Chapter 2

Unfortunately, it wasn't a dream, and the screen on his phone hadn't changed.

［Awakened］

［Mana Level F］

［Trait: Dimensional Traveler］

* Please register your personal information.

It seemed like something was starting to make sense, but he decided to put understanding aside for now.

Bang! Bang! Rumble.

A loud noise came from the ceiling. Kyunghoon stiffened and looked up.

Fortunately, the noise didn't last long. However, it didn't completely stop.

Squeak, squeak.

After the loud noise, a faint sound of something moving could be heard.

Fortunately, his heart wasn't racing like before. He was tense, but now he had something to rely on.

Unlike his phone, the gun could still be used even after some time. And this pistol looked in very good condition.

'It looks similar to a K5, but has it been modified?'

It resembled the pistol he used in the military, but had some strange differences. Moreover, the 9mm Parabellum rounds in the magazine had the same emblem he saw on the rifle rounds.

'Will it have enough power like this?'

He looked at the magazine with doubt and reloaded it into the pistol.

He felt a bit uneasy, but it was much better than the steel pipe.

Kyunghoon quickly put on the rest of his gear.

He put on the bulletproof vest and inserted the dagger. He put the lighter, ID, and phone he found into the bulletproof vest's pockets.

He discarded the steel pipe. Since he had a proper weapon, there was no reason to carry something that might get in the way.

After checking his gear one last time, he sighed. It felt like he was back in the military.

"Let's think of it as reserve training. Reserve training."

Kyunghoon muttered to himself to ease his tension. He didn't know what was making the noise, but he needed to be in the best condition to face it.

Kyunghoon waited for a moment. The faint noise continued, but there was no sound of anything coming down.

'...I have to go up... '

He held the pistol in the grip he learned in the military and crouched as low as possible. In that state, he carefully left the room and approached the end of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor was an elevator that had stopped moving. The elevator door was half-dented, making it impossible to see inside.

Fortunately, there was a door leading to the emergency stairs next to the elevator. And next to the stair door was a sign indicating the current floor.

'Basement 3. So, we're underground.'

He had guessed as much from the lack of windows.

The stair door also had a lock, but fortunately, it was unlocked.

Kyunghoon cautiously opened the door with the pistol in front. The stairs were quiet. Nothing happened as he climbed the stairs.

Kyunghoon stopped at the last step. This door was also unlocked, but it was closed like the one below.

He checked the sign and pressed his ear to the door.

Squeak, squeak.

Indeed, the sound was coming from this floor. The sound of several pairs of feet moving cautiously.

'Something is definitely in there.'

Kyunghoon pondered. Should he open the door, or ignore it and go up?

He wanted to ignore it and go up, but if he made a mistake, he could be caught from behind.

He didn't deliberate for long. He couldn't figure out what was going on if he avoided it out of fear.

He was tense and scared, but the gun in his hand gave him courage.

He took a deep breath.

'Just check the corridor.'

Creak.

He reassured himself and carefully opened the stair door. As the door opened, the basement 2 corridor gradually came into view.

"Hmm..."

Kyunghoon regretted opening the door.

No, opening it was a good decision, but seeing what was behind the door made him regret it.

There were monster rats in the second-floor corridor.

They looked no different from regular rats. Sharp teeth and claws, a dirty-looking body, and a long tail.

At first glance, they were clearly rats, but the problem was their size.

Five rats, each about the size of a medium-sized dog, were moving in the corridor. It was a scene that would make an ordinary person scream.

Creak.

The remaining door at the landing finally made a sound. No matter how carefully he opened it, the old door couldn't help but make noise.

The rats turned their heads.

Squeak, squeak.

They immediately started running towards the door.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The rats approached quickly, making the floor vibrate. It was a terrifying sight, even in a nightmare.

Kyunghoon's face turned pale. But now wasn't the time to be scared.

Surprisingly, his body moved properly despite his shocked mind.

Bang!

Kyunghoon fired the pistol at the wall first.

'A bit to the upper left.'

It was easier to aim than he expected. However, Kyunghoon frowned as he pulled the trigger.

He felt something being sucked into the gun through his hand when he fired. His body wasn't affected, but it felt unsettling.

Moreover, the gun's power was different from what he expected. The bullet didn't just embed itself in the wall; it blew a hole through it.

It wasn't something a pistol could do.

But he didn't have time to think about it. The monster rats were incredibly fast. The one at the front was already right in front of him.

Kyunghoon aimed the muzzle at the monster rat.

Bang!

Thanks to his improved strength, his stance was stable. The bullet hit exactly where he aimed.

Ping!

The bullet penetrated the monster rat's head, and it rolled forward. It was clearly dead at first glance.

There was no need to waste bullets. He immediately aimed and fired at the next target.

Bang! Bang!

The second and third monster rats also had holes in their heads.

Crash!

The monster rats tumbled to the floor.

It was an incredible feeling. He had never hit so accurately in the military. To hit the heads of such fast-moving creatures was astonishing.

It was a mystery, but since it was helping him, he decided to put his questions aside for now.

Kyunghoon aimed the gun at the last two monster rats.

However, the moment the first three monster rats fell, the movement of the remaining rats changed.

They jumped into the rooms on both sides. They were smart.

Kyunghoon lowered his gun and frowned.

The situation was becoming increasingly different from the reality he knew. His body and the gun were strange, but the monster rats were also strange.

It was possible for a small rat to grow this big through genetic manipulation or something, but the semi-transparent membrane that formed on the rat's skin before the bullet hit was incomprehensible.

The semi-transparent membrane tried to block the bullet, but the bullet forcefully penetrated it and buried itself in the monster rat's head.

"Alright. Let's think of it as a game. It might be more comforting that way."

Thinking of it as a game was too realistic, but he couldn't afford to stand there with a blank face every time he saw something strange.

Kyunghoon pulled out the dagger he had inserted into his bulletproof vest. He briefly thought about the steel pipe he left behind downstairs, but he didn't have the confidence to swing it with one hand while holding the gun.

'Retreat or attack?'

He placed the gun on top of his hand holding the dagger and fell into thought.

If both had jumped into the same room, he could have attacked without hesitation, but since they jumped into different rooms, there was a risk of being caught from behind.

If it was intentional, they were really smart.

Still, knowing what he was up against, the endless tension he felt was somewhat relieved.

Moreover, his weapon was effective against them. There was no reason to retreat in such a situation.

Kyunghoon looked around.

'Is there anything I can use?'

Unfortunately, there were only the dead bodies of the monster rats in the corridor.

'Wait?'

He approached the bodies. Up close, they were even more disgusting.

The bodies were about the size of a medium-sized dog, at least 30 kilograms.

He reinserted the dagger into his bulletproof vest and picked up the dead rat by the neck.

Flash.

As expected, it was easy. Too easy.

'10 kilograms, maybe less.'

If the rat's body wasn't just a shell, his strength had definitely increased.

Concerns about his body resurfaced, but he pushed them to the back of his mind. He needed to use everything he could.

Kyunghoon tensed his arm and threw the dead rat towards one of the doors, as if it were a bag of rice.

Bang!

The flying body hit the half-open door. As expected, a monster rat jumped out from inside.

Roar!

Bang!

The monster rat bit into the body it hit, and at the same time, Kyunghoon fired his gun.

The bullet hit the monster rat's head precisely.

A semi-transparent membrane appeared again, trying to block the bullet, but the bullet tore through it and took the rat's life.

Squeak!

The moment the bullet penetrated the monster rat's head, another monster rat jumped out from the opposite door.

Jumping into different rooms was clearly intentional. They were really smart. Using one as bait to attack from behind was not something an ordinary animal would think of.

But it was a one-way street.

The monster rat that jumped out stopped in surprise, unable to see its target.

"Being too smart is your problem."

Kyunghoon fired at the remaining monster rat.

Bang!

He knocked down the last one and looked around tensely. There was no more movement.

Phew.

Kyunghoon exhaled the breath he had been holding. His whole body was trembling. He had been tense all along, even though he thought he wasn't.

Relaxing a bit, he checked the magazine.

"Six shots left?"

He had fired six shots, so there were six bullets left. The problem was what to do after he ran out of bullets.

He couldn't move around with just a dagger or a steel pipe in a place where such monsters roamed. He would have to search everywhere to find more bullets or other weapons.

Kyunghoon checked the dead monster rats again.

They were all dead. The semi-transparent membrane didn't appear after they died. When he stabbed them with the dagger, it easily penetrated the flesh.

Just as he was about to stand up, a faint light rose from the dead monster rats. It looked like glowing smoke or a mirage.

It was a mysterious sight. Kyunghoon forgot to be on guard and stared blankly as the light spread.

The light that rose from the monster rats scattered in all directions, and some of it flowed into Kyunghoon's body.

In the next moment, the light disappeared. It felt as if nothing had happened.

"Was it an illusion?"

Kyunghoon looked around with a bewildered expression.

That's when it happened.

Buzz. Buzz.

He felt a vibration from the phone in his pocket.

Surprised, he took it out and saw text on the screen.

A single line of text confirmed that what had just happened was not an illusion.

'Mana.' Another mystery, but he decided to put his questions aside for now.

He put the phone back and started searching the second basement floor.

Unfortunately, he found nothing until he reached the last room. There were rooms with signs of a struggle, but unlike the lower floor, there were no items left.

And, the last room he reached was a laboratory.

"Is this a nest?"

The last laboratory was different from the previous rooms, filled with various items.

Rags and dry grass, along with wires and unknown objects, were scattered on the floor. It clearly looked like a nest for animals, specifically rats.

On one side of the nest, bones were piled up.

Fortunately, the nest-like laboratory also had many other items.

"A pistol magazine. The bulletproof vest is useless, and this phone is broken. But, what are these knives and shields? I can't understand at all."

Unfortunately, there was no other ammunition except for the 9mm pistol magazine. Kyunghoon instead picked up a sword stuck in one corner.

'They really like emblems.'

The sword looked practical, but it also had a strange emblem engraved on the blade.

Fortunately, the accompanying scabbard had a belt to attach it to his waist. Unlike the steel pipe, the sword was easy to carry.

After picking up the sword, Kyunghoon looked around and smiled wryly.

Waking up in an unfamiliar place, finding weapons, killing monsters, and looting treasures from a nest...

"Is this a game?"

A system window should have appeared in front of his eyes, but he needed to leave this place quickly.

There were other creatures using this nest besides the monster rats he killed. The bite marks on the piled bones were much larger than those of the monster rats he killed.

Kyunghoon quickly ran down the corridor and headed to the next floor via the stairs.

Fortunately, the first basement floor corridor was quiet. Kyunghoon checked the corridor behind the door and immediately headed to the next floor.

Now it was the ground floor.

In front of the stairs, the ground floor door was guarded by iron bars and multiple layers of steel doors. It looked like a facility that would be difficult to enter without significant military force and firepower.

However, all the defensive structures were broken and dented. They had been destroyed by someone a long time ago, just like in other places.

Kyunghoon passed through the broken iron bars and torn steel doors and walked down the windowless corridor.

At the end of the corridor, bright light was shining down. The gray background he had seen before was now turning into full color.

Kyunghoon stepped out of the corridor into the bright light.

It was the lobby of the building's first floor. With its high ceiling and marble floor, it was once a very luxurious building. Now, it was abandoned and covered in dust.

As Kyunghoon walked through the lobby, his steps gradually slowed. His initially welcoming expression hardened, and his eyes, looking outside, showed disbelief.

Kyunghoon slowly stepped out of the exit.

In front of him was a destroyed city.

High-rise buildings were half-collapsed, and small buildings had turned into ruins.

The roads were destroyed, and cars were broken and covered in dust.

He looked around in a daze and then at a sign on the damaged road.

The text on the half-tilted sign caught his eye.

［Yongsan 2nd District, Yongsan Bridge］

This ruined city was Seoul.