Mental Caretaker In An Apolcalypse Game

Episode 11

“Wait, Do-yoon… let’s talk after you let go of me.”

“Why? If I do that, you’ll avoid my eyes again.”

“I won’t avoid you. So, how about taking a step back…?”

“No, I won’t let go until you answer me. So, please answer me quickly.”

Ugh. What was wrong with him!

It really seemed like he wouldn’t back down until I really answered, but I couldn’t tell him the truth either…

I didn’t want to imagine his reaction when I said, ‘Truth be told, this place is inside a game, and I woke up here after falling asleep in reality.’

Whether he believed me or not, but claiming this world was a game was reducing everything in this world, including himself, to mere data fragments. He’d probably lived his life until now believing he’d been living with his own will, but finding out that he’d merely been moving according to a system in a game would certainly feel like a denial of his existence. It would definitely shock him.

So how could I tell him the truth?

“Well, the thing is…”

“I trust that you wouldn’t lie to me, Noona.”

“Uh… right? There’s no need for me to lie, right?”

Damn it, he was sharp. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth, so I was going to gloss over it with a made-up story and move on, but he caught on. I opened my mouth, but as he seemed to see through my thoughts, I closed it again, my eyes just rolling around.

What was with him? Why did he make me put so much care into everything? I could have just told him a moderate lie at the beginning and moved on, but here I was, standing here like a fool, unable to say anything as if I was hiding some big secret. Well, I did have a big secret, but it wasn’t one I could just blurt out…. Was I always this bad at lying? No, It wasn’t that I couldn’t lie… It was just because of the situation. How could I calmly make up a lie when I was being forced to hold his gaze, look him in the face, unable to even turn away?

“Yes, I won’t deny it.”

“Then…”

“That’s right. I know. Not in detail, but I roughly know what’s going to happen in the future.”

“…How?”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you that. Honestly, I wish I could just tell you everything comfortably, but I can’t.”

Yeah, I couldn’t say it. Even if I told him, he wouldn’t believe it. No, he wouldn’t accept it.

His mental state was already fragile, so how would he react if I dropped this bomb on him… I would be perplexed if I found out the word I lived in was fake. I’d probably be despondent and have no motivation to do anything. It could even make me take extreme decisions.

“…”

“…”

He listened to me, staring into my eyes as if trying to determine whether I was telling the truth or not. It wasn’t a lie. I met his gaze without avoiding it since I really couldn’t say what I wanted to.

Finally, as if deciding that my words were true, I felt the tension release from the hand he had on my face. As if acknowledging my unspoken truth, I gently removed his hand from my face and took a step back, waiting to see how he would react.

“…Then, do you also know about me?”

“…About you?”

“Yes. About my secret.”

Was he asking if I knew about his regressions? Why? Why ask me that? Did he hope I knew of his regressions?

Regressions were like a reset. Everything started anew, so only you remembered what had happened before while others did not. This could cause much emotional hurt when it applied to human relationships, especially if your relationship with someone was very close before the regression.

On one hand, knowing the future allowed for advantageous manipulation of events, but that was only if the regression happened once or twice. Multiple regressions could drive a person insane and torment them. How terrible if all the memories and experiences you had became undone, and all the relationships turned into one-sided interactions where only one person remembered everything? It would be horribly painful and lonely.

It seemed to me that he’d regressed multiple times already. Perhaps he felt the same way? Maybe that was why he wanted someone to know.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. How would I know your secret?”

But I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted. I only told him I knew the future. Knowing the future meant knowing what would happen, it didn’t include knowing someone else’s secrets.. I just hoped he would see me as some kind of prophet.

There were people like that, right? Those who could see the future or had prophetic dreams. There were many strange people in this world, so I said that wishing he would think of me as one of them. So I had no choice but to pretend to not know anything else here and move on. Besides, it’d just be burdensome…

‘No, to be honest, it’s already burdensome.’

I didn’t know why, but he had a tendency to rely on me. Until just now, when he couldn’t see me, he dragged his pained and wounded body around this dangerous place to search for me. Furthermore, after finding me, he even clung to me and cried, telling me not to abandon him.

But what if I were to know his secret here? After feeling lonely all this time and unable to tell anyone, suddenly finding someone who could understand him — of course he would want to keep that person close. He’d become obsessed with them… He was already burdensome right now, but I wouldn’t be able to handle it if it escalated to that point.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. By the way, I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking this. I said I knew the future, but how does that connect to knowing your secret?”

“Well, let’s move on. Anyway, since you seem to know that we only need to hold out for one more day, you must know the future too. I won’t ask how you know since I didn’t explain my situation either. That’s fair, isn’t it?”

Honestly, I didn’t expect us to reveal the fact that we knew the future to each other, but since it was already out, I decided to ask about what I was curious about.

“So, how much do you know?”

“…What? ‘how much’?”

“Yeah. Well, for example, whether you know what will happen tomorrow or a week from now…”

“Ah… I don’t really know much. Just what will happen tomorrow.”

“Oh, really?”

So did that mean he’d only cleared Stage 1 and couldn’t reach the hidden piece?

“How much do you know, noona?”

“I don’t know much either. Besides, the future isn’t set in stone, right? The future I knew could have changed with my intervention. So I don’t think I’ll be of much help.”

I deliberately avoided giving a proper answer and moved on. There was no need to tell him I knew everything from start to finish. And what I said was not false. I purposely changed the subject slightly in case he asked more about it.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to ask this. I didn’t expect you to know the future either. But leaving that aside, since we both know what’s going to happen tomorrow, why don’t we plan ahead?”

“…Sounds good.”

 

***

 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I looked at him in disbelief. I’d forgotten, but he was more stubborn than I thought. This trait had shown itself even in the game, notably when he was with the survivors in the early stages. Until the fifth time he died, he believed he could save them and stuck with them. After the fifth time, the option to give up and abandon them appeared.

There were also times when he didn’t follow the choice I picked and instead said, ‘No, I think doing it this way might be better.’ Each time that happened, I could only lament beyond the screen, ‘You fool!’

The same was true this time. After planning, we locked the counseling room door and blocked it with something heavy to prevent it from opening. We agreed to take turns keeping watch while the other slept until tomorrow, but he stubbornly let me sleep all the while and only slept for an hour or two himself.

I was worried that he might not be able to fight zombies properly due to fatigue. I tried to lay him down forcibly to rest once in the middle, but he only fidgeted with my hand that held his. He wasn’t thinking right at all. He claimed he had slept enough while he was lying down, but I wondered if that was truly enough… I sighed and shook my head.

“By the way, what time is it?”

“It’s 8:50.”

“We have 10 minutes left.”

“But we should be fine until 10 o’clock.”

He was right. The level started at 9, and since I had already taken out the mutant zombies specialized in scent, we had until 10. I turned my head and looked out the window. The zombies wandering outside were all entering the building. The game had already begun. From the player’s perspective, the game started at 9, but for the zombies, it started at 8:30. I had heard the announcement for the start of Day 3 through the speaker a while ago.

 

-Ding dong

[Ah, everyone on campus, please take note.]

[The current time is 8:30 AM. Please arrive at school by 9 AM.]

[Once again, the arrival time is until 9 AM. Please arrive at school by then.]

Thinking back on it now, I just laughed. The background of this stage was a school. Naturally, school-related events were bound to occur. As a result, the main event of this stage took place today, Day 3.

The schedule was simple. A total of seven classes were held hourly from 9 AM to 4 PM, followed by extra classes from 4 PM to 6 PM. After that, there was a night shift from 6 PM to 10 PM, and from 10 AM to 12 am was dismissal time.

During each lesson, one mutant zombie roamed the school premises. From the first class to the supplementary classes, a total of 8 mutant zombies appeared one by one, and they roamed around during the night shift. Although the load was reduced a little because I managed to take down one of the mutant zombies, there were still seven left. Would I be able to survive until tomorrow?

“Noona, it’ll be 9 soon.”

“Yeah, got it.”

I pulled myself away from the window and approached the door. I was terrified about having to open that door and go outside for a few moments, but I tried to calm myself down.

-Ding dong

[The 1st class has begun. Teachers, please locate students hiding on campus.]

[Once again, the 1st period has begun. Teachers, please find the students not attending class.]

---

 

I love the school speaker announcement addition to the game, it’s morbid yet interesting.