TGFTE 68

Chapter 68…

[“Jihan’s here!!!”]
[“He came!!!”]
[“Jihan, Jihan!!!”]
[“Heavenly Demon, you’ve arrived!”]
[“Saw the performance video lol it was insane”]
[“Chewing Chewing~”]
[“LOOOL not the chewing again”]

Standby screen.

“Hello!”

With Ji Han’s short but refreshing greeting, people started pouring in like a flood.
The reason was quite layered.

First, the clip of the last stream—where he successfully decoded the cipher—had spread everywhere.
Second, new viewers who learned about him from Heart Boys had started flocking in.

In other words, it was a collaboration between Zombres and Rhythm Poten.
Thanks to that, his viewership was skyrocketing.

[“So what was that code?”]
[“Hurry! I came just to see that!”]
[“Tell us! Judging by last time, it looks like you’ll be in danger the moment you go in—at least show us that before moving on?”]
[“Quickly! Jihan, I’m dying here!”]

Ji Han nodded lightly at the fast-rising chat.

“I was going to do that anyway. Okay, look here.”

He brought up the translated document on stream.
For a moment, the chat went silent.
Everyone was probably taking screenshots, or reading carefully.

“They said these are foreign codebreaking experts. I couldn’t send them fried chicken gift cards though.”

[“LOOOOOOL”]
[“Dude!! hahahaha”]
[“We were all focusing and this guy cracks a joke”]
[“Bro just let them eat their own country’s food lol”]
[“Jihan, please!!!”]

“Anyway, you’re all reading along, but let me read it out loud.”

Ji Han cleared his throat and began to read slowly.

“The insects from space take root in the human brain.”

[“Oh, so they eat the brain or something?”]
[“Maybe. They do cannibalize each other, don’t they?”]

“It’s unknown what these insects consume. At first, they were thought to subsist on protein, but that wasn’t it. They merely settled inside the head.”

[“???”]
[“Then why the hell are they even in the brain?”]
[“I don’t get it but it’s creeping me out for no reason;”]

The fear of the incomprehensible.
That was the essence of cosmic horror.
Recalling what Ji Hye and Kim Suho had explained to him, Ji Han continued to read carefully.

“They are known to amplify human desires. Sudden hunger. And that hunger becomes tied to their means of survival.”

[“Hm?”]
[“So instead of eating themselves, they make the host eat?”]

“They are sensitive to sound. They run toward its source. Their way of laying eggs through open wounds is very similar to botfly larvae.”

[“Ugh;;;”]
[“I can picture it;;;”]
[“So that’s what zombies really are, right? Since they enter through wounds, bites and scratches cause infection.”]

“We succeeded in developing a vaccine to suppress them. But the supply is scarce, and ultimately they couldn’t be completely eradicated.”

[“Ah, so that’s what those vaccines were for.”]
[“Must be the final chapter, since they’re revealing all the backstory like this;;”]
[“Whoa, the scale just escalated.”]
[“So what we thought were zombies were actually alien parasites? Is that the gist?”]
[“Yeah seems right, yep.”]

“Therefore, we intend to use the vaccine to make money.”

[“???”]
[“Make money??”]

Maybe the true horror was humanity.
The chat froze for a moment at the thought of them trying to profit even from this.

[“But didn’t the world collapse anyway?”]

Then someone pointed out a lore inconsistency.

[“Look here, the doc is dated 2025.”]
[“So it’s from way earlier.”]
[“Basically they sold vaccines at a high price, the zombies kept multiplying out of control, and the world collapsed.”]
[“Yeah that checks out;;;”]
[“Sorry Joseon;;;”]
[“Who are you apologizing to?”]
[“Joseon apologizing to Joseon lololol”]
[“Bro lolololol”]

“And the rest is just about how it spread, experiments they ran. Lots of grotesque stuff.”

Ji Han said calmly, leaving the rest on screen for others to read, but not reading it out loud.

[“Oh damn JC… that’s intense.”]
[“Didn’t think Zombres had lore like this;;”]
[“So in the end it’s more like an alien invasion genre.”]
[“If it’s called the final chapter, there must be an ending in story mode.”]
[“And the latest patch was massive too, right?”]

“By the way, how far have other people gotten?”

Ji Han’s question was simple: asking how other streamers were progressing through the story mode.

[“Other streamers are following the story mode pretty well.”]
[“Doesn’t look like anyone’s reached the research lab yet though;;”]
[“Seems like it’s got a lot of freedom. Not really a railroaded game.”]

For the first time in a while, chat was full of Zombres talk.
Ji Han read along, gathering bits of information.
He had grown into a true streamer, one who knew how to harness collective intelligence.

[“Some people are getting totally different routes though?”]
[“Not sure how random encounters are set, but lots of players are with different NPCs, not Marcus and the kid.”]
[“I thought people would be slower since they’re making bases… but gamers will game. They’re all grinding hard.”]

As the Zombres chatter continued, more viewers poured in.
Once Ji Han felt enough people had joined, he cleared his throat and summarized.

“Okay then. We need to head back into that bizarre research lab. You remember how I collapsed after playing that once?”

Before starting the game, Ji Han spoke calmly.

“If you feel dizzy, scared, shaky, or get chills while watching—please stop the stream for a while.”

A gentle caution, full of concern.
He was clearly worried about viewers experiencing photosensitivity or other symptoms.

[“Don’t worry lol”]
[“Maxed out gore tolerance”]
[“As long as you don’t turn the lights on immediately, I’m fine”]
[“Yeah but that scene was shocking ngl…”]
[“Anyway…!”]
[“Let’s go!”]
[“Jihan, let’s gooo!”]
[“Time to dive in!”]

Ji Han nodded at the chat.
And so, he launched Zombres.

It had been a while since logging in.
The situation was still dire.
Hallways of the research lab covered in grotesque flesh.
It was so dark that he couldn’t see, yet once noticed, it felt like everything was stained red.

The stench of blood stung his nose.
Why hadn’t he smelled it before?

“Marcus, kid. You okay?”

He calmly called out to them.

“Ah right, I told them to close their eyes.”
“I’m fine, mister! But what was that thing!?”
“No, it was nothing.”
“Here! There’s someone here! Don’t forget me! Please, please save me!”

The lab director’s desperate cries.
Ji Han slowly bent down.

“I’m right in front of you. Reach out your hand.”

But just as he spoke—

FWIP!
“Ugh!?”

He felt a strong pull from behind.

“Boss! Watch out!”
“Marcus!?”

Marcus had suddenly yanked him back.

[“Holy crap that scared me!”]
[“Wtf Marcus why!?”]
[“Bro I almost jumped out of my chair;”]
[“Scared the hell outta me, what’s happening?”]

Ji Han was about to ask Marcus what the hell he was doing when—

“Isn’t it weird? He’s suddenly calm, unlike before.”

[“Oh sh*t;”]
[“Now that you mention it, that IS weird;”]
[“If Jihan had reached out his hand… then that…”]
[“Ughhh yep this really IS a horror game.”]

As chat scrolled furiously—

“Hehehe… so quick on the uptake.”

An eerie voice echoed.
It was the director’s, but layered with strange tones—male, female, old, young—
all overlapping, enough to make one dizzy.

“Cover your ears!”

Ji Han shouted, grabbing the kid onto his back and bolting.
Marcus too ran desperately, trying to escape the corridor.

SCHLK SCHLK SCHLK!

From behind came a grotesque sound, like sticky flesh attaching and peeling.

[“Ewww that gave me chills”]
[“WTF WTF WTF”]
[“Run Jihan run!!”]

“Gwaaaargh!”

[“Holy sh*t did a zombie just get born!?”]
[“LMAO”]
[“‘Got born’ he says hahahaha”]
[“But he’s not wrong tho”]

Just as chat said, it was the sound of something being born from the walls.
And the moans of a zombie.
Though in truth, not exactly a zombie.

Ji Han had no choice but to grit his teeth and run.
Thus began the chase—
fleeing from grotesque masses of flesh.

But the darkness was total.
He could barely see ahead.
He relied only on the flow of air, on faint signs of movement.

[“Jihan! Just keep running straight!”]
[“I turned up gamma—it’s a straight path!”]
[“Hey no spoilers wtf”]
[“Doesn’t matter, Jihan can’t see anyway lol”]
[“Bruh I turned up gamma too and now my stomach hurts;”]
[“It’s just meat walls everywhere, ugh”]

For Ji Han it was only pitch darkness.
But as chat said, it was like running down a giant fleshy throat.
As if he, Marcus, and the kid were sprinting into the maw of some colossal monster.

[“Scary scary scary”]
[“What do we do oh god”]
[“Mom I’m sleeping with you tonight”]
[“I’m gonna pee myself”]
[“I was about to eat, now this suspension is killing me ffs;;;”]

The chat was panicking.
But Ji Han’s world slowed down—slower and slower.
Hyperfocus.
In the face of crisis, he concentrated.

FWOOOSH!

The air shifted behind him.
Ji Han yanked Marcus’s clothes, and Marcus stumbled forward.

FWIP!
A strange tentacle slashed past.

Had zombies ever had tentacles? No—by now, he knew they weren’t zombies.

Again, the air stirred.
This time, aiming for their legs.
Ji Han dragged Marcus forward.

“Run! Jump!”

Marcus jumped, and Ji Han kicked off the wall, clearing the space below.

WHOOSH!

The crack of something like a whip.
Had they been caught, their legs would’ve been severed.

Just a bit more.
Ahead, he caught the scent of fresh air.
The smell of survival.

“Marcus! Run forward! It’s right there!”