Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Restructuring (2)
Translated by Vine | Proofread by Lust
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My life changed ten years ago because of a car accident.
I lost my parents.
My body, once my treasure and future, became my biggest obstacle.
All possibilities in my life were blocked.
Despair followed me from the moment I opened my eyes in the morning and got out of bed, to the moment I climbed back in at the end of the day.
When I went to the bathroom. When I bent down to wash my face. When I changed my pants. When I slung my bag over one shoulder and left the house. When I took the subway instead of the bus. When I went up and down the stairs….
So, more than anyone, I know.
How stiff my right leg is, how heavy.
The feeling of it being completely unresponsive is vivid even in my dreams.
[Mission reward granted.]
[Claudication Recovery Rate 20%.]
Claudication, my limping gait, was said to be 20% recovered.
If you told an ordinary person, “Your leg has been strengthened by 20%,” they wouldn’t understand.
But I….
—Drag, step.
I knew immediately.
The subtle difference in my leg.
That it had become lighter, even if only by a few grams.
Definitely, certainly, even if only a little….
It moves.
According to my will.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded as I imagined the miraculous possibility. My head cleared with the pleasant stress I felt for the first time in a long time.
Time, which had stopped for ten years, began to flow again.
Like the moment I stood on the track, waiting for the starting signal, with both feet pressed against the starting blocks.
“What is this? Did you guys get it too?”
“It says to select a mission reward?”
The game company employees began to examine what was in front of them.
Flick. They waved their hands, and flicked again.
“It disappears. Then reappears….”
They stretched and contracted their index finger and thumb.
“The size can be adjusted too. Is there anything else?”
Their eyes gleamed as they shouted all sorts of words: “Status window! Inventory! Skills!”
“Nothing else. Only the status window appears.”
“Is this virtual reality? Has my chance finally come?”
“What chance? Don’t you read too many web novels?”
While some were seriously rambling on about such nonsense, others were glued to their smartphones, relaying news from elsewhere in real-time.
That huge circles had appeared all over the world.
That people had disappeared.
That it was all manipulated.
My smartphone, which shouldn’t be ringing, was silent, but ringtone and messenger notification sounds echoed from all around.
There was no need to check the news online.
“It’s clear that we’re not the only ones doing this ‘mission’. “
“Huh? E-Eunho! C-can you s-see this?”
“Yes, I can. It’s a relief that I’m not the only one going crazy.”
“C-can you s-see my screen? The image, too?”
Was she worried that I could see her hologram in her underwear, in the middle of all this?
Seeing her unnecessary panic, I quickly added,
“No, I only see myself on my screen. My affiliation, stats, and so on.”
“Phew. What is this anyway? Earth, and all that, who would play such a prank….”
A prank.
I grabbed my right leg and pulled it back and forth.
—Drag, drag.
It moved. Subtly, but it did.
If this is a prank.
If this is a miraculous prank that revived my dead leg.
“…There will be more missions, right? They clearly said ‘first’ mission earlier.”
I’m going to give this prank my all.
“Did they… say that?”
“Yes. According to the announcement, it seems like they plan to reduce the number of people through multiple missions. It would be nice if they told us how many they plan to leave.”
“Eunho, do you believe all of this? Earlier, you were clearly going to just go down….”
Jieun stopped biting her lip and looked at me cautiously.
She didn’t seem to fully trust the announcement that spoke of ‘restructuring’ and ‘elimination’.
Probably because she didn’t see Chief Choi disappear in real-time.
In fact, it’s absurd to think that a person, not a computer file, could suddenly flicker and disappear.
Even though I knew that, Jieun’s disbelief frustrated me. Was it my own desperation fueling my impatience?
“To get the rewards.”
“Rewards…”
[The second mission will begin shortly at 1:30. Please note that the safe zone will be randomly generated at the start of the mission.]
I grabbed Jieun, who had started biting her nails again, and asked,
“Jieun! The first safe zone, the place where we are standing right now, is the center of the 25th floor, right?”
“Yes, the elevators are on the east side of the cafe, and the smoking area is on the west side.”
“You haven’t seen anyone come up after the announcement, have you?”
“No, not a single person.”
The fact that not a single person came up looking for the safe zone meant….
“I think this safe zone probably appeared on every floor.”
“Then, should we just keep waiting here?”
“Probably not. I think the first mission was simple because it was the first.”
Perhaps it was something like a tutorial. To show us how the missions work.
“What if there’s no safe zone nearby?”
“We might not make it within the time limit. “
That’s true, but….
“It could also be already full of people who got there first.”
“Then… will those who arrive late fail?”
If the safe zone is already full when you arrive….
Would you turn back, saying, ‘Oh, it’s already full. I give up!’?
“…People might fight.”
Think rationally.
Always assume the worst-case scenario.
“Let’s look for something that can be used as a weapon.”
“A weapon…? Are you planning to fight?”
“I don’t know if there’s anything useful, but….”
It’s unlikely that a normal office building would be full of potential weapons.
Chairs are heavy, cutters and scissors have short reach.
I can’t swing a laptop stand or a keyboard around to fight.
“Maybe a mop, at best?”
“A mop used for cleaning?”
“But it would be inefficient because it’s big and heavy. We might have to go down the stairs.”
“….”
“There are cleaning supply closets on each floor, so think about it.”
As I was lost in thought, Jieun stared at me with wavering eyes.
PM 01:15.
15 minutes until the second mission.
There was no time.
“If you’re not comfortable with this, you can go back to your office. I don’t mean to pressure you.”
“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable. It’s just… you suddenly started talking about fighting and weapons, so I’m a bit flustered. ”
“If that’s the case, save the fluster for later. Let’s deal with the mission first. “
“…Eunho, you seem different.”
Leaving Jieun with her complex expression, I limped around, looking around.
“Anyway, just in case, if you find anything useful, keep it. Something easy to carry.”
“Should…should I get something too?”
Jieun pointed at herself with a flustered look.
Did she think she wouldn’t have to fight anyone?
“You have to protect yourself.”
PM 01:25.
“Five minutes left. Let’s wait here.”
“Shall we go to the stairs?”
“If there’s no safe zone on the rooftop, we’ll have to go down right away.”
“Let’s take the elevator, Eunho.”
“You know what it’s like during rush hour. Hundreds of people will be crammed into those three elevators.”
“But Eunho, you don’t… like stairs.”
I grinned at her worried words.
I didn’t like them.
Not only was my walking terribly slow, but it strained my entire body, including my good leg.
But if I could revive my dead leg by enduring a little pain….
“It’s okay.”
[The mission begins. Please evacuate to the safe zone before the time limit.]
“Eunho, look at this!”
A new window popped up in my vision, besides the status window.
A white rectangle about the size of a 27-inch monitor, with about 65% transparency.
“It looks like a map of the building!”
“That’s a relief. I thought we’d have to search every floor. “
The screen was filled with a familiar space, presented in an unfamiliar way.
The 25-story MS Tower.
Helpfully, a tweezer icon blinked on the 25th floor, indicating my location, and the safe zones within the building were marked in green.
“19th floor, 11th floor, and 3rd floor. What should we do?”
“We’re going to the closest one. Run!”
「09:50」
Confirming the large clock displayed next to the map blinking, I opened the fire door leading to the stairs.
—Clatter.
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* * *
“Huff, puff….”
“Eunho! Are you okay?”
I was drenched in sweat.
I felt like I was dying, but I had made it to the 20th floor.
It’s just half a flight of stairs down to the 19th floor where the safe zone is.
Let’s go.
Think of it as the interval training I did when I was an athlete.
I’m in the middle of training, alternating between 1,000m sprints and jogging.
“Shall we rest for a bit? You look exhausted, Eunho…”
Jieun asked with concern, but I shook my head.
“I’m…okay. Not tired at all. “
How could I be tired?
The sensation of my right foot touching the ground is so thrilling.
The feeling of ‘running’, enough to drench me in sweat, is so unfamiliar and welcome that it makes me want to cry.
‘This is with just one reward. If it’s completely healed…!’
“Eunho…”
“Here we are. The 19th floor.”
—Clatter!
As I opened the fire door, a crowd far larger than the one on the rooftop buzzed from every direction.
Sitting in place, gathered near someone’s desk, moving busily somewhere.
They were all in different states, but they had one thing in common.
They were all glancing at the elevator area where the safe zone was.
“Hey, Jieun! What’s all the commotion about?”
“Oh, Team Leader Park!”
“I heard people are disappearing and stuff. Shouldn’t we discipline those disrupting the workplace with such nonsense?”
“Haha….”
The middle-aged man called Team Leader Park let out an irritated sigh before turning a questioning gaze towards me.
“Why are you so sweaty? Don’t tell me you two were also doing something useless…”
“We don’t have… time. Excuse us.”
“What?”
“G-goodbye, Team Leader!”
「02:20」
Thinking there was no time for small talk, I quickly turned away, and Jieun immediately followed.
“That was the team leader of the Management Support Team. They’re on the 19th floor, in the Management Support Office.”
Jieun added an explanation, but I wasn’t very interested, so I just replied, “Oh, I see,” and hurried on.
“We’re here.”
Beyond the glass doors was the elevator area.
A green border was drawn along the walls, and dozens of people were already gathered there.
“There are… a lot of people here.”
“Yeah. How many people do you think can fit in there?”
The elevator lobbies on all floors of the building are the same size.
If so….
“I think it can hold about a hundred people if it’s completely full.”
“A hundred? How do you know that, Eunho?”
“It’s sixteen steps wide and seven steps long.”
“Huh?”
Jieun’s eyes widened, as if she didn’t understand at all.
“My stride is about 30cm, so one person can stand per step. 16 multiplied by 7 is, um… 112? So, roughly a hundred people.”
“Eunho, do you usually count your steps everywhere you go?”
“I’m used to calculating how many steps it takes to get somewhere and how long it will take.”
“That’s amazing, Eunho!”
“It’s nothing special. It’s normal.”
“Is it… normal? You seem to have a good sense of distance.”
Jieun’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.
It’s not that surprising.
It’s just that my habit of calculating remaining distance and stamina when I was running track became more detailed after I started limping.
“Anyway, there are still a lot of people outside who haven’t gotten in yet. We should be careful, just in case.”
There were just over 50 seconds left.
More and more people were crowding in.
“Hey, Assistant Manager Kang! Are you here for this mission thing?”
“Uh… yes, I felt uneasy. You too, Manager?”
“Oh, no. I’m going out for a client meeting. “
Wearing slippers that you’d only wear at your desk?
As the man called Assistant Manager Kang scanned the manager up and down, the manager coughed awkwardly.
With less than 30 seconds remaining, the safe zone was completely packed, leaving no room to stand.
And as the timer dipped below 10 seconds, people trying to get in and those already inside began to shove each other.
10 seconds.
“Hey! Let me in!”
8 seconds.
“Ouch! Don’t step on my foot!”
7 seconds.
“…Team Leader?”
With less than 5 seconds remaining.
The Management Support Team Leader stumbled in, his glasses almost falling off his nose.
Or rather, he tried to come in.
But he was blocked by the people already crammed inside.
“Wasn’t he the one talking about discipline earlier?”
“What should we do? I don’t think he’ll make it!”
3 seconds. 2 seconds.
“Hey, stop pushing!”
“W-wait!”
「00:00」
[Time limit reached.]
The second mission was over.
“I-I’m in, right? Right?”
Only Team Leader Park’s upper body was inside the glass doors.
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