RTN 02

chapter 2

“Surprising. You’re the leader?”

The soldier’s eyes gleamed. A few others laughed boisterously. Before I could even retort, the soldier holding the jewel stepped forward and pressed his boot against my back.

“If I step on you, you’d die instantly.”

The hard military boot pressed down firmly on me. I gritted my teeth and didn’t react.

Just as the crushing weight on my back suddenly lifted, giving me a moment to breathe, the boot kicked my side.

I tumbled uncontrollably, bumping into the people lying face-down before finally stopping. They hastily backed away from me.

Trying to rise with my hands on the ground, a delayed surge of pain made me curl up instinctively. I heard laughter near my ear.

“Oh, impressive.”

“Impressive indeed.”

“Not even a sound. Are you used to this?”

“You’ve got guts.”

“Good and gutsy. That’s a character we don’t have in our unit.”

“Why not?”

“Because we don’t need it.”

The soldiers chattered among themselves. Some leisurely smoked, while others flicked blood off their weapons. Behind them, faint outlines became visible.

It was the corpses of enormous mantis-like monsters. Not just one or two, but dozens sprawled across the ground.

A chill crept down my neck.

The sky was pitch black, dotted with countless unnaturally bright stars. Below them, soldiers casually handled monstrous corpses while exchanging jokes as if it were nothing.

To them, we, crouched low before them, seemed less than insects.

This was true hell.

Cold sweat slid down my spine. Running from monsters just a moment ago was child’s play compared to this. This was the real thing.

I pressed myself tightly to the ground, careful even with my breathing. Everyone who had escaped with me lay flat and motionless. No one dared run.

The soldiers didn’t just kill monsters—they killed people. Blood still flowed from the body of a man who had fallen before them.

A soldier, rolling the jewel stolen from the man in his hand, grinned with the one beside him. Then he frowned.

“We just need to take this one out, but too many made it alive.”

The soldier beside him flicked his cigarette, replying flatly.

“Yeah. Should we kill them all?”

“I’ll sit this one out. Being dragged into this is already annoying enough.”

“No need to report it, right?”

“Who’d even care? Only we get tired.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, we should’ve just killed them all inside. What a nuisance.”

The soldiers’ smiles slowly faded. Suddenly, the one holding the jewel frowned at something.

One by one, the others followed his gaze. Among the people lying like barnacles, a hand trembled and rose.

“I—I—I’ve played this game.”

A man raised his hand with a quivering voice. The soldiers didn’t respond. They just stared.

I began quietly inching my body backward while lying prone. With everyone’s attention focused elsewhere, this was my chance. I had to escape.

The man continued hesitantly.

“I—I didn’t just try it once, I did—quite well. I ranked, and even streamed the game…”

“So you know what this is, then?”

The soldier twirled the jewel. The man lowered his hand and stood awkwardly.

With a trembling yet resolute voice, he answered,

“It’s a high-grade fuel orb.”

“Then why did you come out empty-handed? You know it well?”

“You… it was too chaotic… If given a chance, I’d try my best with what I know…”

“Based on ten-year-old info?”

Silence fell. The soldier shoved the jewel into his pocket. The faint glimmer vanished.

The man’s face drained of blood.

“That was fuel back then, not now. Its value has skyrocketed. Want to know why? You wouldn’t. The game you played is just a shabby copy of our past.”

The soldier smirked.

“What a shame. It’s not like what you knew.”

This was terrible.

I gritted my teeth and continued inching back. I planned to hide in nearby bushes and seize the first opportunity to flee. I didn’t know where to go, but anywhere was better than here.

“Disappointed, aren’t you? You probably expected to show off your skills at home with just a mouse. Want to try catching this?”

The soldier spoke mockingly kindly. He put a cigarette in his mouth and skillfully drew the bow strapped across his back.

The strap across his shoulder loosened, revealing a name tag on his uniform: Kim Do-woon.

Kim Do-woon tossed the bow to the man. The awkward man barely caught it. His eyes widened as he examined the bow.

“Shoot.”

Kim Do-woon said magnanimously. The man held the bow with trembling hands.

A sleek black bow. Simple in design, but the taut string shone as if woven from light.

Even I, who had never played the game, recognized the weapon. I had heard male students at school talk about how expensive a bow like that was.

I had thought there was only one, but now I saw several soldiers with the same bow.

Some were tangled with other weapons on the ground, showing they weren’t treated as precious.

I felt chills.

This place was nothing like the game. Nothing at all.

I had thought this world was the game, having fallen into it after logging in, but it seemed to be the actual world that inspired the game—more than ten years advanced and far more dangerous.

“Why? You wanted to, didn’t you? Try killing us all and escaping.”

The soldiers chuckled.

The man, clutching the bow, froze in fear. His fighting spirit was long gone.

He would die. And if I couldn’t get out of here, my fate wouldn’t be much different.

I gritted my teeth and kept moving cautiously.

“The leader is someone else, right? What were you doing while that girl led the others out?”

That was about me. The moment I stopped moving, the soldiers’ eyes immediately latched onto me. They already knew my position.

Pushing past their gaze, Kim Do-woon strode forward.

He came right up to me, kneeling and lowering his tall frame. His blood- and filth-stained uniform dragged on the ground, casting a shadow over me.

Our eyes met, and there was no escaping.

Bloodied face. Kim Do-woon slightly furrowed his brow and wiped his face with his sleeve, revealing distinct features.

Beneath tousled hair, his face looked my age. I pressed my head to the ground, heart pounding.

“Curious.”

There was amusement in his voice.

“You say the guy who streamed the game was flustered, but how did you even think to bring people out? Are you a game developer?”

It seemed escaping now was impossible. Bringing people out had made me too conspicuous.

But I didn’t regret it. If it were Baek Yi-hyun, he would’ve done the same. He wouldn’t have ignored others. Baek Yi-hyun…

Tears stung my eyes. I bit down to hold them back.

“Why no answer?”

Ash fell on my hand.

“We’re looking for the one who copied our world and sold it as a game. That bastard—is it you?”

Smoke drifted. The scent of green apple faintly lingered.

“Smart, huh? Copying someone else’s world and selling it as a fake game. Saves on development costs, right? Thanks to you, holes were punched into both our dimension and yours. Huh? That crappy game… Not answering? I’m asking if it’s you.”

“No.”

I barely managed to respond. Someone chuckled.

“So?”

“I just followed others out. I told people before leaving, so we came together. I’ve never played this game.”

“Never played?”

Kim Do-woon asked incredulously.

“What do you mean? But how did you get here? You must’ve logged in.”

“I logged in with a friend’s account…”

“Why log in with someone else’s account?”

The questions continued but were meaningless. It was just a game to toy with before killing.

Red fluid spread beneath my kneeling knees. I couldn’t tell if it was from monster corpses or the man who had died earlier.

“Why did you log in with someone else’s account?”

“Because I wanted to see.”

I told the truth. Baek Yi-hyun was gone, and I couldn’t bear the grief. I had to do something.

I wanted to see at least his character. Without it, I couldn’t endure the longing.

Any small trace was precious. My parents had thrown away all his belongings in despair, so the only memory I could cling to was logging into the game he played.

My eyes burned. I held my breath and lifted my head. Kim Do-woon’s face was right there. I answered slowly again.

“Because I missed my friend.”

“Wow.”

One soldier clapped. Someone whistled.

“Tears… really, tears.”

“Is that your friend? Didn’t you like him?”

“Looks exactly like someone who lost a boyfriend.”

The soldiers laughed loudly.

But Kim Do-woon was different. His smile vanished. He stared at me with a hardened face. He rose abruptly.

A cigarette butt fell near my hand. Kim Do-woon crushed it with his boot. His voice came from above.

“I’m leaving. Handle it yourself.”

“Leaving already?”

Someone tapped his shoulder. Kim Do-woon glanced down and muttered,

“Tired.”

Then, someone swore lowly in the distance.

“Hey, didn’t you say you wouldn’t come today?”

The soldiers’ playful demeanor vanished, replaced by tense alertness. I followed their gaze. It was too dark to see clearly, but squinting, I caught a blurry figure.

Beyond the scattered monster corpses on the horizon, a shadow appeared.

As I narrowed my eyes to focus, Kim Do-woon grabbed me by the collar and threw me roughly.

When I came to, I was right next to the people lying prone. My effort to move was wasted.

Moreover, it was obvious that a superior had arrived. All I could do was hope to stay unnoticed.

I buried my head in the ground. All I could see were orderly rows of boots in an instant.

The joking atmosphere had vanished, replaced by tense silence. One boot stepped forward.

Like the others, it was smeared with blood and filth, but details were more refined, and the edge of a cloak trailed behind.

Someone reported in a tense voice:

“Gate 13, opened for the first time in 2 years and 4 months. Thirty-two survivors, one orb secured.”

After a brief pause, a low voice followed.

“Thirty-two survivors…”

The voice pressed down on the space like a weight, pausing momentarily before continuing coldly:

“Just one orb, is that reasonable?”