Ch.42Disaster Alert Broadcast (3)

[All residents, please evacuate outside the building.]

I read about this in a science magazine once.

When you’re dreaming, the part of your brain responsible for logical reasoning becomes dull, making even the most nonsensical things feel real.

[Please continue to listen to emergency broadcasts through radio or mobile phones.]

The announcement continues to broadcast from the speakers on the wall.

Nothing could be more nonsensical than the current situation.

So how do you wake up from a dream?

Finding contradictions is important.

You need to identify something truly unrealistic and vividly realize that this isn’t reality.

For instance, if your finger joints bend backward.

I confidently extended my left hand into the air and tried to bend my index finger backward.

Crack.

“Ow!”

That’s strange.

I read on Namuwiki that it should work.

Maybe it’s because I’m doing it alone?

Jung Haewon stands beside me with a puzzled expression.

“Hey. Try breathing with your nose blocked.”

“Hmmmph.”

“Doesn’t work?”

“No.”

This time, I grabbed Jung Haewon’s hand and tried to bend his finger.

“Noona, what are you suddenly doing!”

“Just stay still for a moment.”

Snap!

“Argh!”

“Huh. Doesn’t work either?”

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

“No, I heard this is how you wake up from dreams. It’s called a reality check. I thought of it when you mentioned fact-checking.”

“This doesn’t seem like a dream to anyone.”

The curtains flutter wildly as the wind blows in.

[I’m watching you]

[I’m watching you]

[I’m watching you]

A dry voice keeps coming from outside the window.

[I’m watching you]

Every time the curtains flutter, the voice comes through, scraping the bottom of my mind.

If I keep listening, I might truly go insane.

“Hey. Any other ideas?”

“Um… what if we turn off the TV?”

“Let’s try that.”

We should be safe if the curtains are closed. Probably.

Waiting for the wind to die down, I crawled across the living room.

[We’ll continue to bring you updates.]

– Minister of Public Administration and Security, Son Hyunchul

I raised just my upper body in front of the TV and pressed the power button.

[The government has restored emergency communications. Shortly, we’ll connect with the Prime Minister…]

What? Did I press the wrong button?

I carefully raised my head to check, but I definitely pressed the power button.

What’s going on?

I kept pressing the button hundreds of times while mentally cursing.

Why won’t it turn off?!

…There are times like this.

Two people talking on the street with no interest in me.

I have no reason to pay attention to them, so I look at the storefronts lining the street.

But suddenly, the background chatter that had become familiar stops.

Did the topic change? The two people start conversing in a completely different tone and manner.

That alone breaks the peace.

Due to the social instinct of humans centered on “empathy,” you can’t help but glance their way.

That’s what this situation felt like.

[…Fellow citizens.]

I felt a chill run up my spine.

Slowly, I raised my head to look at the TV screen.

The minister in the screen was looking down at me.

Empty eyes.

A bloodless, pale face.

[Please continue watching and do not turn off the broadcast.]

He’s definitely looking at me.

Until just now, he was looking straight ahead, but now he’s tilting his head to match my gaze.

[If you act without listening to the broadcast, you may lose your precious life.]

[Please continue watching and do not turn off the broadcast.]

My body froze instantly.

I fell backward and lay there with my mouth slightly open.

“Ah, uh…”

That’s all I could manage to say.

The minister on the screen speaks with barely moving lips.

[Please continue watching and do not turn off the broadcast.]

“…”

I approached the screen.

The next moment.

The TV fell to the floor and rolled.

Crash!

“Are you okay?”

Jung Haewon had crossed the living room and knocked over the TV.

Feeling my senses return, I nodded.

“Uh…”

“You were really strange just now. You were almost sucked into the TV, and your eyes turned completely black. I thought you might not come back.”

Jung Haewon speaks without taking a breath, completely pale.

“Yeah. Thanks. You did well.”

Meanwhile, I’m so out of breath that my words come out in spurts.

It’s not from exhaustion, but from trying to handle my frantically beating heart.

“Phew…”

Static, crackle.

Noise flows from the overturned TV.

That wasn’t all that flowed out. Like a living organism, blood poured out, soaking the living room floor.

Jung Haewon quickly moved his feet away in horror.

“Ugh, creepy.”

With that movement, the eyeballs outside rolled together in one spot.

[Found you?]

[Found you?]

[Found…]

“Huh?”

A pale-faced Jung Haewon and the shadows outside that had just started moving.

We needed to act quickly.

Swoosh-

The eerie voices stopped instantly.

I pulled down the curtain that had been floating in the wind.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

“Yes, Noona.”

“Don’t move carelessly.”

“…Yes.”

After waiting for the wind to calm down again, we hid under the dining table.

“But if we just hold out like this, won’t it end?”

“I don’t know.”

“The broadcast was cut off earlier. We need to do something about that thing outside… Oh. Should we just leave the building?”

“No. That’s exactly what the broadcast kept saying. It kept chanting for us to go outside the building. Are you going to do exactly what it says?”

Besides, the broadcast hadn’t stopped.

[Please continue to listen to emergency broadcasts through radio or mobile phones.]

The apartment’s internal broadcast continues.

Not only that.

“Noona. Look there.”

“Shh.”

The broken TV rights itself and returns to its original position.

The blood that had flowed out also returns into the screen.

The broadcast resumes.

[I urge you again. Please continue watching and do not turn off the broadcast.]

– Minister of Public Administration and Security, Son Hyunchul

[And I have one more thing to tell you.]

Son Hyunchul, who had been sitting upright in his chair, suddenly leans forward.

[Hiding under a table isn’t such a wise move.]

“Huhk.”

Jung Haewon reflexively exhales.

“So that man really is watching us right now?”

Jung Haewon nods frantically.

I’ve had the feeling that we don’t have much time left for a while now.

We’ve tried almost everything we could.

What should we do now?

Lying on the floor, I started muttering about the situation.

“I thought I had it all figured out earlier. Check reality to end the dream. I thought that would work, but it didn’t. So? This isn’t a dream but reality. What other way is there to escape?”

“Fact-check. Not reality check.”

“I know. I just borrowed the idea. How are we supposed to fact-check here?”

“Well…”

Jung Haewon trailed off, but that actually helped.

“Wait. I just thought of something.”

I remembered.

Another way to counter the misinformation flowing from the TV.

***

A vast prairie. Under a gray sky.

Although the earthquake had stopped long ago, Heo Yoon and Seok Hyunmin had to keep running.

Once the bookshelves started falling, they continued to collapse like dominoes.

Massive wooden bookshelves reaching the sky.

Books poured out like a tsunami.

And after about 10 minutes.

One of the two completely ran out of stamina.

“Huff. Gasp…”

“Seok Hyunmin, why are you so slow?”

“You’re. Huff. You’re just too fast.”

“If you’re out of breath, just shut up and run! Why are you talking back?”

“You’re the one who asked me…”

“Stop panting and come here.”

“Waah!”

Heo Yoon grabbed Hyunmin’s wrist, who was lagging behind, and threw him forward.

Rumble-

Just seconds later, the spot where Hyunmin had been standing was buried under a pile of books.

“Hey. Do you know which way?”

“Huff. Gasp. That way… straight ahead.”

There wasn’t even enough time for conversation now.

Heo Yoon linked arms with Hyunmin and used her legs as a pivot to make a sharp turn.

Crash-

An enormous pile of books formed a hill to their right.

“Which way now?”

“There. Go toward where I marked with the flashlight.”

“I can’t see it.”

“No, look over there!!!”

“Damn it. This isn’t working. You keep pointing the direction with your hand.”

Heo Yoon continued dragging the exhausted Hyunmin.

Despite Heo Yoon’s efforts, the situation was getting worse.

For a while now, an apartment announcement had been coming from somewhere above their heads.

[Residents, please evacuate to open ground outside the building. Emergency broadcasts are being transmitted through TV, radio, and mobile phone DMB. Residents, please listen to the broadcasts and evacuate safely. I repeat. Residents, please evacuate to open ground outside the building. Emergency broadcasts are being transmitted through TV, radio, and mobile phone DMB. Residents, please listen to the broadcasts and evacuate safely.]

And one more thing.

Something was happening among the piles of fallen books.

Like seeds sprouting.

Something was wriggling and growing from the books that had opened after falling out of the bookshelves.

“Ha… This is insane…”

Hyunmin sighed, gasping for breath.

“What’s that? So disgusting.”

Heo Yoon frowned.

Broken letters floated in the air above the pile of books.

■■■■

■

■

Hyunmin could observe the anomalies, while Heo Yoon could only vaguely sense them.

Despite the difference in their vision, this time both could see it.

■■■■■■■■■

Things We Have Lost

■■■■■■■■■

Heo Yoon finally understood.

What she had briefly seen when first arriving on this floor. The names written on the book spines. What they meant.

The “stubby pencil” often lost in classrooms.

7500 “Bitcoin” buried in landfills, impossible to find.

Names in English or Chinese characters probably belonged to missing people.

Objects with seemingly no connection began filling the floor as they awakened from the records.

Fragments of narrative layers destroyed by ■■

Slimy, decayed fingers.

Dismembered person.

The corpse of a dog that died while leashed.

Pencil lead

Rubber band

Key to some basement

“This isn’t good. Let’s run again.”

“Okay.”

Although horrific things caught their eye, Heo Yoon started worrying about something else.

Among the book spine names she had glanced at, there was one particularly long one.

[Existence of Aggressive and Evil Human Predecessor Civilization]

From the pile of books in the distance, a furry, sturdy body slowly straightened and breathed.

There were about ten of them. Each was about the size of a small child.

They wore flowing white clothes, and their exposed faces and hands were covered in reddish fur like bonobos.

“!@#$!$%^!”

“!@#$@##@$!”

“!@$%%^!”

The newly awakened beings began conversing in an incomprehensible language.

The last thing Heo Yoon saw was them aiming staff-like weapons in their direction.

Heo Yoon immediately turned and ran toward the elevator with all her might.

Whoosh-

Something hot grazed her nape.

Bang!

This time, a nearby wooden bookshelf shattered.

The sound of firing and flames coming from a distance. Glimpses of distorted metal fragments through the bookshelves.

Heo Yoon was too focused on running to notice, but Hyunmin immediately understood.

This was, without a doubt, gunfire.