Editor’s Survival Guide

Two packs of 500ml bottled water, and one box of biscuits.

Considering that I had spent the huge sum of 100 million won, it was a truly pitiful amount.

“I’ll move it up to the third floor for you. But if all of this gets stolen, I’m not responsible, okay?”

The teddy bear spoke in a voice half excited and half suspicious.

He seemed happy to have earned money, but curious about what I was trying to do.

So he had the skeletons carry the goods and deliberately followed me up to the third floor.

The people on the third floor stirred when they saw us.

“Please take one water and one snack each.”

At my words, the puzzled people hurried over.

Without even asking why, they first gulped down water and tore open the snacks. “Oh, a good person.”

The teddy bear nodded as if relieved to see me simply handing out food.

“Good, good. People should live helping each other.”

What a relief.

That this guy was truly stupid.

There were two reasons why that teddy bear held absolute power here.

One was the deformed strength unique to contaminated people.

The other was that he had a monopoly on resources.

Yet he handed over one of those pillars this easily.

It seemed to be because of his arrogance that this area was in the palm of his hand, but from my perspective, I could only be grateful.

The teddy bear hummed and went back down to his base on the lobby floor.

And I spoke to the people who had finally regained their senses after receiving water and snacks, and who were now curious about this situation.

“From now on, I’ll distribute water every day, and snacks every 2 days.”

“Really?”

“Th-thank you……!”

Three or four people simply rejoiced.

“…….”

And another two or so were wary.

Choi Sang-eun and the woman from earlier belonged to the latter group.

They were wise people who knew there was no such thing as free.

Looking at them, I continued.

“But there is a condition.”

“A condition?”

“You all want to get out of here, right?”

Nod—

“But if you leave through that bear costume, you have to spend tens of millions of won. Can you all bear that?”

“…….”

The people grew gloomy again.

Even if they somehow left this bizarre space, what waited outside was a massive bill.

For some, it might be a bitter loss, but for others, it could become a matter of life and death.

And the fact that they had been unable to escape from here for a long time meant they belonged to the latter.

Considering their dilemma, I quietly said,

“I have a method, so please follow my lead.”

---

Day 2.

Ding-dong— ding-dong—

At the sound of bells ringing throughout the theater, I woke up.

I had put two single-person sofas together and curled up to sleep there, so my entire body was stiff.

But, mm, sadly enough, I was familiar with this sensation.

Because this was always how it felt when I slept in snatches at the publishing company before publication.

Therefore, one could say that my first night spent in a Special Zone was similar to an ordinary editor’s overtime work.

“You’re awake?”

When I stretched my stiff body, Choi Sang-eun, who had been sitting near me, greeted me.

“Yes. Good morning.”

“I wonder if it really is morning. It’s never become night.”

At my greeting, Choi Sang-eun replied with a powerless smile.

I had requested Choi Sang-eun’s cooperation separately.

He was a fellow entrant who had been dragged here with me, and I could not manage all the food or people by myself.

Thankfully, Choi Sang-eun readily accepted my request.

“Everyone, please come get today’s water!”

At Choi Sang-eun’s announcement, people approached.

Perhaps because they had gained a little leeway, today they greeted us as they received water.

“Thank you.”

“Really, thank you.”

Ding-dong— ding-dong—

The bell from earlier rang again.

Tak— tak— tak—!

Then the theater doors, which had been wide open, closed on their own.

Rattle—

And from the first floor came a metallic sound.

This performance hall was composed of a lobby floor, first floor, second floor, and third floor.

The floors that led into the performance hall were from the first to the third.

However, newly entered people or 「Fake Humans」 only appeared in the first-floor audience seats.

And the third-floor lobby railing where I was allowed a clear view down to the first floor.

I rested my arms on the railing and looked down below.

The teddy bear and skeletons were dragging the iron cage and standing by beside the performance hall doors.

“The performance has started now, right?”

“Yes. Those kids will wait there until the performance ends.”

At my question, the woman answered.

I sat leisurely and waited for the performance to end.

Had about 40 minutes passed?

Ding-dong— ding-dong—

The bell announced the end of the performance.

And down below, the things I had experienced yesterday were reproduced exactly.

“Now, now! They’re here again today! Call the price!”

The teddy bear appeared, dragging 2 newly entered people and 2 「Fake Humans」.

At that inducement to auction, the old man who had been here the longest raised his hand.

“1,000 won.”

“Good, 1,000! ……won?”

The teddy bear, who had naturally been about to shout as if it were 10 million won, grew flustered.

At that, the old man said again firmly,

“1,000 won!”

The teddy bear stood bewildered.

After that, when no one else bid, the teddy bear seemed to grasp the atmosphere and shook his head.

“Ah, why are you doing this again? Misters, have you still not come to your senses? Last time, when you did this…….”

The teddy bear, who had been swaggering, stopped speaking and looked at me.

It seemed he had been about to threaten them with the price of water as before, but remembered that I had bought water in bulk yesterday.

“Wow…… Well……. So you’re going to be like this? Fine. I’ll see how long you last with that!”

The teddy bear left with only the Fake Humans, as if he found us laughable.

And the newly arrived people joined our group.

---

Day 3.

Ding-dong— ding-dong—

The people who entered today were 3, and the 「Fake Humans」 were 2.

The teddy bear induced an auction again, but now the people did not even look at him.

“Aren’t you going to buy?!”

The ignored teddy bear flared up and shouted.

Even so, when the people looked away, the teddy bear threw a tantrum like a child.

“Fuck, keep acting like that! I’ll sell them for way more later!”

You would want to do that.

But time was on our side, and the number of people was just right.

Currently, the teddy bear gang had 8 people.

There were 4 「Fake Humans」.

We were 12.

---

Day 4.

Ding-dong— ding-dong—

Another performance began.

And today, we also began to move.

The 11 people excluding me rushed down to the first floor.

I watched them from the third floor.

When the people came down as a group, the teddy bear and skeletons flinched and grew flustered.

On top of that, there were only 3 of them.

“What is this? Don’t even think about stealing what we catch. You’ll all die, okay?”

The teddy bear openly threatened them.

But Choi Sang-eun and the people did not deal with him. They went to the entrance opposite them and took their positions.

They waited like that for a long while.

Ding-dong— ding-dong—

The performance ended.

And before the teddy bear, Choi Sang-eun opened the performance hall doors and called the people inside together.

“Everyone, please come this way! We will help you!”

The result was obvious.

A man in his 40s wearing a suit.

And a delinquent brat wearing a bear costume head.

If one were to ask which side looked more trustworthy, 99 percent would choose the former.

By the same principle, the frightened people naturally moved toward Choi Sang-eun.

Choi Sang-eun carefully observed the new arrivals, and soon informed me, who was watching from above, of the situation.

“2 people, 3 fakes!”

The people who had identified the 「Fake Humans」 were excited and tried to come upstairs.

But the teddy bear blocked their way.

“What are you doing? This is our area. Who said you could use it as you please?”

What happened to finders keepers?

The teddy bear immediately changed positions once things became disadvantageous.

At that, the people flared up and tried to protest.

“Don’t fight.”

But I stopped them.

Considering everything they had endured so far, I understood wanting to have it out once.

But if we fought that contaminated person, we would lose.

Then the mood would also shift to his side.

On top of that, I had known that teddy bear bastard would come out like this.

“If you want to take them, take them.”

At my words, the teddy bear grew excited and tried to snatch the fakes.

The people also looked up at me in confusion.

At that moment, I added this.

“But can you take all 3?”

“……Huh?!”

Right, you stupid bastard.

There are only 3 of you right now.

And you’re going to take 3 Fake Humans?

Once our people leave, they will attack you immediately.

“Th-then just give me two!”

“Sure, take them. But if you take two, from tomorrow, you’ll have to walk around alone. You know that, right?”

“Huh? Uhhhhh……!”

To think I had to explain even this…….

It was so embarrassing it felt like deceiving a child.

To begin with, the reason there were only 3 people in the teddy bear gang today was also because of the 「Fake Humans」 they had.

To control 「Fake Humans」, one needed more people than them.

And the 「Fake Humans」 those guys had stocked because they could not sell them numbered 4 in all.

The 5 skeletons who were not visible right now must be watching those.

In the middle of this, if they took 2 more 「Fake Humans」, then 7 people would be tied down.

“Uh…… uh……?”

But it seemed the teddy bear truly had not thought of this until I said it.

The teddy bear began mumbling in place, and the skeletons fumbled beside him too.

Taking advantage of that opening, Choi Sang-eun and the people came up to the third floor.

Our first successful counterattack, and a monumental victory.

The people wanted to rejoice loudly.

But because of my request, they cheered as quietly as possible.

At this point, there was no need to deliberately provoke that teddy bear, and if we made a needless commotion and 「Alpha」 and 「Delta」 appeared, it would truly be a disaster.

We had made a promise at the beginning.

Everyone would cooperate to catch 「Fake Humans」, and we would leave in the order we had entered.

According to that promise, the three people who had stayed here the longest would leave.

“Thank you. Truly, thank you…….”

The people said goodbye while crying.

And they left with light hearts, without any debt.

Currently, the teddy bear gang had 8 people.

There were 4 「Fake Humans」.

We were 11.

---

Day 5.

Even after what had happened the day before, the teddy bear could not come up with a countermeasure.

So he only stood there stupidly with two skeleton bastards, and we smoothly identified 2 people and 2 「Fake Humans」.

And one step further, Choi Sang-eun spoke to the skeleton guys beside the teddy bear.

“You guys, can’t you see how things are going right now?”

The skeletons hesitated.

“You can’t make money anymore. No, even if you can make money, do you think making it like this is right? You saw the faces of the people you squeezed money out of, right? Imagine that was your family and your parents. Is that something a person should do? Do you have no conscience?”

……I had told him not to act like an old fart, but Choi Sang-eun could not hold back and scolded them.

Even if one appealed to their conscience, it was unlikely to work on kids like them.

“And he told you he’d make you money, right? But have you actually received anything? You only watched him make tens of millions, hundreds of millions. Did even 10 won enter your hands? Do you even know his real name or face? If you were him, do you think you’d give money to yourselves? I wouldn’t. Why would I? He can just take the money and run.”

Right, words like this worked.

Guilt was something one could feel only after maturing to a certain degree.

So for those kids, telling them how disadvantageous their situation was would be far more effective.

Sure enough, the skeleton kids immediately became confused.

Then Choi Sang-eun drove in the wedge.

“You guys, stop at a reasonable point and come over here too. We know you couldn’t help it, so if you stop now, we’ll let you leave. You want to go home too, don’t you?”

The skeletons watched the teddy bear’s mood.

One of them quietly stepped toward Choi Sang-eun.

CRASH—!

The teddy bear took out that snake-like thing of his and slammed it down at the skeleton’s feet.

Then he threatened them in a voice lower than usual.

“Try leaving.”

“Hey!”

So I stepped in.

“What you’re doing now isn’t self-defense, but threat and coercion. Are you sure you’re fine with that?”

When I spoke from the third-floor railing, the teddy bear flinched.

Right, if you cause trouble, you get dragged away. You should be careful.

And the skeletons looked back and forth between me and the teddy bear.

Perhaps having made up their minds, both of them took off their skeleton masks.

Sure enough, they were kids who looked barely 20 years old.

When the kids came to our side, the teddy bear struck the innocent floor and turned around.

And a short while later, 4 「Fake Humans」 were wandering around the theater corridor.

They were the ones the teddy bear had been holding and then released.

It seemed he had judged that keeping the 「Fake Humans」 was useless now and difficult to manage, so he had thrown them away. We picked them up and used them well.

With that, currently, the teddy bear gang had 6 people.

We were 9.

The number of people who had escaped without debt was also 9.

What the teddy bear said was right.

People should live helping each other.