Chapter 2

2====================

The Beginning of Chaos

Bodies riddled with wounds swarm in.

They charge forward madly, emitting bizarre screams without caring for their own injuries. People scream and run, but it's futile; they are soon caught by the zombie horde that surges like a tidal wave and begin to be mercilessly torn apart.

Blood and flesh splattered. People who were just alive and screaming moments ago were instantly torn into dozens of pieces and fed into the mouths of the zombies. The zombies, having reduced their victims to tattered remains, soon turned their ashen eyes to search for other prey, baring their teeth.

The eyes of these zombies and the young man, Han Sehyun, met.

He didn't panic at all and calmly raised his hand. But nothing happened.

Confused, he alternated his gaze between his hand and the zombies, then quickly regained his composure and started to run. Or, he tried to.

For some reason, his body wouldn't move. When he hurriedly turned around, he saw that his clothes were caught in the car door. He pulled hard, but it wouldn't come loose. He tried to open the car door, but his hand kept missing the handle, making it impossible to do so properly.

The zombies didn't wait for Sehyun. In an instant, they were right in front of him, baring their teeth.

The moment the yellow front teeth of a male zombie with a terrifying appearance filled his field of vision, he opened his eyes wide.

"......Ha."

A low sigh escaped him as he quietly got up.

It had been a long time since he had such a nightmare.

After being inexplicably transported to another world and surpassing what is commonly referred to as the pinnacle of mastery, he rarely had dreams, let alone nightmares like this.

Looking at the clock on the wall, it was just before 7 AM. It was winter, so the light coming through the window was dim.

"Huh."

He sighed again and got out of bed. Normally, he would have lain there a bit longer, but the nightmare had completely taken away that desire.

The living room was quiet.

His only family was his 25-year-old younger sister, a company employee. It was too early for her to wake up. He had set the alarm for her the night before so she wouldn't oversleep in the morning.

Heading to the kitchen, he took out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Drinking the cold water helped ease the unpleasant feeling.

Suddenly, he saw through the open refrigerator door a variety of foods, which reminded him of yesterday.

The corpse that was tearing into another corpse. The black, squishy worm that emerged from the corpse's body.

The last corpse that was torn apart and then revived.

The memory intertwined with the content of the dream. Sehyun reflexively raised his hand and slowly clenched his fist. For a moment, a purple aura flickered and then disappeared.

"It was just a dream."

He muttered quietly to himself and headed to the bathroom.

@

After washing up and moving to prepare breakfast as usual, he realized how unusually quiet it was outside. He paused for a moment and then went to the terrace.

Outside was eerily quiet.

He lived on the 19th floor of an apartment building, with a fairly good view as there were few buildings obstructing his sight.

But now, there was not a single moving object in his wide field of vision.

It was Tuesday, and although it was a bit early, it shouldn't be this quiet. It was more accurate to say that it couldn't be this quiet.

"......Hmm."

Moreover, it wasn't just quiet.

The windows of some parked cars were grotesquely shattered, and one car was abandoned with its door open and embedded in a flower bed. The headlights, still brightly lit, cast an eerie glow over the dark complex.

In various places where the light reached, dark brown, dried bloodstains were visible.

"Already?"

Could the 'possible situation' he had imagined already be happening?

While he was pondering, a scream and a roar shattered the silence of the complex. His gaze immediately turned to the source of the sound.

"Ah!"

The scene was in a small rest area with a fountain in the complex, where a woman was desperately trying to escape. A man was fiercely chasing her, dressed casually for work.

"Raaaah!"

The man's beast-like roar tore through the quiet morning.

Terrified by his abnormal appearance, the woman threw her bag and ran with all her might. She dodged around the fountain, changing directions to buy time, and continued to scream, hoping someone would help her.

Sehyun instinctively reached out his hand but then remained silent, doing nothing.

He couldn't reveal his power recklessly. It could completely颠覆 his peaceful life. He wasn't the type to take risks for a stranger he had never met, especially when he didn't fully understand the situation.

While Sehyun remained silent, another man appeared from the opposite direction and surrounded the woman. Panicked, she climbed onto the fountain but tripped and fell.

The two men mercilessly pounced on her from both sides.

"No, no! Ah! Help... Ahh!!"

Crack! Squeak!

With a terrible scream, blood splattered. The sound of something tearing was heard, and the woman's white hand slipped out from between the monsters and quickly fell.

The screaming didn't last long.

The two monsters, having stopped tearing her apart when she stopped moving, slowly got up.

"......"

It was an extremely shocking and horrific scene.

However, instead of turning away, Sehyun focused more intently on the situation. His ordinary black eyes turned a vivid purple, and the scene before him magnified as if through a telescope.

The two monsters staggered off in a certain direction, and as expected, the woman got up.

Her skin, now bruised and blue, was covered with protruding blood vessels, which was quite disgusting. Her eyes, now a lifeless gray, slowly scanned the surroundings.

"Ugh..."

Covered in blood, she emitted a low, animal-like growl and began to walk slowly. Her left ankle was completely broken and bent at an angle, but she continued to move, staggering, and eventually disappeared from Sehyun's view.

She didn't seem to have a specific destination. She just moved aimlessly, perhaps looking for potential victims.

"Real zombies."

He looked up at the sky.

It was brightening as any other early morning.

But the society beneath that sky was clearly facing an unprecedented and surreal situation.

At least, that's how it looked now. If zombies were openly roaming in the apartment complex of such a large city, what must the situation be like nationwide?

He didn't know how many zombies were outside. Was it just this area? Or all of Korea? Or a global situation?

He suddenly worried about his sister, Han Hyejin.

He could protect her physically, but he couldn't prevent her from feeling mentally distressed. It was natural to feel fear and anxiety in such a rapidly changing situation.

After pondering, he remembered something and went to the living room. He turned on the TV, scolding himself for not doing so earlier.

However, nothing was on. There were no emergency broadcasts, not even advertisements.

Static-filled gray screens greeted him as he changed channels, and the same was true for cable TV.

Even his computer and phone were completely out of service. They powered on but couldn't communicate properly.

He couldn't help but tilt his head.

Even if there was chaos outside, was it possible for the internet and TV to be cut off overnight? Zombies didn't have the intelligence to cut internet cables or take over broadcasting stations, did they? Even if they did, it wouldn't be easy.

The zombies he saw yesterday clearly lacked intelligence, as did the ones he just saw on the terrace.

Did a special type of zombie with intelligence and power exist?

Sehyun, still pondering, went to the bathroom. The water was still running well, just like when he washed up in the morning.

But with the TV and internet already cut off, it wouldn't be surprising if the electricity went out soon. In an apartment, a power outage meant a water outage, as water is usually pumped up by electric motors.

He wiped the sink and bathtub lightly and started filling them with water. He then walked around the house, filling any visible containers with water.

It was better to secure water just in case. It could be used for drinking and washing.

While filling the containers, he fell into thought again.

The zombies, or rather, the worms parasitizing the corpses, seemed to know how to use the human body. They could run at full speed, distinguish objects with their eyes, make sounds, and hear. They also displayed strong physical strength, capable of catching and tearing apart humans.

They didn't seem to use their brains properly, but it would still be difficult for an ordinary person to escape a zombie unharmed. In a simple chase, there was little room for strategy.

Moreover, zombies weren't just one. If they started swarming from all directions, it would be the end.

"Does the government know?"

In such a situation, it would be impossible for them not to know.

But what was strange was that there were no warning broadcasts or sirens, even though they clearly knew.

What were they doing, letting people be torn apart alive in the morning? Surely, the relevant people hadn't all died, right?

It was frustrating not being able to find out anything with the TV and internet down.

He decided to stay at home for now. If he moved rashly and the government resolved the situation, it would be awkward.

He knew he wasn't ordinary. He also knew that standing out was often a problem.

The power he possessed couldn't be revealed openly. If it was discovered, a simple explanation wouldn't be enough. He wouldn't be treated like a superhero with superpowers in a movie.

Reality was always harsh and often surpassed imagination.

Currently, only his sister, Han Hyejin, knew about his special abilities. He wanted to keep it that way.

He recalled the day he suddenly fell into another world at the age of 23.

It was as implausible and absurd as being hit by a reincarnation truck, but it actually happened.

He still didn't know how it was possible. Nonetheless, he had fallen into another world and had to do everything to survive.

He struggled for over 60 years.

Fortunately, he didn't age during that long period. He only realized the reason when he returned to his original world: the 60 years he spent struggling in the other world were only about a week in this world.

His body had crossed over, but his lifespan seemed to be based on this world. It was a surreal assumption, but it made sense.

He survived and, as a reward, gained special powers. Naturally, he couldn't reveal them recklessly. Caution was even more important in such situations.

While moving the filled containers and bringing in empty ones, he continued to think.

He planned to stay at home for about a week. By then, he would have a better idea of what to do.

Whether he should take action or stay hidden and endure.

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

I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd appreciate a recommendation! (__)