A short while of running, Hyun and Joon-ho found what seemed to be a functional lorry, Min Jae, who was out of it, was thrown into the back. Hyun jumped into the driver's seat and Joon-ho into the passenger one.
The engine roared to life.
They drove.
The city blurred past in streaks of concrete and smoke. Empty streets. Abandoned cars. Hyun's hands were white on the steering wheel, knuckles locked tight, jaw clenched so hard it ached.
The memory wouldn't leave him.
Min Jae's father, his sacrifice.
Joon-ho stared straight ahead, fingers digging into his knees. He kept seeing it, too. The rings, his face.
Neither of them spoke.
In the back, Min Jae felt nothing.
The world had gone dull, like someone had turned the volume down on existence. The rumble of the engine barely registered. The cold metal beneath him meant nothing. His heart still beat, his lungs still pulled air, but it felt automatic. Mechanical.
His father's face replayed once. Twice. Then not at all.
Just a blank stretch of road inside his mind.
When the lorry finally slowed, the familiar outline of Jen Subway Station came into view. Hyun parked badly.
He jumped out first, rushed to the back, and helped Min Jae sit up. Joon-ho joined him, sliding an arm under Min Jae's shoulder.
"Easy," Hyun muttered, though he didn't know who he was saying it for.
They half-walked, half-dragged Min Jae toward the stairs leading underground. The air grew cooler. Heavier. The distant murmur of voices drifted up from below.
They were three steps from the stairwell when Joon-ho stopped.
His grip tightened.
"Uh… Hyun."
Something in his voice made Hyun freeze.
Slowly, he looked back.
Down the street, just beyond the wrecked cars and scattered debris, something stood where nothing should have. It was tall, wrong in its proportions, its skin shifting like melted wax struggling to remember a human shape. Its face… if it could be called that… twitched and rearranged itself, lips pulling into something that almost resembled a smile.
A Geuneunani...again.
And it was close.
Hyun sucked in a sharp breath. "Did it already finish eating?" he muttered, eyes narrowing. Then, his gaze flicked to the empty street behind it. "No… damn it. This must be a second one."
The creature took a step forward. Slowly. Like it wasn't in any hurry at all.
Hyun cursed under his breath.
"We have to warn the others," he said, already turning, already moving. There was no debate. No hesitation.
He tightened his grip on Min Jae and pushed him forward. Joon-ho followed, heart hammering, refusing to look back again.
They descended the stairs into the subway station, the sounds of fear and life swallowing them whole.
Behind them, the Geuneunani tilted its head.
...
..
.
With the return of Min Jae, Joon-ho, and Hyun,
Jen Subway Station stirred.
Soo-min noticed first.
She shot to her feet. "Min Jae!"
Yulu Kang stood up beside her, relief flashing across his face. "You're back—"
Both of them stopped mid-step.
Hyun was dragging Min Jae forward, one arm locked under his shoulder. Joon-ho supported him from the other side. Min Jae's feet barely lifted from the ground. His head hung low, eyes unfocused, face pale.
It had only been a few hours since they'd left.
It felt like forever.
"What… what happened?" Soo-min whispered, rushing toward them. Her eyes darted past Min Jae. "Where are the supplies?"
No answer.
Min Jae didn't even react.
Hyun slowed to a stop and scanned the station. His gaze swept across the crowd, counting automatically.
There were fewer people than yesterday.
His brows knitted together.
"…tch," he muttered under his breath.
The dozen or so strangers gathered in the station had already noticed them. Whispers spread as people stood, drawn by the sight of the three coming straight from the city.
A man stepped forward. "Is it safe?"
Another voice followed quickly. "Are the monsters gone?"
Hyun exhaled slowly, then raised his voice.
"No."
The word dropped like a stone.
People froze.
"There's a monster coming down here," Hyun said. "A dangerous one. We need to move. Now."
Confusion rippled through the group.
"What kind of monster?"
"This place is underground," someone said nervously. "They obviously don't come here."
Hyun shook his head. "This one does."
No one moved.
No one believed him.
He took a step forward, frustration sharpening his tone. "Listen. This monster can smell people. From far away. If we stay here, it will find us."
A man near the back pushed through the crowd.
He was heavyset, expression blank, holding a handgun loosely at his side.
"I've got this," the man said. "I'll shoot it."
Several people stiffened.
Hyun let out a short, humorless laugh. "You think a gun solves everything?"
"It solves most things," the man replied calmly.
"No," Hyun snapped. "It doesn't. We barely survived one already."
His hand lifted without thinking.
He pointed at Min Jae, albeit a bit reluctantly.
"This boy's father had to sacrifice himself," Hyun said, voice tight, "because that monster likes the smell of fresh blood, i couldn't even harm it even if I tried. None of use could. That little gun would just be a scratch. "
The station went silent.
Soo-min's breath hitched. Her hands trembled.
The man with the gun tilted his head slightly. He considered that.
Then he spoke again, voice flat.
"So to survive today… we sacrifice one person to buy time for the rest."
The words spread through the station like rot.
Murmurs erupted.
"What?!"
"That's insane!"
"You can't just—"
Min Jae, who was out of it, heard voices.
Words.
They floated past him without weight.
None of it registered in his mind.
*What is the point?*
The thought surfaced dimly.
*My mother died. My father died.*
His heart didn't race. His chest didn't tighten.
It all felt distant.
The man stepped forward, gun raised casually.
"We'll find the weak link." he said. "Now. Who is the most useless here?"
He pointed the gun at a trembling man. "You?"
The man shook his head violently. "N-no—please—"
The gun shifted.
"Or is it you?" he said, pointing at a woman clutching her child.
She screamed.
"Maybe you," he added, aiming at another stranger.
Panic spread. People backed away. Voices overlapped. Protests filled the air.
Hyun clutched his sword, which was at his side. He didn't want to admit it, but there was no other way.
"Stop!"
"Put the gun down!"
"You're crazy!"
The man ignored them.
Then his gaze landed on Soo-min.
"Perhaps the young miss here. You look fragile, look useless? We should leave you here so the rest can survive...it all makes sense."
The barrel lined up with her chest.
Min Jae saw it.
He didn't react.
*What is the point?*
*My mother died. My father died.*
*Now I'm here with my crush, ambushed underground with nowhere to go.*
*Yesterday morning, everything was fine.*
*Then this hell started.*
*The apocalypse. Systems. Monsters.*
*Why did they appear? Why?*
*Everything was normal. Fine.*
『SYSTEM ATTEMPTING TO REINSTALL 』
Min Jae's eyes twitched faintly.
『A SPECIAL SYSTEM FOR BOSS』
*Hmm?*
『A SYSTEM THAT ASSIMILATES OTHER SYSTEMS !!』
*Devourer system?*
『 INSTALLING UPDATE』
『DEVOURER SYSTEM AWAKENED SUCCESSFULLY』
*Who is BOSS anyway?*
The man's eyes shifted.
They locked onto Min Jae.
A slow smile crept across his face.
"You know what?" the man said. "Like father, like son."
The gun fired.
Min Jae felt the impact a split second later.
A crushing blow to his stomach.
He collapsed to the floor.
"MIN JAE!" Soo-min screamed.
People stumbled back in horror.
Joon-ho's eyes widened. "No—!"
At the same time, a shriek echoed from the stairwell above.
The Geuneunani.
The man with the gun exhaled. "That should do it, right?"
Hyun clenched his jaw. "…Yeah," he said hoarsely. "Everyone. Run."
He grabbed Soo-min and bolted.
The crowd surged after him, panic finally breaking loose.
Min Jae lay on the cold floor, blood spreading beneath him.
His vision blurred.
The world dimmed.
At the top of the stairs, a tall, warped silhouette appeared.
The Geuneunani tilted its head.
*This is it, huh?*