Chapter 2

### Chapter 2: I Became a Game Character in the Apocalypse

Is he fearless?

Or is his bravado taking over his mind?

He’s thinking of coming out even after seeing the floor leader with his own eyes?

As he strode toward the floor leader, the floor leader, who had been looking around, pounced on him, known as a gym freak or "hel-chang."

Hel-chang flinched at the sight of the floor leader's face but quickly raised his guard and braced his legs.

The moment the floor leader was right in front of him, hel-chang kicked the floor leader's thigh without hesitation.

*Thud!*

“Ow... damn.”

That should have broken a bone, right?

The sound was so unpleasant that a shiver ran from my tailbone up to my neck.

The floor leader, who had fallen to the ground, grabbed hel-chang's sides with both arms.

“Aaah!”

The force was so strong that his fingers were digging into hel-chang's sides.

Hel-chang gritted his teeth and punched the floor leader's head.

*Punch! Punch! Punch! Punch!*

Despite the relentless punches to his thick arms, the floor leader didn’t seem to feel any pain.

Soon, he bit into hel-chang's lower abdomen and began to twist his head violently.

Like an alligator with its prey, he writhed and tore into hel-chang's stomach.

“Gah! Aaaah!!”

Hel-chang struggled to shake off the floor leader, but the floor leader, who had lost his mind, was no different from a wild beast.

I... I opened the door and rushed in at the sight.

I don’t know what made me do it.

No, my body reacted before I could think.

I swung the bat I was holding with all my might at the floor leader's head.

*Crack!!*

The heavy impact made my right arm tremble.

*Crunch... Crack!*

A normal person would have fallen, but the floor leader, bleeding from his head, glared at me.

He didn’t die.

Seeing that terrifying sight, my heart raced, and cold sweat formed on my forehead.

He’s not human.

This... this thing in front of me... is a monster.

I hit the floor leader's head repeatedly with all my strength.

I didn’t just swing; I gritted my teeth, determined to crush his head.

*Crack! Crack! Smack! Punch!*

“Jae-hyung! Jae-hyung!”

It was only after Jang Byung-chul grabbed my arms and pulled me away that I regained my senses.

My arms were shaking like a willow tree.

The intense pounding of my heart brought me back to my senses.

My breathing was rough, and my head was spinning.

My vision blurred, and a wave of nausea rose from within.

“Ugh!”

I ended up vomiting.

My legs gave out, and I supported myself with both hands on the floor, continuing to vomit.

“Are you okay?”

“What’s going on?”

“Call the police, call the police!”

The doors on the fourth floor, which had been tightly shut, opened, and students came out into the hallway.

They witnessed the gruesome scene and turned pale.

No one dared to approach.

Jang Byung-chul, the only one who maintained his composure, supported my arm and led me into room 401.

I was led by Jang Byung-chul and lay down on the bed.

My vision was blurry.

Was it because I was too tense?

It felt like a black curtain was spreading along the edges of my vision, making me increasingly anxious.

I... I killed someone.

No, was it even a person I killed?

What did I kill?

Did I kill it?

The moment I shattered the floor leader's head with the bat flashed in my mind like a Polaroid photo.

The brain matter oozing out of the skull and the splattered blood.

The floor leader's movements as he tried to tear into my flesh even as his head caved in.

The ringing in my ears, the alarm bells in my head, and the irregular pounding of my heart made my mind a chaotic mess.

I got up and walked to my desk like a ghost, holding my phone.

I didn’t know why, but I wanted to hear my mother’s voice.

- The call cannot be connected. Out of service area...

The message that the call couldn’t be connected repeated over and over.

I kept trying to call, my hands trembling.

“Jae-hyung.”

“Sob...”

“Jae-hyung!”

Jang Byung-chul shook my shoulder, and I dropped the phone I was holding.

Tears streamed down my face like a newborn baby.

An uncontrollable emotion squeezed my heart.

Jang Byung-chul pressed my shoulder and laid me down on the bed.

I lay there, sobbing bitterly.

“Jae-hyung, look at me. Look at me, you idiot!”

“Hyung...”

Jang Byung-chul stroked my cheek and spoke.

“Rest. Leave the rest to me.”

“Hyung... I... I killed someone. I... I killed someone.”

I couldn’t control my intense emotions.

I was heartbroken, wronged, angry, and scared.

Was it fear? Or guilt?

I couldn’t describe the emotion, and tears streamed down my face. My limbs trembled as if in an earthquake.

Jang Byung-chul held my hand and spoke.

“You did well. You did the right thing.”

“I... I killed someone. Sob...”

“No, you saved someone.”

I tried to calm my intense emotions with tears.

Wiping my tears with my right arm, I sobbed, and Jang Byung-chul covered me with a blanket.

He patted me like he was soothing a baby in a crib.

“Don’t worry, rest.”

“Hyung...”

“You did the right thing. You saved everyone out there.”

“What about hel-chang? You saw him, didn’t you? The floor leader bit him.”

“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it, just rest.”

Jang Byung-chul smiled faintly and lightly tapped my cheek.

I bit my lower lip, trying to calm down.

It felt like my 21 years of life, everything I had lived, had been negated.

* * *

*Chirp* *Chirp* *Chirp*

The warm breeze blowing in from the half-open terrace, the chirping of sparrows.

A peaceful morning, just like any other.

“Huh!”

I bolted up from my bed as if I had just had a nightmare.

Did I fall asleep crying?

My head throbbed.

The shocking scenes from yesterday flashed vividly in my mind.

‘Hyung Byung-chul, where is Hyung Byung-chul?’

I couldn’t see Jang Byung-chul.

As I put my feet on the floor to look for him,

*Squish.*

A damp sensation soaked my feet.

Looking down, I saw brown stains on the floor.

Dozens of footprints on the floor, a shoe rack and drawers blocking the door.

Five buckets were placed in the room, each filled with sloshing water.

And various snacks on the desk.

Seeing this, my body stiffened reflexively.

I felt a chill run through me.

Like a ghost, I followed the footprints on the floor with my eyes.

At the end of the trail, I found footprints leading to the terrace.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

Just by confirming the footprints, I was suddenly alert, and my heart raced.

I wiped my chest with my right hand and followed the trail to the terrace.

Two red handprints were visible on the terrace railing.

‘No way.’

Wiping the bloodstains on the railing, I felt the sticky, still-unclotted blood on my fingertips.

Seeing the blood on my fingertips, my mind went blank.

Tensing my trembling arms, I looked beyond the railing.

Looking down at the first floor, I saw a human shape lying on the ground through the thick fog.

The shape didn’t move.

I couldn’t clearly see the face, but the shirt he was wearing was etched in my memory.

“No... No...!”

The words “No” kept spilling out.

I had teased him about his favorite shirt, which he wore every day, just yesterday.

That green shirt, now torn to shreds, was fluttering in the wind.

* * *

How many days had passed?

The eerie wailing from the hallway was heard every day.

Zombies, monsters, ghouls.

Whatever they were, the names didn’t matter.

One thing was certain: the world I knew no longer existed.

The screams and pleas for help, the cries and shouts that used to be heard at night, were no longer audible.

I remained motionless in the room, like a dead mouse, like a living corpse.

The stench from my body was overwhelming, and my head was so greasy that I felt like I would go mad if I didn’t scratch it.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

I bit my nails and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The phone that wouldn’t ring, the rescue team that wouldn’t come.

I was being consumed by fear, loneliness, terror, and anxiety.

‘Water...’

Getting up, I walked to the desk. Only one bucket was left.

The snacks that had been piled up were almost gone.

I looked at the tally marks on the wall with dull eyes.

One, two, three, four...

It was already approaching two weeks.

During that time, I had rationed the food as much as possible, waiting for the rescue team.

But now, all that was left were 10 chocolate bars, 2 bags of snacks, and one bucket.

“Damn...”

Even if I rationed, the food would only last about a week.

If it had been two weeks, the rescue team should have arrived by now, right?

They must all be dead.

Yes, they’re all dead.

They’re all dead, and no one is left!

“Damn bastards... Damn bastards...”

I muttered curses, my fists trembling.

Would it be better to follow Jang Byung-chul?

Yes, let’s end it.

What’s the point of living?

A life of pain, let’s escape from it.

Getting up, I headed to the terrace, and the dried bloodstains on the railing caught my eye.

What was Jang Byung-chul thinking?

Knowing he was turning into a monster, he brought me the necessary water and food.

What was he thinking when he did that?

Did he want to save me?

Looking at Jang Byung-chul’s handprints, my heart softened.

I pressed my forehead and made a grimace.

I had cried so much in the past two weeks that I couldn’t cry anymore.

My emotional fluctuations worsened day by day, and the heat, which could reach 40 degrees Celsius, made it even harder to keep my wits about me.

I was in a sweltering heat without a fan, air conditioner, or cool water.

Looking at the endless fog, I made a resolve.

If the future ahead of me was only death, I wouldn’t go to the afterlife alone and miserable.

“I’ll kill them all.”

I picked up the bat from the floor and stared at the shoe rack blocking the door of room 401.

Ah, yes.

If I’m going, I should eat my fill.

I tore open the snacks and stuffed them into my mouth without hesitation, and I ate five chocolate bars.

I buried my face in the bucket and drank as much water as I could.

“Ah...”

I stuffed the remaining five chocolate bars into my pockets.

*Thud.*

Had the heat melted them? One chocolate bar slipped and fell under the bed.

“Damn...”

Muttering, I lay flat on the floor and looked under the bed. Along with the chocolate bar, a sheet of A4 paper caught my eye.

Unconsciously, I looked at the A4 paper and saw the densely written text.

Seeing the text on the paper, I felt my breath catch in my throat.

The bloodstained paper.

My name in the first sentence.

It was Jang Byung-chul’s will.

Like a ghost, I clutched the paper and the chocolate bar.

The first sentence of the will.

I swept through Jang Byung-chul’s will with my right hand.

I couldn’t calm my trembling lips.

Hyung, who had kept me alive for the past two weeks.

He had done his best for me until the end.

According to the will, he hadn’t been attacked after being bitten by a zombie.

It took 20 minutes to turn into a zombie.

During that time, he gathered food and prepared as much water as possible from the bathroom.

He sealed the door and covered the windows with newspapers before writing the will.

At the end of the will, it read:

The reason Jang Byung-chul and I became close, the reason we relied on each other even while making harsh jokes.

Jang Byung-chul’s hometown was Apgujeong, Seoul, and mine was Jamsil.