EP.4 – Quiet News

  Someone was dying on TV.

  They were somewhere in Africa.Their face wasn't shown.Their voice wasn't heard.

  "Containment failed. Location: Nigeria.""Supply chain collapsed. Severe shortage of sterilizers.""Over 300 dead in a single day."

  Doyun read the subtitles while making coffee.Jinguk pressed down the lid on his ramen.Minseo put one earbud in.

  "No water over there, huh?""Not even toothpaste?""Nope.What's a weapon for usis just… expensive for them."

  No one felt sad.Instead—they felt relief.

  Not us, their faces said.We're safe, their silence implied.

  On the wall: a world map.Red dots for foreign outbreaks.Green dots for domestic zones.

  Above Korea, a message hovered:

  "Domestic containment remains stable.Export quotas under revision.Top-ranked sterilization efficiency to date."

  Minseo murmured,"To them, it's death.To us, it's… productivity."

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  Doyun said nothing.Just slowly screwed the cap back on the empty water gun.Click.

  "The monsters came.But before that—people lost their feelings."

  ***

  EP.5 – MeltdownTab: Like, Subscribe, and Die

  "Alright folks, today I'm sneaking into a monster zone—and I'm bringing you with me!"

  The camera shook.The man grinned.He wore a bulletproof vest and helmet,but instead of a water gun, he held a DIY sterilizer—basically a modified LPG tank.It looked like it could explode at any second.

  His name: MeltdownTab.Subscribers: 870,000.Former special forces.Self-proclaimed monster expert.In his own words:"A civilian warrior—better prepped than the STF."

  Minseo spat out the ice she was chewing."This guy again?Wasn't he the one trying to collect monster hair last week?"

  Jinguk:"What hair? They don't even have skin."

  Doyun, watching the screen, said quietly:"Video's already at 200K.Live."

  MeltdownTab entered the zone ten minutes before us.Location: abandoned food supply warehouse.Suspected monster: Costaliform, third-stage evolution.

  "What scares a monster?"he said to the camera."Clear judgment, quick reflexes, and…this."He waved his sterilizer.Click.Something locked into place.

  By the time we arrived,he was staring the monster down.

  "Alright, you and me.Let's go."Doyun shouted,"Step back! This is a restricted zone!"MeltdownTab:"You trust sanitation.I trust training."

  He charged.The monster stood still.

  And then—

  CRACK.

  The feed cut.Camera gone.So was he.

  News ticker rolled in:

  "Unauthorized civilian entered monster zone.YouTuber MeltdownTab confirmed dead.""Peak concurrent viewers: 1.12 million.Video now deleted."

  Minseo:"He didn't even live to see his ad revenue."Jinguk:"Comments already calling him a hero."Doyun:"If he lived,he'd just be a criminal."

  "Becoming a hero is easy.Just grab a cameraand walk toward a monster."