The second scenario has already started.I stared at the blue floating screen in front of me and read what it said next.Second Scenario.Meeting!Meet other incarnations who survived just like you!
Conditions: Go to a train station.
Reward: 500 coins.
Penalty: -
'What is this?' I think. I need to go to a train station.I start making my way to the train station immediately, and along the way, I stumble upon a white, long-haired man in rags that look like they are from Ancient Greece. I watch from afar as he keeps mumbling to himself, "I'm finally f-!"
I try to go closer, but then he notices me. I am taken aback by how he noticed me, and I immediately cover my nose to make sure not to pass out from the toxic fumes.
I get up and try to run away, but then I feel a tug against my collar and hear a calm and collected voice say:
"First timer, huh? I died too early the first time, so let's get to safety before we talk."
Before I pass out from breathing in the toxic fumes, I see the face of the unknown white-haired.
After what feels like several hours have passed, marked by a gradual return to consciousness, the narrative shifts to my awakening.
I wake up in fright as I jump up, and I see the white-haired man who's a boy???
He looks about 16 and looks like someone who's a high-schooler.
So I ask him,"Who are you?" he finally looks and responds in a tone of someone who's taking this world too well.
"Oh, my name is Namwoon Kim. It's nice to finally meet you!" he says in a joyful tone."Why do you sound so happy?" I ask angrily. "The world is in chaos, people are dying, and you, YOU sound like you're having the time of your life!"
He looks at me with a face full of compassion, and after an awkward silence, he says,"I did a lot of self-reflection." I sigh, looking at the boy in front of me who is in Greek rags and smiling like we're already friends, and my anger subsides."Let's find a station quickly." He says, almost like he knows something bad is going to happen.
I follow him, not knowing whether he is good or bad, but I just go along.30 minutes later…
We finally find a train station, and the people look like they've been through hell and back. It was understandable that most of them probably killed their loved ones.
I look at Namwoon, and he is cheerful as ever, I think to myself.'What's going on here? There isn't any food, any water, for a matter of fact, but then I see a group of gangsters with bats and knives who have food and water, but they aren't sharing.'Before I could say anything, Namwoon runs off and stands up for the injustice and it was frightening to watch, first of all he beats them to the brink of death, second it looked like he was trying to make examples out of them, and third he looked badass as I saw him, spew blood of his enemies and spew blood of his own but at last he was the one who came out on top.After the interaction, I ask him,
"Can you teach me to fight like that?"He responds as always, even while bloodied and bruised, he still has the smile of someone who's on top of the world, and finally says,"Sure, I can teach, but do you think you'll be able to take it?"I smile at him and say,
"Of course I can, I'll take whatever you throw at me."'I'd later come to regret those words.'He told me to follow him, and we found a nice open area, which used to be the waiting area at the train station.
I wait for him to say something, but after he looks around, he finally says,"I'm going to train you first, so you don't have to fight back. Just. Dodge."He immediately throws a fast punch, it grazes my cheek and misses me, he hits me on my thigh with a heavy kick, and I stumble back and stagger, my breathing starts to become shallow.
"Tired already?"
I could have tried to deny it, but my body already told the story.
*Afterwards*
I failed to dodge most of his attacks, but I am improving after every duel, and he says that I have talent for fighting, which I myself never thought was true.
After a little more sparring, I go to sleep, and we take turns to keep guard.
I wake up to the sound of a scream. I see Namwoon perk up too, we both run in the direction of the scream, and I see a group of people jump at me, and Namwoon almost immediately.
They outnumber us 10:2, and they have weapons we don't.
I try to dodge as Namwoon taught me, but there are too many. A bat connects with my ribs, and I hear something crack. Through the chaos, I see Namwoon fighting; he's taking down three, four of them, but then someone gets behind him with a rusted metal pipe.
The sound it makes when it hits his skull is wet and hollow.
He drops to his knees, blood pouring from his head, and they don't stop. They keep hitting him, over and over, until his body goes limp and that constant smile finally fades from his face. His eyes find mine one last time—still bright, still defiant—before the light leaves them completely.
I try to scream his name, but a knife slides between my ribs.
The pain is sharp, then hot, then nothing at all.
My legs give out, and I collapse onto the cold station floor. Blood pools around me, warm and sticky, and my vision starts to blur at the edges. I can see Namwoon's broken body a few feet away, his white hair now stained crimson.
I want to reach for him, but my arm won't move.
My breathing becomes shallow, each breath harder than the last. The screaming around me fades to a dull ringing, then to silence.
The last thing I see before everything goes dark is the blue notification screen flickering into existence above me.
Scenario Failed.
Then I hear an angelic sound, so beautiful, but then I wake up to the same scream, and memories of the fight flood my mind, and I immediately throw up.
Namwoon looks at me with a worried expression, and he tries to run to the scream, but I grab his arm and tell him not to go.
"Why?" Namwoon asks, I can't tell him that I just died and saw him die too.
"The scream sounded forced," I say with a monotone expression on my face.
After a brief pause, Namwoon finally sits down, and he then asks.
"I almost forgot to ask, what's your name?"
I respond immediately, "It's Sylus, Sylus Lee."
"Shouldn't we try finding a different station? This one seems unsafe," I declare.
Namwoon looks up at me and nods, so we get up and find a different station. After a little while, we arrive at Guemho Station.
The people here seem more prepared, more ready, and then the same dokkabi appears and makes an announcement as everyone gathers around.
"There will now be a nightly coin collection, oh, and did I forget to mention..."
Suddenly, with a snap of his fingers, small green holographic zones appear, each with the title "Green Zone" with varying numbers from 1 to 10.
"Monsters will flood the area, make sure you're in a green zone," he says, grinning from ear to ear with his sharp yellow teeth, and then just as fast as he appeared, he disappears.
I look at Namwoon, and with a slight nod, we both run off to find a zone for 2 people. We find one close by for 2 people, and we take turns guarding each other as one rests.