By Zephyria 
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“Aaaaagh!”
A scene of utter chaos unfolded before his eyes. Those whose legs had been severed crawled across the ground, twisting their bodies in a desperate search for a way to survive.
Why is it that human life snaps so easily, yet lingers so stubbornly in the midst of agony?
An Aberrant, trailing black smoke, approached and ripped the entire scalp off one man.
“Kuaaaagh! Aaaagh!”
The facial muscles, exposed after losing their skin, stretched wide along with the gaping mouth.
Mu-hae’s legs froze stiff in this hellscape that felt like a dream.
…No, it wasn’t just his legs. His hands, feet, back, and shoulders were all immobile, as if they had been cast in plaster.
He could do nothing but endure the torrential rain of terror tightening around his throat. He could neither avoid nor look away from the blood-soaked spectacle.
The sensation flooding in so strongly that his skin tingled was undoubtedly a sense of crisis. His instincts, flattened like a rat crushed under a bike, were warning him with everything they had.
Run. Run far away. You have to vanish from sight before that monster finishes its hunt if you want to live.
“Ha… haaa…”
But his body still wouldn’t listen. A crushing pressure stretched time like taffy.
One second felt like a minute, and people writhed and died slowly, as if in slow motion.
Having encountered Aberrants several times during his days as a mercenary, this sensation was truly a first in his life.
He felt a powerful conviction that no matter what he did, he would die. The ones who fired guns, the ones who tried to flee, and the ones who lay prostrate and begged—all of them had become mangled corpses.
“Please! Please save me. Save me, please save—”
Thwack!
He would likely meet a similar end. Facing the unexpected end of his life, a few past memories flashed before Mu-hae’s eyes.
The day he first opened his eyes on Starlight Road. His father, who felt like a complete stranger because he had forgotten everything about his past.
The image of the man who always stayed in his study. A death that didn’t even have a proper funeral.
The days he spent endlessly hoarding money, making the recovery of heirlooms—things he hadn’t even been curious about—his life’s goal.
And then, one day, his life changed abruptly…
Ah. Someone had intruded into his ordinary daily routine. An unidentified person with black hair, red eyes, skin as fair as a newborn’s, and an air of nobility.
From the moment he recovered the heirlooms using the payment that man brought, his daily life changed. He went from a mere mercenary to the head of a secret society, and the house where he had lived alone began to be filled with someone’s warmth.
The fellow who would approach with a wide smile whenever his name was called, like a puppy meeting its owner.
Joo-oh. Where is Joo-oh? In the midst of extreme terror, his mind searched for his companion once again.
A bloodlust that made his heart pound, his breath shorten, and the hair on his entire body stand on end. The moment he realized that feeling wasn’t unfamiliar at all, the reality he had been avoiding the entire time slammed into Mu-hae’s mind.
Joo-oh… is right in front of him.
He—it—is not human.
“…Huu.”
It didn’t have the raw red flesh, dense fur, or the repulsive head of other Aberrants.
But even if he poked it in the eye and looked closely, it was far from the person Mu-hae knew. The shimmering black body and sharp tail were etched painfully into his vision.
Faint smoke scattered behind movements so swift they seemed like teleportation.
“Grrr, kehek!”
In the distance, someone else’s throat was pierced. It was a bodyguard who had been crawling away, missing one arm and one leg.
‘That thing’ had kept him alive as if playing a game, though he should have died long ago. To see how far he could crawl. To watch what expression he would make when caught again.
Looking down, Mu-hae saw his own hands trembling violently, pale with fear. Suddenly, his head spun, and he felt a severe bout of vertigo.
Suppressing a surge of nausea, Jin Mu-hae felt his side. Red liquid welled up again from his rain-soaked clothes.
The bleeding… still hadn’t stopped. No wonder he felt his strength continuously draining. At this rate, he would collapse and die on his own before his head was ripped off.
No. I don’t want to die. An intense will to survive whipped his fading consciousness.
“Ugh.”
The instinct that had saved him several times during his mercenary life sent a faint surge of strength to his limbs once more.
While the Aberrant turned its back to catch another survivor, Mu-hae crawled shakily toward the wreckage of the Hover Car.
It was a place where several torn-apart corpses lay scattered. The bag that had been taken from him earlier was discarded among the pieces of flesh.
“Keugh… huu…”
His head was spinning and he felt nauseous, making it agonizingly difficult to move silently.
It was almost a relief that the rain was pouring down so heavily. It would mask small noises to some extent.
‘Got it.’
Pushing through slimy flesh, Mu-hae finally got his hands on the bag. Zip. As he opened the zipper, he found hemostatic patches that were thankfully mostly dry.
The moment he lifted his torn clothes, he almost let out a scream. A piercing pain rushed in as if it had been waiting.
Biting his lip to stifle a groan, he applied a patch to his side, which was still stubbornly leaking red blood.
As he pressed down firmly… his vision flashed white and the world spun. Even as his head hit the ground, Jin Mu-hae did not let go of the wound.
“Ugh, blegh…”
Fuck. His stomach was churning. Still, the worry about losing more blood was gone.
Having completed his task in his own way, his strength gave out, and he practically collapsed.
The terrible pain subsided slightly, to the point where he didn’t even notice his forehead was scraped and bleeding. Only then did Mu-hae notice that the screaming, which had been echoing through the rain, had vanished.
“…”
At the same time, his heart sank. He couldn’t bring himself to lift his head.
A searing presence had approached within arm’s reach.
Kirrrr—.
When did everyone die? Am I the last survivor? A chilling cold that felt like it was carving through his insides froze his body again.
Slipping his hand into the bag, he felt a small pocket knife. It wasn’t for combat. It was a tool he kept for cutting gauze or string.
But holding even a blade gave him the courage to face reality. Mu-hae slowly turned his gaze to behold the darkness.
Bright red eyes were staring at him. The massive body moved smoothly, as if it had been waiting.
Splosh. Splosh.
His mind was a chaotic mess. He couldn’t judge how things had ended up like this, or if that monster really was Joo-oh.
The only thing he could be sure of was that the creature had killed everyone and was now approaching him, who was incapacitated.
Kirung…
A small cry vibrated against his eardrums. Mu-hae pushed the knife out of its sheath with his thumb and gripped the handle tightly.
An incomprehensible existence that felt like it would drive one mad just by looking at it. When it finally entered his range, he whipped his hand forward as fast as lightning.
Slash!
“Damn it!”
As expected, the Aberrant avoided it with a light movement. The blade only grazed the bag, leaving a long tear.
The pathetic blade trembled as it pointed toward the Aberrant. Having missed even a mediocre chance to attack, was all that remained now death?
Unexpectedly, however, it did not reach out to tear Mu-hae apart. It simply stared forward with its red eyes.
The Aberrant glanced at the scattered corpses, looked back at Mu-hae, slowly scanned its own body, looked at Mu-hae again…
Splosh.
It took one step closer. Jin Mu-hae dragged his body, heavy as a water-logged sponge, and backed away.
As the torn bag was pushed aside, its contents spilled out. Disinfectant, a bottle of substitute pills, and a red bead rolled out.
‘Jin Mu-hae. This.’
‘It’s yours.’
‘Jin Mu-hae, keep it. Put it in your bag. Or in your pocket.’
It was an item he had received from Olga. He had forgotten that such a thing was even in his bag.
For some reason, the Aberrant stared blankly at the bead and then lifted its head toward the cloud-covered sky.
Kirung…
At the low cry, the blood-stained puddles trembled slightly.
Aberrants do not feel human emotions. Aberrants do not feel fear or sadness.
Yet, inexplicably, Mu-hae felt that the strange creature before him was crying. Raindrops fell along its face, which was veiled in scattering smoke.
With its black hands and four fingers, it rubbed its face frantically, making unknown sounds like grung, king.
Then, the Aberrant suddenly turned around and began to walk in the opposite direction.
Now that the danger was leaving, he should have felt relief, but instead, his heart sank with anxiety.
“…Wait.”
For some reason, Mu-hae called out to it. His head spun, and the body he had struggled to raise tilted back down.
At the edge of his vision, he witnessed the black figure quicken its pace and finally disappear into a run.
At that moment, his memory cut out. He seemed to have lost consciousness for a split second and then woken up again.
On the land where death cast its shadow, nothing could be heard except the sound of falling rain.
“Joo-oh…”
Jin Mu-hae blinked his hazy eyes and called someone’s name.
The name of the troublesome fellow who would smile brightly whenever he saw him, and who loved him so much he didn’t know what to do with himself.
No one answered. There was no weight of someone rushing over to cling to his back, nor was there the annoying voice humming a song.
The hand he barely managed to lift to his eyes was ice-cold. Mu-hae fumbled for his Link Watch and sent an emergency signal to all saved contacts.
Exhaling a shallow breath, he turned his body, and horrifyingly, a severed arm touched his cheek. An expensive watch was fastened to the pale wrist.
“…”
A thread from the clothes he was wearing was caught between the broken glass. Brown fuzz that looked darker because it was wet.
The moment the attire of the grey-haired man came to mind, Mu-hae violently retched and pulled his knees up.
Gripping the dropped knife, he sliced into the rolling forearm. A chip the size of a pinky nail was revealed through the leaking blood.
“Huu… haaa…”
Belatedly, he remembered why he had come all the way here only to meet this disaster. Mu-hae repeatedly wiped away the rain obscuring his vision and looked around the field of corpses.
The backpack Joo-oh always carried was lying near a broken tree. He began to walk unsteadily, clutching his throbbing side.
He collapsed in front of the bag. Damn it. There was no more strength left in his body.
Struggling, he pushed his hand into the mouth of the bag and felt a hard, rectangular device among the rustling plastic.
It was an illegal device he had obtained from Director Gil. The moment he inserted the blood-stained chip into it…
Bzzzt— pzzzt!
The device vibrated, making a sound as if its internals were breaking. Mu-hae felt dizzy again and simply lay down.
The rain, which had been thick enough to hurt, had subsided somewhat, but the sky showed no sign of clearing.
Staring into the grey void, Jin Mu-hae slowly closed and opened his eyes.
Bzzzt— wooong—.
—…can we trust them?
—Are you sure… zzzzzt—.
The device began to read something. He didn’t know if it was an audio file or just the audio extracted from a video, but it was one of the data files on the chip.
—You’re saying that woman has a child? I’ve never seen her belly— bzzzt— bulge.
—Because she gave birth before stepping forward in earnest. This is information obtained by bribing an aide, so it should be certain. Furthermore, the man presumed to be the father is— pzzzzzt! —…what is he.
The part before this seemed to be damaged. The sound from the machine was growing fainter.
—What is it you’re trying to say.
—Bzzzzzt— …will kidnap them. Once we take a hostage and get a ransom, we can hand the child over to your side. So, if you just open the path, we will both achieve a favorable result.
—Are you sure? The father is… zzzzzt—.
The damaged file turned into incomprehensible noise with sibilant sounds. Mu-hae gasped for air under the pouring rain.
—That’s correct. Bzzzzzt— bzzzt— that rebel element. That researcher who was kicked out of the residential area… Jin, what was it?
Woo-oo-ong—.
Kigik, gik!
Perhaps because water had gotten inside, the machine stopped with a puff of smoke. Jin Mu-hae flicked his fingers a few times and then closed his eyes completely.
West Wind. The child of West Wind. And a researcher of the Jin Clan…
Various thoughts surfaced in his fading consciousness, and then suddenly, a sweet scent brushed the tip of his nose like a hallucination.
It seemed the candies that had spilled out when he pulled out the device had melted in the rain.
‘Do you like it because I’m here, Jin Mu-hae?’
The voice that had suddenly vanished lingered in his ears.
Mu-hae’s lips parted a few times, and then he lay there, motionless.
181 – I Became an Anomaly in a Dead Game