15. Where am I?
When I awoke, I was slumped against a cold wall.
My eyes fluttered open—then went wide in disbelief.
A perfectly paved road. Steel boxes—no, cars—rushed by in sleek streams. Towering skyscrapers stretched into the clouds like glass monoliths. LED screens flashed colorful advertisements in all directions.
Modern Earth?
What the hell just happened?
The dull roar of engines, the faint chatter of pedestrians, the scent of exhaust and roasted chestnuts from a street vendor—it was all too real.
I found myself standing on a bustling sidewalk, surrounded by strangers dressed in office suits, hoodies, and earbuds. Am I… back?
But then—
Who was I before I became Chris?
That memory was missing. But I'm still in this familiar Chris's body.
Where exactly am I?
I turned slowly, scanning my surroundings. Neon signs, glowing billboards, familiar characters…
Hangul. Korean.
Just as I was trying to piece it all together—
"Kyaa! Thief! Help!"
A woman in her twenties screamed as a man tore her handbag away. He wore a black T-shirt, jeans, a cap pulled low, and a mask covering the bottom half of his face. His eyes were wide, frenzied—and in his right hand was a gleaming kitchen knife.
He ran straight toward me.
And me?
I stepped aside. I didn't have the luxury of being a good Samaritan. My mind was still fogged, like a half-booted system.
I didn't know the reason I was brought here—but I knew how. It was the system. Something to do with my loan... I turned to it, hoping for answers.
Assimilation Successful.
Sequence 8 ???: Poison Taratect
Evaluation: Very Low (2)
Countdown: ???
That was all it showed.
Then—
Bang!
A loud crash echoed through the street, followed by the grunt of a man.
I turned toward the source and saw the thief sprawled on the ground, clutching his head in pain.
He scrambled to his feet, ready to run—
But then he froze.
His eyes widened as he reached out, only to slam into something unseen.
A transparent wall. Solid. Unyielding.
Some kind of invisible barrier was trapping us in.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" he screamed, pounding his fists against the invisible wall.
He wasn't the only one. Other pedestrians on the other side were also trapped, Everyone pressing desperately against transparent walls that hadn't existed moments ago. The air shimmered faintly, like heat rising off asphalt.
We were enclosed in a cube.
And then, it appeared.
Hovering midair was a strange, mascot-like creature—fluffy and absurd, like something ripped from a children's cartoon. It had stubby legs, clawed paws, and unnervingly round eyes.
'The free service of the 8612 planetary system has come to an end. The main scenario will begin now.'
No one spoke those words.
The voice echoed inside my head—clear, cold, and emotionless.
Looking around, I saw the same flicker of confusion in every face.
Everyone heard it. I was sure of it.
"H-hello?" the fluffy mascot creature tried to speak, its round, cartoonish body bobbing awkwardly in the air.
But no one paid attention.
Some were too busy gawking at the floating mascot, expressions split between confusion and ridicule.
Others were slamming their hands and shoulders against the invisible barrier.
Phones were pulled out, screens glowing uselessly. No signal.
The thief and his victim were still wrestling over the handbag like the world wasn't falling apart around them.
In other words— Chaos.
Then—
"SHUT UP!!"
The creature's voice exploded like thunder, pounding against our skulls.
Everyone stopped. Breathing hitched. Even the thief froze.
"Anyone who makes noise… dies."
A red aura bled from the creature's form like ink in water. The air turned thick, almost suffocating.
"Wh-what are—" one salaryman began to stammer.
Pop.
His head burst like a melon.
A spray of red splattered across the woman beside him.
"Ky—!"
Pop.
Another head followed.
The silence that followed wasn't just quiet—it was absolute. As if even the wind didn't dare whisper.
"Good," the dokkaebi said, its eyes glinting.
"I—I am the Dokkaebi, opening the Star Stream."
In front of each of us, a glowing, translucent screen blinked into existence.
'Channel BI-#7777 has opened'
'The Constellations are now making an entrance'
'The Main Scenario has arrived'
Main Scenario: Prove Your Value
Objective: Kill one or more living organisms.
Category: Main
Difficulty: F
Time Limit: 30 Minutes
Reward: 300 Coins
Penalty for Failure: Death
The details appeared before everyone's eyes. It was just like my system—like a game.
"G-Good luck," the dokkaebi said, then vanished into thin air.
Star Stream… That's what he called it, right?
Could it be the same source as my system? I'll need to remember that name.
For now, I shifted my focus to the details of the main scenario.
"Aagghhh!!"
A piercing, inelegant scream rang out, snapping everyone from their stunned daze. It was the woman—the thief's earlier victim.
While the rest of us were still frozen, trying to comprehend what was happening, the thief moved first. He lunged forward, stabbing her again and again with his knife.
"It hurts!! H-Help!!" she screamed, blood spilling from fresh wounds.
No one moved.
No one dared to help her.
No one wanted to get involved.
As if they didn't realize they already were.
"Ke, ke… KEHAHAHA!!"
The thief laughed maniacally, eyes gleaming with madness.
"This is the best!!"
He turned his gaze toward the crowd, scanning faces like a predator eyeing fresh meat.
His eyes locked onto two children—just a boy and a girl.
"KEHEHE!"
He dashed toward them like a starved hyena, bloodied knife raised high.
The kids screamed in terror.
Even so, the boy instinctively pulled the girl behind him and stepped forward—shielding her with his small body.
The others?
They stepped back—afraid to become the next prey.
Afraid to be seen.
They opened a path for the monster to pass.
'You have killed a living organism.'
'You have obtained 100 Coins.'
"What a perfect prey," I muttered, standing over the thief's corpse, The thief's blood-soaked knife now in my hand.
The others were already avoiding eye contact, stepping further away from me.
It made sense. After all—I beat him to death with my bare hands before even taking his weapon.
I walked back to the same wall I'd woken up beside, leaned against it again, and let out a slow breath.
My second kill. Technically it's the sixth but yeah...
They say the first time is the hardest.
The second time, there's less hesitation.
By the third, you're surprised how little you feel.
And by the fourth… you're numb.
I guess it's true.
It definitely felt easier than the first.
…
To push the creeping thoughts away, I turned my attention back to the system window glowing faintly before me.
'Time Remaining: 26 minutes 19 seconds'
I still had a bit of time to reorganize my thoughts.
Just as I considered checking my own system—
Wham.
It came up so fast, it felt like the system window grew a leg and kicked the Star Stream screen out of the way.
...It must be my imagination.
Countdown : ???
Evaluation : Very Low (3)
Still the same as before.
There had to be a condition, some hidden trigger. But I'd have to figure it out on my own.
Haa… how annoying.
Still, if I could complete this mission, it might reduce my burden.
How much exactly? No idea.
But to find out… I had to survive.
Tug.
I felt a small tug on my sleeve.
I looked down.
It was the same two kids from earlier—the boy and the girl.
"T-Thank you…" they both whispered, their voices shaking, their bodies still trembling from fear.
I sighed and crouched down to meet them at eye level.
"Why are you two out here alone?" I asked.
Everyone else in this 'stage' seemed to be an adult. Only these two stood out.
The boy shook his head. "We came with our sister," he said, pointing toward a nearby supermarket.
"We just stepped out for a moment…" the girl added, sniffling as tears welled up in her eyes.
Because of the invisible barrier, they couldn't go back in. And their sister couldn't come out.
"…Sigh."
"You two are siblings, right?"
They nodded in sync.
"What are your names?"
"Yoo Jae Hee," the boy replied.
"Yoo Da Mi," the girl said quietly.
"Alright, Jae Hee, Da Mi. Let me ask—are you afraid of insects?"
They exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
"Good. Come with me."
I led them toward a drainage grate on the side of the street. Kneeling down, I placed my hand over the metal slats and let my thread seep down into the dark sewer below.
I couldn't see anything down there.
So I focused on the vibrations—feeling every twitch, every shift in the thread as it slithered through the narrow tunnels.
Something moved.
So I thought, I quickly bound it and pulled.
…Just wet rocks.
Again.
Grass. Rocks.
Again.
Trash.
Again.
Cigarettes.
Again.
Rocks, again.
And then—
A twitch. Quick. Sharp. Small legs.
A cockroach.
I wrapped its wriggling body entirely in thread and pulled it up, placing the unfortunate insect in front of Da Mi.
"Da Mi. Step on it. As hard as you can."
She hesitated looking into my eyes for a few moments. then—
She nodded and stomped.
Crunch.
"It says… I got 100 coins!" she said, her eyes sparkling a little.
I reached over and gently patted her head. "You did great."
"Now it's Jae Hee's turn."
Without a moment's hesitation, the boy stepped forward. He did the same. Another squish. Another set of coins.
I patted his head too. "Well done."
And just like that, for the first time since all of this began, they smiled.
Now all that was left… was to kill time.
So while I kept the kids close and safe, I turned my attention back to the sewer—this time using cutting threads. My aim wasn't precision. It was trying my luck. I swept through the tunnel system like a bladed reaper, slashing and harvesting whatever insects or vermin I could find.
By the time the scenario ended, my total coin count had reached 1200.
As expected, it wasn't easy. But I was lucky enough to find a few decent targets.