Season 2: Chapter 8. Zombie School (2)
"This is it. It seems like a great idea! Wow. Could it be a real masterpiece?" PD Jang's excited voice echoed from the rooftop.
Another voice interjected, "What are you mumbling about on the rooftop again?"
Chik.
PD Park Su-Yeon was the woman lighting a cigarette and speaking from beside him. She and PD Jang had started their careers at the same time.
"Anyway, damn it. Our bosses are just gorging on company money. Why do they make a fuss over everything?"
She had a notably coarse way of speaking. Such transformations happened in this line of work, especially for women. Some looked down on them, leading them to deliberately develop such an attitude. PD Jang always tried to understand her rough language.
‘Huh? Wait a moment.’
PD Jang casually looked at her and felt like lightning struck him. He had an epiphany. It felt like the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
‘Come to think of it, she's the expert.’
She was one of the few remaining individuals who created innovative entertainment shows. Regardless of its profitability, there was no better collaborator for creating a new format. She was famous for being a MENSA member and having a decent career, albeit not everything she did was profitable.
That was how she ended up in a major broadcasting station like this one, but her skills were exceptional.
"What's the show you're currently doing?"
"You don’t know?" she frowned menacingly and prepared to unleash another torrent of expletives.
"No, no. I know. Just can't recall the name—"
"Detective Club."
"Ah, right. That one!"
Detective Club was an adventure style entertainment show where they investigated school secrets while performing club activities.
"You had a lot of complaints about that, right? Regarding the set budget, celebrities not immersing themselves, and managers intervening..."
"Stop it. That bearded bastard," PD Park laughed. She was certainly laughing, but didn't look happy.
"Why, why..."
"You think the show I'm working on is the real Detective Club. I only did season one and stopped. It wasn't profitable."
"... Oh."
"It had good ratings for that kind of show... just that kind of show though. No ads. Literally, a show that doesn't make money."
"I see."
PD Jang felt utterly embarrassed. He had been too indifferent to the person he was trying to recruit.
"What I'm doing now is an old-fashioned travel variety show where celebrities pretend to do all the work while shopping."
"... Ahem."
"Why are you suddenly asking about my show when you've been so uninterested? Huh?" PD Park leaned against the railing and asked.
PD Jang usually avoided such risks, but she did it easily. He swallowed nervously and began speaking.
'I can't just back down.'
Even if he couldn’t persuade her here, speaking now would still give him another opportunity later.
"The show you really wanted to do and conceptualize was an adventure style one like Detective Club, right?"
"Hmm..." PD Park squinted and examined him. She gazed at PD Jang through the hazy smoke.
'I can't figure him out.'
PD Jang never showed interest in others his entire life. He grew out his hair and beard, acting like an artist, but was always keen on making money.
He didn't even know what show she was currently doing. Why was he suddenly interested in a nonprofitable adventure style show? With her, whom he had never even shared a drink with?
'Did he smell money?'
PD Park finally responded, "... Yes."
“Sigh,” he responded while blowing out some smoke. “I wanted to do an adventure type entertainment show, but the production cost is astronomical. The set has to be large and paying celebrities to stay for several days isn't easy.”
“Right? It’s tough. The set has to be big and celebrities have their own schedules to manage.”
"... Why the sudden sympathy? Don't play tricks. From now on, I'll only do profitable projects. I have a kid at home."
"Look at this," PD Jang suddenly presented his phone to her.
The look on his face was quite off-putting as if he was urging her for a quick response.
PD Park put aside her cigarette and took a glance.
'What could it be...?'
PD Jang’s screen was displaying Zombie School.
“Hmm? This person. Isn't he the one who was a guest on your talk show?”
“Yeah? Yeah. How do you know?”
“He’s handsome,” PD Park simply said and refocused on the screen.
***
"Number 15. The answer is forty-five squared centimeters. This question was about finding the area from a graph. It might not seem like it, but...”
"... sine 30... tangent... I should apply the quadratic formula... Plus minus...”
It felt almost as if they were forced to eat sleeping pills. Listening to the math teacher's lecture felt like the game's main quest. It was almost impossible to keep one's eyes open.
— Freaking Almond, LOL.
— Why am I really sleepy lol
— Did I get too immersed? lol
— I can't handle it lol. I can see my school days.
Almond wondered if he should talk with his viewers. However, speaking into the microphone in this situation somehow felt like cheating. Out of sheer stubbornness, he decided to stay quiet and endure the lesson.
Then...
Ding!
A message popped up.
["Your eyes are getting heavy."]
[If you continue to be sleepy, you might become tired. Please take a short nap.]
‘Hmm? Was it because of this?’
It wasn’t Almond who was sleepy, but the character he was playing.
— OMG. What lol
— It wasn’t Walnut acting weird!
— Is he really sleepy?
'I can't tell the difference?'
It was really fascinating. He could distinctly feel the character’s state. So much so that he couldn’t distinguish between his own state and the character’s.
‘What happens if I become tired? I'll become tired if I don't sleep, but how am I supposed to sleep at school? And in front of that teacher? That's suicidal.’
For now, Almond ignored the message and focused on the dreadful math lesson.
"Because these two lines are perpendicular, we can use the trigonometric functions...”
He still felt so sleepy. If the teacher put the same energy into teaching as he did while scaring kids, it wouldn’t be so boring. Just as Almond was thinking that...
Ding!
Another notification rang out.
[You are currently very hungry.]
[If you don't eat something, you will gradually lose energy.]
"... What is this now?" Almond mumbled into his streaming microphone channel.
He checked the time.
"Lunchtime just passed. Why am I hungry?"
Grrr.
A sound came from his stomach. It wasn’t Almond’s stomach, but it felt like he was genuinely hungry.
— Is Almond a pig?
— He’s a high school kid. What can you do?
— But it’s a bit weird. He’s not even slightly hungry, but very hungry.
“I must have skipped lunch,” Almond thought and continued listening to the class.
— Skipped lunch and slept during class? This is totally delinquent behavior.
— Is this the popular kid's school life?
— He wouldn't possibly have a girlfriend, right? If so, I'd genuinely hope the zombies win.
Almond realized something while reading the viewers' chat.
‘Why does this feel like it’s in real-time?’
Typically, time flowed faster in such story games. Here, every single minute and second seemed to be counted accurately. Someone would probably say it was just his imagination. The math class was just too boring.
He checked his watch.
‘...?’
Almond instinctively looked at his wrist. As a student, he didn't wear a watch. However, a mark there indicated he usually did. Anyway, the watch wasn't there anymore.
His eyes darted to the clock above the blackboard.
‘It's hard to tell with that.’
That clock didn't display the seconds.
Ding~ Dong~ Dang~ Dong~!
The bell rang.
“Phew.”
Without realizing it, Almond let out a sigh of relief. Similar sighs echoed around him.
— 100% student synchronization LOL.
— LOL, why is he acting like a real student?
— Phew, LOL.
— ??? I held my breath till the end of the class!
Fortunately, the math teacher didn't continue after the bell rang.
“So, the answer is... the square root of three. That’s all for today.”
Bang.
The math teacher struck the blackboard with his chalk and coolly exited the room.
“Huuuuuh...!”
As he left, a student loudly stretched.
“Ah, that Jeon Tae-Jung, such a poser.”
It seemed the math teacher's name was Jeon Tae-Jung. Even his name sounded powerful, but something else amazed Almond.
‘Wow...’
The students had such realistic reactions.
"Hey, why is the answer the square root of three? He's just reading from the answer sheet again."
“Ah... That...”
A student continued to study.
“Ah, shall we go to the snack bar?”
“I want a sausage bun.”
“Let’s go together, you rascal.”
Students headed to the snack bar.
“Yu-Jin, let's go to the restroom.”
“Okay.”
Some female students went to the restroom together. It felt overly realistic. Yes, overly was the right word.
‘These NPCs are entirely different from LIL champions.’
LIL champions were purely fictional characters. Even if they were portrayed realistically, there was still a certain sense of distance about them.
The NPCs of Kingdom Age didn’t even need to be mentioned. They were medieval beings and felt even more distant than LIL champions.
But these? They were Koreans, specifically Korean students.
The level of realism in this compared to previous games was overwhelmingly high. Just how much had technology advanced? It was almost concerning.
Almond could hear loud chatter from behind.
“Hey, Kim Woo-Jung. Don’t you remember how you were whining when you got beaten up in a fight?”
Someone picked a fight with the student, Kim Woo-Jung, who stretched earlier.
"Do you want to fucking die? Seriously, who said it was dragging on?"
"Ugh. Can you please stop swearing?"
A pretty female student sat down next to Kim Woo-Jung. She wore a tight skirt and her makeup emphasized her eyes.
“Ah... Okay.”
Kim Woo-Jung scratched his head and couldn't defy that student.
'This really feels like school.'
The female student with upturned eyes called out as Almond observed the kids, "Hey, Kim Ju-Hyeok." She continued, "Kim Ju-Hyeok, can't you hear? Give up your seat. Why are you sitting there?"
'Wait, there's someone named Kim Ju-Hyeok here... Is that me?'
Almond turned around late after realizing that someone called him. Then—
Whoosh!
A slap was suddenly coming his way?
‘What's happening?'
Without realizing it, Almond swiftly tilted his head to avoid it. The female student with prominent eyeliner had tried to slap him.
She tilted her head and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
'Is this a joke?'
Was she really trying to hit him or was it a playful gesture among friends? He couldn't tell. If she wanted to hit him, wouldn't she have swung harder? It seemed like a joke, but the atmosphere was so serious. He wasn't sure.
He wasn’t sure, so he wanted to ask. ‘What are you trying to do? To hit me?’
Ting!
[You can’t reply due to the fear status.]
He couldn't speak and genuinely felt like his mouth wouldn't open. His heart raced as if he was truly terrified.
"Kim Ju-Hyeok, this loser... Did he dodge the graceful slap of our So-Hee? If it was me, I'd offer the other cheek too."
Laughter erupted from everywhere.
The tall guy in the laughing crowd was Baek Joon-Soo. His badge had his name on it. Given his height, he seemed like the highest ranking person there.
"You... Get ready."
Baek Joon-Soo pulled back his fist as if readying to punch a machine. Almond was taken aback.
"Critical strike!"
Almond couldn't tell whether the slow-moving fist was genuinely attempting to hit him.
'Is he serious or what?'
Should he just take the hit even if it was a joke? Nevertheless, Almond quickly leaned to dodge while remaining seated.
Thud!
Baek Joon-Soo's fist struck the chair and his face distorted in pain.
"Damn it! Who told you to dodge?"
How could he just take the hit? Almond wanted to retort, but the fear status prevented him from speaking again.
Kim Woo-Jung was observing from behind and stepped forward. "This guy is pretty arrogant, huh?"
He immediately lunged forward with a swift sidekick.
Whoosh!
Almond realized that this was no joke. Who joked with a sidekick?
'It seems I can still dodge even in a state of fear.'
Swiff!
Almond easily dodged another attack.
"?!"
Kim Woo-Jung missed his kick in mid-air and naturally fell flat on the ground.
"Ah, ow!"
Both Kim Woo-Jung and his friends' expressions all turned fierce.
"Did he dodge again?!"
"What are you trying to do, Kim Ju-Hyeok? Do you really want to die?"
The atmosphere grew tense.
— Is this how the game is supposed to be played? LOL
— If he dodges, does the game not progress?
— Hey, just let them hit you once. LOL
— LMAO
— He's dodging everything with gritted teeth. LOL
The look in Almond's eyes changed for a different reason.
'... This body. It's really slow.'
He felt it before. This body was incredibly sluggish. Was this another status ailment?
[Fatigue]
All actions will become sluggish. If fatigue persists, stamina may decrease.
[Extreme Hunger]
Your endurance will significantly decrease. You cannot move much.
[Fear]
You cannot speak in front of what or who you fear. Your movements may freeze or slow down.
Even though he always felt extreme hunger and fear, a lack of sleep caused the fatigue. That was why he felt even slower.
"Hey, you're done for if you dodge this time."
Kim Woo-Jung got up with fierce eyes and tensed his legs.
'What to do?'
Should he really let these guys hit him? For some reason, Almond's pride couldn’t take it.
***
"Ouch, hot!"
Thud.
PD Park threw away the wasted cigarette and pulled out another one. She had watched the game so intensely that she became oblivious to the burning cigarette.
"So with this game... you're trying to scout for adventure style talents?"
She finally understood what PD Jang intended.
"Yes. Without being confined to a platform. Without having to care about the higher-ups at the broadcasting station. We would save a lot on production costs too."
He was absolutely right.
'This guy...'
PD Park felt herself waver. She was displeased that this guy had shaken her.
"... What do you think?" PD Jang cautiously asked. "It’s not bad, is it?"