for future fights and completing quests. Even if the quests felt ominous, even if they seemed to push me toward murder and corruption. To survive, I would do whatever it took. I hadn’t been born just to live like this and die. I hadn’t lived as the cult leader’s little errand boy, and I sure as hell hadn’t been born to get swept up in some ridiculous rapture.

I had been born to live.

So I took a few Choco Pies from the backpack and split them with my sister. They were precious food, but my body was still crying out for nutrients. I needed to prepare it properly for the fights ahead.

“Drink some water too. Bathroom?”

“Ah, I’ll go by myself…”

“If you say you have to pee and then die for real, it won’t be to me—it’ll be to a zombie.”

“I got it… I’ll go first.”

With that lisping reply, my sister stood up, stepped over our parents’ corpses, and went to the bathroom. Only after she returned did the two of us cautiously open the front door.

I’d been worried the monster might be waiting right outside, but thankfully there was no sign of it. Instead, we headed next door.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apartment with a rope dangling from the balcony so we could descend to the floor below. The place where 808 might have stockpiled supplies.

We hurried into 808, stepped over the long-dead corpse, and headed for the balcony. That’s when we saw the writhing female zombie.

The dismembered corpse that had been in front of her was gone. Starving, the zombie had fallen because of its shackles and was crawling across the floor, endlessly reaching toward us.

I gripped the Chinese cleaver. The same blade that had once fed this zombie. The moment I opened the balcony door, it thrashed desperately, trying to bite my ankle.

Crunch!

I brought the cleaver down on its head. Only after the blade split its skull did the zombie finally stop moving. The cleaver, now drenched in the blood that had poured from 808’s neck, was bright red. I examined it for a moment, then wiped it clean on the zombie’s clothes.

“Let’s go.”

Our next destination was 708. I grabbed the rope hanging from the balcony and began lowering myself toward it.