SKREEEEEEE!
The inhuman shriek tore across the city as something massive launched itself skyward near the tower.
Ilwoo pressed his face against their apartment window, watching a creature the size of a passenger jet circle the dark spire before vanishing into its upper levels.
Sena's eyes darted toward the city beyond the window. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the glass. "We can't stay here."
"Every minute we waste, more of those things will show up."
"I know." Ilwoo's breath fogged the glass.
"Just...give me a second to think."
His eyes swept across the ruined city, looking for a way forward. Cracked buildings stood like wounded giants, their windows shattered, pieces missing, smoke rising into the sky.
Then he spotted it in the distance: a pillar of soft green light, barely visible through the haze, rising from somewhere near the Han River.
"You see that?" He pointed toward the distant glow.
"The green pillar. That has to be a safe zone."
"A what?" Sena squinted through the smoke, following his gesture.
"Green means sanctuary in most games; it's neutral ground where monsters can't enter." His mind raced, calculating distances.
Mangwon to the Han River... maybe three kilometers. If that's what I think it is...
"You're sure about this?"
"No." He shouldered his pack, checking his sword one final time.
"But it's the first thing I've seen that looks actually safe instead of just temporarily hidden."
THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!
Heavy footsteps echoed somewhere in the distance—a grim reminder that hesitation meant death.
"I've made up my mind."
She grabbed her bag with a sharp breath, fingers curling tight around the strap.
"Lead the way, brother."
Her tone carried that familiar mix of trust and Frustration that only siblings could manage.
***
They moved through the city like ghosts, each of the thirteen using every bit of cover they could find.
"Wait." He pulled them behind an overturned bus during a brief rest.
"I just remembered something about the system shop."
"What system shop?" Sena wiped sweat from her forehead. Her blazer hung in tatters, more holes than fabric.
"I saw there is a system shop. Let me check..."
He focused on his interface. After hitting Level 2, a new icon had appeared: a tiny cart glowing softly in the corner of his vision. He tapped it.
BLOOP!
The system's shop popped up, rows of low-rank weapons and props sliding by. He kept scrolling, eyes narrowing as the text and images began to blur.
'Where is it?'
His pupils tracked like a hawk, darting across icons and text, skipping over worthless junk. Then
a slight pause. His fingers stilled.
' There you are.'
His hand hovered, eyes sharp now, locked onto the one thing that made the rest disappear.
[SYSTEM SHOP - BASIC TIER]
[SHADOW MASK - 100 SYSTEM POINTS]
[WARNING: CURRENT BALANCE - 95 COINS]
"Damn. Five short." He opened his inventory. Six shadow essences glinted back at him; it would be just enough if he sold them all.
After the transaction, a sleek black mask materialized in his hands. It felt like liquid silk but looked like a living shadow, with narrow eye slits that pulsed with faint green light.
"Quest reward?" Sena stared at the mask on his hand.
"System purchase." He hesitated, then spent his remaining points. Another mask appeared.
"Here. One for you, too."
He handed over the mask to Sena.
Sena's mask fit her face perfectly, the design subtly reshaping itself to match her features. When she spoke, her voice came out deeper and sharper—like a completely different person was speaking.
"This is seriously weird." She touched her throat.
"It's like I have the wrong voice."
"That's the idea. We can talk to people without them knowing it's us." Ilwoo tugged at his mask; it was a perfect fit.
"Plus, it hides our faces. Makes us harder to track."
"That's the dumbest idea you've ever had." She narrowed her eyes, but the corners of her mouth tugged upward.
"Thanks. I feel slightly less like an idiot now," he grinned, rubbing the back of his neck as if trying to scrub off the awkwardness.
They resumed their journey. The masks gave them confidence to cross open spaces, to take risks they couldn't afford before.
As they neared the Han River district, the green pillar grew larger and more defined.
It looked exactly like the safe zones from the game, an energy barrier forming a tall cylinder over what appeared to be a riverside park.
"There are people there," Sena pointed out as they crested a hill.
"A lot of them."
She was right.
Dozens of figures gathered around the barrier, some inside the glowing cylinder, others pressed against its outer edge.
Even at a distance, Ilwoo could sense the stiffness in their movements. Crowds like this always hinted at incoming chaos.
"We need to move fast," he said, watching the green light pulse ominously.
"Before it hits the limit."
They ran, weaving through debris and abandoned vehicles. As they got closer, Ilwoo saw more clearly things that twisted his stomach.
The safe zone had a population limit.
Numbers floated above the barrier in the same font as his system interface, but rendered in bright green and hovering directly over the zone's center:
46/50
Only four spots remaining, but at least twelve people still waited outside, arguing desperately with those who'd already secured entry.
"I was here first! That's my spot!" A middle-aged businessman in a torn suit screamed at the barrier's edge. "I have a family to protect!"
"First come, first served," someone inside called back coldly. "That's how survival works now."
"You bastards! Do you have any idea who I am?!"
"Don't care who you were. Back off before I break your nose."
The argument got worse as time passed by, with more voices joining the chaos.
Ilwoo noticed that most people outside were clearly non-players who without any weapons nor understanding of the system, just ordinary citizens caught in an impossible situation.
IInside the barrier, the people were a mix. Some looked like players, armed and watchful.
Others seemed like regular civilians who had arrived early enough to take their spot in the zone.
"Ilwoo." Sena gripped his arm.
"We're going in. Now!"
***
They moved swiftly, cutting through the chaos with purpose. As they passed through the energy field, electricity danced across Ilwoo's skin, like walking through a waterfall made of lightning.
47/50
48/50
"Hey!" The businessman spun around, noticing their entry.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Ilwoo ignored him, but the man lunged forward, grabbing his shoulder. "I asked you a question!"
The crowd's attention shifted to them—two masked figures who'd just claimed spots others had been fighting over. Ilwoo felt the situation turning dangerous.
"Get your hands off me." His voice came out distorted from his mask.
"Who are you to just walk in here? We've been waiting—"
The man's companion stepped forward aggressively. Suddenly, half the people outside the barrier were moving toward them, making the situation even worse.
"I said, get off!"
SHING!
Ilwoo drew his sword in one smooth motion, the blade at the businessman's throat before he could even blink.
Everyone froze.
"Listen carefully," Ilwoo's unsteady voice broke through the silence.
"You're not in charge here, so stop acting like you make the rules."
"Y-you can't just—"
The man's voice cracked from fear.
"I'll do whatever it takes to survive."
The green light behind his mask's eye slits burned brighter.
"The whole world's falling apart. You really think your old life still matters?"
The businessman's companion took a step back, but his jaw remained set.
"What makes you so special? You and your masks—"
"First, I'm a player." Ilwoo's blade never wavered. "Second, you're dead weight. You don't belong in there."
His glowing eyes swept the crowd.
"You want to know how many people died today? Keep acting like you're better than everyone else, and you'll end up just like them."
The assembled people exchanged nervous glances.
"Thought so." He lowered the sword but kept it drawn. "Learn to survive on your own. No one's coming to save any of us."
He stepped back with Sena, the businessman collapsing as fear finally overwhelmed him.
Before the Fight Could turn ugly, the zone's counter changed:
49/50
50/50
The final entrant was a young woman carrying a crude spear, her clothes torn and bloodied but her movements confident and controlled. Definitely a player.
[SAFE ZONE CAPACITY REACHED]
[ZONE LEADER SELECTION INITIATED]
New text materialized in everyone's vision, judging by the confused reactions around them.
[HIGHEST LEVEL: BAEK ILWOO - LEVEL 2]
[MINIMUM QUALIFICATION CONFIRMED]
[ZONE LEADERSHIP BADGE AWARDED]
A golden pin appeared, hovering before Ilwoo's masked face. He cupped his hands, letting it drop into his palm.
"What the hell is that?" Sena stared at the gleaming badge.
"Zone leadership. Means I'm responsible for—"
ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR!
The sound burst out from the Han River itself, so deep and primal it seemed to rise from the earth's core. Everyone in the safe zone, inside and out, turned toward the river.
Something was emerging from the depths.
It rose slowly at first, massive coils breaking the surface like islands of scaled flesh. More coils followed.
Then a head the size of a city bus lifted from the water, eyes like burning coals and a maw that could swallow buildings whole.
"Jörmungandr…" Ilwoo said under his breath. Unfortunately He knew the name too well ,But knowing it did nothing for the cold sweat creeping down his spine.
"The World Serpent."
"The what?" Sena's grip on his arm tightened.
"Norse mythology. The serpent that encircles the world." He watched more of the creature emerge, its body seeming endless.
"According to legend, it's large enough to grasp its own tail while wrapped around the entire earth."
"Please tell me you're joking."
"I wish I were."
The serpent's head rose higher, water cascading off scales the size of dinner plates. When it opened its mouth, the roar that emerged shattered windows for blocks in every direction.
Its eyes swept across the riverbank and then the safe zone, and all the humans gathered there.
"This is why we needed to get here," Ilwoo said, his voice tight with barely controlled terror.
"This is why the safe zone was set up at the river. It's not just protection from random monsters."
"What do you mean?"
"Those kinds of beasts just show up out of nowhere," he muttered, pointing as the serpent's massive body kept rising — endlessly, terrifyingly.
"This is the safest spot we've got."
The creature's head turned toward them with predatory intelligence, its burning gaze focusing on the people outside the barrier.
The safe zone's energy field seemed to shimmer, as if the barrier were somehow visible to the ancient beast.
"There's one more thing you need to know," Ilwoo said, as the creature's shadow stretched over them.
"What?" Terror made Sena's voice thin.
"World bosses only attack targets outside the safe zone."
The World Serpent's eyes blazed brighter, and fifty terrified people looked to him for answers he didn't have.