Chapter 3: Let’s begin

When I opened the door and entered, a breath of cold air filled my body.

I walked down the short hallway, my eyes darting around.

Sia’s voice was no longer audible, but it still seemed to linger in my ears.

“What… is this place?”

After walking for a bit, a completely different space unfolded.

The hallway was no more.

Instead, a place like an endlessly wide parking lot appeared.

Faintly painted section lines were visible on the floor, and old office-like structures and warehouses were scattered here and there.

The offices were blocked off by old, faded glass walls, and the warehouse doors were randomly open or closed.

The ceiling was much higher than the hallway, and the fluorescent lights were still flickering.

The flickering created eerie shadows in the space.

I slowly moved my steps and looked around.

This place was overly spacious.

The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the entire space.

I approached the nearest office.

The glass door was half-open, and dust was floating in the gap.

I carefully reached out and pushed the door, and a creaking sound echoed through the room.

The office was empty.

A few desks, chairs, and old documents were scattered on the floor.

There was an old computer and monitor on the desk, but it didn’t seem like the power would turn on.

I picked up a document that had fallen next to the chair.

[Work Schedule]

“…What kind of company was this?”

The schedule had unfamiliar names and dates written on it, but it was too faded to read.

This place looked like it had been abandoned for years, maybe even decades.

I put down the document and came out of the office.

The warehouses in the distance caught my eye.

The warehouses were all different sizes, and most were closed, but some were half-open.

I thought I heard a faint sound from one of them.

“…Is anyone there?”

I asked in a small voice, but there was no answer.

My heart was pounding.

I slowly moved my steps towards the warehouse where the sound was coming from.

I slowly approached the warehouse where the sound was coming from.

The warehouse door was half-open.

As soon as I stepped inside, the thick smell of dust stung my nose.

Boxes were piled high, so I couldn’t see the inside well.

But the sound was getting clearer.

I stopped walking and listened, and I heard laughter coming from somewhere.

Small, quiet laughter.

“Hehe.”

I held my breath and carefully looked inside through the gap between the boxes.

And there, I saw an unbelievable sight.

At the back of the warehouse, an open space.

A small, castle-like space that seemed to be made by surrounding it with various containers.

In the center of the space, a small, glowing lantern was hung.

Under the dim light, young women were sitting around.

They all had bright smiles.

The light from the lantern softly illuminated their faces.

Their hair shone in the light, and their skin was smooth and perfect, like porcelain.

They were looking at each other and talking about something.

Their laughter should have sounded pleasant, but it gave off a somewhat eerie feeling.

‘There are people in a place like this?’

I hid my body in the gap between the boxes and watched them.

They were all young and beautiful.

But their smiles were so perfect that they seemed unreal.

One of the women lifted something that was shining under the lantern.

It was a small bottle.

The liquid inside the bottle faintly shimmered, as if it were something other than water.

When the woman showed the bottle to the other women, they all smiled brightly.

But in that smile, I felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

‘What are they doing?’

I slightly crouched behind the boxes and tried to get closer.

At that moment, I heard a rustling sound under my feet.

It seemed that I had stepped on a piece of a box.

The women’s laughter stopped.

I crouched down and held my breath.

One of them slowly turned her head and stared into the darkness beyond the lantern.

“Is anyone there?”

Her voice was quiet, but it had a strange resonance.

At her words, the other women also slowly turned their gazes towards the darkness.

Soon, one woman stood up.

The lantern light got closer.

I kept holding my breath, but the rustling sound under my feet betrayed me.

The woman with the lantern suddenly stopped.

“Oh my!”

She found me and looked surprised.

But that expression soon turned into a bright one.

“What… it’s a survivor. There was a survivor here!”

At her words, the other women turned their heads.

They all looked at me with wide eyes, as if surprised.

And then, one by one, they came and surrounded me.

“Really? Someone else was alive?”

“Wow, I can’t believe we met a survivor.”

“And it’s a cute little kid!”

Their reactions were all filled with delight.

I slowly stood up, tense.

I took a step back and carefully asked.

“Where… is this place?”

My voice trembled, but I tried my best to appear calm.

One of the women stepped forward and said.

“This is a survivor camp we call ‘Level 1’.”

She continued with a friendly smile.

“People who survived like us gather and live here. It’s a safe place.”

Her tone was warm, but I still couldn’t completely let go of my guard.

“Survivor camp…?”

I asked in a low voice.

Another woman answered.

“Yes, it’s fortunate to have a safe space in such a large place. Right?”

She lifted the lantern and looked around.

“It would be good to stay in one of these tents.

See that empty tent over there? It looks perfect for you.”

When my gaze stayed on the tent, another woman gently approached me.

“But aren’t you hungry? It must have been quite hard to get here.”

She held out a small can.

“It’s tomato soup. It’s the best here. Try it.”

I took the can.

The moment the cold metal touched my palm, I felt a strange sensation.

“Thank you.”

I answered cautiously and looked at their faces.

They were still smiling brightly at me.

But the smiles looked too perfect.

Is it normal for people I’ve never seen before to welcome me so warmly?

My heart was still pounding.

I heard them talking as I headed towards the tent.

“We really welcome you here. The hard times are over.”

“Yes, you’re safe now. Everything you need is here.”

Their voices were soft and kind.

But the inexplicable sense of unease I felt in those words.

It only grew bigger.

As I looked around for a moment, all the survivors in the camp were young women.

Even they all had similar physical characteristics.

Long hair, beautiful looks, and… somewhat exaggerated, large boobs.

‘It’s strange…………, is this a space where only women can enter?

Why are there no men?”

There were not even small children or old people.

The only child is me.

I quietly questioned it, but I decided to let it go, thinking I was just too nervous.

“Phew……, this is nice.”

The tent assigned to me was cozier than I thought.

After struggling with tension for a while, the peace I finally got was as sweet as honey.

Even though I just lay down on the floor, I felt like I could fall asleep in an instant.

However, a sharp sound woke me up.

Something was rustling under the sleeping bag.

I reached out and checked, and there was a note.

“…What is this?”

The moment I unfolded the note, my eyes widened.

[DON’T TRUST THEM!]

My heart started pounding.

The peaceful appearance of this place suddenly felt unfamiliar.

The hand holding the note trembled, and I was buried in a mountain of questions that came to my mind.

‘Why are there only young, pretty women here?

Where did they get the food?

What was that bottle with the liquid earlier?’

I looked at the surrounding lights and the tent, and recalled the faces of the other survivors.

Their somewhat awkward smiles.

The eerie smiles that seemed to be hiding their true feelings come to mind.

“Hehe.”

At that moment, a small laugh was heard from the center of the camp.

I peeked through the gap in the tent and saw their silhouettes.

Some of them were whispering and talking.

And one of them pointed to the tent.

The tent where I was.

February 1, 2025

Still, day 1 in an unidentified space.

Today, I found a survivor camp in a place called ‘Level 1’.

Young, beautiful women were gathered, and they welcomed me and gave me a tent and food.

But everyone was overly friendly and had perfect smiles.

Something, something is strange.

While resting in the tent, I found a note under the sleeping bag.

The note said:

[DON’T TRUST THEM!]

As soon as I saw the note, one of the women pointed to my tent.

What should I do now?

Should I run away?

But how, when they are all around me.

Tell me the answer.

Diary.

Uh oh, they’re getting closer.

I can’t write anymore.

Next time