Season 2: Chapter 13. Wave After Wave (1)
Almond opened the door without his team’s consent.
"You're insane... just because we were trapped here. You're insane..."
The store clerk thought Almond had gone mad, but he had his reasons.
— The struggle to poop, looking forward to it.
— I need to use the restroom!
— Teacher! Let me go to the restroom!
— Cruel Korean schools not allowing restroom breaks.
He was approaching the limit of his bowel movements. He was already at the limit for urinating and now felt the urge in his bowel too. It was a truly terrifying situation!
Interestingly, Almond felt anxious even though he didn't actually need to pee.
'Quickly...!'
Soiling his pants with the broadcast was on would be the most embarrassing thing ever. He could vividly imagine Ju-Hyeok teasing him once he got out of the capsule.
'Maybe about fifteen?'
There weren’t too many zombies. They weren't particularly fast, just persistent and very dangerous.
'I wonder if a scratch could also infect me.'
He didn't know how zombies infected others at the moment.
'Being bitten is a hundred percent.'
However, he thought back to the gym teacher who turned into a zombie and knew he had to avoid being bitten at all costs.
"Close the store door, noona."
"... What?"
"Just close it for now."
The clerk hesitated with shaky eyes and questioned his sanity.
"Why the hell are you going out?! Just come back in!" she tried to persuade Almond while the zombies hadn't attacked yet.
"Well..."
— "Because I need to go."
— That's... because I need to go. Relax! Sexy! Cool! That’s me!
— Why can't he just say it?
— Almond feels shy about this, lol.
"Well... because I can."
After trying to give a justified reason, Almond dashed out.
— LMAO
— Because he can...
— What's with that line? LOL
— He's trying to act cool, LOL.
— Literally acting cool about poop, LOL.
"Close it quickly!"
One of the zombies seemed to have been waiting and charged.
"Kaaaak!"
Seeing this, the startled store clerk quickly shut the store’s metal door.
Bang!
"Come back! You must!"
Her voice came from beyond the metal door.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
Another voice came from the corridor.
'They're coming.'
The widely opened mouth revealed a dark throat and headed straight for Almond.
"Kyaaaaah!"
With swift movements, Almond twisted his upper body to the left and avoided the attack. The zombie's hair grazed the bridge of his nose. Then, the sound of clashing teeth echoed in front of him.
Snap!
Thinking of the possibility of that attack tearing apart his flesh sent shivers down his spine.
"He's still slow."
As the zombie attempted to bite again, Almond stabbed the back of its neck with his knife.
Swoosh!
Sticky blood oozed out. However...
"Kraaaaah!"
Undeterred, the zombie turned around and swung its arm.
Whoosh!
After ducking the attack, Almond jabbed his cutter knife under the zombie's chin.
Thud!
"Kaaaaah! Kaah!"
Still, it seemed unaffected by the life-threatening wounds.
'This won't work.'
No matter how robust the industrial cutter knife was, it wasn't suitable for killing zombies. Almond couldn't kill it like this.
'What now? Should I go back for a weapon?'
He looked at the closed store door. Opening it would leave him vulnerable to the surrounding zombies. He had to avoid that. It was out of the question.
[Warning! Fecal matter level is above 90%.]
[If not relieved, it may lead to unconsciousness.]
His urgent need went from eighty to ninety percent. Almond glanced around and located the restroom. He spotted the sliding door with a lock.
'Let's break through.'
He decided to make a run for it, lock the restroom door, buy some time, and relieve himself.
"Kraaaaah!"
The zombie, who had been hit with the cutter knife, lunged at him again.
Almond pocketed his knife instead of defending, sidestepped the attack, and tripped the zombie.
Boom!
The zombie fell flat on the ground. Given the dull and unintelligent nature of these zombies, it would take some time for it to get back up.
Snap! Snap!
Even in that state, it tried to bite Almond's foot. It was a horrifying sight, but there was no time to lose.
'There are more coming.'
Three more zombies heard the commotion and approached from the middle of the corridor. He ran toward the toppled zombie and the incoming trio.
'I can evade them.'
Although there were three, their movements were predictably simple. They didn't strategically move like humans and couldn't anticipate even the simplest movements. They always attacked the same way.
'Toward where I am.'
Knowing this made his approach simpler.
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Kraaaaah!"
They opened their mouths wide and attempted to bite him. It felt like he was the sushi at a revolving sushi bar.
Almond dodged to the right, let one attack pass, quickly sidestepped to the left, and evaded another zombie. He zigzagged past their attacks in a flash and ended up behind the trio.
Tak! Thud!
Their teeth only met air and Almond got by without a scratch.
'It works.'
Zigzagging seemed like the most effective way to evade these simple opponents. Their attacks missed when he merely stepped away from his original position. Timing his zigzag movements with their attacks meant he would theoretically never get hit.
Realizing this, Almond became more daring as he navigated the hallway.
'Push to the right, then go left. Herd them to the left, then right.'
Zombies attacked from behind and the number swarming him increased.
This time, five came toward him at once. They surrounded him and attacked from all sides.
However—
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Kuaaaak!"
"Kaaak!"
Snap!
Only the sound of teeth clashing in the air could be heard.
Almond smoothly rolled forward, evaded them, and ended up behind them.
— Wow...
— Did he dodge all that?
— Wow.
— Is this how you're supposed to play the game?? Lol.
— Did he make a deal with the producers?
Finally, he reached the bathroom located in the center of the hallway.
'It's here.'
The door was open.
Whoosh!
Almond dashed inside.
Bang!
He barely closed the bathroom door.
Click.
And quickly locked it.
Boom—!
Zombies slammed against the door, but he should be safe for now.
"Haa..."
Almond leaned against the door and caught his breath for a moment.
Then, he checked his status.
[Anxious]
You are feeling anxious due to unresolved issues. Your stamina will decrease.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t received any particular notifications for this status. The anxiety stemmed from him not having relieved himself. In reality, he wasn't under any debuffs.
"That was close."
Almond immediately opened the door to the toilet stall, but hesitated for a moment.
Ding!
[EggPlant has donated 2,000 won.]
[Uh, Almond. Is it okay if your pooping is shown? FYI, I've already pressed the clip recording button.]
"...?"
Was this stream live? Almond was confused.
— OMG, this is going out live!
— Usually, these types of games just show everything, lol.
— Every streamer has to go through this rite of passage.
— Haven't you ever streamed yourself doing this, Almond? You've been living the good life.
‘What are they talking about?’ Almond momentarily questioned his beliefs. 'Was I supposed to do this? No way.’
How could they broadcast this scene? He couldn't believe it.
'There must be a way around it.'
With that thought, a message appeared as he approached the toilet.
Ding.
[Relieving Oneself]
As Almond reached out...
The screen went dark and classical music began playing.
***
Swiiiiiiish...!
The darkened screen lit up with the sound of water.
Ding.
[Feeling Refreshed]
A positive status appeared for the first time, but Almond felt uneasy.
— Lol.
— I saw it~ I saw it~
— Lololol.
— It's so embarrassing...
— Splash (literally)
— Lololol, respect. You're a true streamer~
'What? Did it... show?'
It seemed something had been shown while the screen went dark. Almond's face turned red with embarrassment. Without a second thought, he immediately exited the capsule.
***
The custom capsule smoothly opened as if it were a living being. Sang-Hyeon rushed out with a desperate expression.
"Hey, hey, Ju-Hyeok!"
Ju-Hyeok's back twitched.
“Puff...’
He was laughing.
"Hey!"
"Hahahaha!"
Kim Ju-Hyeok turned around in his chair and laughed crazily.
"You’re a streaming genius."
Sang-Hyeon's face turned beet red. Seeing Ju-Hyeok's reaction, it was probably really shown.
"Did... did it really show!?"
"Hehehehehe!"
"This game is really too much..." Almond's disappointed voice echoed and reached the microphone inside the capsule.
— Hahaha, crazy!
— Lol!
— That voice of giving up, lol
— It's a clip!
— How can he be so cute? Lol!
— Ugh, lol!
— I want to bite him, lol!
Ju-Hyeok laughed so hard he held his stomach.
"Look at this."
He pointed to the computer screen with his hand. The scene where Almond rushed to the bathroom was playing.
Sang-Hyeon's eyes shook. Was he supposed to watch himself do that with his own eyes? While he was shocked, the screen went dark and classical music played.
'?'
Soon afterward, the sound of water could be heard. Then the screen showed a flustered Almond suddenly logging out.
— Lol, so funny!
— Almond is so cute!
— Still a newbie, huh? Lol!
Damn, he had been tricked. Anger surged in Sang-Hyeon, but the feeling of relief was much stronger.
"Phew," he let out such a big sigh of relief that it was audible.
— Phew, lol.
— Almond is so lovable.
— How can he believe that? Lol!
"This game must be well-made. You were fooled," Ju-Hyeok chuckled.
The game's realism was insane. Almond didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't shake off the suspicion that this game was real.
It had an unbelievable story when he thought about it rationally. However, factors like the realistic school environment around him, the tapping rain, and the nonsensical chat were more than enough to cause cognitive dissonance.
'Why didn't anyone tell me the truth?'
Sang-Hyeon looked at the chat window with resentment.
[Current Viewers: 19,000]
It was amazing how a whopping 19,000 viewers kept up with the joke.
'The number of viewers has increased.'
He didn't notice because he was so engrossed in the game, but the number of viewers had significantly increased. He had reached just over 10,000 viewers when he started the game.
— Is this the stream where you really poop in the game?
— Does he poop better than our Gum?
— Almond! Come back! Show us again!
Teasing comments filled the chat.
"It seems your clip has already spread and more viewers are flooding in."
According to Ju-Hyeok, the number of viewers had increased the moment Almond felt the urge and headed to the bathroom. Now, it had reached its peak.
Almond had messed up and signed off.
"Now, everyone. Did you have fun?"
— ???
— Huh?
— No, it wasn't fun. Continue.
— Why the long face? Lol!
— I'm sorry.