Don't Pick Up the Male Lead in the Apocalypse - Chapter 2
So when I woke up, I didn’t even consider that I might be inside a novel. I thought I had been kidnapped by the robber and dragged off to Russia or somewhere.
Nothing else could explain the sudden change in weather and scenery.
Usually, when you think of kidnapping, it’s being locked up in a storage or basement with no view of the outside, but being left in a desolate, snowy wasteland was admittedly odd.
‘First, I need to call for help and contact my home.’
With no one around to watch me, this was the chance to quickly escape and find someone to help.
Why on earth did I leave my phone at home today of all days?
As I was cautiously getting up, putting the handbell back in my pocket, that’s when I heard it.
“Is anyone there?”
“Ah, sh—”
Startled, I swallowed the curse that had slipped out and crouched down, scanning the surroundings once more.
There wasn’t a soul in sight, so where was the voice coming from?
“I’m not begging for my life, but would you please listen to what I have to say?”
“Are you also kidnapped? Are you a survivor?”
“I don’t know about being kidnapped, but I’m still alive, so I suppose that makes me a survivor.”
“Hey, where are you speaking from?”
I could hear the voice but couldn’t see anyone.
“Over here. This way. Here……”
I followed the direction of the voice.
The faint, dying voice was coming from under a mound of snow. Now that I noticed…
‘The shape of the snow pile is like a human!’
As I quickly dug through the snow, what emerged was a foreign man who didn’t look so good.
The foreign man, his face deathly blue, struggled to lift his heavy eyelids.
“I’m so…… glad. Thank God.”
“Sir, how long have you been here like this? Let me first clear off this snow.”
As I brushed the snow off him, the foreign man watched me quietly.
Tears welled up in his green eyes. He must have been so relieved to see someone, thinking he was going to die alone.
“Do you know where we are, sir? Do you have a phone to call for help? If not, we might need to head towards civilization. I left my phone at home.”
“Phone…? I don’t have such a thing, but I have something important to give you.”
“If it’s something that can be used to call for help, please give it to me. I’ll make the call right away.”
“Please take this.”
In the man’s hand was a leather bag handle.
“Is it in here? Okay, sir. I’ll get help right away.”
The brown leather bag he handed over was quite full. As I opened the bag…
“What’s this?”
Inside was a small paper envelope filled with seeds.
Opening other envelopes yielded the same result. The bag was packed with a variety of seeds, each different in shape, color, and size.
“I don’t know if there’s any unfrozen soil left, but please keep these safe. Someday, when the world thaws again…”
“I do like plants, sir. But are plants what we need right now?”
I half-listened to the foreign man’s words as I continued to dig deeper into the bag.
Then, my hand felt a small, heavy object amid the paper envelopes.
Pulling it out, it was a black square object.
“Is this a walkie-talkie?”
I remembered seeing a similar device at a construction site.
How do I turn this on?
Fiddling with the device and pressing a protruding part, a click sounded, and it seemed to power up.
A faint static noise began emitting from the device.
“Hello, hello. Is anyone there? Please help. I’m making a distress call. There are two of us, and one is very ill. Where are we…”
“……”
“Sir, do you know where we are?”
The foreign man, who had closed his eyes, faintly opened them again.
“I hope you survive. I was glad not to be alone in the end.”
“Sir, what are… Sir!”
After that, the man’s eyes closed and never opened again.
Leaning close, I could tell he was barely breathing, almost as good as dead.
“Oh no…”
Startled, I picked up the walkie-talkie again.
‘There might still be a way to save him. If only we get rescued quickly, maybe…’
“Hey, is anyone there? Someone is dying! Right in front of me! Please… anyone, please…”
Just then,
-Crackling.
The walkie-talkie responded, and a blue screen I had never seen before appeared in front of me.
[Synchronizing: 〘1%〙]
If this were Russia, such a screen popping up would be highly unusual.
I stared at what seemed like a real-life version of a status window one might see in novels or games.
Then, one after another, different status windows popped up.
A status window teaching me about weapon use right off the bat?
I bit my lip at the somewhat familiar turn of events.
“This isn’t Russia. I ended up in a survival story, damn it.”
