[ QUEST 1 - COLD BLOODED ]
[ DIFFICULTY - D ]
[ KILL SOMEONE WHO'S IMPORTANT TO YOU ]
[ TIME LIMIT - 10 MINUTES ]
[ REWARD - 500 COINS ]
[ FAILIURE - DEATH ]
The crowd had just witnessed their family members—or in some cases, their entire families—get brutally murdered. And now, they were being forced to become murderers themselves.
"Fuck, how am I supposed to do this? My whole family got killed..."
"No... I can't do this. I can't kill my brother. He's only four..."
"I don't have anyone left in this park. I'm totally alone. H-How will I survive then?!"
The Butler smirked.
"Surviving is simple—kill your loved one and survive. But if your family was already taken from you by my gentle hands, then that's too bad."
CLAP!
The butler clamped his hands together.
"You've already lost."
There were around 80 people in this park. 30 had died at the very beginning. 15 had their heads crushed. 6 were executed just for making noise. Only 29 remained.
The butler sighed dramatically.
"So, how about I kill those who have already lost?"
FEAR. The fear of death was clear in the eyes of 28 people—everyone except me. Because... I am the author of an Endless Dream. I already know how this dream unfolds. I wasn't scared anymore—I felt guilty. Guilty for writing this in my novel.
The ones who had lost their loved ones sat silently beside the corpses. The ones who came alone were paralyzed in fear, wondering if they would be next.
"I-I wanted to ask something..."
The butler suddenly transformed, his appearance shifting back into that of a child.
"What?"
"I... I didn't come here with my family. S-So will I be al—"
SPLAT!
His head burst open like a watermelon, blood and brain matter splattering onto the ground.
"That's your answer."
The remaining survivors stood frozen. No more screams. No more cries. They had been broken. Their voices were silent, but their eyes screamed louder than any words ever could.
Suddenly, a portal opened behind the butler.
"Now, I'll be taking my leave. Prove your potential to this Endless Dream!"
With that, he stepped through, and the portal vanished.
The people looked at each other in terror.
[ THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE A LOVED ONE WITH THEM WILL BE EXECUTED NOW ]
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!
One after another, heads exploded.
The remaining survivors clenched their eyes shut, too afraid to witness any more death.
[ 9PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXECUTED ]
[ 20 PEOPLE REMAIN ]
[ QUEST 1 BEGINS NOW ]
...
[ TIME REMAINING: 09:59 ]
...
Futaba approached me.
"There's no point in fighting each other, Hong."
"Futaba? How are you feeling now?"
"I'm fine now."
"I see. That's good."
"Hong... kill me right now and survive."
"Huh? Wh-What are you talking about?! I'm not killing you!"
"It's the best choice for both of us. You need to survive."
"Futaba."
"Hm?"
"I'm not killing you, and you're not killing me."
Futaba's expression twisted in frustration.
"AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE US BOTH SURVIVE?! LOOK AT THAT SCREEN!"
He pointed at the screen.
"See?! It says, 'KILL SOMEONE WHO'S IMPORTANT TO YOU'! Right now, I'm the only person important to you in this park! That means I should die!"
Futaba made a valid point... but I, Kang Hong, am the author of an Endless Dream. No one knows how to break the system's rules better than me.
"Futaba."
"What?!"
"Leave this to me. I won't let you sacrifice yourself."
"That's ridiculous! I—"
SHUFF!
Han Seeyoung grabbed his sister, Han Chaeyoung's shirt and lifted her up.
"OPPA, NOOO!!!"
Han Seeyoung. One of the side characters in my novel.
How did he survive Quest 1?
The answer is simple.
He killed his own sister.
The horrific scene of my novel was beginning to unfold…
[TIME REMAINING: 08:13]
...
Han Seeyoung had been completely corrupted by his mother's death. He changed drastically in a short time. He knew nothing except revenge.
"CHAEYOUNG!! You need to sacrifice yourself for Mom! I need to take revenge!!"
Han Chaeyoung, a 7-year-old girl, trembled in fear as she faced her older brother.
"Oppa! No one told you to take Mom's revenge! She'll be sad if we fight!"
"She'll still be sad if both of us die! One of us should survive, and I deserve to be that one!"
THUD!
Han Seeyoung threw his sister to the ground.
"Chaeyoung, one of us has to die. That's the rule here."
"Oppa…"
"I'm sick of your crying. You've lived long enough. You have no right to live anymore. In other words, you're weak, and the weak can't survive here."
Han Seeyoung launched his fist at Chaeyoung.
"Nooo!!!"
Chaeyoung instinctively raised her arms, shutting her eyes tight.
The punch never landed.
A middle-aged man had caught Han Seeyoung's fist.
It's too dangerous... That old geezer...
The man spoke calmly.
"I know you're angry about your mother's death, but this is not the way, kid. You're not the only one who lost someone precious today. We all have. Killing your sister won't bring your mom back."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to move him away from Han Seeyoung. But, I wasn't able to do anything... because I was scared of my novel's character.
Han Seeyoung's expression darkened.
"Old man… this is a family conversation… WHO TOLD YOU TO—"
[ FIRE ELEMENT LVL. 1 HAS BEEN ACTIVATED ]
"INTERFERE IN IT!!"
FWOOOSH!!
Flames erupted from Han Seeyoung's right hand as he punched the man's face.
The moment the fire touched the man's skin, he burned to ashes in a millisecond.
The crowd gasped.
"H-How?!"
"Was that magic?!"
"It was fire!"
"But that fire… it was too powerful…"
Han Seeyoung, a 14-year-old boy. One of the strongest characters in "Desired End."
The Demon King had taken an interest in him and granted him "Fire Element".
In the novel, Han Seeyoung had grown so powerful that even the main protagonist had trouble while killing him.
I remembered now—Han Seeyoung died in Chapter 547.
Ah… Glogus235's favorite character was Han Seeyoung.
That's why he dropped the story when I killed him.
Han Seeyoung turned to the others.
"Don't tell me your useless words. It's not worth it anymore."
Something popped up on Futaba's screen.
"Hmm?"
GULP
His eyes widened as he stared at the screen.
Han Seeyoung pointed at it.
"Look at that!"
[ TIME REMAINING: 6:45 ]
"What do you think will happen once that timer runs out? We'll all die!! This isn't the same world anymore! Our old reality is gone! Money, fame, relationships, positions, government, laws... none of that matters now!!
"If you're waiting for the government to save us, then you're stupid! No one is coming. Everything has changed. So what's the point of clinging to the past?! THERE ISN'T ONE!!"
"If we want to survive, we have to kill someone important to us. Otherwise, we can just wait and die! The condition to live is simple—kill your own family and survive. Nothing else matters! In this world, only one thing is absolute... Survival."
The crowd fell silent. Their terrified eyes locked onto Han Seeyoung.
"The weak deserve to die, and the strong deserve to live! That's the only rule in this dream! There's no family here. No friends. No love. There is only YOU."
"YOU need to survive!! If you don't have the guts to kill, then just sit there and wait for the timer to run out!!"
In the original novel, Han Seeyoung became a leader of an organization. He gathered people, shaped them with his words, and turned them into weapons.
And just like in the novel...
A massacre was...
〆 This isn't fiction anymore. This is my world—
the world I created—
and it's burning.
— Kang Hong