Prophetic Dream

I groaned, clutching my throbbing head as I pushed myself up from the floor. "Aigoo, my head hurts."

"Now I'm even dreaming about this stuff? Seriously."

I had dreamed about the world ending. The dream had started slow, like watching a movie, but gradually picked up speed until the scenes blurred past so fast they were almost impossible to follow. It ended decades later. 'I've been bingeing a lot of apocalypse stuff lately—games, movies, novels.' Still, it was all just secondhand experience. At some point, created stories stopped being enough. I started craving the real thing: the kind of heart-pounding, adrenaline-fueled moments that would shatter my ordinary daily life. What would I actually do in a real crisis? Imagination alone couldn't quench that thirst. 'Is that why I had a dream like this?'

Shaking off the lingering feelings, I naturally reached for my game. Click. Click.World Apocalypse Wave—WAW for short. I'd poured three years into it since the closed beta. Even though it was just a simple 2D dot game, the gameplay was so addictive that I fell into it instantly.

When you started the game, your character would randomly awaken a skill. During testing, my first character got the Slash skill. I built my skill tree around slashing and eventually learned higher-tier abilities like Rapid Slash. That first character died after only four days. The test server had already been running for three months by then. It wasn't just the initial zombies—various monsters swarmed in, and there was no way to survive.

After the official WAW launch, they opened a new server once a month. And every time all the survivors died, that server would shut down. A total of thirty-six servers had opened, and thirty of them had already closed. Only Server 1 remained open. Because my second character was still alive on it. 'Well, that was three days ago.'

Three days ago, WAW had released its first patch in three years. The patch notes didn't list any specific changes. It simply said it was an update that would completely change the game. As a result, every server from the previous version was closed. My character on Server 1 had been deleted. But I didn't really mind. It had already reached its limit anyway. 'If I'd left it alone, it probably would've died within a few days.'

All I could do was smack my lips in disappointment. The game company had basically abandoned the title without a single patch until now. This time, though, things were different. Maybe they had a shred of conscience after all—they sent me a gift via private message. Since I was the only player who'd survived for over a year, they were giving me a special pre-creation perk for the new character. Because you could only create and delete characters three times per server, this was an incredible advantage.

From the moment I received that perk, I'd been endlessly creating and deleting characters on the new server. All to get one of those rare random skills. It had already been three days, but I wasn't tired of it at all. What gamer would turn down free gacha? Every time a rare skill popped up, dopamine flooded my brain, and the anticipation for that one jackpot skill kept building. This time, I was definitely going to get a special skill and see the ending.

The limits of my second character had been obvious. There was no more room for growth, so all that was left was to wait for death. If I could get a special skill, maybe I could surpass those limits. "Huh? What kind of skill is this?"

While mechanically repeating the create-and-delete process, I discovered an unusual skill.

"Random Tower Summon?" It was a type of skill I'd never seen before. I'd come across plenty of offensive and utility skills, but this was my first summoning skill. And it wasn't the kind that summoned monsters like a summoner or necromancer from other games—it summoned towers.

"Is this any good?" I had no idea how it would perform, but it was definitely rare. Maybe I'd finally hit the jackpot. "Let's try it right away."

Click. The moment I pressed the button to enter the AZ037 District server, dizziness washed over me and my vision went black. When I came to, I was lying on the sidewalk.

"What the...?"

Looking around, I realized I was near the supermarket I usually went to. But there wasn't a single person in sight. The silence was so heavy it made me hesitate to even speak or take a step. I pinched my arm, but I felt nothing. 'This isn't reality.' Yet it didn't feel like a dream either. I had clear consciousness, not the fragmented assembly of memories that dreams usually had. 'Never mind the reason—first, I need to understand the situation.'

In movies and novels, protagonists usually denied reality when something supernatural happened. It always frustrated me to watch them. I wasn't that kind of idiot. 'The most likely possibility is that I'm inside the game.'

It was a simple process of elimination. What triggers could have caused this? Option one: falling asleep while feeling dizzy. Option two: pressing the connect button in the game. Since it wasn't a dream, pressing the connect button had to be closely related to my current situation. That would also explain why there were no people around. The new server was scheduled to open at 1 PM. I'd connected at 11:40 AM. Until the server opened, no one would exist here. It was basically just a space to test skills. 'I don't know how I got in here, but I'm definitely inside the game.'

I wandered around, scanning my surroundings. 'But what is this?' World Apocalypse Wave was supposed to start with randomly generated terrain. Yet this place was exactly the neighborhood where I lived. Even the shopping carts beside the supermarket and the trash bins were identical. 'This is really strange…'

Then I remembered the dream I'd had that morning. Was this just déjà vu? Among those fleeting, fragmented memories that had rushed past, I thought I'd seen a scene like this. 'And right after this scene, I remember actually going to the supermarket.'

I set my thoughts aside for now and tried to figure out how to exit the game. "Log out. Disconnect. End game." That didn't work. The purpose of connecting to the server had been to test the skill. Maybe I could leave once I'd accomplished that. "Random Tower Summon."

As soon as I spoke the words, a green circular area appeared in front of me. Instinctively, I knew a tower would be summoned inside that range. The area shifted wherever I willed it—into the middle of the road, on top of a shopping building, even onto a traffic light. But the traffic light turned red because the space was too narrow. I could shrink the summoning range to make it green again, but there was no need. The maximum summoning distance was limited to a ten-meter radius centered on me. Height, however, didn't seem to have much restriction.

I chose a suitable spot on top of a shopping building and confirmed it. Grrrrrrrrrind. Was this some kind of game allowance? A wooden stem burst through the concrete floor and grew into a building about the height of a person. It looked like a primitive outpost from a strategy simulation game. Inside the outpost was something that resembled a long tube. When I focused my mind on the building, something appeared before my eyes.

It was subtle. What kind of thorns, and with what power? "Switch to manual."

When I switched it to manual, my perspective shifted to the Thorn Tower. It was the sensation of actually using the skill in reality, not just in a game! A rush of ecstasy filled me at the feeling of casting a skill that couldn't be expressed in a 2D dot game. I immediately targeted the building right in front of me and fired a thorn.

Whoosh!Tick. A wooden thorn the length of a chopstick struck the wall and bounced off. The power was enough to make me sigh. Any other WAW player would have considered deleting their character. "Not bad."

To me—a veteran of WAW who had played it to death—the potential of this skill was clear. Compared to arrows, the wooden thorns were much heavier and fired more slowly. But if I shot them from a high place downward, the power could be supplemented by gravity. While I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was coldly evaluating the skill in my head, dizziness hit me again and my vision went dark. When I regained consciousness, I was sitting in front of my computer. The cold sweat soaking my t-shirt felt gross.

Rather than feeling positive emotions like 'That's amazing' or 'That was fun,' alarm bells were ringing loudly in my head. I had no intention of acting like some dumb protagonist in a movie. 'There must be a reason this is happening to me.' First, I needed to find that reason.

Vrrrr— An intense sense of déjà vu crashed over me as my phone vibrated. "No way…"

My heart lurched as if someone had grabbed it. A safety alert message had appeared on the screen. It said that the number of patients with an unknown cold was rapidly increasing. This cold had been going around for roughly thirty days. The only symptom was coughing. Because the symptoms were milder than a regular cold, there hadn't been any aggressive response like with COVID. "Ugh, I really don't want to play the role of the clueless protagonist."

Still, I couldn't just ignore it. "Why is everything from the dream playing out exactly like this?" From the empty supermarket to the message on my phone screen—it was all exactly as I'd seen in the dream. When I opened the door, I saw the row of old apartment entrance doors lining the hallway. I decided to head to the supermarket. I needed confirmation. If the next scene played out exactly as in the dream, then it wasn't just a dream—it was a prophetic vision, or something like it.

I put on sporty clothes, pulled a cap low over my eyes, and packed a baseball bat into a large bag. I deliberately dressed exactly as I had in the dream. "Get a grip."

If an apocalypse like the one in the dream was really about to happen, coming outside right now was insane. But if it played out exactly as seen, this would actually be the safer choice. At least in the dream, I had survived. While I was putting the food and daily necessities I'd bought at the supermarket into my bag—

"Oh my, student, why are you buying so much? Is there a war or something? Hahaha."

"No."

The middle-aged woman behind me tried to make conversation, but I wasn't interested and gave a half-hearted reply. All my nerves were focused on the next scene.

"Hey, I picked it up first!!"

A loud voice from deeper inside the supermarket broke my concentration.

"Ah, yes. I told you to take it, didn't I? I don't know why you're getting so angry."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?! *Cough cough.*"

"No? What did I do? We just happened to grab the same thing at the same time."

I glanced back once, then left the supermarket. 'It's really happening…'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The scene from the dream was unfolding exactly as I'd seen it. Yeonhee Ajumma, who lived next door, was walking very slowly. She must have gone grocery shopping—both her hands were full of bags. 'Okay, up to this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point it could still be a coincidence.'

I quieted my footsteps and followed behind her. Lee Yeonhee, thirty-two years old. She wasn't really old enough to be called ajumma. She looked like she was in her early twenties. I just called her that because she told me it was fine to do so casually. 'She's seriously stunning today too.'

If it had been a normal day, I would have greeted her right away. Or maybe I would have followed quietly like this. Anyone would lose their mind looking at a view like that from behind. The beige long dress clung tightly to her body, and it was hard to tear my eyes away from the curves that followed its lines. Because she was carrying bags in both hands, the sway of her wide hips and round ass was even more noticeable. 'Wow.'

The panty line was clearly visible through the thin dress. Because of the bags, her arms were slightly raised, and the shape of the bra cupping her large breasts was blatantly exposed through her armpits. When her wavy hair swayed and covered the view, my gaze naturally dropped back to her ass. 'Don't people usually avoid wearing black underwear under light-colored clothes?' At this point, it almost felt like she was deliberately trying to seduce someone. 'Here it is.'

Before I knew it, we'd reached the crosswalk. Honestly, I hadn't followed her just to admire her figure. Yeonhee Ajumma was walking with her head down, looking completely spaced out. Right then, the traffic light turned green. She briefly lifted her head, then lowered it again and started crossing the street.

Thump. Thump. My entire body felt like one giant heartbeat, pounding wildly. When I glanced to the left, an SUV was speeding toward us without slowing down. Vrrrrrrrr—

"Fuck… it was real…"

I immediately dashed forward. I wrapped my arms around her waist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from behind in a back hug and threw myself backward. Thud!

"Kyaaak!!"

Yeonhee Ajumma fell on top of me. Thanks to me, she probably wasn't hurt. From the arm wrapped around her waist, I could feel her slender midsection and the texture of the bra cupping her breasts. "Huff… huff…"

Along with my ragged breathing, the scent of her shampoo filled my lungs. 'Her scent is insane too.'

Stunned by the sudden situation, she had frozen at first, but now she began to struggle. Her ass rubbed against my crotch. The dress was so thin that I could feel the texture of her buttocks vividly. "Let go of me! What am I going to do… *sob*… I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me."

She was panicking, babbling incoherently and trembling. That was understandable— if I'd been even a second slower, she would have been hit by the car and killed. The SUV had never intended to stop in the first place and had already disappeared.

"Ajumma, it's me. Your next-door neighbor."

Maybe because it was a familiar voice, she started to calm down. The trembling in her body stopped. "Huh? It's the student from next door?"

"I keep telling you I'm not a student."

She turned her head and looked at my face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, don't worry. Please get up slowly."

"Thank you, Suhyuk student."

Yeonhee Ajumma had regained enough composure to worry about me now. But even after standing up, she couldn't steady herself and had to brace her hands on her knees. Thanks to that posture, her cleavage and black bra were clearly visible. If I could have, I would've walked a full circle around her to admire the view. 'There it is!'

I picked up the bag that had been thrown aside. While collecting the fruit that had rolled across the ground, I circled behind her. Seeing her ass brought back the sensation of it pressing against me, and I got fully hard in an instant. 'Holy shit!'

I forgot all about putting the fruit in the bag and just stared, mesmerized. "Ah!"

I was screwed! I'd been so busy admiring Yeonhee Ajumma's body that I'd forgotten the most important thing. If the dream was really a prophetic vision, I shouldn't be wasting time like this. "Ajumma, are you alright?"

"Y-yes… Honestly, I'm not sure."

"Let's get you home so you can rest. I'll walk you there."

"Okay… Thank you."

We each took one bag and I held her trembling arm as we crossed the street. She still couldn't keep her balance properly. In the end, I carried both bags in one hand and supported her with the other. "It's heavy, isn't it? I'm sorry."

"It's fine. We're neighbors—we should help each other."

Her breast pressed softly against my arm. All the sensation in my body concentrated on that single point. Every step made her breast rub against me, so I couldn't even walk with my back straight. 'Wow, the texture is fucking insane. God, I wish I could just grab it once with my hand.'

While suppressing the boiling lust inside me, I kept an eye on our surroundings. 'It's coming up soon. This is bad.' Still, it seemed like we'd make it home just in time. Screeeeech—!Bang!!

As we entered the apartment complex, the sound of a car skidding came from behind us, followed by a massive crash. "Kyaaaaak!!"

The woman clinging to my arm screamed. Her breast pressed against me even more clearly, but I had no time to focus on that. "Ha… I'm late."

I must have wasted more time than expected. Black skid marks from the tires stretched across the road like brushstrokes. At the end of those marks, a red fan-shaped pattern had been painted across the pavement. In the dream, I hadn't been in this scene. Vrrrr—

The alarm I'd set for 1 PM went off.

"Oh… fuck."