The Zombie Special
I briefly organized my thoughts.
It didn't seem like this prop would be an important clue or have a big role in this filming.
But it was clearly placed there to show me something.
I don't know how many such things will appear in the future, but it was obvious that it was trying to shake my mental state.
'Shaking my mental state, huh.'
I knew about the system ability to swap bodies with others, but I didn't think it would intervene in the program like this.
“What are you doing?”
At that moment, Kwon Hak-jin's voice came from behind. I startled and hurriedly closed the chart, then turned around.
“What's in this room? It seems like it's been here for quite a while.”
Through the door, trainees roaming around the room looking for clues were visible in the hallway.
'Thinking about it, I was too focused only on this...'
“Yes, I was too immersed thinking this might be some kind of clue.”
Saying that, I went out the door. But I couldn't help but feel uneasy about my original name still being in that room.
I couldn't know exactly what Hael was trying to do through this filming, but if it was like this, I'd always have to be on edge.
'I'm going to get neurotic.'
Even after finishing the survival, I still feel like I'm in the middle of a survival.
Since there was no more talking, Kwon Hak-jin, who was checking my condition, placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Your expression isn't good.”
“I was too focused.”
“What was written there?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, I see. If it wasn't for our smart Won-woo, it wouldn't be.”
With that, we entered another room.
'For now, let's focus on the filming.'
If that guy's intention was to shake my mental state as intended, I didn't want him to succeed. Maybe because of my pride in not wanting to lose.
“We have to escape.”
Saying that, I unnecessarily urged him to walk faster.
“It seems we've seen everything here, shall we go to the lower floors?”
Following Kwon Hak-jin heading to the elevator to look at other floors.
A bad feeling came over me. That ominous premonition that something bad was about to happen.
* * *
When I opened the door, a bizarre scene unfolded in the room along with the pungent smell of disinfectant that pricked my nose.
Green lights filled the room, giving off a creepy, damp atmosphere.
“Wow, this is amazing...”
Kang In-hyeok, rubbing his arms as if chills ran down his spine, slowly backed away.
“When did you get here?”
“Huh?”
It seemed like just a moment ago, it was only me and Kwon Hak-jin, but now Kang In-hyeok had joined, I didn't know when he arrived.
“I came via the emergency exit stairs. I was scared to take the elevator alone.”
'Scared of the elevator?'
“There are really no scary things, are there?”
Kang In-hyeok let out a sullen voice.
“No, if the production crew were here, they might have put something in the elevator. Like the lights suddenly flickering...”
Meanwhile, Kwon Hak-jin was roaming around the wide room, already searching.
Unlike Kang In-hyeok, who was walking cautiously while being scared, Kwon Hak-jin seemed fearless.
“If it's a bio-research lab, there must be something, right?”
In the center of the room, several large glass bottles filled with opaque liquid stood, and the walls were filled with complex wiring and mysterious monitors.
“For now, let's turn on the main computer that seems to be the main one.”
I was about to check from where, but decided to start with the main computer.
By the time we arrived at our floor, the trainees were all focused on the monitors.
'What will come out...'
When I turned on the computer, one of the large monitors on the wall flickered with rough noise.
On the screen, an ECG graph of an unknown life form was violently fluctuating. A red line wavered up and down on the black screen, emitting beeps.
Beep, beep, beep-
“Eh, something like letters is appearing...”
Whenever the graph drew a high line, an alphabet appeared in the center of the screen.
While everyone was stunned, I was the first to pull out my notebook and started writing down the alphabets.
Randomly appearing alphabets. It seemed like they were jumbled in random order.
'U, T, N, A, T, M...'
“Won-woo, did you finish writing?”
“Let's see ours too.”
The trainees crowded around me holding notebooks.
Everyone was earnestly trying to figure out what these alphabets meant.
“It seems like rearranging the order to form English words...”
I could sense how to solve it, but everyone was just staring at the notebooks with bewildered faces.
Among them, I was mentally combining the alphabets in various orders. Moving the alphabets placed in front to the back, or to the middle.
“Ah.”
Then I found it.
“Mutant.”
The trainees' heads turned simultaneously.
“MUTANT (Mutant). When combined in order, it means mutant.”
Then one of the trainees clapped with a great face.
“Wow, Won-woo... what? It seems you solved it in less than a minute?”
Then, Kwon Hak-jin and Kang In-hyeok next to me also clapped proudly, joining in.
Yes, that's why they called me. Just work hard accordingly. I don't know what that guy's plan is.
“But, what does mutant mean?”
“Um, there must be a place to use it later, let's go see other floors too...”
At that moment.
Click-
“What is this sound?”
The trainees, looking around with faces not knowing English.
At the same time as the mysterious sound, the green lights shining in the room instantly changed to red.
“What, what's this?”
Soon, the emergency lights installed on the wall began to rotate violently, emitting a red light.
Wiiiing-!
A sharp siren that would tear the ears filled the research lab.
System error. The lock on the experimental subject isolation area has been released. Evacuate immediately.
As soon as the guidance broadcast came out, smoke started leaking from the air vents and ceiling gaps.
It was an ominous setup like in movies or dramas just before something jumps out.
'Was it...'
Just as I was looking at the door, wondering if it was what I was expecting.
“Kyaaaaak!”
And what came out was a zombie.
'So it was.'
The zombie was wearing a torn researcher's gown with its neck strangely bent.
'They said it was a horror special, so was it a zombie special?'
I had expected it since it was called a bio-experiment research lab, but I didn't think real zombies would appear.
'Wait. Is In-hyeok okay?'
I looked to the side with concern.
As expected, Kang In-hyeok's face looking at the zombie had turned deathly pale.
“Are you okay?”
Kang In-hyeok, unable to manage his expression, grabbed my sleeve with a stiff face and slowly retreated backward.
“Hyung, calm down. It's just a zombie.”
Even though I said it's just a zombie, the detail of the makeup was so much that my heart was pounding.
Soon, the zombie actor rushed towards us at a scary speed from within the acting.
“Uwaaaak!”
The trainees were startled and scattered in all directions, running away.
The whiter the inverted eyes and the more the bursting blood vessels on the face, the clearer they became as they got closer.
“The door isn't open? Open it quickly!”
Before the words finished, the zombie moved towards In-hyeok who shouted.
Seeing that, In-hyeok screamed even louder and backed away.
“Wait, don't scream!”
Just before the zombie was about to run right in front of me, I threw a ballpoint pen from the table to another place.
The zombie, hearing the sound, turned its head sharply and changed direction towards where the pen fell.
“So, it reacts to sound...”
Only after barely getting rid of the zombie could we open the door and leave.
* * *
“It's dizzy...”
“Yeah, so it is.”
Laughter came out.
I had expected it, but seeing it in person, I was more scared than I thought.
“I heard Won-woo doesn't get scared of ghosts, but does he get scared of zombies?”
“Eh, um...”
If I have to say, I'm more scared of people than ghosts, but zombies are a form of humans turned into monsters.
“But where is In-hyeok-hyung?”
I didn't realize he was following because I came out in a hurry.
At that time, while looking around, Kang In-hyeok who seemed frozen stiff in the corner of the hallway appeared.
“In-hyeok-hyung?”
Kang In-hyeok, whose eyes were almost unfocused, turned his head only towards me.
“Are you okay?”
“Hahaha, I'm fine, I'm fine.”
Kwon Hak-jin and the trainees who came out late were seen taking care of such In-hyeok. Everyone was breathing roughly as if they had let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, one of the fixed trainees who made eye contact with me gave a thumbs up as if he did well.
“Wow, our Won-woo's judgment and quick thinking are amazing.”
“Yeah, when the zombie was running, I thought it was really dangerous, but thanks to Won-woo throwing that pen, I survived.”
Suddenly showered with praise, I awkwardly scratched my neck.
“But, is that friend okay?”
Turning my head in the direction pointed by the finger, In-hyeok was looking at the ceiling with a face as if his soul was gone.
“He's okay. That hyung is a bit timid, but he's really agile. He runs well.”
“Timid? You look really tough, but it's surprising, hahaha!”
Even in this midst, In-hyeok was searching around while being very cautious that another zombie might appear.
Anyway, if it's a zombie special, it seemed important to run around well.
“But, what happens if I'm caught or bitten?”
The laughter and chatter of one trainee stopped, and silence flowed.
“Eh...”
“Th-then, I'll become a zombie?”
Hearing that, I thought I had to do anything to prevent becoming a zombie.
It hadn't even been a few months since debuting, and already zombie makeup.
'I don't like...'