Something felt off.
Leo frowned.
If this were a normal living person, then after seeing two wandering strangers circle around outside, even if she didn't mistake them for zombies, she should've reacted by now—greeting them, driving them off, anything.
But there was nothing.
No reaction at all.
"Strange…"
Still, Leo suppressed his unease and walked up to the iron gate. He cleared his throat softly and called inside.
"Excuse me, could you open the door?"
He tried to keep his voice loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to attract zombies. Even so—there was still no response.
The merchant neither reacted like a zombie drawn to living voices, nor showed any sign of noticing them at all.
She just stood there like a statue, gently swaying, breathing, staring straight ahead.
"What the hell is this…"
Leo muttered. A bad feeling crept up his spine. The complete lack of reaction was unsettling.
But since they were already here, turning back made no sense.
"Should we go in…?"
Erina Nakiri gripped her axe nervously and looked at Leo.
"Yeah. We have to try. You stay out here for now—I'll go in first."
Leo took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the axe, and crouched to lift the shutter-like iron door.
But the moment his fingers hooked under the bottom edge, he realized—it wouldn't budge at all.
"Locked…?"
The thought had barely formed when something inside his body stirred.
The next instant, his fever spiked violently. His vision warped, twisting strangely—
And then—
'Press E to open'
A line of text appeared in his vision.
Hallucination?
Am I about to turn?
Leo felt dizzy and hurriedly braced himself against the door.
'Ding!'
A sharp sound rang out from where he touched the shop, drilling straight into both his and Erina's ears. They both clutched their heads in pain.
Leo's dizziness worsened.
And that only reinforced his fear that he was close to death.
Because faintly—he could see grids appear in his vision. In the first slot of the first row was the hammer he was holding.
"Am I really dying…?"
He panted hard. After forcing himself to breathe deeply, his head cleared a little—but even more strange visuals appeared.
At the top of his view, there were odd markers and a compass. On the far right, text read "Collect plant fiber."
Why does this feel more and more like a game?
"…Is this some kind of end-of-life hallucination?"
Even so, staring at the iron door, a thought rose instinctively in his mind.
Press E.
The next moment, all doubt vanished.
The hand braced against the door passed straight through as the iron shutter slowly rose. Losing his balance, Leo toppled forward, his entire body clipping through the rising door and falling into the shop.
"Mr. Leo!"
Erina cried out in terror, watching half of his body pass through the door. She wondered if she was dreaming—or losing her mind.
But as the shutter continued rising, her panic faded. Leo wasn't hurt. He'd just fallen over.
Lying on the ground, feeling the very real pain from the impact—and the dizziness rapidly fading—one thought surfaced in Leo's mind.
"Clipping…? Am I really dying and hallucinating?"
He looked at Erina, who rushed over to help him up, then hesitated and reached out.
"If this is a hallucination… there shouldn't be real touch."
As he muttered, his hand landed squarely on Erina's chest.
Soft. Full. Warm.
The sensation flooded his palm—along with a warmth unique to a living girl.
Something he had never experienced before.
For a split second, it felt real. Then he saw Erina frozen stiff, mouth agape, face rapidly turning red—and nodded in certainty.
Because above Erina's head was a red HP bar reading 85/100.
And despite what he was doing, she hadn't reacted at all.
"…Yeah. Definitely a dying hallucination. Then I won't hold back."
His other hand reached toward her equally soft, slender thigh—
Before he could touch it, Erina suddenly jumped up, yanking her chest free of his hand and dodging his other. Her face burning red, she shouted softly.
"M-M-Mr. Leo! What are you doing?! Is something wrong with your head?! Are you turning into a zombie?!"
Leo shook his head.
The strange text began to fade. The markers, the grids—all vanished.
They didn't seem to truly exist, only shaped by his perception.
He also felt something inside him sink into dormancy, as if lacking fuel.
Once everything disappeared, the dizziness vanished completely. His clarity returned.
"…Maybe. But if I'm right, our lives might get a lot easier from now on."
His heart began to race.
He had tried calling for a system before. Tried thinking about inventories, interaction keys.
Nothing had ever happened.
The only differences now were—
He had touched this shop.
He had killed many zombies.
And—
He was infected.
Which one mattered?
Leo didn't know.
But there was something else he wanted to test.
He stared at the fully raised iron door and focused. The power responded again.
'Press E to close'
"Darkin—no, wrong game. Press E."
The thought formed, and the iron door lowered on its own.
Erina stared, mouth open.
She looked at the motionless merchant, then at Leo smiling faintly, her mind filled with question marks.
Watching the door close, Leo finally relaxed and laughed.
"Yeah. If this isn't some ultra-realistic death hallucination, then I'm pretty sure I've figured out part of how this world works."
Erina didn't understand. She grabbed his arm tightly, fear creeping back in.
"Leo… what is this place…?"
The self-moving doors and puppet-like merchant terrified her.
"I don't fully get it either. But it should be a good thing."
Leo strode toward the merchant's booth. He searched the surroundings carefully—there was no one else. Just him, Erina, and a door between them and the merchant.
That door couldn't be pushed or turned.
But thinking "Press E" opened it instantly.
Even without touching it.
Erina watched in shock as the door opened again without his hands.
Leo stepped inside and finally looked closely at the merchant.
She was… average-looking. Black hair. Stethoscope around her neck. Clothes in poor condition.
But she was big.
Smaller than Erina—but still big.
Most importantly—
Above her was text.
'Press E to talk to Merchant Jen'
Leo covered his face.
He waved his hand wildly in front of her face. No response. She just smiled.
"Leo… this is—"
Before Erina could finish, Leo swung his axe straight at the merchant's head.
'Ding!'
The axe stopped against her slightly raised hair. No matter how hard he pushed, it wouldn't go any further.
"Invincible structures. Invincible NPCs."
Leo pulled back, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.
"What… is this…?"
"You've played games before, right, Erina?"
He leaned back against a shelf. At this point, he was certain it wasn't a hallucination.
Because hallucinations didn't hurt his hand from recoil.
And they didn't feel like grabbing a girl's chest.
"Yes… the kind boys like."
She nodded, confused why he sounded so relaxed now.
"I think… we've been thrown into a game world."
Erina instinctively rejected it—but looking around, at Leo, at the merchant—she spoke stiffly.
"Who… who would do something like that…? This isn't real, right…?"
Fear surged again. The strangeness was overwhelming.
"No point denying it. We can only accept it or not. As for who did it—some twisted god or demon. Either way, we can't resist. All we can do is live."
Leo sighed.
"This one's probably a supply NPC. Can't die."
He smirked and grabbed the merchant's chest.
Soft. Warm. A heartbeat. Fabric.
"Leo…"
Erina tried to stop him—
Then Leo yanked open the merchant's clothes.
White underwear underneath.
No reaction.
The merchant kept smiling.
Erina felt even more frightened.
And embarrassed—she hadn't forgotten he'd touched her earlier.
"See? No response no matter what. This world probably has no real people left. Just NPCs and zombies. And worse—it's clearly a survival game. Either the virus kills us, or endless hordes will. And this place? We won't be allowed to stay forever. Invincible zones never last."
Leo looked at the merchant, untouched even by his axe.
"Erina… we probably can't safely stay here overnight."
He released her clothes and thought "Press E."
The merchant came alive.
She smiled brightly and waved.
"Hello, friend. What do you need?"
Something boiled inside Leo. His vision twisted.
Three options appeared.
Let me see your goods.
Do you have work?
Nothing.
He chose the first without hesitation.
A familiar game-style interface appeared—filled with items.
"…So this is my cheat ability?"
Leo frowned at the screen and the smiling merchant, suspicion creeping into his mind.