PRSR | Chapter 1.2

“Chik.”

A small white rat with gray spots popped its head out of the pocket of my pajamas.

“Jjikjjiki!”

Jjikjjiki was my pet Husky Rat. It had a habit of sneaking into my pajama pocket while I slept. In the chaos, I hadn’t even noticed the slight weight in my chest pocket.

I gently cupped Jjikjjiki in both hands and lowered my head over it.

“Jjikjjiki… I’m so glad you’re here. You came with me. I’m not alone. I’m not alone….”

The tension broke, and tears spilled down my face. Here I was, a grown adult, barefoot and wearing pajamas, sobbing in a field. It was embarrassing, sure—but who cared? There was no one here but me and Jjikjjiki.

“Chik. Chik-chik.”

Jjikjjiki nudged my cheek with its nose.

“Are you trying to comfort me?”

“Chik.”

“Jjikjjiki….”

Realizing I wasn’t alone, my panic began to subside. Jjikjjiki had always been a source of comfort to me, but I never thought I’d feel so reassured just by its presence. I hugged the little rat tighter.

For Jjikjjiki’s sake, I had to keep moving.

“Yeah. I can’t just sit here crying. I need to figure out how to get out of here.”

Wiping my tears with the back of my hand, I stood up.

“Jjikjjiki, I’ll find a way. We’ll go home together.”

When I patted its head, Jjikjjiki squeaked happily. What a cute little guy.

“Let’s go.”

Sniffling, I started walking slowly.

Honestly, I felt hopeless. If not for the invisible walls blocking my path, I might have held onto some optimism. But knowing I couldn’t escape, no matter how far I walked, made the suffocating anxiety return.

Whenever that happened, I’d pet Jjikjjiki. Holding it in one hand and stroking it with the other made me feel just a bit calmer.

“Jjikjjiki, you must be hungry… but there’s nothing to eat here.”

“Chik.”

“And no water either.”

“Chik-chik.”

Talking to someone—even if it was just a rat—made me feel better.

I kept the conversation going, even though the only response was “chik.” Otherwise, I thought I might lose my mind.

“Jjikjjiki, you love drinking water, but this is bad.”

[That’s true. This is a serious problem.]

“AAAHHH!”

Startled, I nearly dropped Jjikjjiki.

“Chik!”

The rat clung desperately to my fingers, dangling for dear life. I quickly steadied it, placing it gently in my palm, and asked nervously.

“Jjikjjiki… was that you just now?”

“Chik?”

…No way. A rat that could talk? That was absurd. Talking rats only existed in animated movies. In those, rats might talk and even cook gourmet meals, but this was real life. Rats didn’t talk.

But then again…

Wasn’t this whole situation—being trapped behind invisible walls, fighting monsters, and being left alone in this strange field—far more unbelievable than a talking rat?

Compared to all that, a talking rat seemed almost normal.

“….”

Alright. One more try.

There was no one here to see me trying to converse with a rat in Korean. No one to judge me. At least I didn’t have to worry about embarrassing myself.

“Jjikjjiki. Could you answer me again, like just now?”

“Chik-chik!”

Jjikjjiki chirped enthusiastically.

“…Of course.”

Rats don’t talk. I must have imagined it because I was feeling lonely.

[Wait, did you just confuse me with that rat? Seriously?]

“……!”

It wasn’t a hallucination after all!

“Jjikjjiki, you heard it too, right? That voice from just now!”

“Jjik!”

“Who are you! Are you there?”

The voice echoed from the void. It sounded eerily similar to the one that explained this place when the monsters first appeared.

The thought crossed my mind—maybe the owner of the voice was the kidnapper who dragged us here. Meeting them directly would be dangerous, but there wasn’t much choice when I had no other way to escape this place. I’d have to figure out what they wanted.

[You must summon the Status Window at least once to enter the Reward Room. Please summon the Status Window.]

“I want to talk face-to-face!”

[Simply shouting ‘Status Window’ will summon it.]

“I’ve already tried that, but nothing happened!”

[That can’t be. Perhaps your pronunciation was off? Here, repeat after me: Sta-tus Win-dow.]

At this rate, I’d be stuck arguing about summoning a Status Window for the rest of my life. It seemed quicker to just fail at summoning it in front of the voice, so I decided to give it a go.

I opened my mouth, holding on to a tiny sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, it might work this time.

“Status Window.”

[…]

“…”

[…]

See? Nothing happened again!

[Huh? Wait, what’s going on here? This doesn’t make sense.]

The disembodied voice began spewing concerning remarks one after another.

[This… this shouldn’t be possible.]

Rustling, clattering, and thumping noises came from the other side of the voice. Then, a bright light suddenly burst forth in the air. Before I could even be surprised, a man in a pristine suit emerged from the glowing mass.

“Wah!”

“Phew. Hello.”

“A person… appeared from thin air…”

I thought I’d gotten used to sudden surprises by now, but apparently not. My heart nearly dropped out of my chest. If there weren’t an invisible wall blocking my escape, I would’ve bolted immediately. Instead, I just took a few steps back in panic.

“I am the Manager of this 98-A Zone. Ah, the letter following the number corresponds to the first character of the common language in your dimension. In this case… let’s see… oh! It’s the alphabet ‘A.’”

What was he even talking about?

“It seems there was an issue in summoning you, our [Awakened]. May I ask your name?”

“…Kang Soul.”

“Ah, Kang Soul-ssi.”

The Manager began flicking his fingers through the air, as if he were flipping through invisible pages.

“You’re not on the list, as expected.”

“…Is it a problem that I’m not on the list?”

“Hold on. Give me a moment to think… Ah! No way!”

The Manager, who had been flustered just a moment ago, suddenly snapped his fingers, his eyes gleaming with realization. At that instant, Jjikjjiki, who had been perched on my hand, flew straight toward the man.

“Jjikjjiki!”

“Jjik!”

Thud! Jjikjjiki kicked the Manager and then leaped back toward me.

“Ow!”

I had no idea Jjikjjiki could pull off such a move.

“Jjikjjiki!”

“Jjik! Jjiik!”

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

I caught Jjikjjiki in my hands, and he reached out his tiny paws, making his usual cute gesture when he wanted to be held. I brought him closer to my chest, and he nuzzled against me, his little body trembling with fear.

“What did you do to Jjikjjiki!”

“Excuse me? What did I do? I’m the one who got kicked!”

The Manager protested loudly, clearly feeling wronged.

“Didn’t you see me get kicked by Jjikjjiki-ssi?”

Ridiculous. Who gets knocked over by a mouse barely 15 cm long, even with the tail included?

“What do you even want from us?”

“First… I suppose I need to explain this place to you, Soul-ssi.”

The Manager dusted off his crumpled suit and stood up, clearing his throat with a soft cough. Then, with an overly cheerful smile, he began his explanation.

“This is the Tutorial Field. In three months, Earth will face an invasion from a Higher Dimension.”

So far, it was information I’d already heard.

“When the invasion begins, passageways connected to the Higher Dimension will appear on Earth. To put it in terms someone from Zone 98 of Earth might understand… these passageways will become what you call ‘Dungeons.’”

“…Dungeons?”

“Yes, dungeons. The kind where monsters swarm out in droves. To put it more simply, Earth will soon become a field overrun with monsters. Ta-da~”

“…”

“You don’t seem too surprised. Not very fun.”

There wasn’t any room for a reaction. I was too busy trying to process and piece together what I’d just learned with the information I already had.

“So you kidnapped us here to train us to fight the monsters that will appear on Earth?”

“Kidnap? We’re here to help you, I assure you. Please don’t forget that.”

“Did I get anything wrong?”

“While I do have some complaints about your choice of words, everything else is accurate.”

“…This is insane.”

The Manager’s calm explanation was somehow more shocking than being chased by monsters or watching everyone else disappear.

“Are you telling me… I’ve gained the power to kill monsters?”

I looked down at Jjikjjiki sitting in my hand, but I couldn’t feel anything unusual.

New powers? Monsters? It all felt like a bad joke.

“As shocking as it is, it’s all true.”

The Manager nodded, as if fully understanding my confusion, then pointed a finger at me.

“The others who were summoned here… and…”

Not me, apparently. His finger moved to point directly at the creature in my palm.

“Jjikjjiki-ssi has awakened!”

…What?

“Looks like you’re really shocked. To be honest, so am I. I thought all the [Awakened] in Zone 98 were humans, but to think there’s a beastman among you!”

“…Beastman?”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know? Jjikjjiki-ssi here is a beastman. They’re animals that can transform into a human form.”

…What kind of nonsense is this?

The Manager’s words didn’t make any sense. I thought I understood what he was saying, but my mind felt like a blank slate. What did Jjikjjiki do? Awakened? A beastman? What on Earth was he talking about?

“That’s a lie. If Jjikjjiki is a beastman, why hasn’t he transformed into a human yet? Look at him! He’s just sitting there quietly!”

“Typically, beastmen learn how to take human form from other beastmen once they become adults. Since there are no other beastmen around Jjikjjiki-ssi, he likely hasn’t learned how to transform yet.”

While I was lost in thought, Jjikjjiki climbed up my arm and started tapping on my ear. What was he trying to say with that? Was it something like, don’t listen to that nonsense?

“Have you really thought Jjikjjiki-ssi was just a normal rat all this time?”

“Of course Jjikjjiki is a normal—”

“Are you sure? Absolutely sure nothing seemed strange?”

There’s no way anything seemed strange.

Jjikjjiki is just a rat. A normal rat that runs up to the table when I eat and nibbles on a piece of carrot beside my bowl. A rat that crawls into my pocket while I sleep, waits outside the bathroom when I go, and sometimes hides in my bag when I’m about to leave. And when I’m sad, he snuggles up to me, trying to comfort me.

And when some suspicious guy like this starts talking nonsense, he taps on my ear, like now, as if telling me not to pay attention…

‘…Wait a second. Isn’t all of that already strange?’

I’d heard that rats are as intelligent as dogs and bond well with their owners, so I thought it was just that. But when I list it all out like this… it’s definitely odd. Once I started doubting, more suspicious memories surfaced.

He hates rat food so much that he used to refuse to eat it until I fed him by hand. After that, he’d stand beside the food bowl with his mouth open, waiting for me to feed him whenever I touched the bowl. There was also that time he rolled a fallen pen across the floor with his tiny paws, bringing it back to my feet. Or how he’d come running and beg me to scratch itchy spots he couldn’t reach.

No matter how smart a rat is… do they normally act like that?

“I just thought… our Jjikjjiki was a genius…”

“Oh dear, you’ve been so blinded by the ‘my child is the best’ illusion that you’ve lost all objectivity.”

“Jjikjjiki… a beastman?”