Chapter 566
* * *
This was America, Los Angeles. Marcus, a reaction Intuber with 4.8 million subscribers, kept watching 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 even though he had originally planned to stop after just Episode 1.
His main reaction genres were massive blockbusters backed by overwhelming budgets, sci-fi, dark fantasy, and thrillers.
In other words, he was someone with absolutely no connection to K-dramas.
“Marcus :D React to that new apocalypse series NetHolics Korea is putting out.”
“lol Marcus watching K-dramas? I can confidently say that won't produce a good reaction!”
“K-dramas these days are different from before. The acting and stories are incredible. I don't even want to go back to the me who didn't know that.”
“I'd rather rewatch Game of Sovereigns from the beginning than watch something like a K-drama.”
But news that the Hollywood master John Eastwood had chosen an Asian actor for the first time piqued his interest. The name was unfamiliar too.
Myeong Jeha.
“This could be fun if I tear it apart properly.”
His focus was fixed solely on the man who had received a love call from Director Eastwood.
There were two directions for the reaction.
Was he really good enough to make it to Hollywood or not?
And just how cliché would the apocalypse story these people had created be?
Marcus, who could practically be considered a professional when it came to zombie media, intended to focus his reaction on those aspects.
If the story unfolded exactly as he predicted in real time, the atmosphere would become one where even NetHolics Korea couldn't stand before Marcus.
“Oh shit!”
At least, that had been true in the beginning.
Marcus, who had casually thrown on his headset and was laughing while munching on salty snacks, was now more engrossed than anyone.
“Wait, wait, no. This isn't right. They're killing them off this fast?”
Marcus caused a scene as though his own mother were trapped behind the fire shutter.
He had been leaning back against his chair, but before he knew it, he had bent forward so far it looked as though he would be sucked into the screen.
“Ahh... ngh...”
The dark control room that served as the hospital's control tower came into view.
The doctor presumed to have lowered the fire shutter rolled around on the floor.
The CCTV screens displayed hell itself.
People running frantically out the main entrance.
Zombies chasing after them.
The entrance to the annex completely surrounded.
Even the parking lot had been overrun.
“Urgh... grrk... ngh...”
The doctor rolling on the floor transformed into a zombie.
The people around him were no different.
The screen changed.
On Jihwa was there, grabbing the fire shutter and shaking it desperately, trying to break it somehow.
“Mom! Mom!”
“Jihwa, Mom's okay. So hurry and go upstairs!”
On Jihwa didn't answer.
Instead, her trembling hands clung desperately to the shutter.
With the short nails unique to athletes, she scratched at the metal as though trying anything.
She couldn't see her mother beyond the steel shutter.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
“Mom!”
Jihwa dropped to her knees and tried to lift the bottom of the shutter.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
Vibrations echoed from afar.
Along with screams.
“Jihwa! Go!”
“No!”
Clang-clang-clang.
Jihwa's movements became increasingly frantic.
But she was powerless before the iron wall.
Worse, the noise only attracted more zombies.
Blood finally appeared at the tips of the fingers desperately pulling at the shutter.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Help us! Please help us!”
People who had escaped the zombies pounded on the shutter.
But it was a dead end.
The camera split the screen.
On one side stood On Jihwa alone.
On the other, the survivors and her mother trapped behind the shutter.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
A scream tore through the air.
Whether it belonged to her mother or not, no one could tell.
“Mom!”
On Jihwa screamed until her throat tore.
But her mother didn't answer.
“Urgh... ngh... ah... Ji, hwa...”
Her mother was being devoured by the horde.
Blood tears flowed from her eyes.
The others around her were no different.
“Help me! Help me! Help me!”
The camera rose high into the air.
From a bird's-eye view, the scene inside the shutter was horrific.
Every living person had been slaughtered.
It was when On Jihwa clung to the shutter and cried.
BOOM—!!!
A tremendous explosion erupted.
* * *
“Wait, what's that?”
Do Gyeoul stared intently at Myeong Jeha's arm.
Though he wore a red sukajan jacket, she could see dark crimson stains.
“Ah, this? I bumped into someone who was causing trouble.”
“...”
“It's not my blood.”
“Don't come near me.”
Do Gyeoul put distance between them.
By now, suspicion had become certainty.
There was no way he could have come this far without being bitten.
“Ah, for fuck's sake. Hey.”
“Get out.”
“It's really someone else's blood.”
“I said get out!”
* * *
Blown away from the shutter by the explosion, On Jihwa rolled across the floor.
Her ears seemed deafened as she covered them with both hands.
And then.
Clang. Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!!!
“...”
Strange cracks appeared across the previously smooth, cold gray steel surface.
Under a horrifying pressure from behind, the thick steel plate crumpled like clay.
It began bulging outward.
Creeeeeak—
As the metal stretched, someone's inverted cheekbones, crushed nose, and lips exposing teeth protruded grotesquely from the center of the shutter.
“Ah...”
On Jihwa let out a small groan.
The entire shutter had become ruined by the imprints of faces that no longer belonged to humans.
From ceiling to floor.
Without a single gap.
Clank.
Whether because of the explosion or some unimaginable pressure, the seams of the shutter began tearing apart.
A gap appeared.
KAAANG.
The shutter lifted upward.
Below it, five finger bones clawing desperately at the steel became visible, outlined in blood-red shadows.
“Grrr...! Kgh!”
Overwhelming fear.
Faced with the reality that the shutter would soon break, On Jihwa froze.
All she could do was stare and sweat coldly.
Her soaked forehead.
Eyes clouded with terror.
Even her eyelashes trembling delicately could be seen on the large screen.
Sweat formed in real time on her pale skin.
From her forehead...
To her temples...
Down her cheeks...
Finally—
Drip—
The moment the droplet fell—
“Hey!”
A voice called to On Jihwa from above.
* * *
“Answer a few questions.”
Tak Jeongyun, standing beside Do Gyeoul, looked at Myeong Jeha.
Was it to buy time?
Or to determine whether he was lying?
She hid Do Gyeoul behind her.
* * *
A man with his arm bitten descended from the upper floor while looking at On Jihwa.
“G-give me something to stop the bleeding.”
He was another doctor who had attended the meeting with the hospital director.
“Hurry! Before the infection gets worse!”
“...”
The skin exposed beneath his clothes had begun changing color.
Just like the others.
Uneasy music played.
Music that foretold death the moment she entered his reach.
“Hurry! Hurry!”
Clang-clang-clang-clang.
“Stop just standing there!”
Clang-clang-clang-clang.
The man drew closer.
The fire shutter was on the verge of breaking.
On Jihwa turned and ran.
“Hey!”
But the man's desperation was equally fast.
He grabbed the end of her high ponytail.
The violent force dragged her back.
She crashed into the staircase railing.
Both of them lost their balance.
Not missing the opportunity, the doctor tightened his grip on her hair.
The recoil was fierce.
Staggering, the man accidentally let go.
Bang!
“Uh... ah...”
On Jihwa °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° completely lost her balance.
She tumbled down the stairs.
Her body rolled heavily over the hard hospital steps.
Blood flowed from her head.
Her eyes remained open.
But she couldn't get up.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
An urgent sound came from her smartwatch.
[※A severe fall has been detected.
The user appears to be immobile.
Would you like to send an SOS emergency request?]
“Ah, fuck!”
The doctor, no longer caring about On Jihwa, desperately squeezed his bitten forearm.
Trying somehow to stop the infection.
Beep-beep-beep-beep.
The sound from On Jihwa's smartwatch became unbearable.
“Ah... urgh... grrk...”
Purple discoloration spread all the way to the doctor's neck.
Bulging veins rose grotesquely beneath his skin.
BOOM—!
The fire shutter finally gave way.
The doctor was instantly swallowed by the rushing horde.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH—!”
Amid his agonized screams—
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP—
The sound from On Jihwa's smartwatch overlapped.
[Current heart rate: 0 bpm (Unable to measure)]
“...”
Marcus leapt to his feet.
“Shit!”
On Jihwa had died.
Along with the electronic sound of the watch came the ticking of a second hand.
As though time itself were rewinding.
Then the screen changed.
A delivery motorcycle speeding down the road appeared.
A notification popped up on the phone mounted in front of the man wearing a red helmet.
[Pickup Request]
Peaceful music began to play.
It seemed they were showing the time before the zombie outbreak.
“No, what the hell is this? What the hell is happening? Fine. Let's go back to the very beginning of this damned incident.”
Marcus remained standing as he stared at the screen.
Myeong Jeha was making pickups from restaurants.
“What if... something's hidden inside those bags?”
Marcus decided to make use of his years of experience watching countless works.
If he overlooked nothing, he felt he might be able to find the clue behind this series.
Before he knew it, he had become completely absorbed in the K-drama.
* * *
“What the fuck...”
Aetami clutched her racing heart as she watched Episode 2 of 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉.
“No, this is insane...”
Viewers had naturally assumed Han Yeoreum was the protagonist.
No one had expected this kind of twist.
No one thought they would kill her off almost immediately.
Yet what covered that sense of emptiness was overwhelming emotion.
“But seriously, what was Yeoreum's acting... sob...”
It was even better than the trailer.
That expression filled with tension, drenched in cold sweat because of the zombies behind the shutter, would undoubtedly be remembered forever.
The unexpected twist made the public watching 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 explode with excitement even more than Myeong Jeha's appearance scene.
The impact was incomparable.
[Drama Movie Actor TALK / Seriously shocked that On Jihwa got killed (Spoilers)]
She dies...? I thought Myeong Jeha–Do Gyeoul–Tak Jeongyun–Han Yeoreum would all become a survivor team and escape the hospital together;; They're really setting the tone hard right from the start lol.
— Anonymous 1: It's even better because it's uncommon T_T My head's spinning.
— Anonymous 4: My heart was pounding. I screamed when Jihwa fell down the stairs...
— Anonymous 6: Seomun Ihwa really is different. I also thought On Jihwa would obviously join the survivor group.
[Drama Movie Actor TALK / They gave On Jihwa such an amazing setup that I naturally thought...]
At least we'd see her doing archery once... I seriously thought she'd survive until the end. Damn, I can't believe I got played like this.
— Anonymous 1: Are Seomun Ihwa and Ja Sokhwan close? Fuck, this is the same headache I felt during .
— Anonymous 4: Both of them are weird, so they probably aren't close.
— Anonymous 5: Ah, fuck lmaoo
— Anonymous 8: I thought making her an archer was for killing zombies. Never imagined it was to kill her mom. Same.
On Jihwa appeared asleep in the back seat of a car.
Her mother, who was driving, answered a call.
“Yeah. We're on our way to the hospital with Jihwa.”
Glancing at her sleeping daughter, she lowered her voice.
“You know how much the Archery Association treasures our Jihwa. The hospital director personally rushed over to see her last time. Yeah! That's right.”
“Whoa.”
“Ah, this feels so ominous TT_TT”
“Did Jihwa get injected with something too?”
“What the hell...”
“Don't worry, they said so. They even promised to make a dedicated team for Jihwa. They said they're number one when it comes to sports rehabilitation.”
Kim Kangil's motorcycle stopped beside the car carrying On Jihwa.
The traffic light glowed red.
Foreboding music.
“Right.”
Her mother spoke softly.
“They said she'd recover from the injury right away.”
Aetami screamed.
“Ahh—!!!”
And so Episode 2 of 〈Seoul Metropolitan City〉 came to an end.
“I'm fucked. Guess my sleep schedule's ruined from New Year's onward lmao”
“Time for Episode 3.”
“Fuck...T_T Jihwa...”
“I think Zombie Jihwa's gonna appear.”
“So she's not actually dead then.”
“This is insane.”
Seomun Ihwa truly was Mad Ihwa.
Episode 2 had a completely different feel from the writer's previous works.
“I'm watching all the way through tonight, fuck TT___TT”
Everyone who had planned to stop after Episode 2 and go to sleep completely changed their minds.