The street above was no safer than the subway.
The ground was split open, jagged like cracked glass. Buildings groaned under their own weight, some leaning as if they might collapse at the slightest breath. Cars burned in the distance, alarms wailing until their batteries died in pitiful whines.
But the worst part was the silence that came after.
No sirens. No helicopters. No army. Just smoke, blood, and us.
Thirteen survivors. That was all.
I clenched my fists until my nails cut into my palms. The glowing words from earlier hadn't faded. They still floated faintly in the corner of my vision, impossible to ignore:
> [System Notice: First Trial Completed.]
[Candidates Survived: 13]
[Reward: Temporary Clearance to Safe Zone.]
The words "Safe Zone" pulsed faintly, like they were alive. And when I looked across the fractured skyline, I saw it—the dome.
It shimmered faintly over part of the city, a translucent barrier of light, bending the smoke around it. And even from here, I could feel it calling to us.
Do-Hyun was the first to speak. His voice was steady, but his hand still gripped the bloodied rebar like a lifeline. "We head for the dome. That's where this… trial wants us to go."
Kang, the businessman, let out a shaky laugh. "Safe zone? That thing could be a radiation leak, or—or a hallucination. We should stay here, wait for rescue. The army—"
"The army's dead," Hana cut him off, her sharp voice echoing in the broken street. "Did you see that thing in the station? The sky? Rescue isn't coming."
Kang's mouth opened, then closed. He looked around at the rubble, at the blood drying on the pavement. For once, he had no argument.
---
We moved.
The walk was slow, tense. Every alleyway felt like a throat ready to swallow us. The shadows were too deep, the wind too sharp.
More than once, we spotted them. Shapes moving in the distance. Wrong shapes. Creatures hunched and twisted, their eyes glimmering faintly in the dark. Some crawled along building walls like insects. Others dragged themselves on malformed limbs.
We kept quiet. We kept low. And we kept walking.
Jin-Ae, the teenager, stuck close to me. His breaths came too fast, but he tried to hide it. "Do you think it's really safe there?" he whispered.
I wanted to tell him yes. To lie. But the words caught in my throat.
Instead, I said, "It's safer than here."
He nodded, though I don't think he believed me.
---
By the time the sun dipped low, painting the smoke-stained sky in bruised colors, our group was smaller.
We lost a woman to the things in the shadows when she tripped and screamed. We didn't even have time to see what dragged her away.
Twelve now.
Do-Hyun ordered us not to stop, not until we reached the dome. But exhaustion was gnawing at everyone's bones. Hunger. Thirst. Fear.
I caught myself staring at the glowing dome more than once. It wasn't getting closer fast enough.
Still, with every step toward it, the strange System words pulsed brighter in my vision, like a heartbeat guiding us forward.
Safe Zone.
It was close.
But I had the sinking feeling it wouldn't let us in easily.