All his life, killing had been something distant. Something that happened in movies, games, news reports, something you heard about as you scrolled through TokTik during lunch breaks. It was something done by soldiers, criminals, and monsters. Not people like him.
But now there was a body at his feet.
And he was the reason it wasn't moving anymore.
A blue screen still flickered in front of him.
[First Kill Achieved]
The words glowed softly in the ruined hallway.
Jin stared at them with a hollow feeling in his chest.
First kill.
Not a monster defeated.
Not a survival bonus.
First kill.
The wording made his skin crawl.
It sounded like an introduction.
As if the system expected, there was going to be a second one.
A third.
A tenth.
As if this was going to be the beginning of something normal.
As if killing was something he was supposed to get used to.
His grip on the knife tightened.
A sick feeling crawled up his throat.
Was that what this world was now?
Survive. Kill. Repeat.
Was that all they were now?
Players in some twisted game designed by a voice that treated human lives like entertainment?
He hated it.
He hated how easily the system presented death.
He hated how quickly people might actually adapt to it.
And most of all, he hated that part of him had moved without hesitation when the monster attacked.
Because somewhere in that panic, his body had accepted it.
Kill first. Survive after.
The thought made him feel sick.
"Hey!"
The woman's voice snapped him out of it.
Jin looked up sharply.
She stood a few feet away, leaning heavily against the broken wall, her injured ankle barely supporting her. Her face had gone pale again, and this time it wasn't because of pain.
She was staring behind her.
Her eyes were wide.
"It's still coming!"
Jin turned.
At the far end of the hallway, the smaller creature from before was still there.
Its long, twisted limbs clicked softly against the tile floor as it moved forward. Its cluster of eyes reflected the flickering emergency lights above, and behind it, more followed.
Two more shapes moved in the darkness behind it, skittering low to the ground.
Jin's stomach dropped.
Of course.
Of course, killing one didn't magically fix everything.
The nightmare was still happening.
He quickly wiped his bloody hand against his ruined office shirt and grabbed the woman by the arm.
"Can you move?"
She gave him a look that clearly said obviously not.
"My ankle is still messed up."
The creatures clicked closer.
Jin looked toward the nearby stairwell door at the end of the hall.
It wasn't far.
Maybe twenty steps.
Normally, that would mean nothing.
Right now, it felt like crossing a battlefield.
He adjusted her arm over his shoulder.
"Then we're doing this the hard way."
She let out a shaky breath. "Fantastic."
Despite everything, Jin almost laughed.
"Try not to die before we get there."
"No promises."
They moved as fast as they could.
Jin half-carried her, half-dragged her down the hallway while the clicking behind them grew louder. The crawler still wasn't rushing. It moved slowly, almost patiently, like it knew panic made prey sloppy.
The other two followed behind it.
Watching.
Waiting.
"I hate that sound," the woman muttered through clenched teeth.
"The clicking?"
"Yes, the clicking."
"Good. Thought it was just me."
Glass crunched under their shoes. Smoke still drifted through the office from the fire someone had started earlier. Somewhere behind them, people were still screaming.
Jin didn't look back.
The stairwell door was right there.
Almost there.
Almost-
The crawler suddenly lunged at them fast.
Jin shoved the woman forward just as claws slammed into the wall beside them, carving deep grooves through concrete.
"Move!"
She stumbled through the stairwell door first.
Jin turned and slammed it shut behind them with all his strength.
The creature hit the other side immediately.
BANG.
The metal door shook violently.
Another impact followed.
BANG.
The handle twisted.
"Please tell me that door is stronger than it looks," the woman said.
"It absolutely is not."
"Great."
Jin backed away as the door shuddered again.
The stairwell itself wasn't empty.
Five people were already there, all of them looking like they had been through hell.
A man in a torn dress shirt held a steel pipe as if it were the only thing keeping him alive. Another younger guy gripped a broken chair leg so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
A woman in a navy blazer stood near the stairs, breathing hard, while another man crouched lower down the steps, blood running from a cut above his eye.
Everyone looked exhausted.
Everyone looked scared.
And every single one of them immediately noticed the black blood covering Jin's shirt and the knife in his hand.
Silence filled the stairwell for a second.
Then the guy with the pipe spoke.
"…Did you kill one?"
Jin really didn't want this to become a conversation.
"Yes," he said.
Nobody replied.
The younger guy stared.
The woman in the blazer blinked.
The injured woman beside him muttered, "He did. It was disgusting."
"Thank you," Jin said flatly.
"You're welcome."
Another slam hit the stairwell door.
Everyone jumped.
The man with the pipe stepped forward immediately.
"We need to keep moving. I'm Minho."
He pointed quickly.
"Hyun. Sora. Daniel. Ji-eun."
Everyone gave short nods.
No one had the energy for proper introductions.
Jin nodded once. "Jin."
The woman beside him adjusted herself against the railing.
"Seul-ki"
Another violent crash hit the door.
This time, the metal bent inward.
Minho swore under his breath.
"Yeah, names are enough. Let's move."
Nobody argued.
They started down the stairs fast, footsteps echoing loudly through the concrete stairwell.
They were currently on the sixth floor, so six more floors of terror to go through to escape this hell.
Jin stayed near the back with Seul-ki, helping her limp downward while the others moved ahead.
Above them-
BANG.
The stairwell door finally gave way.
Metal screamed.
Something entered.
The clicking returned.
Closer now.
"Not ideal," Seul-ki said.
"That is a massive understatement."
They pushed faster.
The stairs felt endless.
Someone ahead slipped and nearly fell.
Daniel caught him.
Sora was crying quietly while trying not to.
Nobody said anything about it.
Fear had become too normal already.
Halfway down, a heavy impact shook the entire stairwell.
Not the crawler.
Something else.
Something bigger.
Everyone froze.
Another impact came from above.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Jin felt it through the railing.
His chest tightened.
"It's just one thing after the other..." Seul-ki whispered.
Nobody disagreed.
The smaller creatures had stopped clicking.
Even they were backing away.
Whatever was coming now was something they feared too.
That was not comforting.
A low growl rolled through the stairwell like distant thunder.
Concrete dust drifted from the ceiling.
Minho gripped the steel pipe tighter.
"What the hell is that?"
Jin looked upward into the dim stairwell.
A massive shadow moved above them.
The metal railing groaned.
Then they saw it.
A huge hand wrapped around the upper railing.
Its fingers looked like broken stone covered in black flesh. The steel bent instantly under its grip.
Then came the eyes.
Two glowing red eyes stared down at them from the darkness.
Seul-ki whispered, "We are so screwed."
Jin didn't disagree.
"Run."
They ran down the stairs as the creature forced itself into the stairwell behind them, concrete cracking under its weight.
Its roar shook the walls.
It was coming.