—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Whoa! Whoa!”
The taxi driver, having seen the same thing I did, shouted in surprise.
It wasn’t just the taxi driver.
All the drivers on the road were shocked. Some were even getting out of their cars.
Human-like beasts chasing people.
These beasts chased people into buildings, into stores, and ran along the sidewalks.
And some were running towards the main road where I was.
The driver who had gotten out of his car, for some reason, was filming the street with his phone.
A beast leaped over the cars and pounced on him.
Screams of women, screams of men erupted from all directions at once.
Pandemonium.
My heart felt like it was going to explode.
I was too shocked to think straight.
“M-Mister! I’m getting out!”
I stammered and immediately got out of the taxi.
“S-Sir! Wait! It’s dangerous!”
It was dangerous, that’s why I got out!
I didn’t know what I was going to do after getting out.
I just knew I couldn’t stay there.
My mind was in turmoil.
I saw the driver, who had been attacked by the human-like beast, trembling as he slowly got up.
Dangerous.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
I immediately ran to the next lane, hurriedly weaving between the cars. As I ran towards the sidewalk, people around me ran in the same direction.
“Uwaaagh!”
“Move! Fuck!”
“Kyaaagh!”
Screams echoed around me.
I ran like crazy along the sidewalk.
I was running along the road.
To my right were buildings and stores, to my left, the main road.
The human-shaped beasts were on the main road.
I didn’t know why I was running this way.
If I just turned right, I could get away from the road, so why was I running this way?
“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know anything!
I heard a rumbling sound behind me, like something was falling.
“Uwaaagh!”
A scream followed.
What was happening!
I was looking ahead!
What was happening behind me!
I wanted to look back.
But I couldn’t turn my head.
I just kept running forward.
“Huff, huff, huff, huff!”
People zipped past me.
Some passed by my side.
Aimless footsteps swirled on the pavement.
Ahead, a middle-aged woman on a kick scooter was coming towards me with a terrified look. Even though she was coming straight at me, she somehow avoided colliding with people.
The woman was in complete panic.
A dark shadow leaped out from the road.
The woman turned dark.
It wasn’t a shadow.
It was a person!
A person was biting another person.
“Kyaaaaagh! Aaaaagh!”
A man in a black suit, with a beastly face, was holding the woman.
The woman screamed.
She struggled.
Blood splattered from her cheek.
Like ketchup exploding.
Grrrr!
A grotesque sound.
A sound you wouldn’t expect to come from a human throat.
Unable to even blink, I just ran forward frantically, witnessing the entire scene.
Chills ran down my spine.
“Huff, huff, huff!”
I couldn’t even scream.
If I kept running like this, I would run into the bleeding woman.
I would collide with the man in the suit, who was pressing down on her and burying his head in her!
An alleyway next to a convenience store.
I immediately turned into the alley.
And ran like crazy.
I didn’t know where I was going.
I’d never been down this road in my life.
I had gotten a room in this neighborhood because of school, but this area itself was new to me!
I ran frantically down the alley.
My legs were heavy, sweat was pouring down my face.
I didn’t know if I was running or walking.
My heart felt like it was going to burst.
My mind was blank.
I didn’t even know what I was thinking.
“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”
Run. Just run!
Run!
Shabby single-family houses slowly came into view.
They passed quickly on either side.
Suddenly, I was alone.
No screams, no footsteps.
Where were all the people who had been running with me?
Why was it so quiet?
“Huff, huff, huff, huff!”
Where was I running to?
I saw a utility pole.
A small neighborhood Chinese restaurant.
Tiny alleyways connecting the streets.
Wow, it would be pretty awkward if cars met face to face here. One of them would have to back up quite a bit.
…That thought crossed my mind.
So I stopped.
My heart felt like it was going to explode.
I didn’t know how long I’d been running.
I was so out of breath that I felt dizzy.
My legs were so heavy.
“Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!”
I couldn’t stand.
I had run too fast, too much, too suddenly.
I ended up on my knees.
“Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!”
Bending over with my hands on my knees, I looked around.
An old man leisurely riding a bicycle glanced at me as if I were crazy and passed by.
…What?
Why was the old man so unfazed?
What had I just seen?
“Ha… ha… ha… ha…”
Ah, I was dizzy.
Damn it, I must have been breathing too hard.
My vision swam.
I looked back the way I had come.
I had weaved through so many alleys that I didn’t even know where I was. Anyway, I must have run a long way.
What I just saw…
It wasn’t a dream, was it?
It wasn’t a dream, right?
I stared at the path for a moment, then turned my head back.
I couldn’t go back that way.
After walking a few steps, I saw a small neighborhood supermarket. These days, it was all convenience stores; supermarkets like this were quite rare.
Ah, I was thirsty.
I felt like I was dying.
I went into the supermarket, grabbed a 500ml Gatorade and a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and went to the counter.
“3,000 won.”
The middle-aged woman glanced at me.
Probably because I was drenched in sweat.
I took out my wallet from my Adidas backpack, paid, and asked,
“Ha… ha… Excuse me. Where’s the police station around here? Ha… ha…”
The woman looked at me suspiciously.
“The police station? What happened?”
If something happened, it must have been your doing, her eyes seemed to say.
Well, if a dark-skinned man showed up sweating profusely and immediately asked for the police station, it was understandable she would think that.
I caught my breath and said,
“No, it’s not that. There was an accident on the road up there. A big one. So people were running away, ha… ha… Where’s the police station?”
“If that’s the case, you should call 112. The police station is that way. Just around the corner, there’s a small one.”
…Oh?
112!
Crazy…!
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
I guess my mind went blank from all the running.
My head still felt fuzzy, damn it.
“Okay, thank you.”
I left the supermarket, cracked open the Gatorade, and gulped it down before picking up my phone.
“…112? Ha… ha…”
The police station was right there, damn it.
I’d just tell them in person.
My whole body felt heavy and limp.
I held my phone in one hand and turned the corner.
I saw the police station right next to a stationery store.
Wow, it had been a while since I’d seen such a rundown stationery store.
Well, the neighborhood was quite old.
There were high-rise buildings just up there, but across the road, it was just a slum.
There were no police cars at the police station.
There was a parking lot for police cars, though.
They must have been out on a call.
I went straight into the police station.
“Ha… ha… Excuse me. Is anyone here?”
Two police officers were sitting at a desk.
Both middle-aged.
“Yes, how can we help you?”
I pointed up the road and said,
“There was an accident on the road up there, ha… I don’t know if it was an accident or what, but a lot of people were hurt.”
The officer said, “Ah,” and then,
“We received a report about that and went out there. They said it was a drunk causing a disturbance. Sir, did you come from there?”
A drunk?
I shook my head.
“It wasn’t a drunk person. Sir, it wasn’t a drunk, it was like some kind of infectious disease. It was on the news. People biting other people.”
The middle-aged officers looked at me as if I’d said something absurd.
“…Excuse me? Biting? We haven’t received any reports like that. Did you see it yourself, sir?”
Oh, shit.
This was driving me crazy.
“Yes! I saw it! Up there, people biting people. Stepping on cars, running around on the road. Oh, that’s right! Shit, someone got hit by a car and their neck snapped like this. And that person got up and ran away too!”
The more I spoke, the more agitated I became.
At the same time, the more I spoke, the more I wondered if anyone would believe me.
The officers looked at each other and tilted their heads.
“Their neck snapped?”
“Their neck snapped… Well, I’ll file a report. It will be relayed to the officers on the scene immediately. First, your name, sir…”
Just then, we heard a car outside.
A police car.
“Oh, they’re back. Just a moment.”
The officers got up from their desks and went outside.
I followed them out. There was a bloodstain on the side of the police car, as if it had been swiped with a giant brush.
The windows were broken, and the car was dented in several places.
Inside the car, a young officer was gripping the steering wheel, gasping for breath.
“Huh? Officer Park! What’s going on! What happened!”
The officers opened the car door in surprise.
Officer Park, his face pale, just gripped the steering wheel, gasping for breath, but didn’t say a word.
“Hey! Where’s Young-mi! Why are you alone? Huh?”
“What happened to the car! Officer Park!”
Officer Park slowly turned his head.
His face…
Was ashen.
I’d never seen such an expression in my life.
Officer Park said,
“S… Seniors. Do we have our guns? Inside.”
“Guns?”
The middle-aged officer who asked back frowned and shouted.
“What guns! Where’s Young-mi! Officer Park! Get a grip!”
“She’s dead! Young-mi is dead!”
The middle-aged officer stared at Officer Park with a shocked expression. Officer Park continued,
“Her neck was ripped out, she bled to death. That’s Young-mi’s blood on the car.”
The two middle-aged officers spoke at the same time.
“The culprit! Who is it! Young-mi, shit, there must be a body! Where is it!”
“How do you know if she’s dead or not! Are you a doctor?! Let’s go get Young-mi!”
Officer Park jumped up and got out of the car.
And shouted,
“Do we have our guns! Guns! Shit, there’s a riot up there!”
Officer Park strode into the police station. One of the middle-aged officers shouted something and followed him.
“A riot…?”
The remaining middle-aged officer was looking at the police station with a serious expression. He raised his phone, as if trying to contact someone.
A riot, he said.
It wasn’t a riot.
This wasn’t something so trivial.
This was…
“…the Apocalypse.”
I muttered without realizing it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
