By Zephyria 
“Khaaaaaak―!!!!”
Seemingly irritated that things weren’t going his way, Kim Cheol-hee, now a zombie, was ramming into the carriage with even greater intensity than before.
Creak, creeeaaak. The side of the carriage, made of cheap acrylic panels, began to shake. It was obvious it would break if things continued this way. But there was no escape route to be seen anywhere. This was because the carriage entrance had been made on only one side to save on production costs.
“Huuuh…. Should’ve… listened… to Mi-so… Crap….”
It was a disaster that he had ignored Mi-so’s suggestion to add functions to the carriage for dramatic effect.
Ha-jin suppressed the unsightly tears that were about to burst out, hugging the teddy bear tightly as a shield. A single tear hung at the corner of his eye, hidden behind the doll. It was a physiological phenomenon brought on by extreme fear.
Ha-jin closed his eyes, abandoning his body to the swaying carriage. The screams of people echoed faintly like auditory hallucinations.
Had the world ended? And of all days… today?
If his magic show, bearing his name, were to fail, Ha-jin would have thought it was all due to his lack of ability. Exposing tricks, broken props, and jeering audiences were all things that could happen at any time.
But the end of the world had nothing to do with a magician’s qualifications. His first solo magic show, which he had longed for and prepared for a long time, came to an end before it even properly began. He felt like screaming, asking what he had done wrong.
“Khaaaaaak―!”
The carriage shook violently with a thud!
“Huuuh!! Shit, pleeaaase….”
But what was important now was not the success or failure of his magic show. He wanted to live, no matter what. It was unfair, but he wanted to live… somehow live and….
Thwack! Another strong impact struck the carriage. Finally, the carriage fell over, and with a cracking sound, his body flipped. Ha-jin, who had dropped the doll, flailed his arms. His back slammed hard against the floor. It hurt so much that he couldn’t even scream.
At the same time, he felt an unexpected, strong force grab his collar tightly. Ha-jin’s body was roughly pulled into the air. As his neck tightened, his breath naturally caught in his throat.
“Get a grip.”
At that moment, a heavy, low voice shook his eardrums. Startled, Ha-jin’s vision was filled with a strange man covered in blood. He tilted his head and scanned Ha-jin’s frozen face thoroughly.
The man, after checking the color of Ha-jin’s eyes, finally raised his lowered upper body.
“Keuh…! Who…!”
Ha-jin frantically grabbed the wrist of the man who had grabbed his collar. An immense force pulled Ha-jin’s body out of the carriage.
“Since you’re the show host, you should guide….”
The man, who was speaking, stopped when he spotted a zombie rushing in from the diagonal. He turned Ha-jin behind him and forcefully shoved the stick he was holding in his left hand into the zombie’s mouth.
Kim Cheol-hee, or rather, the zombie, rolled his grayish-white eyes and collapsed to the floor. The man stepped on the zombie’s chest to hold it in place, pulling out the stick he had shoved into its mouth. Ha-jin’s face was filled with astonishment at the man’s efficient actions.
The stick in his hand was the brown magic wand that Ha-jin had dropped earlier. It had been deliberately broken, and the wand was sharply cut. Blood dripped from the end of the stick.
Ha-jin blinked blankly, staring at the man’s broad back. Part of the white shirt he was wearing was soaked in bright red blood.
The man turned around and reached out to Ha-jin. Then, he naturally pulled Ha-jin’s collar closer and quietly snapped.
“Where’s a place to hide inside?”
“Huh, eh?”
“A secret passage, or even a warehouse. There must be something.”
Ah. Ha-jin finally understood the man’s intention and nodded frantically.
“Th-there is! There’s a warehouse, a basement warehouse, assigned to our team…!”
“Which direction?”
“The stairs on the stage left… to the, to the left. That way now!”
“Good.”
The man easily fended off the approaching zombies and ran towards the stage left. Ha-jin had to move his feet almost forcibly. The destination was a corner with red velvet curtains. It was when Ha-jin was once again dumbfounded, looking at the man running fearlessly.
“Gasp.”
When the curtain was pulled back, an unexpected sight unfolded. There, corpses, not even ten of them, were piled up like sandwiches. A disgusting stench of blood permeated the air.
Could he have… killed all these monsters? As Ha-jin’s pupils fluttered like light flags, his collar was pulled again.
The place where he stopped was in front of a black steel box prepared for the teleportation magic trick. As the collar he was being held by was released, Ha-jin coughed up the cough he had been holding back.
He touched his red, swollen neck and looked around. In the narrow space surrounded by curtains, there were the man, piles of corpses, and two magic boxes.
“We’ll clear the way, so get a grip and guide us to the warehouse properly.”
We? What did that mean? Were there more people with him?
Ha-jin, who had been staring blankly at the man’s fallen bangs, finally looked down. From inside the rectangular box, barely large enough for two adults to fit, came a loud thumping! Thumping!
The man easily released the butterfly-shaped metal device. Inside the wide-open box, a child and a man wearing glasses popped out like springs.
“Huuuh, Unccllee….”
The girl teared up and stretched out her arms. The man held the child in his arms and opened the door of another magic box next to it. Then, this time, a foreigner with curly brown hair popped out of the box.
Ha-jin easily remembered the foreigner’s face. Seat 23 in row A, the audience member who had been looking around with a puzzled expression, with his arms crossed.
The people all closed their mouths as if they had made a promise and exhaled through their nostrils. From outside the narrow space surrounded by velvet curtains, the scratching howls of zombies continued. As they checked each other’s faces and exchanged glances, a scream for help erupted from somewhere.
“Uncle….”
“Shhh.”
Eden, who had soothed the child’s sobbing, called Jeffrey, Park Chun-beom, and Ha-jin with hand signals. Ha-jin massaged his left chest as if to soothe his painfully beating heart and approached him.
“Is the warehouse door open? For sure.”
Eden whispered quietly. Ha-jin nodded and wiped the sweat pouring down his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Yes. It’s a public warehouse, so it’s open. I don’t think it’s… closed.”
“Is there a way to get out of the building itself from there?”
Ha-jin didn’t even notice that the man he was meeting for the first time had been speaking to him informally since earlier. His vision was still hazy, as if he were dreaming.
“There is. Along the straight hallway, if you, if you go, there’s an emergency staircase on the right. If you go up there, it’s right to the back door.”
Eden, who nodded, looked back at the people and organized the situation.
“First, let’s make the warehouse our destination.”
“Um, Director Jung?”
Park Chun-beom, who had been listening quietly, raised his hand.
“W-well, wouldn’t it be better to go straight outside?”
He asked, pushing up his glasses, one lens of which was shattered.
“I don’t think it’ll be any better outside.”
Eden took out the phone in his pocket and checked the messages again. There were consecutive messages from Hugo.
Hugo: Eden, I’m adjusting the exact time and location to send the Transport plane.
Hugo: Call me as soon as you check.
Hugo: Why aren’t you contacting me, it’s making me anxious? Stay in a safe place first.
@publicfunds
Eden, who had skimmed through the additional text messages, handed the child to Ha-jin. Ha-jin blinked, taking the child in his arms in confusion.
“Hold the kid and don’t drop her.”
The man commanded calmly, like a trained machine.
“I’ll take the lead, and Jeffrey, you take the rear. Manager Park, stick next to this person and watch the situation.”
Ha-jin, who noticed the man’s plan, hurriedly looked around. Magic tools that could be used as weapons began to pop up in his head unexpectedly. The fake and real blades he had brought to show a simple cutting magic trick, and the hammer he had used to secure the carriage wheels, should be somewhere around here.
“J-just a moment.”
Ha-jin quietly put the crying child down on the floor and knelt down. Frowning at the dark vision, he reached out along the fluorescent tape marked on the floor.
‘It’s here.’
When he pulled up the small protruding metal handle, the floor door opened. A space that a small child could barely fit into was revealed. It was filled with magic tools that had been classified according to their use.
He quickly took out the tools that could be used as weapons. A rather sharp blade, a light hammer, and ropes popped out one after another. The men who had followed suit picked up weapons one by one. Ha-jin, who hesitated for a moment, stood in front of Eden with a thick magic rope.
“What is it?”
“So you don’t get bitten. I’ll just wrap it around your arm, around your arm.”
Before the man’s permission was given, Ha-jin grabbed his wrist with trembling hands. The rope he was going to use for the escape trick was quite soft in fiber. At this rate, his skin wouldn’t be chafed. Ha-jin quickly twisted the rope around the man’s arms and cut the rope with a sharp blade.
Then, as if they had been waiting, Jeffrey and Park Chun-beom stuck close to Ha-jin’s side. Ha-jin bit his trembling lips and silently tied the rope.