[12:35 PM | Seoul Subway Line 3 | Car No. 3701]
[Time Remaining: 15:34]
[Scenario #1: SURVIVE]
Objective: Earn at least 100 Coins to survive.
Penalty for Failure: Death
Blood splashed against the subway wall like spilled paint.
The boy didn't hesitate. There wasn't a flicker of doubt in his expression—only the warped ecstasy of dominance. He gripped the stunned commuter by the collar, lips curled into a twisted smile.
"ARE YOU STLL DREAMING OF THE PREVIOUS WORLD?"
His voice carried over the silent car like the toll of a funeral bell.
"Dont worry... I'll wake you up—TO THE REALITY!"
With a sickening sound, the man's head was smashed against the floor. His body jerked once. Then, stillness.
Gasps erupted. Cries followed. But no one stepped in.
No one stopped him.
Nam Dokja stood amidst it all—watching. Thinking.
This… wasn't unexpected.
He had seen this scene before.
Han Cheoljun.
A name that wouldn't be remembered by history—unless Dokja made it so.
The boy was the early boss of the first scenario in Car No. 3701.
In the original novel, someone always stopped him—Jin Gwinam.
But not in this regression.
"…It's his fourth regression already," Dokja muttered under his breath.
That meant Jin Gwinam wouldn't appear in this version of events.
There would be no rescue.
Everyone would die here—unless someone interfered.
Dokja's fingers flew over his phone.
He opened the full copy of HSAW—How to Survive on an Apocalyptic World—the version the author had gifted him moments before.
The file loaded.
The latest update began not at Chapter 1, but at Jin Gwinam's fourth regression. The timeline had shifted.
But Cheoljun's rampage? That was still the same.
Dokja read quickly, eyes narrowing. There—Chapter 1, revised:
Cheoljun slaughters everyone.
The subway car becomes a slaughterhouse.
Only one person dares stand up to him—
"…Yoon Jiho."
He was just a boy. Twelve years old.
And he didn't kill anyone.
Instead, he awakened by killing insects in a bug box.
"How could I forget him?"
Dokja lifted his head. His eyes scanned the subway—
—and found him.
Yoon Jiho was trembling by the handrail, clinging to a clear bug box like it was his last lifeline. Inside, dozens of crickets skittered.
Fear had frozen his face. His knees were knocking.
But Dokja knew this child.
In the novel, Jiho had made a choice.
He could've escaped, abandoned everyone, and survived alone.
But he didn't.
Instead, he stayed. He tried to save them.
"...A 12-year-old did more than half the adults here."
Dokja walked toward him slowly. His movements deliberate.
Jiho flinched at his approach.
Dokja gently placed a hand on Jiho's head and spoke in a soft voice:
"Don't be scarred. Nothing will happen to you."
The boy's lip trembled.
"But.."
Dokja knelt beside him.
"No need to think so much, Jiho. This big bro will handle everything. But for that we need your bugs. Can you give us your bugs?"
Jiho looked up. Something shifted in his eyes—
Fear melted into trust.
"Yeah big brother... You can do whatever you can do with the bugs."
He opened the lid.
In the chaos of murder and despair, a child passed out tiny, squirming insects like lifelines. And the people—hesitant at first—accepted them.
A stomp.
A crunch.
A moment of hesitation shattered by survival instinct.
[You've killed a living organism]
[You've shown your worth]
[You've earned 100 coins]
[You've earned 100 coins]
[You've earned 100 coins]
The system windows flickered to life in front of every survivor.
And then Dokja felt it.
A click deep inside his body—like a switch being flipped.
[Awakening complete]
[Skill: Reader's Insight has been added to your skill slot]
[Level 1 of Reader's Insight has been activated]
The world changed.
When he looked at Han Cheoljun, a status window bloomed before his eyes:
[Name: Han Cheoljun]
Age: 25
Constellation Sponsor: None
Race: Human
Stats:
Strength: 10
Agility: 11
Mana: 4
Stamina: 7
Willpower: 4
Dokja's brows furrowed.
"His strength and agility are already in double digits? How the hell did he raise them so fast…?"
But now wasn't the time to think.
He stepped forward. Raised his voice.
"Hey Cheoljun... Come to me you bastard!"
The boy turned, his face smeared with blood—not his own.
"Fu... Fu... How do you know my name?"
He dropped the man he had been strangling and stepped closer.
"You'll stop me? Really?"
He vanished.
Cheoljun lunged at full speed, but Dokja's eyes tracked the movements—
He saw the angle of the shoulder, the twist of the hips—
He dodged.
Cheoljun blinked.
"Huh... You really dodged that."
Another punch.
Dodged again.
"You bitch... You think you can run the whole time? I'll kill you... Just stop running already and fight me."
Dokja grimaced.
He was buying time—but that time was running out.
He had to act.
"System, spend 200 coins on agility."
[200 coins have been spent on Agility]
[Your Agility has gone up]
Still not enough.
Another narrow dodge. Another surge of pressure.
"Spend another 200 coins!"
[200 coins have been spent on Agility]
[Your Agility has gone up]
Something changed.
His body responded faster.
His thoughts flowed smoother.
He moved.
In a blink, Dokja vanished from Cheoljun's vision.
CRACK—!
He struck Cheoljun from behind. A clean, powerful kick.
Cheoljun crashed into the metal wall, stunned.
"You... How dare you…!"
"I'll kill you, you bastard…!"
He charged.
Dokja grabbed a bent metal pipe from the floor.
Cheoljun roared and swung wildly—
—but now Dokja was too fast.
The pipe arced through the air.
CRACK!
The impact echoed like a gunshot.
Cheoljun's body collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
[You've killed a living organism]
[You've earned 1000 coins]
[The person you killed had 2000 coins with him]
[2000 coins has been transferred to you]
Silence.
[12:50 PM | Seoul Subway Line 3 | Car No. 3701]
[Scenario #1: SURVIVE]
Time Remaining: 00:07
People stared at the fallen body in horror.
And then—at Dokja.
To be continue...