Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: ACT 1. The Beginning of the End (2)
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The number of Death Bites attacking the apartment complex wasn't small, but I had to do this.
Killing them versus not killing them would make a huge difference.
I needed to get as many coins as I could here to make things easier later on.
“H-Help me!! Aaargh!”
A young man, attacked by a beast the moment he stepped outside, struggled with all his might to push away the beast's two legs.
If his strength faltered even a little, the beast's fangs were close enough to pierce his skull in that instant.
As the saliva dripping from the beast's yellowed fangs touched his cheek, the terror in his eyes intensified.
He was someone I'd seen before.
The young man who lived on the floor above me and went to the gym as a hobby.
Contrary to his large build, he was such a coward that he'd once screamed and cowered at a dog's bark.
The shocking disparity had stuck in my memory.
“Ugh, uwaaaah!!”
[Character ‘Lee Seong-chan’ uses the Superhuman Strength (E) skill.]
*Crack!*
Tendons and veins bulged on Lee Seong-chan's arms as his muscles swelled to the point of bursting.
With the sound of the beast's forelegs snapping, it was gradually lifted upwards.
The bewildered beast growled and tried to exert force, but it was useless with its already broken legs.
“Kuaaaah…!!”
In the end, he managed to lift the beast high enough to raise his upper body.
There's no way an ordinary person could overpower a Death Bite.
There was only one reason it was possible.
He was already a ‘Player’.
[Character Information]
Name: Lee Seong-chan
Gender: Male (24)
Strength: 1(+1) Stamina: 1 Agility: 1 Mana: 0
Unique Ability: (No unique ability possessed)
Traits: Strengthened Muscles (E), Muscle Loss (E)
Skills: Superhuman Strength (E)
…Muscle Loss? What's that?
“Hold it just like that.”
“Huh?”
*Pshuk!*
I quickly approached and plunged my dagger into the Death Bite's neck.
Purple blood splattered as the beast collapsed, and only then did Lee Seong-chan scream and crawl away.
He glanced back and forth between me, holding the dagger, and the beast's corpse, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
I guess his survival instinct had overcome his fear just now.
Then again, a person's nature doesn't change that easily.
[You have hunted a beast of a higher level than your current progress.]
[100 coins will be awarded.]
‘Just as I thought.’
I invested the coins into my stats and immediately closed the status window.
Hunting a Death Bite from Chapter 1 is difficult, so if you succeed, you get a bonus like the one I just received.
Even so, I was lucky.
It's not guaranteed; there's only a ‘chance’ of getting it.
“It's-it's dangerous!”
Along with someone's scream, a Death Bite charged at me.
Just as I was about to react in time, thanks to having just raised my agility stat.
*Shwaak!*
“So you're someone who can already use a Player's power skillfully.”
A new figure appeared, slicing the Death Bite in two faster than I could have.
A young man openly carrying a real sword, something not easily seen in Korea.
‘He's finally here.’
Lee Seon-yul.
The NPC from the first chapter who helps you escape, with the backstory of being an 'existing Player'.
The game I cleared, 'End of Apocalypse', was set in a world where Players already existed.
The premise was that a large-scale phenomenon called 'Gate Opening' caused additional people to awaken, and the main character was one of them.
If the game and reality had truly merged, then that foundational worldview would have been applied as is.
Lee Seong-chan stammered in response.
“A-a Player…?”
“They appear frequently in web novels and webtoons, don't they? Another term is Hunter. If you're not familiar with that, think of them as ability users, superhumans, superheroes. No, superheroes are a bit different, aren't they? Anyway, you can think of it like that. I'm a Player, too.”
It was exactly the same.
The appearance, speech, and personality of the Lee Seon-yul I knew.
Even his lines from his first appearance.
The next thing he'd say to the people was definitely,
“Shatter your common sense. This world is no longer the peaceful one you once knew.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
It felt like an electric current had shot through me from head to toe.
A character from the game had appeared and was even reciting his story dialogue word for word.
“This is not an illusion.”
“Nor is it a dream you'll forget when you wake up.”
“This is the reality you now face.”
Even while explaining, Lee Seon-yul moved diligently, dealing with the surrounding beasts.
He was here one moment, there the next, and then somewhere else again.
Every time he appeared, a beast invariably lost its life.
[Unique Ability: Unwavering Courage (E)]
While watching him, I also checked Lee Seong-chan's information.
A new unique ability had been added where there should have been none.
Was that all?
His 'Strengthened Muscles' trait had changed to 'Strengthened Body'.
It was the effect of gaining a unique ability.
Strictly speaking, the new one was an upgrade, so it was a gain for him either way.
“He's taking down those monsters with a single strike…!”
“I-I've seen this in novels. Maybe we have some kind of power too?”
“Come to think of it, didn't that guy over there suddenly show incredible strength?”
“In cases like this, they say you should try shouting 'Status Window'.”
“Damn, I should've brought a camera and started streaming!”
Having regained a bit of composure, people began to assess the situation.
It was only natural for them to be hopeful, seeing something that had only existed in fantasy become reality.
But this world wasn't that kind.
Among the survivors here, only half—or perhaps even fewer—would have awakened as Players.
In the midst of it all, I could see some people who still hadn't grasped the situation. Those types were the most likely to die right from the start.
“Status Window!”
“Status!”
“What the hell is that? Status Window!!”
Sure enough, the people who shouted 'Status Window!' at someone's suggestion were quickly divided by joy and sorrow.
Those who could see a 'Status Window' and those who couldn't.
Many were indignant at the fact that they remained powerless even as the world turned upside down, but that didn't last long.
“Grrrrrr….”
Death Bites appeared from all directions.
On the path leading out of the apartment complex. Atop the commercial building. At the entrance to the underground parking garage.
Just as the main quest stated, this place was a danger zone.
Even Lee Seon-yul, who had been dealing with the beasts alone, wore a grim expression as their numbers swelled to the point where fighting alone was meaningless.
“G-Get inside the building!”
“Aaaargh!!”
Was it because they thought being inside a building was better than being out in the open?
Terrified by the sight of the beasts, someone screamed and ran into an apartment building, and those nearby immediately followed suit.
“Wait! Everyone! Going inside the building is not a good idea… Kgh!”
A panicked Lee Seon-yul tried to stop them, but it wasn't easy to hold back a crowd consumed by fear.
Nor could he forcibly stop the people who hadn't entered yet and proceed with his original plan.
Lee Seon-yul narrowed his eyes and, as if he had no choice, switched to a defensive stance, fending off approaching Death Bites until everyone was inside the building.
There's a gate nearby that summons these beasts.
Just as the quest and Lee Seon-yul had said, escaping this area rather than entering a building was the way to increase survival rates.
However, I chose to be swept up by the crowd and enter the building.
‘If I try to escape alone, I'll die before I even reach the safety zone.’
That was a fact I knew all too well, having tried to go it alone countless times only to die every single one.
We have to act as a group, if only to split their aggro.
I'm still weak. I can't forget that.
‘What I have to do.’
This first chapter revolves around the 'survivors' and 'Lee Seon-yul'.
Make Lee Seon-yul trust me.
And gain influence among the survivors.
I already have it all planned out in my head.
‘The next thing to do is….’
An apartment building with a staircase in the middle and one unit on each side.
They blindly climb the stairs.
To get away from the monsters, no matter what.
Without realizing that by entering the building, they had trapped themselves in a dead end.
*Kwaang!*
The procession, which had been simply following the person in front of them up the stairs, was suddenly split in two.
A beast burst out from a half-open door, biting the nearest person in the neck, who then started foaming at the mouth with blood.
“Grrgh… h…elp…”
The beast's yellow, gleaming fangs dug into his neck, crushing bone.
As crimson drops of blood formed and fell from the tips of the fangs that had pierced through the other side, the beast's even redder eyes turned towards its next prey.
“Uwaaaah!!”
“Kyaaaaaah!!”
The people, having lost all reason, began scrambling to get up the stairs.
“Don't push!”
“Then hurry up and move, you fucker!”
“Get out of the way!!”
People shoving each other, trying to get even a little further away from the beast.
Some tried to go down, but they were pushed by the crowd going up and forced to ascend against their will.
“Go up! Hurry!”
“B-But if we keep going up, we'll end up on the roof! It's a dead end!”
“If we don't go up, the monsters chasing us will kill us!”
“Kugh!”
Just then, another casualty occurred.
The already chaotic staircase devolved into pandemonium.
Lee Seon-yul was busy blocking the entrance from the outside, and with so many people crowded into this narrow space, it would be difficult for him to reach this far.
I couldn't hope for Lee Seon-yul's help.
But if I left the beast alone, there would be more victims, and the smell of blood would attract more Death Bites.
‘So, I have to kill it.’
The Death Bite was busy biting and shaking the corpse's neck.
It was completely defenseless, as if it had judged humans to be so far beneath it that they couldn't even fight back.
It was something I had always done.
The problem was, that was in a game.
Normally, the most I'd ever killed were passing ants or bugs that appeared in my house.
The thought of having to kill a beast myself, in reality, made my palms break out in a cold sweat.
I'd already killed the Death Bite that tried to pounce on Lee Seong-chan, but a fresh wave of tension washed over me.
‘Get a grip, Kim Se-hyeon.’
I took a deep breath and managed to take a step.
‘If this is really reality.’
I readjusted my grip on the knife and stealthily moved behind the Death Bite.
‘I have to become stronger than I ever was when I played the game.’
Starting with myself.
Not the physical part, but the mental one.
[Unique effect, ‘???’ helps you maintain your composure.]
Some power was covering my mental state, but I couldn't rely on it forever.
I calmly reassessed the current situation.
Because everyone else was moving around in chaos, it was possible for me to approach the monster from behind while concealing my presence.
Plus, since no one wanted to get near the monster, there was a fair amount of space around it.
Holding my breath, muffling my footsteps, I slowly closed the distance.
‘Now!’
I rushed at the Death Bite with all the speed I could muster.
“Krrk!?”
The Death Bite, which had been busy biting, tearing, chewing, and savoring, seemed to sense someone approaching and lifted its head.
But it was too late.
*Puuuk!*
The Death Bite letting go of the neck it was chewing on and me plunging the dagger into its head happened almost simultaneously.
Even though it was a surprise attack, it was more manageable than I'd thought.
I never imagined that killing the injured Death Bite before leaving and raising my stats would make such a big difference.
“Kraaaaah!”
It wasn't completely dead yet, as it struggled and shook its head.
A flailing foreleg grazed my cheek, leaving a cut.
Even so, it was on the verge of death. That must have been its final struggle, as it began to stagger.
I took out my other dagger and stabbed it hard in the neck.
[You have hunted a beast of a higher level than your current progress.]
[100 coins will be awarded.]