The King

"Now!"

The word left my mouth like a gunshot, and Jae-hyun obeyed, throwing the door open with all his strength.

The rats slammed into the barricade with relentless force, the impact so powerful it blew the door open and pinned Jae-hyun between it and the wall. His body hit with a sickening thud, and the door shuddered under the weight of the monstrous swarm.

I barely had time to process it. I raised the emergency axe high, swinging with every ounce of strength I could muster at the wooden barricade on the other side. The sharp cracking sound of wood echoed through the lobby.

"Come on, come on…" I growled, hacking at the planks. Each strike jarred my muscles, the vibrations crawling up my arms, but I didn't stop.

Behind me, Eun-jin's eyes widened as she saw what I was up to. She crouched lower, shielding Da-on with her entire body. "What the hell do you think you are doing?!" she yelled, her voice raw with fear.

"It's the only way!" I shouted back. "Cover her eyes and don't move!"

The rats' clicking claws and guttural growls scraped against my sanity. The sound felt like it was crawling up my spine, whispering to me that I wouldn't make it, that they'd rip me apart before I could finish.

The leader of the pack screeched—a sharp, piercing cry that seemed to shake the entire building. My chest tightened. They'd caught my scent.

"Shit."

The axe bit into the wood again, splinters flying into my face. The barricade was thicker than I'd anticipated, layer upon layer of planks hammered together to contain whatever nightmare was behind it. And then—

CRACK.

A hole formed in the wood. Small, but enough for darkness to seep through. Then came the glint of an eye. Amber, glassy, and impossibly large. It blinked once, slow and deliberate.

I froze. My breath hitched. It was awake.

My lips curled into a shaky grin, relief bubbling up despite the terror clawing at my chest. Just a little more. A little more, and the plan would work.

Everything was going smoothly. 

As if my fate would ever let that happen. 

I turned around expecting Jae-hyun to have closed the door and run off by now…

Instead my eyes were met with the crimson on the wall and the white door. It was on the other side, just a glimpse, but I knew exactly what had happened… the next thing I saw was Jae-hyun laying motionless on the cold floor, blood pooling beneath his head where the door had slammed him into the wall. His chest barely rose and fell. Was he alive? I didn't know and I didn't care.

All I remember was the anger I felt. No, it was closer to dread. 

Time seemed to slow down, my eyes stuck on Jae-hyun. My body jerked around. I didn't care if I was mauled to death by rats or clawed into pieces by the monstrosity I was about to let loose behind me. 

All I cared about was the best friend in front of me, the one reason I ever made it this far. The one person who believed in me back then. The one hope I always held close. I wasn't going to let the flick burn out. Not before I perished.

"Lock the door as soon as the bear leaves and go up the stairs to the fourth floor. I'll see you there in case I make it." I whispered to Eun-jin. She opened her eyes for a mere second. Her face contorting in confusion. 

If I don't make it then they would probably die too. Yes, I knew that. But who cares? If Jae-hyun dies then everyone can just go to hell. 

I ran towards the rats, axe in one hand, gleaming under the white light from inside the lobby. It's smooth wooden hand slipping in my hands. My feet pushing the ground with all my strength. I lifted the axe high up, ready to slice through whatever came at me. 

BOOM

The barricade groaned, the wooden planks splintering under the weight of something massive behind it. My stomach churned as the air grew heavy, filled with the musky stench of wet fur and blood. Then it broke.

The creature that rushed out was nicknamed 'The King' in Survival 101. The reason? Simple. It possessed enough strength to crush a whole tank with a single paw. Brown fur, marked with golden ring like patterns and warn out scars. A giant body towering at about ten feet. Claws crimson red, Roar loud enough to paralyse most. Always in a state of frenzy, with one purpose and one purpose alone. To kill whatever was in front of it.

This was the mutant grizzly bear. 

An abomination of muscle and death.

I turned my head around just a little, the grizzly was right on my tail. It had crossed the landing without noticing Eun-jin. 

At least something was going according to plan. 

If there was any monster who could stand up to the rats for even a while. It was the king. One or two, it could destroy them without bating an eye but the strength of the rats lied in the numbers. 

The fog of rage clouding my mind began to lift. What was I thinking, charging in without a plan? I had no chance of surviving like this. Thinking was my strength—that's what I should've relied on.

I forced myself to focus, shifting gears in an instant. My feet skidded against the smooth, tiled floor as I barely managed to halt. My breath hitched as the rats loomed in front of me, one of them swung out its claws mere inches from my face. 

For something blind these things sure had precise aim.

I turned, my eyes wide seeing the bear rushing towards me. It raised its paw surging ahead ready to swipe my face clean off.

Mere moments from certified death, at the last possible moment, I threw myself to the side. The rat's head whipped toward me, its nose twitching as it sniffed the air in my direction. But what it didn't notice was the bears claw going straight for its face.

A blur of motion—then a sickening crunch. The rat shrieked, its cry cut short as crimson spilled across the floor. 

"Show them hell, King." A faint smile tugged at my lips as I pushed myself up. There was no time to savour the moment. It wasn't over. Jae-hyun was still out there—in this soon-to-be blood-soaked battlefield.

And I was going to save him no matter the cost.

[Time Left: 26 minutes 32 seconds]