The Modern Fantasy Scenario Activates
The latest open-world streaming system has been applied.
Moon Junil stared blankly into the air.
What the hell is this now?
It was different from what he’d seen before. It wasn’t even the same as the messages he’d encountered in the other world. Which meant this wasn’t a hallucination.
Downloading settings to this dimension… 4%
Genre: Modern Fantasy
The messages kept pouring out without end.
Downloading settings to this dimension… 24%
Energy Source: Mana
Chzzzzzt—!
With every percentage point that climbed, the noise grew louder.
Downloading settings to this dimension… 37%
Intervention Type: Gate Open
Rumble—!
The subway car shook violently. At first it felt like they were passing over a rough patch of track, but then—
“W-whoa!”
People stumbled in every direction.
“What the hell?!”
“Hey, don’t push!”
Everyone began sliding toward one side.
“Ugh!”
“Someone’s getting crushed! They’re getting crushed!”
The entire subway car was tilting.
More and more passengers tumbled over one another.
“O-oppa! What is this?!”
Lee Suyeon fell across Moon Junil’s lap and clung desperately to his shoulder. She clearly remembered how he had saved her last time.
But even Junil had no idea what was happening this time.
What the…?
His heart pounded violently.
Downloading settings to this dimension… 58%
Support Elements: Status Window, Awakened, Quest
The more the unstable download percentage increased, the worse the subway’s shaking became.
Clunk—
“What the… what is this?! Suyeon, grab on!”
Lee Changhoon clutched a handrail and reached out to her, but Suyeon was already clinging to Junil’s leg. A wave of people collapsed on top of them.
“We’re getting crushed! We’re all gonna get crushed!”
Suyeon screamed in terror.
She wasn’t the only one.
“Who keeps pushing?! Stop pushing!”
“Hey! Fuck, stop shoving!”
The angry shouts of panicked citizens filled the car.
“We’re all gonna die like this, you bastards!”
Crude curses flew in every direction.
“Push back! Push the other way!”
In the end, they decided to shove in the opposite direction to survive. The people caught in the middle were the only ones who suffered.
“Aaaaaagh! N-no! Nooo!”
It was pure chaos. Every face looked half-mad.
What the hell is going on?
Junil stood up, stepped on the seats, and peered over the crowd.
“Screee! Skreee!”
He’d been hearing a familiar noise cutting through all the screams and shouts for a while now.
Downloading settings to this dimension… 79%
Monster Types: Medieval, Folklore, Localized…
And that irritating message.
Junil grabbed an overhead bar like a pull-up bar and climbed higher to get a better look at the next car.
“……Huh?”
He couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh.
“Screeeeee! Skree!”
Now he understood why everyone was shoving this way.
Goblins. You’ve got to be kidding me.
A horde of goblins was forcing its way in from the next car. Of course people were panicking—rush-hour subway packed with commuters, suddenly invaded by a swarm of goblins.
The rumor finally spread among the passengers.
“Up ahead! There’s some kind of monster in the next car! A monster!”
“What are you talking about?! You schizophrenic or something?!”
“I’m telling you it’s real!”
Of course no one believed it. Even seeing it with their own eyes would be hard to accept. Monsters suddenly appearing in the subway? Ridiculous.
“O-oppa… can you see something?”
Suyeon had somehow climbed up to the seat where Junil had been sitting and asked him.
“Uh… well…”
It was a little awkward to explain.
How do I even say this?
He settled for a simple answer.
“You’ll see in a second.”
“Huh?”
It sounded absurd. People were being crushed to death right now, and he was telling her to wait and see?
“Hey! If you see something, say it!”
Lee Changhoon snapped at him in frustration.
“Yeah. Goblins are charging in from the next car. Looks like about ten of them.”
“What?! You bastard, you think this is the time for jokes?!”
“I’m not joking.”
“……?”
Settings download complete.
Story Board 3.0
That was when it happened.
The download had finally finished.
Tutorial commencing.
The tutorial was beginning.
Junil still didn’t fully understand what that meant, but one thing was clear.
That damn Pam… what the hell did she do?
He immediately suspected her. He’d heard her say she wanted to run a modern fantasy scenario. This had her fingerprints all over it.
I finally bought a house, and now you’re trying to turn the whole world into this?
He let out a long sigh.
“Screeeeee!”
In that moment, the goblins burst out.
Not the ones pushing in from the next car—these ones were popping into existence right here in their own car, exploding out of thin air like popcorn.
“What the—?!”
“Skree!”
One goblin dropped from the ceiling and drove a dagger straight into the crown of a man wearing a necktie.
Shunk!
The man died instantly without even a scream.
“Aaaaaaaaagh!!”
The scream came from the people beside him.
Everyone surged away from the goblin like a wave.
“D-don’t push!”
Unfortunately, this was a rush-hour subway. There was nowhere to run.
Next stop: Dongjak, Dongjak Station—
As long as the doors didn’t open, the passengers were stuck standing there, waiting to be skewered by goblin daggers.
Thud! Thunk!
“Screeeeee!!”
The goblins climbed onto people’s heads and stabbed down repeatedly. Blood sprayed everywhere. One by one, passengers began to fall.
“Oppa… what the hell are those things?”
Suyeon’s hands were shaking violently.
“I told you. Goblins.”
Tap.
Junil dropped back down from the seat and stood beside her.
“Got a pen in your bag?”
“……Huh?”
“A pen. Ballpoint, anything. That should be enough. There aren’t that many of them.”
He held out his hand.
Even though her hands were trembling, Suyeon rummaged through her bag and handed him a pen. She still remembered what happened last time.
When he dodged that motorcycle… he wasn’t normal.
It had been embarrassing to throw up everything she’d eaten, but Junil’s movements that day had been superhuman. That was why she kept talking to him.
“Stay right here.”
Thud!
Junil leaped from the seat onto the pile of bodies.
“Skree?!”
Shunk!
He easily drove the pen through the neck of a goblin that had turned to look at him.
It works.
At that moment, Junil was certain. The punch that had shattered the outer wall hadn’t been a fluke.
Suyeon covered her mouth in shock.
With… a pen?
He was killing monsters with nothing but a ballpoint pen.
“Next.”
“Screeeee!”
Every time a nimble little green monster lunged at him, it turned into a bloody mess the instant it brushed past his pen.
Spurt…!
“Kii…!”
Thud.
The goblin collapsed limply.
“K-kiik?!”
“Kiik! Skree!”
“Skree! Kik!”
The goblins that had been gleefully slaughtering passengers suddenly locked eyes with one another.
“Yeah. That’s right. Come kill me first.”
Just as Junil had said, they all charged at him at once.
I know your habits too well.
A smirk tugged at the corner of Junil’s mouth, and his eyes flashed.
You always jump around like idiots when you attack.
The ballpoint pen drew a single blue arc through the air.
Slaaaaaash!
Full of openings.
Thud!
The five or six goblins that had leaped at him all collapsed at once, spraying blood across the floor.
“Ki… krrrk…?!”
The fatally wounded goblins twitched on the ground.
They weren’t dead yet.
Now they are.
Junil walked over to each one and calmly finished them off with the pen.
Shunk. Shunk. Shunk…
It looked as easy and relaxed as popping bubble wrap. The sight of him casually slaughtering monsters left every passenger in the car speechless for a moment.
“Insane…”
Even Lee Changhoon could only mutter in a dazed voice.
The car fell deathly silent.