Chapter 428
Chapter 428
Images flicker.
A scream.
A dull, heavy roar. Then, a flood of afterimages and swaying lights.
A massive impact crashing down from behind.
And I…
“Gasp.”
I opened my eyes.
—Junior.
The smell of dust and iron filled the air.
In the periphery of my vision, a faint light flickered.
A voice.
—Junior.
“…Yeah.”
Cough! A fit of coughing cut me off. I could barely breathe. But I could see it.
A flash.
My smartphone, thrown by the impact, lay upside down on the cracked floor, blinking.
A low, muffled voice came through.
—You’re alive.
Yeah, I’m alive, you bastard.
Wasn’t that why you told me? So I’d live?
But my condition was too wretched to actually voice those thoughts.
‘I feel like death.’
My vision swam, and my heart hammered so erratically it felt like it might burst out of my chest. It was almost agonizing.
‘When did I lose consciousness?’
I couldn't even tell where my limbs were attached, but…
‘…Anyway, I lived.’
I wiped my mouth. My knuckles bumped against the teeth below my lips, and I tasted blood. I wasn't dead yet.
—Did the stage equipment collapse?
“Yeah.”
Suppressing another cough, I forced my mouth open.
“I went up on stage.”
The penalty for my Status Effect failure is death.
So, if the system was going to try and kill me right now, wouldn't it be easiest to do it through some ‘absurd event’?
‘An accident.’
A ridiculous accident.
That’s why I had steered things toward a direction where I could at least guess what might happen.
Since no one was on stage, I instinctively figured that whatever happened would likely result in a structural collapse.
Fortunately, it seemed I was right.
‘…If I’d stayed in the hallway, everyone would’ve died.’
I had induced an accident I could predict, in a direction that would involve as few people as possible.
‘And somehow, I avoided dying on the first hit.’
However.
“This isn’t the end, is it?”
—…….
“Right.”
I spoke calmly.
“If it ended with just this, you wouldn’t have felt the need to see the mission through to the end.”
If it were avoidable, this bastard wouldn't have restarted so many times.
I held my breath and waited. Soon, a low voice flowed from the smartphone.
—Yes.
I gritted my teeth.
“…How soon?”
—Soon.
Fuck.
I lifted my head.
The surroundings were a mess, briefly illuminated by glimpses of precariously piled steel frames and fragments of lighting.
To anyone’s eyes, it looked like the moment the balance shifted even slightly, the whole lot would come crashing down on me and end it all.
‘If I’m rescued before then… No, that’s even worse.’
I had no idea what would happen during the rescue process. The more variables there were, the harder it would become.
This was the right way.
I steadied my breathing and organized my thoughts. I said what needed to be said first.
“Don’t report it.”
—…….
“Don’t tell them I’m safe, or that you’re in contact with me, or anything like that.”
I’m sure he already knew, but I said it just in case—
—Don’t worry about that.
“…….”
The situation must really be shit. Even this guy was using that tone of voice.
His voice continued rapidly.
—And until the next thing happens.
‘…Until what?’
But I couldn't hear the next words.
—…….
Silence.
“Shin Jae-hyun?”
I turned my head toward the smartphone and realized.
The faint light had vanished.
“…!”
Dammit.
I immediately reached out and fumbled across the floor where I’d seen the phone.
Soon, my fingers brushed against a sharp, hard fragment….
“Ugh.”
A sharp pain stabbed into my knuckles. It stung.
‘Damn it.’
I wrapped my hand in my stage outfit as best I could and flipped the smartphone over.
“…….”
The phone was smashed. It must have been the impact when the steel frames fell.
That was why the call had cut out. Honestly, it was a miracle it had stayed connected this long in that shattered state.
…Which meant.
‘Accept it, quickly.’
Whatever the hell this situation was, I had failed to clear the Status Effect.
…And my communication with the outside world was completely severed.
I bit my tongue.
Another way, think of another way.
First, hearing.
‘……What’s happening?’
I strained my ears, trying to catch any sound from the outside. But there was only a low humming.
If the sound was blocked this much, it wasn't just the stage equipment; the ceiling must have properly caved in as well.
Then… next.
‘Move fast.’
Before things went to hell again. I immediately pushed my upper body up.
My side throbbed. It felt like the ribs I’d broken last time had either cracked again or snapped entirely.
‘Or maybe it’s just my imagination.’
Let’s hope for the latter.
Regardless, I could at least stand on my own, but….
‘…It’s touching my head.’
I felt cold metal grazing precariously against the top of my head.
It was likely debris from the stage equipment.
“Whew.”
I closed my eyes and waited for a moment. I was damn anxious, but letting my vision adjust was the priority.
When I opened them again, my eyes, now adjusted to the dark, revealed the overall silhouette of the wreckage.
“…!”
The stage was a disaster zone.
The steel frames had all collapsed to the point where you couldn't even call it a stage anymore. I couldn't see anything outside because of the steel and ceiling materials surrounding me on all sides.
And where I was currently located was right in front of the backstage area on the opposite side.
I had avoided the worst of it by sliding and being pushed all the way here.
“Sigh.”
I’d finished assessing the situation. With my head in this state, I wouldn't gain anything useful by observing any further.
‘Move for now.’
If I stayed here, the steel frames would likely fall and crush me to death.
The silver lining was that my arms and legs didn't seem to be seriously injured.
My back felt a bit strange, though… but it didn't hinder my movement much, so it was fine.
Doing my best not to stagger, I headed toward the backstage area on the other side.
What I needed to find was…
‘A place where the danger is clear.’
A place that looked obviously safe wouldn't work. The system might pull some nonsense like a gas explosion.
I needed a space where an accident I could at least roughly predict might occur.
And….
‘I have to be alone.’
I had to move in a direction that kept me as far away from others as possible.
If they got caught up in this, I’d lose even the tiny thread of control I still held.
“…….”
So, waiting here was absolutely out of the question.
The moment the shock wore off and people grasped the situation, it would be easy for them to think of a way to approach the collapsed stage through this side. I had to move fast.
I decided to circle the edge of the backstage and head toward the emergency staircase. Fortunately, even though the lights were out, I could see the blue glow of the exit sign.
“Haa.”
With sweat-slicked hands, I pulled open the emergency exit door.
After a moment’s hesitation, I ran upward.
‘If I go down and the upper floors collapse and bury me, there’s nothing I can do anyway.’
I hurried up the stairs as fast as I could….
Creeak.
Ominous sounds continued to echo behind me.
‘No way.’
But over that creaking, an artificial sound cut in.
[DING- DONG-]
A chime.
An announcement echoed from the building’s speakers.
[Attention, audience members. A safety incident has occurred due to ground instability. Please follow the staff’s instructions and evacuate via the emergency stairs….]
I immediately stopped mid-climb and turned back.
‘The upstairs hallway.’
People might come pouring into these emergency stairs, so I’d rather take my chances in the hallway.
I climbed just one floor to exit the stairwell, and the moment I stepped into the hallway…
The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Thump.
My footsteps echoed with strange intensity.
And then….
That spine-chilling sense of crisis and irrational terror returned.
‘Fuck…!’
I gritted my teeth and sprinted forward a step ahead of the feeling.
Creeeeeak-CRASH!
With a deafening roar that felt like it would tear my eardrums, the floor I had been standing on just a second ago collapsed without warning.
I knew why.
‘This is right above the stage.’
Location-wise, it was the most unstable spot.
And since this was an area the broadcasting station used for equipment storage, there were no people stationed here.
There shouldn't be.
‘Because I chose this place on purpose…!’
It’s okay.
I can do this. I can do this!
I mapped out the structure in my head.
I avoided the restrooms and utility areas, which were intentionally designed with large pillars to withstand more weight.
If a collapse big enough to bring those down happened, everyone in this building would be hurt together.
‘It’s hell.’
There are a thousand people in the audience alone.
“Hup!”
Dust, air, and debris of all sizes flew everywhere.
The place I was running toward was….
[Storage Room 303]
Here.
‘A place that isn't directly above the stage!’
Instead of the foolishness of trying to pull the door open, I slammed my entire body against it.
And then.
RUMBLE—!
The room shook.
‘Fuck.’
You goddamn bastard of a system.
I took the brunt of the falling supplies with my body. Amidst the chaos, I clung to something that looked heavy and massive and pulled it over my head.
The roar continued, and my body kept shaking. Objects large and small pelted my hands and arms.
How much time had passed?
“Haa… haa.”
The roar and the vibration stopped.
I blinked repeatedly to clear my vision. I was out of breath.
Checking the object gripped in my pale hands… it was metal. A combination of solid plates and pipes—it looked like a shelf. It had been half-torn from the wall. No, it had been torn away along with the wall itself, revealing a dark void beyond.
I turned my head.
The door I had entered through had closed when the space was jolted, and now it looked precariously jammed shut.
“…….”
It wouldn't open.
“Ha.”
I realized I was trapped in this small storage room. And then.
Roll, roll, roll….
A pen, likely from the supplies, rolled and gathered in one corner.
‘It’s tilted.’
The room itself was tilted and warped. It seemed to be hanging precariously, leaning toward the stage.
“……Whew.”
I was trapped in a space smaller and more unstable than the stage earlier.
I couldn't move.
Still clinging to the metal shelf, I tried to process the reality of the situation.
Just an hour—no, barely dozens of minutes ago—my only concern was finishing a stage well.
And now I was in this state.
I’d survived twice somehow, but now a crazy, supernatural force was hell-bent on killing me, hunting me down.
“……Ugh.”
Pain began to flare up across my entire body. But stronger than the pain was… a sense of helplessness.
‘I don't know.’
How much longer could I hold out?
I didn't even have any information.
“…….”
Actually, it wasn't that I had no way to try and contact someone else.
I knew.
‘Keun-dal.’
The guy I could call through the Status Window even without a smartphone.
He might even have some kind of clue. Since he could access the Status Window….
But the problem was whether I should even open the Status Window right now.
What if that acted as some kind of detonator, bringing on the next ‘absurd event’ even faster, or delivering a more certain death sentence?
So, I wouldn't call him. Absolutely not.
“…….”
That’s what I thought… but.
I loosened my grip. I lowered my head.
The cold metal cooled my forehead.
‘Wouldn't it be better to just give up?’
Logically, if everyone here dies and I die too, what the hell is the point of all this?
If the scale of this keeps growing, there’s no telling what the casualties will be.
‘You idiot.’
It was almost funny that I was worried about other people’s lives when I was about to die myself, but if a person has even a shred of conscience, they can't help but care.
They weren't strangers; they were the guys I’d spent years with.
And.
‘…They’re all fans.’
The thousand seats in the audience were filled with fans. This was… fuck. It was an environment that made it almost too easy for me to give up, as if it were designed that way.
I let out a long sigh.
The shelf was slick with blood from the cuts on my palm caused by the broken smartphone.
‘…It’s heavy.’
I closed my eyes.
I kept my mouth shut and simply hunched my body over.
It was as quiet as a void.
How much time had passed like that?
“…Excuse me?”
“…!!”
A human voice.
I lifted my head.
The first thing I saw was a glow.
Beyond the wall that had been half-torn away when the metal shelf collapsed, a yellow light was faintly bleeding through.
A moment later, I realized what that light was.
……It was a lightstick.
“Mo-Moon-dae?!”
The person who had discovered me through the wall… was a fan who had been sitting in the audience earlier.