The evening felt wrong.
It wasn't something I could explain—just a quiet, nagging itch in the back of my mind. The kind you dismiss as nothing.
But it wasn't nothing.
I was slouched in my usual seat at the back of the bus, the hum of the engine vibrating through my spine. Outside, Seoul blurred past in streaks of grey and neon. The same towering buildings, the same endless streams of people on the sidewalks. The same.
It felt like I'd seen this scene before. Not just once, but a hundred, maybe a thousand times.
"Deja vu," I muttered, shifting uncomfortably.
Jae-hyun, sitting across from me, didn't notice. He was slouched against the window, headphones on, bobbing his head to a beat I couldn't hear. His golden short hair swaying on the wind. Even he felt… off, somehow. Like he wasn't really there.
The bus hit a bump. I glanced at my phone, the same way I always did at this point in the ride, and saw exactly what I was expecting to see.
[New Chapter Alert! Survival 101: End of the World Edition, Chapter 130,000 released!]
There it was again. That strange feeling, prickling at the edges of my mind.
I've done this before.
My thumb hovered over the notification as I stared at the title. Survival 101. I'd been obsessed with this webnovel for months. Half a year, to be exact. It was an unholy monster of a story—130,000 chapters, and most of it a repetitive slog. But for some reason, I couldn't stop reading.
Maybe it was Ji-hoon, the protagonist. His journey was stupidly addicting. The guy had survived so much—impossible odds, betrayals, gruesome deaths—all because of his brutal decision-making. Every chapter ended with some impossible dilemma. Who to trust, who to betray, who to kill. And every time, Ji-hoon would survive, no matter the cost.
I tapped the notification and grinned as the chapter loaded. "Let's see what hell you're in now, Ji-hoon."
The chapter opened strong, as always. Ji-hoon and his group were backed into a corner, surrounded by other Players in the deathmatch arena. Their enemies were faceless monsters—shapeshifting figures wearing the shadows of people Ji-hoon had betrayed. It was poetic, in a way, but it wasn't like Ji-hoon to be sentimental.
"What are you going to do, Ji-hoon?" one of the shadows asked, its voice raspy, a hollow echo. "Who will you sacrifice this time?"
Ji-hoon said nothing, standing at the centre of his team. He was calm—too calm. Around him were five allies: a healer with trembling hands, a swordsman clutching his blade with white-knuckled fingers, a sniper, and two tanks who were already bleeding.
A choice had to be made. The rules were simple: only five Players could advance. There were six in his group.
One person had to stay behind.
I could already feel the tension climbing as Ji-hoon's mind raced, every word laced with that cold, brutal logic he was known for, but alas the author definitely likes cliff hangers.
The chapter ended with a question, like always:
"Who does Ji-hoon choose? What would YOU do?"
And beneath it, one word:
[FIN]
I stared at the words. The "Completed" tag on the story glared at me like a slap to the face.
"What the hell?" I muttered, leaning back in my seat and covering my face with my hand.
"What happened?" Jae-hyun asked, leaning forward.
"It just… ends," I said, staring at my phone like it had personally betrayed me. "That's it. After 130,000 chapters, it just ends with some stupid open-ended question."
Jae-hyun burst out laughing. "Figures. You've been saying for months that the author was running out of ideas."
"Yeah, but—" I sputtered. "It's been going for years, man! I wasted six months reading this thing for that?"
Still laughing, Jae-hyun leaned back in his seat. "Sounds like you need a refund."
Grumbling, I opened the comment section. It had become a habit to leave a comment every thousand or so chapters. Usually, I wrote something encouraging. Not this time.
"Dear Author," I began, my thumbs flying furiously across the screen, "are you serious? THIS is how you end it? After all that build-up? After all the years, I (probably your first and last fan) stuck with you? Screw you and your lazy writing. Absolute garbage. Pathetic."
Of course now this was followed by a bunch of slangs and slurs directed to well… everyone in his family. Enough to make me get banned faster than lightning.
Satisfied, I hit "Post." There were only five other comments—four generic congratulatory messages and one from someone who shared my outrage. So, basically four bots and one other unlucky soul like me.
"Anyway," Jae-hyun said, his tone light, "did you take the notes today? Professor said this was going to be in next weeks test."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up you teachers pet. You obviously know I didn't—"
For a split second, Jae-hyun's entire demeanour shifted. His eyes darkened, and his voice dropped.
"You know," he said, leaning forward, his tone unnervingly cold, his eyes blank as if they had literally died "it's kind of insulting when someone calls your hard work garbage." It was as if he had been possessed by someone or something.
I froze, staring at him. "What… the hell?"
He blinked, his usual goofy grin snapping back into place. "What are you talking about?"
I swallowed hard, the pit in my stomach growing. Something was wrong. The air felt heavy, thick, like it was pressing down on me. The bus jolted over another bump, snapping me out of my daze.
That's when it started.
The world outside the window twisted.
I blinked, rubbing my eyes, but the scene didn't change. Streetlights flickered erratically, casting the city in jagged shadows. The sky shifted from gray to a deep, blood-red. My chest tightened.
"Jae-hyun," I whispered, my voice barely steady. "Are you seeing this?"
He didn't answer. His face had gone pale, his eyes locked on the window.
I followed his gaze. My breath caught.
Buildings crumbled into ash, collapsing into the streets like sandcastles washed away by waves. Others twisted into grotesque shapes, rising like monstrous obelisks. Cracks splintered across the sky, deep and jagged, spilling unnatural light. And through the cracks…
Creatures emerged.
The monsters clawing through the cracks didn't have faces—just shifting masses of flesh and bone, writhing like they were constantly being born and destroyed at the same time. She had arms stretching beyond the height of buildings other's had wings, looking like mosquitos due to the distance.The sound of their arrival was worse than their appearance: a wet, gurgling screech that pierced my skull and made me stumble.
Reading prepares you for the visuals. But the sound, the feel? That is something new. Something scary and exciting at the same time.
Screams erupted on the bus. The air felt hot as if I was next to an exploding volcano searing my skin. The uncomfortable scent of burning flesh and smoke entered my nose.
"What's happening?!" a woman shouted, clutching her child.
People scrambled to the windows, their faces pale and panicked. The bus felt like it was suffocating, the tension closing in from all sides.
"Ha-rin!" Jae-hyun snapped, grabbing my arm. His voice cracked. "What's going on?!"
"I—I don't know!" I stammered, my heart pounding out of my chest but deep down, a sinking realisation began to form.
Then, a low hum reverberated through the air. It wasn't mechanical—it was everywhere, vibrating in my bones.
And then it appeared.
A notification blinked into the air in front of me, it's white text glowing faintly against the red background.
[Notification: The first TRIAL will begin shortly.
Participation: Compulsory
Type: Physical.
Survival rate: 20%.
Reward: Title 'Player' will be granted
Penalty: Elimination]