Chapter 10

Upon closer inspection, Jin-Woo realized that what the objects were turning into was not ash but sand.

Eventually, Jin-Woo was thrown off the remains of the bed. He was jumping all over the hospital room and screaming

Finally, as he was being thrown helplessly from wall to wall, he felt something soft under his hands.

Fine grains of sand.

The damned earthquake has stopped.

Jin-Woo raised his head hurriedly and couldn't believe his eyes.

There was sand all around him.

Sand and open space. No trace of the hospital windows or walls.

There was an orange sky above his head and sand beneath him.

And the temperature was definitely not like the room temperature anymore.

It was now closer to the temperature of some hot African country.

Jin-Woo frowned and stood up. All the sand that was in his clothes fell to the ground. He dusted off the sand caked on his chest, looking around.

Sand, sand, and sand everywhere.

He wasn't an expert, but the place looked like a desert to him.

It didn't even look like it so much as it was.

But this couldn't just happen!

Just a few moments ago, he was sleeping on a bed in one of the hospitals in Seoul. And now, when he opened his eyes, he was... here.

Jin-Woo scooped up a handful of sand and ran it through his fingers. The fine grains fell straight to the ground.

The falling sand was not blown by any wind. Mainly because there clearly wasn't one here.

No bushes, trees, or buildings.

When he looked up in the dark orange sky, there was no sun, no moon, or even any star. Nothing.

Where was this strange place?

Before he could even get up and take a step in either direction, the sandy ground next to him collapsed, creating a deep sinkhole.

Jin-Woo desperately ran away to avoid being dragged there. The sinkhole became wider and wider until Jin-Woo was forced to crawl on all fours to avoid falling into the ever-expanding hole.

He sat on his butt, panting heavily and staring at the bottom of the pit. Quite strangely, he saw the sand "boiling" at the bottom.

The realization that just one mistake would cause him to fall into that strangely boiling sand below made him shiver.

Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

But why would sand behave like this anyway?

As he looked closer, he noticed 'something' quite large moving down there.

Jin-Woo instinctively forced himself to stand up. He had a really bad feeling now.

Sure enough, when Jin-Woo took a step back, the sand below suddenly exploded upwards.

Meanwhile, Jin-Woo's eyes became extremely round.

Centipede?

The nasty, large creature that jumped out of the sand did indeed resemble a centipede. Even if she probably wasn't.

The last time Jin-Woo saw a centipede, it wasn't several times his size.

When it fully revealed itself, the damn thing's head was almost as high as a five-story building.

Jin-Woo swallowed anxiously.

However, the size and appearance of the hideous beast were not the only things that surprised him.

There were some letters floating above the monster's head.

Just like before his eyes.

This time, however, it was not written in a semi-transparent frame and they were a different color.

Was he dreaming again?

Jin-Woo closed and reopened his eyes, but nothing changed. Even now, four red words floated on top of the monster's head.

Just like some game monster.

[ GIANT POISONOUS SAND CENTIPEDE ]

Much like its terrifying and bizarre appearance, its name was also something he wanted to avoid at all costs. What caught his attention the most were two adjectives.

"Giant" and "Poisonous".

And although it was impossible to deny her greatness, the information that she was also poisonous did not comfort him at all. Or even the opposite.

As if to confirm his thoughts, he noticed a pair of child-sized fangs sticking out just under the monster's jaw. It didn't take a genius to figure out what might happen if he got stabbed by those fangs.

The beast looked at him for now. As if wondering what it would taste like.

As if it wasn't strange enough, a familiar computer sound rang in his head and he heard a female voice reading a message that appeared in front of his eyes.

[ QUEST DETAILS ]

[ PENALTY QUEST: SURVIVE ]

[ OBJECTIVE :

SURVIVE UNTIL THE ALLOWED TIME IS EXPIRED ]

[ PENALTY DURATION: 4 HOURS ]

[ REMAINING: 3 HOURS 59 MINUTES 48 SECONDS ]

Well, no joke.

However, as soon as the "Time Remaining" changed to 3 hours, 59 minutes, and 47 seconds, the centipede rushed towards him as if it couldn't wait any longer.

Jin-Woo turned around hurriedly and ran for his life.

There was no time to think.

About why he came here.

What sadistic joker sent him here?

Or how he'll get out of here.

If he wanted to live, he had to run away!

That was the only thought running through his head at the moment.

However, before he could take a few steps, another pillar of sand exploded into the air not far from his position.

Jin-Woo fell on his back, swept away by the massive wave caused by this sand explosion. He rolled across the sandy ground before quickly standing up. He wiped the sand from his face before his eyes opened even wider.

This time it wasn't just one or two of them.

Before he even noticed it, the same seven monsters were sticking out of the sand and all looking at him.

And neither of them was happy to see him.

For what sins?

***

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 6 SECONDS ]

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 5 SECONDS ]

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 4 SECONDS ]

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 3 SECONDS ]

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 2 SECONDS ]

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 1 SECOND]

[ REMAINING: 0 HOURS 0 MINUTES 0 SECONDS ]

...

Jin-Woo reappeared in the hospital room exactly four hours later.

Just as the message promised.

Jin-Woo fell to the floor and gasped painfully.

And that was the wonderful state of health he enjoyed after waking up in the hospital.

Everything hurt now. Especially the leg. He had sand in places he would rather not tell anyone about.

He was covered in sweat and covered in sand.

And he was so short of breath that he could barely breathe.

His mouth was full of that rough, gritty taste. His eyes were also burning badly, as if particles of sand had gotten into them.

Lots of sand particles.

Yes, about two dump trucks.

Jin-Woo moaned for a long time before he fell helplessly onto his back. He no longer had the strength to lift even a finger.

Jin-Woo was still breathing heavily as the new message appeared in front of him.

As if nothing had happened.

As if mocking him for being such a disbeliever.

[ NOTICE! ]

[ YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE PENALTY QUEST. ]

Jin-Woo's expression turned into something ugly.

Penalty Quest?

Did he do something worthy of punishment?

Jin-Woo carefully replayed his memories until he remembered the unfortunate quest he chose to ignore.

Was that what all the fuss was about?

Or rather, so much risking his life! About stupid squats?

When he thought about it for a moment, he vaguely remembered a line of text that mentioned a punishment if he failed to complete the quest.

It wasn't a hallucination.

Oh.

Oh my.

I... really became... 'The Player'?

It's hard to assume that the last four hours just seemed like it to him.

The fatigue and pain he felt now were definitely real.

Indeed, it was neither a hallucination nor a dream.

Everything really happened.

He almost died there.

Again.

The so-called punishment turned out to be throwing him into the place of execution!

At the same time, another ominous feeling appeared in his mind. If this event was indeed caused by "Daily Quest", then it would undoubtedly not be the last time.

Sure enough, he heard another mechanical beep in his head, as if to mock his aching misery once again.

He flinched in surprise, but luckily it wasn't another mission or anything like that.

[ MESSAGE! ]

[ YOU RECEIVED A REWARD FOR COMPLETING THE PENALTY QUEST ]

[ DO YOU WANT TO ACCEPT IT? ]

[ YES ] [ NO ]

Reward?

He saw the word reward.

And although any reward for those four hours was welcome, he didn't necessarily have the strength to worry about it at the moment.

His situation simply didn't allow it.

The reward, unless it was a trip to another tropically dangerous place, could wait.

At first, he felt like fainting a little. His vision gradually blurred.

Eventually, Jin-Woo's brain gave out and hard reset, and he fell to the floor.