Chapter 1 : Prologue

One day, a spaceship appeared in the sky.

“What is that?”

Yohan, who was stretching his stiff back after unloading groceries at the mart, spotted the spaceship floating above and opened his eyes wide in shock.

He couldn’t help but be astonished at such an unbelievable sight.

Was it a hallucination?

Yohan rubbed his eyes and looked up again, but the spaceship remained in place.

“Hehehe…”

He let out a hollow laugh, unable to process the absurdity.

-A Game that will decide the fate of Earth is beginning.

“Heh heh heh.”

This time, he heard a voice in his head.

[This is a Game that will determine the survival of humanity. Please take it seriously]

Until now, he’d always believed the only thing he could count on was his healthy body.

Who would have thought his mind would be the first to go?

What do you do if you go crazy?

Should he check into a psychiatric hospital instead of a nursing home?

Yohan had four children.

He never wanted to be a burden to them.

Except for his eldest, who had just finished his military service, the rest were still too young—none of them adults yet.

It broke his heart to leave them like this.

He hadn’t done much for them while raising them.

He thought he should at least work hard from now on to save up for their tuition and maybe a bit for their future weddings.

But if he ended up in a hospital, none of that would be possible.

He had one small wish.

Nothing grand—he just wanted to hear from others that his kids grew up well, even without their mother. Just a humble dream.

Holding back his regret and sadness, he turned away.

He had just dragged his eldest son, who was lazing around at home after discharge, out to help unload the groceries.

The child who must have suffered most from losing their mother had now grown taller than him.

But something felt off.

His son, who had been staring blankly at the sky, suddenly flinched.

“Ugh!”

His son let out a startled cry, still looking up.

What was this? Had his eldest gone crazy too?

“Ah, Dad.”

His son looked at Yohan with a dazed expression.

No way, could it be…?

“Hey, you too…?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. …Did you hear the Notification too?”

“Yeah.”

“So, are we both crazy? Sheesh…”

Yohan shook his head, watching his son laugh in disbelief.

As if! If he was going to go mad, there were plenty of chances before now.

Besides, what were the odds of both seeing the same spaceship at the same time?

Just as he was coming to terms with this unbelievable reality, another Notification chimed.

-The Game is beginning.

-The Battlefield is being formed.

-Your Battlefield is Bucheon City.

-You cannot leave the Battlefield until the Game ends.

No sooner had the words ended than a massive blue Dome Barrier formed, stretching out from the sky to enclose everything.

-Monsters will be deployed.

A red light poured down from the spaceship.

‘Monster’

“Are they telling us to fight monsters?”

It made no sense.

How were they supposed to fight monsters without any weapons? Honestly, even fighting another person would be a stretch.

Just then, as if reading his mind, another Notification sounded.

-You will be granted an ability or weapon.

-The criteria are based on the ability or weapon from the last Game you played.

‘Game?’

Yohan thought hard.

He hadn’t played a Game in over 20 years.

‘What was the last Game I played as a kid?’

***

Episode 1

“Whoa!”

Yohan’s eldest son, Jeonghu, stared at his hand in shock.

A flashy, flame-patterned gun had appeared in his grip.

“What is this?”

While watching his bewildered son, Yohan glanced down at his own hands.

Thinking back, he remembered playing Hidden Attack a lot in his younger days.

Back then, FPS Games were all the rage, and Hidden Attack was the most popular.

‘Then maybe… do I get a gun too?’

But Yohan’s hands were empty.

He looked at Jeonghu with envy.

“Hey, was the Game you played with your friends yesterday a shooting Game?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Hidden Attack, by any chance?”

“Dad, that’s ancient! These days, it’s all about Battle Survival.”

‘Survival, huh…’

Come to think of it, this situation was survival too.

Weren’t they told to survive?

He still couldn’t believe it, but seeing a gun materialize in his son’s hands made it clear the spaceship was up to something.

“Wow! I grinded so hard just to get a skin, and now I get to hold this for real.”

Leaving his excited son behind, Yohan looked around.

He was sure the spaceship had fired red beams at the ground.

Some of them had landed right in front of him.

He didn’t know what they were, but he had a feeling they were Monsters.

After all, the only thing not yet explained was the Monsters.

Sure enough—

“Damn…”

Yohan’s eyes widened as he staggered back.

Where the red light had vanished—

Right there…

“W-what is that?”

A real Monster had appeared.

It was as tall as a person, with a grotesque, rotting face, and it gripped a Rusty Axe in its hand.

The Monster looked confused, as if it too had just dropped onto Earth, but when Jeonghu cried out in surprise, it snapped its gaze toward Yohan and his son.

Krrrr…

The Monster bared its yellow fangs and began to growl low at them.

He didn’t know what it was or what it was called, but one thing was clear:

It was radiating murderous hostility toward humans.

And the Monster didn’t hesitate.

Fueled by its seething hatred, it charged at Yohan and Jeonghu.

“Uh, uh…?”

“Hmmm…”

As he stumbled backward in shock, Yohan couldn’t help but notice the Monster’s Axe.

It was completely rusted.

Just brushing against that thing would probably give you tetanus.

Thud, thud, thud!

Despite being only about as tall as an adult man, the Monster’s muscles bulged like a bodybuilder on steroids.

It looked like a raging bull charging at them.

“Uwaaah!”

“Hey, Hey!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

“Dad, what are you doing?!”

“Don’t just stand there with the gun—shoot!”

“S-shoot?”

“If you don’t want to die, shoot!”

“R-right! I have to shoot!”

Jeonghu aimed his gun at the Monster.

His hands trembled so badly he could see the barrel shaking, but he gripped the trigger and pulled.

Tat-tat-tat-tat!

The gun spat fire.

Bullets rained down, riddling the Monster’s body with holes.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Despite its rocky appearance, its durability didn’t seem much different from a human’s.

Gyaaah! Grrraaah!

It seemed to feel pain just like a person, too.

It stopped charging and writhed in agony.

“That’s it! Go for the head! The head!”

“Got it!”

Now that he saw the gun worked, Jeonghu steadied himself, pressed the gun to his shoulder, and calmly aimed at the Monster’s head.

Bang!

Crunch!

Just one shot—but with its head pierced, the Monster collapsed to the ground, dead.

“Whew… Did you see that, Dad?”

“I saw! Good job, son! You didn’t waste your time in the army after all!”

“I’ll have you know, I’m a First-Class Shooter!”

Yohan was excited that his son had defeated the Monster, but he kept his eyes on the corpse.

It was a Monster, after all. What if it regenerated?

But it seemed truly dead. It didn’t budge, black blood pooling around it, until it finally turned into black smoke and vanished.

Jeonghu clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Wow, I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

Unlike his son, who slapped his own cheek in disbelief, Yohan walked over to where the Monster had died.

Although the Monster had vanished in smoke, something else remained on the ground.

“The Monster dropped an item. Hey.”

“An item?”

“Yeah.”

Yohan picked up the object on the ground.

“An Axe.”

“Yeah, it’s an Axe.”

The Monster had left behind the Rusty Axe it was holding.

And one more thing.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know. Is it a gem or something?”

It was a stone, radiating an ominous red glow.

At a glance, it looked a bit like amber.

“We should get it appraised later.”

“…?”

Yohan was about to say something, but then he urgently pointed behind Jeonghu.

“Behind you! Behind! Look out!”

“Huh? Why? Whoa!”

Following his father’s finger, Jeonghu turned and jumped in shock.

A Monster had silently crept up behind him.

The Monster, realizing it had been spotted, roared and charged.

This time, the Monster was wielding a Spear.

“You bastard!”

Jeonghu didn’t freeze like before.

He pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

His gun blazed as the Monster tried to throw its Spear.

Grrr…

The Monster, riddled with bullets, let out a dying groan and collapsed.

Just like the first one, it left behind its Spear and a stone before dissolving into smoke.

“This really feels like a Game. Even more real than VR.”

“What’s VR now?”

“Ah! Dad, you don’t know VR?”

“No, I don’t, you punk. How would I know about Games these days?”

Yohan gathered up the stone and Spear the Monster had dropped.

“Why are you picking those up?”

“I don’t have a weapon. Might as well use the Axe and Spear. And this stone… who knows, it might be valuable.”

“That’s true. But Dad, didn’t you play any Games? They said you’d get a weapon or ability, but you don’t have anything.”

Jeonghu spun around, showing off his gear.

In all the chaos, Yohan hadn’t noticed, but Jeonghu wasn’t just holding a gun—he was also equipped with a Helmet, Bulletproof Vest, and other gear in his bag.

He looked like a mercenary straight out of the Middle East.

“Yeah. Why don’t I have anything?”

Yohan looked himself over in confusion.

He really had nothing.

‘Seriously, what was the last Game I played?’

It had been 20 years. He couldn’t even remember.

Just as he was about to sink into thought, something struck him and he looked at Jeonghu in alarm.

“Son, now’s not the time for this!”

“Huh? Why?”

“What do you mean, why? What about the others? What about your siblings?”

“Oh! You’re right. What do we do?”

Leaving his worried son behind, Yohan started running.

“Where are you going, Dad?!”

“We have to get the kids! Hurry up!”

“Ah, yes!”

Yohan and Jeonghu headed for their house, just a three-minute walk from the mart.

The villa, bought a few years ago with hard-earned savings and a loan, was the home of the Yun Family.

“I’ll drive, so you keep watch.”

“Okay. Ah, if I’d known, we should’ve brought the Porter.”

“The Porter only seats three, idiot.”

“Oh, right.”

“Sigh, simpleton. Who do you take after?”

‘Who indeed?’

Jeonghu looked at his father in silence.

Yohan avoided his son’s gaze and got in the car.

Vroooom.

The old SUV roared to life and took off.

“Where to first?”

“We’ll go to the eldest daughter first.”

“Seoyoung? Wouldn’t it be better to go to the youngest, since she’s closer? One by one?”

Yohan shook his head.

It might seem right to save the closest child first.

But Yohan thought further.

As time passed, the Monsters would run rampant.

People trying to flee might block the roads or get into accidents, making it impossible to reach the child who was farther away later.

Besides, he could walk the younger ones home if needed, but the eldest daughter was too far to go on foot.

Yohan pressed down on the accelerator.

Vrooooom!

Today, the old car sounded even noisier as it sped down the road.

Just then—

-Synchronization of the target is complete.

-To check the target’s current

Open the Status Window.

A strange Notification chimed.

While driving, Yohan asked his son,

“It says Synchronization is complete. Did you get that Notification too?”

“Huh? I got that as soon as it started. I checked my Status Window to equip my gear.”

‘So it wasn’t that I didn’t see him put on the gear, but that he equipped it after checking the Status Window.’

Then what about him?

Why didn’t he have any gear or weapons?

To solve this, he’d have to open the Status Window…

“Watch out! Dad, in front!”

There was no time.

On the roadside, two Orcs were smashing a passerby’s head with an Axe.

A car had stopped, blocking half the road.

“Hold on tight!”

Yohan gritted his teeth and floored the accelerator.

He couldn’t stop here.

He saw people dying, or wielding whatever weapons they had, but there was no time to help them.

Their lives couldn’t outweigh the lives of his children.

Crash!

Swerving past the car blocking the road, he rammed straight into the Monster that was about to eat a corpse.

Screeeech!

The Monster flew through the air with a grotesque scream.

A crack appeared on the corner of the windshield.

“Wow! Dad, that was wild!”

“I’m scrapping this car at the end of the year anyway.”

Thud!

As the car bumped over the Monster’s body, Jeonghu grimaced at the gruesome sight in the rearview.

“What is happening to the world… I never thought I’d see a corpse in my life.”

He looked at his father.

After a moment of panic, he was struck by how calmly his dad was driving.

“Dad, how are you so calm?”

“Wait till you’re my age, kid. You’ll be just like me.”

At his father’s words, Jeonghu looked outside.

A man in a suit was clumsily swinging a knife at an Orc, only to be killed instead.

“I don’t know about that…”

“Hold on. We’re breaking through the school gate!”

The car charged toward the tightly closed school gate.

“Uwaaah!”

Jeonghu squeezed his eyes shut, unable to process a situation even crazier than the gunfight.

Crash!

Like a scene from a movie, the car smashed through the gate and skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust.

“Ugh… I think I just peed myself…”

“Can you get a signal?”

“Huh? Oh, let me check… Nope, nothing.”

Yohan looked up at the sky. That Dome Barrier must have cut off communications too.

‘Is it just communication that’s down? The electricity seems to be working…’

Kyaaaaah!

Meanwhile, the school had become a living hell.

The screams of students and the roars of Monsters filled the air.

And then—

Boom!

A huge burst of flame shattered a window.

“E-explosives?”

“Could be magic.”

“Yeah, that’s possible.”

If Jeonghu had gotten a gun, someone else could have gotten magic from the last Game they played.

Someone might have adapted and used magic to fight back against the Monsters.

“I wonder what Game Seoyoung last played?”

Murmuring his eldest daughter’s name, Yohan muttered to himself.

“Who knows… She’s done nothing but study for three years since starting high school.”

“Hmmm..”

‘Please, let her have some power to survive!’

Yohan prayed and pushed Jeonghu to the front.

“Why do I have to go first?”

“You have the gun.”

“Tch.”

“Hurry!”

Father and son rushed toward the school building, watching students pour out.

‘Is our eldest daughter among them?’

As Yohan scanned the crowd in desperation, Jeonghu spoke.

“Dad, I don’t think she’s out yet!”

“Why? How do you know?”

“All the kids coming out are first-years! The green pattern!”

Yohan quickly looked at the students’ uniforms.

Sure enough, they all wore green-patterned uniforms.

‘What color was Seoyoung’s? Oh, red.’

No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t spot a single red-patterned uniform.

Yohan glanced at his son with pride.

He always thought Jeonghu was a bit slow, but he had good sense at times like this.

Suddenly—

“Dad! Behind you!”

Yohan turned in alarm.

A Monster had jumped from the second floor and was charging straight at him.

The Monster’s speed was incredible, as if it were Ronaldo or Messi at full sprint.

Graaaar!

The Axe swung down.

Could he dodge?

No.

Yohan instinctively swung the Axe in his left hand.

Clang!

The Axes collided, sending the Monster’s weapon flying.

Yohan, unable to withstand the shock, also dropped his Axe.

The Monster, now weaponless, clenched its fist and swung at Yohan’s face.

“Gasp!”

This time, Yohan instinctively thrust the Spear he was holding.

Crunch!

With its arm raised, the Monster’s side was wide open, and the Spear plunged in.

Graaagh!

As the Monster howled in pain, Yohan, without thinking, clenched his fist and punched the Monster’s face.

‘Wait. What good is punching that rotting face? Should’ve stabbed it again with the Spear.’

Too late—his fist already connected with the Orc’s face.

Smack!

Crunch!

“Huh?”

Black blood splattered on his face.

Some white, mucus-like stuff too. What was that?

He couldn’t be sure, but judging by the burst head, it was probably brain matter.

Yohan flinched.

“Did… did its head just explode?”

Could a single punch really do that?

Yohan stared at his fist, then at his son, who was frozen in shock.

“Son.”

“Uh… yes, Dad.”

“Why am I so strong?”

‘Maybe if you open your Status Window, you’ll find out?’

Jeonghu wanted to say, but he was too stunned and blurted out something else.

“One hit from you would be fatal.”

‘Better not talk back to Dad from now on.’