Chapter 13. Performance Pressure (3)

[The TF team configuration has been completed.]

Fwoosh—!

As the system message faded, bright, white light beams shot across the ground, connecting people together into groups. There were a total of five teams, consisting of four members each.

From beneath Eun-Ho’s feet, the beam split in three directions, linking him to Ji-Eun, Jae-Hyuk, and a man in a cap, who had sprinted ahead to join them.

“Yes!” the man in the cap pumped his fist.

“

Um...

can you back off a bit?” Eun-Ho said, cautiously taking a step back to put some space between them.

No matter how he moved, the light beam remained, following his feet with pinpoint accuracy. The system seemed to be making sure no one got confused mid-trial.

“This setup is actually really intuitive,” Ji-Eun observed.

“Right? I was wondering how we’d know who’s on our team.”

Number 1 glowed faintly at the epicenter of the beam.

“We’re Team One, I guess,” Eun-Ho said, looking around.

All across the area, five light trails connected five different groups of four people. The pattern was unmistakable.

“There are five teams in total,” Jae-Hyuk confirmed, scanning the others.

“The real question is what the objective is and what they mean by performance.”

Eun-Ho looked around, but found no clues, no instructions, and no visible enemies. There were only twenty confused, fidgety people standing in glowing lines, like flies stuck in an invisible web.

“

Aaah!

We’re screwed!” wailed a woman from another team. It was Ye-Ji from the accounting team.

“Oh come on! We haven’t even started yet!” said an older security guard beside her.

“Young lady, you’ve got a blue big ol’ sword. You’ll be just fine. If you need something, don’t hesitate to ask!” chimed in a cheerful cleaning lady.

The number

2

glowed under Ye-Ji's feet. Next to her stood the security guard, the cleaning lady, and a young office worker nervously scratching his head.

“I-is there any way to switch teams?” asked a man wearing glasses, whose number read 4. He pointed accusingly at a small child clinging to her father and crying. “This isn’t fair! You can’t count a kid in the headcount!”

“

Waaah—!

”

“Stop yelling! You’re scaring her!” someone snapped.

“Scaring her? We’re all about to die! Come on, it’s three versus four! We deserve bonus points! Right?!” he shouted into the air, but the system didn’t respond.

Apparently, the system didn’t care whether one was a grade-schooler or a grown adult. Each person was just another life in the game. If one’s team could not perform, they deserved to be erased.

[Task Force team progress will be tracked in real time.]

[A total of 500 points can be earned. Each enemy defeated awards 5 points.]

[Refer to Performance Status for updates.]

With a mechanical calmness that ignored the panic below, a translucent window materialized midair.

[First Round Performance Status]

- Team 1: 0 / 100 points

- Team 2: 0 / 100 points

- Team 3: 0 / 100 points

- Team 4: 0 / 100 points

- Team 5: 0 / 100 points

“Looks like we’re Team Five,” a girl muttered.

“Is this a scoreboard or what?” another asked.

“It feels like class rankings. Gross,” said a third, tugging at the checkered school skirt beneath her gray vest.

Come to think of it, it

did

resemble one of those ranking charts from school, or maybe one of those sales leaderboards from the business department.

“Yeo-Jin, I’m scared,” whispered one of the girls.

“It’s okay. Just do what you did yesterday,” Yeo-Jin replied quietly.

“But still...”

The two high school girls kept whispering back and forth, nervously eyeing the bloodied man in their team, and the Performance Status board. One gripped a mop handle and the other held what looked like a small kitchen knife.

“Alright, we should start getting ready,” Eun-Ho said.

“Yes, Hyungnim,” Jae-Hyuk replied.

Jae-Hyuk and Ji-Eun nodded, opening their hands.

Then, just like they’d practiced the day before, they each called out: “Summon.”

[The Razor Beak Blade has been summoned.]

A sleek sword flickered into view above Jae-Hyuk and Ji-Eun’s palm. Round and smooth hilt, along with a blade that gleamed with a chill that bit at the eyes. As they gripped the semi-transparent handle, the sword solidified, gaining weight.

Just as they finished preparing, there was a split second of silence.

Creeeak—!

For an instant, the world went still. There was a ripple of distortion, a gut-wrenching shock, as if invisible blades had torn through them. Then, the sky tore open and the Eye appeared once more.

[By the Administrator's authority, the Eye is now open.]

[Defeat as many enemies as possible within the time limit!]

“It’s the Eye!”

“Get ready. Stay sharp, got it?”

[54:59]

The countdown began as the glowing Eye reappeared in the sky above Seoul Station, akin to a flare signaling the beginning of something catastrophic.

“Eun-Ho, do you see any enemies?” Ji-Eun asked, glancing around.

“No idea,” Eun-Ho replied. “We’re the only ones here...”

“They don’t expect us to fight each other, right?” Ji-Eun’s hand trembled as she tightened her grip on her summoned blade.

The other teams looked just as confused.

“Just in case, let’s keep our distance from the others. We don’t know wha—wait.”

Thud. Thud.

As they stayed alert for danger, the sound of footsteps echoed up from the stairwell below Seoul Station.

Ji-Eun’s eyes widened as she spotted a woman slowly descending down the steps. “Assistant Manager Yoon?!”

The woman was a friendly senior colleague from the American sales team, always dressed in crisp suits and chatting effortlessly with foreign buyers over the phone. Ji-Eun admired her poise and her elegance.

“I’m glad you are aliv—”

She could not finish her sentence. The elegant dress pants Assistant Manager Yoon used to wear were torn off mid-thigh. Moreover, her lower legs, from the knees down, were completely gone.

“

Huh...?

”

Perhaps she came all the way here on her knees. With every step, her knees slammed against the concrete like grotesque rubber stamps, leaving grisly prints behind.

“

Grrrr...

” She growled just like a beast.

Thud. Thud.

Then, she charged.

“Ji-Eun!” Eun-Ho yelled.

“Watch out, Noonim!” Jae-Hyuk shouted at the same time.

Ji-Eun stumbled backward, the color draining from her face. Behind her, people began screaming as they too noticed what was coming up the stairs.

“

Aaaah!

Oh my God!”

“What the hell is that?!”

Even Ji-Eun, who had steeled her nerves, couldn’t handle the sight. Someone she’d once shared lunch with was now dragging herself forward like a demon from a nightmare.

“I’m... I’m okay,” she muttered, barely holding herself up.

However, Assistant Manager Yoon was not alone. More figures began to pour in behind her—dozens, maybe hundreds. They climbed down the stairs with stiff, jerking movements.

Some of those faces were familiar.

“Team Leader Lee...?” Eun-Ho whispered.

“Y-you know him?” Jae-Hyuk asked.

Know him? Of course I do.

Eun-Ho had worked under that man for two years before being laid off in a round of restructuring process. The team leader he remembered was a fastidious man who always combed his thinning hair, and worried about soup stains on his shirt.

“What the hell? How is he still moving?”

“Hyungnim! Look! Look at his head!” Jae-Hyuk gasped.

One fourth of the left side of the team leader’s skull, above the eye, had been blown off.

Whatever had hit him—maybe a car, or a metal pipe—had cracked his skull open like a melon. He staggered forward, brain matter sliding out as he moved. His face contorted into something far beyond death.

“He was just going out for the blood sausage soup,” Eun-Ho murmured.

Following him, there were more bodies with missing limbs, guts spilling out of torn torsos, and joints bent at unnatural angles. Every person climbing the stairs bore the marks of violent death.

And yet, they kept walking, as if pulled by some invisible force, without being slowed down by their injuries. Their eyes were glazed over, but their focus was razor sharp.

“What the hell is this...” someone muttered.

A certain word took shape in every person’s mind at once. Whispered, yet unmistakable, “Zombies.”

While most stood frozen in horror, one man lunged into action.

“Who’s that?”

He was the lone survivor from Seoul Station.

Whack—!

With brutal precision, he shattered the remaining leg of a one-legged zombie, sending it crashing down. Then, without pause, he snatched a broken soju bottle off the ground, driving it into the chest of another.

There was neither hesitation nor fear, just cold efficiency. Even the zombies, driven by whatever twisted hunger, seemed to falter for a moment at the sheer force of his assault.

Thwack!

“

Grrrr!

”

One of the zombies charged straight at him, impaling itself on the broken soju bottle, restricting the man’s right hand. Without flinching, the man wrenched his arm free, tearing the zombie’s head clean off.

“What kind of strength is that?” Jae-Hyuk gasped.

However, it was not just strength.

Clearly, there’s no hesitation,

Eun-Ho thought.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

In this kind of situation, most people couldn’t even kill an animal, let alone something that still resembled a human. Hence, what kind of life had this man led to rip another person to shreds without a second thought?

“That guy’s dangerous. Stay alert,” Eun-Ho warned.

“Yes, Hyungnim!”

Now wasn’t the time to be distracted. Even though dozens of zombies had been knocked back from the stairs, the swarm kept on coming. If anything, there were more of them.

Come on! Get it together!,

thought Eun-Ho.

In this hell of a world, he had to become a predator, just like that man. Kill, or be killed.

“Assistant Manager Yoon! Please, stop! Don’t come any closer!”

“

Grrrrr.

”

Swish!

In a single, clean cut, the blade sliced clean through Assistant Manager Yoon’s back. Eun-Ho was the one to strike. Ji-Eun was still frozen, unable to raise her sword.

“Use your sword!” he shouted. “Unless you

want

to end up like them!”

***

“

Grrrr!

”

Eun-Ho ducked, avoiding the zombie flailing its arms as if splashing through water, barreling toward him in a frenzy. To stop it from moving, Eun-Ho had to go for the legs, not its torso.

Swish!

Cutting through the thigh of one lunging from the left, he then kicked the zombie on the right, knocking it and the one behind it down. However, they didn’t stay down. They came at him again, as if nothing had happened.

“This is insane! How do we kill these things?!”

“There’s just too many of them!” Ji-Eun cried.

[19:10]

Even though they had been fighting for thirty minutes, the Performance Status didn’t change.

[First Round Performance Status]

- Team 1: 0 / 100 points

- Team 2: 0 / 100 points

- Team 3: 0 / 100 points

- Team 4: 0 / 100 points

- Team 5: 0 / 100 points

How is it still the same from the beginning?

Eun-Ho thought.

“No matter how much we hit them, our score isn't going up!”

“Damn it! Is it because they’re not actually dying?!”

What are we missing? How can we fully kill the zombies? Or was killing zombies not even the objective?

Eun-Ho thought.

“M-maybe the system doesn’t count zombies as enemies?” Ji-Eun asked between ragged breaths.

“I don’t know either,” Eun-Ho admitted. “But there has to be a rule.”

So far, every trial had some hidden logic behind it. It was never spelled out, but always there.

This time, I’ve got nothing

, thought Eun-Ho

He looked around, searching for a clue. All he could see were mutilated zombies—limping, twitching, falling apart, yet still moving.

“Mutilated...” Eun-Ho muttered.

“Sorry, what?” Ji-Eun asked.

Eun-Ho’s eyes widened as something gleamed faintly. Amid the tangled mess of the zombie’s hair, a glint of something shiny caught his attention.

“Ji-Eun!”

“Y-Yes?!”

“The corpses we saw on the way here, why weren’t they moving?”

“

Uh,

maybe because their bodies were too damaged?”

“But these zombies are damaged too. Some of them are just torsos, yet they still move!”

“Then maybe, the ones we saw had no heads?”

“That’s it!”

The zombies attacking them still had their heads, with a faintly shimmering silver thread hidden beneath their tangled hair. It was subtle, almost invisible, especially given the erratic movements of the zombies.

“Petrify!”

What if that thread was deliberately hidden in the hair?

Eun-Ho thought.

Yank!

The next moment, Eun-Ho grabbed the silver thread wriggling near a male zombie’s neck.

Swoosh—!

It squirmed.

“W-what the hell is that, Hyungnim?!”

“Is that a bug?!”

“That’s the real body!” Eun-Ho shouted.

Swish!

He flung it to the ground and sliced it open. A screech of metal echoed as the blade grated against its shell. The creature twitched a few times, then fell still.

Phew it’s dead—no wait. Shit!

Eun-Ho thought.

Fwoosh—!

It became two and burst out at lightning speed. They flew straight for his neck.

Well, you guys are fast, but so am I,

thought Eun-Ho.

“Accelerate!”

Zoooom!

Snatching both mid-flight, he slammed them to the floor. He pinned one down with his sword, and stomped on the other with his heel. Even with all his weight behind it, it took several crushes to finally rupture their organs.

Squelch—!

[You have defeated the halved Needle Parasite.]

This was the real enemy controlling the zombies from inside.

[First Round Performance Status]

- Team 1: 3 / 100 points

- Team 2: 0 / 100 points

- Team 3: 0 / 100 points

- Team 4: 0 / 100 points

- Team 5: 0 / 100 points

“Whaaaat?!”

“Theeeiir scoooore weeent uuuup!”

For the first time, the numbers ticked upward. The zombie finally collapsed, convulsing weakly as the parasite wriggled helplessly beneath his foot.

Everyone’s eyes sharpened with renewed focus.

“That’s it!”

“It’s the bugs! Get the bugs!”

“Find them fast!”

With ten minutes left before the first elimination, the actual first round had just begun.