I leaped to the side to avoid the charging dog.
Unfortunately, the dog was faster than me.
As it leaped, its wide-open jaws came dangerously close.
A searing pain shot through my side, followed by the tearing agony of flesh.
“Ah-ah-ah!”
A scream erupted without a moment to spare.
The sensation of flesh being torn and ripped apart was vivid.
Thinking was a luxury I couldn’t afford do at the moment.
Tears, saliva, and blood streamed down uncontrollably.
The dagger I once held in my right hand had long fallen to the ground.
With each snap of the dog’s head, my flesh tore even longer.
“Huuaaak!”
Whether it was a howl or a scream, I couldn’t tell.
If all of this were a dream, it would be great nightmare.
The pain, starting from my side, easily overpowered my attempts to resist.
My gut feeling was correct. This wasn’t a dream. Dreams weren’t supposed to be like this.
That simple realization marked the beginning.
Am I going to die here?
“No!”
If I die, the events of seven years ago will repeat.
The accident that left my siblings all alone, unprepared, and grieving the loss of our parents, started replaying in my mind due to the overwhelming pain.
I don’t have sharp teeth or a powerful bite like the dog.
How do I defeat a dog in this situation?
“Dagger!”
I needed a way to attack the dog.
I need to retrieve the dagger!
After making a quick decision, I pushed the dog’s head away.
But it didn’t let go easily, resisting even more fiercely.
“Uuaaaak!”
Blood vessels burst, and my eyes felt like they would pop out.
Maybe it was because of the bleeding, but it seemed like my eyes would burst at any moment.
At that moment, a sudden realization struck me.
The dog also has eyes!
“You son of a dog!”
I shoved my thumb into the dog’s eye.
Under normal circumstances, the slimy sensation would have given me chills.
But in a situation where my life was at stake, the unfamiliar sensation didn’t evoke any particular disgust.
The only thing that mattered was the fact that I had struck the dog.
Crack.
As the dog retreated, the teeth embedded in my side were forcibly pulled out.
“Huuk!”
It wasn’t just a simple pain, it was agony.
It was more dreadful when the teeth were pulled out than when they were stuck in.
My whole body trembled, making strange sounds involuntarily.
I wanted to lose consciousness immediately.
But if I did so, I would die.
The dog, raising its front paw, was scratching its head.
What if it charges again while I’m unconscious? What if it bites my neck instead of my side?
With the worst-case scenario in mind, I managed to extend my trembling hand towards the dagger I had let go of when the dog bit me.
Swoosh, I tried to reach for it, but my hand fell short.
“Iyaaak!”
I screamed, grinding my red-stained hands on the floor.
But just before my outstretched hand touched the dagger, the harsh sound of footsteps drew near.
By the time I realized the presence had approached too closely, it was already too late.
Thunk!
A chilling sound echoed.
This time, the sound came before the pain.
The pelvic bone bitten by the dog snapped, and my vision turned black, only to brighten again.
It was like a light bulb going out and then coming back on.
But this time, there wasn’t even a scream.
“Kuk!”
The only sound was a gurgling, as if struggling to breathe.
As I turned my head, I saw the dog’s jaws biting down on my pelvis.
As the dog shook its head violently, it felt like my lower body was about to detach.
The floor was now stained red, and some major veins had definitely ruptured.
Nevertheless, I raised my hand, shivering, and miraculously, something hard caught the tip of my finger.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I thrust the dagger into the dog’s side.
As the dog writhed in pain, it jumped frantically.
“Ugh!”
I was tossed around based on the movements of the dog who bit me.
From that moment, a tug-of-war between him and me began.
I twisted the dagger stuck to the dog, resistant and unyielding.
The dog exerted more force on the dagger biting into me.
Finally, at the end of the tedious struggle, I successfully pulled out the dagger embedded in the guy’s body.
“Eat this!”
And without hesitation, I stabbed it back in.
One, two, three times. The more I repeated, the faster I pulled out the blade.
Thud, thud, thud. The sound of the blade piercing the dog’s flesh was monotonous.
“Die, die, die!”
Even as I screamed in frustration, my hands did not stop.
And finally.
[Target has been eliminated. Absorbing Mana 8.]
[Congratulations!]
[MISSION
Tutorial (Beta Test 1/3) successful]
[Mana 10 will be provided as a success reward. All injuries will be healed]
[Calculating results.]
[Server activation begins.]
[Beta server activation 0%.]
[Beta server activation 1%.]
[Beta server activa…]
I paid no attention to the ringing sounds and scrolling text.
Something unknown and hot began to crawl into my body.
It felt like I was going insane.
I had to writhe in this bizarre sensation. This wasn’t mine.
It was an instinctive aversion, not a conclusion reached by rational thinking.
I wanted to pull out whatever had entered my body right away.
I expelled everything inside, and, after a few seconds, the disturbing sensation disappeared. Only then could I breathe.
* * *
“Uhh!”
Not just my hands, even my feet flailed through the air.
My body, springing up like a coil, froze as it confirmed the sight before it.
Winter clothes, summer clothes, a tightly packed wardrobe, a closed wooden door, and even the worn-out wallpaper.
Familiar surroundings. My room.
Nowhere in sight was the corpse of the dog. The surroundings weren’t all white.
Looking around, maybe that was just a dream.
Relief washed over me as the tense muscles in my body gradually relaxed.
I closed my eyes and collapsed onto the bed.
Thump, thump.
The pounding of my heart shook my entire body.
I, who had been regulating my rough breathing for a while, murmured.
“What kind of messed-up dream is this…”
There’s no such thing as a messed-up dream like this.
As I raised my hands to rub my face, I felt sticky sweat.
Not just on my face. I was damp all over, as if I had sweated a lot.
How vivid the experiences in the dream were.
It still seemed like the smell of pungent blood lingered.
“Phew.”
After several deep breaths, the disturbed breath in my body settled calmly.
The saying that you don’t feel pain in dreams was just nonsense.
As I recalled the pain of being torn apart and my bones twisting, my body shivered involuntarily.
I forced the gruesome memories out of my mind and sat up.
It didn’t seem like I could go back to sleep at any moment.
Although the alarm hadn’t gone off yet, I thought of just getting up and taking a shower.
But before I could get out of bed, I froze.
Because a sight I hadn’t noticed when I woke up caught my eye.
Not just my hands and clothes, but also the sheets and blankets I had been lying on until a moment ago.
Everything was smeared in red.
The sweat I thought was all over my body due to nightmare, was actually blood.
[Beta server is activated.]
Once again, the words appeared in front of me.
[External access for players is now available.]
[A System Usage Manual is provided.]
[Result calculation is complete.]
[Congratulations!
Player Kang Hyunwoo eliminated the target at 00:02:37.]
[Based on the performance, top-grade attribute magic power 5 is provided.]
“Ugh!”
My back snapped. I tumbled from the edge of the bed to the floor.
The sensation I felt in the dream.
Something was crawling into my body.
As I writhed on the floor, the text continued.
[Based on the top-grade performance, the special ability ????? will be created.]
In that moment, I was in the midst of a struggle with whatever had invaded my body.
“Get out! Get out!”
It could have been anyone. Just get these intruders out of me!
I moved all around, trying to get this out of me with all my might, but nothing changed.
It repeated, like my body was having seizures, jumping up and down.
It wasn’t until what felt like hours later, but was probably just seconds. I could finally relax, saliva dripping, letting go of my consciousness.
“Ugh, gasp, huff…”
* * *
At 12:20 PM, after the spring break lecture at the academy, Jinwoo and Yeonwoo returned home.
While Yeonwoo went outside to hang laundry, Jinwoo headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Today was his turn.
“Uh…”
It happened when he opened the refrigerator to take out side dishes.
Jinwoo’s body shuddered.
The food he had prepared in the morning was still there.
The breakfast for his brother, Hyunwoo.
“He went out without eating?”
Worried, he peeked into Hyunwoo’s room, but no one was there.
No sign of a person, not even a glimpse of a sheet.
As if he had just cleaned.
“He could just leave the cleaning to us…”
His brother already worked hard day and night, and now, he was doing even the household chores.
As he bit his lip in frustration, the old-fashioned door lock made an electronic sound.
“Huh?”
Jinwoo quickly left the kitchen
Hyunwoo came in, opening the front door.
“Hyung!”
“Oh, right on time. Where’s Yeonwoo?”
In Hyunwoo’s hand was a pizza box.
Looking at his annoyingly smug face, Jinwoo felt a lump in his throat.
Due to working tirelessly on weekdays and weekends, they could rarely see their brother’s face.
Sometimes, if they were lucky, they would briefly meet on a weekend morning.
It had been almost a month since they last met.
Jinwoo rushed to Hyunwoo and took the pizza box.
Hyunwoo ruffled Jinwoo’s hair, as usual.
“You came? You came right on time?”
Meanwhile, Yeonwoo, who had rushed out from the veranda, jumped into Hyunwoo’s arms.
Hyunwoo, who chuckled, embraced Yeonwoo tightly.
“Oppa, you’re at home?”
Amidst the forced laughter, Jinwoo asked, “What’s up? What happened? Taking a day off today? Not going to work? Staying at home?”
“Yeah, taking a day off.”
“Why didn’t you tell us in advance? We could have skipped the academy!”
“What? Would you have skipped if you knew in advance?”
“Well, it’s not that, but… then, can’t we stay home today too? We’ll study at home.”
Yeonwoo, with a nasal voice, clung to Hyunwoo’s waist.
Hyunwoo, while hugging Yeonwoo, coldly smiled.
“Say it again.”
“We… we can study at home.”
“Enough with the nonsense. Go to the academy and study properly. I’ll take you there.”
“Ugh…”
“In return, I’ll allow you to rest in the evening.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
The eyes of the twins sparkled.
Hyunwoo pushed their backs with a smirk.
“Now go wash your hands and eat.”
“Yes!”
The twins, with bright smiles, ran like arrows into the bathroom.
As he watched their backs, Hyunwoo’s expression stiffened.
His insides were boiling.
‘If I died, what will have happened to them?’
In Hyunwoo’s eyes, a determination to survive, no matter what, ignited.
