As the staff member just rolled their eyes in confusion, Seo Sihan also spoke in an aggrieved tone.
“It shouldn’t hurt… more than this…?”
“Huh? I really hit gently though…. Does it hurt? I’m sorry….”
“Ah, no. It doesn’t hurt at all.”
It was Jeong Minha who hit him, but somehow Seo Sihan was the one floundering. Seo Sihan smiled at the apologizing Jeong Minha saying it was a joke, but was covering the arm he got hit on with his opposite hand. It wasn’t even a joke, he really looked like it hurt.
Seeing the two of them, the staff member finally asked the question they were most curious about.
“Are you two perhaps… family?”
“No?”
Jeong Minha quickly denied it. His expression looked like he had heard quite the nonsense. But Seo Sihan pondered for a moment, then bowed his head and whispered something in Jeong Minha’s ear.
“……!!”
Jeong Minha, with a face that quickly turned red, squeezed his eyes shut and eventually even hit Seo Sihan’s back. This time there was a real thwack, a loud hitting sound.
Then he hurriedly apologized seeing Seo Sihan who really looked like he was in pain. S-sorry! But hyung was the one who first…! He rubbed his back while saying something in a flustered tone.
Seo Sihan said it was fine and that Minha is cool for being strong as expected…. After praising him, he leaned against the wall. He was barely smiling with just his mouth.
The game hadn’t even started yet but one person already seemed injured. The staff member was curious about their relationship too, but since the game was more important for now, they quickly changed the subject.
“…A-anyway! To continue the explanation. When you use the VR device, objects you can touch will be displayed in blue with explanations. In the case of food, you can eat it, in the case of building doors, you can open them, and if a window is marked in blue, you can break it and go out.”
“W-windows?”
Jeong Minha asked, doubting his own ears. The staff member answered with a smile.
“Haha, yes. It’s not real glass but made of toy bricks, so you won’t get hurt. However, because it looks like glass in the VR device, the realism will be vivid. Weapons may also look really sharp and dangerous in VR, but they’re actually made of soft rubber material, so it’s okay to touch them.”
“Wow, this is really amazing….”
When Jeong Minha admired it, this time the staff member shrugged their shoulders.
“One hour in reality is one day in the game. If you follow the progression quest smoothly in hard mode, theoretically you can escape in five hours, so 5 days. If you meet the rescue team at the end and escape, you clear the game.”
“Oh….”
“Because the immersion is so great, an alarm recommending rest will sound every 1 hour in reality. If it’s difficult, you can finish and continue later, or even if not, we recommend actually taking off the device and resting for about 10 minutes. Also, you cannot play in a mentally unstable state where you confuse reality and the game…. You agreed to this part in the documents, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Ah, and if you receive a fatal injury such as being hit by falling debris, being crushed, or being severely bitten by a zombie, a warning window saying you cannot move will appear on that person’s device screen. Then that person cannot move, and the companion can only support them or treat them. If you break the rules and move, you’ll get a game over immediately, so please be careful.”
“Gasp, yes. But if I get bitten by a zombie and support them and take them with me, won’t I get infected too?”
The staff member laughed because of Jeong Minha’s serious question, as if he had watched a lot of zombie movies.
“That’s right! Depending on the bitten area, a survival time count will be set on that device. If you can’t obtain the cure within the time, that person automatically becomes a zombie. If the companion was attached to them, they get infected and both people get a game over. If they were separated, from then on it becomes a one-on-one match!”
“What?”
“It’s human versus zombie. The infected person is no longer attacked by zombies. Instead, the quest changes to attacking the companion who is still human. If the infected person succeeds in attacking the companion, it’s the infected person’s victory, and if they defeat the infected person or succeed in escaping alone, it’s the companion’s victory.”
“…In the zombie state, can’t they turn back into a human?”
“Ooh. You pinpointed it exactly. It’s possible! However, a powerful cure is hidden in just one place in this wide city. It’s basically a battle of luck, so you’ll probably just give up and focus on escaping alone.”
“Hmm….”
Seo Sihan just smiled quietly and listened, watching Jeong Minha making a serious expression about whether to actually abandon them or not.
After pondering for a moment, Jeong Minha suddenly asked an additional question that came to mind.
“But if the infected person and survivor were attached from the beginning, both get a game over, so why do they get a new match if they were separated?”
“The fact that they were attached even though they got infected means they were supporting the infected person to help them, right? In that both of them tried to help until the end at the risk of dying themselves, both amicably get a game over. But being separated includes the situation of abandoning them…. From then on, hell’s revenge time begins.”
The staff member laughed “hehe” with an inexplicably sinister expression. Jeong Minha made an absurd expression, then soon understood and asked.
“But it could have been a situation where they told them to wait briefly to obtain the cure.”
“Yes! That’s right. Wow, since someone who knows these situations well came, I’m excited too?”
The staff member agreed with a bright face, then looked at Seo Sihan who was just quietly listening and carefully asked a question.
“Director-nim, is the content so far okay with you…?”
“I’m just… planning to trust and follow Minha.”
“That’s right. I’ll protect hyung.”
“Oh my….”
Seeing the heartwarming two people, the staff member resolved. I absolutely have to record the entire situation and just make a movie for promotional purposes, they vowed and continued the explanation.
“Anyway, even in that situation, they could have actually lied and run away, right? Well, it depends on the infected person’s thoughts. So the infected person can choose. According to the quest, they have to attack the companion who left them to win, but if they don’t want to do that, they don’t have to attack. They give up victory.”
“Oh….”
“However, since they’re in a zombie state… they can infect even with just accidental contact, so they have to be careful. Also, they can’t attack each other with zombies who are on the same side. Still, they can follow around from a slight distance. It won’t help with escape, but it’s a rule for those who still want to help their companion escape until the end and want to play the game together.”
“I see….”
With a few more questions and answers that followed, the staff member finished the explanation.
It was already 1:30. The two people stood in position at the center entrance.
Soon a siren began to sound inside the wide center. It was the sound announcing the game start.
Seo Sihan and Jeong Minha put on helmets equipped with VR eye masks for the last time and looked around. The cutting-edge devices that had been sparkling and shining until just now all turned into objects covered in dust and emitting an ominous red light. There were also things like blood splattered here and there. It was a perfect ruined city with a desolate atmosphere.
The world had changed, but only each other was visible in their equipped state as is. The helmet was equipped only up to the eyes, and the nose and mouth parts were open. Since the top wasn’t visible and only the lower face was visible, they somehow seemed like different people.
“It’s hyung, right? You really look like some kind of agent.”
“Minha too…. Even looking like this, you’re cool.”
“Ahem….”
While the two were peacefully praising each other’s appearance, the lights suddenly went out and an announcement sounded.
[A large number of abnormal mutants confirmed throughout Seoul City XX District, citizens are requested to immediately gather swiftly at emergency shelters. We inform you once again. A large number throughout Seoul City XX District…]
Soon after, strange sounds began to be heard from the surroundings. Jeong Minha finally realized. He was empty-handed.
“Uh, uh! I don’t have a gun?!”
“We’ll have to collect weapons while going around. I think they were hidden inside buildings….”
“Let’s go quickly!”
“Okay.”
Jeong Minha was confident in shooting, but not confident in fighting zombies with bare hands. They said zombies weren’t people or machines but illusions from the VR itself, but still, he was reluctant to engage in close combat. Therefore, he immediately ran on the broken asphalt road and checked on Seo Sihan following from the side.
“This really connects to the terrain, right? I’m scared to just run around! What if we trip over something and fall?”
“What you see is probably all real terrain? I heard it cost a lot of money to build like a movie set….”
At first, they walked carefully waving their arms around like when walking with eyes closed, but after realizing it was the same as the actual terrain as Seo Sihan said, they began to move freely.
Jeong Minha, who quickly adapted, was running through the middle of the road when he quickly hid his body against the wall of a building on the side. He pulled Seo Sihan’s arm who followed and whispered quietly.
“Hyung, do you see that? Could that be a zombie?”
“…I think it is?”
