Chapter 2 – Kim Jihyeok – [One]

Kim Jihyeok had been trapped in the supermarket basement two years ago.

While browsing the daily necessities section on the second basement level, the entire supermarket shook violently. Staggering, he lost consciousness from a blow to the head. And when he opened his eyes, all he saw was darkness.

Surviving on the supermarket’s food and drinks, Kim Jihyeok yearned for escape.

With his surroundings barely visible, he relied on the feel of his hands, clearing away movable objects to forge a path outward. It was a slow and arduous task. It required not so much skill as perseverance, and even more so, luck.

Even after painstakingly clearing a path, he would often be blocked by obstacles, forcing him to start over from the beginning.

And now, Kim Jihyeok was closer to the Mortal Realm than ever before.

He couldn’t go any higher.

A solid wall blocked his way above. It must be the Ground Floor.

He had made his way by clearing all sorts of debris and trash so far, but the wall he now faced was too solid to ever clear away.

Kim Jihyeok screamed for hours.

“Is anyone there?!”

He already knew no one would come to rescue him. If someone were coming to save him, they would have come long ago. What Kim Jihyeok was shouting now wasn’t hope, but a desperate struggle born from despair.

But then, from above, there came a knocking sound.

Suspecting it might be an auditory hallucination, Kim Jihyeok hurriedly asked.

“Who’s there?”

A reply came back!

“A person.”

It sounded like a woman’s voice, but that wasn’t important now. Kim Jihyeok desperately cried out.

“Help me! There’s someone here!”

When another reply came, Kim Jihyeok finally felt a wave of relief.

“Okay.”

Kim Jihyeok thought the person above would call for help, but that wasn’t the case.

It seemed the person above had decided to rescue him personally. The sound of something striking against rock began to echo. It sounded like a pickaxe hitting the floor.

The sound of the pickaxe echoed for hours, what felt like over half a day. Kim Jihyeok’s ears were nearly numb, but the sound didn’t bother him in the slightest.

Finally, a hole was punched through to where Kim Jihyeok was.

As light seeped in, Kim Jihyeok felt like he might burst into tears. ‘Finally…’

In a situation that should have been moving, the person above spoke incongruously.

“Close your eyes.”

Hearing the voice up close, it was definitely a woman.

“Huh?”

“Haven’t you been down there for a long time?”

“Yes, but…”

“Then you probably haven’t seen light. You need to slowly adapt your eyes to the light, so close them. First, cover your eyes with your palms, then slowly remove your hands…”

Kim Jihyeok obediently did as the woman instructed. After keeping his eyes closed for a while, the woman spoke.

“Now, spread your fingers a bit… Are you physically okay?”

“Huh? Yes…”

“Then I’ll pull you up now. Open your eyes just a tiny bit.”

A hand reached down from above. A small, white hand. When Kim Jihyeok grabbed it, it was surprisingly soft.

“I’ll pull you up, so come on. Use both feet to push against the wall… Good job.”

Finally on the Mortal Realm, Kim Jihyeok shakily got to his feet. He turned his gaze toward his savior to offer words of thanks.

And for a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

A girl holding a pickaxe stood there.

Kim Jihyeok had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life. This included women he’d seen in daily life, and even women on TV.

As Kim Jihyeok stood there dazed, forgetting even to thank her, the girl spoke.

“What are you staring at?”

Kim Jihyeok finally snapped out of it.

“Huh? Oh, I wasn’t staring…”

Damn, maybe it was because he hadn’t spoken to anyone in so long, but his words were terribly clumsy.

Stammering as he tried to explain, Kim Jihyeok’s eyes widened. The girl wasn’t glaring; she was stifling a laugh.

“I was joking. You seemed tense. So, where’s your stuff?”

“Huh? Um, here…”

Still dazed, Kim Jihyeok handed over his backpack without asking why.

It was a backpack filled with water and canned goods. The girl immediately opened it and frowned.

“Is this all?”

“But, why…”

The girl sighed, handed the backpack back, and said.

“I was going to take about half as payment since I spent hours swinging a pickaxe to get you out. But if I took this, you’d probably starve to death. Actually, you’d starve even if I didn’t take it.”

Kim Jihyeok thought. What is she talking about?

He couldn’t understand the girl’s words at all, but he didn’t ask what she meant. It had been too long since he’d spoken to anyone. Just listening was overwhelming.

In the end, the girl continued talking by herself.

“I don’t know where you came from or how you ended up like this… but if you go back like this, you’ll starve, so you’ll need to replenish your provisions, right? I’ll take you to the village first. Can you walk?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

“Good. Then let’s walk.”

As the girl took the lead, Kim Jihyeok felt a sense of helplessness again.

For the past few months, Kim Jihyeok had only crawled on all fours. How did walking work again?

Kim Jihyeok moved his feet awkwardly and staggered. The girl asked.

“Do you need support?”

“No…”

But when he nearly fell, the girl urged him.

“Put your arm over my shoulder.”

“My body is really dirty right now…”

“Don’t be annoying, hurry up.”

Feeling cowed, Kim Jihyeok moved forward with the girl’s support. As he walked, he wondered why he was following this girl.

Shouldn’t I be going to a hospital to check my condition instead of following this girl?

And why is this girl trying to take me somewhere herself in the first place? If I look like I need help, couldn’t she just call somewhere by phone…?

That question was answered around the time his vision cleared.

The dazzling feeling gradually faded. It seemed he could open his eyes fully now, so Kim Jihyeok did so.

He looked around with fully opened eyes. And Kim Jihyeok realized why this girl had swung a pickaxe for hours herself to rescue him instead of calling for help, and why she had tried to demand provisions as payment for her labor instead of money.

A scene of devastation, as if from a bombing, was spread all around.

Skeletons scattered on cracked roads. Cars stopped in the dust, skeletons in the driver’s seats. Buildings collapsed as if explosives had gone off, skeletons leaning against the debris.

There were hardly any intact buildings. Most concrete buildings had collapsed without even retaining their shape. Why? Because of that earthquake two years ago?Even the relatively intact buildings were completely devoid of people. Had a war broken out? Had everyone evacuated and left?

And that gray sky above, draining all color from everything…

In the midst of this, Kim Jihyeok’s shock hadn’t paralyzed him because he was calmly accepting the situation. It was simply because it was all too surreal for him to fully process.

Still, he could grasp one undeniable fact: the world was clearly not in a normal state.

He ultimately decided to swallow the suggestion of going to a hospital. He didn’t have the nerve for it. He even abandoned the thought of trying to return home.

As he continued walking in a daze, the girl suddenly asked.

“What’s your name?”

Kim Jihyeok barely managed to reply.

“Kim Jihyeok… And you?”

“Seo Yun.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

When Seo Yun frowned, Kim Jihyeok felt flustered even amidst his shock. Why was she reacting like that?

“Did I say something wrong? Sorry then…”

Seo Yun shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. By the way, how old are you?”

Thanks to the watch on his wrist, Kim Jihyeok had a fairly accurate idea of how long he had been trapped. In a gloomy voice, he answered by adding that time to the age he remembered.

“Probably… sixteen?”

The girl muttered.

“I thought you were in your late twenties? I used formal speech for nothing.”

“What?”

“You’re just a kid whose head hasn’t even dried yet.”

Kim Jihyeok was slowly finding his voice. He attempted to refute the nonsense from this girl who was a head shorter than him.

“You… you don’t look older than me…”

“Don’t worry about that. So, how long were you trapped?”

Kim Jihyeok hesitated a little, then held up two fingers. Seo Yun’s eyes widened.

“Two months?”

“No, two years…”

Seo Yun blinked, then muttered.

“I thought you were trapped recently…?”

It was from that moment that Seo Yun’s attitude, which had been quite cold until now, began to change.

While being supported as he walked, Kim Jihyeok shivered. The underground had been quite cold, but the Mortal Realm was unbearably, ridiculously cold.

Seo Yun, who was supporting him as they walked, seemed to sense his trembling.

“Hey, wait a sec.”

Stopping mid-walk, Seo Yun took off her coat. The military poncho she wore underneath and her small frame were revealed.

Without a word, Seo Yun draped the removed coat over Kim Jihyeok’s shoulders.

Accepting it in a daze, Kim Jihyeok was momentarily unsure how to react. Wasn’t this usually something a guy did for a girl in dramas? He never expected to experience the reverse.

When he tried to return the coat, Seo Yun refused.

“Your body is too dirty right now. It probably got all over the coat, and I don’t want to wear it again until it’s washed.”

Kim Jihyeok wasn’t so stupid as to not realize this was consideration.

“But still…”

Then Seo Yun said.

“It’s fine. My Health Stat is 11.”

Kim Jihyeok wondered if he had misheard. It wasn’t a difficult combination of words, but what did that mean just now?

“Health… what?”

“Ah, you don’t understand what I’m saying. You’ve been trapped, so you wouldn’t know how the world has changed. Right?”

Kim Jihyeok cautiously nodded.

“Looking around, it definitely seems like something big happened…”

Seo Yun let out a sigh and continued.

“The world became a game.”

“What?”

“I said the world became a game. A fantasy game.”

The statement was so nonsensical he couldn’t even feel bewildered.

Kim Jihyeok wondered why she was saying such things, then remembered how she had glared at him out of the blue when they first met. Despite her appearance, she seemed to have a mischievous side, didn’t she?

Belatedly trying to play along with the joke, he gave an awkward laugh. Seo Yun frowned.

“You don’t believe me, do you? Well, I was the same at first…”

Seo Yun continued.

“Want to see something amazing?”

When Kim Jihyeok said yes, Seo Yun pulled a small knife from her pocket.

Gritting her teeth, Seo Yun stabbed the sharp blade into the back of her own hand.

Kim Jihyeok’s eyes widened. What was she doing? Why was she suddenly harming herself?

While Kim Jihyeok was stammering, Seo Yun pulled the blade from her hand. The series of actions were too fast, leaving no time to stop or interfere.

The hole it created was sizable.

“Uh…”

As blood spurted from the hole, Kim Jihyeok’s already wide eyes opened even wider. Good grief. Kim Jihyeok was flustered, trying to figure out what to do.

The spurting blood stopped.

And the crimson hole on Seo Yun’s hand immediately began to heal. The hole, shrinking at a visibly rapid pace, disappeared in an instant, and fresh white skin covered the spot.

Seo Yun, her face still contorted in pain, explained.

“Good kids shouldn’t try this? It’s only possible with a Health Stat of 11. For your reference, it’s 11 points out of 10.”

Kim Jihyeok stood there dumbfounded, unsure how to react.

Later, Seo Yun explained that there was a Tabletop Role-Playing Game called Immortal Kingdom.

It had a fantasy setting, and the background story was as follows:

An asteroid passed near the planet. Powerful Undead Mages—Ancient Liches and Vampire Lords—decided to use said asteroid as a weapon.

The evil plan succeeded. With a powerful Magic Ritual and the aid of a Goddess, the Undead Mages controlled the asteroid.

The asteroid headed toward their enemies.

The asteroid, becoming a meteorite, crashed onto a continent, striking the Crusader forces that had gathered to subjugate the Undead. The Crusaders were annihilated, and their continent was devastated.

This much was anticipated by the Goddess and the Undead, but the subsequent situation was something even they hadn’t foreseen.

The meteorite was far, far too large. The impact was enough to strike the entire planet.

Massive earthquakes and tsunamis swept across the world. And ash and dust rushed into the hole torn in the atmosphere by the meteorite. The soil and dust that soared into the upper atmosphere formed layers, blanketing the planet.

As a massive dust cloud veiled the atmosphere, most sunlight was blocked, and the planet rapidly cooled.

An endless winter had arrived.

The age of Mortals had ended.

Under the gray sky where the sun was obscured, the age of Vampires dawned. The small number of surviving humans had to live as their slaves or survive by hiding, relying on the mercy of the gods.Considering that Immortal Kingdom was a game released in the United States in the 1980s, the meteorite is said to be a metaphor for nuclear weapons. Its worldbuilding was likely inspired by the nuclear winter theory announced at the time.

Of course, none of that mattered at all, they said. For the surviving humanity of the 21st century, only one fact was important.

The fact that a dark fantasy meant to reflect reality had, in turn, become reality itself.