DPGR 89

“Guides, get back!”

Just as Dojin shouted with urgency, the door burst open with a loud crash.

And from behind it spilled—

“Y-Yuki? Yuki! You—ah! Wait!”

“Aaaagh!”

“What the hell! S-Save me! Save—!”

Covered in blood and dressed in navy uniforms—They were the Japanese Esper soldiers who had previously been declared dead.

“Run to the Safe Zone—!”

They sank their teeth into the necks of other Espers wearing the same uniform.

Looking like zombies, the scene turned everyone’s faces deathly pale.

└FUCK HOLY SHT what the hell is that???? Zombies?? Right???

└WHY DID THAT IDIOT KNOCK ON THE DOOR;;;; If you wanna die go do it alone, are you insane

└AAAH the blood!!!!

└Why are there zombies ㅠㅠㅠ

└The shaky camera is making me sick…

└Uh… huh??? Why are they going that way?

└Holy crap did they go up to the second floor???

└What?? What is this? I’m watching the video now someone explain pleaseㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└└One of the Japanese Espers knocked on a sketchy door and a horde of zombies came out. They tried to run but looks like the Alpha team got ripped apart.

└Who went up to the second floor just now?

└Who was that with the long hair earlier??? Weren’t they Baek Dojin’s pair???? An S-Class Guide?

└Huh? Baek Dojin’s still on the first floor though…?

└Holy sht.

└Who’s still on the first floor from Alpha team? I saw Baek Dojin.

└└Hold up, I see Baek Dojin, Kang Sehun, and So Yulchan.

└└└Yeah, and Guide Lee Sena too.

└└└└Oh just saw the white fluff. 42:08, bottom right. That white guy? He seems to be on the first floor too.

└Then the others? They went up?

└└Yeah…

└God no…ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ No one knows what’s on the second floor, this is a disaster.

└But at least Choi Kijoon and Sung Jihye are there too, so maybe it’ll be okay…

└└Please, I hope soㅠㅠㅠㅠ

“Jiho! Run!”

“D-Dojin-hyung and Heendungi are—!”

“They’ll survive on their own, so just run!”

The banquet hall doors flew open with a crash.

What poured out wasn’t people—it was zombies. The first floor hallway was thrown into complete chaos.

In the midst of it, Jiho, small in stature, was inevitably tossed around even though Heendungi tried to protect him.

Fortunately, Choi Kijoon, Jihye, and Geonwoo were nearby and surrounded Jiho to keep him from getting trampled by the crowd.

“Huff… huff….”

“You okay?”

“Y-Yeah… But, this place….”

Their plan to head for the Safe Zone had failed.

The teammates running with Jiho had realized they wouldn’t be able to outrun the zombies all the way to the end of the hall.

The corridor was narrow, and the sheer number of people made it impossible to pick up speed.

“Still, it’s thanks to Heendungi that we were able to slip through this way. Right?”

It was Heendungi who pointed the fleeing team in the direction of a good hiding spot.

Though he had gotten separated from them on the first floor due to the crowd.

“B-But… isn’t this the stairway to the second floor…?”

Jiho asked, catching his breath.

They were standing on the landing of an old staircase.

It was a short stairwell—barely ten steps—but once they stopped on the landing, the first floor seemed completely out of sight, as if the space had split.

“Yeah. I think the floor above is the second floor…”

“S-Should we go back down?”

Peering down, all they could see was thick darkness.

There should’ve been chaos from the zombie attack below, yet there wasn’t a sound.

Jiho glanced around nervously at his companions.

Thankfully, he had Choi Kijoon, who could defend, and Jihye, who could attack.

On top of that, Geonwoo, despite being a guide, was agile and capable in a fight.

‘It’s okay. We’re safe.’

Jiho steadied his trembling breath and listened to the group’s discussion.

They were leaning toward going back down.

“We haven’t explored the second floor at all, so it’s too risky. Let’s go back down.”

“Ugh, Kijoonie I’m scared…”

“Then stay here and survive on your own. Jihye’s going back down.”

“Ack, I’m coming!”

And so the four of them huddled together awkwardly and started to descend the stairs.

One step, two steps, three steps…

And then nine.

“Hey, hold on.”

“W-What…? Don’t get all serious, it’s scaring me…!”

“No, seriously! I’ve been counting the steps as we go down… and even though we’ve walked back the same number of steps we came up—why the hell are there still stairs…?”

The first to notice something strange was Jihye. Geonwoo, who was standing close beside her, soon muttered with a displeased expression.

“We should be able to see the first-floor hallway by now, even if we haven’t reached the bottom…”

“……”

“……”

“……”

The mood froze instantly. They were still standing around the middle of the stairs, with just a few steps beneath them—and below that, only thick darkness.

“Um, should we… keep going down…?”

Gulp. Someone swallowed dryly. With a pale face, Kijoon hesitantly made the suggestion.

The group trembled as they began descending the stairs.

Creak—squeak—creeaaak—

The old wooden steps groaned ominously beneath their feet. Each time they stepped forward—one step, two steps—the stairs creaked anxiously.

“Hey… I think we’re stuck here…”

“Ugh… Kijoonie is filing a trauma claim when we get out…”

They still couldn’t see the floor of the first floor, nor could they hear any of the chaos that had erupted there earlier.

At this point, they decided that continuing down would only waste their strength.

That left them with only two options: stay isolated on the staircase and wait for rescue, or…

“Should we try going up to the second floor…?”

Take a step into the unknown, not knowing what dangers might be waiting.

Those were the only choices left to Kijoon, Jihye, Geonwoo, and Jiho.

“It’s probably safer to stay here. We still don’t know what’s on the second floor.”

“Waaah… Someone hold Kijoonie’s hand, please…”

“Shut it.”

“Jihye, you’re so cold…”

“Sh-should I… hold your hand?”

“Oh… no thanks. Kijoonie doesn’t want to be murdered by Captain Baek.”

“……?”

Kijoon politely declined Jiho’s offer and turned on his watch.

“Hmm… We really are cut off, huh…”

“W-why?”

“Oh. Normally we can track each other’s locations. But it’s totally dead now.”

Jiho rose on his tiptoes to peek and saw Kijoon’s screen.

“That red dot… is you, Esper Kijoon?”

“Yeah. And see how there’s nothing else? Even though Jihye’s right next to me, her location isn’t showing. So it’s pretty much useless now…”

Kijoon slumped his shoulders, looking dejected. He was clearly worried—they had no way of knowing what was happening on the first floor, and no way to call for help.

Jiho felt the same.

“…Do you think Dojin-hyung and Heendungi are okay?”

The situation he had witnessed while running had been devastating and horrific.

Especially those standing close to the door had suffered the most—and that included some Espers from Korea.

‘Dojin-hyung was standing right in front of the door too…’

And to make things worse, Jiho had recently had a nightmare about Dojin dying. The anxiety gnawed at him.

He couldn’t hide his nervousness. He kept shifting his weight from foot to foot and glancing uneasily into the darkness below.

“Don’t worry too much. Heendungi’s quick on his feet—he probably ran straight for the safe zone. And the team leader is strong.”

“Yeah! They’ll both be fine!”

Trying to comfort Jiho, the team members spoke in intentionally cheerful voices. Jiho, grateful for their kindness, managed a small smile.

“Th-thank you…”

Just as the atmosphere began to warm slightly—

Rumble—

As if waiting for their guard to drop, the staircase suddenly began to tremble beneath their feet.

What they first thought was a light tremor quickly grew stronger, until the stairs buried in darkness below began to collapse—rushing upward at a terrifying speed.

“W-what the hell!”

“Ack! Run! Go up!”

Caught off guard, the two Espers and two Guides screamed and dashed upward.

If they didn’t, they’d fall into the abyss along with the crumbling stairs.

Huff, huff…!

Jiho, driven by the fear of falling, squeezed his eyes shut and climbed frantically, step after step.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered, “If the stairs are collapsing from below… how am I even climbing them?” But his life was on the line—there was no time to question it.

And at last, when he reached the final step—

Rumble…

The tremors and the sound of destruction behind him gradually faded and stopped. Then came a silence so heavy it rang in his ears.

“…?”

There was nothing—no sound except for Jiho’s own breathing and heartbeat.

His eyes widened and looked around.

Jihye, who had been ahead of him, was nowhere to be seen. Neither were Kijoon or Geonwoo, who had been behind.

“…H-hello…?”

He called out in a trembling voice, but there was no answer.

“…Ah.”

All the color drained from Jiho’s face. The candles on the wall flickered briefly without a breeze, then went out with a soft pop.

Black silence descended.

‘M-my gun… I should get my gun…’

His fingertips turned cold. Wiping his sweat-slicked palms on his clothes, Jiho fumbled to draw his gun.

Darkness surrounded him—he couldn’t see an inch ahead.

‘It’s okay. It’s okay… I’ll be okay…’

Sniffling once for no reason, Jiho tried to calm his nerves with deep breaths.

And just as he began scanning the area again—

“…Huh?”

Off in the distance, a faint white light began to shimmer—like the only escape in this oppressive darkness.

As Jiho stared at the light, the focus in his eyes slowly faded.

“…Ah.”

With a strangely blank expression, he started walking.

Maybe Kijoon, Jihye, or Geonwoo were there, he thought—an irrational hope that swallowed him whole.

Tap—

At last, Jiho took his first step into the light.

The white glow enveloped him and, as if that had been its purpose, it vanished in an instant.

The candle that had gone out flickered back to life. The broken staircase restored itself, as if nothing had ever happened.

At the threshold of the second floor…

The antique hallway, lined with ornate frames and carpets, remained still and peaceful—with no trace of anyone having passed through.