3 Episode 1 – Starting the Paid Service (3)

"Everyone! Please, everyone calm down!"

There was no doubt that the powerful male voice that had just been heard throughout the subway train had the purpose of calming down the probable few spirits that had warmed up as a result of everything that had just taken place. However, as powerful as this famous voice was, I didn't hear any sound of this because I was too focused on the window that had opened in front of me a little earlier, just after the sudden appearance of the dokkaebi

Killing at least one living being

Even though the situation I was in was catastrophic and worthy of the greatest novels that could exist, I was perfectly aware that I had to remain as calm as possible in order to control my reactions and my emotions as best I could. So, I made sure to control my breathing rhythm as usual, paying attention to breathe enough to have a clear mind. In the end, the current situation demanded that I be in the best possible dispositions

"Raaaaah! I can't die!"

I blinked once and only once before coming to rest my eyes on a man of a particularly advanced age who seemed to be the type of person to be the manager of a company or a small business nearby, in other words, a leader of men. Although I had never come across him or even met him before, so much so that I didn't know anything about him, I understood instantly what this man was referring to: the people waiting for him at home, his family. However, although I could understand the fear and panic he had just expressed through a scream, I did not take my eyes off him and quickly noticed the military knife he was now holding in both hands

"I CAN'T DIE!"

Just as he finished bellowing in a way that reminded me for a moment of an unadvantageous wild animal, the man moved in my direction, coming to hold the knife firmly in his hands. His eyes appeared to be blood red. He was only a few meters away from me, but without knowing why, I remained petrified on the spot. I stood there silently, watching the man who would probably end my life by killing me

While I was still unable to do anything until a few seconds ago, I surprisingly regained control of my movements and managed to deflect the trajectory of the knife blade by shifting to the right, but unfortunately, the knife blade still managed to cut me very slightly under my left eye without any real serious consequences. Since I had just managed to make sure that I didn't die, it was a minor injury that didn't necessarily need quick treatment.

The eyes of the man with the knife seemed to open wide as he was surprised to see that I had been able to dodge his attack well enough to still be alive. Meanwhile, the people inside the subway train were silently watching us and then, probably realizing that this was really the only way to get out of it alive, everyone started attacking each other hoping for death. The subway train was now in chaos, with individuals attacking each other with no mercy in their eyes

In spite of the incessant and heavy noise of struggle and screams of suffering, I kept my gaze on my assailant in order not to give him any chance to attack me by surprise. Needless to say, I was also worried about the ally I had managed to make earlier, but I had to think about my own survival first. The man looked at me for a fraction of a second and literally launched himself in my direction with eyes that seemed to be drowning in the deepest despair. I was about to go on the offensive, however, the man with the knife fell face down on the ground after a particularly well placed blow by someone, and that person was none other than Lee Seolhwa

"Is everything okay, Choi Jakga?!"

She was holding the handle of an unfolded umbrella in her hands as tightly as possible, with which she had hit the back of the skull of the man who wanted me dead, now collapsed on the ground. He was not dead since he was still able to breathe, but because he was not moving, I estimated that he was simply unconscious, which Lee Seolhwa confirmed to me after checking if he was not dead by breathing air

"I'm fine. Nevertheless, you should make sure to use this opportunity to pass this scenario"

"What?"

"You should kill this man to ensure your survival"

I knew, of course, that saying something like that would make me sound like a man for whom killing is not such a serious thing to do, but I was just thinking rationally. It was better to kill this unconscious man than a living man who would try to kill you too. This way, there was no need to face the gruesome face of a person losing his life at the hand of another, bleeding to death until finally the little spark in his eyes went out and the heart stopped beating forever. Lee Seolhwa seemed to understand what I meant and then, with trembling hands and a few tears on her face, she walked towards the man and squeezed his neck so that he would finally stop breathing

Unfortunately, it might take a long time for him to die and for Lee Seolhwa's survival to be assured, and I had to make sure of my own survival as well now that my ally was going to succeed in the main scenario we had been given. I started to look around me to understand what was going on in its entirety. Around me, people were fighting each other just to hope to survive this threat from somewhere else, and the smell of blood was everywhere, even though I managed to keep a normal breath while observing this.

Aware that I had to end someone's life in order to continue living, I closed my fist, then dashed towards the other people fighting, hoping to run into someone who was about to die in order to put them out of their misery. However, no one was in the state I was hoping for and soon a woman blocked my path by standing right in front of me, probably hoping to kill me. I couldn't blame her, but I couldn't let her do it either, so I hit her in the jaw, which forced her to back away and then come and stare at me with eyes where the greatest despair was

I expected her to retaliate so I took a defensive position waiting for her to come back and attack me, but she didn't. Instead, she took three steps back before hurriedly turning her back on me and going off to find others to confront. You didn't have to be an extremely intelligent person to understand what she had tried to do. Faced with the need to kill someone in order to survive, she was trying hard to find someone whose life she could take without much difficulty, but unfortunately, she seemed to be succeeding in failure after failure

Suddenly, something caught my attention, forcing me to look straight ahead. Three men who looked like they had just come out of work a few minutes ago and were dressed similarly to me, although a bit more luxurious, like an important businessman's suit. They wore facial expressions that were a mixture of terror and anxiety, and for a moment I even caught myself smiling at them. They exchanged a few brief words before turning their attention back to me with a smile that somehow expressed their future intentions

Someone had to be killed to be sure to survive what had been called the first scenario, and that was the very reason for the beginning of this butchery in the subway train.  Knowing that it would be better for them to act as a team in this most unexpected situation, they had probably searched the whole train for three people in order to kill them just to survive. The first person was obviously myself as they were looking at me, however, regarding the other people, I had no idea. I quickly remembered one thing and turned my head to see that behind me was Lee Seolhwa sitting on the floor on her knees, strangling the unconscious man next to her with force

"Ah, fuck..."

Maybe I was too preoccupied with what was in front of me, but I didn't feel my phone start to vibrate slightly...