I was sitting at the end of the conference room. Unable to relax, I sucked down the coffee placed in front of me, but it only made my stomach churn. It was the worst.
“We’ll start the meeting. First, let’s hold a memorial for our colleague, Reporter Park, who lost his life in an on-site accident last week.”
Just now I noticed that several chrysanthemums were stuck in a vase in the center of the conference room table.
“……?”
And the PD was just now taking out a fresh chrysanthemum and putting it in that vase.
“I hope we won’t have to put any more chrysanthemums in this vase.”
“……!”
Wait, so that means people died for every flower stuck in there?
Looking closely, the flowers in the back were all withered and wilted, proving that they’d been doing this memorial ritual periodically.
“That aside, shall we decide who will take over Reporter Park’s duties?”
The gazes in the conference room strangely gathered toward me.
“I nominate him. Lee Yesol-ssi, who doesn’t have a position yet, seems like the right person. Looking at Lee Yesol-ssi’s career, his [Territory Game] related background is quite impressive. Until a year ago, he was even a regular panel member on a show that professionally analyzed land.”
“That’s true, but for fieldwork, I’m an E-rank Esper whose abilities haven’t manifested, so……”
“That’s fine since you’re in a close relationship with Esper Kim Seohyeon, so he’ll be careful to protect you……”
“……”
“Ah, while we’re at it, how about getting an exclusive interview too? Fans are curious about trivial things. Like whether Esper Kim Seohyeon is pro-mint-choco or anti-mint-choco, things like that.”
“Wow, that’s so good. Let’s try extracting it with a fan base algorithm. And let’s add some balance games too!”
The conference room got excited amongst themselves over my neck.
No matter how wretched my life was, to my mother I was her one and only precious child.
Since I didn’t want to commit the unfilial act of dying before her, even if it meant being disliked in the broadcasting industry, I had to express my refusal.
“I’m sorry, but I have a widowed mother, so I can’t do dangerous work.”
“But earlier you said you’d work hard enough to die……”
“I mean I’ll work at any labor intensity to that extent, not that I’ll literally die.”
The air turned cold.
I’m probably going to get fired today.
“Oh, I forgot to mention the most important thing.”
“……?”
“The hazard pay.”
The PD’s eyes blinked slowly.
The next day, I was on site.
* * *
‘I did come because the pay wasn’t something I could easily refuse.’
Looking around.
There was no cameraman or anything.
All I was given was a head cam and a camera that looked like a GoPro.
I’d roughly learned how to operate them, but honestly, in terms of both equipment quality and content quality, I couldn’t say I was competitive compared to one-person ChickTubers who charged in with fire in their eyes.
I sat squeezed among the bustling Espers and photo card collectors who had gathered to photograph Kim Seohyeon, eating the free meal provided by the city hall.
Even the trays had run out, so I was barely managing to shove down the dried squid kimbap I’d barely obtained. I also finished one triangular coffee milk that I’d torn open with my canine teeth. Low-ranking Espers like me got less tired if we filled our stomachs well.
‘I need to get an interview with Kim Seohyeon.’
I have no idea where that bastard even is.
Snow was falling from the sky. Breath came out of people’s mouths as they spoke, and fire-type Espers enshrined here and there raised the temperature of the camp.
The color of the black smoke that circled along the boundaries of Anyang City Manan-gu Bakdal-dong was gradually becoming clearer.
-Rolly-nyang rolly-nyang rolly-rolly-nyang-nyang!
A pre-battle festival was in full swing at the center of the camp. Insiders dancing the currently popular hula dance, cheering people, and ChickTubers mixed in, capturing the scene on camera.
If those people died, the ChickTubers would probably slap this happy scene as a thumbnail.
[These people 30 minutes later…… all dead?!]
Provocative red text was clearly drawn.
A ChickTuber who had just finished filming took a spot in the relatively quiet area in front of me and, without hesitation, started tapping on a laptop keyboard.
[Amazing Korea! Europe sends praise and Japan trembles in fear at Korea’s appearance of burning passion on the decisive day]
It was a patriotism-filled vulture. The Korean flag stuck in the backpack was the finishing touch.
The Anyang mayor who came up on the platform grabbed the microphone.
“Respected citizens, beloved citizens! With your enthusiastic support, blood, and effort, Anyang has been able to protect all its land. Thank you sincerely.”
All except Bakdal-dong in this region, that is. If we protect this land today, Anyang City will achieve a ‘clean sheet’ and the regional value will rise greatly.
“Our foundation, the territory of the Republic of Korea! As long as we are on this land, we must never lose even a single grain of dust.”
After finishing his speech, the mayor hurried down and evacuated his body outside the smoke.
Whether it becomes porridge or rice, he himself must live, so it was a gesture saying you all figure out how to save the land amongst yourselves.
The smoke seemed to explosively rise up, then a clear night sky was revealed. The stars that had been densely embedded here and there began to shake.
Game #425.
<Fall of the Stars>
[Stars are falling! Everyone run away!]
[Time limit: Until all the stars fall]
[Reward: Recapture of Manan-gu]
“Aaaaah! This is crazy! What’s the difficulty level of this!?”
It instantly became pandemonium. People frantically digging the ground and people looking for bomb shelters. People crowding at space-type portals, and people who had already fled.
In the distance, the first star chunk fell, bursting with a tremendous explosion and a blinding flash of light. Trees burned. Several people cried out in pain, looking for Guides.
“We can’t block it…… We’re…… we’re…… all going to die.”
“I came for nothing…… This is insane. This…… even if Kim Seohyeon came, he couldn’t stop this.”
“Where’s Esper Kim Seohyeon! Kim Seohyeon!”
Large cracks formed even in the frozen ground. I heard that several people had just fallen through those gaps and died.
Then, an Esper who was known for always finding a way to survive walked over and jumped into that gap alone.
“Oh…… that’s Kim Seohyeon!”
“If you jump there, you’ll live!”
As the second star hanging in the sky shook like baby teeth, people in panic jumped in after Kim Seohyeon.
Dozens, hundreds of people did so.
I also tried to hurry and jump in before another flash of light destroyed my optic nerves.
“Uh……!”
But I hesitated. Because the bottom was a pitch-black darkness.
Just like any other chunks of land that had been forever carved out.
‘Since Kim Seohyeon jumped in, it should be okay, right?’
Still, carefully. My intention to slide along the four sides of the wall was rendered useless as my body quickly floated up.
And after a moment, I landed softly. Looking down, it was all a field of corpses of people who had jumped in first.
Why…… why…… are they all dead like this?
Thanks to them, I survived by using them as nutrients…….
First things first, I checked the camera. It was working fine. The head cam was okay too.
But it seems like…… I’m the only one who survived.
People were always dying. Not wanting to lose sight of Kim Seohyeon’s back visible in the distance, I pushed through the field of corpses and ran clumsily.
He, who had been walking dragging his feet, suddenly stopped and turned around.
‘Huk.’
Our eyes met and my breath stopped for a moment.
His face was epic. That atmosphere of seeming to carry the world’s hardships alone looked like something money couldn’t buy.
Even the scar running long from his jaw to his neck was a work of art. And the black hair growing wild without any styling and those black eyes…….
Suddenly, my gray hair, heavily styled to receive some public attention, and my purple lenses felt shabby.
Swag is for guys like that. While I was admiring him alone, the guy who had been staring at me spoke.
“How did you survive?”
“Oh, Seohyeon-ah!”
“It’s not air pressure that a废级 could withstand.”
“Ah, thanks to those people’s sacrifice……”
I muttered while pointing at the mountain of corpses. Ah, seeing dead people is strange no matter how many times I see it.
Come to think of it, that was strange too. Why did all those people die? When I, an E-rank Esper, am perfectly fine.
“……”
Kim Seohyeon was the same as what I’d seen through media.
Although he had doubts about me at some point, he soon started walking his way as if it didn’t matter.
“Where are you going with an injured body?”
“……”
“Don’t do that and sit down to rest? Do an interview with me too.”
This place we entered to avoid the falling stars was cozy. Lightning occasionally fell but you just had to dodge it skillfully.
“Seohyeon, Seohyeon, Seohyeon!”
“Fuck off.”
“……”
“Before I kill you.”
Ah…… that last statement felt too sincere.
Could it be that he encountered through media that I’ve been going around everywhere lying about being close with him?
……Then, let’s apologize and get an exclusive interview! I looked at Kim Seohyeon’s receding back and organized my filming equipment.
* * *
So,
This story begins with the struggles of a reporter from a failed idol background.
My appearance filled the camera—my dry ash brown hair stiffly erected with the power of wax and wearing the trendy pop color purple contact lenses.
[Rec……]
“Yes. Right now, the time is past 10:40 PM. Esper Kim Seohyeon looks quite exhausted.”
“……”
“I will now go to the exhausted Esper Kim Seohyeon and hand him Dori mineral water and caramel cookies!”
I approached Kim Seohyeon with firm steps, holding the water bottle label I received for PPL visible to the selfie cam lens.
“Yes, Kim Seohyeon-ssi. Hello?”
Kim Seohyeon, who had been sitting on a rock, raised his gaze obliquely.
My arms and legs finally began trembling at the intimidating spirit of an S-rank Esper, but I couldn’t give up on the interview.
I came risking my life from the start.
“DBC Broadcasting Station, [Good Morning Korea]’s new reporter Lee Yesol. Would it be alright to have a brief interview?”
“……”
“Hm, Seohyeon-ah?”
Anyway, I pulled out and opened my notebook from my pocket.
“Yes, then I’ll go with the first question.”
Ahem, ahem.
“Esper Kim Seohyeon, dipping sauce faction or pouring sauce faction.”
My voice echoed loudly off the rough walls.
“It’s time to choose!”
“……”
Haa, seriously. It felt like talking to a wall. The cannibalistic monster petting challenge might have been better.
……Can’t help it.
I just dropped to my knees.
“Seohyeon-ah, do you remember me?”
“……”
“Cheolseon High School, 3rd year, Class 3, Lee Yesol. We were in the same class. You know, right? I was the one who bragged a lot about becoming an idol.”
Let’s at least cling to our school connection.
“This is what happened to me. If I can’t get your interview, this time I might really…… get fired. I can’t get fired.”
And let’s pathetically appeal to sympathy.
“My mom is really sick, Seohyeon-ah. Flower Sprout Disease, you know it? I’m the only one who can provide money for the house……”
I gripped his pant leg tightly. If things went wrong, I could even strip them off. That’s how desperate I was.
“Hm, Seohyeon-ah?”
“Ah…… just fuck off.”
When Seohyeon lifted and shook one leg, my body flew to a corner and crashed.
“Argh……”
……I think my ribs are shattered, but they’ll handle industrial accident compensation, right?
I bit my lip hard against the pain that felt like it would collapse me and barely raised my body, but I saw that the camera lens was broken.
Fortunately, I managed to save the head cam on my head. Really making every painful expression, I crawled closer. There was no such thing as giving up. However, whoosh. The surge of sadness couldn’t be helped.
“You son of a bitch…… there was no need to bully a person this much.”
Kim Seohyeon didn’t answer. Actually, he wasn’t in the mental state to do so. He had to pull himself together with his waves that wouldn’t spread and his fragmenting mind, but this fly kept clinging to him.
“Ah, where are you going……”
Kim Seohyeon, who got up from his seat, was staggering away.
“Jongga……”
“Jongga?”
“From over there, I keep, hearing sounds……”
What are you muttering, that bastard. A staggering person chased after a staggering person.
“Just do one interview before you go……”
My chest throbbed painfully. Intense pain rushed in as if my ribs had suffered internal injuries.
Eventually, I collapsed weakly. While collapsing, I also achieved the feat of grabbing that guy’s pant leg.
This time Kim Seohyeon also couldn’t use his strength and fell together.
“Eh, hey? Are you okay?”
I knew from earlier that Kim Seohyeon’s condition wasn’t good. But I didn’t know he’d collapse so weakly all of a sudden. Bewildered, flustered.
“Hey, hey. Try opening your eyes.”
When I poked his cheek, a sharp electric current traveled up my fingertips.
Only then did I gradually begin to realize the seriousness of the situation.
This state…… pre-rampage symptoms…….
I hurriedly found and grabbed the water bottle that had fallen.
“Hey, wait, just try to calm down first. Hey, hey.”
I pulled down the lower lip of Kim Seohyeon, who had already lost consciousness, and poured water in, but the water didn’t go down his throat.
Ice chunks even started to fall from the crevasse walls that resonated together with Kim Seohyeon’s unstable waves.
“Are you crazy!”
I slapped Seohyeon’s cheeks. My heart became urgent.
I had to save him first and see. I took water in my mouth. Next, I just injected it into that guy’s mouth. Even doing this, precious water kept dripping.
I had no choice but to firmly seal his lips and wiggle my tongue.
Living my life to end up doing this with a classmate bastard. But soon something even more bizarre happened.
When I tried to pull my lips away, this bastard grabbed my tongue as if sucking it.
As if those lips were a baby’s pacifier to suck on, he persistently dug in.
“……You jerk?”
The brief convulsion subsided.
Leaving those words, Kim Seohyeon lost consciousness.
I wiped the saliva hanging stickily with the back of my hand when suddenly a sharp sensation swept by.
My gaze turned upward. At the same time, a giant chunk of ice crushed all reason.
Fresh red blood bloomed like colors on transparent ice, like peach blossoms.
It was a death by misfortune.
