Blood was slowly seeping from the other side of the door, touching the tip of my shoe.
I slowly pulled my foot back to avoid getting it dirty, but a glowing red stain was already shining on the front of my shoe.
A shiver ran down my spine.
My heart was pounding so hard that my eardrums were vibrating. The silence in the room was deafening—everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
I looked up at the window above the door again, hoping I was mistaken, but it still stood proudly, displaying the undeniable truth.
[Remaining slots: 0]
This couldn't be happening. There had to be another way out.
Otherwise, why let so few people through when the room could hold over 400?
Did the person behind all this really want to wipe out as many humans as possible… and enjoy it?
It didn't make sense—no matter how I tried to reason it out, I couldn't find any logic in a senseless massacre.
Was this divine punishment? Had Judgment Day truly come?
No. Even if this really was the end for me, I refused to sit and wait for it to come.
I wasn't about to die again, was I?
As my thoughts began to race, my head started to throb again.
"That's when a man began to speak, and everyone started moving toward the stage."
My head hurt terribly, as if something was trying to force its way in.
A man's voice echoed through the room.
"Wait, I think there's another door behind the stage!"
What?
Everyone started rushing to the front of the stage.
Why is this happening? Why did something I just think suddenly come true?
This world might be absurd, but there's no way I can know what's going to happen before it does. That's impossible.
Knowing the future was a trait reserved for gods or prophets.
…Or what if it wasn't my thoughts predicting events—but the events responding to my thoughts?
No, that would be way too absurd.
To be sure, I pictured the room filling with a mountain of money…
But nothing happened.
Too good to be true.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by the renewed sound of people pushing and shoving.
Now that a glimmer of hope had returned, people surged toward the door at the back of the stage.
I decided to follow.
It was the best option if I wanted to survive whatever was coming.
I didn't know this world. I wasn't even sure I was still on Earth. It looked familiar, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.
Above the door was a window like the one above the other door, but this time it displayed a different message.
[Remaining slots: 324]
A shiver of relief ran through me. I was finally going to escape this hell and start a new life.
Tick
[Remaining slots: 318]
As the line moved forward, the number dropped rapidly.
...
Tick
Tick
...
[Remaining slots: 218]
[Remaining slots: 187]
[Remaining slots: 125]
[Remaining slots: 56]
Tick
[Remaining slots: 1]
I was the last in line.
Even in this world, I hadn't changed.
For as long as I could remember, it had always been like that.
My desire to go unnoticed and blend in had always pushed me to be last in just about everything I did. But the result was always satisfactory: no one noticed me, and that was fine with me.
I could do whatever I wanted without anyone bothering me.
In gym class, I was always the last one picked, or the one left on the bench.
Teachers would often forget me when counting students or handing out papers.
When I finally did speak, people gave me strange looks, as if they were seeing me for the first time—or realizing I existed at all.
It was like the world and I had a silent agreement: I was invisible, and it wouldn't give me trouble.
A peaceful life. A life of a Honja.
As I was about to step through the door, I heard something move behind me.
"Is everyone gone?" A woman's voice.
She stepped out from behind one of the curtains and stood in front of me.
She was shorter than I was. Having this new body had its perks.
It was the first time someone had ever been shorter than me. A sensation I had never experienced.
She wore a white blouse and a long black skirt, giving her a classy appearance.
Her long, straight blonde hair fell down her back. She had sharp blue eyes that lifted gently at the temples and a small face.
Her outfit reminded me of something, and a thought crossed my mind.
The walls of the room were completely black, so it was hard to see in the dim light, but my gaze instinctively went to the stage and the large 'NEW•ELTA' logo lit up by the spotlights.
Beneath it, a plastic banner hung, showing the group's members.
I knew she looked familiar.
"You're part of 'NEW•ELTA'?"
She stopped brushing off the curtain dust from her clothes and looked at me.
"Yes—why?"
NEW•ELTA was a rising group popular with high school students my age.
I hated concerts, so it was the first time I'd seen a member in person. I could barely stop myself from trembling.
"Nothing. I just didn't expect to meet a NEW•ELTA member in a situation like this."
A brief silence followed, then she muttered as she resumed brushing off her clothes:
"It's been a long time since I met someone like you."
An awkward silence settled.
Surprisingly, I was the one to break it.
"Yeoni?"
She looked up.
"You can call me Yoon Jiyeon." she replied immediately.
"Huh?"
"My name is Yoon Jiyeon. Yeoni is a stage name. A lot of K-pop dancers don't use their real names—didn't you know that?"
"Y-Yeah, of course I knew." I smiled awkwardly, probably in a painfully cringy way.
Of course I didn't know. Did I look like a K-pop stan?
Anyway, there was a more urgent problem at hand.
Yoon Jiyeon looked up at the window above the door.
"If I understand this right… only one of us can go through."
I stayed silent at her words.
She was right. Only one of us could leave this place—that was the harsh reality.
As much as I would have wanted both of us to pass, it wasn't possible.
Going through together wouldn't work either.
There was only one solution.
Yoon Jiyeon turned to me.
"Maybe we could…"
I interrupted her.
"You can go, Jiyeon-ssi."
She looked up at the harsh truth displayed in the window.
[Remaining slots: 1]
It stood proudly, declaring our fate.
"But what about you?"
I smiled at her.
"I'll be fine."
I was lying.
Of course I had no plan or idea how to survive this,
but having someone like her die because of me would haunt me forever.
I had already tried to die once.
At that moment, I'd lost all my worth as a human.
Someone innocent like her deserved to live.
"Are you sure?"
She hesitated for a moment, then stepped toward the door.
A sickening thought passed through my mind.
Just one movement, and I could go instead.
My outstretched arm froze in the cold air.
It would be a simple act of selfishness.
But my legs refused to move.
As easy as it seemed, I couldn't do it.
I was the one who chose to die—I couldn't steal the chance to live from someone who wanted to.
No matter how miserable or cowardly that was,
I didn't have the courage to make such a selfish choice.
If I'd been given a second chance, I'd choose to live humbly.
I'd become a better person than I was, and maybe…
Maybe I could make friends who'd trust me.
Tick
The window emitted its signature sound.
[Remaining slots: 0]
My fate was now sealed.
It didn't matter if I regretted my choice—there was no turning back now.
If some god had truly saved or reincarnated me, surely they wouldn't let me die here.
Yoon Jiyeon, on the other side, turned to face me.
"Will you at least tell me your name?"
That name. The one that had haunted me since birth.
The source of all my problems.
But it was a name that defined me perfectly.
I could have lied—after all, in a world this absurd, I could've picked any name I wanted.
But for some unknown reason, I felt like I could tell her my real name.
I opened my mouth and said it as clearly as I could.
The letters, which always felt heavy and awkward, came out naturally.
When she heard my name, her lips curled in confusion.
Then she smiled gently.
"Thank you."
She let go of the door.
It closed slowly, then slammed shut, sealing my fate.
The theater room wrapped me once more in its silence.