Chapter 2

The Apocalypse Game I Created Became Reality Chapter 2

Starting the next day, I fell into serious contemplation.

‘Getting another job is out of the question.’

Getting rehired in the game industry?

What a joke.

Sure, planners who have ruined a game are common in this industry.

‘But people who confront the CEO and storm out aren’t so common.’

I knew very well that this industry was smaller than people thought.

“Haah.”

With a sigh, I habitually opened the news section of an internet portal.

It wasn’t as if there was anything in particular I wanted to see.

It was just that when people felt completely lost, they tended to do meaningless things.

Swipe, swipe.

Politics, entertainment, sports, economics.

The screen kept scrolling by.

“...Still, I guess sitting around like this on a weekday isn’t so bad.”

Since things had already turned out this way, I decided to think positively.

How long had it been since I’d had this much free time?

Just looking outside the window, people were bustling around so busily.

Meanwhile, I was lying around on a weekday morning, leisurely looking at my phone.

‘Back when I was dying from overtime every day, I couldn’t even dream of doing this.’

It was then.

“...Hm?”

『[Breaking News] Deep-Sea Structure in Bermuda Triangle Revealed After 70 Years... “Difficult to Regard as Naturally Formed.”』

One news article caught my eye.

“...?”

Naturally, my finger stopped.

‘The Bermuda Triangle?’

I frowned.

‘What kind of random nonsense is this?’

Normally, it was the kind of article I would have simply skipped over.

The internet was always full of bizarre gossip.

Ancient civilizations, aliens caught on NASA cameras, deep-sea monsters... things like that.

Of course, most of them were just clickbait.

‘And now even a major newspaper is putting this kind of thing out as breaking news?’

But why?

For some reason, the article kept bothering me.

‘Bermuda Triangle... deep-sea structure... difficult to regard as naturally formed.’

Before long, I tapped the article.

The article itself wasn’t very long.

It said that an international joint ocean exploration team had discovered an unidentified massive structure in the deep waters of the Bermuda Triangle.

Its exact shape had not been disclosed.

According to some officials, a metallic structure close to hexagonal in shape was embedded in the seabed.

Experts had reportedly stated that it was a shape unlikely to have formed naturally.

‘This makes it feel like I’m reading a web novel.’

Since people in the game industry also dealt with stories, I had read plenty of web novels for reference.

Stories where structures like ‘towers’ suddenly appeared.

Didn’t they always start like this?

“...But why does this feel so familiar?”

I went over the details again.

‘Hexagonal, metallic, underwater structure, Bermuda.’

...No, wait a minute.

Something stirred deep within my memory.

‘Isn’t this way too familiar?’

Eventually, after recalling a certain memory, I blankly parted my lips.

“The Last Protocol prologue event!?”

『Last Protocol』

The zombie survival open world game our company created.

Of course, the game had failed.

But I knew its background setting better than anyone.

‘Because I was the lead planner for that game.’

The apocalypse in Last Protocol did not begin with zombies suddenly appearing one day.

Starting from some point, scientifically inexplicable incidents began occurring one after another all over the world.

‘For example... like this article.’

Discovery of a structure beneath the Bermuda seabed.

Detection of unidentified microorganisms within Arctic glaciers.

An electromagnetic storm of unknown origin in the Sahara Desert.

Mass deaths of deep-sea organisms in the Pacific Ocean.

Simultaneous satellite malfunctions.

Governments around the world tried to conceal all those incidents, only to fail.

In the game, this was called the ‘Prologue Phase.’

More precisely.

[Phase 0: Ominous Discovery]

I stopped breathing.

‘...No.’

Right.

It had to be a coincidence.

The Bermuda Triangle was a common subject used everywhere.

It was also perfect material for an apocalypse game.

We had included it in our game as a device to give things a slight occult atmosphere.

...So something like this could be a coincidence.

Shake, shake.

I forcibly shook my head.

“Did I lose my mind the moment I quit my job...?”

I was about to turn off my phone.

But then I noticed the related news articles beneath the article.

[Signals from 7 Deep-Sea Exploration Drones Lost Simultaneously]

[Expedition Director: “Some Recorded Footage Cannot Be Released.”]

[U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Announces Emergency Briefing]

“...”

My fingertips suddenly went cold.

Signal loss, recorded footage unable to be released, emergency briefing.

Because every one of those phrases was familiar.

『Last Protocol』 prologue event text.

[Simultaneous Loss of 7 Deep-Sea Exploration Units]

[Partial Data Corruption in Recorded Footage]

[NOAA Emergency Briefing Scheduled]

“...No way.”

This really made no sense.

The exact same things as in the game were happening?

So the setting from that trash game was actually happening in reality?

Ding!

That was when it happened.

A notification appeared at the top of my phone.

“...?”

No sender.

No title.

The message was short.

[Observation conditions have been fulfilled.]

“...What is this?”

I blinked.

At that moment, the phone screen began to crackle.

Black static, broken pixels, and letters appeared in midair like a game error window.

[Last Protocol]

[Verifying user...]

“...”

I froze in place like a statue.

“W-What the hell is...?”

Because it wasn’t on my phone screen.

In front of me.

To be exact, a transparent window was floating in the middle of my vision.

Just like a game UI.

But I wasn’t wearing a VR device right now.

I wasn’t looking at a monitor either.

I was simply lying in the middle of my room.

[User identification complete]

[Baek Yi-hyeon]

[Formerly responsible for Last Protocol system planning and development]

[Partial administrator privileges confirmed]

“...Crazy.”

A curse slipped out before I knew it.

No matter how much I looked, the window didn’t disappear.

Instead, it became even clearer.

[Phase 0: Ominous Discovery]

[Reality Synchronization Rate: 3.7%]

[Estimated Time Until the Great Collapse: 184 days 11 hours 27 minutes]

“184 days?”

I blankly stared at the number.

184 days.

Roughly six months.

“You expect me to believe this crap?”

But what would I do if I didn’t believe it?

The hologram floating right in front of my eyes like a status window was proof enough.

‘Then the world really is going to end?’

If reality changed to become like the game.

Then this world would inevitably face its end.

‘No, it won’t be destroyed immediately.’

I hurriedly shook my head.

There was still time.

‘Six months.’

That was enough time to prepare.

Enough time to gather supplies, secure a base, train my body, and organize information.

Right, if I started moving properly from now on...

‘I can survive.’

But at the same time, one lingering thread of doubt refused to disappear from my mind.

‘Is this world really... going to end 184 days from now? Is it going to become a game-like world, just like in web novels?’

Gulp.

My Adam’s apple bobbed on its own.

The situation was racing toward the worst possible outcome, but there were definitely positive factors.

‘What matters in an apocalypse isn’t overwhelming combat power.’

Especially not in the beginning.

Information, supplies, a base, and time.

Those four things were everything.

And right now, I had two of them.

‘Information and time.’

I slowly looked out the window.

“...”

People were still living ordinary lives.

An office worker in a suit.

Women laughing with coffee in their hands.

A man smoking by the roadside.

A delivery driver loading packages.

None of them would know.

“Ha.”

184 days from now.

How this street would change.

Who would die, who would run away, and who would become a monster.

‘No one knows.’

Only I do.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

My heart pounded.

Whether it was fear or excitement, even I couldn’t tell what emotion was steadily consuming my mind.

_______________

After regaining my composure to some extent, I immediately turned on the computer.

Wooooong.

The sound of the computer fan filled the room.

The boot-up time felt irritatingly long.

“This isn’t it.”

Soon afterward, I rummaged through my desk drawer.

An external hard drive.

One old black device.

It was the personal backup drive I had used during the development of Last Protocol.

‘Technically, it’s a problem for an individual to keep company data.’

But how well were rules like that ever followed in the game industry?

Game company employees were always carrying storage devices around so they could work at home after overtime or make revisions on weekends.

And now, this might become my lifeline.

[LastProtocol_Backup]

I opened the folder.

At the same time, dozens of files appeared.

[WorldSetting_v0.7]

[Phase0_EventFlow]

[InfectionRules_Draft]

[EarlySurvivalBalance]

[ResourceSpawnTable]

[ShelterDesign_Prototype]

I drew in a breath.

‘It’s here.’

They were all still intact.

The materials I had forgotten about.

Before, I had thought of them as nothing more than remnants of a failed game.

‘But now, there’s nothing in the world more valuable than this.’

Because this was practically a book of prophecy.

Click.

First, I opened the [Phase0_EventFlow] file.

A table appeared on the screen.

「Day -184」

Discovery of a structure beneath the Bermuda seabed.

「Day -151」

Detection of unidentified microorganisms within Arctic glaciers.

「Day -123」

Abnormal group behavior among animals in certain regions around the world.

「Day -91」

Major communication disruptions and satellites leaving orbit.

「Day -59」

Sharp increase in patients suffering from high fevers of unknown origin.

「Day -30」

Limited outbreaks of violence.

「Day -7」

Government-level discussions on movement restrictions.

「Day 0」

Last Protocol activated.

“...”

I stared at the screen for a long time.

As expected, 184 days from now.

‘The world will end.’

The first event had already begun.

Discovery of a structure beneath the Bermuda seabed.

It was identical to the first omen in the game.

‘For a while, everything will probably keep running as if nothing is wrong.’

The news will downplay every incident, and governments will conceal information under the pretext of preventing panic.

Experts will say everything can be scientifically explained, and the comment sections of every news site and online community will turn into chaos.

Some people will laugh it off as a conspiracy theory, some will curse because stocks are falling, and some will simply ignore it and go to work.

Most of them will reach the end without having prepared anything.

Swipe.

I rubbed my face with my hand.

“...Baek Yi-hyeon, get a grip.”

This is an opportunity.

No, calling it an opportunity feels a little disgusting.

‘Others don’t know, but I do.’

Click.

I immediately opened a notepad.

Then I wrote this on the first line.

[Time Remaining Until the Great Collapse, 184 Days]

My hand stopped for a moment.

Tap tap tap tap tap.

A moment later, I erased the sentence.

Then I wrote it again like this.

[184-Day Survival Preparation Plan]