Chapter 1

1====================

Prologue

When viewed from the vast universe, Earth is but a speck of dust.

No matter how much the humans living there fly or crawl, even if they develop the technology to freely travel the universe over an infinite span of time, the fact remains that they are incomparably small compared to the whole.

And right now, a massive will to unify the vast universe into a single order has begun to reach this tiny world.

@

The night of civilization is never dark. And it is not quiet either. Countless people, each with their own reasons, venture out into the night, gathering and forming crowds.

The night is no longer a time for sleeping.

In some ways, it is even more chaotic than the day, as it is right now.

"Let go, you bastard!"

"Bastard? This lunatic has completely lost it!"

A group of people is blocking the middle of the road.

Due to the crowd surrounding them in a circle, the scene inside was not clearly visible, but it was obvious that a fight had broken out after they had been drinking.

With so many people crowding such a narrow road, it was awkward to pass through.

A young man was in the same situation.

"Hmm..."

The continuous stream of curses indicated that a quick resolution was unlikely. He clicked his tongue and turned his steps toward a side alley. It would be a bit of a detour, but far more convenient than pushing through the crowd.

As soon as he entered the alley and took a few steps, the sounds grew distant, and the light gradually dimmed, making it dark.

A typical scene of a "dangerous back alley" as often described by adults.

However, he was not concerned. South Korea is one of the safest countries in terms of security, and this city is a clean area far from crime.

It would be strange for a physically healthy young man of his age to be afraid of entering an alley.

As the young man continued walking, he finally reached a place where even the streetlights did not reach, completely dark.

Creak... Creak... Creak...

The strange sounds made him stop in his tracks. He quietly observed the front. In the darkness, a pale outline was continuously moving, as if something was being eaten in a crouched position.

Crunch! Crunch!

Suddenly, the sound grew louder. The movements of the unknown shape became more intense, and the sound of something being torn with teeth could be heard.

The atmosphere was bizarre in every way. It was the kind of situation where even the bravest person would sense an ominous presence and quietly leave.

However, the young man acted in the opposite way. After briefly stroking his chin, he took a step forward.

At that moment,

"Grrrr... Grrrr!"

The mysterious shape stood up. At the same time, the identity of the object on the ground became clear. It was a person. The slowly spreading liquid on the ground was unmistakably red blood.

He was not mistaken. The pungent smell that had been lingering was the unmistakable smell of blood, which he had smelled many times before.

"Cannibals don't tear people apart like this."

"Grrrr...!"

As he muttered, a growling sound like that of a beast echoed through the alley. The head of the man who had been tearing the corpse turned toward the young man with a strange, cracking sound.

Pale skin, fish-like grayish-white eyes, and abnormally protruding dark blue veins all over his body.

It was clearly not a normal human.

It was a sight that even the young man, who prided himself on having experienced countless battles, had never seen.

Or rather, he had seen something similar, but only in media, not in reality.

"Zombie?"

"Kyaahh!"

As if responding to his question, the man, who had been tearing the corpse, started a fierce charge toward the young man, swinging his limbs wildly.

His appearance was terrifying. In such a horrifying situation, anyone would have screamed and collapsed, but the young man was not at all flustered.

He simply touched his waist as if out of habit and then quickly drew his other hand downward.

A purple flash appeared. Simultaneously, the man charging at him was split from his head to his crotch like a bamboo stalk.

The man, now split into two pieces, rolled on the ground, spewing blood and internal organs without a sound. The alley was quickly filled with the thick smell of blood.

Surprisingly, the fallen corpse was not dead. Even with his body split in two and his internal organs spilling out, one part was still struggling and moving toward the young man.

Thinking it was more tenacious than a zombie, the young man stepped back slightly and swung his hand again.

At a speed that could not be seen with the naked eye, thin, thread-like beams of light instantly cut the struggling corpse into dozens of pieces.

After twitching for a while, the corpse finally stopped moving. The young man, who had been watching, noticed something and moved toward the gruesome remains.

Squish-

An unpleasant sound was heard. Something was wriggling in the middle of the chopped-up flesh and the pool of blood. A grotesque creature, resembling a leech, about the size of a fist.

The sight of the terrifying bug was enough to make one's skin crawl. The young man slowly squatted down and poked it with his finger.

The leech-like creature shrank suddenly as if startled.

Snap!

Then, suddenly, it shot toward the young man's face at an incredible speed, like a spring. The young man, startled, dodged the bug. The bug, which had cut through the air, fell to the ground behind him.

An ordinary person would have found it difficult to avoid. The thought of what the bug might have done if it had touched his face was unpleasant.

"...Scared me."

He, too, had a normal sense of aesthetics. When a disgusting bug jumps at your face, it's natural to be startled, whether it's a threat or not.

With a growing sense of annoyance, the young man quickly grabbed the bug that had fallen behind him. He could feel the disgusting creature trembling in his grip.

It was repulsive no matter how he looked at it. What kind of creature was it?

"Radioactive contaminated parasite? An alien life form that fell from a meteorite? A genetically modified bug that escaped from a lab?"

The young man examined the bug in his hand and spoke to it.

"What are you? Can you speak? Or can you read minds? Telepathy?"

Wriggle... Wriggle...

Of course, the creature, which had no mouth, could not answer. At that moment, the young man's gaze turned to the inside of the alley.

The corpse that had been eaten by the zombie opened its eyes. Its head turned toward the young man with a cracking sound. Its eyes were grayish-white, like the zombie he had just dismembered, and blue veins were spreading from its neck to its face.

"Grrrr..."

The corpse raised its hand and flailed. If left alone, it would stand up and charge at him.

"Shoulder, I think."

The young man stretched out his hand, holding the bug, toward the corpse that was just starting to rise.

A purple flash appeared at the tip of his finger, and a beam pierced the right shoulder of the rising corpse.

Blood spurted out as if it had been hit by a bullet. The corpse fell to the ground like a broken doll, as if it had never moved. Unlike the first corpse, it did not move again.

The young man looked at the wriggling, disgusting bug in his hand and fell into thought.

It seemed to be a kind of parasite.

Its position was near the right shoulder, more precisely, just below the collarbone. It seemed to feed on the corpse through the host, replenishing its energy and reproducing at the same time. It might lay eggs, or split itself, or release a fluid that rapidly grows into a new organism.

If his guess was correct, a zombie outbreak, like in the movies, could happen in reality. Of course, humanity would not be completely wiped out as in those movies, but it would certainly be a horrifying event.

Suddenly, he recalled the rumors that had been circulating on the internet recently. Various rumors of zombie sightings.

The mainstream media had insisted that they were just hoaxes. Sometimes in viral videos, people were seen attacking and tearing each other apart, or running at incredible speeds to break car windows and attack drivers...

It was not just a rumor in Korea. It was a noisy issue worldwide. At the time, he had thought that the videos were well-made and might be marketing for a new movie.

"It wasn't a rumor."

It was real.

The young man stood up. He looked at the strange creature in his hand one last time and applied force.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, purple flames enveloped the bug. It wriggled violently but was completely burned away in a few seconds.

The young man, who had shaken off the small stain on his hand, returned to the path he had come from.

He soon emerged onto the main road and pushed through the crowd still watching the fight. Someone who was pushed aside cursed, but when they met the young man's gaze, they instinctively averted their eyes and backed down.

The young man, who had quickly made his way through the crowd, headed for a nearby convenience store.

A short while later.

After selecting items and paying, he left the convenience store. In his hands were four large bags filled with food. He had bought enough to last for a while, just in case.

The outside still seemed peaceful. At least, it did for now.

Where did those parasite-like bugs come from?

Does the government know?

Are they dealing with it properly, even in secret?

It was a situation that would make an ordinary person anxious, but he was, on the contrary, excited. He shook his head, aware of his own excitement, but could not wipe the smile from his face.

A sense of kinship and relief enveloped him.

That's right.

He was not the only one in this world who was special and strange. A parasite that controls people and feeds on corpses to reproduce—wasn't that as strange as the things he had experienced?

That's how it was.

The world was full of bizarre events and creatures that ordinary people could not know about.

This feeling of relief and an inexplicable sense of understanding was comforting. He felt a soft, tender emotion for a while as he observed the noisy night streets.

His name was Han Sehyeon, a 24-year-old college student on leave, but his thoughts were far from ordinary.

============================ Author's Note ============================

Did the prologue feel good? I hope it matched your taste.

I hope you continue to enjoy it. And please give it a thumbs up! (__)