episode_0025

Rule 23.

During the Red Night they know your location.

As soon as I saw the 23rd rule paper, I was convinced.

The fact that today is going to be hard all day.

Da da da da da da da!

We started walking forward blindly when we heard the footsteps of a mannequin running from behind.

“Don’t run. Since you have to move for 24 hours, you need to conserve your strength as much as possible.”

Then Suyeon turned around and started walking.

“If I were alone, I would have walked facing forward, but when there are two people, this is more effective.”

One in front and one in back.

In theory, humans have a field of view of about 180 to 210 degrees, so we could theoretically move around with omnidirectional surveillance.

I slowly turned my head to look behind me and watched her walking.

I thought it was fortunate to see her back shaking unsteadily every time she walked.

What if I left her alone in a place like this?

It was terrifying to even imagine.

To begin with, not being able to sleep at all for a week is an almost impossible condition.

Unable to use skills, unable to use magic power, and now monsters that know our location in real time.

I reached out and took her right hand and mine.

She looked back at me with a moment of confusion, but

“It’s dangerous to walk backwards.”

Making a suitable excuse, I cupped her right hand and squeezed it tightly.

Has my will to never let go of this hand, no matter what happens, been conveyed?

Well, that didn’t really matter.

Since Suyeon also put a clasp on the right hand she was holding, we just assumed that we were thinking the same thing.

Come on.

As Suyeon came into view, the sound of the mannequin running behind her stopped.

Rattling, rattling!

As soon as the footsteps of the mannequin following behind stopped,

Ignoring the sound of bloody footsteps running from the right as if we had been waiting, we continued to walk aimlessly forward.

After that, I continued to walk without stopping for several hours.

Occasionally, I had to turn to the main road on the right or left and proceed again because of the mannequins running in front of me, and even though mannequins surrounded me from all directions at the same time at a large intersection.

The two of us calmly took in all the mannequins at a glance and walked to the side of the mannequin that could not move.

Fortunately, unlike before, there was some light in the red night, so the viewing distance was wide and I was able to stop a mannequin running silently from afar.

So we continued walking without stopping for several hours.

Sometimes I felt tired and stopped to rest for a minute to drink a can of coffee, but I couldn’t rest any longer than that.

If we rest too long, the mannequins in the city will come and surround us.

That’s why we always rested only on noticeably wide roads.

Even if you are surrounded, you can escape at any time by using the mannequin’s characteristic of stopping as long as it is within sight.

Other than that there wasn’t much difference.

There wasn’t much difference other than carrying her bag on the way and the number of mannequins following us increased by the dozen.

But surprises always come suddenly.

Coogugung…

The ground began to shake with a huge noise.

At first glance, it felt similar to an earthquake, but the reason the ground shook was not because of an earthquake, but because the building collapsed.

I don’t know where it started, but the buildings coming this way were collapsing one by one.

We, who were resting on the road at a wide intersection, stood up to avoid being crushed by the rubble of the collapsing building, but since there was nothing we could do, we just watched the situation unfold.

Before we knew it, the building near where we were standing collapsed, and the falling debris hit the mannequin that was chasing us.

If only that were there, I would have been really happy.

The collapsed rubble also caused damage to us.

It was definitely smaller than the mannequins attached to the building and had less damage, but the problem was the wound on my leg.

The fallen debris overturns the cut from the cutter knife.

Because the flesh was spread apart, it was easy for debris to squeeze through the gaps.

I was lucky that it wasn’t stuck deep, but the feeling of being stabbed with a knife every time I walked was not at all welcome.

I hid that fact and continued walking with Sooyeon looking behind and me looking ahead.

The mannequin that was crushed didn’t wake up, but the surviving mannequins continued to chase us regardless of whether the city collapsed or not.

Collapsed rubble blocks the view of the open street.

As a result, the mannequins that were running from all directions are now attacking from all directions.

A mannequin is unable to move after making eye contact while squeezing through the rubble.

Crash!

The sound of the footsteps of a mannequin that cleverly hides itself in the rubble and moves as if taking advantage of an angle we cannot see to find a gap.

We, who had been walking on a flat road, now had to walk between uneven rubble, so both I, who had trouble with one leg, and her, who was walking backwards, lost their feet at times, creating a dangerous situation.

Come on! Rattling! Damn it! Rattling!

Each time, the mannequins ran towards us as if they would not miss the opportunity.

Prey and predator.

A hopeless situation in which one cannot even resist.

I picked up a fallen rebar with one hand and hit the head of a mannequin that came close, but the mannequin looked at me with an expressionless face, as if it wasn’t even shocked.

“Haa.. haa..”

After all the buildings collapsed, every moment was vulnerable and the shadow of death was right in front of us, so we could not rest even once.

“Haak.. Haak..”

The sound of breathing becoming increasingly rough.

Although it was physically difficult, we were all exhausted from the mentally difficult situation.

And in such an extreme situation, we didn’t notice it when we were far away, but as we got closer, we were greeted by a huge wall of rubble that we could never cross alone.

“Ah..”

‘Fuck..’

I wanted to live.

I want to escape this shitty place.

When I went outside, I wanted to whisper to Seolhee that I loved her.

You will eat your fill of delicious food,

I wanted to lie in bed all day and sleep all day,

There were many things I wanted to do.

And to do that, I had to live.

All of that was possible only if we were alive, and the huge wall of rubble in front of us now told us that there was no way for either of us to get out of here alive.

I wanted to live like crazy, but

“Suyeon.”

“If you make a subtle comment in this situation, you will only see it this time.”

Even in this situation, she still ticks.

“If there is a wall in front, go up first.”

I let her go because I want to save her even more.

“Are you looking closely? It’s too high so it’s hard to climb.”

She slowly climbs between the wreckage, breathing heavily as if from exertion.

Even though she is groaning, I extend both my hands up to support her legs as she climbs the wall of rubble.

“I will be watching you while you come up.”

“Suyeon.”

“Come up first and then talk.”

“Suyeon.”

She noticed something strange even before I spoke.

“Don’t talk nonsense, come up quickly. If you don’t want to die.”

“I don’t want to die, right.. But I can’t move anymore.”

As I spoke, I slightly lifted my left leg, which I had hidden until now.

The bottom of my left jeans was already stained bright red due to continued bleeding.

“I can’t go up, so hurry up.”

“I’m going down again.”

“Jeong Soo-yeon,”

“Ah why! I don’t like it! I won’t go! Who are you? You keep saying this and that..”

I couldn’t see Sooyeon because I had to look at the mannequins in front of me, but anyone could tell that she was crying.

“Don’t scream. You have to follow the rules.”

“I’m not going! Are you telling me to leave you alone? I’m really going to kill you, so don’t say that!”

I couldn’t hold back the laughter that came out.

“Please don’t kill me. I still want to live, right?”

“…”

“Suyeon, listen carefully. There are mannequins running from behind right now. If we both climb up, we will be surrounded and have no choice but to die.”

“So together..”

“But you can’t get through the mannequins crowded here and there.”

“…”

“Go quickly. I’m going to live, keep both eyes open and go quickly because I won’t let those damn bastards take a single step towards me.”

“I don’t like it.”

She doesn’t want to listen to me until the end.

“If you don’t go, I might get killed by the kids climbing over the wall behind me, so please drag me away.”

“…”

“I told you, right? I want to live.”

“You have 6 hours left to live, so don’t blink and live unconditionally.”

“Of course.”

Perhaps she felt reassured by my answer, and as she was about to go down to the other side, I gave her what might be her last words.

“Suyeon.”

“Why?”

“I ate the pudding that was in the refrigerator at that time.”

“…”

“Your pudding was awesome.”

It was so bad that I couldn’t hear her voice anymore.

I’m tired.

My eyes close.

My legs hurt.

and

I want to live.

Is there anyone in the world who wants to die?

I don’t know how many hours have passed, but the mannequins, now numbering in the hundreds, have gathered together and gradually surrounded me.

At first, they were quite far away, but little by little they got closer, and now they are standing less than 100 meters away.

Nevertheless, I decided to think as positively as possible.

“I realized the special move. You foolish mannequins, you don’t have to blink as long as you open your eyes!”

A few more hours passed like that.

The blood that had soaked the bottom of my legs was now starting to pool little by little like a puddle.

I felt a little dizzy and tired, but it didn’t last long.

“An hour? Two hours?” Not long left.”

The distance from the group of mannequins was only about 50 meters.

Doc. Dag. Doc.

No matter how long you look at it, the distance from the group of mannequins is around 15m.

Now that they were so close that I couldn’t see them, there were some that were approaching little by little in real time.

“They’re all dying… Can you please take a look? Even if you don’t catch me, I’m going to end up bleeding.”

Damn. Damn. Dag. Shut up.

As if agreeing with what I said, the mannequins very slowly approached me, one step at a time, as if they were going to kill me.

The blood that had been flowing from before had formed a puddle, but after some time had passed, the crust had hardened except for the area where the debris was stuck.

Thanks to this, the amount of bleeding was greatly reduced.

10m.

8m.

5m.

3m.

Now, if you really fall down, it’s just a nose reach away.

Raise your middle finger towards the mannequins that are approaching your eyes.

“It’s over, you idiots.”

The mobile phone vibrates and the red light turns off along with a notification that the second floor of the tower has been completed.

The 7th night is over.

When I turned it on earlier and checked, it was time for the 7th day to end.

The lights were off and it was dark, and the mannequins that were now 1.5 meters away in front of me had not yet given up on me.

“Fuck.. I turned it on too early and my phone is out of battery.”

I tried to go home, but my phone wouldn’t turn on, so I couldn’t go back home anymore.

I roughly threw the turned off cell phone at the head of the mannequin in front of me.

Thumb pick.

With a cell phone falling without power

The world was split in half.