Surviving Among the Entities

‘It’s already 9 PM, time to sleep soon.’

Kim Mi-ri, a resident of Busan, lay down in bed early again today. Although she was a high school senior with only two months left until the College Scholastic Ability Test, she didn’t feel the need to study urgently.

‘I can start from tomorrow.’

Not that there were only two months left until the exam, but rather there were still two months remaining. There was still plenty of time, no need to start now.

‘If I master one subject per week, it’ll be enough, right?’

So she would just rest until today.
She knew her own reasoning didn’t make sense, but human justifications for leisure tend to be like that. Kim Mi-ri quietly turned off the lights and closed her eyes.

[All participants, wake up.]

And immediately she squinted from the bright light.

“What the…?”

When Kim Mi-ri opened her eyes again, she saw an open field.

[We will now begin Act 999 of the Dream Theater’s performance, the Battle Royale.]

To check if this was a dream, she pinched her cheek. She felt pain. Therefore, this was not a dream.

[For those unfamiliar with the concept of Battle Royale, allow me to explain. Currently on this island, there are 99 participants. From now on, you will fight to the death until only one remains.]

Still unable to grasp the situation, she surveyed her surroundings. A vast field and vacant lot within it, the distantly visible sea and village in the lowlands, and containers and bridges scattered here and there.

[The first day will be for rest. To give a good performance, you must have good rest. Participants, please get acquainted with each other or rest as you prepare for tomorrow.]

Why was she here? Her reaction was not unique.

“Where is this place?”
“No, what was that voice from the sky just now?”
“I clearly fell asleep at home……”
“What the fuck!?”
“これはどういうことですか？” (What is this about?)
“What the hell is this place?”
“Träume ich?” (Am I dreaming?)
“呃啊! 这是哪里!” (Ah! Where is this!)

People from all over the world were equally bewildered, their languages mixed together.

[We wish for you to perform a beautiful drama for us.]

Another voice came from the sky.

[While reality is an important element, differing languages would disrupt the flow and add tedium, so we will unify your languages.]

“What’s it saying?”
“An angel? Is that an angel?”
“Finally an isekai! I’ve finally been chosen! Damn you parents! Look at me now! I, who lived as a hikikomori, am the true winner!”

Though they all spoke their native tongues, it was automatically translated and conveyed to their minds.

“Everyone gather for now!”
“Yes! Let’s put our heads together and think about what’s happening!”

Those with strong leadership came forward. Under their guidance, people started voicing their opinions.

“The voice from the sky told us to do a Battle Royale.”
“What is a Battle Royale?”
“Yare yare, you don’t know what Battle Royale is? Battle Royale is a genre originating from the 1999 novel of the same name by Koushun Takami. It involves killing each other in a confined space until only one victor remains. Isn’t this common knowledge?”

An overweight Japanese man in a checkered shirt shook his head as he explained, causing an uproar among the people.

“Is it telling us to kill each other right now?”
“How could we as humans commit such an atrocity!?”
“We’ve fallen into hell. This must be angels testing those who don’t believe in God!”

No sane person would kill strangers just because an unidentifiable voice from the sky told them to.

“Novels sometimes feature transcendent beings imprisoning people in dreams as the setting.”
“Could this all be a vivid dream?”
“Maybe we’re hallucinating. I ate some mushroom dish yesterday, found in the mountains, and it looked so delicious.”
“What if I actually died in my sleep? Is this a dream before death?”

Private tutors, housewives, high school teachers, students, private security guards, construction company office workers, amateur gamers, bank employees, culinary researchers, and so on.

They were all just ordinary people.

“For now, let’s ignore the voice from the sky!”
“Yes! Why should we fight each other? Let’s coexist peacefully and find a way to escape this place!”

And so the first day passed.

[The second day has arrived. Weapons have been placed at various points around the island. Those who acquire weapons will increase their chances of survival, so make use of them. Additionally, having everyone gather in one place would hinder progress, so all participants have been randomly relocated.]

A voice came from the sky. Kim Mi-ri checked her wristwatch.

[07:00]

And she thought:

‘When did I fall asleep?’

Whether she had been kidnapped, fallen into hell, or as that Japanese man had shouted, transported to another dimension called an isekai – she didn’t know anything.

‘But how could I have slept in such a situation…?’

She had to sleep. Right, why had she forgotten the teachings until now?

“Tension does not aid in combat.”

My name is Kim Mi-ri, 19 years old.
“I received combat training from a special forces unit since age 5 and was modified into a human weapon, a soldier loyal to the nation.”

‘I had intended to win this Battle Royale and bring honor to the nation, but I momentarily forgot.’

This was all due to the stress from the recent faction conflicts.

“It was unnecessary to include other Korean participants when I alone would have sufficed. In the end there can only be one victor, so fighting would be a waste of national resources.”

She swiftly searched her surroundings. Behind a container, she spotted the traces of a hidden crate.

“An M1 Carbine? This isn’t World War 2.”

Shouldering the rifle, she searched the area with a gleam in her eye before pulling the trigger.

“Kkok!”

A hole pierced the forehead of an old woman who had been trying to pounce on her from the bushes.

“Ah, I didn’t expect Abella Zito, the legendary Italian special forces commander, to have participated. Legends are completed only in death, congratulations on truly becoming one.”

Kim Mi-ri didn’t remember, but the previous night that old woman had said she was her grandmother and looked after her at the same age.

“As expected of a top-tier tournament, allowing murder raises the difficulty level.”

She reloaded her rifle.

“I will definitely survive and take the victory to elevate Korea’s honor!”

Kim Mi-ri’s battles were brutal. As a tournament where the greatest honor could be obtained, the other participants were no pushovers either.

[Albert Dennis (37), electrician, husband and father of two daughters. Died from blood loss after a dagger pierced his neck.]
“Sergeant Albert Dennis, a legendary iron man who has served in the US Marine Corps’ elite DevGru for 10 years, the nightmare of terrorists.”

After pursuing the stronger opponent for three days, she pierced his neck with a dagger when he let his guard down.

[Nellie Hexstone (21), Berklee music student, aspired to become a violinist who could play beautifully enough to reach her late mother. Died from a gunshot wound from her vagina to her skull.]
“Nellie Hexstone, called a genius demolitionist from a young age who modified various small bombs, sweeping battlefields with explosions earning her the name ‘Witch of Blasts’.”

She hid under a squat toilet and when her target appeared, she shot a bullet up their anus all the way through their crown.

[Giulio Salvi (75), retired former carpenter, enjoyed handcrafting toys for his grandchildren as a hobby. Recently, he had been visiting his late wife’s grave to offer flowers he personally grew. Died from carotid artery strangulation by wire.]
“Legendary sharpshooter Giulio Salvi, who killed 1,000 enemy soldiers through sniping in his active duty days.”

She used a dummy to locate the sniper’s position, snuck up, and strangled him to death with a wire.

“Huuk, huuk.”
“Kkhuk!”

And finally, she fought her last battle against the final remaining person.

[Kujo Suzuki (30), office worker at a black company, recently preparing to change jobs and wondering if he should ask the convenience store part-timer he sees on his way home from overtime for her number. Died from skull fracture.]

They unleashed a hail of bullets at each other until running out, then transitioned to close quarters, ultimately deflecting the opponent’s knife before shattering their skull with a knuckle-dusted fist.

[The final winner has been decided. The final winner is Kim Mi-ri from Korea.]

“Ah, finally……”

The national anthem played from the sky.

[Until the East Sea’s tides are dry and Mt. Baekdu is worn away. God protect our nation forever, hurrah!]

Tears welled in her eyes as she placed a hand over her left chest.

[The noble mind’s flower blooms amid the three thousand miles of splendor. Long live our nation and people, hurrah!]

Each falling teardrop was imbued with her patriotism and the pride of her nation.

[Cut!]

“…..Huh?”

And in the moment it all ended, Kim Mi-ri remembered who she really was.

“Ah, ahh?”

The memories of her ordinary self as a high school girl.
Yet the memories of everything she had done until now did not disappear.

“Uweok!”

The lingering stench of gunpowder she could still smell.
The fading pulses and slumping bodies of her opponents.
The protruding entrails and her own mocking voice as she nonchalantly stepped on them.

“Uweek!”

She wanted to vomit out everything inside her. If possible, even her very soul.

[Hmm]

Before she could choose that final option consumed by guilt, the sky answered first.

[Patriotism is a sales point for drawing in audiences, but this work went a bit overboard. A high school student special forces soldier as the protagonist was fine, but the rest was subpar and the patriotism came across as rather childish. From our self-review, the score for this work is 3/10.]

The opponent who had just died revived.
Not just them, but everyone who had died in this place.

[We will move on to a re-shoot.]

[Entering the 17th re-shoot.]

In this re-shoot, Kim Mi-ri was a kunoichi ninja who had directly trained in Japan. The setting was not an island but a city, and her role was as a Japanese-infatuated Korean assistant in a cyberpunk worldview enthralled by ancient customs.

“Everyone quickly escape.”

And for the sake of the participant playing the lead, she took enemy bullets with her bare body and died.

[Entering the 27th re-shoot.]

In this re-shoot, Kim Mi-ri played the role of a victim. As a victim of a global organ trafficking organization, she had her corneas, kidneys, liver and all manner of organs harvested from her living body before dying.

[Entering the 117th re-shoot.]

In this re-shoot, Kim Mi-ri was a concubine. It was an ancient Chinese period drama, and her role was as a wicked consort.

[Entering the 572nd re-shoot. From now on, we will incorporate fantasy elements. Let’s get extravagant.]

In this re-shoot, Kim Mi-ri was a space security officer. A future human implanted with a cyber-chip granting her psychokinetic powers, but she was swallowed by a black hole and died.

Her roles continued changing. Sometimes she was a convict getting beheaded, sometimes a murderer eating hearts, sometimes a queen being hung.

‘Who am I?’

Only very occasionally did memories of her high school girl self resurface. But those memories felt like a distant dream, growing dimmer and more meaningless.

‘Such faint memories couldn’t possibly be reality.’

Ah, she finally understood. That time was the dream, and this is reality.
Dancing according to the director’s instructions as an actor in reality, that is the real her.

[Entering re-shoot #131,272,211]

She took on countless roles, became countless fantasy beings, and experienced countless deaths. With each re-shoot, the story and setting changed, but the ending where most participants died did not.

[Cut!]

And after so much time had passed that her past could no longer be recalled:

[Filming complete. We’ve finally captured a satisfactory work. Well done, everyone.]

At last, she regained her freedom.

[We will return you all to the worlds you came from. No time has passed in reality, so do not worry. That is all.]

When she opened her eyes again, it was in a room she no longer had any memory of.

“…….?”

But that freedom was no longer freedom.

“I, I, I, I am, I am.”

All her experiences until now.
All the roles she had played until now.
All the superpowers and abilities until now.

“Iamahighschoolspecialforcessoldierconcubineorgantrafickingvictimwhoreofseamenpillageexperimentsubjectsacrificetoevilkingresurrectedasundead heroineascendingfairywifestrangledtodeathclown.”

They had all become reality.

“Sis! Why are you being so loud!”
“Hey you bitch! Why are you rapping nonsense in the middle of the night!”

Her brother and mother entered the room. Seeing her convulsing like she was having a seizure, the two rushed over in shock.

“Sis! What’s wrong!”
“Oh dear!”

But her body reacted first. With one hand she snapped her brother’s neck, and with an open palm strike she pierced her mother’s solar plexus to impale her heart.

“Disciplewhoattainedenlightenmentwithbarehands onlyvirginofnortherndefensesacrificedevouredalivebydemonkingresurrectedasnecromanticsheroineascendingfairystrangledtodeathfool.”

She bolted outside and killed everyone in sight.

“Kyaaahh!”
“A, a monster!”
“A psychic!?”

She could use all the nonsensical superpowers she had displayed during the re-shoots. Having spent too long in the dream, her mind and body had already become part of it, able to bring everything she experienced and trained in dreams into reality.

“It’s a monster! Kill it!”

The military was deployed but could not stop her. Her body had already become part of the dream, and dreams could not be killed, so all attacks from reality were meaningless.

And it wasn’t just her, but the other 98 participants too, each causing the same phenomenon in their respective countries.

“This is an emergency! We have to deal with those monsters somehow!”
“Damn it! Tanks and missiles are useless against those monsters!?”

Who fired first is unknown. But starting from somewhere, in an attempt to eliminate the monsters, people tried resolving the issue by launching nuclear missiles at their own countries.

In the world reduced to a field of rubble, Kim Mi-ri wandered the desolate, lifeless streets.

“Girlwhosnuckoutonbicycletoracesfemalejesterwhosebellyisslitopenfemalecollegestudentshreddedbychainsawcheerleaderwhobleedsfrombladewoundwomanwhohangsherselfunabledtocopewithheartbreak.”

The 99 participants like her wandered the world.
A perfect apocalypse.

“Is it telling us to kill each other right now?”
“How could we as humans commit such an atrocity!?”
“We’ve fallen into hell. This must be angels testing those who don’t believe in God!”

Watching the riotous crowd gathered at the vacant lot, I mulled over the future my right eye had shown.

“Hmm.”

After quietly leaving the vacant lot, I lit a cigarette.

“Entering the ark was meaningless like this.”

My original plan was to head to the island’s special zone opening on the second day. If I opened the hatch there and entered, I could escape the dream – that was the method of survival against this entity shown in the game.

“But it’s not the same as what the game portrayed.”

Even if I escaped following the original plan, the world would still be annihilated. That didn’t happen in the game.

‘It seems the participants assimilated into the dream gained the identities and abilities of the roles they played in the dream, causing them to go berserk.’

They even gained immortality as a bonus.

“Phew.”

After smoking the cigarette down to the butt and exhaling towards the sky, I spoke:

“Hello there?”

Addressing me.

“My name is Seung-hoon Lee.”

No, the director watching over us from the heavens.

“You, or all of you directing this theatrical performance, I wish to discuss it.”

For the start of resolving any problem is through dialogue.