The remaining survivors inside the bloodied hospital gathered upon hearing my voice. The survivors included Angelica, Kwangsun and two other people.
The first man had short-cropped hair and a large build. Standing tall, he appeared to be in his mid-twenties. I believe there was a character with these features.
[Personal skill, Black Box (Envy) has activated.]
+
[Soul Information.]
Name: Lee Jongho
Age: 27
Attributes: Ex Military Soldier (Common), Tanker (Rare)
Skill Cards:
| Strong Defence Lv. 1 |
| Weapons Training Lv. 2 |
| Camouflage Lv. 2 |
| Patience Lv. 3 |
Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 10, Strength Lv. 10, Agility Lv. 7, Magic Power Lv. 5.
Description: An ex soldier from the military with great potential. He had a sense of justice but has low self confidence in his morals due to what he did during his soldier days.
+
Lee Jong-ho. This was my first time seeing him in person, but there was no mistaking it. He was one of the supporting characters from the novel. But wasn't he supposed to be in the hospital?
If I recalled correctly, he was meant to appear at the start of the Second Fable. So why was he here now? Maybe he had come with the other survivors and blocked the door.
But that wasn't the only strange thing. I noticed someone else as well.
My gaze shifted to the woman standing nearby.
She had short, slightly tousled hair with blunt bangs framing her face. Her eyes were indifferent yet calm, and her features were delicate yet sharp.
She wore a bloodstained hospital gown. She had survived the First Fable because she was a natural-born killer.
How many people had she killed?
If I remembered right, she had been brought to the hospital after a car accident, just like me. But her circumstances were vastly different from mine.
I silently opened her information
+
[ « Soul Information » ]
Name: Jung Yunhee
Age: 19
Main Attributes: Sword Demon (Unique), Assassin (Rare)
Skill Cards:
| Demon Slaying Lv. 1 |
| Knife Mastery Lv. 3 |
| Katana Mastery Lv. 3 |
| Cooking Lv. 10 |
| Void Steps Lv. 1 |
Overall Stats:
Physique Lv. 3, Strength Lv. 3, Agility Lv. 9, Magic Power Lv. 4.
Description: A demon slayer with the assassin attribute. She has immense potential. However, she is suffering from a double personality disorder and has become unstable due to an accident. It's advisable to be careful around her.
+
Her information naturally flowed inside my head.
Jung Yunhee. She was a character from Song of Nightmares with the Assassin Attribute. Not only that, but she was one of the main members of the protagonist's group in nearly every iteration, alongside Lee Jong-ho and Shin Jinhyuk.
Such good luck! Perhaps I have finally become luckly. This was good. Maybe I could use this situation to my advantage.
A smile tugged at my lips, but I quickly adjusted my features to maintain a serious expression.
"Hello, I'm Lee Jongho."
"Jung Yeonhee."
"I'm Angelica."
"Doctor... Sorry, I'm Lee Kwangsun."
Everybody looked at me. They were waiting for me to speak.
"I'm Kim Jakga."
I continued speaking.
"I'm sure everyone have already noticed the situation. There is a status window which shows sonething like Stats, Skills, Attributes. Is there anyone who still hasn't caught onto facts?"
As expected, no one raised up their hands. There is no person in South Korea that hasn't played an RPG at least once. If they haven't they would have at least read a manhwa.
Doctor Kwangsun spoke. "Are you sure the government is not playing a cruel joke on us? This doesn't feel real. We are all in a dream, right? We will be waking up any time soon."
He seems to be slowly losing his mind and thought everything was unreal. But I completely destoryed his delusions with my next words.
"This is reality."
My stern words caused the doctor to close his mouth.
"This is not a dream and it is not a prank from the government either."
I looked over the rest of the group.
"We are alive and people are died because of us. We cannot change that and there are no excuses for what we have done. Therefore, we must live in such a world where if we don't kill, we won't see tomorrow. Do you understand?"
The eyes of the group were changing. At the moment, I felt like a hero giving a speech to the crowd.
Lee Jong-ho nodded and looked at me.
"You're right. But what should we do now? The fairy said we should wait for the next Fable, or is that what she called it? Jakga-ssi, what do you think?"
"It's simple."
There was something we must do before the Second Fable. No. If we wanted to survive, then we must take the first step.
"We will leave this place."
Everyone looked at me as If I had gone mad. Maybe my words were that unreasonable form their point of view.
"... Wh-What? You want to go outside?"
"That's right."
"Are you insane? Don't you already understand the situation outside?!"
"Jakga, he's right. Please reconsider."
Kwangsun and Angelica were completely against my decision while the others remained silent, but it was clear they agreed with their reasoning.
Realistically, stepping outside now was sheer madness. The streets were infested with unspeakable horrors, shadow-dwelling creatures lurking to devour anything that moved or breathed. The likelihood of being torn apart the moment we stepped out was far too real.
Given the choice, I wouldn't have wanted to leave either. Did the fact that this world mirrored a novel suddenly make me brave?
Absolutely not!
As a writer by trade, I had no combat experience and no expertise with weapons. The closest I'd come was firing a firearm once, and even then, my aim would likely be mediocre at best, or utterly disastrous.
Even so,
What they failed to realize was that cowering in this hospital, hiding behind false security, was just as irrational.
I asked impatiently. "How long do you plan to stay here? Do you think this place is a sanctuary?"
They flinched at the sting in my words, but I pressed on.
"We can't hide forever. Sooner or later, we'll have to step outside. Do you think staying here will magically change that?"
Kwangsun shot back, "That doesn't mean we need to go out right now. Why not wait until things calm down?"
"That's a good suggestion, "but let me ask you this, what are we going to do about food? How long can we last before supplies run dry? And what about your relatives? How will you find them if we stay trapped here? Surely you're not only concerned with your own safety, right?"
His gaze faltered, doubt creeping into his eyes. Everyone followed suit, but they still looked unconvinced. I needed to drive the final nail into the coffin.
...Ah, that should work.
A sharp idea struck me — a grim but reasonable way to sway them. My voice turned cold.
"Do you really think we're safe here? If there was a first wave of monsters, what makes you believe there won't be a second? And this hospital, filled with corpses, do you honestly think it's the best place to hide in a situation like this?"
Silence fell over the group as the weight of my words sank in. Slowly, they began to grasp the meaning behind what I had said.
Though the hospital had been built to withstand storms and earthquakes, that didn't make it invulnerable.
Sure, there were useful resources here, but no weapons. If a horde of monsters broke in, we would be left defenseless, forced to flee. And then there was the morgue, a place where the bodies of the dead were stored. What if, in our complacency, those corpses suddenly began to stir?
It was clear that my words had struck a chord. Everyone appeared deeply shaken, as if they had just reached the same grim conclusion.
"On second thought, maybe staying here is not the best idea."
"Quick! Open the door!"
"Help me move this out of the way."
"On second thought, staying here might not be the best option."
"Quick! Open the door!"
"Help me move this out of the way!"
Together, we dismantled the makeshift barricade, furniture and supplies crashing to the floor. The door creaked open, and one by one, we stepped into the world beyond.
The moment I stepped outside, I couldn't suppress the frown that tugged at my face.
It was exactly as I had imagined.
A world that had descended into a nightmare.
The streets were unrecognizable — vehicles overturned, buildings reduced to rubble, the remnants of civilization scattered like debris. Torn bodies lay strewn across the ground, limbs askew, blood seeping into the cracked earth. The stench of death hung in the atmosphere and thickened the quality of the natural air.
Anyone would be horrified by this scene.
I found myself gazing upward, where the sky had taken on a sickening shade of crimson.
As if it soaked in blood, the sky was no longer a sky. It had become a canvas of nightmares, reflecting the horrors that had overtaken this world.
Those horrors were the Stories.
"... Oh god...."
Angelica trembled with a shaky voice.
"W-what... what is this?"
Kwangsun's face was drained of colour.
This was no longer the world I knew. Earth had become a ruined wasteland. It was nothing short of a miracle that the hospital still stood, untouched.
They were not joking when they said the building was built to withstand natural disasters.
Sweeping my gaze, I saw Angelica, Kwangsun-ssi, and Lee Jongho-ssi frantically trying to connect to the internet with their smartphones.
But it was all in futile. Every line was dead, or rather, they were blocked by an invisible, supernatural force. But they didn't know that.
"Tch! Damnit!"
Angelica's frustration flared as she threw her smartphone to the ground, watching it shatter on impact.
It was an understandable reaction.
But if you're going to toss your phone, at least hand the battery off to someone, right?
BOOM!
A loud impact reverberated through the air, and I felt the vibrations in my bones.
Something broke through the sound barrier, cutting through the air with unimaginable speed.
I instinctively covered my ears, worried my eardrums might burst.
Several objects streaked through the sky at supersonic velocity.
Those fast-sky-moving objects were fighter jets.
However, it was clear that the survivors were not their intended target, as the aircraft headed elsewhere.
Were they going to the Blue House, I wonder.
"The fighter jets?"
"It's the Air force!"
"Where are they going? Hey!"
I already knew where they were headed, and their efforts would be in vain. For now, it was smarter to disregard them.
"Let's move and gather supplies. We don't know what we'll face ahead, but it's always better to be prepared."
I began issuing orders to each party member one by one.
Everyone had a role to play. In the end, everyone was an actor.
"Yunhee, look for anything that can be used as weapons. Angelica, check the convenience stores for salt and gather as much as you can. Jongho-ssi, search the bodies of the fallen soldiers for anything useful, and Kwangsun, see if you can get a signal on your smartphone."
"I understand."
"And make it quick; we don't have much time."
With that, everyone scattered in different directions.
I headed into the convenience store and helped Angelica load multiple bottles of salt into a backpack.
After a while, everyone returned to our original spot. The first to approach was Lee Kwangsun.
"Any luck?"
"No, I couldn't get a signal. It seems all lines are down for now."
"That means we're completely on our own, huh?"
Let's calm down. I was already expecting this.
"Jakga-ssi."
Next, Lee Jong-ho stepped forward.
"What about you? Any luck on your end?"
"It's not much, but I found some leftover grenades."
"How many?"
"T-three."
"Just three?"
"Um… I'm sorry."
Lee Jong-ho nodded, and I stifled a sigh. Three grenades wasn't a great number; at best, they could only slow down the enemy temporarily.
Nothing was going our way. I didn't know what would happen next.
"Don't feel bad. It can't be helped."
"I wish I could do more in this situation."
"I'm sure your moment will come."
Leaving behind those words, Lee Jong-ho's expression seemed to perk up a bit. He was a straightforward guy.
Step— Step—
Then Yunhee came this way, with her hands full.
"Here," she said, dropping what she was holding.
Ting! Ting!
With a heavy thud, the items she was carrying clattered to the ground.
"I brought these."
Everyone gasped. I almost chuckled.
Knives, machetes, axes, metal pipes, baseball bats, slingshots, and more were scattered across the floor.
A veritable arsenal of dangerous weapons. It was a collection that could easily land someone in jail if they were ever caught by the police.
The group stared at Jung Yunhee in astonishment, but she maintained her usual poker face.
"... Yunhee? Where did you find all this?"
"Shop."
Her response was vague when Kwangsun asked, exactly as I had expected.
"What kind of shop would sell—"
"Kwangsun-ssi, stop. Does it really matter where she got it? What's important is that we're armed now."
"Ah, I guess."
"Now everyone, pick a weapon. Quickly."
At my words, everyone sprang into action. Lee Jong-ho grabbed a metal pipe, Lee Kwangsun chose a slingshot, and Jung Yunhee picked up a sashimi knife, then dropped a blood-stained scissors at the ground.
Nobody saw them except for me.
"...."
Did she really use that on the people in the hospital?
As I picked up a machete, Angelica approached me, offering more salt, which I quickly stashed in my backpack.
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you planning to do with all that salt?"
"Oh, about that..."
From an outsider's perspective, my actions might seem illogical.
Why carry multiple bags of salt in such a dangerous situation?
Some might consider it foolish. In fact, carrying an unnecessary load of items would slow me down and could even get me killed. But surprisingly, salt was incredibly useful in this situation. Anyone who had read Song of Nightmares would understand.
"I'm going to use them to hunt some zombies."
"What? How is salt going to—"
Angelica wanted to protest, but before she could speak further, she was interrupted by a system message.
[The Main Narrative has been generated.]
[The Second Story will begin in a few moments.]
Damn. It was starting already.
That stupid fairy... She wasn't giving us anytime to prepare at all.
I opened the system window and read its contents.
....
[Main Narrative ##2 — Safety Zone]
[✧ Type: Main]
[✧ Difficulty: E]
[✧ Story Conditions: Avoid the monster horde and reach any safety zone close to your location.]
[✧ Time Limit: 30 minutes.]
[✧ Rewards: 500 coins.]
[✧ Failure: Death.]
...
The Second Story had begun. I could only hope that all the preparations I had made would be enough.
"Look, something is happening,"
Lee Kwangsun said, pointing towards the hospital entrance we had come out from. The torn bodies scattered on the floor were slowly rising. A dark energy began to swirl from their shoulders.
"Grrrr…"
"Grrrr…"
Zombies. Horrors at the hierarchy of Order 9 at the Path of Corruption were staring at us.
A few seconds later, they began shuffling toward us like a flood, driven by an intense hunger.