Destruction — Prologue

0. PROLOG

Huff, huff—Saejin exhaled roughly, breath rising all the way to his chin, and glanced behind him now and then. He was checking to make sure no one was chasing him. His thigh muscles felt like they were about to burst from running like mad, but he couldn’t stop. If he slowed down even a little, it felt like the monster’s fingertips would brush against him.

In the dead of dawn, when even the wild animals were asleep, the shadows cast by the towering trees devoured the ground beneath Saejin’s feet. His steps cut through the dim light, carrying him deeper into the mountains. His ragged breathing scraped at his throat. Though his brow furrowed from the pain, he didn’t drop the item in his hand. Afraid he might lose it, his fingers clenched so tightly they were on the verge of seizing up. Sweat drenched his back and forehead as the endless sprint continued, the stickiness adding to his discomfort.

At some point, a sign came into view: Private Property – No Trespassing, and beyond it loomed a tall wire fence, towering well above his height. Saejin, without hesitation, threw the two water bottles he’d brought over the fence, then slipped his fingers through the metal mesh. He was going to climb over it, like scaling a wall, even though the fence was far taller than him.

“Ugh…!”

Then, without warning, a jagged piece of metal scraped his skin, and a pained grunt escaped his lips. Startled by the unexpected sting, Saejin hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth and scanned the area. There wasn’t a single light in the forest—just the giant trees blocking the faint yellowish glow of early morning. Luckily, it seemed he had managed to shake off the “monster.” The ground, blanketed in shadow, bore only his own footprints.

Having reached the top edge of the fence, Saejin paused to catch his breath, then leapt down to the other side. A faint pain rose near his cheek. The surroundings were so dark that even if he wiped at the area, he couldn’t tell whether he was bleeding or not.

‘That really scared me. Having a monster suddenly jump out like that is just too much…’

One day, a virus with a 100% fatality rate suddenly spread across the world, rapidly becoming contagious. The asymptomatic incubation period lasted nearly a month, and even during that time, the virus was incredibly infectious. After the incubation period, the infected suffered from high fevers that made it feel like their flesh was cooking, eventually losing their brain and eyes before dying. The unbelievable part was that these dead bodies would rise again not long after, reborn as mindless monsters. They were practically zombies straight out of a movie or novel.

‘Just a few days ago, the monsters weren’t this wild…’

About a year after the outbreak began, people had begun adjusting to the creatures that only roamed around aimlessly. But then, suddenly, the reanimated dead started attacking others. It was a mutated strain of the virus. The extreme fever melted their most fragile organs—their eyes—rendering them blind, so they relied entirely on their remaining senses: hearing and smell. That meant even the smallest sound couldn’t be taken lightly.

Letting out a sigh, Saejin scanned the ground and found the water bottles. Thankfully, they were intact. He had gone to the valley to collect drinking water and had encountered a monster infected with the mutated virus on his way back to the villa.

‘…Hyung will be okay, right?’

His mind remained unsettled, worried about Woobeom, who had gone down alone into the city now swarming with monsters. But it wasn’t just the monsters that were dangerous. After the virus spread, the country had become a lawless zone where violence and looting were everyday occurrences. When it came to survival, people could become even more brutal than monsters.

Kicking aside the crunching fallen leaves with the toe of his sneakers, Saejin picked up the bottles he’d thrown. The barbed wire fence that encircled the hideout villa was originally meant to mark private property, but now served as a barrier against monsters. Their rotting muscles and bones made it impossible for them to climb anything. Plus, the villa’s location—disconnected from any hiking trails—had so far kept other survivors from stumbling upon it.

After walking for quite some time, a luxurious building lit by a flashlight at the entrance began to come into view. The villa, with its modern design, looked completely out of place in the mountainous landscape. It was like a country home planted right in the middle of Cheongdam-dong^[1].

Stepping through the front door and pausing in front of the shoe cabinet, Saejin calmly made his way through the living room. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, so only a limited amount of light came in through the windows. Relying on those faint streaks of sunlight, he carefully walked forward and flipped the switch on a battery-powered lamp.

Until just a few months ago, electricity was still flowing, but once the virus halted production, the power supply had been cut off. Still, the blackout hadn’t made survival impossible. Jung Woobeom’s villa was well-stocked with flashlights, batteries, and even a generator, though they had to use everything sparingly.

“Hyung, I’m back.”

There was no reply. The silence filling the house made it clear that Woobeom hadn’t returned to the villa yet. Saejin walked into the kitchen and placed the water bottles inside the refrigerator. With the power out, the appliance was no longer a device to keep things cold—it was merely a place to store food.

When is he coming back? As Saejin sat on the sofa with his chin propped in his hand, he heard movement from outside. Sensing immediately that Woobeom had arrived, he stood up, brushing away the boredom. News from the city was almost the only source of excitement in this dull villa life.

“Hyung!”

Saejin ran to the front door with a leap in his step, but to his disappointment, Woobeom didn’t react the way he usually did. On a normal day, he would have either patted Saejin’s head or signaled for him to slow down. It was odd.

“Saejin, get ready to leave.”

“Leave? Get ready for what?”

“…We have to abandon the villa.”

It was like a bolt from the blue. What on earth had happened out there for Woobeom to say they had to give up their shelter?

“We need to head to Jongno.”

“…You mean Jongno, in Seoul?”

They were currently in Suwon. With no certainty that the highways were even intact, such a long-distance trip was no different from risking their lives. Saejin’s face reflected his disbelief, and Woobeom pulled a paper from inside his coat.

[Evacuation Notice
To all survivors:
The government will soon dispatch military forces to eliminate infected individuals.
All survivors are advised to evacuate to designated safe zones as quickly as possible.]

A helicopter had dropped the flyers while Woobeom was in the city. Though the leaflets themselves were uninformative, a live broadcast had filled in the details.

The government had officially declared that it was impossible to protect every survivor across the country. Only those who reached the designated safe zones would be protected. The Suwon area was slated for a full-scale burn operation to eliminate infected hosts, and the villa—situated in the mountains—was likely to be consumed by wildfire. As Saejin read the notice, his face went pale.

“But not everyone can enter Jongno.”

“Then…?”

“First come, first served.”

Due to limited supplies and resources, the government could only take in a set number of people. Survival had now become a race—a matter of timing. They had to move—immediately.