Chapter 34: Is the Country Screwed?
Translator: ShutDoor
January 23, 2027, 5:57 a.m.
[…As of 4:00 a.m. today, emergency rooms and intensive care units at major university hospitals nationwide have effectively reached full capacity.]
In the early hours of the morning, just as most office workers were beginning to get ready for work, the emergency briefing by the commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency rang out from the main screen.
[The authorities have determined that the possibility of biochemical terrorism or an unidentified new infectious disease cannot be ruled out, and have launched an urgent epidemiological investigation and begun implementing infection-control measures. The public is advised to refrain from visiting crowded facilities or going outside whenever possible, and to wear a mask whenever leaving home…]
After watching the commissioner, whose face was deathly pale from apparently staying up all night, I turned my attention to the CCTV surveillance feeds.
Blanketed in dense, hazy fog, Seoul lay under an eerie silence that made it hard to believe this was the same place as six hours earlier.
The mangled wreckage from the massive chain-reaction collisions earlier that morning lay scattered across the roads. The already chaotic morning commute had ground to a complete halt because of the heavy machinery lumbering along to clear it away.
The government still hadn’t released an exact number of infected people.
But if I had to guess, they weren’t deliberately concealing the figure. They genuinely had no idea how many people had been infected.
I’d been naive.
It had been arrogant of me to assume that a disease spread by a “game” capable of completely ignoring the laws of physics with a single click would spread as straightforwardly as an ordinary infectious disease.
I had also underestimated the weight of the word “apocalypse”.
Think about it.
Humanity had completely conquered the infamous disease smallpox, pushed a treatment for supposedly unconquerable cancer through Phase III clinical trials, and ultimately overcome even the coronavirus that had plunged the entire world into the terror of a pandemic.
To plunge humanity, after all that, into an epidemic “apocalypse”,
just how cruel and vicious would an infectious disease have to be?
That was what I should have considered first.
“…”
A simulation game I had enjoyed on the computer as a child suddenly flashed through my mind.
A game where the player became a virus or bacterium and wiped out every human being on Earth.
Why had that game suddenly come to mind now?
Just then, the subdued voice of Medical Staff Officer Im A-ram, who had been leafing through some documents beside me, broke the silence.
“…With an ordinary infectious disease, an epidemiological investigation can trace the initial outbreak area and reconstruct the patients’ movements.”
I turned the first page of the report she handed me.
“We’ll need a more detailed analysis… but judging solely from the data collected so far, this would be difficult to explain unless the virus was designed with an abnormally long incubation period, allowing it to secure a sufficient number of hosts before triggering symptoms in all of them simultaneously at a predetermined time.”
I swallowed hard and examined the locations listed in the report. Every one was an area believed to contain infected people.
The infected were marked as vivid red dots on the map, and no matter where I looked in the world, I couldn’t find a single city without one.
Not one.
“If our hypothesis is correct… any epidemiological investigation conducted by surface infection-control authorities will be meaningless.”
Because it had already spread throughout the entire world.
Forgetting even to breathe, I stared at the world map covered in bloodred dots.
Except for extreme wilderness like the middle of Australia’s vast deserts, Alaska, or Siberia, every inhabited city was marked with one or more crimson dots, without exception.
“…What about us? Are there any patients inside our shelter?”
“We’ve been monitoring everyone closely, but fortunately, there isn’t a single one at the moment.”
Thankfully, so very thankfully, it seemed that not a single “confirmed case” or “suspected case” had yet appeared inside our shelter.
But I believed this wasn’t sheer luck. It was due to some sort of rule built into the system.
Who would play such a trash game if they worked hard to build a shelter, only for an infectious disease to break out inside and kill them before they could even get started?
Perhaps, to ensure the game progressed smoothly, everyone who had entered a shelter before D-Day had been set as “uninfected for the time being”.
Survival simulation games like this usually progressed that way, after all.
And the torrent of messages pouring through the chat turned my hypothesis into certainty.
ProSurvivalist1500: This is fucking terrifying
Anon: Did the Map disappear for anyone else???
Anon: Should I buy more masks even now? I was so focused on getting food that I didn’t buy any
Arrow300: I’d have been fucked if I hadn’t bought a gas mask.
Inu59: I’m not going outside even if it kills me. The manager at my shitty company keeps calling, but I’m gritting my teeth and ignoring him
King250: Is this for real? Is this seriously for real? You’re telling me this is actually real??? Seriously?? This??
Lupin720: Whatever else it might be, I was sure it wouldn’t be an epidemic apocalypse. I mean, WHO screws up plenty, but the competent people there are genuinely competent. One of my peers works there too.
Lupin720: But if it’s happening like this, they can never stop it. Yeah. They can’t.
InariSushi1300: Thankfully, my family is healthy. I sincerely hope all of you stay healthy too
Anon: They expect us to go to work on a day like this? Seriously?
Anon: My mom suddenly got sick. I heard she went to the hospital yesterday.
January 23, 2027, 5:00 p.m.
Society still appeared to be functioning normally. Perhaps because people had been bombarded with one grim breaking-news report after another, however, far more of them than in the morning had masks pressed tightly over their noses.
One hour later, at 6:00 p.m. on January 23, 2027.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency confirmed that the phenomenon was an infectious disease caused by an unidentified new virus.
At the same time, it raised the national infectious disease crisis alert two whole levels, from [Attention] to [Alert].
[…The primary early symptoms of the infectious disease currently occurring simultaneously nationwide include an acute fever of 38 degrees or higher, chills, and skin rashes concentrated around the neck and chest. Some patients are also experiencing severe hallucinations, coughing, and seizures, but the exact pathogen remains unknown…]
During the previous COVID-19 outbreak, it had taken nineteen days for the crisis alert to be raised to [Alert].
This virus had taken just eighteen hours.
January 23, 2027, 8:00 p.m.
On the CCTV surveillance feeds, infection-control personnel equipped with white specialized protective suits and sealed helmets assembled in front of the university hospital I had seen that morning.
They forcibly quarantined the nurses, paramedics, and doctors who had come into contact with patients behind plastic barriers, then ignored their screams and protests as they began dragging them away somewhere.
Then, at 6:30 a.m. on January 24, 2027.
Through an emergency address to the nation, the government officially confirmed that secondary infection cases had occurred.
Around the same time, videos of people coughing up dark red blood and collapsing in the streets began spreading en masse across Chinese social media and overseas communities.
January 24, 11:23 a.m.
The South Korean government finally raised the infectious disease crisis alert to its highest level, [Serious], and, just as it had during the pandemic, activated the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters under the prime minister.
Although the alert had been raised dozens of times faster than during the pandemic, there was no opposition from the National Assembly.
The following day, January 25, 2027.
Despite opposition from small-business owners, the government announced that it would impose the highest level of social-distancing restrictions. But when the owners announced plans for a mass rally in Gwanghwamun, the health authorities ultimately held an emergency briefing and disclosed the number of infections tallied thus far.
[A total of 930,000 new domestic infections were confirmed over the two days from January 23 to January 24.]
…
…
Watching the reporters who had been poised to tear into the government snap their mouths shut in an instant was shocking in an entirely different way.
I was stunned too.
What did it mean for there to be 930,000 “new” confirmed cases, not 930,000 cases in total?
At the peak of the pandemic, the highest daily number of new confirmed cases had been 620,000, and by then the cumulative number of confirmed cases had already far exceeded ten million.
In other words.
For that many new infections to appear, one in every five citizens had to already be “infected” but not yet showing symptoms.
[Hey, what the fuck…]
The curse that slipped involuntarily from one reporter’s mouth spoke for every viewer.
Even amid all that, the Vice Minister of Health and Welfare steadfastly continued the announcement.
[To prevent further cases from entering from abroad and spreading domestically, the government will strengthen quarantine screening and immigration controls at all airports and seaports nationwide beginning at midnight on January 27. We also plan to implement stronger social-distancing measures than during previous outbreaks and establish additional screening clinics and temporary testing sites in major regions nationwide. If you experience any suspected symptoms, please visit your nearest screening clinic or temporary testing site…]
[Hey, hey! You bastard! Let go of me! Hey! Hey!]
[…Once again, we urge all citizens with suspected symptoms to avoid contact with others as much as possible and follow the instructions of the infection-control authorities.]
Hundreds of thousands were being infected each day, yet no one even knew how many people were infected.
[I am truly sorry to have to say this again when only a few years have passed since the pandemic ended. But, citizens of South Korea, for the very survival of our nation, please cooperate fully with the government’s infection-control measures. Please trust us.]
The fact that not a single death had occurred yet offered no comfort whatsoever.
Naturally, the online communities were in an uproar too.
Anon: Isn’t this another virus from China?
ImGyeonghui-ZS: The government’s response seems proactive, which gives me confidence. I sincerely hope this crisis passes without incident.
Anon: Gacha with a 20% chance of winning is live lolololol
BlueSky: Why does South Korea never stop viruses in advance and always end up playing catch-up?
MerongMerong1: What the absolute fucking shit is this? Everything went to hell overnight.
KimSumin77: Prayer will cure your illness. Come pray with us.
YeoWonseok: Let’s just do what the government says. Didn’t everything go to hell during COVID because people ignored government recommendations and went to clubs and churches? Throw all those traitorous bastards ruining the country in prison.
victorysky: Buddy, I’m telling you, social distancing isn’t going to stop this. They don’t even know how far the infection has spread lololol
victorysky: Come to think of it, I might be infected too. Fuck.
ppapppap: I’m an international student in Germany. Air travel was shut down overnight, and I’m in serious trouble. There aren’t any flights available, so I contacted the embassy, but all they told me was to wait indefinitely.
Anon: Shel12ter is open to everyone. If you cleanse your mind, spirit, and body and face yourself…
K7Owner: Everything the government announces is a lie. The prime minister has already gone into hiding in a shelter, and the president teamed up with the Chinese president and fled to Beijing.
SeohyeonHighNo1KimHyeonseok: That means I might be infected too. My sister’s coughing right now.
Japanlove: This is all a prank, right? Somebody please tell me it’s fake
“…”
All of that had happened in just over two days.
I normally wouldn’t say something like this, but I honestly thought the country was fucked.
*****
Because we had blocked mobile phone communications, the researchers and their families caused no particular unrest.
We had cut off all their contact with the outside world from the beginning, so how could they know whether the world out there was going to shit in real time?
I decided to keep the information from the researchers for at least a few days.
The researchers already half believed we were a secret government agency, so if we explained that “with a second pandemic imminent, information had been restricted to protect key personnel until the situation stabilized”, they would somehow accept it.
“Some people will object.”
“Some people will object even if we tell them now.”
In that case, it was better to wait until the world had properly gone to shit, leaving them with no desire whatsoever to go outside.
Then, if nothing else, concern for their children would keep them from leaving.
It might sound cruel, but this was actually the more humane course of action. At least within South Korea, my shelter was probably the safest place there was.
In any case, Shelter Builder’s Map, Construction, and Shop features had disappeared as expected.
For some reason, the physical CD had vanished as well, along with the 700 million won remaining in my bank account and the nest egg I had saved separately. The old home my parents had left me probably wasn’t mine anymore either.
The final question on the survey had asked, “Would you spend your entire fortune to purchase a shelter?” Apparently, it had really taken my entire fortune.
Naturally, I never recovered the monitors that had vanished on D-Day either. Fortunately, I had secured plenty of spares, so things were fine now, but I couldn’t begin to describe how badly they had startled me at the time.
I suspected it had confiscated enough property to cover however much my wealth had decreased since the day of the survey.
Anon: Breaking) US Senator Mark Robinson absent from congressional press conference for health reasons.
Anon: Opposition leader Kim Mun-seok also absent from party leadership meeting for health reasons
Anon: The speaker of the Grand National Assembly, second in Türkiye’s order of precedence, has canceled all public activities for the past three days.
Anon: Don’t you think these bastards caught it too???? Am I the only one getting a bad feeling?
Anon: Caught what lololol. If anything, those National Assembly bastards probably just ran away lololol
GamerLife18: Games to play: Party Maker, Survival Craft, Shelter Builder, Combat Master
Anon: My mom tested positive yesterday, but there aren’t any hospital beds. Please help, what am I supposed to do…
Anon: I’m in ninth grade. Is it for real that there are police and epidemiological investigators stationed at every intersection?
Anon: Breaking) 400 new confirmed cases at Daegu bathhouse, facility shut down immediately
WorldMap: The world’s a scary place these days, so come join the Survivalism Gallery. Big bro will walk you through the whole shebang, from A to Z
rebecca77: Ah, fuck, what a wonderful country South Korea is
As I scoured the communities in a desperate attempt to calm myself, Research Center Director Rachel approached me with a genial smile.
“Administrator. Preparations for 「Research」 are complete. Would you like to come see for yourself?”
“…”
If a single infectious disease was already this bad, I was terrified even to imagine how far beyond common sense the other apocalypses might be.
Even so, we had to at least try to make a vaccine.
I hadn’t built this shelter merely to postpone death like everyone else.
So now, 「Research」 truly was our only hope.
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