Chapter 46: We’re from SurvivalNet
Translator: ShutDoor
There were many ways for a nation to collapse.
It could fall to citizens dissatisfied with the existing system, as in the French Revolution, perish under an armed invasion by a foreign power, or simply reach the end of its fortunes and destroy itself.
But no one could have predicted that a country would collapse like this.
Think about it.
If I were infected with the NIV virus and could no longer infect others as “easily” as before, what would I do?
Would I lie quietly in bed, endure the excruciating pain, and resolve to die without hurting anyone else?
Or would I do whatever it took to find every uninfected person hiding inside their home and infect them all?
Anon: Please help me someone is trying to force my door open. Please help me! Please! Please!
Anon: fuckthebleedingwontstop
ChamMulShiba: Looking for people to join a “sharing” session in Jamsil~ We’ve got ten so far~
Minnagoroshi: This feels amazing lolololololololol
Anonymous8812: You remember what ADMIN1000 said, right? Never answer even if someone knocks on your door. Just pretend no one’s home.
Anonymous775: If you wrap yourself in blankets and tape them in place, most blades won’t get through.
Anonymous99192: ♚♚<SurvivalNet>♚♚Sign up and$$EVERYONE gets premium intel☜☜100%FREE
The zombies in typical apocalypse stories couldn’t open a securely locked front door, drive a car into a police station, throw rocks to knock down fleeing people, or set buildings on fire.
But infected people could do anything a human being could imagine.
Literally anything.
They smashed through the glass entrance doors of a high-rise apartment building that required an access code, then poured the gasoline from the cans they carried all over the hallways.
Once they had finished preparing to turn the entire building into an inferno, they began pounding on the front doors on every floor.
Come out! I said come out! If you don’t, we’ll set the place on fire!
Bangbangbangbangbang!
A strange delight colored the intruders’ voices, the delight of a child happily crushing ants one by one beneath a finger.
But only breathless silence came from behind the doors. Not a single person came outside.
The infected people paid no attention and began destroying the sprinklers in the hallways and stairwells one by one.
Crunch, crunch, clang, clang.
Every time something broke, the people behind the doors flinched. Some parents clutched their children and covered their mouths, while others wept without making a sound.
Then a shout erupted from somewhere in the apartment building.
We have to fight! We can’t let them slaughter us like dogs!
How do we know you’re not infected, you bastard!
Trust me! I’m a police officer!
My mother was infected by a cop! You fucking bitch!
The shouts and curses of the apartment residents tangled together.
But above all those screams and noises, the dull crash of something being mercilessly smashed rang out once more.
Without a word, I checked the apartment building’s exact coordinates. I also made sure to record every feature needed to identify the infected people committing this madness, including their faces, clothes, and builds.
The information I collected passed through Ann and the other operators and was immediately posted at the top of the community page.
NNNN: Risk of arson and forced entry confirmed at Building 104, The Grand Forest Central Riverpark, Seoul
– Reports filed with all available nearby military units and garrisons.
– Suspect descriptions and detailed information are available on <SurvivalNet>.
Less than thirty minutes after the post went up, it had already surpassed an astonishing 120,000 views and received over three thousand comments.
Survivor685: What a bunch of fucking psychos
Survivor12852: I thought we’d be safe if we just stayed quiet inside. Now they’re setting fires?
Survivor3700: We should be safe for now. Smashing a few sprinklers won’t stop the water from coming out. They’d have to destroy the water-main pump itself.
Survivor444: Got the bastards’ faces
Ann, who was monitoring the situation, gave a brief report.
“SurvivalNet’s membership has just surpassed 150,000.”
That was an incredibly rapid pace. After checking the comments written by SurvivalNet’s newest members, I turned my attention to another screen.
At a military-controlled cordon, a grim scene entirely opposite to the one at the apartment complex was unfolding.
Follow orders! You there! I said follow orders!
The soldiers were using loudspeakers to pressure the infected people and force them back inside the restricted zone.
Please, please! At least spare our child. They don’t even have a fever yet…!
Let go, fuck! I’m not infected!
The civilians begged with tears streaming down their faces, but the soldiers, who had witnessed the horror of the NIV virus firsthand over the past two weeks, never lowered their weapons for even a moment.
Just as the terrified civilians began backing farther into the restricted zone,
several of them slipped behind walls and large vehicles. As if they had been waiting for this exact moment, they began pulling something from their bags.
Molotov cocktails.
Smash!
The bottles shattered, spraying flammable liquid in every direction.
The soldiers froze, unable to process the sudden attack, and the flames spread in an instant, swallowing several of them whole.
Aaaaaaaagh-!!!
At first, the soldiers rushed forward to extinguish the flames that had spread to their comrades without even understanding what had happened. But when screams more horrifying than anything they had ever heard erupted, they instinctively stumbled backward.
They could only stare blankly as their comrade’s burning face melted against the surface of their gas mask.
Bang! Ba-bang!
At that very moment, several soldiers suddenly swung their rifles sideways and shot their comrades in the legs. Then they began clawing wildly at the gunshot wounds with their grime-caked fingernails.
The soldiers around them stood stunned for a moment, unable to understand what was happening. Then they realized that the comrades beside them were infected and hurriedly took aim.
Aagh! Aaaaagh! Let go! Let me go!
K-Kim Hyeong-tae, that crazy asshole actually opened fire!
Ignoring their comrades’ shouts, the soldier pawing at the mangled flesh grinned behind their gas mask even as rifle stocks battered their entire body.
The infected people the soldiers had been controlling also seized the confusion as an opportunity and began pouring out in every direction.
You were going to kill us all, weren’t you? You were going to shoot every last one of us! You fucking soldiers!
Naturally, some of them carried weapons and advanced from cover to cover as they charged toward the soldiers.
[C-control lost! The infected are out of control!]
[Aaaaaaagh!]
[All units, open fire! Are you going to stand there until they kill every last one of you? Shoot!]
On the road that had become a scene of utter chaos in seconds, soldiers pointed their guns at one another as acrid gunsmoke and the stench of blood filled the air.
I’ll get down! I’m getting down! Stop… Please stop shooting!
Mom! Mooom!
The road filled with horrific screams that should never have been heard in a functioning country.
Bullets cracked against concrete, cartridge cases clattered to the ground, soldiers writhed in agony, and human bodies were torn apart, all the sounds blending together.
Even after every infected person charging them had fallen, the soldiers turned their weapons not only on those fleeing but also on the comrade who kept grinning despite being beaten with rifle stocks. They had learned what would happen if they left infected people alone.
Huff-. Huff-. Huff-.
By the time the ceaseless gunfire finally subsided, the surviving soldiers’ faces had changed so completely that anyone would have believed they were different people from the ones who had stood there only minutes earlier.
They would never hesitate to pull the trigger again.
*****
Until a few days ago, he could still go outside if he wrapped every inch of his body, but even that had become too dangerous now.
Was this what cities abandoned after the nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima had felt like, with only traces of their residents’ lives left behind?
Rustle.
With that thought, the man living in Daejeon very carefully lifted the edge of the curtain and peered outside.
Pitch-black darkness lay beyond the window. Even though it was only seven in the evening, there was not the slightest sign of anyone on the streets. The intersection by the department store, which should have been bustling with people, was no different.
The already desolate street had become even more terrifying once the power failed and every streetlight went dark. All he could hear was the occasional eerie gust of wind and the rustle of plastic bags or flyers distributed before the crisis tumbling across the ground.
“…”
At least he had sensed something ominous several days ago and followed the advice he had seen on <SurvivalNet>, taking every precaution to avoid attracting anyone’s attention.
Otherwise, he might have been hunted down like someone in the neighboring building who had carelessly kept the lights on at night.
The one thing that made the infected less dangerous than zombies was that they were still human and therefore afraid of death. As long as someone openly carried an obviously lethal weapon such as an aluminum bat or a sword, they generally would not attack first.
One of SurvivalNet’s operators had mentioned it, so it was probably true. He had even confirmed it himself earlier that day.
NNNN: However, as an infected person’s fever cycle approaches, threats alone may no longer be enough to deter them.
The government had not disclosed even a scrap of information like this.
There was even a rumor that the government had censored and deleted the records about infected people that one of SurvivalNet’s operators had posted on online communities.
[The current South Korean government continues its armed suppression of the large-scale unrest occurring nationwide and has successfully reestablished public order in major cities, including Seoul, Sejong, and Daejeon…]
Hearing bullshit like that even on the radio made the rumor seem entirely plausible.
He lived in Daejeon himself. What fucking restoration of public order were they talking about?
At least in this area, he had not seen so much as a single soldier. He had seen fighter jets and large transport aircraft flying overhead, though.
Rumors spreading through online communities claimed that firefights had even broken out in other regions, but the television stations and the government’s emergency radio broadcasts were all spouting something else entirely, leaving him no way to know what was really happening.
SurvivalNet, of course, was different.
[NNNN: The Full Story Behind the Shootings in South Korea] (172)
Click.
[This information post is available to members of rank “Survivor3” and above. Your access rank is insufficient.]
“Fuck!”
…The only problem was that his rank was too low to read it.
When he searched for a way to raise his rank, he found a notice saying it would increase if he submitted information SurvivalNet’s operators had not yet obtained or matched the type of candidate the community wanted.
Apparently, on sites run by American survivalists, the so-called preppers, members sometimes had to report the location of a hidden bunker in their area to raise their membership rank.
SurvivalNet probably wasn’t operating this community purely out of goodwill either. Like those prepper communities, it must have something to gain from running such an organized site.
But if he stayed shut inside his home like this, he was certain to either starve to death or be killed by infected people. He needed more information.
Especially now, when the power could fail at any moment.
Tap tap tap.
Anonymous69696: The kind of candidates SurvivalNet wants? Does anyone know where I’m supposed to list my qualifications?
…
…
But within seconds of being posted, his message vanished somewhere beneath a flood of new posts.
Fortunately, before the man’s anxiety could reach its limit, an anonymous user replied.
Anonymous78: Fill out the [Standard resume] in the notices.
“Seventy-eight…”
He had heard that the lower the identification number beside “Anonymous”, the earlier the user had joined. Information from such an early member was not something he could afford to dismiss.
The form he finally found after searching the site for thirty minutes was quite literally a resume, asking for personal details, educational background, work experience, certifications, and records of awards received within and outside one’s workplace.
“…”
What in the world did they want this information for?
With the world ending, listing his work experience hardly seemed useful. According to the news, not only South Korea but every other country was collapsing too.
Even if this really was a job application, the kind of candidate the operators wanted was unlikely to be a primary and secondary education specialist who had grown up as an orphan with no family…
Tap tap tap.
Still, thinking there was always a chance, he completed the resume as thoroughly as possible and submitted it.
<Would you like to submit your resume? If any information is found to be false, your account may be permanently terminated.>
Anonymous69696: YES
<OPERATER_09 has requested a one-on-one video chat with you.>
He had barely submitted the resume when a message arrived from an administrator.
OPERATER_09: Mr. Kim Gyu-hyeok? I’ve reviewed your resume. Please show your face so I can verify your identity.
Judging by the speed, Kim had naturally assumed it was a bot, but the silhouette on the other side of the video-chat window was unmistakably human.
Anonymous69696: Can you see my face clearly?
OPERATER_09: Identity confirmed.
Operator 9 then asked a question in a stiff, businesslike tone.
“If you were trying to develop basic numeracy and scientific thinking in elementary school students, what do you believe would be the most effective way to teach children with different learning abilities in the same classroom?”
“Excuse me?”
“If you cannot answer within five minutes, you will be considered a troll and permanently banned.”
“W-wait…”
By the time he had frantically answered approximately eight questions, the video chat ended. Almost simultaneously, a new message arrived from the operators.
OPERATER_09: Remain at your current location. Special agents will arrive within forty-eight hours.
“…?”
The next day arrived.
Bangbangbangbang!
The front door shook violently, as though it might be ripped from its hinges at any moment. The sound of metal battering the door thundered through the cramped apartment.
Kim Gyu-hyeok shot to his feet. He grabbed the aluminum bat beside him, but sweat made the handle slippery in his palm.
It was not difficult to guess who the people beyond the door were.
“You’re in there, aren’t you~? Huh~? You can’t just block the hallway with bicycles like this~.”
“Move! Everybody move! You said it was my turn this time!”
“Fuck taking turns. Whoever gets him first wins.”
“If it’s a woman, can I take her?”
“Pretty sure only one man lives in this apartment.”
Cackling laughter mingled with shouts. Someone was pounding on the door while others seemed to be kicking aside the objects piled in the hallway. There were several sets of footsteps.
At least ten people.
Kim Gyu-hyeok swallowed hard.
Thud! Bang!
The handle rattled every time the door buckled violently. He could even hear the auxiliary lock attached to the doorknob clattering.
His heart felt ready to burst.
“Bring the welder.”
“…!!!”
His mind went completely blank.
These bastards were seasoned at robbing people.
A single door between them did not make him safe. But even if he charged outside with his bat, what could he possibly do against more than ten people?
Any thought that he might hold them off if he resisted fiercely enough vanished. The terror of dying like this gripped his entire body.
If Kim Gyu-hyeok had not lived on the thirteenth floor, if he had been even as low as the fifth, he might have jumped.
But a fall from this height would kill him without fail.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’
Kim Gyu-hyeok dropped the aluminum bat as though flinging it away and ran to the balcony. His hands were shaking so badly that he could hardly grip the curtains. Clenching his teeth, he yanked them down. If he knotted them together, he might somehow be able to reach the floor below.
That was when it happened.
Clang!
Something hit the floor in the hallway.
Hssssss—
A sharp hissing sound that seemed to scrape against his ears followed.
“Wh-what is this?!”
“Cough! Cough! Fuck, what is this?!”
Coughing, harsh curses, and pounding footsteps tangled together beyond the front door.
Kim Gyu-hyeok froze with the curtain still clutched in his hands.
What in the world was happening?
Thud- Thud- Thud-
Before he could gather his thoughts, heavy footsteps thundered from farther down the hallway. They sounded like several tons of metal charging forward and crushing the concrete floor beneath it.
Then,
Crack!
something split apart.
Each dull crack was followed by a brief scream, but the screams mingled with the sound of something being crushed against concrete and abruptly cut off.
“Gasp! Haaah!”
Footsteps clattered as though someone were desperately fleeing, but how many steps could they have taken?
A dull, wet crack, like the sound of a watermelon dropped from a great height, echoed through the hallway.
The hallway fell silent in an instant.
“…”
Kim Gyu-hyeok covered his mouth with both hands and stared at the smoke slowly seeping through the window facing the hallway and the gaps around the front door.
Thud- Thud-
Something was in the hallway.
Something that had taken down more than ten people in an instant.
Unable even to breathe properly, Kim Gyu-hyeok stared at the front door. His heart pounded madly. His fingertips trembled, and cold sweat ran down his back.
Crrrk!
A grotesque sound came from beyond the door.
While Kim Gyu-hyeok flinched, the thing effortlessly twisted apart the lock the infected people had tried so hard and failed to break.
“!!!”
Kim Gyu-hyeok was already on the verge of losing his mind.
He had no idea what was on the other side, but he was as good as dead.
Even if the special agents or whatever SurvivalNet had promised to send arrived, it would make no difference. What could they possibly do against a monster like that?
Contrary to his expectations, however, the being did not crush the front door. It merely left behind a trail of heavy footsteps as it disappeared down the hallway.
…What?
Just as the incomprehensible situation was leaving him increasingly confused,
Knock, knock.
“Mr. Kim Gyu-hyeok? Are you in there?”
A polite knock entirely at odds with the situation came from outside.
“You posted on SurvivalNet, correct? We’re here to pick you up.”
“…?”
“For the record, if we were infected, we would have opened the door and entered long before saying any of this.”
“…”
“Hmm. We’ll take that as your consent and enter.”
The damaged door was flung open.
In the hallway, where the smoke had not yet fully cleared, stood soldiers dressed in black special-forces gear and…
something horrifyingly enormous.
“…Ah.”
Kim Gyu-hyeok fainted on the spot.
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