Chapter 4: Awakening 1  

Junhyuk went to the emergency room and got thirty stitches on his leg and went home. It was the biggest injury he had ever gotten. He left the subway station and was going to his house when he looked over at the grocery store like he always did. Junhyuk was looking inside when his eyes widened. Soyeon, who had been working since morning, was still inside, behind the counter. He was glad and went inside.

"Welcome."

Soyeon had had her head down, but her eyes widened when she looked up.

"Are you okay?!"

Junhyuk had blood on his pants, which were rolled up, and was bandaged all over. It looked like a serious injury, and it made Soyeon worry.

He scratched his head and said:

"Today, there was an accident involving the bus I was riding on."

She got out from behind the counter and checked him out from top to bottom.

"Are you coming from a hospital?"

"Yes, it was covered by the insurance, so I could afford everything that I needed."

"Still, it’s a relief. You aren’t seriously hurt?"

"It feels good that you are worried about me."

Soyeon’s face got a little hot, and she went back behind the counter. Junhyuk smirked and walked toward the refrigerator and picked out two cans of beer. As a side dish, he got a shrimp-flavored snack and put everything on the check-out counter, which made Soyeon frown a little.

"Are you drinking?"

"I didn’t do well on my interview today."

Soyeon walked back out from the counter, put the two cans of beer in the refrigerator and brought out a can of cider. She only checked the shrimp flavored snack and placed both the snack and the cider inside a bag.

"You are hurt. You should be taking antibiotics, and you shouldn’t be drinking. Just drink a cider. It’s also carbonated. OK?"

Junhyuk thought about her gesture of giving him a cider, even though beers were not just carbonated, and didn’t say anything about it.

"Then, charge me for the cider as well."

"Think of it as a consolation drink from me."

He scratched his head when she said that and nodded slightly.

"Thanks. I will be going, now."

He picked up the bag and was about to leave when Soyeon called out for him.

"Wait!"

He turned around. She smiled wide, making big dimples on her cheeks, and said:

"Cheer up! You will do better next time!"

When he heard that, he gave out a big smile. He thought it had been a lousy day, but, because of her support, he felt a lot better.

"Thanks! When I get hired, I will get you a banana milk and a sushi roll."

"I’ll hold you to that."

Junhyuk felt excited as he walked toward his apartment. He opened the door and was about to go inside when he felt the cold air.

"Brrr!"

He let out a deep sigh and went in and switched on the light. There was no one to welcome him home. It looked as clean and tidy as when he left that morning.

Junhyuk smiled and changed clothes. His injuries were covered by insurance, but his torn clothes weren’t. He made himself comfortable by putting on shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and sat on the floor of his room and opened the cider, drinking it while he turned on the television.

That’s when the news came on, and the news was about the bus accident, and him rescuing the elderly.

"Shit!"

It’s true that he had rescued the elderly, but he hadn’t expected to see it on news. It was probably the biggest things that had happened that day.

Soon, there were interviews on news. One of the people interviewed was Chulho Park.

"Junhyuk Lee, are you watching this?"

Junhyuk was anticipating, rather nervously, what Chulho would say when he put his thumbs up and announced:

"You are awesome!"

Junhyuk felt a little awkward and scratched his head. Then, he got paper towels to clean up some cider he had spilled. When he crouched down to wipe the floor, the world went black.

Thump!

The sound kept fading in and out, and Junhyuk couldn’t keep his eyes open because of the incoming lights. He closed his eyes, but the lights kept coming through his eyelids, and it felt like they were burning his eyes.

"Ahhhh!"

Screaming, Junhyuk eventually lost consciousness.

How long had it been?

He could no longer see the lights that were about to burn his retinae and covered his eyes with his hands. Then, slowly, he opened his eyes, stretching his hands out and began to look around.

"What’s this?"

A strange place. As he lifted his body, he could see what looked like a dorm, a bit larger than his own room. A silvery white light illuminated the room, and Junhyuk tried to make sure he was in one piece.

"What?"

He was wearing body armor, which he had never seen before. It looked like it could’ve come straight out of a fantasy movie, and it clanged loudly when he hit it. Junhyuk, dumbstruck, got up quickly.

Another surprise!

"My injuries are gone!"

The wounds on his leg were healed. He moved his legs several times and exclaimed:

"What’s happening?"

He moved his head sideways, then heard a soft, very tempting voice, but the contents of what it said were a little disturbing.

[Welcome to the Valley of Death.]

"Valley of Death?"

He lifted his head, looking for where the voice was coming from, and found a sword and a shield in front of him.

[You may exit using the main entrance.]

Junhyuk picked up the sword and the shield to protect himself in this unexpected situation. Suddenly, a door emerged from a corner of the room. He tried to go through the door when he heard another voice.

[Minion 00110230 deployed.]

That’s when he saw many other people who were dressed just like him. They also did not seemed to understand their current predicament.

"Well, what is going on here?"

Junhyuk had wanted to ask the others about it, but lost the chance when a man with a huge stature showed up and got everyone’s attention. He looked as though he was 2.5 meters tall. When he stood in front of the crowd, he lifted his hand.

"From now on, everyone on my right side follow me."

The man pointed, and on his right side there were about fifty people. The big man turned around as if he had nothing more to say. Junhyuk was not a part of the fifty people.

Then a man with a scar on his face went to the front and shouted:

"What is this place? And who are you, asshole, to order me around!"

The big man turned his head slightly and pursed his lips. He gave a creepy grin, and jumped forward. The man, who was 2.5 meters tall and made out of muscles, flew over everyone’s heads and kicked the head of the man who was asking the question.

Splatter!

It looked surreal to watch a head crush like a watermelon, but the smell of blood scorching Junhyuk’s nose told him it was all real.

The big man got up slowly, and looked around himself. Junhyuk thought the big man was staring straight at him. His eyes were the eyes of a man who had killed many people. There was a craziness to his eyes that made Junhyuk nervous.

"We don’t have the time for this. You there, you follow me too!"

At last, the big man pointed at Junhyuk. Junhyuk froze up, but the big man had nothing more to say and turned and walked away.

Junhyuk swallowed his saliva and followed him. Even though he was holding a shield and a sword, he was sure that if the big man had wanted him dead, he would be torn apart.

So, fifty people followed the big man walking in front of them without making a sound. They soon came to a big door about five meters tall. As they passed the door, they saw something they had never seen before in their lives. They saw distant, middle-age castle walls with archers on the top of the them. Looking at them, Junhyuk could not figure out where he was. A man walking next to Junhyuk whispered to him:

"Are you a Korean?"

Junhyuk turned his head and saw a man who looked to be in his late 30s. He looked nervous as he glanced around himself while talking to Junhyuk.

"Yes, are you a Korean?"

"That’s right! Well, do you know where we are?"

Junhyuk looked up at the sky while he walked. The purplish sky was definitely odd.

"Well, it does not feel like a dream, and it scares me."

"A dream? A moment ago, I stepped on a dead person’s brain. This is definitely real."

Junhyuk looked at the man when he said that. If the man had stepped on a dead person’s brain, maybe he should question this man’s sanity. Junhyuk felt like he should also avoid him.

The big man was walking in front of the group when he reached the gate of the castle and turned around. He looked at the fifty people and announced:

"Don’t fall behind. Anyone who falls behind will die."

He did not sound like he was joking. Junhyuk trembled and gripped his shield tightly. Despite its size, the shield was very light weight.

The big man turned, and the gate of the castle opened up. He could see a long road stretching from the gate. On both sides of the road, there were trees as tall as twenty meters, and the road was so long he could not see the end of it.

The big man no longer spoke, but began running. Watching the big man, Junhyuk also started to run. The big man was only jogging, but his strides were very long.

The man who had been talking to Junhyuk also began running.

Everyone ran after the big man, and, after running for an hour, the first man fell behind: a black man stepped on a rock and was unable to pick himself up. Looking at the man, Junhyuk stopped. He too had reached his limit, and thought he couldn’t leave the other man behind. The big man had said that if anyone fell behind, he would die.

He looked at the big man, who did not seem interested in what was taking place and kept his pace.

Junhyuk approached the black man and picked up his arm, placing it around his shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

The black man replied by shaking his head and slowly tried to get up, but his legs dragged against the floor.

"Shit!"

At a glance, the man had a problem with his ankles. While Junhyuk supported him, the man saw that the group was already far away. Junhyuk did not even know where the destination was, and it was not a good idea to fall behind the lead group, but he couldn’t just leave a wounded man behind.

"Cheer up!"

The black man glanced at Junhyuk looking ahead and spoke softly:

"Thank you."

Junhyuk could see the big man glancing at them but that was about it. The big man kept running, and the group soon disappeared from sight. Junhyuk felt grateful that he had gotten separated from the big man, who was obviously crazy, but looking around, he found himself surrounded by forest and felt terrified.

"Sigh. I don’t know where I am, but I won’t just die."

Junhyuk supported the black man and, with him, moved forward.