Prologue
“Are you alright?”
At the sound of his whisper as he held me close, I unconsciously drew in a breath.
The thick smell of blood and the red soaking his clothes made it obvious he was the one who caused this massacre.
“Why…”
I forced my stiff lips to move.
“Why are you here…?”
“You’re saying strange things.”
He smiled gently at my question.
“There’s nothing more important to me than you.”
He said it like it was the most self-evident truth in the world.
I froze, unable to move.
Both instinct and reason screamed that something was terribly wrong.
“You lunatic.”
My teeth ground together.
I should never have stayed with this man.
“You crazy bastard…”
“Yes. I suppose that’s how I might look to you.”
I stared at the man before me—
an ability user of unknown origin.
A man whose intentions I could never read.
And this mad regressor—once terrifying—was now clearly obsessed with me.
Alarmingly so.
“But this was the better choice.
For your sake.”
“…….”
And I have no choice but to use him.
If I want to survive in this insane world.
I was screwed.
That was the conclusion I reached after careful thought.
Absolutely, completely screwed.
And the older brother who seemed screwed along with me was just an extra problem.
Even in this situation, my biological brother was sleeping peacefully like nothing was happening.
“Hey, wake up.”
“Mmm… Mom… five more minutes…”
“Wake up!”
“Aaagh!”
Only after I kicked him hard enough to make a loud smack did he finally open his eyes—and even then he still looked half-asleep.
Spitting out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth, he sat up with a dazed expression.
“Huuuuh… what?”
“We got kidnapped.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look around.”
I grabbed his head and turned it for him, left and right.
Every direction—180 degrees, 360 degrees—was filled with green leaves, brown tree trunks, and dirt.
The place was so overgrown that even though it was daytime, it felt dim.
This was clearly not where we were supposed to be.
We had been in the car just moments ago!
Wiping the dirt from his cheek, my brother muttered blankly:
“…Is this some hidden-camera show? A prank? The scale is insane, though…”
“Does that make sense to you? Get a grip, Chae Saebyeok.”
He clicked his tongue at me like I was the unreasonable one.
“No, seriously, I was definitely sleeping in the car…”
“I was on my phone. Then I blinked once—just once—and when I opened my eyes, I was here.”
“So you’re saying we teleported or something?”
“Maybe. Whether aliens kidnapped us or it’s some kind of mysterious natural phenomenon—I have no clue…”
I shook my phone.
No signal.
No data, no Wi-Fi—nothing.
“We can’t call anyone. No internet either.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Only then did Chae Saebyeok finally realize how serious the situation was.
His face hardened as he stood up.
“For now—”
A loud voice boomed through the space before the two of us could even discuss what to do next.
It sounded like someone shouting through a distant speaker, playful and mischievous.
“Everyone arrived safely, right?”
“Then I’ll start the instructions!”
“Earth-born individuals, if you pass the test from now on, you’ll be able to climb the Tower!”
“As for everything else—figure it out yourselves! Good luck!”
“What is… this…?”
“Is that the person who brought us here? A superhuman?”
“Then from now on—”
Just as we were trying to guess who the voice belonged to, it announced the beginning.
“Start!”
Pwooooo—!
A trumpet-like sound echoed.
Immediately after, as if responding to it, the howls of beasts erupted throughout the forest.
Awooooo—!
Before we had any time to plan, the bushes shook violently and something rapidly approached.
“Shit—run!”
No one needed to tell us twice. We started running like maniacs.
Growl, growl!
The things chasing us were wolves.
It started with one, but more and more joined in.
As the distance shrank and panic grew, we had no choice but to stop.
“This is…”
“Ugh…!”
A steep cliff blocked our path—so tall that climbing it was impossible.
As the wolves bared their teeth at us mockingly, I clenched my jaw.
They drove us here on purpose.
What do we do?
The pack surrounding us looked ready to leap at any second.
“Hey—are you good at rock climbing?”
Even in this situation, Chae Saebyeok shoved me behind him like a big brother and started talking nonsense.
“I’ll hold them off as long as I can, so you climb up…”
As if that’s possible, you idiot.
The fact that we’ll die is obvious—how could I leave you behind?!
Angry words rose all the way up my throat.
Right then, just as one of the wolves lunged at us with its jaws wide open—
SWEEEeeek—!
“Get against the wall!”
A sharp arrow pierced through the beast.
Hit through the head, the creature instantly dissolved like mist.
The one who shot it was a handsome man with black hair and black eyes.
Without a hint of fear, he drew a sword and charged straight at the wolves.
“Wait—!”
He was inches away from being bitten, yet he sliced through them effortlessly.
The wolves trembled the moment several of them fell.
When he took a single step forward, they backed away uneasily—
and then scattered in every direction.
After silently watching them flee, he seemed convinced the area was safe now.
His gaze turned to us.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
“You saved us. Really, thank you.”
The beasts were gone, but Chae Saebyeok still kept me firmly behind him.
The danger wasn’t completely gone yet.
Sometimes, people are scarier than wild animals.
Especially when the person holds a weapon.
“That’s a relief.”
Perhaps noticing our wariness, the man didn’t come any closer.
“Did you two also suddenly fall into this place?”
“Yes. We were in a car, and when we opened our eyes, we were here.”
“I see. I stepped out of my lecture room and ended up here. I noticed something nearby that looked like a supply box.”
He seemed to be in a similar situation as us.
But then…
“A supply box?”
“Yes. When I checked it, there were various supplies inside. It seems these boxes are randomly scattered throughout the forest.”
“We didn’t get anything like that. We were too busy running from wolves. Isn’t that discrimination?”
“Once again, thank you.”
I elbowed Chae Saebyeok in the side to stop his complaining and express our gratitude.
The man gave a faint smile again.
“It’s nothing. Would it be alright if we traveled together? In return, I’ll share weapons with you.”
“Uh… give us a moment.”
The two of us huddled together to whisper.
Chae Saebyeok looked positive about it.
“I think it’s good. What do you think?”
“Yeah. It’s not like we have many options right now. I think we should accept.”
We’d gain a fighter and weapons.
Wandering this beast-infested forest empty-handed was far worse.
The only problem would be if he intended to harm us…
But if he had bad intentions, he wouldn’t be offering us weapons in the first place.
“Alright then, we’ll go together?”
“Yeah.”
As soon as I agreed, Chae Saebyeok immediately answered for us:
“Great! We should stick together in situations like this! Let’s go!”
“Thank you.”
He didn’t bother hiding his happiness.
He had been keeping a polite distance, but now he quickly stepped closer, extending his hand toward me with a warm smile.
“I will make sure you never get hurt.”
…Huh?
Why reach toward me specifically, when Chae Saebyeok was standing right in front of him?
“Noeul?”
“…It’s fine. Please take care of us.”
Feeling a bit uneasy, I shook his hand.
Trying to lighten the mood, Chae Saebyeok clapped his hands once.
“No need for protection talk—let’s exchange names! I’m Chae Saebyeok, and this one next to me is Chae Noeul. My younger sister.”
“I already know.”
“…What?”
“What do you mean, you know?”
He answered calmly, like he had memorized the line beforehand.
“Chae Saebyeok, you’re an archery gold medalist, aren’t you? I follow archery often, so I recognized you immediately. And since your sister resembles you, I assumed she was family.”
Ah.
So he made the offer because he knew who Chae Saebyeok was.
Saebyeok is famous, after all.
Suddenly, his attitude made sense.
“My name is Joo Yeonwoo. I’m younger than you, so please feel free to speak casually.”
“Really? Then I will!”
“Yes. Feel free to call me Yeonwoo. And you too, Noeul—”
“No thanks, I’m fine. Then how old are you, Joo Yeonwoo? This guy is twenty-four.”
“I’m twenty-three.”
“Then you’re one year older than me. I’m twenty-two.”
But I didn’t see any reason to suddenly start speaking casually.
I was grateful that he saved us and even offered weapons,
but that didn’t mean I had to act like I owed him everything.
He probably just wanted more allies,
so I should help as a teammate—nothing more.
“For now, should we find a safer place? We should also figure out where we are, so let’s move.”
“Yes. That sounds good. I’ll lead us toward the direction where I first arrived.”
“Do you think this place is even on Earth?”
“I have no idea. Are there animals on Earth whose bodies disappear the moment they die?”
I frowned as I recalled the wolf-like creature that vanished the instant its life ended.
As if to prove I hadn’t imagined it, the rest of the corpses had disappeared as well.
At my comment, Chae Saebyeok let out a groan.
“We really don’t know anything…”
Leaving the area where the beasts’ bodies had been scattered, we walked in the opposite direction from where he said he had found the supply box.
Just as he said, it didn’t take long before a supply box came into view.
“Seeing that someone set up these supply boxes on purpose… it feels like we were intentionally dropped into this situation. And if that’s the case, even if we try to call for help, no one will come.”
“Dropping us in an unknown place and making us survive… It's like a survival game. At least they didn’t say ‘Start killing each other!’ right away. I guess that’s the only relief.”
“Don’t say ominous things. More importantly, we need to decide where to go now…”
While staring at the dense, leafy forest with a troubled expression, Joo Yeonwoo suddenly took something out of his jacket.
“Could you take a look at this?”
It was a map torn from a notebook, marked with X’s in several places.
Drawn simply with a ballpoint pen, the map made me look at it with confusion.
“What is this…?”
“I should have mentioned it earlier, but I found a map in one of the supply boxes.”
He circled the X that indicated the box he had opened.
“After checking, the markings on the map matched the locations of the supply boxes.”
“So that means…”
“Yes. It vanished the moment I unfolded it, so I recreated it from memory. It may be inaccurate, but… I think it’s worth using.”
A map that disappears the moment you open it? Did it rot away instantly or something?
I nodded.
“Well, we don’t have any better ideas anyway. This seems like our best option.”
After that, we walked for quite a long time.
Along the way, I suddenly realized the weather here was much colder than back home.
“No matter how I think about it, this place can’t be Korea. It’s still summer in Korea.”
“Yes. Good thing I got a coat from one of the supply boxes earlier.”
If this wasn’t Korea, then where were we?
I recalled the broadcast we heard earlier.
"Earth-born” individuals, once you pass the test, you can climb the Tower!’
Earth-born.
Tower.
Test.
Could this place really be another planet…?
And then…
“What do you think it means? Saying we can climb the Tower if we pass the test? If passing is required, it sounds like some kind of privilege…”
“Huh? Tower? Test?”
“I mean the broadcast. Whoever made that announcement is probably the one who brought us here, so I was wondering what their reason is.”
“The reason… is probably to make us climb the Tower.”
Joo Yeonwoo, who had been watching me the whole time, finally spoke.
“Pass the test and climb the Tower. And the test is most likely… this situation we’re in right now.”
“But why?”
“I’m not sure… I don’t know the reason.”
“Whether it’s for fun or for profit, there must be something behind it. But that’s not the important part. What matters is whether we’ll be safe if we pass it.”
“Shouldn’t we figure out the conditions to pass first? They said we have to discover the rest on our own.”
Chae Saebyeok groaned as he fell deep into thought.
“If it’s like a survival game, maybe we just need to survive for a certain period?”
“Or maybe we have to obtain something, or hunt things to earn points.”
After saying that, Joo Yeonwoo paused, as if thinking about something.
Then he looked at me with a suddenly serious expression.
“Noeul. By any chance…”
What is it now?
I tensed up at the serious atmosphere—
only for his next words to make my face twist in disbelief.
“…could you try saying ‘status window’ out loud?”
What…?
Has he finally gone insane in this extreme situation?
