The Free Service Ends

Everyone thinks about it at least once, don't they?

Reincarnating into a webtoon.

Or transmigrating to another world.

Cliches made famous by countless webtoons and anime.

But I never expected to get hit with one just three hours after being discharged from the military, for fuck's sake.

The voice ringing in my ears laid bare exactly what kind of situation I was in.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Commonly known as ORV—a web novel.

From what I knew, it was an extremely popular and entertaining story.

Of course, I'd been in the military, so I never actually read it.

I had watched the webtoon, though.

The quality was excellent and the premise was fresh enough that I'd binge-read every chapter that had come out so far.

If I remembered right… it had been around the point where they were fighting something like a war—or a game—in the 73rd Demon Realm…

Crackle—

Crackle-crackle—!

As if refusing to give me any more time to think, sparks erupted inside the subway car.

The sparks gathered and coalesced, as though something was preparing to appear.

Before long they resolved into a dokkaebi—a pair of horns jutting from a head covered in thick white fur.

"%@#ah!%^ah$*@"

"W-what the hell is that thing saying?"

"Is this a shoot? Some kind of filming?"

Faced with the dokkaebi that had appeared before their eyes, the passengers pulled out their phones as if they were watching a fire from the opposite bank of a river.

But only I—and probably Kim Dokja, who had to be somewhere on this train—knew the truth.

That creature was not nearly so gentle.

"Ah. Ah. Can everyone hear me?"

"Honestly, the Korean patch wasn't installed. What a pain."

"Everyone, can you hear me clearly now?"

The language patch must have finally kicked in; the dokkaebi was no longer spouting incomprehensible gibberish but perfectly normal Korean.

One of the citizens spoke up toward the creature.

"Hey, what exactly do you think you're doing?"

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

"Excuse me?"

"Is this a movie shoot? I've got an audition I need to get to right away."

"Ahh. An audition. I see. So people still go to auditions at this hour. Haha."

"Looks like my research was lacking."

"They told me the most people would be on board around seven in the evening when the paid service kicked in."

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

Unable to make sense of the dokkaebi's muttering, the citizen spat out his dissatisfaction.

As if in agreement, countless other passengers throughout the car began voicing their own complaints one after another.

"Now, now, everyone. Please calm down and take a seat so you can listen to what I have to say."

"I have something important to announce starting now!"

"What is this?! Get the train moving already!"

"You're doing this without even asking for the citizens' cooperation?!"

This was bad.

The atmosphere was heating up by the second.

If things kept going like this…

"You're all so noisy! Really."

"I told you…"

"To be quiet."

"Didn't I?!"

With the dokkaebi's roar, one citizen's head exploded.

And like a contagion, the heads of the other complaining passengers began bursting one by one.

Yes.

This was that kind of place.

A place where human lives were far too cheap.

Just like… that other world.

"Everyone, you've had it pretty good up until now, haven't you?!"

"Born without ever paying any price."

"Breathing freely, eating, shitting, and breeding however you pleased! Ha!"

"You've truly lived in a wonderful world!"

"But the good times are all over now."

"You can't keep enjoying freebies forever, can you?!"

The moment the dokkaebi's words ended, one figure approached it.

Han Myungoh. A character from ORV—and the one I hated most.

Han Myungoh offered to negotiate, asking if the dokkaebi wanted money.

As if something like that would ever work on a dokkaebi.

The creature burned the money to ash, then grew its horns and began doing something.

A blue window floated up before my eyes along with the announcement.

A notification of participation in the main scenario.

Once again the reality of it hit me.

I had been pulled into a webtoon.

The dokkaebi vanished, and the subway car plunged back into chaos.

"Now, now, everyone! Please calm down."

"Take a deep breath first. Everyone stop what you're doing."

From the center of the car, a man tried to soothe the crowd.

That face… that way of speaking… could it be?

"Who the hell are you?!"

"I am currently serving as an army lieutenant with the 6502nd Unit."

Yes.

That was Lee Hyunsung.

The reliable tanker who always protected others.

A warm-hearted man—one of my favorites.

Then Kim Dokja had to be somewhere around here as well…

"The Prime Minister's speech just went up! It's a real Level-1 national disaster situation!"

At one citizen's shout, every gaze focused on the announcement.

Not that watching it would do any good.

From what I remembered, the Prime Minister would be killed by a dokkaebi mid-speech.

And then, probably…

Right. That was how it went.

And as the citizens fell into panic…

Was it almost time for that?

"Huh…?"

"That's… a Taepung Girls' High uniform, isn't it?"

Beep—

Beep-beep-beep-beep—!

No—not every single one.

…Lee Jihye.

A major figure in the Ways of Survival and a supporting character in ORV.

As expected, she had survived.

And that bastard would show up soon enough.

"Ah… fuck. I'm already in a shitty mood, and now you're trying to run off alone?"

"Hic…!"

"You gonna keep your mouth shut?"

"P-please spare me… I-I have to go…!"

Kim Namwoon.

Just like in the webtoon, he was beating an old woman.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"You little punk, laying hands on an elder…!"

"What, old man? You wanna die?"

"…What?"

Han Myungoh tried to stop him, but Kim Namwoon invoked the scenario and forced everyone to choose who would die.

Those words would soon crack the subway car wide open.

And the citizens, as if agreeing with him, began kicking the old woman collapsed on the floor.

No matter how uncomfortable the sight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was, no one could stop it.

If that old woman didn't die, everyone would.

But I was different.

I knew what the Reader was about to do.

KRAAAANG—!

An explosion, a shockwave, and a flash of light came from the car across the way.

And now the Reader would take care of Kim Namwoon…

…Who was that woman?

Thud—!

Kim Namwoon went flying after taking a full-body tackle from a long-haired black-haired woman.

She immediately began scanning the surroundings.

Then she walked over to a little boy and received an insect collecting case from him.

As far as I knew, only one person had ever done something like that… no way…?

"Everyone, stop!"

"Killing that old woman won't save any of you!"

At her words, the people stomping on the grandmother froze.

Every gaze locked onto her. She took one deep breath and spoke again.

"Let's say you kill the grandmother. What then?!"

"Sure, if she dies, the 'first kill' the dokkaebi mentioned will be recognized and you'll buy a little time."

"But what comes after that?"

The fact drove into them like a wedge; shoulders flinched all around.

"If what the dokkaebi said is true, then in the end each of you will still have to kill one person's worth."

"So after the grandmother, who are you going to kill? The person standing next to you?"

"Ha…!"

"What's the problem with that?"

"Next we just kill a coward like you!"

Kim Namwoon steadied himself and threatened her.

But I already knew.

What solution she—no, Kim Dokja—had prepared.

Kim Dokja raised a single swollen grasshopper she held in her hand.

"Have you forgotten? The clear condition of the scenario isn't 'Kill a person.'"

"It's 'Kill one or more living beings.'"

Then Kim Dokja crushed the grasshopper in her grip and hurled the collecting case full of grasshoppers into the air.

And since I didn't particularly want to die either, I snatched one of the grasshoppers that spilled out and killed it.

The scenario completion messages arrived and I let out a long breath of relief.

I'd almost died without even clearing the first scenario.

And while I hadn't been looking toward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Kim Dokja, the two of them had already started fighting.

This wasn't the time to stand around—I needed to help—

…What?