The Gate of Rest

The sensation hit me like a bolt of lightning. Right—I didn’t have time to stand around like an idiot. The world outside must have already turned into a complete slaughterhouse thanks to those monsters.

I sprinted toward the PC bang entrance and peered down the stairs. A wet, guttural “Krrrk, krrrk” sound echoed upward, along with the unmistakable presence of something climbing. Probably more of those same green bastards that had come before.

If I just stay put, I’ll only end up dead. I have to fight. But how the hell do I fight? How did Seong-man do it? Oh, right—he used a kitchen knife. Yeah, I need a weapon!

I slammed the door shut and locked it, then frantically scanned the room. Among the corpses of the green monsters that had come up earlier, I spotted a few short daggers.

These are way too short… they’re basically the same as kitchen knives. Isn’t there anything longer? Fighting those things up close is terrifying…

As I searched desperately, my eyes landed on two floor mops leaning against the wall.

These… these could actually work.

“Seo Ji-su! Go grab the packing tape!”

I shouted at her while immediately ripping the mop head off its pole. That was when—BOOM!—a heavy impact slammed against the locked glass door. My heart rate spiked.

“The tape! Hurry up and bring it!”

When she didn’t respond for a while, I ran to the office and found her helplessly fumbling in front of a drawer she couldn’t open.

“You stupid—move!”

I shoved her aside, yanked the drawer open, and snatched the packing tape. I overlapped the dagger’s handle with the mop pole and wrapped the tape around them over and over. After several layers, it felt surprisingly solid. It wouldn’t come apart easily. Crude, but I now had a spear with decent killing power.

The pounding on the glass door was getting dangerously violent. I picked up another ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dagger from the floor and pressed it into Ji-su’s hand.

“Hold this and stand right here. Only fight when I tell you to fight. Got it?”

I positioned her directly in front of the PC bang entrance, then hid myself behind a large potted plant right beside the door.

A moment later, the hinges of the PC bang door gave way with a screech. The entire door crashed inward.

With a thunderous crash, the door slammed onto the floor. Then—whoosh!—a sharp whistling sound came from outside, and something flew in.

It struck Ji-su directly in the left side of her chest.

Two small green figures stepped inside right after. They were identical to the first monsters that had attacked this place, each clutching a short dagger.

When Ji-su didn’t collapse after being hit by the poison needle and simply stood there motionless, the creatures tilted their heads in confusion and slowly approached her.

Since all their attention was locked on her, they completely failed to notice me hiding beside the potted plant.

I thrust my makeshift spear into the back of the nearest green monster and shouted at Ji-su.

“Fight!!”

Shunk.

“Keeeeeek!!”

The spear sank into the monster’s back with a sickening sensation. Afraid it might turn and attack me, I shoved the pole forward with every ounce of strength I had.

At my command, Ji-su charged with the dagger and began slashing at the green monster. The creature swung its own blade in retaliation, but—shunk—Ji-su’s dagger plunged straight into its chest.

In exchange, the monster’s blade tore through her shoulder.

Yet Ji-su didn’t flinch. She kept her grip iron-tight until the monster finally died. It let out a wet gurgling sound—“Grrrk”—and slumped lifelessly. The one I had impaled expired at almost the same moment.

My heart was hammering so loudly I could barely hear anything else.

“I… I did it…”

I collapsed onto the floor and let out a huge sigh of relief.

That was when a brilliant light suddenly burst from my body, and an incredibly refreshing sensation washed over me. All the exhaustion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that had been weighing me down vanished in an instant.

Then a message appeared before my eyes.

I hurriedly opened my status window.

“Status window!”

A lot had changed.

Both HP and MP are fully restored. So leveling up fills everything to max? Does that mean even if I take a massive wound, leveling up will completely heal me? This really is like some kind of game…

I carefully examined the other sections.

The numbers in parentheses must be the stats gained from leveling up. So the stats don’t increase evenly—they’re random. Nice. I also gained one skill point. That means I can learn one more skill.

While I was frantically studying the window, the sound of chattering from outside made me jump. I rushed out to check.

The noise was coming from the bottom of the stairs. It didn’t sound like a small group this time.

At least five of them, maybe more. Makes sense. The ones that went upstairs never came back…

My anxiety spiked. Fighting five of those things would be impossible even if I died and came back to life.

My level went up and my stats increased. Maybe I can raise Seong-man now? Then maybe five of them wouldn’t be—

I shook my head violently.

No. There’s no guarantee it’s only five. And even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I somehow kill them, what about the next wave? Ten? Twenty? That would be the end. I need to think about escaping, not fighting.

My eyes fell on the skill listed as Gate of Rest. I swallowed hard.

Yeah. This is the one. I don’t know what the Cradle of Rest is, but it has to be safer than here. It’s the skill I need most right now.

I allocated the skill point to Gate of Rest. Its level immediately rose to lv.1, and more detailed information appeared.

The sound of the monsters outside was getting closer. I didn’t even have time to read the full description. I activated the skill immediately.

“G-Gate of Rest!”

Once again, I felt something being drained from deep inside my body. A large door materialized right in front of me.

I approached the ominous black door.

…Huh?

There was no doorknob. Instead, there was a small recessed groove. It was a sliding door, not a hinged one. I slipped my fingers into the groove and pushed it sideways.

Shhhrrrk.

Beyond the opened door was nothing but pitch-black emptiness.

I hesitated for a second—should I really go in?—but there was no time to waste.

“Seo Ji-su! Get inside!”

At my command, the dazed Ji-su staggered forward and stepped through the gate. I followed right behind her and immediately slid the door shut.

BOOM!

I had expected total darkness, but that wasn’t the case at all.

It was a square room completely enclosed by transparent glass. Through the clear panels, I could see the interior of the PC bang exactly as it was.

On the opposite wall from the door I had entered through was another sliding door. I rushed over, slipped my hand into the groove, and tried to pull it open.

…It wouldn’t budge.

“God damn it!”

Had I trapped myself in some weird place? I thought it would be safe, but now I was stuck inside a glass box!

I was desperately struggling with the door when my movements froze at the sight of a horde of green monsters pouring into the PC bang.

I quickly returned to the first door and pressed my entire body against it to hold it shut.

Will blocking this door even do anything? What if they just smash through the glass walls…

There were a full eight green monsters inside the PC bang now. When they saw the corpses of their kin lying at the entrance, they shrieked with rage and stomped their feet in fury. Then, daggers raised, they began creeping toward the glass room where Ji-su and I were.

But something was strange about their behavior. It looked like they couldn’t see us inside the transparent room at all.

What the…? Is this glass some kind of one-way mirror?

Like those magic mirrors where you can see out but outsiders only see a reflection. But the monsters weren’t even acting like they were looking at a mirror. They walked straight toward the glass room we were in, then simply—

Shhh.

—passed right through it.

“…?!”

I stared in shock as the green monsters walked straight across the room.

“W-what the hell…”

While I stood there dumbfounded, something even more shocking happened. One of the monsters walked directly through Ji-su’s body as if she didn’t exist.

“N-no way…”

Just to test ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, I thrust my spear at one of the creatures. The spear passed straight through it. Gathering my courage, I reached out and tried to touch one with my hand.

“…It really does pass right through.”

I stood there in a daze, watching the green monsters wander freely through both the room and our bodies.

Then a thought flashed through my mind. I quickly reopened the status window and reread the description for Gate of Rest.

This… this is it. “Located on the boundary between the mortal realm and the Underworld.” So this glass room is the Cradle of Rest, and it’s neither the mortal world nor the Underworld? The mortal realm is reality, and the Underworld… means the afterlife? Then this place is the space between life and death?

That seemed to be the answer. The room I was standing in existed in a different dimension between the world of the living and the world of the dead. That was why the green monsters in the living world couldn’t perceive us and simply passed straight through.

Which meant…

Isn’t this an absolutely broken cheat skill?

No risk of being discovered by enemies, and I could observe the outside situation perfectly. Where in the world could you find a safer place than this?

“This… this is insane…”

There was no need to keep blocking the door anymore. I slowly stepped away from it and moved over to where Ji-su was standing, observing the green monsters.

They seemed to be searching the PC bang, gathering supplies. Some were stuffing snacks and cup ramen from the shelves into their arms. Then they all rushed into the kitchen, and loud clattering noises followed. It looked like they were taking every single ingredient they could find.

I had been hoping they would finish quickly and leave, but then a different thought occurred to me.

It must be total chaos outside too. In movies, food is the most important thing in situations like this… and I’m just going to sit here and watch them steal all of it? No way. I can’t let that happen.

Most of the green monsters were inside the kitchen. Only two remained, looting the shelves and refrigerator. They were standing right in front of the Gate of Rest.

I gripped my spear tightly and quietly slid the Gate of Rest open.