Don't Read This

Battery: 12%

The subway passengers wouldn’t shut up and the noise was invading my mind.

I put on my earphones.

Thirty minutes of travel. I opened the hunters’ post forum.

[EXCLUSIVE] Today twelve S-rank hunters brought down the Tower of Harmony. For the first time, a tower has been destroyed in the world...

A Russian post.

When the towers invaded the world, seventeen of them appeared.

Then four exploded, taking a portion of humanity to another world. In that world, people underwent tests and returned as superhumans with powers.

The hunters.

The government bodies collapsed and a new State was formed. Now the goal of these hunters is to eliminate the remaining thirteen towers.

The towers released monsters daily, and if they weren’t destroyed, they would keep causing chaos.

The humans who failed the tests in those other four towers became the monsters that were sent to the remaining ones.

The first of the thirteen had fallen. Twelve more to go.

Humanity would finally be able to break free from these chains.

‘Of course not.’

...Nine S-rank hunters were lost to the world. It was a sad day, but their sacrifice would not be in vain. Now we just have to keep working to eliminate the others.

I caught sight of a long leafy structure through the window.

Tower of Imagination.

I got off the subway.

The streets of Busan were busy.

I had to stop by the market before heading home.

Those thirty minutes would stretch into another ten.

I tucked my black hair behind my ear.

Long hair is such a hassle to take care of, and mine even more so.

‘Gotta buy that new shampoo brand to try. It’s such a pain when your hair starts smelling.’

The battery kept dropping. I switched from BTS to something more relaxing.

It had rained all night in Busan, so my shoes were a little wet.

“Hey miss, real quick—could you tell me where I can buy a new phone? Mine fell in the toilet yesterday while… well, I… was listening to music and it fell.”

My hand froze before reaching my face.

‘Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear that.’

“You’re new around here?”

“Ah, yes, I’m from Brazil. I came because there was some business to do here, so if my Korean is bad, that’s why.”

“You’re Brazilian?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Wow!”

‘I almost said he was a relic. That would’ve been rude.’

“Why are you so surprised? Even though the tower in Brazil is spitting out monsters and 87% of the population died before the evacuation, the Southeast region is still managing to fight the creatures. Even the criminals joined the cause.”

“Right, sorry.”

I placed my hand on my chest and tried to imitate a Brazilian gesture I saw on the internet.

“What’s that?”

Our eyes met.

“Uh… a typical Korean apology?”

My hands were shaking.

“You’re asking me? Don’t tell me you’re not Korean either? Wait—what now?”

He ran a hand through his brown hair.

“No, no, it’s not that. I’m just really tired today. I’m coming back from a trip to my mom’s house, so I’m saying all kinds of nonsense. What did you want again? Oh, a phone store, right? Just turn left at this street and keep going straight. You’ll pass a pharmacy and a bit further ahead you’ll find the phones. Prices are pretty affordable too.”

“Thanks, but why do you think I’m worried about price?”

‘Ah damn, leave me alone, Brazilian.’

The phone screen lit up showing the battery had dropped again.

“Because you’re new here, right? Better to buy something cheaper.”

“Got it. Thanks again. Can I ask your name?”

“I’m Shim Bora. Why?”

Pft! Hahahah!

“Shim Bora—like vamos embora, or Simbora in Portuguese? Man, Korean names are hilarious.”

He covered his mouth with his hand.

‘What is he talking about? Simbora? What is that?’

“I think you’re mistaken. My name means deep purple, not this Simbisbora thing you said. Besides, I help you and you start laughing at my name. I didn’t think Brazilians would be so disrespectful.”

I walked past him and kept going.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

I jumped to the side and assumed a fighting stance.

The taekwondo I learned wouldn’t save me from robbers, but my body just reacted.

“Ah, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to apologize for laughing at your name.”

I lowered my head.

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to offend you or your country. I know you guys have suffered with constant evacuations and monster attacks.”

‘Take that, jerk. How does it feel now?’

He stepped back a little.

“No, it’s fine. I know you didn’t mean it.”

‘It wasn’t at first… but now it was. Screw Brazil.’

“Yeah, really. Let’s just forget it.” I said while awkwardly dropping my stance.

“My name is Lucas. Do you practice karate? That pose was cool.”

‘I’m going to strangle this guy.’

“No, I don’t even do martial arts. Can’t you see? I’m just a young college student. Or do I look too old to you?”

He ran a hand over his beard.

“Do you look…?”

My hand grabbed his collar.

“You son of a— you’re gonna see who’s old. I’m gonna shove some manners into that Brazilian head of yours.”

“It was a joke! I was joking, stop—”

Ahg!

“I… I can’t… breathe.”

I let go when his face and neck turned red.

Aah aah!

“You’re crazy, woman.”

He muttered something in his language.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, just asked for your number so we can set a day for me to thank you properly.”

‘Yeah right, he’s clearly making that up.’

I looked at his face—thin beard, wide-open eyes.

My gaze slid down to his torso. Arms with defined muscles.

‘Damn, what pecs. My friends would be jealous, right?’

“Why do I feel like you just eye-fucked me?”

“I would never. I’m a respectable woman, obviously. Ahem. Ahem. Make sure you write it down right.”

“Wait, let me get a pen.”

“Why a pen?”

Lucas looked at me. I looked at him.

‘Oh… right. He lost his phone while taking a shit. What a nasty guy. Why did I even think of giving him my number?’

My eyes landed on his firm arms again.

‘Well… too late now.’

Lucas pulled out a pen.

“My number is **”

He was writing it on his own arm.

“So that’s it. Bye. When you get your new phone, we’ll set something up.”

“Alright, I’ll get going then.”

The screen beeped again: 7%

I don’t usually talk this much to strangers, but he seemed like a decent guy.

Besides, coming from Brazil, he was probably from the Southeast—the only region still standing.

There was a chance he might be a hunter. After all, the only ones who stayed in Brazil were the ones who could survive there… and who loved their homeland.

I opened the forum again.

Searched for “Brazil” in the bar.

[COLLAPSE] The Tower of Greed has invaded Brazil. Monsters are taking over cities and expanding rapidly, destroying entire states.

The capital Brasília was destroyed yesterday by an oval monster with a thousand eyes. It had wings sprouting from its eyes and spirals piercing its own body. The monster killed not only Brazilians, but almost everyone who watched the footage. The rank-R hunter who described it was found dead the next morning with pus leaking from every pore. The cause is still unknown.

I quickly closed that post.

Normal humans shouldn’t try to read these things. It’s too much for our minds.

There were reports of people going insane just from looking or hearing a single word.

A monster once spoke its own name and someone repeated it. It spread like a plague across all of New York.

I got chills just thinking about it. I can only pray it never happens in Korea.

Our country is prepared. The new State is here in Busan, so this is the safest place for us Koreans. Even so…

Unknown stones. A surreal structure that doesn’t belong to this world. Something that can only be imagined but never created. Something that never keeps a fixed form.

‘It changed again.’

It was insane to look at—and extremely dangerous.

Even though we were prepared, Korea almost had an outbreak once.

One time the tower shifted into a completely black shape.

That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was the eyes.

Completely white eyes.

More than a hundred civilians were hospitalized.

It may not sound like many, but it was really dangerous.

One of Korea’s hunters, Beautiful Night can create a veil of darkness. He covered the vision of all of Busan.

It was impossible to cover the tower itself—his power couldn’t stop the light from the eyes from passing through his curtain.

So he forced everyone in the city to close their eyes by making darkness hurt when eyes were open.

He made the whole city go blind for a full hour.

I was here at the time.

‘Seriously… what the hell are these things.’

I finally stopped in front of the supermarket.

“Shampoo, shampoo… found it.”

A woman stopped mopping and stared at me.

‘What’s wrong, lady? Stop being nosy and go work—you’ll earn more.’

‘People these days… no, wait—thinking like that makes me sound old. Am I already going senile at twenty?’

Whatever.

I grabbed the shampoo. There was a discount, so I took a premium conditioner too.

‘This should be enough.’

I checked out. It took a while because the cashier was watching a video on his computer.

This isn’t my usual routine. Actually, my normal routine is way more boring than today.

I was satisfied with that. It’s better than the situation in some countries.

I sat on a bench.

My building was right behind it. Less than two minutes away.

People seemed glued to their phones, murmuring under their breath.

Battery: 6%

I opened the forum again, just to pass the time.

[URGENT]

GET OFF THE NETWORKS NOW

DON’T READ ANYTHING

DON’T LOOK AT THE SCREEN

DON’T LET ANYONE LOOK

IT’S LIVE

IT’S EVERYWHERE

DON’T SAY THE NAME

DON’T LISTEN

DON’T READ ********************

— V

The asterisks seemed to pulse on the screen.

My breath caught in my chest.

I threw the phone to the ground so hard the case cracked. The sound echoed through the quiet street like a gunshot.

The shampoo and conditioner bottles rolled away. I didn’t pick them up. I couldn’t move properly.

My hands were shaking so badly they felt like they belonged to someone else.

“No… no, no, no…”

I looked around. The few people on the sidewalk kept walking. A woman dragged her shopping cart, staring at her phone with glassy eyes. A man ahead suddenly froze, as if electrocuted, and started murmuring something under his breath. Repeating. Repeating.

I didn’t hear the words.

I didn’t want to hear.

I ran.

The building felt farther away than ever. My wet shoes slipped on the wet garage floor. I tripped over a potted plant.

CRASH!

The ceramic shattered, black soil splattered across my legs. I didn’t stop.

Elevator.

I need the elevator.

I pressed the button seven times, eight, ten. My nail broke on the third press. I didn’t feel the pain.

“Mom… Mom, please…”

The doors opened too slowly.

I entered. I leaned against the cold metal wall, trying not to hyperventilate. The mirror showed a version of me I didn’t recognize: wide eyes, half-open mouth, hair plastered to my sweaty forehead.

The floors climbed.

1… 2… 3…

Battery: 5%

The phone was still downstairs, lying on the street. I didn’t even remember my mom’s number by heart. All I could think about was her voice on our last call, laughing at some stupid thing I said.

I reached my floor.

I ran down the corridor. My keys jingled in my hand like alarm bells.

I pounded on the door.

Once. Twice. Three times.

With fists. With open palms. With everything.

“Mom! Open! Mom, please!”

Silence on the other side.

Then… a soft click.

The television.

It was on.

A calm, almost gentle male voice filled the apartment.

It wasn’t a news anchor.