Sinyongsan Station neon lights flickered.
They were struggling against the mana interference bleeding from the sky.
The heavy iron shutters had been slammed shut, but not to lock people in.
"The trains..."
Woonhee breathed, her voice echoing hollowly in the tiled cavern of the ticket hall.
"They've cut the power to the tracks.
They must not want the calamities hitching a ride to the central bunkers."
The crowd of survivors behind them groaned, a collective sound of breaking hope.
They weren't in a bunker; they were in a transition zone.
A concrete tube that was supposed to be their road to safety had become a waiting room for the end of the world.
Kang Min looked up.
A massive, translucent red window hung in the air, piercing through the station's ceiling as if the concrete weren't there.
『STAGNATION TRIAL: THE LONG NIGHT』
『REMAINING TIME: 22:42:15』
Twenty-two hours.
They had to survive nearly a full day in a station that was quickly becoming a cold, dark basement.
"Move further into the platform."
Min commanded, his voice cutting through the rising panic.
"The entrance is a bottleneck.
If they break the shutters, you don't want to be in the first ten meters."
As they descended the escalators to the tracks, the air grew colder.
But they weren't alone.
Down on Platform 4, another group had already claimed the stationary train cars.
Min stopped.
Standing on top of a concrete bench, silhouetted by the emergency red lights, was the girl.
She was decked in all black, her dark hair falling over her shoulders, save for the two sharp, platinum-blonde strands that framed her face.
She was cleaning her katana with a piece of silk.
Her eyes scanned the new arrivals.
She was the "Variable X" from the meeting.
The independent monster that the Big Three guilds had practically begged to join the expedition.
Her group was smaller, mostly seasoned-looking players who had been caught in the breach.
They looked at Min's group of terrified civilians with the wary eyes of predators protecting their territory.
The girl's gaze lingered on Min for a second...though a fraction longer than it did on the others before she returned to her blade.
She didn't say a word, but the message was clear.
Stay on your side of the tracks.
"We'll take the train on Platform 2."
Min whispered to Woonhee.
"Spread the people out.
One car per five families.
It'll keep the noise down."
Five hours passed.
The adrenaline had faded, replaced by the gnawing, hollow ache of hunger and the shivering cold of the underground.
Children were crying and the elderly were clutching their stomachs.
"We can't wait twenty hours without food."
Woonhee said, checking her dwindling supply of crackers.
"There's a 24-hour convenience store in the upper concourse, just past the turnstiles..."
Woonhee said.
"It's inside the shuttered zone, so it might still be intact."
Kang Min said.
"I'll go with you..."
A man stepped forward.
A gym teacher named Mr. Choi who had helped carry the kids.
Another younger man, a delivery rider, joined them.
"Stay behind me."
"And keep your mouths shut."
The upper concourse was a graveyard of abandoned shopping bags and strollers.
The silence was heavy, broken only by the distant, rhythmic thump-thump of something massive hitting the street-level shutters above.
As they neared the 'CU' convenience store, a shadow detached itself from the ceiling.
It was a Stalker-Calamity.
A lithe, many-limbed insect with a head shaped like a cracked skull.
It hissed, its translucent wings vibrating with a sound like grinding metal.
Mr. Choi gasped, reaching for a metal pipe.
Min stepped forward, his movement so fluid.
As the Stalker lunged, Min's right hand shot out, grabbing the creature by its mandibles.
With a sickening crunch, he squeezed, his raw strength shattering the monster's face.
He didn't stop at that and drove his left fist into the creature's soft underbelly, the impact echoing through the concourse like a gunshot.
The Stalker collapsed into a heap of twitching limbs.
"You..."
The delivery rider stammered, staring at the black ichor on Min's knuckles.
"You're a player?"
Min began grabbing crates of bottled water and bread from the store's shelves.
"I awakenedm"
"But I'm not a 'big' player. I don't work for the guilds."
"Wait," the rider said, squinting in the dim light.
"I saw you on the news... the pre-expedition broadcast.
You're one of the porters for the White Stars, aren't you?
The guy standing behind Kim Jin?"
'Why am I already getting associated with that guy...'
Min didn't look up as he stuffed cans of tuna into a bag.
"I carry bags.
That's all."
When they returned to the train cars, the atmosphere shifted.
The sight of food brought a desperate, frantic energy back to the survivors.
Min found a portable butane stove in the store's stock and gathered some stray pots from the station's employee lounge.
In the middle of the dark platform, he began to cook.
It was nothing fancy.
Ramen fortified with canned meat and some dried vegetables but the smell that wafted through the station was a miracle.
The survivors ate with a ferocity that bordered on tears.
"This... how is this so good?"
An elderly woman sobbed, clutching her bowl.
"It's just station food, but it tastes like my mother's kitchen."
"He's a genius."
Mr. Choi told the others.
"He took down one of those things with his bare hands up there.
A Porter... can you believe it?
The guilds are wasting him."
Min ignored the praise.
He sat on the edge of the platform, his legs dangling over the dark tracks, eating a simple bowl of plain rice.
The sound of footsteps echoed on the metal roof of the train behind him.
A moment later, Woonhee sat down beside him.
The station was quiet now, the survivors lulled into a shallow, fearful sleep by full stomachs.
Above them, the red timer continued its slow, indifferent crawl toward zero.
『REMAINING TIME: 17:12:04』
Woonhee stared out into the dark tunnel where the tracks disappeared into nothingness.
She looked at Min...his messy hair, his blood-stained hands, and the calm, almost bored expression on his face.
"I've been meaning to ask..."
She started, her voice a soft whisper in the vastness of the station.
Min didn't turn his head.
"Ask."
"You're stronger than almost any B-rank I've ever seen, yet you're content carrying Kim Jin's luggage."
She turned to look him directly in the eyes.
"Why do you climb the tower, Kang Min?"