Viewer Count: 3
[START]
BJ Kang Minsu – Viewer Count: 3
Ding.
My knees nearly buckled.
The window that had been filled with nothing but garbled text until just moments ago suddenly sharpened into focus.
And below it, sentences that looked like they were written by actual people began scrolling up at a frantic pace.
And then another line popped up.
I froze solid.
"W-what... what is this?"
My voice cracked.
My tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth—words barely came out.
The rock lizard was still scraping at the floor behind me, but I couldn't tear my eyes from that chat window.
People.
Real people.
Not ghosts or hallucinations—just casual chatter from actual humans responding in real time.
"No way..."
I couldn't even force a dry laugh, just shook my head.
"This can't be happening, right?"
The moment I muttered that, the chat reacted instantly.
Goosebumps raced from the crown of my head to my toes.
This was real.
They could hear me.
A chill prickled my nape.
Cold sweat dripped down.
Those few lines floating in the corner of my vision felt more real than the damp cave around me.
If someone out there was really watching me, that meant they could see every bit of my pathetic gasping struggle.
If this was a hallucination, it was way too detailed—and if it wasn't, that was even worse.
The window hovered there as if it belonged.
The rock lizard's claws scraped closer again.
Scrape.
Scrape scrape.
I whipped around in shock.
It was still crawling toward me, body low, yellow eyes glinting in the dark.
And even amid all that, the chat didn't stop.
"It's not that I'm not keeping distance..."
I trailed off.
I didn't have the mental bandwidth to explain.
I'm scared.
Just plain scared.
But the chat kept blabbing on regardless.
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
No point saying anything—they wouldn't believe me.
Hell, I barely believed it myself.
I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that what I was seeing and hearing was real.
And that just pissed me off more.
I'm on the verge of dying here, but to them, this is just some entertaining stream.
Looking straight ahead freezes my legs when I see its face. That's why I keep sidestepping, backing up, hugging the walls.
But before I could even spit all that out, the rock lizard lunged.
"Agh!"
I screamed and threw myself backward.
My heel slipped on a wet rock. My body lurched back, nearly toppling over.
Whoosh.
Its tail whipped right past my nose.
The scrape of scales grazed my ears. A cold gust felt like it sliced my throat.
I sat there on my ass, dazed, staring up at it.
Missed again.
Again.
The chat exploded.
"No, that's not..."
I started to protest out of frustration, but even I couldn't finish the sentence.
It did look weird from my perspective too.
I'd just flopped back to save my skin, but the result made it look totally intentional.
The rock lizard glared at me from its landing crouch.
This time, it didn't charge right away.
Its forked tongue flicked at the air.
Its yellow eyes trembled faintly.
Why's it doing that?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the corner of my vision grew heavy.
Actually, the air felt off.
My throat tightened when I tried to breathe. Fine goosebumps prickled my skin. It felt unpleasant, like someone was staring daggers at me from right behind.
I instinctively hunched my shoulders.
The rock lizard flinched at the exact same moment.
"Huh?"
I blinked.
It froze mid-lunge, front paw half-raised.
The chat scrolled again.
I wanted to ask the same thing.
Why'd it stop?
The thing that had been gunning for my throat moments ago was now just panting, like it'd hit an invisible wall.
I swallowed hard.
The taste of blood filled my mouth again.
The chat slowed for a beat, then picked up.
Reading those lines made me freeze even harder.
I wasn't imagining it.
They saw the lizard stop too.
Confirming that didn't reassure me, though.
It scared me more.
It meant something I didn't know was really there.
"S-stay back..."
I muttered in a trembling voice, and its eyes shook even harder.
No.
This wasn't because of me.
Definitely not.
But things kept unfolding that way anyway.
Pattern reading? What patterns?
The only thing I'm reading is the exit.
I gripped the wall and slowly stood. The rock lizard still couldn't charge straight at me.
My knees shook violently.
My calves cramped like seized muscles. One wrong push and I'd collapse.
That brief gap was precious.
I had to run.
No stopping this time.
Without looking it dead-on, I confirmed its position with my peripheral vision and sidestepped.
The chat scrolled again.
Stop making it sound so pro.
I was just terrified of facing it head-on.
The rock lizard let out a low growl.
This was my full escape window.
I gritted my teeth and spun around.
Thud thud.
I ran again.
I heard it chasing from behind. But it couldn't pounce on my back like before. A beat slower.
I had no idea why it was a beat slower, and I didn't want to know.
All I could do was exploit the gap.
The passage split.
Left was darker. Right looked a bit wider.
No time to think.
I veered right.
Its claws raked the wall behind me.
The chat shook too.
No.
I just didn't want to die in a tight spot.
Panting, I rounded another corner.
My lungs burned inside.
Sensation had dulled in my soles. I had no clue what I was stepping on anymore—just gritting through to avoid tripping.
The chat kept yapping above me.
In the zone? Hell no.
Talking would've wasted precious air.
I gulped air and plunged into the bent corridor.
And right then, a massive black iron door loomed suddenly in front of me.
It nearly sealed off the passage's end.
Faint red light leaked from the cracks.
"What... what is that?"
I instinctively slowed.
Behind me, the rock lizard was speeding up again.
Its claws pounding the floor grew louder. It was down to a few steps.
Ahead: unknown iron door.
Behind: jaws about to rip me apart.
The red glow from the door licked across the floor.
Like the entrance to a long-sealed tomb.
Still, better than the fishy breath closing in from behind.
At least it hadn't bitten me yet.
The chat was buzzing excitedly.
My breath burned at my throat, legs wobbling on the verge of collapse over and over.
I couldn't even catch my breath, but they were chattering like it was a show.
It felt unfairly pathetic.
Gasping, I looked up at the iron door.
No handle—just rust-caked edges crusted with dried dirt.
The bottom was layered with old scratch marks. Like something huge had been dragged here long ago... or thrashed to escape.
I knew at a glance.
Not a good door.
The red light seeping from the cracks screamed "don't open."
But behind me was an even worse maw—one I definitely shouldn't open either.
When both choices suck, you don't even get to pick the lesser evil.
Your body just goes with whatever hits first.
The rock lizard roared.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
And hurled myself at the iron door.
To survive.