The Beginning of Hell

Jin-hwan grabbed me from behind and hauled, trying to drag me off the Giant Rat I was eating.

I didn't budge. I just kept working the fork.

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

The flesh of the Giant Rat filled my mouth, and the taste was enough to make every cell on my tongue leap to its feet and dance itself into a frenzy. It was like eating meat a master chef had minced a million times, worked down until it was impossibly tender — and underneath that softness ran a light, perfectly salted savor, as if someone had seasoned it with nothing more than a careful pinch of salt.

"Ssaem! Please, snap out of it!"

Smack! Smack!

Maybe Jin-hwan had figured out that pulling me wasn't going to work. He started slapping my cheeks hard with his open palms, trying to break the spell — but my feast showed no sign of ending. Anyone watching would have sworn I was possessed, inhaling some unbelievably delicious meal like a starving ghost. If someone had filmed this and uploaded it to YouTube, I was confident it would hit ten million views. No — a hundred million. That was the kind of mukbang this was.

Time slipped past.

Only after I had sucked down the Giant Rat's tail did the binge finally stop. That was when my mind began, slowly, to come back.

Bright red blood still dripped from the corners of my mouth and pattered onto the floor. My whole body was soaked in it.

What the hell did I just do?

I couldn't believe I had eaten the entire Giant Rat. While I sat there staring into space, a window bloomed in front of me.

Complete Predation?

Words I couldn't make sense of. But the agility increase — that felt exactly like becoming a character inside a game.

Damn it. What the hell is this? My lottery ticket!

The whole thing was so absurd I almost laughed. A few minutes ago I had been buzzing about cashing in a winning ticket. Now I was sitting here having eaten a Giant Rat. I couldn't begin to understand how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠any of this had happened.

"Haha… hahaha."

"Ssaem!"

The second I started laughing like an idiot, Jin-hwan went back to slapping my face.

Smack! Smack!

"Ssaem! Please, get a grip! Don't you dare go crazy and leave us behind!"

Smack!

"I'm fine. Quit hitting me."

I caught Jin-hwan's wrist, showed him I was still in one piece, and then touched my swelling cheek.

A hot, stinging burn.

This little shit didn't do that on purpose, did he? He probably had a decent pile of grudges stored up against me. But given the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠situation, it was more likely he hadn't — so I let it go.

"Ssaem! Are you actually okay? You ate that monster!"

"I'm fine, kid!"

The truth was, eating the monster wasn't even what occupied my head. What kept circling was whether I would still be able to cash in a first-prize lottery ticket. But thinking about a jackpot in the middle of this was a luxury. We had to get out of a situation where we could die at any second. That came first.

Damn it. What do we do?

Monsters appearing out of nowhere. That strange Administrator seemed to be the cause, but I had no way of knowing for sure.

"Ssaem, what do we do?"

"Sh-shouldn't we run too?"

"Just stay calm and let's take a look at the situ—"

I was trying to settle the kids, who were shaking so hard their teeth nearly rattled, when the screams reached us.

"Aaaagh!"

"Aah!"

"Kyaaaah!"

There were still plenty of Giant Rats inside the school. That much was obvious.

Then what about outside?

I looked toward the windows, and a scene unfolded that I couldn't have described if I'd tried. People were trying, by any means they could, to flee the school grounds. The Giant Rats chased them down as if they were hunting game, tearing out throats with their teeth in a relentless slaughter. The ones already down on the ground no longer moved — already dead. The athletic field, the flower beds, the road, the basketball court, the tennis courts — every inch of it was being painted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in human blood.

"Kh."

It was a sight I couldn't keep my eyes on. My head turned away on its own. Most of the students who had tried to get outside were probably among those corpses by now.

Damn it! What the hell is going on?

Judging by what I could see, the situation outside was worse than the classroom — never better. Cell phones couldn't even get a signal, and there were other monsters visible on the roads beyond the school. This clearly wasn't happening only here.

Goddamn it. Mom, Dad, my little brother — are they okay?

Looking at that scene, my family was the first thing that came to mind. The thought that something might already have happened to them would not leave my head.

The worse it gets, the colder I have to think. Stay cold. Getting worked up wouldn't solve a thing. Of course I was worried about my family. But I decided to focus on what was in front of me. That was the only way even a scrap of a solution might appear.

"Ssaem! What do we do now?"

"I don't know. Looking at what's out there, I don't think we can count on the police or the military."

"No way. The army wouldn't go down that easy, would they?"

"Whether they go down or not isn't the point. What if this is happening all over the country at the same time?"

Jin-hwan shut his mouth. He seemed to understand, at least a little. Even if the military was still standing, the odds they would come to a school first were vanishingly small.

"Damn it! Then what are we supposed to do?"

"We hold out here for now."

"Does sitting here actually fix anything?"

"It means we watch and wait. If we move blindly, it could get even more dangerous."

Even if no support ever came to this place, charging out on our own was a risk. Giant Rats overflowing beyond the school gates — and who knew what other monsters were out there. In a situation like this, understanding the lay of the land mattered more than anything.

There was, at least, one hopeful thing: all three of us had obtained classes. So we laid our abilities out in the open and checked them against each other.

Me. Class: Predator. I could raise my stats by eating monsters.

Jin-hwan. Class: Healer. He could use heal to treat wounds.

Min-cheol. Class: Gunslinger. He could kill monsters with a pistol.

Min-cheol's the most offensive of us, then. The fact that he could use a gun. As I'd already seen, that pistol packed enough power to drop a Giant Rat in a single shot.

If this were a game, Min-cheol would be the main DPS and Jin-hwan the support. Which makes me the tank?

Framing all of this in game terms was almost funny — but it also felt like the most accurate way to describe where we stood.

"For now, we wait here until things quiet down around us."

"Got it, Ssaem."

"Yes."

Once we shut the door, no more Giant Rats came near where we were. That was enough to justify the call.

A day passed.

Was there already no one left around the school? The screaming that had filled the air had died away. All that remained was the occasional cry of a few Giant Rats wandering the hallway outside.

"Ssaem. Are we just going to keep sitting here?"

"I don't know. I can't find an answer for how to call this."

Time kept moving, and no rescue team came. We couldn't wait here forever. But looking at what was outside, we couldn't leave either.

Goddamn it. What are we supposed to do?

Then a message appeared in front of us — the kind of message that would force a decision.

What is this?

A message announcing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a new kind of monster. And in the same instant, the world around us erupted into noise.

Grrrk!

Squeak! Squeak-squeak!

Crunch! Thud! Slash!

The sounds of the newly arrived Goblins fighting the Giant Rats carried all the way up to us. The Giant Rats that had been on the fourth floor seemed to have all poured downstairs. The noise of combat went on and on.

"Ssaem. That's another kind of monster breaking in, right?"

"Looks like it. Goddamn it. We can't even move, and this is driving me insane."

Goblins, slowly taking the building. I had no idea how strong they were, so for the moment we decided to watch and wait.

Respawn?

The monsters fighting each other didn't bother me. What came after did. A dungeon forming. Respawn. Respawn meant the dead ones would come back. In other words, if we sat still in this place, we would have to keep fighting monsters that refused to stay dead.

"Kids. I don't think it's safe to stay here. We get outside, however we have to."

"Y-yeah. We should, right?"

"Right. Get ready."

Min-cheol and Jin-hwan had sensed the danger too. We had gone a full day without a bite of food, and we were running on empty. But if we wanted to escape, now — while the monsters were busy killing each other — might actually be our best window. Miss this chance and we might never get another shot at leaving the main building. Rescue that might never come could wait. Getting out came first.

Let's see. Something I can use as a weapon…

I looked around and picked up weapons left behind by other students who had awakened classes of their own.

The message popped up, just as I'd expected. Class-exclusive weapons, then.

"Ssaem! Here, take this."

Min-cheol tossed something my way. The aluminum baseball bat I had brought in, claiming it was for "educating the kids." Easy to swing, solid aluminum, decent weight to it. I had no idea if it was actually suited to fighting monsters — but it beat empty hands.

"Alright. I'm opening the door."

The door eased open with a soft scrape. I checked the surroundings. Fortunately, there were no monsters nearby.

"Hoo. Let's go."

The hallway that greeted us outside was a ruin. Countless student corpses lay where they had fallen, bodies torn apart by Giant Rats. The bright red blood soaking the corridor brought the horror of it all rushing back.

We moved forward carefully through that scene. I took point as the tank, Predator class. Jin-hwan, the Healer who could treat wounds, held the middle. Min-cheol, the Gunslinger who could drop enemies fast, covered the rear. The best formation we could build out of the classes we had.

— Kieeeeeek!

— Grrrk!

From the floors below came the sound of Giant Rats and Goblins tearing into each other. Listening to that bloodbath, we made our way slowly toward the stairs.

Good. Nothing here…

Thinking there was nothing here was the mistake.

Something stepped into our path.

— Grrrk!

A single Goblin burst out in front of us. A small green-skinned monster, a dagger clenched in its fist, locking its eyes on us.

"Min-cheol! The gun!"

Min-cheol snapped into a firing stance and lined up on the Goblin. He had always been timid — but he clearly understood that in a situation like this, you pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet missed. The Goblin was too quick. And in that opening, it came straight at me.

It's slower than I expected?

The Goblin was definitely moving fast — much faster than a Giant Rat — and yet, somehow, it felt slower than it should have.

The agility boost from Complete Predation?

The stat I had gained by devouring the Giant Rat. The extra agility seemed to be making my own movements that much sharper.

I closed the distance first, stepping into the Goblin as it rushed me, and swung the baseball bat with everything I had.

Thud!

The bat caught it clean in the gut. The impact launched the Goblin all the way into the shoe cabinets, where it crumpled. I walked up to it and brought the bat down hard on its skull.

Crack.

The Goblin's head burst like a smashed watermelon, blood spraying in every direction.