The first thing he noticed was the calm sound of something dripping on the floor , a calm sound chilling to the bone -
Drip....drip....drip.....
Cold water falling on the back of his hand,as
he slowly opens his eyes and looks around.
A sharp pain in his head , his memory all blurry and hazy like fog all around in his mind .
A familiar yet unfamiliar surrounding but an unknown place ,a cracked concrete ceiling crawling with black mold,flickering fluorescent light buzzing like dying insect throwing long shadow across the room, the air smelling of rot and rust , spiderwebs in every corner of the room that looking like an abandoned hospital patient ward.
He was lying on a hospital bed ,His clothes were that of a patient , straps digging into his wrist .
Then he slowly reaches,his finger brushing against cool metal , resting on his face .
"...Good."
His silver rimmed glasses are still on his face.
He sighed in relief. Without them , the world blurs and that is dangerous.
He slowly pushed himself up...
His black medium hair falling immediately, his bangs on his face covering half of it , completely shadowing his one eye.
He doesn't bother fixing it , it might caught attention.
Dark brown eyes scan the room—bed, observing every detail like some game . The drip comes from a broken pipe above the door.
Three exit , one blind spot , two cameras.
"Ah..... So this is how it starts."
The memory hits him at once .
This scene--
This is the opening level of silent mercy-a horror survival game infamous for its no-save system and permanent death mechanics .
player wake up restricted with only 5 second before something notice them.
He has already wasted all time.
A low scraping sound echoes from the far end of corridor , like sharp metal against tiles,slow and delibrate , like some patiently enjoy the game of death .
He knows this place , it was unfamiliar yet strangely familiar.
In the game, this is where most players run
, that's how they die.
And this is that opening.
Seo I-hyeon swings his legs off the bed.
The moment his feet touch the floor—
The lights go out.
Darkness crashes down, thick and immediate as the blinking of an eye .
The buzzing stops.
So does the dripping.
Silence, complete silence .....
Seo I-hyeon steps back—into the blind spot beneath the camera—and stills his breath. His bangs hide his eyes completely now, his face reduced to pale skin and the faint glint of silver frames.
Not because he's been here—but because his instincts are telling him
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The words came out with a hint of confusion.
I-hyeon doesn't move.
He adjusts his glasses instead, nudging them up the bridge of his nose with practiced care. His eyesight sharpens just enough to catch movement at the far end of the hallway—a distortion, like air folding in on itself.
Then comes the sound.
Dragging.
Metal scraping tile sharply as if splitting it apart .
Seo I-hyeon swallows.
A translucent blue light flickers into existence before his eyes.
[Welcome, Player.]
Name: Seo I-hyeon
World Type: Horror (High Mortality)
Sanity: 100%
Objective: Survive
The creature abruptly turned his head towards the flickering light of the screen .
"…Tch."
He exhales softly, lips barely moving.
"So it can see , with that ugly face of his . wait ,is it a male or female.
In the darkness, something smiles.
The scraping grows louder.
A shadow stretches along the wall, bending unnaturally, as if the creature casting it has too many joints—or not enough.
The smile in the darkness does not move.
But the pressure thicken ..., pressing against Seo I-hyeon's skin like damp cloth. His instincts scream—now—and he moves before the thought finishes forming.
The hallway lights snap back on.
Not fully.
Only every second one.
Enough to cast broken shadows that twist as he runs.
The thing behind him moves.
Footsteps slam against tile—too many, too fast, hitting the floor at the wrong angles. The sound follows him like laughter.
I-hyeon doesn't look back.
He turns left at the second intersection, shoulder slamming into the wall as he cuts too close. Pain flares, sharp and grounding. His glasses slip.
"—!"
He catches them just in time, fingers closing around the silver frame. His vision blurs for half a second—and something brushes his back.
"So it does like that," he mutters under his breath.
The game always punished near-misses more than injuries.
A red EXIT sign flickers ahead—lies, he knows, but it's better than the open corridor. He dives through the door and slams it shut behind him, twisting the lock just as something crashes into the other side.
The metal door dents inward.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Silence.
Seo I-hyeon backs away slowly, chest rising and falling now, breath no longer perfectly even. His bangs cling to his forehead, damp with sweat.
The room is small.
Storage closet.
Shelves lined with old medical equipment, some rusted, some… sticky. No vents. No windows.
A dead end.
He exhales through his nose.
Click.
He looks up.
Seo I-hyeon raises a metal tray from the shelf without thinking, grip tight despite trembling fingers. His reflection stares back at him from its surface—dark eyes wide behind silver rims, hair hiding half his face like a curtain.
The sound comes from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Real ones.
Fast. Uneven. Panicked.
Seo I-hyeon freezes.
For half a second, the air feels… tense. As if the world itself is choosing where to look.
Then—
"Help—! Someone, please—!"
A man bursts past the storage room door, voice cracking, shoes slapping loudly against the tile. He looks to be in his early twenties, wearing a hoodie and jeans completely out of place in a hospital like this. Blood streaks one sleeve—not fresh, but not dry either.
He's holding a phone.
The screen is shattered.
"I'm not playing anymore!" the man shouts, tears in his voice. "I quit! I quit, okay?!"
Seo I-hyeon closes his eyes.
Dead.
Seo I-hyeon lowers the tray by a fraction—but doesn't relax.
The man stumbles to a stop in the middle of the corridor, gasping, hands on his knees. He looks around wildly, then notices the EXIT sign flickering behind him.
Relief floods his face.
"Oh—thank god. Thank god…"
The lights above him turn off.
One by one.
Like blinking eyes.
Seo I-hyeon watches through the narrow gap of the door as the shadows stretch, long and thin, converging at the man's feet.
He doesn't move.
Something steps out of the dark.
Taller. Thinner. Wrapped in what looks like a nurse's uniform fused to its body, fabric rotted into flesh. Its head hangs at an angle no human neck could survive.
The man looks up.
Sees it.
His scream is short.
Cut off halfway as the thing lunges.
Blood hits the wall in a sudden, violent splash.
The sound that follows is wet. Methodical. Close.
Seo I-hyeon's jaw tightens.
The metal tray rang loudly as it smashed into the creature's face.
—or where a face should have been.
The monster staggered back, its body folding at impossible angles, limbs bending like soft rubber. The only clear feature on its smooth flesh was a wide, wet mouth stretching open far beyond human limits.
A distorted shriek tore through the corridor.
Seo I-hyeon stumbled backward, breath uneven, silver-rimmed glasses slipping down his nose.
"F*cking stay away, you piece of lump!"
The tray clattered from his hand as the creature recovered faster than expected. Its jaw split wider, rows of uneven teeth grinding together as if tasting the air.
This is insane.
This is literally the tutorial area.
I-hyeon turned and ran.
His shoes slammed against the hospital tiles, echoes chasing him down the endless hallway. The lights flickered overhead, each blink stretching the shadows longer, unnaturally at that .
Behind him—
THUD.
DRAG.
THUD.
The monster didn't run. It pulled itself forward, limbs snapping back into place with wet cracking sounds.
A notification flickered briefly in his vision.
[CHASE EVENT INITIATED]
Objective: SURVIVE
"Oh, now you show up?!" I-hyeon gasped, turning a corner sharply.
The corridor split into two paths.
Left — darkness.
Right — emergency exit sign flickering weakly.
He didn't slow.
Right.
Always follow game logic.
He shoved through a swinging door just as the creature slammed into it from behind. Metal bent inward, hinges screaming.
I-hyeon grabbed the nearest object—a rolling medical cart—and kicked it backward with all his strength.
The cart crashed into the monster, buying him seconds.
Only seconds.
His lungs burned. Vision blurred without properly adjusted glasses. Every breath tasted like rust and panic.
Think. Think like a player.
In the game, the first chase wasn't meant to be won by fighting.
His eyes widened.
"The locker."
Ahead, half-hidden in shadow, stood a row of dented storage lockers.
I-hyeon sprinted, yanked one open, and threw himself inside just as the door behind him burst open.
He slammed it shut, pulling it closed with trembling hands.
Darkness swallowed him.
Outside—
Silence.
Then slow dragging sounds.
Closer.
Closer.
The monster stopped right in front of the locker.
I-hyeon pressed a hand over his mouth, forcing himself not to breathe too loudly. Sweat slid down his temple. His heart pounded so hard he was sure it echoed through the metal.
A long pause.
The creature sniffed.
The locker door trembled slightly as something brushed against it.
A wet sound.
Teeth scraping metal.
I-hyeon squeezed his eyes shut.
Don't move.
Don't react.
This part lasts exactly ten seconds…
One.
Two.
Three—
The scraping stopped.
Footsteps—no, dragging—moved away slowly.
Five.
Six.
Seven—
A notification appeared faintly before his eyes.
[CHASE EVENT CLEARED]
Reward: Survival Instinct Lv.1 Acquired
I-hyeon slumped silently against the locker wall, chest heavy .
"…I hate horror games," he whispered hoarsely.
Outside, the corridor lights flickered again.
To be Continued....