Chapter 2

…Night, you say?’

The fact that it was night was a huge problem. It was hard enough to survive during the day, but now it’s night?

‘There’s no guarantee that the monsters that just attacked are the only ones. There could be more outside… Damn it!’

At night, there’s little to no light, making it hard to find your way. From the moment I escaped the building, I needed to find another place to rest, but at night, that becomes twice as difficult.

‘Did everyone else already run away somewhere else?’

The sound of people dying inside the building was starting to fade. If more time passed, those monsters would come out looking for new prey. I had to get somewhere else before that.

‘First, I’ll head uphill. Higher ground is better than lower ground.’

There was a path leading upward, so I quickly moved.

******

After running quite a distance, I finally caught my breath.

“Whew… Whew… Huh…”

The sudden hellish situation and my lack of regular exercise made me feel my stamina draining rapidly.

The scenes of people dying inside the building and the face of the injured woman I left behind flashed in my mind.

“Ugh… Ugh… Huh…”

I’ve seen some rough times on Earth, but this was on a whole different level.

It was a situation that could easily be called hell. The thought of the blood-soaked scene made me nauseous.

‘This kind of thinking isn’t helpful… Right now, I just need to focus on surviving. This isn’t the time for useless thoughts.’

Rustle—

“……!”

The sound made me break out in a cold sweat. If it was a monster… the thought was terrifying.

“Hey…”

‘Whew…’

Luckily, it was a person. A man wearing glasses who looked slightly older than me.

“Did you escape too? We’ve gathered some people who ran away together. If you’re okay with it, you can join us…”

I ran away alone, but it seemed others had escaped as well.

‘It’s better to join others, right?’

Being alone in a crisis like this is extremely dangerous.

Honestly, more than that, I just didn’t want to be alone in this sudden situation.

“Ah… Yes. I’d appreciate that. How many people are with you?”

“Four, including me. It would be great if there were more, but… the situation was too bad. We ran out of the building in a hurry and met outside…”

Four people is better than nothing. It’s still much better than being alone, so I decided to follow.

“Just follow me. There’s a small hidden clearing. The others are waiting there. Haha, I was so flustered I didn’t even introduce myself. I’m Jo Byeong-ok.”

“I’m Lee Yun-seong. Feel free to speak casually. You seem older than me.”

“Haha… I’m more comfortable with formal speech. I used to work in sales back on Earth, so formal speech is easier for me.”

Talking to someone else made me feel a bit less tense.

“Are the others okay? The situation was so terrible, everyone must be in shock…”

“At first, I was the same, and everyone was out of their minds. Even now, we’re still shaking. But, I can’t say everyone’s completely fine, but… we’ve calmed down a bit, so it should be okay.”

As we talked in hushed tones, we arrived at the clearing.

Just as he said, three people were waiting there: an older woman, a man in his early 20s, and a young woman.

“You’re here?… But, who’s this…?”

The young woman spoke to Byeong-ok. She looked to be in her early 20s, probably a college student.

“I found him while scouting the area. This is Yun-seong. And this is…”

“…Hi. I’m Kim So-young. Nice to meet you…”

“Hello. I’m Lee Yun-seong. Nice to meet you.”

I opened the woman’s status window.

[ Name: Kim So-young ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait: Calm Judgment (Grade Under Measurement) – Allows for more rational decision-making in crisis situations. ]

[ Stats ]

Strength – 08 Agility – 09

Stamina – 08 Luck – 10

Magic – 00 Resistance – 06

‘…Her stats are average. I should check Byeong-ok’s status too.’

The status window system was unfamiliar, and I was so out of it that I didn’t think to check when we first met.

[ Name: Jo Chan-ho ]

[ Age: 29 ]

[ Job: Intermediate Swordsman (Rare Grade) ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Traits ]

Quiet Steps (Grade Under Measurement) – Reduces the chance of being detected when approaching someone.

Murder Festival (Grade Under Measurement) – Temporarily increases strength and agility stats with each kill, up to a max of 10. Allows healing using nearby blood, but not one’s own blood.

[ Traits ]

Intermediate Swordsmanship Understanding (Rare Grade) – Increases understanding of swordsmanship.

[ Stats ]

Strength – 16 Agility – 18

Stamina – 15 Luck – 05

Magic – 00 Resistance – 10

“F***.”

The curse I suddenly blurted out made Kim So-young visibly flustered.

“Huh…?”

“Ah… No. Just a sudden leg cramp… I must’ve walked too much… Haha.”

‘What the hell? His name’s Jo Chan-ho, not Jo Byeong-ok? Why the fake name…?’

Cold sweat started running down my back. Not only did he lie about his name, but his above-average stats, already having a job, and his unique traits were alarming.

‘Quiet Steps is one thing, but having more than one unique trait is surprising, and one of them is called Murder Festival?’

The name of the unique trait alone tells me this guy isn’t normal.

‘I shouldn’t have followed him. Damn it, I should’ve checked his status right when we met… You idiot!’

…No. If I had refused his offer when we first met, who knows what would’ve happened.

He’s carrying a sword, and his stats are way higher than mine. If I had refused his offer earlier, this psycho might’ve gotten pissed and drawn his sword.

‘Actually, it’s fine. There are five of us, so he can’t just do whatever he wants… I’ll find a chance to slip away.’

I calmed myself down and checked the other two’s statuses.

[ Name: Moon Gyeong-sil ]

[ Age: 45 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait: None ]

[ Stats ]

Strength – 08 Agility – 07

Stamina – 07 Luck – 08

Magic – 00 Resistance – 05

[ Name: Cha Hyeon-jin ]

[ Age: 20 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Strong Will (Grade Under Measurement) – You possess strong willpower. You don’t give up easily.

[ Stats ]

Strength – 10 Agility – 12

Stamina – 14 Luck – 10

Magic – 00 Resistance – 08

‘No need to check the older woman… This guy’s stats are decent.’

Compared to Jo Chan-ho’s monstrous stats, a score of 10 is the average for adult males, so this is pretty normal. It’s just that my stats are terrible…

“Nice to meet you, young man. I’m Moon Gyeong-sil.”

“I’m Cha Hyeon-jin. You seem older, so feel free to speak casually. There’s a spot here, so have a seat.”

“Sure, thanks.”

Suddenly, there was a soft clapping sound.

“Alright, alright~ Now that we’re all here…”



“We’ve introduced ourselves, and even though this place is far from the building, monsters might come. How about we set up a watch and take turns sleeping?”

“I’m fine with that, bro.”

“Hmm… Mr. Byeong-ok. Do we really have to take turns on watch?”

Crazy talk. Does this woman even realize what she’s saying?

“Haha… I know it’s tough, but we have to, ma’am. Everyone’s tired, but monsters could come here.”

“If Mr. Byeong-ok says so, then…”

“…So, who should go first, Byeong-ok oppa?”

It seemed like Jo Chan-ho was leading the conversation, and others were relying on him a lot.

I could tell this guy was shady because of my traits, but others wouldn’t know. If it weren’t for my ability, I wouldn’t have known his alias either.

“I brought up the watch idea, so I’ll take the third shift. The middle shift is the toughest.”

“Byeong-ok hyung. You don’t have to… I’ll take the third shift instead…!”

“No, it’s fine. Hmm… Then, Ms. So-young and the ma’am can take the first and fifth shifts. Mr. Hyeon-jin and Mr. Yoon Seong, please take the second and fourth shifts. Is that okay?”

“Yes, hyung.”

“We’ll do that, Mr. Byeong-ok.”

The watch order doesn’t matter to me anyway. I can’t sleep comfortably in the first place.

Unlike others, I know this guy isn’t Jo Byeong-ok but Jo Chan-ho. How can I sleep peacefully knowing what this crazy guy might do while I’m asleep?

“I’m not sure what exactly this tutorial requires, but we definitely need to move tomorrow. We should sleep to manage our condition. So, waking up every hour should work. Ms. So-young? Please wake Hyeon-jin up in an hour.”

“Okay. Got it, Byeong-ok oppa. But I have one question.”

“What is it, Ms. So-young?”

“How do we check the time? Exactly how much time has passed…”

“Since none of us have phones, we can’t know exactly how much time has passed. Just estimate an hour and wake the next person. We’ll know it’s morning when the sun rises.”

“Got it.”

With that, everyone except those on watch found a spot and started lying down.

“……”

Some time passed, but everyone was tossing and turning because of the horrors of today.

If anyone could sleep soundly in this situation, they’d be the weird one. People who lived normal lives suddenly thrown into an unknown place and forced to sleep rough—it’s impossible to adjust quickly.

From a distance, I heard someone holding back tears. It was coming from Hyeon-jin’s direction.

“Sniff… Sob…”

Everyone heard it but pretended not to. Hyeon-jin is the youngest here.

Of course, I didn’t have the luxury to cry. I was too on edge because of Jo Chan-ho.

When I had no idea how much time had passed, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Mr. Yoon Seong. It’s your turn.”

My drowsy mind snapped awake. Was I that tired? I didn’t even notice this guy coming.

“Yes, yes… Mr. Byeong-ok, go to sleep. You’ve worked hard.”

“Haha, no worries. Then, I leave it to you, Mr. Yoon Seong.”

Seeing Jo Chan-ho lying down to sleep made me wonder.

‘Should I run away now?’

No matter how dangerous monsters are, they’re less dangerous than a human who might pretend to be a comrade and kill me from behind.

Of course, this might just be my paranoia, and Jo Chan-ho might actually be a decent person unrelated to murder. But a normal person wouldn’t hide their name.

‘No matter how I think about it, staying with him is too dangerous. But what about the others?’

Taking others and running from Jo Chan-ho is out of the question. They wouldn’t abandon him for me. Unlike me, they can’t see status windows, and they rely on him a lot.

‘There’s no guarantee Jo Chan-ho is even asleep. He might be pretending.’

I had to worry about monsters and be suspicious of people, so the mental fatigue was no joke.

‘And how did Jo Chan-ho get a job? So far, he’s the only one with a job.’

Thanks to my unique trait, I could recall status windows I’ve seen before. I pulled up Jo Chan-ho’s status window again.

[ Name: Jo Chan-ho ]

[ Age: 29 ]

[ Job: Intermediate Swordsman (Rare Grade) ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Traits: Quiet Steps (Grade Under Measurement) – Reduces the chance of being detected when approaching someone.

Murder Festival (Grade Under Measurement) – Increases strength and agility stats temporarily with each kill, with a max increase of 10. Allows healing using nearby blood, but not one’s own blood.

Intermediate Swordsmanship Understanding (Rare Grade) – Increases understanding of swordsmanship. ]

[ Stats ]

Strength – 16 Agility – 18

Stamina – 15 Luck – 05

Magic – 00 Resistance – 10

‘When this guy approached, I didn’t notice because of the Quiet Steps trait… So, did he make noise on purpose when we first met? Why?’

I can’t figure this guy out. He could have stayed silent, but why did he make noise? How did he get a job, and why did he gather people?

‘Damn… Even his smiling face pisses me off. I can’t read his expression.’

About an hour must have passed. Since I couldn’t tell exactly, I got up from my spot and went to wake up Ms. Gyeong-sil.

Tap tap.

“Ma’am. It’s your watch shift.”

Ms. Gyeong-sil rubbed her eyes and woke up.

“Hmm… Is it already time?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Mr. Yoon Seong. Since we only have an hour left before we move, can you take a bit longer…?”

“Huh…?”

‘What the hell is this crazy woman saying…?’

“Oh, I’m just so tired… You’re young, Mr. Yoon Seong, so you can handle it.”

‘This crazy woman, I haven’t slept a wink! I just want to lie down and rest, even if I can’t sleep because of Jo Chan-ho.’

“Haha… Ma’am. I need to sleep too. I’m sorry. I’m just too tired…”

“Oh, maybe you don’t have a watch, so you got the time wrong? I don’t think it’s my turn yet…”

‘What is this woman saying now? Ugh…’

I was so annoyed I almost snapped, but I held it back.

‘No, hold it in… Arguing here won’t solve anything.’

Arguing only works with someone you can communicate with. Arguing with someone who doesn’t even understand you is pointless.

More importantly, if I argue with this woman now, Jo Chan-ho might wake up.

“…Ma’am. Then I’ll come back in 30 minutes. You’ll have to take over then.”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Yoon Seong.”

I quickly ended the meaningless conversation since there was no point in talking further with her.

I went back to my watch spot.

“Damn it…”

‘If it weren’t for Jo Chan-ho, you’d be dead, you bitch.’

What a damn day.