Chapter 3

Chapter 1. The Start of the Restructuring (3)

"Team Leader Park!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Ji-eun reached out, but her hand hovered in the air, unable to reach him.

"I, I came in, right? Right?"

With Team Leader Park's words, a silence fell over the safe zone.

It was just like a packed subway train.

People surrounded by others, trying their best to reduce the area of contact.

And a man who, trying to force his way in, got stuck in the door.

Snap.

"Ji-eun! I, I... I'm... in... right? I... didn't... come in?"

Team Leader Park's words were broken, like a call with no signal.

"Give me a... hand! ...Ah, pull...!"

Thud!

Pale-faced, Team Leader Park grabbed Ji-eun's wrist as if it were a lifeline.

The moment Ji-eun pulled with all her might, as if rescuing someone from drowning,

— Thud!

Team Leader Park's upper body was severed, and Ji-eun fell on her buttocks, holding his torso.

Just like when a tug-of-war ends and you can't resist the inertia and fall backward.

"......!"

At first, there was silence,

"Ahhh!"

"Ugh, ugh! My, my body!"

Then screams echoed.

Team Leader Park's waist was cleanly cut, as if by a laser.

A cross-section with white bones at the center, densely packed with various reddish muscles.

The scene was so surreal and unrealistic that a terrifying thought crossed her mind: the cross-section looked like a well-cut piece of meat.

And as blood gushed from the cut, the smell of iron made her head spin.

"Ugh, ugh...!"

Oops.

"Ji-eun! Are you okay?!"

"......hic!"

Seeing Ji-eun hiccupping as if in a daze, I finally came to my senses.

Gently laying down Team Leader Park's half-body, which was spilling fresh red blood, I checked on Ji-eun.

"Ji-eun, look at me! Can you pull yourself together?"

Her arms were still in the position of holding Team Leader Park, and her whole body was trembling.

Following her trembling gaze, I saw that her legs below the knees were soaked in the blood from the corpse.

"Dea... dead..."

I wiped the blood with toilet paper I had brought.

The clumped paper stuck to her stockings in various places, but she didn't have time to care.

"Pull yourself together, Ji-eun! To be honest, there's no guarantee we won't end up like that."

"If I had pulled faster..."

"No, Team Leader Park was already late. Sadly, he was delayed and died because he was doing some useless things like disciplinary actions."

Someone died right in front of us.

I wanted to pray for the deceased's soul, but this wasn't the time for that.

I might die the same way right now.

And I had to take care of someone who had gone into shock.

"Ji-eun, can you hear the announcement? A thousand people have disappeared. It's serious!"

"......"

"Once we get the reward, the next mission will start. You need to pull yourself together!"

"......hic."

She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lower lip.

'Is she usually this mentally weak?'

No.

It's unreasonable to expect a newly graduated, ordinary woman to act like me.

She hasn't received the kind of mental training that athletes do, and she hasn't witnessed her parents dying in a car accident from the back seat.

If we put a hundred women on the street in this situation, ninety-nine of them would react similarly.

'If this continues...'

Should I force Ji-eun to come with me?

We might see even more horrific scenes.

We might have to do even more cruel things.

Then we would have to rely on mental strength to survive...

Wait.

A possibility flashed through my mind.

"Mission reward."

I swallowed hard.

If it's possible,

"By any chance... can the 'mental' aspect be strengthened as a mission reward?"

...This is it!

Worried that the system might misunderstand, I shouted "On hold!" and shook Ji-eun's shoulders.

"Ji-eun! You don't have to pull yourself together, just do as I say."

"Yeon-ho..."

"Have you chosen a mission reward yet?"

She nodded slowly with a blank look.

Good.

Given that she had spent a long time deciding on lunch, I figured she hadn't chosen a reward either.

Then,

"Repeat after me. 'Mission reward'!"

"......Yes?"

"Mission reward! Repeat it!"

I shook her shoulders, making eye contact, and spoke clearly.

"......Mission... reward."

"Did it work?"

Nod.

"Strengthen 'mental' as a reward."

"Mental... strengthen."

"Once more!"

"......Mental strengthen."

...Did it work?

With trembling eyes, I saw Ji-eun raise her palm to cover her face.

"......Ji-eun?"

"......"

No response. She just sighed deeply.

Did it fail?

"How about it?"

I can't carry her around in this situation, where I'm struggling to take care of myself.

'If she doesn't recover...'

Feeling bitter, I was about to get up when Ji-eun parted her chapped lips.

"I..."

A straight face.

Clearer than usual, even clearer than usual. The bright, clear eyes of a good student.

"I'll take off my stockings and come."

* * *

People became serious.

With someone being cut in front of them, they couldn't help it.

They started huddling in corners, but it wasn't about work.

"Isn't physical strength the most important?"

"Strength would be advantageous, right? I plan to improve both physical strength and muscle power."

"Agility should also be improved."

So far, we've received rewards twice.

Most people seem to have improved the abilities listed in their status windows.

Using points to fix limping legs, but no one seems to have strengthened their mental state.

And no one like me who checks the information.

"Can we get the right to be excluded from the restructuring as a reward?"

"How about weapons like guns or swords?"

This won't work, that won't work.

A normal person would get tired after a few tries, but I'm Yeon-ho.

The memory of bowing and asking questions in a busy and annoying staff department while working as a temporary employee.

The experience of reading through the regulations and Q&A boards of various public institutions like community centers, public corporations, and tax offices for disability benefits.

"Then, how about precognition? Or the ability to fly?"

'......!'

"Is there a next stage?"

"What do we need to do to move to the next stage? Is it enough to survive here?"

I don't know who is doing this restructuring and for what purpose, but it doesn't seem like they plan to end it with just entering the circle.

Current time: 2:05 PM.

I quickly strengthened my right leg with the mission reward and started walking.

— Swish, thud. Swish, thud.

The steps of a limping person.

But...

"Yeon-ho, your leg...?"

Left foot, right foot. Left foot, right foot.

I alternated my steps, getting faster.

So, it's like jumping in place.

"Is it healed? How did it suddenly...?"

"Not yet."

One more time, and I can regain my prime body.

Despite trying to hide it, a smile crept onto my face.

At that moment, an unknown message came.

"Skill... data...?"

"Excuse me?"

"Didn't you see a message?"

Ji-eun shook her head with a puzzled look.

"Skill."

"Skill?"

Just in case, I muttered "Skill" like "Mission reward," but there was no response.

Is it a message that only appears when certain conditions are met?

"No. Wait at the stairs."

We lack information.

Seeing me hurry, Ji-eun calmly said,

"......Yeon-ho, I understand what reward you want."

She must have noticed. The change is obvious.

"I will survive."

Smiling, I said, and Ji-eun nodded silently.

"Let's survive, both of us."

The nearest safe zone is the 2nd meeting room on the 15th floor.

"It looks small."

"Twenty people will fill it up."

"What should we do? There are still many people left..."

What can we do?

I smiled and took a limping step down the stairs.

"We have to run!"

* * *

Strengthening Ji-eun's mental state was an excellent choice.

"That... that...!"

"What is that guy doing?! Can he do that?"

We arrived at the 2nd meeting room on the 15th floor with about 7 minutes left.

When we got there, the meeting room door was already torn off, and people inside and outside the door were facing off.

I'm not sure if "facing off" is the right term.

No one could enter the safe zone, blocked by a man armed with various weapons like a wooden stick, a cement pot, and a dumbbell.

"Ji-eun, do you see that sharp thing? What is it?"

"......A shard?"

The man was well-prepared.

In his left hand, a sharp, shiny weapon, possibly a shard from a ceramic pot.

In his right hand, a wooden stick, likely from a chair leg.

And various cement pots stacked nearby.

It looked like he had prepared for a fight in advance.

"Is that guy from the Operations Support Team?"

"Yes. Kweon Dong-seok, thirty-six this year. He joined two years ago as a replacement for someone on leave. His contract is probably ending soon. He didn't get a permanent position."

So, he's in the same situation as me.

I've seen him around.

A large build, but always hunched, not fitting in with others.

He was particularly sensitive to work issues, so I thought he was a bit prickly.

"......I didn't expect him to be this prickly."

— Thud! Thud!

"Get lost! Get lost!"

Kweon hit everyone approaching the green line with bloodshot eyes.

The wooden stick, once a chair leg, was stained red with blood.

"Hey, you bastard! There are plenty of seats!"

"It's my choice! Don't come close!"

"Why are people so selfish?! Let's try to survive together!"

"Selfish... it's you guys!"

Kweon looked angry and scared.

"I, I'm scary, right? You used to ignore me...!"

He seemed to be enjoying it too.

"Kweon? What are you doing?!"

It was Kweon's superior, Oh Sang-mu, the head of the Operations Support Department.

Kweon hesitated for a moment when his direct superior shouted, then spoke.

"......Director Oh?"

"Can't you put that down?!"

Oh Sang-mu shouted at Kweon's response.

Stepping into the safe zone,

"Can't you control this uneducated guy?!"

— Thud!

...He didn't finish his sentence.

"Control, fuck."

Oh Sang-mu's head exploded.

The sound of a watermelon bursting, the smell of blood, and the sticky sensation of flying blood droplets filled the office.

Should I be surprised by Kweon, who smashed his superior's head?

Or by Ji-eun, who whispered, "Technically, he wasn't controlled. He was used and then discarded under the pretext of a permanent position."

"I knew... I knew this day would come."

His heavy breathing suggested he wasn't a natural fighter.

But the level of preparation...

'He must have thought about it a lot. How to harm someone in the office.'

Kweon removed the pinkish substance stuck to the wooden stick, swinging it around.

Sweeping his gaze over the frozen people, as if mocking them.

「05:20」

About 5 minutes left.

I took a small breath and stepped forward.

"......Yeon-ho!"

Ji-eun shook her head, trying to stop me, but I had no choice.

I was quite desperate too.

"Kweon, Director?"