※ This work contains depictions of human experimentation and intense violence related to a cult. Please keep this in mind before reading.

While traveling abroad, Jae-ha gets into a bus overturn accident and is kidnapped to a place known as an uninhabitable zone. There, he meets a mysterious man, Han Tae-geon. Jae-ha and Tae-geon form a temporary alliance to escape and begin searching for clues about the so-called uninhabitable zone. Each time, they come face-to-face with monsters. As the two of them struggle to survive in an environment that hardly feels real, they confront a dark truth.

* * *

“Congratulations.”

Jae-ha’s brows twitched as he barely held onto his fading consciousness after the bus accident. A strange, possibly distorted voice broke the silence with incomprehensible words.

“You have been chosen by the uninhabitable zone. Of course, that is, if any of you are still alive.”

Before he could grasp the meaning, Jae-ha gagged. It was because of the smell that hit him the moment he inhaled. A faint hissing noise sounded, and then ash-gray smoke began to fill the inside of the bus.

“Help… help….”

His whole body hurt, and his mind was in chaos. He had only wanted to enjoy a trip abroad. Why did something like this have to happen to him?

He wanted to escape this bizarre space right away, but his blood-stained eyelids closed slowly against his will.

* * *

Another loud noise rang out. This time, it didn’t come from above but from right in front of them. Startled, Jae-ha instinctively pressed himself against Tae-geon’s side, bristling with tension as he tried to figure out the source of the sound. Tae-geon frowned, annoyed by the sudden clinging, but he didn’t push him away.

“Hyung, I think there’s something up ahead… The whole uninhabitable zone thing, and that strange voice… This really is a dangerous situation, right?”

“At worst, you’ll die. You’re too scared of everything.”

What was this man even saying? Jae-ha stared, stunned by the absurd response.

“… Since the worst is dying, of course I’m going to be scared.”

Han Tae-geon was definitely someone with a few screws loose. Maybe he was one of the people involved in this situation. Even while being held captive, Jae-ha’s forgotten suspicion sprouted again as he looked at Tae-geon, who seemed oddly calm. If not that, then he was clearly someone missing a few bolts or entirely lacking normal emotion.