🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 3 …
“This crazy bastard! Ughhh!”
The security guard spat out curses while trying to get back up.
“Drama queen.”
I let out a faint snort.
It was only three rubber bullets used for subduing.
And they had hit his plate carrier—the bulletproof vest—so there was no way he was seriously hurt.
Ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring!
The phone rang.
“Answer it.”
I said, pointing the muzzle at the guard’s head with a click.
“What are you doing? Answer it.”
“……”
“Pick it up. And for your information, this time it’s not training rounds. If you don’t listen, your head will get a hole in it—just so you know.”
The guard picked up the receiver.
“Yes, this is the security office of Hansan Apartment Complex Unit 2. Yes, yes, that’s correct. So right now…”
“Transition phenomenon observed. Radius 3 km.”
I whispered into his ear.
“Yes, transition phenomenon observed. Estimated radius about 3 km…”
“Request military and police support. Deploy hunters quickly.”
“Requesting military and police support, yes, yes. We would appreciate fast deployment of hunters as well.”
The guard put down the receiver.
“Good job.”
Still pointing my gun at him, I grabbed the microphone.
— Attention residents. Please evacuate as far as possible. We strongly recommend evacuating beyond a 3 km radius. I repeat, evacuate as far as possible…
After repeating it several times, I put down the microphone.
“Hand.”
“……”
“Haand.”
I bound the guard’s wrists with cable ties and seated him on a chair.
“If you try anything funny, I’ll really shoot you next time. So behave.”
“What the hell are you thinking? Are you some kind of terrorist?”
“You think so?”
“…?”
“Just stay quiet. Later you can thank me for saving your life.”
After saying that, I leisurely passed the time while watching the footage transmitted from my drone via smartphone.
Good. Everyone’s evacuating properly.
Vrrrrt!
My phone vibrated.
The caller was my father.
As the commander of the regional defense force, he probably got the news quickly.
And once he realized I had taken the car and disappeared, he must’ve called immediately.
He would have been ordered to return at once, but by the time he arrived from Yeongwol, the situation would already be over.
“Kuhehe.”
A laugh escaped me.
The me from the past wouldn’t have acted so boldly.
I would’ve knocked first before barging into the management office.
And I would’ve tried my best to persuade the guard.
But now it was different.
Three years ago.
From the moment I vowed revenge against those inhuman bastards, I became someone who would use any means necessary to achieve my goal.
“What’s with that face? What, do I look like a crazy bastard?”
“N-no.”
Not exactly.
It was written all over his face.
“This is a crazy world anyway. To survive in a world like this, you’ve gotta be a little crazy. Don’t you think?”
“……”
“If you lose your mind a bit from now on, it’ll actually be better for your mental health. The real hell starts this year.”
I said that and turned my gaze back to my phone.
People were still evacuating properly.
‘They’re coming soon.’
Police cars carrying armed officers and military armored vehicles were arriving one after another.
“Five minutes left.”
Police and military units were entering the apartment complex.
“Just surrender already.”
The guard advised me.
“I understand how hard it is. It’s a crazy world. But this isn’t right. If you surrender now…”
“Surrender? So I can get life imprisonment and rot in prison until I die? Or end up in a psychiatric ward?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Just say thank you for saving your life. You were supposed to die today, you know.”
“Haha.”
The guard let out a hollow laugh, clearly exhausted.
He definitely thought I was a complete lunatic.
But the truth was—he was the one who was supposed to die today, right in front of me.
I had clearly seen it before.
The corpse of the guard, whose internal organs had been devoured by monsters.
‘The time is…’
Current time: 09:59 AM.
About 1 minute left.
Slurp.
I sipped the coffee the guard had been drinking and waited for 10:00 AM.
Crackle… crackle!
As soon as it hit 10:00, electronic devices inside the management office began malfunctioning.
“See for yourself.”
I showed him my smartphone.
Wooooong… wooooong… zzzzzzt!
In the playground between apartment buildings, a pitch-black sphere formed.
Then space itself twisted, and the surrounding terrain began to change.
“How about it?”
“T-this is…”
“Still think I’m mentally ill?”
“……”
The guard tightly shut his mouth.
* * *
I untied the cable ties around the guard’s wrists.
“Ugh.”
He rubbed his wrists, frowning.
“Stop acting weak. Grab your gear.”
“Ah, yes sir.”
He opened the armory and took out a shotgun stored inside.
An armory in an apartment management office.
If it were 15 years ago, it would’ve been unimaginable.
But now, in an era where transitions could occur anytime, anywhere, it was not strange at all.
Armed guards working in management offices and stored firearms were completely normal.
In luxury districts like Gangnam, private armed forces were even operated.
And because of that, Gangnam—home to many hunters—was actually safer than other areas.
Even in this insane era, wealth disparity remained eternal, and the myth of “Gangnam invincibility” continued.
Until that incident happened.
“Real combat experience?”
“A few times.”
“When?”
“When I was in the military. You?”
“Same. A few times.”
More like a few thousand times.
“Military service done?”
“Not yet.”
“……”
The guard looked at me like he was cursing me silently.
“Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“Outside. Staying here means death.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to hide?”
“Bombing is about to start. Look.”
I pointed at my phone.
Monsters were continuously spawning around the playground.
“Crazy.”
The guard trembled.
“So hurry up and move.”
“R-right.”
“This way.”
I moved the drone to scout around the management office and began walking.
“How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That a transition would happen. You didn’t already know, did you?”
“When did I ever say that?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re the one who observed the transition, pressed the emergency alarm, and reported it to the regional defense forces, right?”
“That’s… reversed, isn’t it?”
“No way.”
I acted innocent, and the guard looked dumbfounded.
“You observed the transition, pressed the alarm, and reported it. Not me.”
“That’s ridiculous…”
Bullshit?
Yeah, it is.
“You seem a bit confused. Happens when people are stressed. Memories get mixed up, you know?”
“Ugh…”
The guard clutched his head, overwhelmed.
“Let’s move.”
After confirming via drone footage that the outside was unsafe, we carefully left the management office.
“C-crazy… it’s really a transition…”
The guard cursed as he saw the scene outside.
Where there should’ve been pavement, there was now thick overgrown vegetation.
Bang! Bang bang! Boom!
Gunshots and explosions echoed.
Military and police forces that had already arrived were engaging monsters.
Because the vegetation was so dense, it was hard to see clearly.
I switched the drone camera to thermal imaging.
“This way.”
Survival came first—even before awakening.
We moved in a direction less likely to encounter monsters.
“Damn it. I already hate working weekends, and now I’m gonna die too.”
“Stop complaining and follow.”
“Yes.”
After about 100 meters—
“KYAAAAA!”
“Ugh!”
Screams came from nearby.
Through the drone’s thermal view, I saw two people surrounded by multiple monsters.
Ha…
Evacuation order was issued ages ago.
“What do we do?”
“What else. We help.”
“…Ugh.”
The guard looked unwilling.
Well, of course.
Even with guns, fighting monsters as a non-awakened human required courage.
“If you’re scared, stay back.”
“Is that allowed?”
“Why not? I’m not your superior.”
“That’s true.”
“Decide for yourself.”
Leaving the guard behind, I immediately moved toward the scene.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
A middle-aged man was wildly firing a pistol at the monsters.
Not a single shot was landing.
He should’ve practiced at a shooting range more often.
I raised my rifle.
It was a Czech-made carbine called [BREN 2], using 7.62mm rounds.
Against monsters, 5.56mm lacked power, so 7.62mm had long become the standard.
Bang bang bang! Bang! Bang!
The rifle roared.
Bang bang bang!
When I looked to the side, the guard was firing at the monsters with a tense face.
“Kyah!”
“Kek!”
When only two monsters remained, he stopped firing and grabbed an axe.
“Cease fire! Cease fire!”
Bang!
A bullet grazed past my ear.
Shit.
I almost died again.
“Cease fire! Finger off the trigger!”
Bang bang bang!
“Take your finger off the trigger!”
“AAAAAH!”
But the middle-aged man had completely lost rationality and kept wasting bullets.
I took cover behind a parked car, waited for his magazine to empty, then burst out like lightning and slaughtered the monsters.
The 1-star monsters known as goblins had their heads split open repeatedly, spraying white brains and red blood.
“R-reload… reload…”
The man trembled, trying to reload his pistol, unaware the fight was already over.
“Hey.”
“Reload… reload…”
“Hey, sir.”
“Reload…”
Slap!
“!”
Only after getting slapped did the man finally come to his senses.
“T-thank you…”
“Didn’t you hear the evacuation order? What were you doing all this time?”
“My wife… she’s not well…”
Ah.
A middle-aged woman was sitting in a wheelchair, trembling violently.
