Chapter 2 : Running Towards the Safe Zone

Ten years ago, a traffic accident changed my life.

I lost my parents,

the body I once cherished as a treasure and my future became an insurmountable obstacle,

and every possibility in my life was blocked.

The despair lasted from the moment I opened my eyes in the morning and got out of bed,

until I finished the day and climbed back in.

When I went to the restroom. When I bent down to wash my face. When I changed my pants. When I shouldered my bag on one side and left the house. When I took the subway instead of the bus. When I went up and down the stairs...

So I know better than anyone else.

How stiff my right leg is, how heavy it feels.

The feeling of it not moving no matter how hard I try is so vivid that it haunts my dreams.

[Mission Reward has been granted.]

[Recovery Rate of Limping (跛行) 20%.]

Limping, meaning a staggered gait, had been restored.

If you told an ordinary person, "Your leg has been strengthened by 20%," they probably wouldn’t understand.

But I—

— Slide, snap.

I could tell right away.

The subtle difference felt in my leg.

Even if just by a few grams, it felt lighter.

Clearly, definitely, even if just a little bit...

It moves.

Just as I want it to.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The thought of a miraculous possibility made my heart race. The pleasant stress I hadn’t felt in a long time cleared my mind.

Time that had stopped for ten years began to flow again.

Like standing on the track, pressing both feet into the starting blocks, waiting for the Starting Signal.

“What is this? Did you guys get this too?”

“It's asking us to select a mission reward?”

Employees of the game company started looking around their surroundings.

Swish. They waved their hands, then again swish.

“It disappears. And reappears.”

They pinched with their thumb and index finger, stretching and shrinking it.

“You can resize it too. Is there more?”

Eyes shining, they shouted out all kinds of words like "Status window! Inventory! Skill!"

“There’s nothing. Only the status window popped up.”

“Is this virtual reality? Finally, a chance has come for me too?”

“What chance? Aren’t you reading too many web novels?”

Some said nonsense with utmost seriousness, while others clutched their smartphones, delivering real-time news from elsewhere.

They said a huge circle appeared all over the world.

They said perfectly normal people disappeared.

No, they said it was fake.

My smartphone, which shouldn’t ring, was silent, but around me, bells and messenger notifications chimed.

There was no need to even turn on the internet and check the news section.

“This mission isn’t just for us, that’s for sure.”

“Huh? Eunho! Can you see this...?”

“I can. I’m glad I’m not the only crazy one.”

“D-Do you see my screen? The image too?”

In the middle of this, she seemed worried whether her hologram in just underwear was visible to me.

Startled for no reason, I quickly added,

“No, on my screen, only I’m visible. The affiliation, the stats, all just for me.”

“Phew. Anyway, what is this? Earth or something? Who would play such a prank...”

A prank, huh.

I grabbed my right leg and pulled it back and forth.

— Slide, slide.

It moves. Slightly, but it moves.

If this is a prank,

a miraculous prank that revived the leg that died ten years ago.

“…There should be more missions, right? Earlier it said ‘first’ mission after all.”

I would give my all to this prank.

“...Was it... me?”

“Yes. According to the announcement, it seems like they want to reduce the number of people by conducting multiple missions. It would be nice if they told us how many will remain.”

“Eunho, do you really believe this? Earlier they said they’d just send people down…”

Jieun bit her lip and glanced at me.

She clearly didn’t fully trust the announcements about "structural adjustments" and "removals."

Probably because she hadn’t seen Manager Choi disappear in real-time.

Honestly, it’s ridiculous to say people suddenly flicker and vanish like computer files.

Still, Jieun’s inability to believe despite knowing that felt frustrating—maybe it was impatience born from desperation.

“I want to get the reward.”

“The reward...”

[Shortly, the second mission will start at 1:30 PM. Safe zones will be randomly generated at mission start, so be cautious.]

I held onto Jieun, who had started biting her nails again, and asked.

“Jieun! The first safe zone, where we’re standing now, is the center of the 25th floor, right?”

“Yes. The elevator is on the east side of the cafe, and the smoking room is on the west.”

“You haven’t seen anyone else come up since the announcement?”

“No, not a single person.”

If not a single person came up looking for the safe zone,

“Maybe the safe zone is created on every floor.”

“Then do we just keep waiting here?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe the first mission was simple for a reason.”

Probably a tutorial. To show how the mission would proceed.

“If there’s no safe zone nearby...”

“We might not make it within the time limit.”

Besides that,

“The safe zones could be full of people who arrived earlier.”

“Then... would people who arrive late fail?”

If the safe zone is full by the time someone arrives,

Would they just say, ‘It’s full already. I give up!’ and turn around?

“…They might even start fighting.”

Let’s be realistic.

Always prepare for the worst.

“For now, let’s find something that could be used as a weapon.”

“A weapon...? Are you planning to fight?”

“I don’t know if we’ll find anything usable.”

There’s no way an ordinary office building would have anything suitable for a weapon lying around.

Chairs are heavy, and cutter knives or scissors have short reach.

You can’t swing a Notebook Stand or keyboard in a fight either.

“Maybe at best, a Cleaning Mop?”

“A mop used for cleaning?”

“But it’s big and heavy, so probably inefficient. We might have to go down the stairs too.”

“......”

“There’s a Cleaning Supply Cabinet on every floor, so let’s think slowly.”

As I was lost in thought, Jieun stared at me with trembling eyes.

PM 01:15.

Fifteen minutes until the second mission.

No time.

“If you don’t want to, you can go back to the office. I’m not trying to pressure you.”

“I’m not refusing. I’m just flustered because you suddenly started talking about fighting and weapons.”

“If that’s the case, save the panic for later. First, let’s clear this mission.”

“…Eunho, something about the atmosphere feels different.”

Leaving Jieun’s complicated expression behind, I limped and looked around.

“Anyway, just in case, grab anything that might be useful. Something easy to carry.”

“Do I have to carry something too?”

Jieun pointed at herself, looking bewildered.

Maybe she thought she wouldn’t have to fight others.

“You have to protect your own body.”

PM 01:25.

“Five minutes left. Let’s wait here.”

“Are you going to use the stairs?”

“If there’s no safe zone on the rooftop, we’ll have to go straight down.”

“Let’s take the elevator, Eunho.”

“You know rush hour. Hundreds will crowd into just three elevators.”

“But Eunho, you don’t like stairs…”

I gave a small smile at her worried words.

I didn’t like it.

My steps were painfully slow, and it made not only my good leg but my whole body ache.

But if I could revive my dead leg, even just for a moment,

“I’m fine.”

[Mission begins. Please evacuate to the safe zone before the time limit ends.]

“Eunho, look at this!”

A new screen appeared besides the status window.

About the size of a 27-inch monitor, a semi-transparent white square with around 65% opacity.

“Looks like a building map!”

“Thank goodness. I thought I’d have to search every floor.”

The screen was filled with a familiar space in an unfamiliar way.

MS Tower, made up of 25 floors.

Kindly, a pin icon blinked on the 25th floor to show my location, and safe zones inside the building were marked in green.

“Nineteenth floor, eleventh floor, third floor. What now?”

“Go to the nearest one. Run!”

「09:50」

Confirming the large clock blinking beside the bird’s-eye view, I opened the fire door leading to the stairs.

— Clatter.

“Huff, huff…”

“E-Eunho! Are you okay?”

My whole body was soaked in sweat.

It felt like death, but I was still on the 20th floor.

Just half a flight of stairs left to the safe zone on the 19th floor.

Let’s go.

Think of it as interval training from my athlete days.

Right now, I was in the middle of a training session repeating 1,000m sprints and jogging.

“Shall we take a short break? You look really exhausted, Eunho...”

Jieun asked with concern, but I shook my head.

“I’m fine... Not tired at all.”

There’s no way I’m fine.

The sensation of my right foot touching the ground is so thrilling.

The feeling of ‘running’ drenched my whole body in sweat, and it was so unfamiliar yet welcome that I felt like crying.

“One reward and it’s already like this. If I fix it completely...!”

“Eunho...”

“We’ve arrived. 19th floor.”

— Clatter!

As I opened the fire door, many more people were bustling around than on the rooftop.

Some sitting still, some gathered near someone’s seat, others moving busily somewhere.

Though their appearances differed,

they all had one thing in common.

They kept glancing at the elevator area where the safe zone was located.

“Hey, Jieun! What’s all this commotion about?”

“Ah, Team Leader Park!”

“People are talking about disappearances and whatnot. Shouldn’t we discipline those who slack off and spoil the mood?”

“Haha...”

The middle-aged man called Team Leader Park let out a frustrated sigh before casting a puzzled look at me.

“Why are you sweating so much? You two aren’t up to useless things, are you...?”

“No time... We don’t.”

“Okay then. Take care, Team Leader!”

「02:20」

Thinking we didn’t have time for chit-chat, I quickly turned around and Jieun followed immediately.

“He’s the Team Leader of the Management Support Team. They work on the 19th floor.”

Jieun added the explanation, but I barely cared and hurried on.

“We’ve arrived.”

Beyond the glass doors was the Elevator Hall.

Green borders marked the walls, and dozens had already gathered.

“There are... a lot of people here.”

“Yeah. How many do you think can fit?”

All floors of the building have identical elevator halls.

If so,

“If packed full, probably a hundred people can fit.”

“A hundred? How do you know that, Eunho?”

“It’s sixteen steps wide and seven steps deep.”

“Huh?”

Jieun looked completely lost, eyes wide.

“My stride is about 30cm, so I figured one person can stand on each step. Multiply 16 by 7... um, 112, I guess? So roughly a hundred.”

“Eunho, do you always count your steps like that?”

“It’s become a habit to calculate how many steps or how long the distance is.”

“Eunho, that’s amazing!”

“Amazing? Just normal.”

“Normal...? You have such a good sense of distance.”

Jieun stared, dumbfounded.

No need to be surprised.

When I was an athlete, I calculated remaining distance and stamina, and that habit became even more detailed after I started limping.

“Anyway, there are still many people outside who haven’t gotten in. Better be cautious just in case.”

About fifty seconds left.

More people kept crowding in.

“Hey, Deputy Kang! Are you here for this mission or whatever?”

“Ah... yeah, I felt uneasy. You too, Manager?”

“Ah, no. I’m heading out for a client meeting.”

Wearing slippers you only put on at your desk?

The man called Deputy Kang sized the Manager up and down, and the Manager awkwardly cleared his throat.

With less than 30 seconds left, the safe zone was packed without room to spare.

As it dropped into the teens, those trying to get in and those inside started to jostle.

10 seconds.

“Hey! Get inside already!”

8 seconds.

“Ah! Don’t step on my foot!”

7 seconds.

“...Team Leader?”

Less than 5 seconds left—