DRAM Ch 6

Faces twisted in chaos and confusion passed by. None of the items clutched in their hands could be called proper weapons. Ha-yoon bit his lip hard—this could be the end.

“Close the door!”

The moment he halted his sprint, he glanced back. One… two… three… four…  

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“Damn it, have they all come out together?”

Four machines followed in a row behind the lead unit. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ha-yoon drew his gun and aimed at the approaching machines. There was no time to ponder why this was happening; survival was all that mattered.

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“Don’t you hear me? Go inside and shut the shutter!”

“Ha-yoon!”  

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“Please—if you’re going to go, then go!”

Frantically adjusting his aim, he locked eyes with the glaring red optics of the lead machine. His breath caught, and he pulled the trigger. A series of gunshots echoed as the foremost machine’s lights flickered and it slammed to the ground.

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“Ugh.”

The modified gun’s rapid firing came with harsh recoil. Ha-yoon quickly shifted his aim to the next machine, mentally counting his remaining rounds—five out of eighteen had just been fired.

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“Just kill them all at once, for once!”

He didn’t have enough bullets to finish them off completely. His trembling, sweat-slicked hands betrayed the tension. Cruelly, the machines advanced with terrifying speed. With a shaking arm, he mustered what strength he had left and fired again.

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“Ha—ah… ha.”

Gasping for breath, he stared at the remaining machines. Not a single shot missed; it wasn’t his aim but his battered body that was failing him. In that moment, he felt no different from the machines he had just felled.

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“Bro, Ha-yoon!”

Lee Yu-won appeared at his side in a flash, reloading his gun. In moments like these—when a machine lurked in a corner—it was both comforting and worrisome to see him.

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“Don’t get cocky out front—just get inside, okay?”  

“If you die in my place, it’d be an honor.”

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With a playful wink that betrayed his lack of full understanding of the situation, Lee Yu-won grinned. Ha-yoon fought to hide his convulsing, trembling arm as he forced his gaze forward. Now, only three machines remained.

“Hey, you take the right side.”

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Almost as soon as the order was given, Lee Yu-won flexed his finger and fired. A harsh report echoed through the space. With a resounding “bang!” one machine’s optics burst, its frame creaking unnaturally as it convulsed, sparks flying, before collapsing.

“Nice!”

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Lee Yu-won shouted with a hint of mischief as another machine—its neck and head seemingly severed—crumbled to the ground. In mere moments, four machines were reduced to darkness.

It was then that something felt wrong. Ha-yoon’s expression froze as he glared at the scattered, motionless machines. A sense of foreboding seeped through him.

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“Lee Yu-won.”  

“Ah! Don’t come near!”  

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“…Hey, Yu-won!”

Lee Yu-won bellowed, firing his gun at one machine’s head. The sound of spent bullets clattering was all that came from his weapon now. Ha-yoon’s own gun had only three rounds remaining.

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A chill ran through him—his hands and feet felt icy. The sensation was different from when he had killed machines in the alley yesterday, even different from his usual encounters. Now, it was unsettling… almost too easy, as if the machines were pre-programmed to fall apart.

“Yu-won, get inside.”  

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“Bro! What did you say? I can’t hear you!”  

Except for the towering figures at the Field center—the ones perched like rulers atop a pyramid—every machine had a fixed, unyielding value. The reconnaissance units, in particular, were hard-wired to capture any human wandering after dusk. No one dared defy the code input into the system cores.

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“Go inside now and grab every weapon you can find.”

What explanation could there be for a machine here that obeyed commands?

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“Bro, what are you saying? They’re all dead!”  

“Move quickly!”

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It meant the input values from the Field center had been altered. The only answer was that this whole situation had been engineered by the Field center itself. There was no other explanation.

 

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Just then, as Lee Yu-won turned back toward the shelter, the machine that had been pinned to the ground suddenly glowed red again. In that moment, certainty gripped Ha-yoon—a dreadful prelude to a massacre.

 

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“If you don’t want everyone to die, then move as you see fit!”

He couldn’t rescue them all. There was no time to save one person at a time. Ha-yoon struggled to move his nearly collapsing body, distancing himself from the advancing machines. As soon as he reached the shelter, the others immediately slammed the door shut.

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At least they managed a brief moment to catch their breath.

Frozen in shock, the survivors soon regained their senses and armed themselves once more. While scanning the area, Ha-yoon coughed, the sound mixed with clanging metal. Wiping his mouth, he saw fresh blood smeared across his palm.

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“Fuck, I swear I’ll get that bastard’s face one day.”

But understanding the situation wasn’t enough. The fundamental question kept gnawing at him: why—why would anyone in the dead land of Area E wage such carnage?

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“Ah.”

A sudden thought broke his reverie, and his breath faltered. At the edge of his fading memory stood Yeo Yeon-oh. His method of killing machines had changed—he had severed the very connection to the system core. That signal would undoubtedly be read by the central control unit at the Field center.

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If the Field center’s gaze had tracked that lost signal all the way here, then it meant they had decided to kill the people of Area E.

“…Ha.”

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Whatever it was, it was all equally fucked up. Now, trying to find reasons was useless. Spitting out the congealed blood, Ha-yoon focused on what was immediately important.

“If I get caught by a machine, I won’t be able to save anyone. In fact, I won’t save anyone.”

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“What?”

“If we all stick together trying to save one person, the shelter will collapse. Everyone dies.”

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The rowdy group who had been drinking quickly fell silent. In a world of broken routines, those who once sought joy now had to face brutal reality.

“If you want to live, grab your weapons and kill everyone outside. I’m leaving right now.”

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He swapped out his spent rounds, gathered extra ammunition, and even secured a sharp metal spear. Without looking back, Ha-yoon gripped the door handle firmly.

“Ha-yoon!”  

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“……”  

“Hey, the uncles told you—if you’re the loudest damn punk out here, move aside and cover for us. Pay for the drinks you’ve had!”

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A firm hand patted Ha-yoon’s shoulder. Despite his raw strength, his hand fell limply. Pushing past the smaller figures, those at the front reloaded their weapons and flung the door open in one swift motion.

A flash of light darted through the gap. A machine, now only a few feet away, thrust a sharp blade forward. The lead figure swung an axe with a burst of determination—clang! The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

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“Push back! Don’t let them get into the shelter!”

Gunfire erupted without pause. In the far corner of the shelter, those who had stored their weapons fought tooth and nail. Together, they smashed the machine’s optics and broke its arms.

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“Dammit, you bastard!” someone roared.  

“Duck!” another shouted.

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Ha-yoon ran, shouting as he bolted. One of the attackers, nearly losing his head, adjusted his gun with a thankful grunt. It was Ha-yoon who had fired first; his poorly aimed bullet had lodged itself in a machine’s eye.

“Ah, fuck…”  

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But his body was failing him. His still-injured body continued to betray him. Coughing up blood mixed with saliva, Ha-yoon gripped his gun tighter as his vision blurred.

“Ha-yoon, watch out—behind you!”

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Lee Yu-won shouted urgently. Without thinking, Ha-yoon spun and fired his gun. Bang, bang—the bullets rained down, striking the advancing machine.

Crunch! Boom!

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“Fuck, come on…”  

A machine that had become a bullet sponge erupted in a small explosion, engulfed in flames. The fallen machine jerked about, thrashing in its death throes. The decrepit factory grounds were highly flammable, and several people rushed to douse the flames.

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“Damn…”  

Just then, Ha-yoon’s ears caught a voice soaked in sorrow. Turning his gaze, he saw Old Man Kim standing with a desolate expression.

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“That bastard is the one who started all this,” he muttered, almost as if entranced.

“He dared defy human will… and now the gods are punishing us.”

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“God?”  

“Seems you still don’t know, do you?”

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Old Man Kim’s cryptic words hung in the air. Before Ha-yoon could respond, a deafening roar shattered the factory’s calm as machines began to make bizarre, simultaneous sounds.

“What—what is that?”  

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“Why are those machines acting like that?”

Shelter members gasped and scattered, their tension returning in full force. Ha-yoon looked on, helplessly watching as another machine rose from the ground.

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“Ah… these machines are really fucking relentless.”

He wondered how much longer his body could hold out—was it only a matter of time before they were discovered? Perhaps he should gather all the machines and force his way out. But was that even possible?

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His mind spun into chaos, and cold sweat trickled down his face. He roughly brushed his tangled hair aside and fixed his aim once more.

“……”

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His gun steadied on the head of a machine that had collapsed and then risen again. Ha-yoon managed a bitter, hollow laugh. In that moment, he felt no different from the machines—both condemned to repeat their fate.

“Everyone, get back to the shelter!”

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No matter how these machines had been programmed, they simply refused to die easily. There was only one way forward: to inflict enough damage that they could never rise again.

“I’ll take care of them—just get inside.”

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“What are you talking about?”

In this desperate moment, only Ha-yoon—who had repeatedly cheated death—could fight back. Swallowing his anger, he flexed his fingers and prepared to fire once more.

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Boom!  

An explosion, louder than any before, rocked the shelter. Faces around him contorted in shock as every eye turned to one spot.

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“…….”

Ha-yoon never once looked away from the machine before him. In truth, there was no need—he watched as the machine, engulfed in flames, collapsed to the ground.

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And beyond it, he saw a familiar sight.

“Hello.”

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There, calmly smiling and aiming his gun, stood Yeo Yeon-oh.