Chapter 3
The method Ms. Noeun suggested was very simple.
Defeat the long-clawed monster and its underlings one by one.
That was all.
“Hmm. Miss, that sounds correct, but if we want to defeat them one by one, we need to separate the long-clawed one from the others. Do you have a way to do that?”
“Yes. But the one who figured out the solution wasn’t me.”
Huh? Why is she looking at me?
“No, wait, you’re mistaken. I don’t know anything.”
“Think back to the first time you encountered that monster. It killed the doctor, but it ignored you, who were right in front of it, and instead went toward the door. Doesn’t that seem strange?”
Now that she mentioned it, it was strange. Why ignore prey within arm’s reach and go farther away?
So, there must have been some difference between the door’s side and my side.
At that time, before she pulled my arm, my brain had frozen. I couldn’t speak or move.
But at the door’s side…
“…Sound?”
She nodded.
Ah. That’s why she had raised her finger for silence when things started.
“That monster ignored me and went toward the people making noise. I was frozen and silent, unable to move. It seems the monster reacts only to sound, not sight.”
“If that’s true, then we can lure it wherever we want using sound.”
“Then we can separate it from the other monsters and attack.”
“But we’ll need some sound loud enough to attract its attention.”
At that, the middle-aged man and his family spoke up.
“There are spare wireless doorbells and small speakers in the storage room. They can be remotely controlled. We should use those.”
‘Wow, she really checked the storage thoroughly.’
I thought that automatically when I saw how fast Noeun answered.
“Wait. Won’t the other monsters also react to the sound?”
“If they do, that’s even safer for us. The ones near the storage entrance will have their backs turned to us.”
“The point is to make sure the smaller ones don’t stick with the clawed one. We’ll kill them first.”
Both Noeun and I answered the boy’s question like that.
“Good. Let’s do it. Jin-young, Noeun, our family trusts you. I hope this plan succeeds.”
The extermination plan was quickly completed.
Open the storage door and throw the wireless speaker far from the long-clawed monster.
Someone presses the remote to make the bell sound regularly.
While it’s distracted, the rest kill the smaller monsters.
When only the long-clawed one is left, we attack it together from behind.
The button-presser was chosen by rock-paper-scissors. I lost.
The one to open the door was also chosen by rock-paper-scissors. I lost again.
‘Sigh…’
I had lost every draw.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly turned the doorknob, making no sound.
The moment I peeked out, I grimaced and covered my nose. The stench of blood was overwhelming.
How many had died already?
If I wasn’t careful, I’d faint from dizziness.
I pulled my head back in and carefully shut the door.
“You look pale. What’s wrong?”
“The smell of blood is terrible. If we lose focus, someone could collapse.”
“…We must be cautious.”
Everyone nodded at Noeun’s words.
I opened the door again and peeked.
The café was unnaturally quiet, as if the chaos earlier had been a lie.
But overturned tables, shattered cups, corpses, and pools of fresh blood told the truth.
Where is the clawed one?
Not hard to find. It crouched among the corpses near the far exit, its body soaked in blood.
Ten other zombie-like creatures stood closer to the storage door, moaning faintly, not looking at me.
First, the wireless speaker.
I tossed it to a far corner.
Clang!
The clawed monster reacted first, turning toward the noise.
Ding-dong, ding-dong…
I pressed the button. A birdlike electronic chime filled the room.
The clawed monster and the ten zombies all moved toward it.
I moved silently, avoiding corpses and debris.
Stab!
My ice-spike spear pierced the back of a zombie’s skull. It collapsed instantly.
The others didn’t notice—the bell sound masked the noise.
I shivered at the sensation in my hands. The bones were weaker than expected, maybe because they’d changed.
The others followed, stabbing down the rest.
Everyone had two targets. I had one more to kill.
Four meters… three… two…
It felt like fifty meters, not five.
But I reached it, and struck.
Stab! Thud.
Good, my second one down—
At that moment—
“You bastard! I knew it! You slept with my wife, didn’t you?!”
‘Damn it!’
Who yells like that in this situation?
The metal storage door was closed, but the large hole at the top carried the sound.
‘Idiot! That shout will bring the clawed one here!’
Sure enough, the monster stopped and turned back.
Now I was staring it straight in the face, frozen. Everyone else, too.
At least we had finished killing the ten underlings first.
Step, step.
‘If we make a sound, we’re dead!’
It was like playing “Red Light, Green Light” with our lives.
The clawed monster wandered closer, claws clinking together.
I held my breath. Even breathing might give me away.
It paused right beside me.
‘…!’
It tilted its head toward me. Its eyes were unfocused, yet I felt like it was staring straight at me.
My heart pounded violently.
‘Please, don’t beat so loud!’
The claws clicked again, blood dripping down them.
I thought of the doctor bleeding to death earlier.
Chills ran through me.
But then—it moved on, passing me.
Scrape! Bang!
It scraped the floor and bumped into a chair.
‘Oh no.’
It was heading toward the girl of the siblings.
Not by accident—it was confused by overlapping noises.
If she stayed still, it would crash into her.
And she couldn’t step aside either, not without stepping on glass and wood shards.
One wrong move and—death.
‘This is all because of that idiot who shouted!’
The plan was ruined. First, I had to save her.
Because they had trusted us. Because I was supposed to save people.
I needed to change its path.
If I could gather the sound in one place…
Wait. Gather the sound? Yes.
I moved slowly toward the speaker.
If I could grab it before the bell stopped, I might save her.
‘Steady…’
Sweat trickled down my face and back. Each step felt endlessly long.
Finally—I got it.
Now I had to throw it through the iron door’s opening. Twenty meters at least.
Step by step, I advanced.
The girl looked terrified, her brother confused, her parents desperate.
Noeun’s face stayed calm. That steadiness reassured me.
Fifteen meters, ten, five—
Then the monster suddenly turned toward me.
Why?!
In a second, I realized.
‘Damn! The other noises stopped!’
Now the only sound was from the speaker in my hand.
It raised its claws and advanced directly toward me.
No choice. I had to act now!
I hurled the speaker at the rectangular hole above the door.
‘Please go through!’
It flew inside the storage.
At that instant, the monster slashed.
‘Too late?!’
I squeezed my eyes shut—but no pain came.
I opened them cautiously. The claws had stopped just before my face.
Then it turned and walked toward the sound beyond the door.
Pant, pant!
If it could run, I’d be dead already.
Crash! Screech!
It tore the iron door like paper and stepped inside.
Moments later, screams filled the storage.
“…I’m sorry.”
Some might call me a hypocrite. But what else could I do? I had to save myself and those right in front of me.
Elsewhere
[Identification Code: AM27-AEMT23349 = Dead (Adapter)]
[Identification Code: CF33-BANP07860 = Dead (Mutant)]
[Identification Code: JF17-CBMA18970 = Seriously Injured (Mutant)]
[Identification Code: KF20-D…….]
On a giant hologram screen, endless lines appeared.
Scientists in white coats sat before smaller hologram screens, fingers typing rapidly.
“Team Leader Edward, we have a problem.”
A blonde woman in her twenties spoke to a sharp-faced middle-aged man with short brown hair and glasses.
“There are always problems. Every experiment has them. Right, Ines?”
“Uncle, you always say that.”
“Hey, call me Team Leader, not Uncle.”
“Then act serious enough for me to do that.”
Edward chuckled awkwardly at his niece’s smile.
He wished she would always smile like that.
Because she didn’t know the truth—that this so-called ‘game test’ was actually a deadly experiment, with tens of thousands of real lives at stake.
If his gentle niece knew, guilt would crush her forever. She might even kill herself.
“Tch. So, what’s the problem?”
“Someone cleared a quest on Floor 85 of Area A using methods against the rules. The staff are divided on how to deal with the tester.”
“Oh? Show me the data.”
Ines sent all the documents and recordings.
Edward reviewed them, then said, “I’ll hear the opinions myself. Tell them I’ll be there soon.”
“Yes, sir.”
After sending her off, Edward walked to another place.
Beep.
[Administrator authority confirmed.]
The sealed door opened.
Inside: countless capsules arranged in grids, steel walkways between them, disinfectant pools beneath.
This was the Ark. But it led not to hope, but to hell.
He stopped at another scanner.
[Administrator authority confirmed.]
[All testers with these identification codes are marked as deceased. Dispose of them all?]
Edward sighed and pressed Y. Some capsules rose upright.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Their green lights turned red.
[Warning. Beginning sterilization of virus-infected deceased.]
Capsules opened. Smoke drifted out.
Inside were corpses—some human, some monstrous. None conscious.
Wail! Clang! Splash!
The capsules tilted, dumping the bodies into disinfectant.
They would never wake. The red lights meant drugs had already stopped all life signs.
‘Someday… I’ll pay the price too.’
