minutes.
Compensation: 200 coins.
Failure: ???
+

“Dokja-ssi, something is strange. It says the ‘broken bridge’ but the bridge is still…”

“Don’t worry and just run! Quickly!”

“U-Understood!”

    In fact, Yoo Sangah was right. The bridge hadn’t been broken yet. In other words, the ‘bridge was going to be broken.’

“Dokja-ssi, come quickly!”

“I’m coming.”

   It hadn’t been broken yet because we got off the train ‘too soon.’ The dokkaebi said the preparation time was 10 minutes. But we escaped three minutes earlier.

    Some people might call it cowardly but this scenario couldn’t be cleared without such a shortcut. Especially if I was stuck with burdens such as Yoo Sangah and Lee Gilyoung.

“Pant, pant. Indeed, Lee Hyunsung-ssi is a soldier and has high stamina.”

“Don’t open your mouth. You will lose strength.”

   Lee Hyunsung was running first with the kid. He was a natural monster who didn’t invest any coins in his stats, yet the sum of his strength, stamina and agility exceeded 23.

   The next one was Han Myungoh and then Yoo Sangah with me in the rear. It would be close but I thought we could make it in time.

“Ah, what is that?”

   At this time, Han Myungoh’s scream was heard. There was a huge whirlpool in the centre of Han River, letting out splashes of water.

   And a giant monster was at the centre of the splashes. An ichthyosaur. The problem was that the ichthyosaur seemed to be twice the size of the one I saw through the window.

   This wasn’t a sea serpent…it was a sea commander.

   A general sea serpent was only a grade 7 monster. Given that a grade 9 monstrous land rate was difficult for normal humans to cope with, an average human would be torn apart by a grade 7 monster.

   In other words, the guy coming now wasn’t a monster that could be caught in the early stages. Of course, there was no need to catch it. It wasn’t created to be caught.

   The Han River surged like there was a tsunami and the ichthyosaur moved. It was chewing on the legs of the bridge.

“The bridge is breaking!”

“Run! If we run then we can cross it!”

   The remaining distance was around 200 metres. If my calculations were correct, we could cross before the bridge collapsed at our current speed.

[There is no fun if the game is too easy.]

   Of course, this was a story for when there were no variables.

[The scenario difficulty has been adjusted.]
[Scenario difficulty: E -> D]

   The sound of the dokkaebi’s laughter was heard.

[Is there any fun if you just run away? Let’s create a bit of atmosphere!]

[The evil thoughts of the dead have returned.]

[The surrounding earth is filled with black ether.]

[The demonic people have woken up!]

   There was the sound of something chasing us from behind. Yoo Sangah muttered to herself.

“Z-Zombies?”

   Zombie-like bodies were coming in huge waves. Some of them were people from the same carriage as us.

“We just need to go a little further! Quickly!”

   The distance to the ichthyosaur was now less than a hundred metres. Fortunately, Lee Hyunsung carried Lee Gilyoung and had crossed the safety line. The problem was the rest of us, including me. Han Myungoh shrieked.

“Y-You bastards!”

   There were too many demonic people. If there were only corpses from the subway, we might’ve gotten away. The problem was…

“Kuweeeoooh!”

   The drivers who died on the bridge became demonic people. The path that Lee Hyunsung broke through was covered with demonic people. I looked between the demonic people on the road and the approaching ichthyosaur.

“…Everybody get down.”

   It was too late.

   The legs of the bridge shook tremendously as the ichthyosaur’s huge mouth bit it.

   The scales of the ichthyosaur shone through the dust that poured down onto Han River like rain. A fishy smell of blood and water filled the area.

   I staggered and raised my body.

   Once the dust went away, the scenery around me was clear. Piles of shattered concrete and cut steel. The carcasses of the demonic people which the ichthyosaur had cleanly bitten through.

   The broken leg of the bridge.

“…Dok…sii…kay?”
   Yoo Sangah and Han Myungoh raised their bodies from a little further away.

   One of Han Myungoh’s legs seemed injured and uncomfortable from the previous quake.

   Lee Hyunsung and Lee Gilyoung cried out from across the bridge but their voices seemed blocked by the safety zone.

   What should I do? I made plans on the basis of the bridge breaking. But I hadn’t expected Han Myungoh and Yoo Sangah to be with me.

   At that moment, a voice was heard in the air.

[Someone has received the favour of a constellation.]

[The constellation’s scenario ‘Deus Ex Machina’ has been activated.]

   Along with the voice, a brilliant bridge made of light was created among the remnants of the broken Dongho Bridge. Then a message floated in front of me.

“Dokja-ssi. This, in my head, suddenly―”
    I met the eyes of Yoo Sangah, who was talking nonsense. I could roughly guess the situation.

   Deus Ex Machina. Constellations risked a huge loss by intervening in scenarios.
“…It is Yoo Sangah-ssi’s sponsor.”

   I didn’t know what constellation it was but somebody had chosen Yoo Sangah as their incarnation and wanted her to live.

   Deus Ex Machine was a rare phenomenon in Ways of Survival. And Yoo Sangah was a person who should’ve already died.

   I had a moment of doubt. What type of constellation was behind Yoo Sangah?

[The information of this person can’t be read in ‘Character List.’]

[This person isn’t registered in ‘Character List.’]

   I was a bit surprised.

   I couldn’t see her with my skill? Why? Did she have a special background? Or did she have a mental barrier? But if she had something like that from the beginning…no, wait a minute. Perhaps this was…

“Dokja-ssi, what do we do now?”
   I heard Yoo Sangah’s bewildered voice. I didn’t have much time to think.

   The Han River was swirling. The ichthyosaur had eaten one bridge leg and was turning its huge body around on the other side of Han River. I bit my lips and once again read the explanation of the bridge.

   Only an ‘even’ number of people could cross the bridge.

   In the end, ‘Deus Ex Machina’ was a toy made by the damn constellations who loved tragedies.

   There was no way for everyone to survive.

   In the end, somebody must die.

<to be continue >