SALT 02

Chapter: 02

 Day of Ruin (2)

Just as everything has an end, after some time passed, the earthquake that had seemed eternal gradually subsided.

It felt like quite a long time had passed, but the watch on Minjun’s left wrist told him that the entire catastrophe had lasted only 30 seconds.

“Waaah! Mom!!”

“Huff… huff! Please help over here! Someone’s trapped underneath! Please!!”

As the noise caused by the shaking ground disappeared, groans of pain and cries filled the space from all directions.

‘30 seconds.’

In such a short time…

This place had turned into hell, and damn it all…

The abnormal phenomenon didn’t stop with the earthquake.

“Th-there… over there…”

At the words of a man lying on the ground staring at the sky, Minjun looked up as well.

There, through the gray dust, countless meteors dyed red filled the sky over Seoul.

“My god…”

A disaster beyond comprehension paralyzed his mind.

Soon, one of the countless meteors grew larger, filling his vision.

His mind screamed at him to run—

But his feet, planted on the ground, refused to move.

“R-run!!”

His voice came out belatedly.

What happened to the injured man lying on the ground was no longer his concern. Shouting to someone he didn’t even know, Minjun ran—away from the intersection, toward anywhere that seemed even slightly safer.

Swoooooo—

As the tearing roar of air came from behind, time seemed to stop.

His legs felt heavy, like running in a dream.

Faster. Farther. He had to get out of here.

BOOM!

The sound of impact and the following shockwave hurled Minjun—along with debris from collapsed buildings—far away.

The ringing in his ears only made him dizzier.

“Ugh…”

He fell to the ground, scraping his arms and legs.

‘But…’

When he turned his head in his daze, he saw a woman whose neck had snapped grotesquely from landing headfirst.

Yes… compared to that, mere scrapes were definitely lucky.

As Minjun instinctively scooted backward on the ground, the intersection where the meteor had fallen came into view whether he wanted it or not.

‘They say brain damage causes hallucinations… am I seeing things now too?’

Goosebumps spread across his body. He could barely breathe.

From a tragic protagonist with a terminal illness to a character in a disaster movie—just like that.

At the center of the intersection was a massive rock, as large as a four-story building.

It seemed to contain the pitch-black darkness of space itself, as if advertising its origin.

Its surface was covered in barnacle-like growths.

Woooong— Woooong— Tspat!

The black rock vibrated like a heartbeat, then shot darkness toward the sky.

Tens of thousands of black pillars shot upward, dyeing the once-blue sky completely black.

Finally, when the bright sky turned darker than night—

Woooong— Woooong—

Cracks formed in the pitch-black darkness, and then a gigantic single eye opened.

[#&%$^&!@$]

‘It’ began to proclaim something—not with sound, but with something else.

[O beings who were once loved infinitely by the universe.]

[O beings who were granted the privilege of infinite time.]

[You have wasted your time in hatred, envy, jealousy, and resentment.]

[Thus, you have been abandoned by Her who embraces all things.]

“There’s definitely something wrong with my brain…”

Minjun muttered, hitting his head repeatedly.

But the eye in the sky did not disappear. It continued speaking.

[She has withdrawn the privilege of protecting you.]

[Thus, it is only natural that you are placed under the laws of nature.]

[Therefore, I shall send my apostles to you.]

[You must offer ‘time’ as tribute.]

When the eye finished speaking and closed—

A message appeared before Minjun, and all survivors.

[The system is now active.]

[Survival time is now limited.]

[100 : 00 : 00]

Tick.

[99 : 59 : 59]

Tick.

[99 : 59 : 58]

“…Fuck.”

It seemed even God wouldn’t grant him a full year.

‘…System? Survival time? What kind of nonsense is this…?’

Tick.

[99 : 59 : 57]

Bzzzt—

[■■ : ■■ : ■■]

‘What? What’s wrong now…?’

The message window suddenly glitched like a broken monitor, then displayed new numbers.

[8759 : 59 : 56]

Tick.

[99 : 59 : 55]

Bzzzt—

[8759 : 59 : 54]

After a moment—

[The system has detected an error.]

[The user is confirmed to have originally been a ‘Time Restrictor’.]

…

[Applying balance patch.]

[Recalculating survival time.]

[Adjusting user rank.]

…

[99 : 59 : 42]

With the error corrected, the number “99” was engraved like a tattoo on his left wrist.

“Ugh… what the hell is all this…”

He couldn’t gather his thoughts amid the continuous bizarre events.

The earthquake, the black meteor, the numbers on his wrist—

None of those were what troubled him most.

Crunch.

Crack.

Crrrk—

The grating noise that had been scratching at his nerves the whole time interrupted his thoughts again and again.

It was coming from the black rock—

No, more precisely, from the countless barnacles attached to it.

Then—

“…?”

‘The noise stopped?’

Crack—

At some point, the barnacles stopped making noise.

Then, like powerful clams opening their shells—

They split open with a sharp sound.

And from inside, brown things burst out all at once.

‘What the hell are those now?’

They resembled larvae before becoming cicadas.

Each was about the size of a small dog, with plump bodies, six hardened legs, and short wings on their backs.

With their serrated front legs, they repeatedly cleaned their black eyes and straw-like mouths.

The surreal situation and their grotesque appearance quickly plunged the area into silence.

“…”

That eerie silence lasted—

Until a man spoke.

“What the hell?! Shit, that scared me. Aren’t they just bugs?”

A man nearby, his arms and legs covered in tattoos, swaggered toward them.

“Damn it… how am I supposed to show my face after getting scared by something so stupid?!”

When the larvae didn’t react, he cursed and stomped on one.

‘Krrk?’

The man was bold. Instead of fearing the unknown, he chose to confront it.

But…

What he didn’t expect—

Was that their shells were extremely hard.

And that his actions would draw the attention of hundreds of them.

Nor did he realize that a single reckless act would seal his fate.

“W-what the hell are these things…?”

Startled, he stepped back—

Flap-flap-flap—

Before he could escape, hundreds of larvae swarmed him, flapping their wings.

They latched onto his body and began inserting their straw-like mouths, sucking something out.

“AAAAAAH! HELP ME!!”

As the man dried up, the insects grew larger.

“Help—”

“AAAAAH!!”

“Run!!”

His desperate cries were drowned out as people fled in panic.

Soon, the man collapsed like a mummy, his wrist showing “00”.

But no one cared.

Flaaap—

Buzz—

Squelch—

The larvae, now larger, scattered in all directions.

Everyone focused solely on surviving.

“I… I need to get back to the car…”

Minjun, who had been close to the man, finally snapped out of it and got up to run.

He reacted faster than others, who were still confused—

He might have escaped.

But unfortunately—

The insects were faster than expected.

And he was too close.

One larva flew straight at him.

“AHH!!”

They tumbled together on the ground.

By sheer luck, Minjun managed to grab its straw-like mouth.

But even so—

The strength coming from its small body was overwhelming.

“Ugh… ugh… please! Someone help me!!”

He shouted, but people only glanced before running away.

“Damn… how many times… have I cursed today…”

Struggling, he redirected its mouth and pinned it under his arm.

Then, the moment it stabbed its mouth into the ground—

[A quest has arrived!]

A new message appeared.

[Tutorial]

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions: Choose one method to obtain time.

① Kill a human and steal time (0/1)
② Kill a larva (apostle) and obtain time (0/1)

Time Limit: 100 hours
Reward: 100 hours
Failure: Death

Tip: Use the Space Market to purchase weapons.

“Damn it… all you do is talk without explaining anything… I’m about to die here!”

“Market? Is this a game…? Whatever—just give me a weapon!”

[Due to rank adjustment, your rank has increased.]

[You have achieved Silver rank.]

[Search function unlocked.]

[Searching for ‘weapon’.]

[Available weapons you can afford:]

• [Common] Monkey Spanner (60 hours)
• [Common] Tomahawk Axe (90 hours)
• [Common] Steel Ball Slingshot (50 hours)

“Just give me anything already!!”

[Congratulations! As the first Silver rank in the area, a special option is applied.]

[You have obtained ‘Loyal Tomahawk’.]

A glowing mass gathered in his hand—

Forming a 60 cm hand axe.

The wooden handle was worn smooth, but the blade was sharp, reflecting his distorted face.

“Yeah… I’ll… I’ll handle this!”

He pressed the hook on the back of the axe into the larva’s shell.

With force concentrated in one point—

The hard shell began to crack.

“AAAAAAH!!”

With a roar, the shell shattered, and green liquid burst out.

The larva trembled violently.

Ignoring the fluid splashing over him, Minjun focused entirely on tearing apart its insides.

Crack—

No matter how much it struggled—

Even a monster from space couldn’t survive with its insides destroyed.

Finally, it went limp.

Minjun pushed the dead larva off himself and stood up.

[You have defeated a larva and obtained 5 hours of survival time.]

[Quest complete!]

[Reward: 100 hours added.]

…

[You are the first in this area to kill an apostle.]

[Title acquired: ‘First Apostle Slayer’]

Staring blankly at the messages, Minjun looked around the intersection.

Jamsil Station intersection—

Now turned into a battlefield.

‘This is hell.’

That single sentence was enough to describe everything before him.