A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 17

Episode 17

 

Her hair was cut roughly into a bob, and near her eyebrow was a long, fresh-looking wound. Her face was stained with blood that had flowed from her injuries.

Her clothes weren’t much better. A blazer stiff with dried blood, and she had layered gym pants over her school skirt. Neither her top nor bottom looked intact.

She glared at her surroundings, gripping a wooden plank as if it were a lifeline.

‘Just like in the original.’

High vigilance. When someone’s that on edge, it’s better not to provoke them unnecessarily…

“Hoin, don’t look around too much.”

“Ah.”

“You’ll start a fight.”

Hoin flinched, clenched his hand once, then nodded lightly as if he understood.

‘We need to get out of here quickly.’

A place like this wasn’t good for someone as sensitive to his surroundings as Hoin.

My gaze naturally shifted toward the electronic board mounted on one side of the wall.

 

—

{ Current Participants ☞ 146/150 ☜ }

—

 

Four remaining.

Before long, the remaining four slots filled up. The board briefly displayed the message “Participants are selecting waiting rooms”…

Then suddenly shut off.

“W-What is that?”

Someone who noticed the anomaly muttered like a scream, and murmurs began to spread.

“Th-That…?”

Something slowly pushed its head out from the screen. Like a ghost crawling out of a television in an old horror movie.

And what tore its way out of the board was…

“Nice to meeet yooou~! Oooh, were you allll waiiiting~?”

A pink rabbit doll.

Ridiculously small, yet meticulously crafted.

“Th-That’s the one we saw at the crossroads…!”

It resembled the one we saw earlier, but looked slightly more dressed up.

“Yes, that’s riiight! It’s meee!! A bit… shabby?”

A distorted voice, like a broken recording, came from the doll’s mouth. Utterly grotesque.

“A-Aaaah!”

Unable to withstand the horror, some people rushed to the door, frantically twisting the handle of the already locked cabin. Others grabbed weapons, directing wary gazes at the doll.

This was what you’d call learned fear. If something looked monstrous, people instinctively assumed it wasn’t on their side.

“Ahh, I’m soooorry. Was my voiice too loud?”

“How about now? A little sooofter, riiight? Or still too loud?”

“Hmm, this should be fiiine, yes?”

The agent paid no attention to the chaos, focusing only on adjusting its voice.

“Hoin, put it down.”

I pressed down the weapon Hoin had raised like the others.

There was no benefit in antagonizing the agent of the “Eternal Seeker of Pleasure.” Even if you killed it, all you’d gain was that entity’s hostility… no reward.

‘And in event spaces like this, guide-type agents are the most treasured ones.’

Moreover, within the event space, such guide agents could even be made invincible.

‘Of course, that costs a lot, and only applies to designated guides.’

In any event, guide agents couldn’t be attacked first.

So, Third Parties always added a setting: if a guide was killed, the killer would be punished.

That alone showed how much they valued their agents.

“Let– let me out!”

A man who had been trembling in a corner suddenly charged at the doll with a weapon.

And he destroyed it easily.

No… more precisely, he tore it apart.

All he did was stab the center of the doll with the tip of his blade and twist.

“I… I did it…?”

Staring at the now-limp doll, the man, filled with joy, turned toward the door.

“You idiots… all idiots… I did it… I really did…”

Muttering to himself, he reached for the door…

“Ugh…”

Hoin let out a short groan.

 

—

[TIP! Event zones are entirely their domain. When in Rome, do as the Romans do! Once you enter their territory, it’s best to follow their rules!]

[Oh dear, it seems he has drawn excessive hostility and received severe punishment from the owner of this domain!]

—

 

Through the narrator’s gleeful voice, we saw the man.

“Ah…?”

Starting from his head, he began to melt.

Only then did he realize what was happening.

Every surface reflected him… deliberately, blatantly.

All eyes turned toward him.

Under gazes filled with shock and horror, the man melted slowly… like Icarus’ wings before the sun.

 

***

 

“Now!”

As if things had settled, the agent reappeared and addressed the crowd.

“Very gooood! Everyone’s paying attention now!”

“As I saaaid before, once you join, you caaaan’t quit!”

Overwhelming fear devours screams. The swallowed screams seemed to echo endlessly.

“That was a truly terrible 10 minutes… or was it 30? Hmm, not sure!”

“Anyway! What a waaaste of precious tiiime!”

After clearing its throat repeatedly, the doll spoke again… so kindly it felt surreal.

“To return to where we left off, I am the grrreat agent of the ‘Eternal Seeker of Pleasure’ and your guide for this event… Raaabbit!”

Some people gagged, covering their mouths.

The rabbit didn’t care.

“This event is for improving participants’ phyysical fitness—”

What nonsense.

Dressing up a massacre for its own pleasure.

“Yeees, I know you think it’s nonsense.”

…

Anyway.

The rules weren’t complicated.

For ten days, you had to survive in this park, moving between “Homes” and supply zones. A “Home” was essentially a safe zone.

‘A place where mutants couldn’t enter or even perceive.’

Like hide-and-seek or tag, but with rules.

First, every 12 hours, the entire terrain changes. Supply zones and Homes also relocate. The number of Homes and supply zones depends on the number of participants sharing the same waiting room symbol.

Second, you can only enter buildings that match your waiting room symbol.

Third, symbols can be stolen.

Fourth, possessing a symbol grants a special bonus unique to that waiting room. The specifics are hidden unless you obtain the hidden rules.

The third rule was the worst.

No one would willingly give up their symbol… the key to survival.

But inevitably, there would come a time when Homes and supplies weren’t enough.

‘And then… you’d have to steal from the more populated group.’

If someone didn’t share your symbol, you had to run.

No… even among the same group, it was still dangerous.

“There are also hiiidden ruuules! Ones that make escape eaasier!”

“But everyone shouldn’t escape too easily, right? This is for improvement, after all!”

“The hidden ruuule is…”

The doll began hopping in place, excited.

“You get it when you gain an advaaantage over others!”

Someone asked what that meant.

The doll waved its tiny hands cutely.

“A very simple and primal method…”

“Kiiiilling.”

Simply put, kill the one in first place.

Someone gasped sharply.

Ignoring all reactions, the doll activated the board again.

“Here is the waiting room distribution!”

 

—

[Waiting Room Distribution]

‘Eagle Class’: 59 people

‘Cow Class’: 35 people

‘Rabbit Class’: 29 people

‘Horse Class’: 25 people

—

 

“As expected, Rabbit Class is the cuuutest, right?”

Ignoring the nonsense, I quickly scanned the numbers.

Two missing.

One was likely from our Rabbit Class…

‘Looks like someone caused trouble in another group too.’

People began murmuring at the strange display.

“Wh-What is Eagle Class?”

“Was that even an option…?”

Eagle.

A mascot that hadn’t appeared at any of the crossroads.