The sky, once stained with flickering glitches of unnatural light, had dulled to an ominous stillness—as though reality itself was bracing for what was to come. The clock was still ticking.
⏳ 22:08
Hyun-woo's breath was uneven, and his grip on the rusted dagger was already slick with sweat. Around him, buildings loomed like empty tombstones, and the world was disturbingly silent after the screams had faded.
Beside him, Ji-ah moved like a trained predator—eyes sharp, body tense. She hadn't spoken since they started moving again, but Hyun-woo could tell her mind was racing. Maybe she'd already killed someone before. Maybe she was trying to avoid having to do it again.
He didn't know.
And he wasn't sure if he wanted to.
They stopped near a collapsed overpass, the shattered concrete splitting the road into two uneven levels. Dust drifted lazily through the air, glittering like static. Then they saw it.
A young man—no older than Hyun-woo himself—was crawling out from under a broken car door. His arm was bleeding, face pale. But what caught Hyun-woo's attention wasn't the injury.
It was the faint outline of a blue box floating above his head.
[NPC - Civilian Survivor]
Status: Injured
Threat Level: Low
Alignment: Neutral
"Don't," Hyun-woo said quickly, sensing Ji-ah tense beside him.
She hadn't raised her weapon. Yet.
"I wasn't going to," she muttered, brushing past him. "He's not hostile. For now."
Hyun-woo let out a shaky breath. So far, so good. But the timer was still ticking.
⏳ 19:45
They found another group a few blocks away—three survivors, all armed with scavenged weapons, standing over a corpse. The body still twitched faintly.
The air was heavier here. The tension almost unbearable.
Ji-ah motioned for Hyun-woo to stay back, but of course, he didn't listen.
"Did you... was that your task?" Hyun-woo asked the group.
One of them—an older man with a crowbar and blood on his hands—glared at him.
"Don't act like you're better than us, kid," he growled. "It was either him or us. We didn't even know what the system meant until he pulled a knife."
Hyun-woo's mind raced. How many of these people had already turned on each other? How many were just waiting for the timer to hit zero?
How many believed killing was the only way out?
⏳ 17:02
The tension rose again. Ji-ah didn't trust them, and neither did he.
Suddenly—
DING!
📜 [SYSTEM UPDATE: Nearby Hostile Entity Detected]
Location: 83 meters south-west
Classification: Confirmed Hostile
Threat Level: Moderate
"Looks like the system just made the choice for us," Ji-ah said, eyes narrowing.
This was their chance.
Hyun-woo's heart pounded as they broke into a sprint.
The entity wasn't human.
It used to be. But something had warped it. Its skin was grayish, cracked like old stone. Its eyes flickered with static as if its soul was buffering. It let out a broken snarl, dragging a jagged piece of metal as a weapon.
The blue screen above it confirmed it.
[??? - System Aberrant]
Status: Hostile
Origin: Unknown
Threat Level: Moderate
Warning: Corrupted Data Detected
"Take the left!" Ji-ah barked, already dashing to the right.
Hyun-woo didn't think. He moved. His dagger wasn't much, but it would have to be enough.
The first clash was messy—Ji-ah's blade clanged against the creature's metal, sparks flying. Hyun-woo aimed for its back, slicing deep. It let out a robotic screech and swung wildly, catching his side with a glancing blow that knocked him back.
"HYUN-WOO!"
His vision blurred for a second. The timer echoed in his mind.
⏳ 04:39
He couldn't fail. He wouldn't.
He lunged again, and this time—he didn't miss.
The dagger plunged deep into the corrupted entity's neck.
It let out a final shudder—and then crumbled into ash and glitching code.
DING!
✅ [Objective Complete] Congratulations, Survivor. You have passed the first test.
Your path continues.
Hyun-woo fell to his knees, gasping. Ji-ah stood over the pile of ash, blade dripping, chest rising and falling quickly.
She looked at him, for a long, unreadable moment.
"...You're not completely useless after all," she muttered, turning away.
Hyun-woo managed a breathless laugh.
"That's the nicest thing you've said to me all day."
00:03... 00:02... 00:01...
Hyun-woo's pulse raced in his ears. The timer blinked like a heartbeat on the verge of flatlining.
00:00
A sharp tone echoed through the air—metallic and final, like the sound of a blade being unsheathed.
The sky dimmed to a haunting gray. Clouds froze, suspended mid-motion, and for a moment, time itself seemed to hesitate.
Then came the system message.
📜 [SYSTEM NOTICE]
"Objective Incomplete. Consequences will now be applied."
"Penalty: First Tier Corruption Unlocked."
"System balance compromised. World state deteriorating."
"Chaos Protocol: Initiated."
Hyun-woo staggered back a step as a pulse of energy rippled outward from his chest—his screen flickering violently.
[⚠️ Your Corruption Level has increased.]
[⚠️ Future Scenarios will now become more unstable.]
The buildings around them groaned—literally groaned—as if reality itself was starting to come undone. Cracks spread through the pavement, creeping like veins. Streetlights burst one after another, shattering glass across the silence.
And then came the screams.
Not from people disappearing—but from those left behind.
Something was waking up. Something born from failure. The cost of inaction.
Ji-ah gritted her teeth, blade raised. "The hell is this now?!"
Hyun-woo looked at his shaking hands. The rusted dagger felt even more useless now. He could see his reflection in the blade—and behind him, in the glass of a shattered car window—
—a pair of eyes watching.
And that's when the system delivered its final message for the night:
📜 [Chaos Entities have entered the field.]
📌 "Survive."