‘Why is it so dark!’

The fact that it was nighttime posed a significant problem, surviving during the day was already difficult, but at night?

'There's no guarantee that those monsters from earlier were the only ones. There could be even more outside... Damn it!'

At night, there is little to no light, making it difficult to navigate. From the moment I escaped the building, I needed to find another shelter, but at night, that task became twice as hard.

'Have the others already fled somewhere else?'

The sound of people dying inside the building gradually began to subside. Soon, those monsters would come outside in search of new prey, so I had to leave before then.

'I should head uphill, higher ground is always better than lower terrain.'

There was a path leading upwards, so I quickly moved in that direction.

By the time I thought I had gotten far enough away, I finally allowed myself to take a breath.

"Huff... Huff... Haa..."

The sheer horror of the situation that had unfolded so suddenly, combined with my lack of physical training, left me feeling utterly exhausted.

The image of people being slaughtered inside the building flashed through my mind, as well as the face of the injured woman I had abandoned.

"Uweeeck... Ugh... Huuuh..."

I had seen some gruesome things back on Earth, but nothing could compare to this.

This was nothing short of hell. The sight of the blood-soaked massacre replayed in my head, making me nauseous.

'Thinking like this won't help... Right now, I need to focus on survival. There's no time for useless thoughts.'

Rustle—

Cold sweat dripped down my back at the sound. If it was a monster... I didn’t even want to imagine it.

"Hey..."

'Haa...'

Thankfully, it was a person. He appeared to be slightly older than me, wearing glasses.

"Did you also manage to escape? There are a few of us who fled together. If you'd like, you can join us..."

So there were others who had escaped together, unlike me, who had run alone.

'It’s probably best to join others, right?'

Traveling alone in a situation like this was extremely dangerous.

But more than that, I simply didn’t want to be alone in this nightmare.

"Ah... Yes, I’d appreciate that. How many people are with you?"

"Including myself, four. More people would be better, but... the situation back there was just terrible. We barely managed to escape the building, and we met some more people outside."

Even just four people was something. It was certainly better than being alone, so I decided to follow him.

"Come with me, there's a small hidden clearing where the others are waiting. Haha, I just realized I haven't introduced myself, my name is Jo Byeong-ok."

"I'm Lee Yun-seong, feel free to speak casually. You seem older than me."

"Haha... I'm more comfortable with formal speech. I used to work in sales back on Earth, so I'm just used to it."

Talking with someone else seemed to ease my nerves a little.

"Are the others okay? The situation was so horrific... They must be in shock."

"At first, none of us were in our right minds, myself included. Even now, we’re still scared. I can't say we're completely fine, but we've calmed down a little."

As we conversed in hushed voices, we arrived at the clearing.

Just as Byeong-ok had said, three people were waiting there—a middle-aged woman, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, and a young woman.

"You're back? And who's this?"

The young woman spoke to Byeong-ok. She looked like a college student, judging by her appearance.

"I met him while scouting the area and brought him along, Yun-seong, this is..."

"...Hello, my name is Kim So-young. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lee Yun-seong."

I checked the woman’s status window.

[ Name: Kim So-young ]

[ Age: 23 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned. ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Cold Judgment (Grade Under Evaluation) - Allows for more rational decision-making in crisis situations.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 08 Agility - 09

Stamina - 08 Luck - 10

Magic - 00 Resistance - 06

'Her status is fairly average. Now that I think about it, I should check Byeong-ok's status window as well.'

The status window system was still unfamiliar to me, and I had been too preoccupied to check when we first met.

[ Name: Jo Chan-ho ]

[ Age: 29 ]

[ Job: Intermediate Swordsman (Rare) ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Traits ]

Silent Footsteps (Grade Under Evaluation) - Reduces the chance of being detected when approaching someone.

Blood Festival (Grade Under Evaluation) - Strength and Agility temporarily increase with each kill, up to a maximum of 10. If blood is present, the user can absorb it for healing. Cannot heal with their own blood.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 16 Agility - 18

Stamina - 15 Luck - 05

Magic - 00 Resistance - 10

"Shit."

Kim So-young looked at me, startled by my sudden outburst.

"Huh, is something wrong?"

"Ah... It's nothing, just my leg acting up... I think I walked too much... Haha."

'Damn it, what is this? His name isn't Jo Byeong-ok, but Jo Chan-ho? Why use a fake name in this hellhole?'

Cold sweat trickled down my back. Not only had he lied about his name, but his above-average stats, an already obtained job, and those unique traits... They all raised red flags.

'Silent Footsteps, fine. But having two unique traits? And one of them is called Blood Festival?'

The name alone was enough to tell me this guy wasn’t normal.

'I shouldn't have followed him. Shit, I should've checked his status window the moment we met... I’m such an idiot!'

...No wait.

If I had refused his offer outright, who knows what would have happened?

He carried a sword, and his stats were far superior to mine. If I had turned him down, he might have taken offense and drawn his weapon.

'It's fine for now. There are five of us here in total. He can't do anything reckless... I just need to find an opportunity to slip away.'

Calming myself, I checked the status windows of the remaining two people.

First was the middle aged woman.

[ Name: Moon Kyung-sil ]

[ Age: 45 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned. ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait: None ]

[ Stats ]

Strength - 08 Agility - 07

Stamina - 07 Luck - 08

Magic - 00 Resistance - 05

Next was the young man.

[ Name: Cha Hyun-jin ]

[ Age: 20 ]

[ Job: Not yet assigned. ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Trait ]

Unyielding Will (Grade Under Evaluation) - Grants strong determination, making it harder to give up on tasks.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 10 Agility - 12

Stamina - 14 Luck - 10

Magic - 00 Resistance - 08

‘The older (middle-aged) lady is kind of tash... but this guy’s stats are decent.’

Compared to Jo Chan-ho’s monstrous stats, having a stat value of 10 was considered the average for an adult male, so this level was decent enough… The problem was that my stats were just terrible...

"Nice to meet you, young man. I’m Moon Kyung-sil."

"I’m Cha Hyun-jin. You seem older than me, so feel free to speak casually. There's a spot right here, have a seat."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

Suddenly, a soft clapping sound was heard.

"Alright~ Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, even though we’re far from the building, monsters might still come. How about we take turns standing watch while we sleep?"

"I’m fine with that, Hyung."

"Hmm... Byeong-ok, is it really necessary to keep watch?"

Was she insane?

Did this old lady even understand what she was saying?

"Haha... I know you’re tired, but we have to, ma’am. Everyone is exhausted, but monsters could come here."

"If you say so, Byeong-ok..."

"Then, who should take the first shift, Byeong-ok oppa?"

It was clear that since Jo Chan-ho was leading the conversation, the others were relying on him a lot.

I knew this bastard was shady because of my trait, but the others had no way of knowing. Without my ability, I wouldn’t have even known he was using a fake name.

"Since I suggested keeping watch, I’ll take the third shift. The middle shift is the hardest."

"Byeong-ok hyung, you don’t have to... I’ll take the third shift instead!"

"Hmm... Then, So-young and the old lady can take the first and fifth shifts. Hyun-jin and Yun-seong, please take the second and fourth shifts, is that okay?"

"Yes, Hyung."

"That’s fine with me, Byeong-ok."

The watch order didn’t matter to me. I wasn’t going to get any restful sleep anyway.

Unlike the others, I knew this lunatic wasn’t actually Jo Byeong-ok, but Jo Chan-ho. There was no way I could sleep soundly while not knowing what he might do in his sleep.

"I don’t know exactly what this tutorial is about, but we’ll have to move tomorrow for sure. We should rest while we can. We’ll switch shifts every hour, So-young, please wake Hyun-jin up in an hour."

"Alright, Byeong-ok oppa. But I have a question."

"What is it, So-young?"

"How do we check the time? How do we know when an hour has passed?"

"Since no one has their phone, we won’t know the exact time. Just estimate when an hour feels like it has passed and wake the next person. We’ll know it’s morning when the sun rises."

"Got it."

With that, everyone except for the first watch started settling down to sleep.

Even after some time passed, I could hear people tossing and turning. Today had been so horrific that no one could fall asleep easily.

If someone could sleep soundly in this situation, they’d be the strange one. No normal person, thrown into an unfamiliar place and forced to sleep outdoors, would adapt easily.

From a little distance away, I could hear someone suppressing their sobs. It was coming from Hyun-jin’s direction.

"Hic... Huff..."

Everyone could hear it, but they pretended not to. Hyun-jin was the youngest among us, after all.

As for me, I had no time to cry.

My nerves were on edge because of Jo Chan-ho.

I don’t know how much time had passed when I felt someone tapping me.

"Yun-seong, it’s your turn."

My hazy mind snapped awake. Had I been so exhausted that I didn’t even notice this bastard approaching me?

"Yeah, yeah... Byeong-ok, get some rest. You did well."

"Haha, no worries. Then, I’ll leave it to you, Yun-seong."

As Jo Chan-ho lay down to sleep, I hesitated.

‘Should I run away now?’

No matter how dangerous the monsters were, they seemed less risky than a human pretending to be an ally while planning to kill me from behind.

Of course, I could be overthinking, and Jo Chan-ho might just be a decent guy with nothing to do with murder. But a normal person wouldn’t hide their real name.

‘No matter how I think about it, traveling with him is too dangerous. But do I need to travel with the others as well?’

Bringing the others along while escaping from Jo Chan-ho was out of the question. It wasn’t a matter of success or failure—they wouldn’t abandon him to follow me. Unlike me, they couldn’t see his status window, and many of them relied on him.

‘And there’s no guarantee that Jo Chan-ho is actually asleep, he might just be pretending.’

Not only did I have to worry about monsters, but I had to be wary of another human being. The mental exhaustion was overwhelming.

‘And how did Jo Chan-ho get a job? So far, he’s the only one with one.’

Thanks to my unique trait, I could recall any status window I had seen before. I pulled up Jo Chan-ho’s status window again to confirm.

[ Name: Jo Chan-ho ]

[ Age: 29 ]

[ Job: Intermediate Swordsman (Rare) ]

[ Title: None ]

[ Unique Traits ]

Silent Footsteps (Grade Under Evaluation) - Reduces the chance of being detected when approaching someone.

Blood Festival (Grade Under Evaluation) - Strength and Agility temporarily increase with each kill, up to a maximum of 10. If blood is present, the user can absorb it for healing. Cannot heal with their own blood.

Intermediate Swordsmanship Understanding (Rare) - Increases comprehension of swordsmanship.

[ Stats ]

Strength - 16 Agility - 18

Stamina - 15 Luck - 05

Magic - 00 Resistance - 10

‘When he approached me, I didn’t even notice... That must be because of Silent Footsteps. Then did he make noise on purpose the first time we met?’

I couldn’t figure him out. He could have approached me silently, but he chose to make noise. I don’t know why. I don’t know how he got his job, or why he was gathering people.

‘Damn it... And his smiling face pisses me off. I can’t read his expressions at all, he was a probably a damn good salesman though back on Earth.’

About an hour seemed to have passed, not that I could tell for sure. I stood up and went to wake Kyung-sil.

Tap, tap.

"Ma’am, it’s time for your watch."

Moon Kyung-sil rubbed her eyes as she woke up.

"Mm... Already?"

"Yes, ma’am."

"Yun-seong, there’s only an hour left before we move anyway. Can you take my shift for just a little longer?"

"...What?"

‘What the hell is she saying..?’

"Oh dear, I’m just so exhausted... I know you’re tired too, but you’re young and I’m just an old lady."

‘You crazy old hag, I haven’t slept at all! Not that I could with Jo Chan-ho the psycho here, but I at least wanted to lie down and rest.’

"Haha... Ma’am, I need to sleep too. I’m sorry, but I’m really tired..."

"Oh dear, maybe you didn’t keep track of the time correctly? I don’t think it’s my turn yet..."

‘What the hell is she talking about?’

I was about to snap at her, but I barely held it in.

‘No, I should let it go... Arguing with her won’t solve anything.’

There’s no point arguing with someone who doesn’t listen. More than that, if we argued now, Jo Chan-ho would wake up.

"...Fine, ma’am. I’ll come back in 30 minutes, you have to take over then."

"Oh, thank you, Yun-seong."

I didn’t bother arguing further and returned to my post.

I whispered under my breath, "Fucking bitch..."

‘If it weren’t for Jo Chan-ho, you’d be dead already.’

What a shitty day to be me.