Chapter 4 : Black Mutt

Deputy Kwak’s brow furrowed, but he took a calm step forward.  

He discreetly calculated a distance just out of reach of his wooden plank.  

“Why are you digging your own grave?”  

“What… what?”  

“Some people have already escaped to other Safety Zones. If they survive, everyone will know that you’re the murderer who killed your comrades.”  

“…….”  

“There might be missions later where you have to cooperate with others, right? This puts you at a serious disadvantage.”  

Deputy Kwak’s eyes darted around, unsettled.  

“H-How do you know that?”  

“Hiring and firing is the same everywhere. I have a lot of experience with layoffs and restructurings...”  

I didn’t want to mention that I learned about the ‘next phase’ through the System, so I gave a vague answer. My own experience with layoffs and the Earth’s restructuring aren’t the same, but it seemed to convince him enough to stop pressing further.  

“Think rationally.”  

In missions where only a certain number survive, it might seem better to go solo than in a group, since it’s all competition anyway. But.  

‘The early stages don’t have such strict limits on numbers. The best strategy is to stick together through the early and mid phases, then compete within the group in the late phase.’  

I wasn’t sure if Deputy Kwak was capable of thinking that far ahead. If he refuses...  

“...Who do you think you are to interfere? Do you think I’m easy to deal with?”  

I had no choice but to try another tactic.  

“You… you jerk. You’ve always been annoying. You think you’re on the same level as me?”  

Deputy Kwak snapped with sharp eyes.  

A man who divides people into ‘levels,’ who feels murderous rage at those ‘above’ him who look down on him. Yet he looks down on people like me at the bottom of the food chain as his ‘inferiors.’  

‘The one right above you is always the most terrifying.’  

“I don’t care whether we’re on the same level or not.”  

“Shut up! Who the hell do you think you are, telling me what to do? You idiot!”  

Does he lack even the most basic sense? As I turned to leave, a heavy object flew at me.  

— Thud!  

It was a brown flowerpot hurled by an agitated Deputy Kwak. Luckily, my body was faster than my mind. I stepped back before even identifying it and dodged.  

[Measuring data needed for skill activation.]  

‘Again?’  

“Don’t ignore me! I said don’t ignore me!”  

Deputy Kwak kept throwing flowerpots as if intending to smash everyone’s heads inside the room. Because of that, those gathered near the conference room entrance scattered to avoid flying pots and shards.  

‘Pathetic. To waste such important throwing weapons like that.’  

“That crazy bastard!”  

— Clatter!  

One by one, the people who witnessed the murder and attempted murder right before their eyes began fleeing, faces pale with shock.  

“Eunho, should we head down now? Maybe we can make it to the fourth floor if we move quickly.”  

“It’s already too late.”  

My pace was already tight, and that place must be packed with people too. Ms. Jieun bit her lower lip and made a grim expression as if she understood.  

“...Is this it?”  

“No. The game hasn’t even started yet.”  

“Then how… ah!”  

Ms. Jieun stumbled, colliding with someone rushing through the dispersing crowd. Judging by his direction, he seemed to be giving up and trying to get to another floor.  

— Thack!  

I grabbed the man’s wrist and held him back.  

“W-What is this?”  

“If you don’t have a plan, let’s move together.”  

He wasn’t especially large, but his solid build stood out. The physique of someone forged through long-term training.  

“A plan… I do have one. I’m trying to reach another Safety Zone.”  

“Don’t you think it’s too late?”  

When he lowered his gaze and avoided eye contact at my words, I shrugged and spoke carefully—just as I did with Ms. Jieun. Though anxious, I kept calm.  

“Three minutes left—180 seconds. Five seconds to the stairs, then about fifteen seconds per floor going down at your stride, so 165 seconds total to the fourth floor. You’d arrive just ten seconds before the time runs out.”  

“Y-Yeah?”  

“There are over seven hundred survivors left in this building. There are only two Safety Zones, but the ones here are empty because everyone ran off. So where do you think they are?”  

“At the Safety Zone on the fourth floor… ah!”  

“It might be even worse there.”  

The man finally seemed to understand the desperate situation and bowed his head deeply.  

“I get it. But that doesn’t mean we can’t fight.”  

Burnt skin. A body as solid as rock. Short-cropped hair. An awkward way of speaking. Muscles forged not in a gym but through real training.  

“Have you worked out? Or are you military?”  

“I was discharged last year as an Army Sergeant. How did you know?”  

Holding the sergeant’s wrist, I pulled him outside, revealing the messy office scene.  

“That’s later. First, look for something we can use as a shield.”  

“Shield… Ah! Will a frying pan do?”  

“…Three minutes left. Look around. Find the biggest thing you can.”  

I wasn’t fully confident, but there was no time to worry.  

“Ms. Jieun, go to the women’s restroom. There should be a mop in the cleaning supply closet.”  

“Yes!”  

She dashed off like a machine gun. There was no cleaning closet in the men’s restroom, but thankfully Ms. Jieun came out holding a mop with both hands.  

“There’s only one. What should we do?”  

“One is enough. Give it here.”  

“You want to use it, Eunho?”  

She widened her eyes when I said I, the most physically impaired of the three, would carry it, but then she nodded with a calm expression.  

“You must have your reasons.”  

“Yes. You two… you’ll have to push it.”  

“What is that...?”  

I pointed behind Ms. Jieun. The sergeant was dragging a large whiteboard as he approached.  

“Found it!”  

「01:45」  

“When I give the signal, we enter simultaneously.”  

A quick glance into the conference room showed it still looked the same as before. The number of flowerpots had decreased due to Deputy Kwak’s wild throwing spree, though.  

“Watch out for the wooden plank and flowerpots. He’ll definitely throw them if we get close.”  

“Got it!”  

“We’ll use the whiteboard as a shield and push our way in. Your name?”  

“Choi Jaehyuk!”  

I wondered if discharge as an Army Sergeant differs from that of regular soldiers who finish their term. He didn’t give off the relaxed air of a senior corporal but the sharp focus of a freshly trained recruit. Like a black Doberman—dependable.  

“Jaehyuk, when I signal, push to the right. Ms. Jieun, you take the left side. You two should keep pace since we have to run in together.”  

“Understood.”  

“And once we reach the Safety Zone boundary…”  

As I explained the so-called ‘palm flip strategy,’ both nodded seriously. The sweat on the hands gripping the mop grew heavier.  

「00:15」  

“Now!”  

A low but strong shout.  

— Rrrrroll!  

The wheels of the whiteboard clattered as the three of us moved forward.  

It took five seconds to reach the conference room entrance, using the whiteboard as a shield. Three seconds passed as flying flowerpots and dumbbells clattered against it, causing some hesitation. Two more seconds before Deputy Kwak, in a frenzy, smashed the whiteboard with his bloodied wooden plank until it broke.  

And then, when we reached the Safety Zone boundary—  

“Flip it!”  

The three of us twisted the bottom of the whiteboard and slid into the Safety Zone in one second. The strategy was like flipping over a palm, instantly rushing forward.  

‘Did we make it?’  

Just as I thought Jaehyuk, Ms. Jieun, and I had all safely gotten inside and succeeded—  

“Y-You bastards…!”  

“Aaaargh!”  

Deputy Kwak grabbed the broken wooden plank and hurled it, then stabbed Sergeant Jaehyuk’s side with a sharp flowerpot shard.  

“Jaehyuk!”  

— Thwack!  

I quickly kicked Deputy Kwak away from Jaehyuk and swung the mop. Deputy Kwak’s neck twisted unnaturally from the sudden attack.  

“You, you, you worthless bastard, you dare look down on me?!”  

Like an enraged bull, he charged. As if I were a red cloth. And then.  

[Time limit ended.]  

— Thud!  

I dodged like pulling back the red cloth, and Deputy Kwak, unable to stop his momentum, fell out of the Safety Zone.  

[Proceeding with restructuring.]  

“U-Um…?”  

The mission was over.  

“This was our only chance…! Because of that bastard…”  

Only Deputy Kwak’s flickering figure remained.  

“That’s not your fault, Eunho. If Deputy Kwak hadn’t attacked first...”  

“Ms. Jieun.”  

I shook my head without a word. It was Deputy Kwak who threatened his comrades first, killed Director Oh, rejected my proposal and attacked, and even stabbed Jaehyuk with the flowerpot shard at the end.  

So it was all Deputy Kwak’s own doing that he fell behind in a mission that the four of us could have passed together. No need to argue about it. His miserable life was already over.  

“...He’s gone.”  

“Yeah.”  

As Ms. Jieun and I looked bitterly at the now empty space as if nothing had been there before, the familiar System alert sounded.  

Familiar, yet desperately urgent.  

[Please select your mission reward.]  

‘The first mission was 20%, the next was 70%. So this time...!’  

“Mission reward.”  

My voice trembled without realizing it.  

“Leg enhancement.”  

Will it work? It should. It has to. My heart sank then settled in the 0.1 seconds waiting for the System’s response.  

[Mission reward granted.]  

[Limp recovery rate 100%.]  

“...!”  

Tap. I lifted my right foot and placed it down. Tap, tap. Left foot, right foot. No delay whatsoever. Tap, tap, tap, tap. Light. So light I felt like I might fly.  

‘Done…!’  

I jumped up and down like a madman. I could see Ms. Jieun staring at me with wide eyes, but I didn’t notice. It was so exhilarating I wanted to run all night.  

“Haa...”  

“Eunho! Congratulations!”  

I have to survive. To do that—  

‘Still not enough.’  

Restoring my dead legs is an invaluable reward to me. But since I used all three rewards just to recover my body, I was bound to lag behind those who enhanced their already healthy bodies. The starting line was three steps behind everyone else. So.  

‘First… ‘that method.’’  

Passing the competitors running ahead. The one thing I have done best and hardest all my life. So I will move ahead. I will survive by getting ahead of others. No matter what.  

“Are you fully healed? Oh my god...!”  

Ms. Jieun was so happy it looked like her own victory, covering her mouth in amazement. She really is a kind person.  

“Thank you. Then I’ll just…”  

“Haa...”  

Just as I was about to get up, I heard Jaehyuk’s labored breathing. Suddenly realizing, I leaned him against the wall.  

“Jaehyuk! Are you okay?”  

“Huff…”  

Couldn’t even answer.  

“There’s a shard embedded. I think we should remove it...”  

Through the bloodstained shirt, a flowerpot shard was stuck in his side. Leaving it could cause infection.  

“...It’ll hurt. Bear with it.”  

“Hiiiii!”  

Jaehyuk screamed.  

“I haven’t touched it yet.”  

“...”  

Thinking the shard might have rubbed against his clothes as he moved, I carefully brought my fingertips close—  

— Click.  

The shard popped out with a light sound.  

“I guess… this is as far as I go…”  

“W-What?”  

“My last words… to my mother back home…”  

…Last words? My eyebrows twitched without me realizing.  

“Jaehyuk?”  

When I said his name, he looked up with a distant gaze.  

“Say it yourself. Your last words.”  

“You’re… so mean…”  

His brows drooped slightly, eyes moist, lips pressed tightly. A hurt expression.  

“You won’t die. Not from a wound like this.”  

Three centimeters? No, two? Only the tip of the flowerpot shard was stained with a little blood. Looking closely, not much blood was even spilled. He can’t die even if he wanted to.  

‘Why so scared?’  

I thought I had gained a Doberman as an ally. Turns out he’s just a black mutt.