The End of the World

The world had ended completely.

On that day when ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the SSS-class Hunters, brimming with confidence that they would save the world, strode into the final scenario, every last one of them was annihilated. Humanity’s fate was sealed with the same period at the end of that sentence.

But before even half a day had passed, the sky turned blood-red and spat out another message.

Once the pinnacles of power vanished, order collapsed without resistance. The suppressed gates exploded everywhere, and the disasters that poured out destroyed everything on the surface with perfect equality. In a world stripped of its heroes, only wretched survivors like me remained.

Years passed like that. And now, even that was coming to an end.

“Haa… haa…”

The place where I stood was the southern district of Seongwon City, South Korea. A gate containing a zombie scenario had been here, of all places. On the day World End was triggered, that gate detonated and turned the whole area into a zombie apocalypse.

No rescue team ever came. Honestly, they probably couldn’t have. I’d never left the outskirts of Seongwon City, but I could still guess. Every other region had probably met a similar fate.

I’d been through a hell of a lot in that nightmarish stretch of time. Looters who’d become worse than beasts, the ugly betrayals of people I once trusted, and the meaningless deaths of comrades who’d shared every hardship with me.

And today, I was the only one left, waiting for the final curtain on my life.

I lay down in the corner of an empty warehouse, on a floor thick with dust. Food and water had run out long ago. All I had left was a single pistol, a few rounds of ammo, and one knife.

Outside, zombies that had grown terrifyingly strong over the years prowled like starving predators. There was no way a body that hadn’t eaten or drunk anything could defeat those monsters.

Just die, then.

I shoved the cold barrel into my mouth. The metallic taste stung my tongue. My finger curled around the trigger.

Die. If I die, it’s over.

If the zombies found me while I was still holding on, I’d end up just like them, wandering this world forever. That was worse than death. Even if they didn’t find me, I’d die slowly from hunger and thirst. I hated that idea even more.

I squeezed my eyes shut, ready to put a bullet through my skull… but memories from the past few years flashed through my mind like a panorama. Scavenging through trash heaps just to survive. The faces of countless people who had wanted to live even more desperately than I did.

“Huk… ugh… ughhh… ugh…”

I spat the barrel out and broke down sobbing. My tear ducts had dried up from dehydration, so nothing came out, but the wailing wouldn’t stop.

I wanted to live. I didn’t want to die. No matter how pathetic and miserable this life was, I didn’t want to die. Even this dog-shit existence was fine. Please, I just wanted to live.

That was when it happened.

I stared blankly at the floating letters for a moment. My head wasn’t working properly from lack of food and water, so I couldn’t read them clearly, but my instincts understood.

This might be a way to survive.

Clutching at straws, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“I accept… I accept.”

Whoosh—

A bizarre floating sensation hit me, as if my organs had flipped over once. The moment nausea rose from the feeling that the entire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world was being sucked away, the suffocating silence and the stench of rot vanished completely.

What I felt first instead was… that the air was unnaturally clean.

It was nothing like the dusty, corpse-rotting air of Seongwon City. This was the crisp, refreshing scent of grass and trees that seemed to purify me all the way to the depths of my lungs. And something tickled my ears.

Trickle, trickle… Was that running water?

My eyes snapped open.

“Haaah…!”

Right in front of me was water. A river. So clear it was almost transparent. Without a single thought, I plunged my head into the river and drank greedily.

It was cold. And sweet. This wasn’t stagnant, rotten filth. It was perfectly purified water that made every cell in my body feel like it was waking up just from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sensation sliding down my throat.

When I finally lifted my head after drinking like a madman, an unbelievable sight unfolded before me. Giant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trees soaring endlessly high, blue moss and nameless wildflowers carpeting the ground, and plump, luscious fruits hanging from every branch.

Just seconds ago I had been in a city of death crawling with zombies. Now I had been dropped into the middle of a forest overflowing with life.

That was when the system window appeared on my retina once more.

And in the corner of my mind, a timer began counting down.

[29:59]

I understood what this situation was. Right before the world ended, the Hunters had talked about awakening. They said if I wanted to understand what my ability was, I should think of it like this.

So…

“Status window?”

The letters floating before my eyes. After drinking the water, my mind had cleared a little. I read through the messages properly.

In short, I could stay here for a set amount of time. I had to reach the exit before that time ran out, or I would die.

I summoned the map in front of me. It felt like I could do it instinctively. A translucent map appeared in the corner of my vision. Along with the surrounding terrain, there was a single blinking dot hundreds of meters away. That must be the exit.

I got up in a hurry. If I had an ability that could send me to a place like this, then the message saying I could die was probably true too.

First, I checked the area for safety. I should have done that before drinking, but I hadn’t been in my right mind. Fortunately, the surroundings looked completely safe.

I inspected what I currently possessed. One pistol, one rusty dagger, and two magazines. Since I had no idea where this was, I couldn’t be sure these would be enough to keep me safe. But there was nothing I could do about it. I had to move.

I headed first to the nearest fruit tree. A ridiculously sweet fragrance wafted from it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was safe to just eat fruit from a place like this, but that ship had already sailed the moment I drank the river water.

The message had said the system sent me here to fill whatever I lacked most. In that case, these fruits had to be safe to eat. What I needed most right now was food.

I plucked one and bit into it.

Crunch.

Sweet flesh that tasted like a mix of peach and mango burst across my tongue. The sense of satisfaction was so intense it made me dizzy. I rolled my eyes back and swallowed three fruits in quick succession before I could finally regain my senses.

“Huh?”

At the same time, I felt something strange. My body had grown stronger. It wasn’t just from eating food—I could feel some kind of power contained in the fruit changing me. A little more vitality. A sense of fulfillment.

My body had grown stronger. Elasticity returned to muscles that had grown weak from starvation. My blurry vision became magically clear. The body that had been steeped for years in zombie toxins and dust felt like it had been purified in an instant.

This was different. It wasn’t an ordinary fruit.

“…A bag. I should have brought a bag.”

An enormous sense of regret washed over me after the satisfaction. To forget one of the most basic rules of being a survivor… Even though the situation had been desperate, I bitterly regretted leaving that torn, worn-out backpack abandoned in the corner of the warehouse. To have all these precious things right in front of me with no way to carry them.

But I was a survivor who had scraped by at the bottom for years. If I didn’t have a bag, I could just make one.

Without hesitation, I took off my outer jacket. It was a ragged jumper full of tears and grime, but it would work as a makeshift bundle. I tied the sleeves tightly to create a temporary sack, then began plucking every fruit I could reach from the tree and stuffing them inside.

[25:21]

I checked the timer in my head. There were still plenty of tempting resources around, but greed was poison. The priority was to reach the exit and assess the situation.

I clutched the heavy fruit-filled jacket bundle tightly against my chest. Then, with caution, I took my first step toward the green exit marked on the map.