TUG-of-WAR

"—ona"

I turned over to my side and swat the hands are shaking me.

"Noona!" A voice yells at me, jolting me awake.

"What, what! What's happening!?" I grab my knife with one hand and wipe my droll with the other.

"I prepared us some breakfast." Jung-woo chuckles, pulling my arm to our make-shift dinning table. He quickly ushers me to sit. On the table were two strawberry milk drinks, a strawberry and peanut butter jam and bread.

Jung-woo, who has taken a sit in front of me, takes a straw and stabs the drink. He then motions me to do the same. Following his movements, I stab the drink and take a sip.

Sweet strawberry flavor milk invades my mouth. It was even chilled, and it did not taste spoiled to my surprise. Jung-woo snatches the plate of bread and replaces it with a peanut butter and strawberry sandwich.

"Where did you get these?!" I laugh, taking a bite of the delicious sandwich.

"You weren't the only one packing food to-go last night. I have more in my storage space. Want some?" He was sticking his hand inside a small portal when I shake my head.

"No, no, no! Save it. It's better to ration food. We don't know when we're going to need it? if another horrible scenario sends us to some weird place again." I lick the peanut butter that got on my fingertips.

"You're right." He munches on his sandwich.

"Let's scout the area and find more food and other necessities to bring with us." I slurp on the last of the strawberry milk before wiping the plate clean to use again next time.

After a few minutes of resting our stomachs, Jung-woo and I head out to scout. I have never been to South Korea, so I find everything fascinating. The streets are small but quaint. So many different cute stores and the houses have such a homey feel to them. That is—as long as you look past the blood, dead bodies, and other mess.

"Such a shame. I wish I could have seen how this place was without all the mess." I crinkle my nose. Good thing the face mask helps stops me from smelling the odor.

"It looks the same to me. There's nothing special about this part of the neighborhood." Jung-woo, who has copied my face mask, says.

So far, the stores we have come across were either ransacked or didn't have anything worth taking. When we finally did stop, it was another cute mom and pop shop that you would not have noticed if you didn't walk into its conspicuous alley.

"Noona! They have a lot of snacks, drinks and food!" Jung-woo grabbed a bunch of consumable items and stuffing them into his storage space. I quickly stop him from his shoplifting.

"Leave some space for other stuff. Go get some of those hoodies, anti-biotic, wraps and bandages." I point out different directions around the room, "How much room do you have?" I ask.

"Six cubic meters." He runs over to the medicine aisle, "Peroxide? Pain-killers? Alcohol? Cold Medicine? Gauze? Wraps?"

"Those sounds good." I yell to him, stuffing some lady hygiene and grabbed almost all of their sanitary pads they had. Having these in stock is a must. After checking his haul, we decided to take a small break. We were lucky to have working hot water, so we both had a ramen and drink of our choice. I had grabbed a spicy ramen with cola. My favorite combination.

"Ah..." We both lean back on the first taste of ramen. So, good, I don't know how some people don't like ramen. I know the sodium is high, but it's so good.

PING!

_____________________

1ST SCENARIO: NATURAL DISASTER

TIME REMAINING: 9:23:59:55

DETAILS: EACH REGION WILL EXPERIENCE A NATURAL DISASTER. PARTICIPANTS MAY PREPARE PRIOR TO THE SCENARIO AND FUTURE SCENARIOS BY LEVELING UP THROUGH THE FOLLOWING:

- SUB-SCENARIOS

- MINI-GAMES

- HIDDEN DUNGEONS

_____________________

"Nya, everyone! It's your favorite demigod, Meu!" His voice echos everywhere, "Nyow, don't be scared. We don't exactly like to see you guys struggle, so prior to this scenario and future scenarios. You all can grind and level up to get stronger! As the scenario announcement shows, you can level up through sub-scenarios, mini-games, and hidden dungeons! We will only announce this once, so be sure to remember this—nay!" There was a mic-drop at the end, but the crazy cat was finally gone.

SLURP. I totally did not care about the upcoming scenario. All I wanted to do was enjoy my ramen and cola. However, Jung-woo starts to freak out next to me.

"Noona! We'll we be alright?!" He tugs on my sleeve. I, on the other hand, throw my head back to finish the remaining broth in my ramen.

"Mmm..." Licking my lips dry, I throw my bowl away, "I think we should prepare like the cat suggests. We have about 10 days to get stronger, so let's head back to church and have a strategy meeting there."

We cleaned up and left the store. Night has already fallen since we spend most of our time in the store. Both Jung-woo and I suit up and have our weapons out in case anything pops up. We were a kilometer away from our church when we saw a small crowd standing in the middle of the street.

"Stay close to me." I instruct, getting closer to the noisy crowd.

"How many can participate?"

"What are the rules?"

"Do you want to do it?"

Questions flew out one after the other, I push through the crowd to get to the center of the crowd. It was a green portal floating in midair. It even has a number 10 hovering on top of it.

"Should we go in?" A lady next to me asks her companion.

"Noona, what is it?" Jung-woo squeezes through me to take a look.

"Looks like a portal. Is it a sub-scenario? Hidden dungeon? Mini-game?" I wonder out loud. Too bad no one answers. Just then, a purple portal opens, and Meu steps out.