TGFTE 69

Chapter 69…

[What is that?]

[Whoa, damn;;;]

[I’ve never seen this in my life;;;]

The chat was filled with awe and shock.
Lee Ji-han was shocked too, but he couldn’t let it show.
He had to block the door somehow and isolate himself from the zombies pouring in.

Ji-han found the lever and pulled it shut.
That way, he was completely cut off from the zombies rushing at them.
Only then could he catch his breath and look around.

“This place…”

Light. A strange space.
He thought he had stepped outside, but what stretched before him was both a laboratory and something bizarre.
It felt like multiple dimensions were layered over one another.

“It’s pretty… but scary, mister.”

The little kid clung to his leg.

“Boss, this place… it doesn’t make sense. Can something like this really exist?”

Marcus too, pale-faced, scanned the area.
It felt like outer space.
Like countless stars were floating around them.

“We should take a look. This might actually be the control room.”

The laboratory director—now mutated into something else entirely—
this was the place he had been so desperate to reach.
There must be hidden elements here.
Even if there weren’t, maybe this place was at least safe.

But could it really be safe? Ji-han couldn’t be sure.
The lab equipment was blended into this bizarre, space-like backdrop.
Just standing here made his mind feel off.

Like the line between reality and illusion was blurring.
Especially for Ji-han, who immersed himself in games so quickly, this place was a dizzying nightmare.

[We’ll help you look, Ji-han;;]
[There are limits to what you can see from your POV]
[Though technically, we see everything through your eyes anyway, lol]
[You’ve got thousands of eyes watching—what’s there to worry about!]

The chat scrolled.
It was the only anchor tying him to the boundary between game and reality.
Ji-han forced a faint smile toward the chat as he looked around.

[Should we check that computer first?]
[Or the CCTV?]
[Is this the second control room, or the real one?]
[No idea, but there’s definitely a lot of stuff worth checking out.]

Following their suggestions, Ji-han stood before the PC.
It was already running, and he started checking the CCTV feeds.

“This is…”

The lab he thought he’d seen was transformed into something like a set of intestines.
Rooms filled with flesh.
When had it turned like this?

[See? I told you it was turning red and fleshy!]

A flood of indignant chat messages.

[lol it’s real]
[How can this even be real?]
[Ugh, this is way too gross though]

“Boss, what’s wrong?”

Marcus walked up.
Ji-han pointed to the monitor.

“Ugh, what the hell is that.”

Even Marcus, who had killed more people than most, winced at the grotesque sight.

[So he’s jaded, but even he reacts. Not bad]
[Don’t let the kid see this]
[Protect the kid at all costs]

Once mocked as a burden, now the kid was someone to be protected.
Seeing the viewers’ shift in attitude, Ji-han smiled faintly.

“Hm? Boss, take a look at this.”
“What is it, Marcus?”

Digging through the PC, Marcus had found a strange program.
Before running it, he started analyzing it.

“This looks like a self-destruct program.”
“Self-destruct? For this place?”
“Yeah. Since it’s full of test subjects, it’d be perfect for wiping out evidence.”
“…So everyone here, including the director, was just a disposable tool?”
“Seems that way. The guy who turned into a monster wasn’t really the main player here. That’s what this says.”

[Whoa, so there’s a bigger villain behind all this?]
[Probably a mega-corp, right? There were rumors about them selling vaccines and stuff.]
[Yeah that tracks, way more plausible;;]
[The real big bad is probably the cosmic parasite, but the human villain’s gotta be some corporation.]

A bleak, cynical worldview.
The viewers fully understood the world JC had built.

“There’s an escape route here. Looks like this is where we are. If we head out through the back passage, we can make it, Boss.”
“Right. And how do we open it?”
“…There’s a spot to enter a code.”

A code?
Ji-han frowned.
Had he ever seen one while passing through?
And could they even get back through those monster-infested fields?
Was escape even possible?

At that moment—

[A code? I think we saw it in those documents?]
[Yeah? You’re right!]
[Ji-han! Here’s the code!]
[QCSX84VDW!!!]
[It’s QCSX84VDW, for real]
[QCSX84VDW confirmed.]

The chat exploded with the answer.
Ji-han realized something.
This wasn’t a game played by just the streamer.
The viewers here were playing it alongside him.

“Thank you, everyone.”
“Huh? Boss?”

Ji-han didn’t even bother with mic controls—he just spoke toward the chat.
Like when he had first started Zombres.
Back then, he hadn’t even known how to toggle his mic. Now it was different.

This was an invitation.
An invitation to bring the viewers up onto the stage with him.

[lololol]
[Thanks, lol]
[Look at Marcus’s face]
[He must be freaking out at the random monologue]
[Marcus: (Has the Boss finally lost it?)]
[It’s cosmic horror, so going mad is allowed, lol]

Amid laughter and chatter, Ji-han began entering the code the chat had spammed.

QCSX84VDW.

Random letters and numbers—that’s what a code was.
And once it was typed in—

Rumble!

The door behind them began to open.

“Boss! How did you even know that code!”
“I’ve got a lot of helpers.”
“Mister! Th-the door’s opening!”
“Good. Then let’s—”

But before he could finish—
the whole lab shook violently, as if refusing to let them go.

“Marcus! Take the kid and run!”

Ji-han shouted.
Marcus clutched the kid and bolted for the door.
Zombies began pouring in—

No. They weren’t zombies anymore.
They were lumps of flesh.
Bloated tumors, grotesque tentacles.
They looked like proof that cosmic parasites had infected them.

“A-ahhh…!”

And the moment NPCs were exposed to them,
they unleashed programmed madness.
But Ji-han was faster.

“Marcus! Shut your eyes and run!”

For the first time, Ji-han dropped formal speech.
At his desperate cry, Marcus hugged the kid tightly and ran.

All he had to do was go straight.
Marcus believed in his fragile yet kind boss.
He ran and ran.

“Whew… then.”

[What about us?]
[Holy crap this is terrifying]
[lol THIS is what a horror game should feel like]
[Should we take them for a ride?]
[Ji-han’s good at that one thing…]

“B-b-blockkkk…”
“D-d-dieeee…”
“Y-you can’t dieee… that flesh is neededdd…”

[Eek]
[WTF is that voice]

“Boss! Hurry!”

Ji-han had to decide.
Escape this madhouse?
And if he ran, could he even shake the pursuers?

[Ji-han, not every ending has to be happy]
[We actually like explosion endings more, lol]
[Time to tie up the foreshadowing?]
[lol they’re really doing the callback here]
[So we blow it up?]
[Yeah, blowing it up is the best]
[Zombres has to end with an explosion]
[lol let’s all die together]

The chat scrolled faster and faster.
Ji-han grinned.
A boyish, mischievous grin.

[That smile is cheating]
[lol I’ve never seen an ending like this]
[Let’s gooo, final battle lol]

Fueled by his grin, the chat went wild.
Messages flew by like crazy.
Ignoring Marcus’s cries from behind, Ji-han began shutting the door again.

Rumble!

“Marcus! The door’s closing, don’t stop running!”
“Mister! Mister! No! You can’t!”

The kid instinctively realized it.
She screamed, but Ji-han just waved toward her—

Self-destruct sequence initiated. Time remaining: 90 seconds… 89… 88…

[Yes! This is it!]
[Show us your old Zerg skills]
[Needs some wuxia footwork here]
[lol forget singing and dancing?]
[Chu-ing Chu-ing~]
[lol not that song again!!]
[Quit teasing Ji-han, he’s being cool now]

The warning siren mixed with the chat’s jokes.
Ji-han grinned and shouted at the onrushing monsters:

“Chu-ing Chu-ing, baby in your heart! Poke poke at my heart~!”

[lololololol]
[DUDE!!]
[You had to pull aggro like that??]
[Though… makes sense, they react to sound]
[Still so damn annoying lol]
[Ji-han you’re trolling us!!!]

Grinning mischievously, Ji-han broke into Love♡Cupid.
The monsters, hearing the addictive rhythm for the first time, seemed hypnotized.

60… 59… 58…

Ji-han led them away, sprinting like a madman.
Like in Gangho Sword Chronicles, he gathered power under his feet, stepped, pushed.

[Fly, Ji-han! Run! It’s tag, it’s tag!]

His world narrowed.
His heartbeat slowed.
Time stretched into eternity.

Ji-han sprinted.
Kicking off tables, dodging tentacles, slipping through gaps as if his body were a sensor.
He dove deeper into danger.

“I’m your opponent. Let them go.”
Each step was firm, defiant.

A saint. A demon king.
An idol? Who knew.
But one thing was certain—Lee Ji-han was a streamer.

“Arrow arrow, straight to your heart!”

He pulled aggro again.
Tentacles lashed at him, caught by his feints, skewering each other instead.

“Take my arrow of love~!”

[lolol]
[Bang!]
[Bang!]
[Bang!]
[lmao is this Zombres or Rhythm Poten?]
[This is Ji-han’s concert hall now]
[lol worst fans ever tho]