Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: 3 Days of Vacation
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Trapped at home, Dokgo Hyun had been watching TV for hours.
He had actually tried to log into the internet on his PC to gather information, but a warning message popped up.
It didn't specify what would happen if he broke the rule, but the message was so coercive that Dokgo Hyun turned off the PC.
Instead, he switched on the TV.
'I have to gather information somehow.'
The breaking news was buzzing about the "Blue Dome phenomenon."
It seemed they were calling the blue barrier that had enveloped the school a "Blue Dome."
Dokgo Hyun flipped through the news channels.
"This Blue Dome phenomenon is occurring worldwide..."
"No scientist has been able to explain it..."
"It happened in hospitals, high schools, gyms, restaurants, department stores, military bases—everywhere..."
"Ah! We have breaking additional news! Some survivors have been allowed to return home early! We've reached one of them!"
That piqued Dokgo Hyun's curiosity too.
"Don't be shocked! This tipster was actually inside a Blue Dome! They say they can communicate via personal broadcasting equipment. Let's connect now!"
The studio announcer shouted in a tense voice.
"This is an HBS exclusive live broadcast! Ah! We've got the connection!"
The screen switched to a home interior.
A young man exhausted and haggard sat there.
He wore a navy-blue department jacket from Korea University's Economics Department, splattered with bloodstains here and there.
The young man's face was pale.
"Hello."
The college student struggled to open his mouth.
He spoke toward the webcam.
"My name is Lee Tae-wook, and I'm one of the players in the tutorial that was underway at Korea University."
Lee Tae-wook trembled as he spoke, and the announcer asked,
"Korea University is still confirmed as a Blue Dome-affected area. Are you saying you came out from there?"
"Y-yes. I was able to leave early during the tutorial b-by dropping out."
"S-sorry to interrupt. Tutorial? Dropout? Could you explain those terms?"
"......"
The reporter asked, but Lee Tae-wook suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
'Hmm. So dropouts happen in other tutorial zones too.'
The difficulties varied, but there had to be similarities.
"H-huh... hngh."
"Um, Mr. Lee Tae-wook? Are you okay?"
The HBS news anchor asked.
Lee Tae-wook fidgeted anxiously before finally speaking.
"S-sorry. A s-system message... the system message is warning me..."
"Yes?"
"It says if I say more, I could die—ah, aaah! Too late...!"
Shiiik!
Behind Lee Tae-wook, a masked man—the Total Administrator—opened a portal and appeared.
"For a dropout, you sure talk a lot, huh?"
"A-ah...!"
Crack!!
The young man's neck snapped.
"Gasp?!"
"Kyaaah!!"
Screams erupted from the news studio staff all around.
"Ahem. First time on official media—might look a bit weird."
The Total Administrator muttered, smoothing his hair.
"Ehem, hello. I'm the Total Administrator of the Apocalypse Game Management Bureau."
Snap!
With a flick of his fingers, every TV channel worldwide switched to the HBS news channel.
"Viewers watching this must have tons of questions. But it's too early to explain everything... however!"
Whoosh!
The Total Administrator held up three fingers.
"Just three more days! Wait three days, and we'll explain your situation and such. Avoid contact with tutorial survivors as much as possible. Everyday interactions are fine, but no broadcasts like this or police investigations to hassle us! Ahem! That's it!"
Flash!
The Total Administrator said his piece and vanished, and the TVs returned to normal.
After that, only chaotic scenes from various news channels played, so Dokgo Hyun turned off the TV.
"Sigh..."
Maybe casually revealing yourself as a player got you a warning followed by death.
And as expected, a message arrived.
'Damn.'
With no choice, Dokgo Hyun showered, changed clothes, sat checking the clock, and rested.
Then, past midnight.
Now he could use [3-Minute Regression] up to three times again.
Dokgo Hyun confirmed only that much, set an alarm for 6 a.m., and lay down to sleep.
There was nothing more he could do anyway.
Dokgo Hyun memorized the rules and bolted out of the house.
Taat!
With his enhanced body, Dokgo Hyun's running speed was enough to astonish an Olympic track athlete.
Ignoring traffic lights, he sprinted to the hospital where his brother was.
"Huff, huff!"
He ran nonstop until his lungs burned.
The moment he rounded the corner to the hospital.
Thud.
Dokgo Hyun collapsed to his knees without realizing it.
The six-story general hospital was drenched in red everywhere.
'Covered in blood.'
It looked as if the hospital building itself had been in a massive accident, with blood smeared all over the interior and exterior.
"N-no way."
Even Dokgo Hyun, who rarely despaired, was stunned by the horrific sight.
Meanwhile, paramedics tried to enter but shook their heads and gave up.
"No good. Can't go in like this. Everyone stand by!"
"Why is blood still pouring from the entrance?!"
"Ugh, it's reeking of blood. Urp, blegh."
Even the paramedics couldn't move.
Looking up at the building, Dokgo Hyun spotted a marker visible only to Players.
An hour passed.
The blood flowing from the hospital entrance finally stopped.
Finally, paramedics entered, but...
'Wiped out.'
There were no survivors inside the hospital.
Not a single one.
There weren't even many corpses.
The few bodies that remained were in gruesome, horrific states, some even showing signs of being eaten.
The bigger mystery was why blood had gushed from the building for a full hour.
The paramedics found several massive "cocoons" scattered throughout the hospital, and they had been the source of the blood.
For unknown reasons, the cocoons stopped pulsing and died after expelling all their blood.
What the cocoons were, or what creature they belonged to, couldn't be determined.
One unsettling detail: some cocoons were empty, as if something had burst out from inside.
"Sorry, Hyun-a."
Baek Seonghui shed tears in front of Dokgo Hyun.
She had promised to deliver the elixir to his brother but failed.
"Don't cry. It's not your fault."
Dokgo Hyun had heard the story from Baek Seonghui.
Right after choosing to drop out, she was teleported home.
Her shocked parents bombarded her with questions—are you okay? What happened?—but the system message demanded silence.
Baek Seonghui showed the system message to her parents.
Even as a dropout, displaying system messages received to third parties seemed allowed.
In particular, the mark on the back of her left hand had faded but not vanished completely.
Thus, Baek Seonghui desperately convinced her near-fainting parents by showing them the message amid their worry and curiosity.
Then, she headed to the hospital Dokgo Hyun mentioned, hoping to deliver the elixir as soon as possible.
But the system blocked her from leaving until the next morning.
With no choice, she waited wide-eyed until 6 a.m. and rushed to the hospital.
She arrived around 6:20 a.m. and found the blood-soaked building.
She spotted Dokgo Hyun nearby, dazed and lost.
Baek Seonghui cried, comforting Dokgo Hyun and apologizing profusely.
She tried to return the elixir, but Dokgo Hyun told her to keep it just in case and comforted her.
"Stop crying now. It's really not your fault, Seonghui."
Dokgo Hyun said with a still-blank expression.
"I kind of expected this to some extent. I had a feeling it would end like this."
Dokgo Hyun's dark eyes deepened.
"Now it's certain."
Dokgo Hyun resolved himself.
'I'll go all the way to the end of this death game. And if possible, kill everything responsible for this mess.'
Knowing Dokgo Hyun's determination, Baek Seonghui silently shed tears.
Three days passed.
The world had been in utter chaos over those three days.
Vacation Day 1.
Ignoring the Total Administrator's warning, some police and media personnel sought out tutorial survivors.
The survivors refused all investigations and interviews.
But some cops and reporters forced their way in, and without exception, they all met their end.
The Total Administrator's clones hunted them down one by one, or bizarre-looking supervisors appeared to kill them.
Occasionally, the Total Administrator appeared on TV and yelled,
"Argh! I said don't mess with the Players! Is that so hard?!"
After that, those trying to interview or interrogate Players dwindled.
On the flip side, sleazy reporters learned: "Don't force entry, and you won't die," spawning a new breed.
Vacation Day 2.
Some Players, drunk on skill power, committed acts of terror.
In Korea, a Player with fire skills went on a rampage in Daehak-ro, firing off spells indiscriminately.
"Uahaha! Amazing! Burn to death!! Kuhahaha!!"
Cars, buildings, people—everything ignited.
Flash!
The Total Administrator appeared behind the rampaging Player.
"There's always one like this."
Crack!
The Total Administrator snapped his neck in one go and vanished.
Vacation Day 3.
Day 3 was relatively quiet compared to Day 2.
World leaders hurriedly exchanged views; intelligence agencies shared data with allies and monitored enemy states.
In the process, some Players were killed in half-forced interrogations.
Conversely, interrogators died at Players' hands too.
Observing the world, Dokgo Hyun realized.
'The goal was to let the trashy atmosphere fester over these three days.'
Paradoxically, the Total Administrator reining in rampaging Players might have been to keep the world in a trashy state without total collapse.
The reason...
'To use this trashed world itself as the game stage? Can't think of any other purpose.'
Thus ended the far-from-ordinary three-day vacation.