episode_0001

– Thud! Thud!

The heavy iron door groaned inward in response to the sound.

“Roarrrrrrr!!!”

The mutant’s roar made the hairs on my body stand on end.

This is bad.

Facing a mutant in the early stages is tough enough, but my luck couldn’t be worse.

I looked at the cylinder trembling in my shaking hands. More accurately, it was the liquid sloshing in time with the trembling. The vaccine that could save humanity.

How did it come to this…?

I traced back in time to the morning.

-Weeeeeee!

The piercing siren jolted me awake. It was the loud air raid alarm that roused me from my sleep.

“What, what’s going on…?”

Outside the sunlit window, black smoke was rising slowly from various places.

The intermittent siren soon stopped, but anyone could tell that the situation was dire.

-Zzzeek! Crash!

Before I could even process the situation, the deafening noise continued, making me flinch.

W-War!? Did North Korea invade?

I ran to the window to look outside.

Buildings crumbling as if hit by bombs. The shattered roads were already clogged with twisted cars, and flames from one spot were spreading to the adjacent vehicles.

-Kwaaang!

Flames shot up with a roar.

….

I immediately grabbed my smartphone, but when I tried to make a call, I couldn’t decide who to call.

I should probably contact my family first, right?

I hesitantly scrolled through my contacts and felt a chill. The screen was blank, as if denying my existence. Even if my social circle was small, I would still receive spam calls or something. But it was empty as if denying my very existence.

I frantically tried dialing contacts, but they were all empty as well. I couldn’t recall deleting even my family’s numbers…

My mind went blank.

W-What about messages?

I nervously opened the messaging app and froze. There was only one message on the screen.

Emergency Disaster Alert

[Ministry of the Interior] An unknown infectious disease is spreading rapidly nationwide. Citizens are advised to evacuate to a safe location.

“W-What the…?”

Before I could react, my phone suddenly shut off.

I thought the battery was dead, so I tried plugging in the charger, but it was no use. Even turning on the fluorescent light didn’t work.

Is the power out?

Only then did I slowly look around. It was a studio apartment, but it wasn’t where I lived.

I walked back to the window and looked outside step by step.

Burning cars, ruined streets, and people gathering around the exploded car.

A bead of sweat trickled down my back.

The strange appearance of some people. Their brown and purple-tinged decaying skin, twisted joints, and moaning gait resembled zombies.

A sudden memory flashed in my mind. The novel I read last night, where the protagonist, who maintained his humanity even after the zombie outbreak, received the vaccine alone and became the last human survivor.

Whenever it seemed like something would be resolved, a new problem arose, and just when it seemed like things would be resolved, another problem arose. The protagonist, who discovered the location of the vaccine, lost all his companions on the way there, leaving only him and the heroine. The thick iron door was creaking open as if zombies were about to break in any moment. There was only one vaccine. The protagonist and the heroine held hands and closed their eyes, ready to end their lives together, but the stinging sensation in his throat made the protagonist open his eyes.

There, the heroine is holding an empty syringe with a smile on her face. In the next moment, her head disappears as tentacles fly towards her, ultimately leaving the protagonist as the sole survivor in the novel.

After watching the ending, feeling uneasy and dirty, I rushed to the community forum only to find a heated debate already underway. Most shared my opinion. I subtly added my spoon to the mix.

“Chronos: Seriously messed up lol if it had a happy ending, I would’ve stabbed the author to death.”

“Chronos: Even if I wrote with my foot, I’d do better than this.”

“Chronos: The author is a complete idiot.”

“Chronos: The author has no basic respect for the readers.”

As I voiced my opinions in the fiery debate, a reply caught my eye.

┖ ㅇㅇ: Isn’t going as far as using profanity a bit too much?

┖ Chronos: What, if you make a mistake, you should get criticized for it.

┖ ㅇㅇ: Some people like tragic endings, and it doesn’t seem necessary to receive this much criticism…

┖ Chronos: Yeah right, the author himself showed up, didn’t he?

┖ Chronos: Seriously, we read web novels to pass the time and relieve stress, who enjoys a trashy ending that leaves you feeling dirty? Lol

┖ Chronos: If it’s not the author himself, no one would like it.

┖ Chronos: Did he get caught being himself and get roasted?

I continued to express my valid opinions, defending the novel or engaging in debates with those who opposed me until I fell asleep while still typing.

“Damn it….”

I hurriedly ran to the bathroom and looked at my reflection in the mirror.

The dimly lit bathroom, devoid of electricity. I shivered as I looked at the unfamiliar man with a puzzled expression on his face in the mirror. A somewhat rebellious yet ordinary appearance.

Is this the protagonist’s face…?

Frozen for a moment, I began to search the room. My usually messy room didn’t look too different, but…

It was strange. The protagonist in the novel had a neat personality. Even at the beginning of an apocalypse, he wouldn’t have left the room in such a mess.

As I rummaged through the pile of clothes, I found it!

I found my wallet in the pocket of a discarded pair of pants. The first thing I pulled out of the wallet, which had no money, was my ID card.

The name written on it was…

Yoon Siwoo.

???

Yoon Siwoo?

The protagonist’s name is Ian… Who is Yoon Siwoo? The name seems familiar from somewhere. Yoon Siwoo Yoon Siwoo Yoon Siwoo…

“Oh!”

Fortunately, since the novel had just finished serialization, I could remember the beginning.

It must be him. The character from the very beginning who found the protagonist lying on the street, gave him food, and joined the group, only to die from zombies while fleeing with supplies at night…

The first character to show human selfishness in a world turned apocalyptic. Truly an extra like a passerby.

…

Damn it… What should I do… If I were the protagonist, I would know the future and somehow manage with my fraudulent ability, but this…

Think, think, think…

I suddenly opened my eyes wide. There was only one thing I could think of.

***

Perhaps due to the explosion earlier, most of the nearby zombies had gathered there. Thanks to only the dull-witted ones remaining on the streets, I could easily make my way here.

Near my house, the Sillim Police Station. I peeked inside through the shattered glass. Thankfully, there was no sense of presence. Carefully entering, I froze in place.

Basking in the lazy afternoon sunlight, a cold body lay sprawled out. Dried pools of congealed blood gathered around the head.

The zombies roaming the streets didn’t feel very realistic, but when faced with a corpse, the reality hit home.

With trembling hands, he pulled out the revolver from the police officer’s grip. Was it out of sheer terror, or was it for the sake of human dignity? Instead of becoming a zombie, he aimed the barrel at his own temple and pulled the trigger.

The revolver contained four bullets in the cylinder. It was the first firearm the protagonist Ian obtained. With his innate talent for marksmanship, it would be a powerful weapon to protect him in crucial moments.

Let’s borrow it for the greater good.

The fact that the revolver was still here meant that Ian hadn’t passed through this place yet.

Ian and Yoonsu, the people I would meet in this area. Now, all I had to do was get the vaccine and meet the protagonist.

The protagonist Ian starts with the vaccine that is obtained at the final ending. Without wasting time, following the protagonist and producing the vaccine to end this situation.

The destination is the research lab at S University nearby.

You might wonder why a zombie virus vaccine is in a university research lab, but this vaccine wasn’t originally created based on the zombie virus. It was developed before the virus mutated. At that time, when the virus was thought to only cause mild symptoms like a slightly sore throat for a day or two, the vaccine was created for that purpose.

Knowing the outcome, I knew that this vaccine was effective.

Ian, with even a glimmer of hope, entered the research lab to secure the vaccine.

It would be risky to cross the university. Following the novel’s plot, going around the mountain and entering the research lab directly would be safer.

Although the number of zombies staggering on the streets increased, I was able to arrive at the entrance of the campus without attracting much attention due to the sparsely populated area.

I was worried about the mountain path, but fortunately, the slope was gentle. But…

“Heuk… Heuk…”

I was out of breath even though I hadn’t climbed much.

I should have exercised regularly if I had known this would happen. Always sitting at home in front of the computer, my stamina…

Then a sudden thought occurred to me. Oh, this isn’t my body… If I had to possess someone, why not the protagonist… Why this…

Struggling to move my legs, I arrived at the back of the campus. The roof was round-shaped, so I knew it when I saw it… Ah, there it is!

As mentioned, the research lab was easily found. Now all I had to do was go in and secure the vaccine.

Approaching a zombie wandering near the entrance of the building, I stealthily approached and swung a baseball bat at the back of its head.

-Kang!

With a cheerful sound, the zombie collapsed. I kept hitting it until its head was smashed.

“Ha… Ha…”

I was out of breath just from this, but I felt a sense of accomplishment in dealing with one without any trouble.

Alright, I can handle this.

I thought it would be easy, but…

The result was this.

-Thud! Thud!

The door was almost falling apart.

I looked at the empty cylinder of the revolver. How could I know if a mutation had already occurred!

Maybe I was too careless, not paying attention to the ground beneath my feet.

-Jabak.

The sound of stepping on broken glass made one zombie scream and rush towards me, followed by more zombies pouring out from all directions.

The only fortunate thing was that the lab with the vaccine was just around the corner. But as I turned the corner with all my might, I was overwhelmed.

Standing at 3 meters tall, with bulging muscles filling the corridor, was a massive creature known as a mutated beta.

As they locked eyes, it seemed like the creature was directing the chaos, and in that moment, everything fell apart.

I threw away the bat I was holding instead of slowing down my running speed and immediately pulled out my revolver.

– Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger, but it seemed like it wasn’t enough as the creature just staggered back a bit, but that was sufficient.

In the meantime, I entered the lab and locked the door behind me.

“Huff…, huff….”

My heart was pounding as if it was about to explode. Without even taking a moment to catch my breath, I frantically searched the lab.

The vaccine was easy to find. A cylindrical object rolling around haphazardly on the cluttered desk, containing white liquid sloshing inside. This was the vaccine that would save humanity…

I grabbed the vaccine and ran towards the window, but immediately gave up. Outside the window, zombies attracted by the commotion were staggering around, reaching out towards the sky as if they were about to jump down here.

– Crash!

Iron doors that had been battered and turned into rags flew off in all directions.

Seeing the mutant creatures bursting out and waving their arms, I reflexively shoved the vaccine into my neck.