Chapter 1 – D-Day

April 4, 2022 at 13:37 PM.

Classroom 101, 1st floor, College of Humanities, Banseok University, Seoul.

“So, did everyone enjoy their lunch?”
“Yeah~”

The answers resound like an orioles to the pleasant low-pitched questions.

I rested my chin on my desk and stared blankly ahead.

“It’s been over a month since the class started, and now I’m meeting you face-to-face for the first time and calling attendance.”

Gently waving the attendance book in his hand, the professor continued.

“It seems that the class was conducted with audio-visual materials for about three weeks… Sorry, I have to attend the conference instead of another professor.”

Even if I look like this, I am the youngest among professors.

Small laughter spreads as if responding to the joke that spreads through the classroom through the microphone.

Mainly female laughter.

I focused on the eyes that were staring vaguely ahead.

A middle-aged man looking at everyone from the protruding church.

A business casual look that goes well with a slender proportion.

A decent appearance that makes you think it’s a waste to be a professor.

It was a part that clearly showed why this class was hard to register for.

It was rumored that he gave generous grades, but the professor was even handsome…

Even if I was a female student, this was a liberal arts class that I could not help but be drawn to.

Of course, I didn’t quite understand the comments that said that it was a necessary education even for their ‘eye welfare’, and that it was a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of

Well, it didn’t matter.

Because the back seat was spacious thanks to the girls who tried to sit in the front even a little.

“Now, from today we are going to talk about history and mystery… “

As soon as he sensed that he was about to enter the class in earnest, he cut off his concentration on the professor.

In the slowly widening view, the backs of the heads of female students who are tightly packed in the classroom are filled.

From the white neckline that stretches your stiff neck left and right, to the ponytail that you keep looking at for some reason.

As I slowly observed the backs of the female students who caught my attention, I suddenly became curious.

Do those women know that I’m staring right back at them?

The way he asked himself and answered himself seemed like an idiot, but of course those women didn’t know.

Because this was the privilege of being in the back seat and the top seat.

‘Is this why Iljin and the infamous idiots insisted on taking a back seat?’

It was a few new advantages that I had since I barely entered college.

Being able to sit in the back seat even if you are not an Iljin or an insider.

“… Under.”

I couldn’t swallow it, and I laughed out loud.

As I hurriedly kept my mouth shut, I felt a gaze staring at me from the seat next to me.

“…”

As she quietly turns her head to the seat next to her, the girl’s eyes, which had been staring at me, turn to her smartphone again.

Tok- tok- tok-

An iPad on the desk and a smartphone that is busy sending KakaoTalk messages to someone.

And the eyes of light contempt for someone who has yet to reap.

Knowing who that someone was, of course, I smiled bitterly and lowered my gaze.

Unlike the seat next to the iPad and touch pen, I looked down at my desk with old notebooks and mechanical pencils—

“… Hmmm—then, who will answer?”

My eyebrows naturally moved at the professor’s voice, which I heard in one ear and let out in the other.

Another angle – another angle –

Across the PPT, I saw the professor, who had returned to his desk, slowly leafing through the rolls.

“… Ha-.”

An open sigh escapes.

Deeper in the professor’s sparkling eyes as if he had discovered something interesting.

“A student of Hansegye?”
“… Yes.”

Following the slowly lifting hand, all the eyes in the classroom are focused on me.

“… Damn-“

Thanks to this, I could feel the presence of the female student secretly using her smartphone in the seat next to her raising her head.

“It’s a good name that becomes a high-end department store even if you change just one last name.”
“…”

Let’s respond with a smile to the cheeky professor’s smile,

The professor nodded her head with a more blatant smile and continued the question.

“Is there a mystery that we Korean Segye students usually believe in? It has nothing to do with ghosts, UFOs, aliens, or conspiracy theories.”
“…”

He gently urges me, who has no answer.

“It’s okay. I also sometimes feel that ghosts really exist.”
“… Doesn’t exist.”
“Umm—may I ask why?”
“… I think this is nonsense without any concrete evidence.”
“Okay.”

The professor nodded her head, gestured at me, and continued.

“Nearly most people will have the same thoughts as the Han Segye Army. So, do you have any other opinions?”

As soon as the professor’s question is over, the hands of the female students stick out.

Only then did I break away from the gaze that was focused on me and ponder over what the professor had said.

“Then, shall the student sitting in the front speak?”
“Ah yes! I am Kim Ah-reum, a sophomore in the Department of Early Childhood Education. I don’t know about ghosts, but I think aliens exist somewhere.”
“Why?”
“I can’t believe that we humans are the only ones in this vast universe. It’s a huge waste of space.”
“Ah—Carl Sagan. That’s a really good quote.”

Mystery, evidence, nonsense.

Her head hums from the moment she is questioned by the professor.

The question and answer between the professor and the female student, which continues even now, did not even come into my head.

Just the words from the conversation that went on just kept running around in my head.

Mystery, evidence, nonsense.

In fact-

It was a lie.

No one in the world was more involved in the mystery than I was.

No one has clearer evidence than me.

Tring-!

A disparate notification sound that resonates in my head at the same time as I think.

[Name: Han Se-gye]
[Gender, Age: Male, 23 years old]
[Common name: tyrant] (Disabled)

[Strength: 1] [Agility: 1] [Intelligence: 1]

[Remaining points: 0]

Existing evidence that is not absurd at all.

A special ability that most people don’t have.

The so-called ‘status window’ was reflected in my pupils so clearly, but it was of no use.

[Remaining points: 0]

Point 0.

While I was barely entering college at the end of my third year.

From the time I realized that I had a status window until now, my whole life.

No points were earned in any way.

As a joke, the only thing I didn’t do anymore was ‘murder’, but–

That was really just a joke.

Now I’m not sure if this ‘status window’ is really true.

Maybe it’s a shelter thought up by an orphan who doesn’t even know who his parents are.

It’s a special story because the main characters are orphans like me.

I don’t know if I could have barely endured it if I had to embrace that kind of consolation.

So now I couldn’t gamble killing people for this ‘status window’ that I didn’t know if it was mental illness or what it was.

Top 10 universities in Korea,

Especially for me, who entered a Christian-sponsored university with plenty of support for ‘underprivileged students’ like me.

There is no more reckless gamble than that for me, who has no one to rely on and has no way to live in the future.

“… Now that science has developed and people’s basic education level has become very high, the mystery is only talked about as snack culture. In particular, it is quite far from the science of ‘history’, which takes facts more seriously than anything else—”

Thud-!

The heavy bass sound that is pleasant to listen to makes a dull impact sound before you even finish talking.

After a moment of silence, the professor and students looked at the ceiling at once.

“… It must be far. But on the other hand, there are histories that can only be understood now that science has advanced and people have a very high level of basic education. Before exploring the oceans, the earth was flat… “

Thud-! Thud-! Thud-! Thud-!

A dull impact sound that continued simultaneously after the first impact sound.

It wasn’t just the noise that could be caused by immature students running around in a classroom on the second floor.

… Something is strange.

By the time everyone in the classroom had the same thoughts—

[Tiyi Lee — Tiyi Yi —]

All smartphones present in the classroom lit up their screens at the same time.

A chorus of bizarre mechanical sounds that will automatically give you goose bumps on the back of your neck.

“… Disaster text?”

I hurriedly took out my smartphone, leaving behind the professor’s whispers that spread throughout the classroom through the microphone.

[Emergency Disaster Text]
[Seoul Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters]
[Large-scale riots and violence broke out throughout Seoul. Anyone showing sudden signs of aggression or suspicious symptoms should be quarantined immediately. Refrain from going out and outside activities after this time―]

Quaang-!

A roaring noise hit me before I could finish reading the disaster message.

Something broke into the lecture room through a much more bloody sound than the impact sound from above.

The body convulsed on the floor of the lecture hall, probably due to the reaction of forcibly breaking the door.

Dark red blood continued to flow from both arms and necks that were abnormally wide.

“Kie ee- ke ee-“

Then something screeched on the classroom floor, making a grotesque sound like fingernails scratching a chalkboard.

As if trying to happen somehow.

And now, everyone watching this grotesque scene instinctively held their breath.

As if the survival instinct imprinted in the cells tightly grips the breath and does not let go.

“Kie ee ee ee ee ee ee ee –”

However, it was not so easy for those who were close to him.

Very naturally, the back seat close to the back door.

His right eyebrow trembled as if he was convulsing as he watched the guy repeating grotesque gestures to get up.

A scene more realistic than any other gore movie.

Before he was even conscious, the bloody substance that had risen from his throat was swallowed again and shot tok- tok- down his esophagus.

Chin-!

The face of the guy who had been scrubbing the floor turned to the front with the sound of his elbows hitting the floor instead of his struggling arms.

“Ahhhhh!

And I couldn’t hold back my screams anymore at the cheeks that had been eaten by something.

“Eh eh eh!”

Something grotesquely stood up and roared in response to the screams right next to me.

It leaped as if it were flying and attacked the female student who was giving me a warm look.

Deuk- Deuk- Deuk-

Something clung to her body as she fell on the desk and started chewing on her throat voraciously.

With the sound of chewing raw flesh, the female student fluttered like a freshly caught fish.

Her iPad and smartphone, which continue to distance her from her hastily fluttering gestures.

“Quaaaaah”

Only then did high-pitched screams echo through the classroom as if the lock had been unlocked.

“… Fuck.”

A body that moves at the same time as a mouth that spontaneously spews curse words.

Without having time to take care of the notebooks and pencil cases scattered across the desk, I hurriedly grabbed my bag with my hands.

In an instant, he ran out of the classroom in a state of panic, without even looking back, looking in all directions.

“Aaaaagh-! Don’t bite-! Don’t bite me!”

As soon as I left the classroom, the smell of blood was evident.

I could see the dark red blood that had already soaked the central hall and the students struggling on top of it.

And something on top of it that is devouring the students.

No,

Be a zombie

What the fuck is a zombie if that’s not a zombie.

“Eh eh eh!”

Seeing the student, who had been lying on the floor as if dead, stand up with the same sound as a zombie, the eyes that had been trembling earlier trembled again.

Kyaaaaa!
Go away-! Fuck go away!

A central hall full of students trying to escape somehow and zombies trying to eat them.

It was virtually impossible to get out through that hell road.

Instead of going left to the concourse, I turned right and started running.

I had to get out of this fucking place through the side door instead of the center.

I pricked my eyes and ears as I ran down the relatively quiet hallway to see if the zombies hadn’t rampaged yet.

Widely-! Widely-! Widely-!

Amidst the sound of the soles of my shoes pushing against the marble and the shaky vision, I saw the side door through which I could exit the College of Humanities.

And even a man shouting something with a red face through the glass door.

“… Mind! Don’t come!”

The old man’s shouting could only be heard after the glass door was fully opened.

Charrrr—!

The man holding the chainsaw accompanied by a fierce mechanical sound pointed the chainsaw toward me as if threatening.

Heaps of green grass on the surrounding floor and beautifully landscaped trees around.

“Ha, move even one step! Fuck—my, do you think I can’t do that?!”

Charrrr—!

The pupils trembled violently and the way of speaking severely stuttered.

A seemingly distraught man holding a chainsaw was blocking my way out.

The straight staircase leading beyond the glass door was blocking the side, so I couldn’t go back to the side.

Of course, I could have jumped down the stairs if I overdo it, but I didn’t know what would happen if I provoked that man like that.

Maybe that chainsaw, oh that’s not a chainsaw, it’s called a pruner.

“Go away, you bastard! Get out of here! This is self-defense! It’s self-defense, so move even one fucking step. Fuck, you really die and I die!”

Anyway, the first step was to convince the man with the trimmer.

“Calm down, sir, no sir.”

I held out his hands and opened his arms to reassure him.

“President. I’m not here to hurt you. Did you see the disaster text? I was told to be careful of people who express aggression, but I am not aggressive at all. Isn’t it?”

He spoke softly as if he were teaching a newborn baby, and took a step forward with his arms spread out.

“Don’t come! I told you not to come get a haircut!”

The man who starts a game with that one step and comes one step closer.

Eh eh eh!

The roar of zombies already echoing from all directions, and the man looking around his head as if anxious at the sound.

And his lips moved at the sight of his overalls pants becoming increasingly wet.

You crazy bastard, you’re not crazy at all right now.

Now, his lips are getting dry as he babbles to himself like a madman.

In the end, I have to get out of the College of Humanities through that crazy chainsaw asshole.

“Fuck hair, me, me, self-defense! Mr. Feet. It can’t be helped, my, because I have to live—”

But even that wasn’t easy.

A crazy guy who doesn’t even blink as if he’s focused all his attention on me.

And in that bastard’s hand, there’s a pruner that makes a vicious noise, but I only had a bag I had hastily packed.

It’s a fucking situation where you can’t even check if a zombie is running from behind thanks to that bastard who flinches as if he’ll run at you if you take even one step.

Widely-! Widely-! Widely-!

At that moment, I heard a familiar sound gradually approaching me.

The sound of running, pushing the marble floor with all its might.

“Eh eh eh!”

And at the creepy noise that came again, the first meeting in the classroom passed by itself like a kaleidoscope.

The grotesque scene that attacked the woman who was sending her eyes wide open.

Recollections and actions happened simultaneously, regardless of who came first.

Something quickly passed over my flattened torso, like dodging bullets on a battlefield.

“Eh eh eh!”

A growl followed, as if expressing anger at missing prey, but it didn’t matter.

At the end of the leap, new food will be waiting for you.

“Kuaaaaa”

Iron flip-!

Raising my head slightly, in my field of vision came a madman struggling under the feet of a zombie that had suddenly flown in.

A crazy guy who flutters and shakes his legs like a high school student.

The situation was the same as that of the female students, but the resistance was different.

“Wow, it’s called a party defense! Hey, you said it was self-defense!”

Kagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagagaga-!

A decibel of noise far louder than the sound of zombies chewing raw flesh.

The pruner in the madman’s hand started landscaping zombies, not trees.

A blunt pruning blade cut through the foe that gnawed at its master.

Kaga-ga-ga-gaga-!

Even at such a moment, the zombie who had been chewing on the madman until the end stopped her chin only after the pruning blade dug halfway into his head.

“Quaaaaah-!”

A zombie who died without moving as it attacked its prey, and a madman under it.

Heheghhhhh”

With a noise now unknown whether it was screaming or crying, he threw the trimmer on the floor.

“Kuheuheheug— Mom— Mom—”

Red blood was slowly spreading from the guy who belatedly started looking for her mother.

Well, in order to kill the zombies that were eating right next to him, that madman must have made his own sacrifices.

It was an amount of blood that couldn’t come out from being chewed up by zombies.

“Mom aaaaa”

The sound of his cries gradually faded as the blood overflowed the asphalt.

If there was a chance, it was now.

If a little bit of time passes, that madman will rise from the floor just like the zombie that bit him.

Then, it will run madly at the nearest prey.

Now the idiot who continued to annoy me and the zombie who tried to surprise me from behind disappeared at the same time.

At this moment, I know I have to hurry up, but—

I couldn’t get up from my seat.

[You were involved in killing zombies.]

[Release of dormancy.]

[The so-called ‘tyrant’ is activated.]

It was the first new message I saw.

The next page that couldn’t be turned over by any gag.

The next page greeted me.

“Mom aaaaa”

Only now, when the dead rise and devour the living.

With a pruner that should be used to landscaping trees, we cut through the dead flesh of zombies—

A middle-aged man who looks well beyond his 40s is dying while crying at his mother.

After the world I lived in ended.

“Um- kkeureuk- kkeureukreuk-!”

Only after the new world begins.

“Eh eh eh!”

[You have earned points.]