Episode 4
The sound of twisting bones rang through the empty hallway.
Choi Ji-hyuk grabbed the tangled hair of the rushing corpse like a net.
He then threw the body, which he grabbed with his teeth clenched, toward another body running from the other side.
“Eeee!”
The body was strangely groaning, and Choi Ji-hyuk grabbed my hand and ran toward the health center.
“Hold your breath and wait until I come.”
“Hang on. Argh!”
Choi Ji-hyuk opened the door and threw me inside.
Before I could do anything, the door slammed and closed. He stood in front of the door so that I could not come out and began to beat up the bodies rushing in.
A squeaky, dull sound was heard clearly.
I had no choice but to panic.
What are you trying to do?
Choi Ji-hyuk was strange.
There were definitely several knives that I used often, but why didn’t I take them out?
“What are you doing? Hide!”
At Choi Ji-hyuk’s shout, I came to my senses.
Two bodies were sticking to the window and hitting their heads.
I felt numb.
Five bodies were already flocking to the hallway and sticking to Choi Ji-hyuk.
And Choi Jihyuk right now… It’s weird, but…
He didn’t seem to have any ability.
I looked around quickly.
All I have now was a handbag and simple belongings I brought when I went out.
It was a fight where the results were too obvious.
The corpses rushed to Choi Ji-hyuk like a flock of zombies, and he was breathing hard from trying to deal with them.
At this rate, I didn’t know if he could live.
Tears came close to falling out from fear.
However, aside from being scared, I had to live first.
It was okay to think later about why this happened to me. So…
I quickly opened the cabinet.
There was a pair of crutches in the cabinet.
I first grabbed the pair of crutches and rummaged through the drawers inside the cabinet.
If this was really Choi Ji-hyuk’s world on the screen, there might be items that could be used in these medical supplies rooms.
‘Purification Syringe (A)’
It’s all about clearing the dungeon.
‘There it is!’
A small hologram of letters flashed on the syringe indicating that the item was clear.
“Thank god!”
But I’m too scared to be relieved.
Clang-!
Eventually, one of the corpses broke the window and entered.
Gooey, black blood dripped to the floor, along with the shards of glass.
It was not human blood.
I grabbed all the five syringes in the drawer.
Then, I ran with the crutches towards the corpse that was moving stupidly.
I’ve never hit anyone, but now I look like I’m going to die, so what’s the problem?
Clack!
The crutches were shoved into the corpse’s throat. Then, I put my weight on it and pressed it down.
The corpse made a bizarre sound and twisted its body violently, and I threw something heavy from beside me with all my might.
Fortunately, it was hit in the head and fell down.
I immediately opened the door that Choi Ji-hyuk had been blocking.
“Are you crazy?”
“The window is broken anyway, so if you stay there, I’ll die!”
Choi Ji-hyuk looked at me with a puzzled face, then trampled on the head of a corpse that was rushing towards me and looked around quickly.
Fortunately, there were no more dead bodies.
To be honest, there were a lot of things I wanted to ask.
Normally, he would have wiped everything out in one room, but why couldn’t he do it now?
But now was not the right time, so I put up with it for now.
“This.”
I handed the syringe I found in the health room to him.
Of course, he looked at me with a puzzled face.
“I found it.”
“…”
“You.”
~*~
The corpses on the first floor were strangely quiet, apparently.
Choi Ji-hyeok shoved a large body into a small warehouse in the corner on the first floor.
The warehouse we found had no windows and, above all, had iron doors.
It seemed like no one was going to come in.
Choi Ji-hyuk blocked the door to the shelf in the warehouse so no one could enter, and I squatted in the dark corner and looked at the floor.
He glanced at me like that and also sat down on the floor as if he was going to collapse.
His breathing was hard.
I bit my lip.
In any case, Choi Ji-hyuk was the same person in front of me and on the screen.
Besides, it was evident that I wasn’t just sleeping and dreaming.
There was no way a dream could be this lively, and I knew very, very vaguely that Choi Ji-hyuk’s world might’ve actually existed.
Originally, whenever I tried to find out about this broadcast, an error occurred on the Internet and questions did not go up, or if I showed the screen to other people, it just looked like an ordinary card game.
From then on, I had already guessed that something was wrong.
I took a deep breath and turned on the phone light to illuminate Choi Ji-hyuk.
“What are you doing now?”
Then, Choi Ji-hyuk grabbed my wrist and gave me a scary expression.
He was as rough as seen from the screen.
In reality, he’s even rougher.
“I picked up an emergency kit at the health room earlier. You’re hurt.”
“…”
At my words, Choi Ji-hyuk frowned and gently let go of my wrist.
His strength was so much that my wrists throbbed a bit.
“Can you explain what happened?”
I asked, stroking my wrist.
And I avoided Choi Ji-hyuk’s gaze.
It was so dark in front of me that I felt like I couldn’t see anything.
“It is the first destruction to imprison this area now.”
“…”
I doubted my ears. What did that mean?
“There is no way to survive out there as a normal person who hasn’t even awakened yet.”
I stared blankly at Choi Ji-hyuk.
The Choi Ji-hyuk I knew was awakened.
He was the one with the ability to fight monsters.
He was the one who just flew through the air and slaughtered a monster the size of a house with a single blow, but he’s not awakened?
It’s hard to believe, but as I pondered more, I understood what I’d found strange.
He didn’t have any of the items I sponsored for him.
Choi Ji-hyuk, who frantically rushed to level up when he saw a monster, ran away this time.
So, there was something wrong with Choi Ji-hyuk’s situation right now.
“There are only two ways to survive in the first dungeon.”
Choi Ji-hyuk said while spreading his two fingers.
“One, if you find a safe area shelter that looks like a box, install it and go in. It is limited and difficult to find, but the second is…”
Through the door, we heard the screams of corpses seeking us.
“Escape to the low-level dungeon installed there. I’ve heard that there are people who have survived like this.”
A bitter look appeared on Choi Ji-hyuk’s face.
Even after hearing that explanation, I had no idea what the situation was.
I bit my lip and asked him carefully.
“Hey, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“So I’m back now, ha… It’s okay. I didn’t think you would understand.”
Choi Ji-hyuk said with a laugh as if he was frustrated.
I was a little offended by his reaction, but I was determined not to fall for it.
Anyway, Choi Ji-hyuk was more familiar with this situation than me.
And that wasn’t the point right now.
“To be honest, I don’t even know what’s going on right now, but I’ll try to accept it anyway.”
I took a deep breath and pulled out a syringe from my bag and showed it to Choi Ji-hyuk.
“But I found something like this. I can use it, right?”
At my words, Choi Ji-hyuk made a hard face and frightenedly snatched the syringe that was in my hand.
And as if warning me, he locked me in between the wall and said threateningly.
“Don’t even think about it. We will wait patiently here and leave.”
“…Isn’t this a trap?”
I looked straight at Choi Ji-hyuk, who was imprisoning me, and said,
“The clear condition is to survive within the time limit.”
“…”
I took the syringe from Choi Ji-hyuk’s hand again.
What I felt when I looked at his world on the screen was that this world was quite messed up.
“I told you to survive until the evil energy evaporates.”
I could see Choi Ji-hyuk’s eyes swaying slightly.
“And the name of this item is Purification Syringe, and the purpose seems too obvious. Isn’t that what it means to clean something up? If not, then why is this syringe coming out?”
I inhaled slowly.
To be honest, I was terribly afraid.
I was scared when I saw it in the video, but what would it be like to see it in real life?
This person has been going through all those horrible moments all alone and constantly.
It was hard to deny now.
The world in which I was sitting and watching exists.
And this is reality.
So I forcibly pretended not to be afraid.
In any case, in the present situation, I was a burden to him.
‘Because I don’t have any powers.’
“What are you going to do?”
Choi Ji-hyuk turned his head slightly away from me and spoke slowly.
I jumped up from my seat and made a face as if I had decided something and said.
“Syringe.”
“What?”
“Give me a syringe.”
He clenched his teeth and looked at me, and I stared at Choi Ji-hyuk’s handsome face.
I knew that expression.
That human being is really…
“If you’re thinking of going out alone, you’d better come back neatly.””
“I guess you’re mistaken”.
I don’t know why either.
But I knew this one thing.
I made it clear with my own mouth.
“You said you’re not awakened yet. Then aren’t you in the same position as me?”