Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Apocalypse (1)
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?!
Apoca...
Apocalypse?!
I stared wide-eyed at the message.
I had no idea what I was even looking at.
Apocalypse?
That apocalypse?!
The one where the world comes crashing down?!
My eyes saw it and understood, but my brain refused to accept it.
My cramped goshiwon room. The bed.
The bed I was lying on.
A window right beside the bed.
Birds flying around peacefully, chirping away.
Cars sticking to their lanes below, people walking the streets with calm or bored expressions, just going about their day.
...Apocalypse?
Watching the cars stop at red lights and start up at green through the window left me feeling strangely hollow.
...Is this some kind of joke...?
I flopped back down onto the bed.
"..."
The panic from moments ago vanished like a lie. No, what kind of apocalypse has people following lanes and traffic lights to a tee?
...No.
Why am I even reacting like this?
Has my brain gone haywire?
That couldn't be it.
Why was I suddenly escaping reality like this?
All my life, every single message had been spot-on. Not once had it lied to me!
I shot up and started hunting for my phone.
Damn it, why is it always like this—never where I remember leaving it!
I rummaged around the bed, checked the desk where my laptop sat, even dug through the box stuffed with clothes.
Nothing!
"Ah, shit! Where the hell is it!"
There were people in the next room over, and goshiwons weren't exactly soundproof.
So I whispered my shout.
After circling the room three times, I finally spotted my phone behind the laptop, hidden from view.
Of course, it's always in the last damn place I look.
First, I called Mom.
Busy selling fruit?
Lots of customers at the shop?
Damn it! She's not picking up!
Tried Dad next.
No answer!
Out delivering fruit? Driving?
Pick up, damn it!
No choice—I dialed Bitch Sister.
I hit call, and she picked up within seconds.
"What the hell, you bastard brother? Why are you calling and making a fuss? Finally go impotent or something?"
Ah, this bitch starts right off the bat.
Where's your hello?
What family raised a daughter like this?
I'll record it and blast it through giant speakers at that bitch's wedding someday.
...Calm down. Hoo.
"Hey, where are you? At home?"
"Why do you need to know, asshole? Why'd you call?"
This vengeful bitch.
I ought to grab her and spank her ass five hundred times to straighten her out.
"Ah, you little bitch. You ask a question, you get an answer. Are you home or not?!"
"Out with friends. Ah, thank you. Hey, bastard brother, my tteokbokki's here. Tell me why you called or I'm hanging up."
Friends and tteokbokki?
...So everything's fine on her end?
"What about Mom and Dad? They okay?"
"Hell if I know, asshole! Probably at the shop! Bye!"
Click.
Call ended.
Bitch Sister, never fails to disappoint.
"...Haa..."
I set the phone down and peered out the window.
...Is everything really okay?
The message had vanished long ago.
The Apocalypse has begun...
What the hell did that mean...?
What kind of apocalypse...?
"...This won't do."
I couldn't believe the message was lying to me. No way.
Twenty-five years of my life, it showed me everything—never once a lie or exaggeration.
After a lifetime of truth, it starts bullshitting right at countdown's end?
No chance.
Absolutely not.
I hurriedly pulled on my jeans, slung my bag over my shoulder, and left the goshiwon.
All I had in the room were textbooks for when I went back to school, some cup ramen, and bottled water.
No one's gonna steal that crap.
My favorite Adidas backpack.
Just my wallet inside, but I'd never gone anywhere without this bag.
I slung the empty, lightweight bag over one shoulder and clomped down the stairs.
The street in front of the goshiwon.
...A bus?
...No.
"Taxi!"
I raised my hand toward a parked taxi up the hill and jogged up the incline.
"Welcome. Where to?"
The ajusshi driver asked kindly as I got in.
"Incheon Airport."
"Got it. Buckle up. Heading overseas?"
"Yeah... something like that."
This was annoying.
Like I had time to chat right now.
The driver, experienced enough to read passengers at a glance, started the car without another word.
I gazed out the window.
My goshiwon building, the convenience store, the alley leading to apartments—all slid by leisurely.
...Apocalypse?
For real?
Cars in their lanes, couples at the pork belly joint across the street laughing as they wrapped meat in leaves for a late lunch?
That was when it happened.
...?!
Tuto...
Tutorial?!
What...
The fuck...?
What is this shit?!
I frantically looked around.
The taxi was just turning toward the gas station, merging onto the main road.
Cars in lanes, reds stopped, our green letting traffic flow steadily.
What tutorial?
I'm in a damn taxi!
"...Why's traffic jamming up? It's not rush hour..."
The driver muttered and flipped on the radio.
Traffic broadcast.
"—And we've read the story sent in by our listener. Stories like yours from folks living life so vibrantly really warm the heart... Ah, breaking news just came in."
Ah, ajusshi.
Volume's a bit loud. Turn it down.
"A patient has escaped from a hospital. Believed to be hallucinating, running wild across sidewalks and roads. Parts of Seoul are backing up now."
...No, don't turn it down, ajusshi.
"Police are en route. We'll keep drivers updated here on traffic radio. Next story."
...Hallucinating patient...
I peered far ahead.
Traffic was pretty backed up.
No sign of some lunatic running around yet.
...Not around here, then.
The DJs chuckled over some lame story.
I pulled out my phone.
Tutorial started, it said.
There had to be more.
Popped in earbuds and opened YouTube.
Live news channels.
Anything?
...Breaking news scrolling.
"A serious assault in Gwangju. A man in his 50s, believed drunk, grabbed a pedestrian and bit his wrist. Suspect apprehended on site. Police ordering drug tests—"
...Bit his wrist?
Another channel.
"Next, Busan update. A woman in her 20s bit a man's shoulder at a Haeundae cafe. She jumped from the second floor right after, but astonishingly escaped unharmed. Police on scene—"
...Bit...
Bit...?
Wait...
Hold on...
I closed YouTube and hit the portal news tab.
Live-updating headlines poured in.
Scrolling past diets, celebs, politics, one caught my eye.
-Extremely contagious new infectious disease outbreak.
...Updated 2 seconds ago.
I tapped the article.
Short.
True breaking news.
One of those rare, super-brief articles that pop up in real emergencies.
This...
This...
Am I the only one seeing it?
These news items—only in my eyes?
Seoul... Busan... Gwangju... Daejeon...
Major cities...!
I looked around.
Traffic jammed.
Everything serene.
Sun warm.
Birds chirping.
Then, screams.
Blood-curdling, spine-chilling wails.
More like death throes.
Me and the driver whipped our heads sideways in unison.
Across the road, the sidewalk.
Coffee shops, McDonald's, convenience stores lining the street.
People there were fleeing in blind panic.
No, not fleeing.
Being chased!
Predator and prey!
A college girl?
Young woman sprinted madly and tackled an ajumma carrying a shopping basket.
They tumbled together.
Onions and green onions flying through the air.
A frail old man who could barely walk charged like a beast at a burly young guy.
Like a massive dog lunging.
The young man stumbled back in shock and fell with the old man.
Harrowing screams.
People scattered every which way.
Most to the sidewalk.
Some desperately into the road.
Screeech—
Brakes squealing as a sedan slammed into a middle-aged man.
The man who'd bolted into traffic in panic.
He flew several meters and crashed into a street tree.
I saw it.
I saw it clear as day.
That man—neck snapped clean on impact.
Instant death.
The sedan driver, a young woman, flung the door open in horror and jumped out.
Right after, a housewife who'd ditched her basket pounced on her.
The man against the tree twitched and spasmed violently.
The spasms stopped.
The middle-aged man rose slowly.
Neck twisted backward.
...Impossible.
Impossible to stand!
I doubted my own eyes.
But the man stood.
Back to me at first, then turning.
Face half-smashed, jaw wrenched.
He gaped his jaw wide, emitting a grotesque roar, and lurched off somewhere.
Screams.
Pandemonium.
Chills racing up my spine.
This...
This was it...
The message's...
...start of the Apocalypse...