Chapter 15

The Apocalypse Game I Created Became Reality Chapter 15

What should be prioritized above all else in an apocalypse?

Electricity? Supplies? Food?

Of course, all three are important.

But what kills people the fastest is none other than ‘drinking water.’

“Without water, it’s over.”

I took the equipment out of the trunk one item at a time.

A collapsible water container, portable purifier, water filter, coffee filters, gauze, activated carbon, a small burner, a stainless-steel pot, chlorine disinfectant, even a water quality test kit.

‘You can’t drink river water or rainwater as-is.’

Even if it looks clear to the naked eye, you can’t trust it.

Dirt, algae, parasites, bacteria, heavy metals, unidentified contaminants, and more.

After the apocalypse, infected blood could even get mixed in.

Water is a lifeline, but if you drink it wrong, it becomes poison.

‘Of course I plan to stockpile plenty of water, but preparations like this are still essential.’

I put on gloves and went down to the riverside.

Today’s task was water collection and testing.

I was going to see how murky the water actually was, and how clear it could become after passing through filters.

Splash!

I opened the collapsible water container.

Then I scooped only a little river water into it.

It looked fine on the surface.

Float, float.

When I looked inside the container, I could see small particles drifting around.

Dirt, bits of grass, unidentified debris.

“Dirty.”

First, I layered coffee filters and gauze together and began the first-stage filtration.

The water dripped slowly.

It took longer than I expected.

Frustratingly long.

Drip, drip, drip.

“Ha...”

A sigh escaped me.

If this were an emergency, wouldn’t I lose my mind waiting like this?

If infected or people approached in the middle of it...

‘I’d just die.’

After the first filtration, it definitely looked somewhat clearer.

But I still couldn’t trust it.

I connected the portable water filter.

Trickle, trickle.

A thin stream of water fell into the clean container.

I timed it.

As expected, it took longer than I thought.

“This would take forever to make a day’s worth.”

I immediately wrote it down in my notes.

[Water Purification Test 1]

Raw water: Water from the riverbank edge

First-stage filtration: Gauze + coffee filter

Second-stage filtration: Portable water filter

Third-stage treatment: Boiling required

Problems: Slow / connector leakage / hand contamination / difficult to maintain surroundings awareness

“...”

I looked around for a moment.

The riverbank, bike path, bushes, under the bridge.

It was an ordinary landscape.

But after the apocalypse, it would look completely different.

Living things gather around water.

That was why watersides were both a resource and a trap.

“Can’t stay long.”

Purify the water at the base.

That was definitely the right answer.

Purifying everything on-site took far too long.

It would be better to secure raw water, leave quickly, and purify it after returning to the base.

Fwoosh!

I lit the burner and tried boiling a small amount of water.

Once I put the pot over the flame, bubbles soon formed at the bottom.

Obviously, this also consumed time and fuel.

‘Boiling isn’t free either.’

Fuel, time, ventilation, smell, heat, light.

All of them were resources and risk factors.

I suddenly understood all over again why water purification facilities had been so important in Last Protocol.

“Nothing in this world is easy.”

Survival skills always made people humble like this.

I let the boiled water cool a little, then poured it into a transparent bottle.

I didn’t drink it.

Today’s goal was testing, not consumption.

‘One thing at a time, step by step.’

Water purification, food, hunting, cultivation, defense.

I had to learn all of it little by little.

‘Because survival isn’t about relying on one skill. It’s closer to enduring by embracing dozens of small skills.’

____________

The next day.

“...Is there really no way?”

I was glaring at the laptop screen like a hawk.

『 D-149 』

The second event had appeared in reality.

After the Bermuda structure came the Arctic glacier microorganisms.

It was getting difficult to dismiss it as mere coincidence anymore.

Then the next problem was obvious.

‘I’m way too lacking in experience.’

I needed to face infected several times somehow.

So far, I had only fought an infected once.

And even that was an unofficial precursor entity, and just dealing with it had exhausted me.

But in Last Protocol, the infected weren’t the only problem.

‘Monsters.’

How strong would those things be when they appeared in reality?

Was there really no way to check?

“...No. There is.”

Suddenly, I lifted my head.

The game service had ended.

The live server had shut down too.

The website would close soon.

But that didn’t mean all of Last Protocol’s data had disappeared completely.

“I was the lead planner, after all.”

I immediately got up.

Then I pulled out the box of external hard drives I had left in the corner.

Because it contained materials I had backed up for personal work.

‘Of course, it isn’t the entire live server data.’

That was company property, and I couldn’t just take it with me.

But personal local builds used by developers, test maps, AI debug packages, VR sensory test demos, discarded monster behavior files, balance simulators, and similar things remained.

More precisely, the materials I used to carry around so I could check them at home after work.

‘Back then, they were just traces of workaholism.’

Now, this was my lifeline.

I immediately connected the external hard drive.

Click.

The folder opened at the same time.

[LAST_PROTOCOL_LOCAL]

[VR_TestBuild]

[AI_Behavior_Debug]

[Monster_Sandbox]

[Combat_Prototype]

[Deprecated_Assets]

Then I took out the VR device too.

It was the one I had used for testing during Last Protocol’s development.

Rougher than the commercial version, unstable, and much worse for motion sickness.

But.

‘It’s enough for training.’

A local build that didn’t require an online server.

The AI and monster behavior could run on my VR device too.

It was meant for summoning monsters inside a test map, checking their movement, and experiencing combat firsthand.

In other words.

‘A virtual training ground.’

I immediately launched the program.

[LAST PROTOCOL - LOCAL DEBUG BUILD]

[Network: Offline]

[Server Auth: Bypass - Developer Mode]

[Warning: This build is unstable.]

“...I know it’s unstable.”

The login screen soon appeared.

But it was different from before.

Because this was a development build, not the live server, the UI was broken.

Some of the text overlapped, and the background didn’t load completely.

Still... it was familiar.

“...Connect.”

I immediately put the VR headset on.

At the same time, my vision darkened.

“...”

And before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of a ruined training ground.

______________

Test map.

A place where developers checked monster movement.

The sky was gray, the ground was concrete, and high walls enclosed the entire area.

Several abandoned cars and old barricades stood around me.

“Hmm.”

I quietly looked down at my hands.

‘If I think of this as reality, I can test my fear response to some extent.’

VR tricks the brain.

When a monster charges at you right in front of your eyes, your body reacts on its own.

Your heart pounds, your hands stiffen, your feet slow down.

This test should help me get used to that somewhat.

Swish!

I opened the debug menu first.

[Monster Spawn]

A list appeared.

And my gaze stopped while scanning through it.

“...Kobold.”

The lowest-grade canine-type heteromorphic monster that appears in the early stages of Last Protocol.

It was different from the infected.

If infected were the collapse of humans and animals, kobolds were heteromorphic entities created by ‘corrosion zones.’

Small, fast, and cowardly.

Their combat power was weak, but these things used tools.

They threw stones, strategically retreated, and aimed for players’ blind spots.

‘One of the main reasons beginners died so much early on.’

Among them, I summoned the weakest one.

[Kobold Worker]

A worker-type kobold.

Not specialized for combat.

In-game, it was the lowest of the lowest grade.

I immediately adjusted the settings further.

[Player Stat Sync: Manual]

I reflected my real physical condition as closely as possible.

Height, weight, base stamina, strength, agility, even the recent level-up adjustment.

I also set the weapons to match reality.

A trekking pole, short work stick, plastic board used as a shield, thick gloves, and so on.

Things as close as possible to the equipment I had prepared.

[Injury Feedback: Pain Level 20%]

I hesitated for a moment at this part.

Pain feedback 20%.

The higher it was, the better the training effect.

But naturally, getting hit would hurt.

“...Raise it to 100 percent.”

The moment I changed the setting, a ‘wee-oo, wee-oo’ warning immediately sounded.

Commercial VR game devices limited maximum pain feedback to 20 percent.

But as expected of a test device, this one had no such restriction.

Clack!

Soon, just as the loud warning began to die down, the door on the opposite side of the training ground opened.

Grrrr.

And something walked out of the darkness.

It was small.

About the height of an elementary school child.

Its back was hunched, and its skin was gray-brown.

Its arms were long, and its fingers were unnaturally thin.

Fangs protruded from its mouth.

“...”

It was a model I had seen hundreds of times in the game.

But facing it like this felt completely different.

‘Even accounting for this being a test server, 100 percent pain feedback is an unheard-of setting.’

At that moment, the kobold tilted its head.

And then.

“Kirik.”

It looked at me and grinned.

And the next moment.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

“Damn!”

A curse escaped me without meaning to.

Fast.

Much faster than I expected.

‘In Last Pro, this thing wasn’t even worth calling an after-meal snack.’

Maybe because my physical ability was restricted that much, the pressure was no joke.

Soon, the small creature darted in low.

Below my field of vision.

Whoosh!

I thrust the trekking pole forward.

The kobold swung its claws.

Clang!

“...!”

The sound of impact rang out.

My wrist tingled.

True to 100 percent pain feedback, even the recoil in my grip felt realistically painful.

“Ugh!”

I backed away.

The kobold didn’t follow.

Instead, it moved to the side.

‘Right, that’s what this thing was like.’

Kobolds don’t keep pressing straight from the front.

They strike once and retreat.

Create distance and look for an opening.

Like a beast waiting for the weakest moment of its prey.

“Damn.”

I knew that.

I knew, but my reaction was still too slow.

“Kirik!”

The kobold charged again.

This time, from the lower left.

I reflexively lowered the pole.

‘Stay calm.’

This was a monster I created myself.

‘I know every pattern.’

Low posture.

Approaches from the side.

Targets the lower body, especially wrists and legs.

Weak against frontal pressure.

Vulnerable to obstructed vision.

Sensitive to sound.

Grip.

Reciting the information I knew, I shortened my grip on the pole.

I didn’t swing it widely.

Because that would give it room to exploit the opening.

“Kirik! Kiriririk!”

The creature circled around me, making a laughing sound.

Then at some point.

“Kirik!”

The kobold jumped in place.

I waited.

I didn’t move immediately.

The very moment it raised its claws.

Swoosh!

Instead of swinging the pole, I thrust it straight forward.

Thud!

“Kirik...!”

The pole struck the kobold squarely in the chest.

The creature was pushed backward.

“Got it.”

It was super effective!

“Kiiiiiiik!”

Frontal pressure and distance control.

The kobold staggered, then lifted its head again.

At that moment, I lunged forward.

Instead of running away, I closed the distance.

‘Kobolds are creatures that aim for blind spots.’

So I couldn’t give it time to think.

I held the plastic board in my left arm and drove my body forward.

Bang!

The kobold fell and rolled across the ground.

I immediately raised the pole.

Stab!

Then I drove it with all my strength toward the kobold’s eye.

“Kieeeeeeeeeek!”

The kobold thrashed in pain with its eye pierced through.

In that state, I violently twisted the pole around.

As though stirring up the inside of its head after impaling it.

Tremble.

A moment later, the kobold began convulsing.

I stared at it for a moment.

Thud!

Then I put my weight into it and stomped down on its head with all my strength.

Crack!

At last, the kobold’s head burst apart.

[Target Neutralized]

[Simulation Clear]

“...”

Thud!

I collapsed onto the spot.

My hands trembled.

My breathing grew ragged.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

Even though it was virtual reality, it was fucking exhausting.

Lowest grade.

Just one Kobold Worker that wasn’t even combat-specialized.

And yet it was this hard.

“I really made an insane game.”

I removed the VR headset and looked down at my damp hands.

But right then.

Ding!

『 Experience acquired! 』

“...!”

Another insane status window appeared in front of my eyes.

“What the hell is this...?”