A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 107

Chapter 107

 

It was a surprisingly simple window.

I stared carefully at both the window and the stadium. Inside the stadium, which was half-consumed by the event, a structure that looked half like a castle could be glimpsed here and there.

A castle.

That kind of castle…

‘Isn’t that the Nightmare Brat’s thing?’

Its nickname was long, so people usually shortened it. Something like “the Brat of Eternal Recurrence and the Closed Nightmare”. That was the kind of title it had.

The nickname itself was unusual, and since each event had a distinct theme, the theme of the event it designed was very clear.

Events that borrowed from children’s games like hide-and-seek, treasure hunts, and tag.

Of course, the problem was that they were brutally vicious.

But the rules themselves were quite simple.

Everyone knows how hide-and-seek, treasure hunts, and tag.

It adopted those rules almost exactly… except for a few special rules.

‘Hide-and-seek with a castle, huh.’

That castle was the Nightmare Brat’s signature.

Since it was famous, there were many rumors too.

Like how that castle was supposedly the Nightmare Brat’s “past,” or things like that.

But nothing had ever been confirmed.

The reason was simple.

Sa Jaeheon had absolutely no interest in the Nightmare Brat.

When the protagonist shows no interest at all, what extra character would ever get properly explained?

Instead, he had erased it once.

Even though he had no interest, he still destroyed it.

But since the process wasn’t given much focus, I didn’t even remember how it was destroyed.

‘Still, I think it wasn’t supposed to be that difficult.’

And I’d also heard that the castle had an unusually large number of items.

‘And on top of that…’

The Nightmare Brat’s events didn’t set a fixed ratio for survivors.

In theory, that meant most participants could make it out alive.

Of course, that rarely happened.

For now, I just stared blankly at the castle and let out a long breath.

Lee Hoin was in that condition… if I went in right now, who knew what kind of trouble we’d run into.

I watched as the participant count slowly filled up.

After some time, Lee Hoin let out a long breath.

It seemed like he was calming down little by little.

“…You feeling a bit better?”

I didn’t ask what he saw.

For a moment, Lee Hoin breathed deeply, then turned his head toward the stadium.

It looked like he could see the window too.

“…Where are we? Seoul World Cup Stadium?”

He recognized it immediately.

When I confirmed it, he stared at the stadium for a long time.

With distant eyes, as if he was looking somewhere far away, he finally spoke.

“Let’s go in.”

“…Hey, we can rest a bit first.”

I didn’t even know what state his mind was in.

I couldn’t just rush in like that.

As I frowned and answered, Lee Hoin just let out a long breath.

“…I feel like I need to move my body.”

His voice was so exhausted that I was at a loss for words.

I wanted to tell him to rest more, but it felt like resting would only bring that back again.

“You don’t have to push yourself. You don’t have to move right now.”

“….”

He answered by not answering.

In the end… we moved.

 

***

 

The moment we chose to enter…

Clunk, click.

With the sound of winding clockwork, a massive gate slowly opened.

Before I knew it, we had already passed through it and stood in front of it.

And in front of us… Someone stood upright, greeting us.

A man in a formal suit, like something out of a story, his head covered with a white veil.

So, of course, his eyes couldn’t be seen.

The veil draped all the way down to his chest.

Even so… one thing was certain.

He was definitely staring straight at me.

“….”

He stood there quietly before asking:

“Are there two of you in total?”

A deep voice.

Deep, yet grating… like the sound of metal scraping.

And yet, strangely, every word was clear.

I gave a small nod.

“Yes.”

Still standing perfectly straight, he spoke again.

“Thank you for responding to the final invitation. I will escort you to the reception room.”

Snap

At that sound, the surroundings changed instantly.

The murmuring crowd’s gazes all turned toward us, who had appeared out of nowhere.

It wasn’t my first time seeing a waiting room like this, so rather than the room itself… 

‘It’s the sudden change that’s surprising.’

Lee Hoin flinched and gripped his greatsword tightly.

A reflexive reaction.

But since he didn’t attack the agent in front of us, I didn’t say anything.

The Nightmare Brat had several peculiarities.

Aside from what I’d already explained, there was one more:

Among its agents… There was only one “adult.”

All the others were children.

The man in front of me was the only “adult” agent.

‘Though calling the others children isn’t exactly right.’

They had simply stopped at a child’s form.

If they had aged normally, they’d probably be several times older than me.

The “adult” who led us to the reception room stood in a corner and picked up a bell with his fingertips.

He rang it lightly twice and began to speak.

At some point, everyone’s attention shifted from us to him.

“Please pay attention.”

The “adult” waited until all eyes were on him,

then bowed deeply with impeccable manners.

It was the kind of old-fashioned etiquette you’d see in an 18th-century Western drama.

Only after completing the bow did he speak again.

“Thank you for accepting the invitation. I am the ‘Adult.’”

Maintaining his composed manners, he continued:

“I will now explain the rules of the game to be conducted here.”

At the same time, a window appeared.

 

—

Tag ▼

First: Tag.

If you’re caught by the tagger, you die.

If you’re not caught, you live.

Current participants: 60/60

Remaining time: 04:00:00

—

 

As the window appeared, the “Adult” moved lightly as he spoke.

With each casual motion, his veil swayed.

“It is not particularly difficult. From now on, you must hide somewhere in the mansion and avoid being caught by the ‘taggers.’”

At his calm tone, everyone fell silent.

“You may use anything. As long as you are not caught.”

“If we can use anything and just not get caught… can we attack the taggers?”

Someone asked from among the tense crowd.

As the apocalypse progressed, even the way people asked questions had changed compared to before.

The “Adult,” who had been moving lightly, suddenly snapped his head toward the speaker.

The person flinched and stepped back.

As if losing interest, the “Adult” nodded and looked back over the crowd.

“Yes. ‘Anything’ means everything. Everything in this mansion belongs to you. You may use it freely, and if you acquire something first, you may claim ownership. However, all responsibility lies with you. Now, let us continue.”

Snap

With a crisp sound of thumb and middle finger meeting, the statues that had seemed like mere decorations at the edge of the wall began to walk toward the “Adult.”

They wore old-fashioned servant clothing, and like him, had veils covering their heads.

All of them were small.

Though the “Adult” was tall, they didn’t even reach half his height.

“They will become the taggers. If you listen carefully–”

The “Adult” lightly tapped one of the statues.

It made a heavy sound as it moved.

Thud

Followed by the jingling of a bell.

A sound that revealed the tagger’s location.

“Four hours. You must not be caught for four hours. If you are caught–”

The “Adult” paused.

He didn’t finish the sentence.

But everyone already knew what came next.

No one questioned it.

The world where human rights were inherent, where the weak were protected, and where law and order prevailed… was already gone.

Irrational and unreal things had overtaken everything.

In the subtly ordered silence, the “Adult” scanned the room.

“…The mansion is very large, so there are many places to hide. There are also many taggers. All taggers are statues… and there is one ‘special tagger’ wandering about. If you encounter that one, offer your reverence politely.”

That silence meant acceptance.

It meant submission.

Finally, as if offering a blessing, the “Adult” spoke:

“Use every means within the mansion to survive. Even if your means are destroyed or become unusable, we will not take responsibility. If nothing else works, throwing weapons at random may also be an option.”

Since all the taggers were statues, throwing weapons randomly would have little effect.

Unless you destroyed them, a few blades wouldn’t make a statue feel pain or stop.

Among the people swallowing nervously… the doors finally opened.

The first game…

 

— 

Tag

— 

 

…had begun.

Lee Hoin, still gripping his greatsword tightly,

was staring at something, lost in thought.

It felt dangerous.

Damn it… it felt incredibly dangerous.