Your Esoteric Story: A Work of Art || ORV

3rd stroke

[The main scenario has arrived.]

[Prove your value.

Survive the onslaught of monsters and escape to Oksu Station.

Category: Main
Difficulty: E
Time limit: 40 minutes
Reward: 300 coins
Penalty for failure: Death]

"Monsters...?" As if responding to my call, all sorts of monstrosities started appearing through cracks of space in the intersection close to where I was. Despite this, I still had a bit of time.

I needed to quickly make a decision now. To go by car or foot. I thought for a second and dashed back into my house to grab caffeinated drinks and water, and some protein bars. This should be enough to keep me alive for a week. My stomach would be empty most of the time, sure, but I'm plenty used to that. As long as I had water, I could survive up to a month in this world.

I was going on foot. Objectively saying, a car is definitely faster, but I don't have a constant 360° view of everything, and it'd also be hard to get in and out of. My second-hand car is also a bit old, so it creates noise and the last thing I want is to pull aggro to me. I discarded anything I didn't need for this apocalyptic setting. I threw my keys and wallet but hesitated at my art supplies.

I guess I'll keep them for now...

[You have received an exclusive attribute.]

[ A skill slot has been unlocked.]

Time was ticking, so I had to leave now. I began jogging to conserve my stamina. Escaping this place had the priorities, so I'll check my attribute window later.

Dokja... Gilyoung... I hope they're okay...

I tried staying close to areas where it'd be hard to see me, but I heard a few scuttling taps on the ground and screeches that followed. I turned around to see a few ground rats chasing me. They must have sniffed me out. I had no weapon, and I, in the rush, forgot to grab a kitchen knife or something similar. The closest thing I had was a palette knife, which wasn't too sharp.

Still, anything was better than nothing. I ruffled through my bags to pick the sharpest I can find. In the first place, why were ground rats on the surface when they live underground?! The rats were slowly catching up to me. I gripped the handle tightly and hit any rats that tried to tackle me, but thankfully, they weren't that large considering they're supposed to be the size of full-grown pigs. They were only the size of dogs.

My stamina was running low, and the rats were behind me. I really wish I worked out more. I don't have any coins that I could allot to my stats, so I was stuck with no power-up. Even so, I decided to fight. There were about 10, which was way more than what I could handle.

Eventually, a gas station came into view. A perfect idea flashed in my head. It was dangerous to do, but it'll allow me to kill all the ones on my tail and create a diversion. I was a bit sad knowing I could have butchered and used their bones as a weapon, but I'd prefer to stay alive and well.

I swerved them and went into the store, grabbing a box of matches. There were also other supplies I could take, but I couldn't bear the leisure to do that now. The ground rats crashed into racks and the shelved items came tumbling down, burying them. That gave me a bit of leeway to rush to one of the petrol stations to unplug the gasoline pump and prep myself ready. After a moment of waiting, they broke the glass of the store and their chunky bodies ran full speed at me.

It was a bit frightening, to be fair, but I had to do this.

Timing the attack, I sprayed gasoline at the rats, which momentarily stunned them. I took this chance and threw the lit match at them. Needing to make it out quickly or else I'd be caught in the crossfire, I bolted out and ducked behind a dumpster for shelter. Large explosions ensued, and the gas station blew into a sea of flames.