---

Exterior view of the hotel "Seoul-Prime"... On the top floor...

... we see through the lit windows: Kang Chul's penthouse.

---

Yoon So-Hee is drafting a document, at the meeting table.

-

(enters) Good evening, will you be staying long?

-

Oh? Good evening. Just this to-- !!! (stares at him, surprised)

Fffff.... He vanishes into supernatural dust.

-

(aghast) .... !!! (feels strange) ... ?!

She barely has time to see herself transparent and get scared--
Fffff.... In turn, So-Hee disintegrates... annihilated.
KzZzt... The room crackles with colorful interferences, then...

... the penthouse becomes a different sumptuous apartment.

---

KZzt! KZzt! KZzt!... Buildings crackle with colorful interferences:
¤ The hotel "Seoul-Prime" (replica of "Miracle" hotel) becomes small and circular, "Anubis".

¤ The hospital "Hangook Seongjin" (replica of "Myungsei" hospital) becomes long and flat.
¤ The TV station "W" becomes a different station "TVZ".

---

Oh Sung-Moo is drawing on his tablet, peaceful:
¤ Feminine hands holding a bloodied chainsaw.

---

The bloody bodies of Ren-Bo and Soo-Bong lie on the asphalt.
The truck driver gets out of his vehicle, panicked.

-

Omo, Omo!! Where did they come from? Why didn't I see them?! AAaaah!!

-

(comes rushing) CALL AN AMBULANCE!!

Yeon-Joo is traumatized, but having to treat them calms her. A doctor's reflex.
She kneels near the bodies, checks Ren-Bo's pulse.
Positive, her heart is beating!
She checks her condition, uncertain of the severity.

She checks Soo-Bong's pulse, seeing his abdomen bleeding.
It's serious! His heart isn't beating!!
Rip! She opens Soo-Bong's shirt.

-

!! (terrible) Oh no...

A rib sticks out of the belly, dripping with blood.
Other broken ribs compress the abdomen.
Yeon-Joo, mortified, searches where to place her hands on the chest.
She places them carefully, where it minimizes the injury, then...
Dum! Dum! She performs cardiac massage, interspersed with mouth-to-mouth.

---

Hyo-Joo screams and cries.
Kang Chul, trembling and ravaged, is reviving Su-Ran, when--
On the table, BRRZ! Yeon-Joo's smartphone rings.
Kang Chul, ?!, intrigued upon seeing the caller. (We don't see who.)
He grabs the smartphone.

-

(to Hyo-Joo) Wake her up!! (points at Su-Ran)

Kang Chul looks at the scenery simplified by the Narrator, intuition on alert.

:

Does he have more chances of detecting me here?

He trots out of the damaged reality zone.
He hides behind a tree and takes the call.

Hyo-Joo stops screaming and just cries, calmed by having something to do.
She takes ice cubes from the cooler and smears them on Su-Ran's face.

Farther away (we don't hear):
Kang Chul listens to the caller, ??!, stunned.

He thinks quickly... struck by a revelation!
He answers insistently, gives important advice.
GzZzt! He flickers, becomes partially transparent.

Su-Ran wakes up and... sees Captain Ryu's corpse.

-

(!!) Captain... (pained) No, Captain... (pulls herself together) What happened after... (remembers) Do-Yoon disappeared?

-

(shaken) I don't know, I don't know!! He shot himself, all of a sudden, for no reason!!

-

(comes running back, half translucent) Quick! We have to help them and get the hell out!! (goes toward the road)

-

(panicked seeing him) AAAaahhh!!!

-

(appalled) Oh shit... Kang Chul... (runs after him)

---

-

(hangs up his smartphone) The ambulance will be here in fifteen minutes!

-

(Dum! Dum! in the middle of cardiac massage) Han! Han!... (grimaces) Shit... Han! Han!...

(arrives, distressed seeing Soo-Bong)

-

Oh-Oh!! (surprised seeing him translucent)

-

(arrives) I know first aid! I'll do the artificial respiration and check the pulse!

-

Han! Yes... Han! He'll have better chances that way. (concentrates on the cardiac resuscitation, Dum! Dum!)

(kneels, does mouth-to-mouth on Soo-Bong)

-

Is... Is he okay? ... Aigoo, Aigoo... they're gonna blame me.

-

(arrives, distraught seeing them) Oh my God... (tears)

-

(evaluates Do-Yoon's car and Su-Ran's) Su-Ran, your car keys!

(throws him her keys, between two breaths)

-

(holds the keys out to Hyo-Joo) Hyo-Joo, you have to get out of the story. You're not important to the Narrator. If you want to live, get as far away from us as possible.

-

(takes the keys without understanding) I... I... (trembles, grimaces in sadness)

Hyo-Joo understands however that she will die, if she stays.
So reluctantly...
She rushes toward Su-Ran's car!
Clac! She gets in. VrOom! Starts and drives off...

-

(finger on Soo-Bong's carotid, beating) His heart's back!!

-

His ribcage has been caved in. (passes her hand under the body) His spine seems intact.

-

And her? (looks at Ren-Bo)

Yeon-Joo checks Ren-Bo and observes:
Minor wounds, except a big purplish hematoma on the head.

-

She might have a fractured skull. He protected her from the bulk of the damage. Fifteen minutes for the ambulance... She'll hold on but NOT HIM!!!

-

Su-Ran has to take him to the hospital with Do-Yoon's sports car!

-

No!! Impossible to move him. At least, not onto a back seat, because of the contortions.

-

(to the truck driver) What do you have in your truck?

-

Nothing! I was going to load up.

-

(?!) Show me, QUICK!!

(nods)

Su-Ran and the truck driver go to the back of the truck.
Yeon-Joo can finally see Kang Chul, ... !!, appalled.
He is largely translucent, outlined by lines.
Only the pouch dangling from his neck is strangely material.

The truck driver opens the truck bed.
Su-Ran notices a mechanical step, not lowered.
She hoists herself up and enters... then...
She comes out carrying a wooden pallet.

-

(shows the pallet to Yeon-Joo) Could this help?

-

!! (hope) Yes! It's the least risky for moving a body.

-

(to the truck driver) Go get the pallet jack!!

-

Yes! Yes ma'am!! (rushes to the back of the truck)

Su-Ran sets the pallet next to Soo-Bong.

-

Su-Ran, the legs. Chul, under the armpits.

Su-Ran and Kang Chul grab Soo-Bong.
Yeon-Joo presses her hands under his back, to keep him flat.

-

On three! 1... 2... 3!!!

They move Soo-Bong onto the pallet without a hitch. A short optimal path.
The truck driver comes back dragging a pallet jack.
Su-Ran takes out her smartphone and calls.
Kang Chul goes to the back of the truck to look for a second pallet.

-

I need the medical chopper immediately! Heading for Hagal-Dong. I'll tell you where to land later.

-

(to the truck driver) Transport him to the back. As gently as if it were a crate of fine crystal glasses.

-

(reassured) Yes ma'am. I know my job. Don't worry.

He carefully forks Soo-Bong's pallet with the pallet jack.
Then he pulls it gently toward the truck bed.

Kang Chul comes back with another pallet and sets it next to Ren-Bo.
The truck driver lowers the mechanical step and loads Soo-Bong's pallet.

---

In the back, Clac! Su-Ran closes the door from the inside.
She looks at the two pallets where the comatose Soo-Bong and Ren-Bo are lying.
She passes her index under their noses and checks that they're breathing.

---

The truck starts without jolts, the driver conscious of avoiding any shake.
Only Kang Chul and Yeon-Joo are left here.
He examines his translucent hands, afflicted by the speed of his disappearance.

:

(looks at Do-Yoon's car) That would be the fastest, but she doesn't master that car.

He opens the driver's door of his red sports car, without getting in.

-

(directive) You drive.

:

(overwhelmed with apprehension) He doesn't want to risk being annihilated while driving.

---

---

WHOP-WHOP-WHOP! A medical chopper takes off from a soccer field, Su-Ran on board.
Two empty bloodied pallets on the grass... and a pallet jack, held by the truck driver.

-

(watches the chopper fly away) They didn't even ask for my ID. Does that mean I'm off the hook? (relieved)

---

As Kang Chul types on Yeon-Joo's smartphone:
BRRZ! The smartphone rings, "Mom".

-

(picks up) Eomeoni?!

-

?!!

-

(panicked, trembling voice) Chul... Your son... Something terrible is happening to him!!

-

(looks at his transparent arm, guesses) Describe it to me calmly, precisely.

Apartment: Chul-Moo (2 years old) is as if cut in half vertically.
One half of his body is transparent, and the other half is solid.

(worried, doesn't suffer)

-

Half of his body is transparent, with lines!! It's like he was cut in two!!

-

("unusual, but reassuring") Is it stable? Has it progressed since you noticed it?

-

(observes Chul-Moo) I didn't see when it happened... but it doesn't seem to be changing.

-

(silent sigh of relief) Then don't worry. Yeon-Joo will come soon. (hangs up)

-

... ?!! (frustrated)

-

What's going on?!!

-

Chul-Moo, but he should be out of danger.

Kang Chul slips the smartphone into Yeon-Joo's bag.
Then he looks at his immaterial arms:
Dust is already dancing inside them! He knows he's doomed.
Yeon-Joo sees it, guts twisted with worry, oppressed by the unavoidable.

---

WHOP-WHOP-WHOP! The helicopter is parked on the roof.
Nearby, two stretchers with IVs out of the chopper:
Ren-Bo, examined by Professor Lee. Soo-Bong, examined by Min-Soo.
Su-Ran waits beside them. The helicopter takes off and leaves.

-

Spine intact, but these broken ribs threaten to puncture the heart. If the cardiac massage had been poorly executed, he wouldn't have survived.

-

(on Ren-Bo) It's less pretty than it looks. She risks neurological aftereffects.

-

I know this guy. A nutjob who yelled at me a lot. Once, he even bit me! His girlfriend is a Cosplay fanatic. (tells)

-

Cosplay? (examines a wing) ... These are real wings!

-

(!) Huh?!

-

(shows her NIS badge) A military genetic experiment. Top secret. You'll sign a confidentiality declaration.

-

.... ?! (doubts, suspicious)

---

Kang Chul and Yeon-Joo rush into the garden.
They notice the house has changed, back to how it was in the time of W.

-

(??) The house?!

-

(disintegrating) Quick!! (enters)

---

(This office is also the bedroom.)

---

Yeon-Joo rushes out of the house.
FREEZ... Time slows, the Narrator materializes.

-

Oh Yeon-Joo, your turn has come.

-

!!! (morbid shock, remembers...)

~

He could eliminate us immediately. Otherwise, he has a reason. He wants us to know something before we die!

The Narrator disappears and ZEERF... time restarts.

:

(terrified) He revealed to me what he wanted me to know. Now, he won't let me go. (exits through the gate)

---

Yeon-Joo gets into Kang Chul's red sports car.
(Note: the temporal changes and distortions become implicit, when the Narrator appears.)

-

What use is fleeing me, in a world where I'm omniscient?

VROOM! She starts with a roar, devastated with terror seeing the Narrator in the rearview.

---

Yeon-Joo drives and speeds.
The Narrator's frame appears at the edge of the road.

-

You forget something, Oh Yeon-Joo. You're now a secondary character.

-

... !!! (terrorized)

-

Let's take a little ride, together.

-

(suffocating, guesses) Agh... No... (in a sob)

A frame on bright yellow background appears, with only text:

-

*Oh Yeon-Joo turns left.*

Yeon-Joo, horrified, sees her own arms turn the wheel left, by themselves!!!

-

*Oh Yeon-Joo turns right.*

Her arms turn right, uncontrollable, despite her will!!!
Yeon-Joo, on the edge of madness, is confronted with the ultimate nightmare become reality!
We exit Yeon-Joo's car through the roof and...

---

... we see Yeon-Joo's car turn again.
As the view becomes aerial, at the other end of Seoul...
... Myungsei Hospital is parallel to the car's trajectory.
Consequently, she moves away from it!

---

A red light indicates "Operation in Progress"...
... above the door leading to a surgery room.
Sitting on a bench, Su-Ran glances around her, paranoid.

:

(fatalistic) He can appear anytime. Only, I won't see him. Then in some unknown way, I'll die.

She resigns herself and cries...

:

Oooh, Kang Chul, selfish bastard. Just once, I would have liked to make love with you before dying. That would have absolved me of all the pathetic guys I fucked.

---

Yeon-Joo drives toward nowhere, fearing a new order from the Narrator.
A pale yellow "normal" frame materializes, ahead on the road.

-

Now that I control you, I could make you a main character. Without wanting to hurt your modesty, I find you better than Moon Mi-Ra.

:

(!!) He wants to keep me alive... In that case... (remembers)

Yeon-Joo sees a car exit a parking lot, far ahead.

-

("now!") A mediocre author doesn't deserve a character like me!

FREEZ... Time slows, the Narrator materializes.

-

It pains me that you don't recognize my artistic talent. I yet created for you a more tragic destiny than Moon Mi-Ra's.

:

Don't let him erase his frame!

Yeon-Joo presses the accelerator!
The gain in speed is undetectable, because of the slowed time.
She charges toward the other car, and should hit its front side.

-

("quick, say anything") A series of clichés, you have no imagination.

-

I have lots of ideas. For example, since your story is cleared of your sterile relationship with Kang Chul, I'll involve you in a romance with the protagonist.

-

(!) Who is he?

-

It's alas a spoiler impossible to reveal to you for now.

Yeon-Joo is close enough to the other car.
"250 km/h" on the speedometer.
She stays silent, to avoid inciting a response from the Narrator.
So that he disappears and time restarts.
Yeon-Joo, under adrenaline, risks everything!

The Narrator disappears, ZEERF... time restarts and--
CRASH!! She hits the other car, shoved by the impact.
Zak! Yeon-Joo is held by the seatbelt.

VROOM!! The sports car speeds, only the bumper damaged.
Zinn... Yeon-Joo sees a bright yellow frame forming...
Tchak! She unbuckles her seatbelt.

-

STOP!!! OR I'LL KILL MYSELF!!! (heart pounding, scans the frame, her last chance)

The bright yellow frame stops halfway!

-

At this speed, any collision is fatal! You saw: NO AIRBAG!! Over for your new favorite main character!

Nnzz... The bright yellow frame fades...
Panting, Yeon-Joo is on borrowed time, as long as she drives full throttle.
She arrives at an intersection: a two-lane suburban road.
Only, many cars pass, and the light is red!

Stress!!! Yeon-Joo plays Russian roulette and enters without visibility.
SKkriiii... She makes a wide turn to join the far lane.
She passes in extremis in front of two cars from the near lane.
And passes just after a car from the far lane. A stroke of luck!

Now, she has to weave between the cars she overtakes.
A sign indicates "Seoul 5 km". FREEZ... Time slows.
Paranoid, Yeon-Joo looks everywhere, but sees no frame!

:

He appeared elsewhere... (worried)

---

Su-Ran, ??!, sees two security agents run.
They enter the surgery room... and shortly after...
They come out vigorously evacuating Yun-Suk from the room.
They have to restrain him because he's agitated. Blood on his surgeon's outfit.

-

(screams) It wasn't me! I didn't do anything!! I didn't kill him!!!

Worried, Su-Ran wants to ask them, but in front of her--
Professor Lee comes out of another operating room, looking grave...

-

... ?! (worried x2)

-

I have bad news.

-

... !! (appalled, "neither of them survived?")

---

VROOM... Yeon-Joo speeds into the city center!!
She sees a sign "Myungsei Hospital, straight ahead".

Her car passes in front of a cinema.
She doesn't notice its banner "Action Anthology".
Nor its poster for the action movie "SPEED", with Keanu Reeves.
(Pitch: a bus unable to slow down, under penalty of exploding.)

Stressed, Yeon-Joo scans far ahead... (!!) "No!!"
What she dreaded: a traffic jam blocks the avenue!
She looks for an alternative, mad with anxiety.
None, except... The wide sidewalk, with dozens of passersby!

Yeon-Joo grimaces in contrition, "no choice".
At the next intersection before the jam--
TUUUUUUUU... She honks continuously and charges onto the sidewalk!!!

"WaAhAhaa..." People scream and move aside...
... except a burly man, the one-eyed gangster boss, amused by the panic.
His back turned, he can't see the car. He might hear it, but doesn't care, out of arrogance.

-

(still, lights a cigarette) Yeah, get lost, bunch of losers.

-

AAAAH!!! (impossible to avoid)

BRANG!!! She hits the big thug! Flying leap...
SbBrool!! He crashes in rolls.
Worried, Yeon-Joo looks in the rearview:
The man moves a bit. She's reassured "a bit".

The thug reaches out...
... tries to grab his lit cigarette, farther on the sidewalk.

-

Agh... Shit... I'm allowed one last-- (faints or dies)

On the opposite sidewalk, the thug's underlings witness it. (They had a meeting.)

-

Hyungnim! (sorry)

-

Run over by a female nutcase.

-

The same one who gouged his eye? (spots Yeon-Joo's car)

He looks at the sidewalk where she’s driving, far ahead of her:
An old woman exits the subway, pushing a stroller!
And further on, a bus drops off a group of schoolkids!

TUUU-TUUUUU... The mad car ravages everything in its path!
SBRASH! It destroys a trinket stand. The vendor screams!
SBLASH! It smashes a street-food stall. Tteokbokki and kimchi drench the passersby.

The passersby flee dropping bags, briefcases, umbrellas, etc.
SbAm-Zrach!!! Objects smashed, projected, crushed under the wheels.
Yeon-Joo, ... !!!, grimaces "sorry".

A man drags a cart of water jerrycans.
(!!) He notices her in time and pulls his hand away--
SBOM-Splash!! Jerrycans burst. Water explosion.
Sbing-bong-bom... Other jerrycans bounce wildly.
Yeon-Joo, blinded by the water, !!, sees too late--
The frightened old woman backs up and abandons her stroller!!

-

NOOO!!! (impossible to avoid)

BAAMM!!! She hits the stroller! Flying leap...
Gutted, Fp-fp-fp... a rain of old newspapers escapes from it.

-

(sees the newspapers fly in the rearview, heart suspended) Oh shit... (relieved, then--) !!! (heart punch)

Yeon-Joo charges at the schoolkids!!!

She sees the sidewalk widen onto a square.
Only alternative: move away from the sidewalk, but...
The blue tent of an outdoor restaurant obstructs the square!
Reluctantly, she veers toward the restaurant...

The tent covers the car, carried and shaken by the wind.
VROAM-flp-flp-flp... A blue canvas monster charges onto the square!!
Yeon-Joo, blinded by the canvas, veers by feel toward the sidewalk.

She opens the window, grabs the canvas, but impossible to tear it off.
She pulls it enough to slip a bit under the tires.
Swrotch!! The tires suck in and crush the whole canvas.

Then, !!!, she sees--

Dozens of cars cross in front of her! An intersection.
The line of cars, adjoining her sidewalk, is stopped at the red light.
Yeon-Joo, !!!, reflex--
VROARR!!! She presses the accelerator, "pass as fast as possible".
She clenches her teeth, "it's suicidal", prays for a miracle, and--

SLOW MOTION:
Her car slips between those crossing, skims them within a meter.
Except a sedan charging at her fender, but--
Skriikk!! The driver brakes in extremis.
In the blink of an eye, Yeon-Joo glimpses his eyes:
Yellow lozenges!! Possessed at the last instant.
Ironically, the Narrator saved Yeon-Joo's life!

The same moment, at normal speed:
The red sports car passes skimming dozens of others.
Barely away from the intersection, Yeon-Joo sees in her rearview:
A disastrous pile-up explodes behind her.

BROM! A van rams the possessed's sedan from behind.
That ejects it onto the opposite lane, facing a mini-citadine.
KA-SBRAM!! Head-on collision. The mini-citadine bounces and spins in the air.
KRASH! Crashes. SBROM!! Immediately hit by a pickup.
All the cars lose control and SBADAKRASH!!! smash into each other.
A series of spectacular and deadly accidents!

Yeon-Joo, aghast and guilty, evaluates the lethality of the pile-up.
FREEZ... Time slows, a pale yellow "normal" frame materializes.

-

Oh Yeon-Joo, stop worrying me by risking your character's life. How many deaths are you going to cause to escape me?

-

(half mad) As if that mattered to you...

-

I appreciated this spectacular scene, but don't overdo it. I already know how to enlist you. Your refusal is vain.

Yeon-Joo sees Myungsei Hospital in the distance, drives full throttle...

---

The car slows and enters the parking lot.
Yeon-Joo plunges her hand into her bag.
As soon as the car brakes and stops--
Zinn... Yeon-Joo sees a bright yellow frame forming...
She takes a scalpel from the bag and presses the blade against her carotid.

-

STOP!!! (trembles, cuts herself slightly)

The bright yellow frame stops halfway!

-

I'm an expert with this. I won't miss! (drops of blood beading from her neck)

Nnzz... The bright yellow frame fades...
Yeon-Joo hangs her hospital badge, scalpel against her neck.
A normal frame materializes...

-

I'm getting impatient, Oh Yeon-Joo. I can't wait to put you on stage. I won't be long in producing a convincing argument.

She takes a scarf from her bag, keeping the scalpel against her neck.

---

Yeon-Joo evaluates the situation, motionless at the entrance.

Her hand at her neck, slipped under her scarf.
The staff and visitors notice her strangeness.
They see her as a bizarre doctor, with a gaze gangrened by fear.

:

Don't draw attention to myself. Don't risk an encounter.

A twisted idea comes to her... Use the Narrator!

-

So Narrator... Did you have time to visit? What do you think of my world?

Yeon-Joo looks like an even more bizarre doctor, talking to herself!
She walks quickly, in the immense hall surrounding the hospital.
The Narrator's normal frame appears. Time slows.

-

I made an unusual discovery. The characters of this world adore an ultimate being called "God". They believe blindly in his existence even though they have never seen him. And by magic, this God would arrange the events of the cosmos and their destiny.

As the Narrator speaks, the scene becomes surreal.
The yellow frames appear and disappear, freeze and unfreeze the people in time.
Sometimes, several frames accumulate around Yeon-Joo, for a bit of sentence.

-

This God would also impose trials on them to overcome, in the interest of their character development, with an illusion of freedom of choice.

The reality alterations simplify the sets, and transform the people into caricatures!
An aberrant farandole of grotesque follies deforms everything...

-

It then struck me as obvious, "Hey! It's exactly me"!

Ordinary people jump the moments of stopped time.
However, Yeon-Joo continues to walk during these moments.
In the distance, a cleaner sees her 30 meters from him.
Wip! The next instant, she teleports to 20 meters.
Wip! To 10 meters.
Wip! She passes near him.
The cleaner, !!!, drops his mop.

-

Don't see in this a megalomania that I cannot feel, but I am assuredly this God, whose invisible presence they claim. And I come to them, proving my existence. Their wish is finally granted. Hallelujah! What a pity, they will never know it.

Some people start to detect the alterations of reality.
They see the set and their own body deform, incredulous, stunned.
Yeon-Joo doesn't listen to the Narrator's delirium.
She walks resolutely toward a nurses' counter.

-

Oh Yeon-Joo, you are disappointing. You ask me for details, and it leaves you indifferent.

Once the frame disappears, Yeon-Joo crosses a door next to the counter.
She closes behind her.

---

---

... Zitsh!, the man's eyes become two luminous yellow lozenges.
(An "N" is added after the pronoun, to qualify these people possessed by the Narrator.)
The man N feigns immobility, among the other people frozen in time.
The Narrator prepares a trap!!
He continues to speak to keep time frozen.

-

A restful life, without cumbersome decisions. Who doesn't dream of that? Do you want a magic trick to convince you?

When Yeon-Joo passes near the man N--
Snap! He grabs her wrist and removes her hand from her neck.
Yeon-Joo, !!!!, terrible surprise!
The man N snatches her scalpel.
Yeon-Joo, horrified, sees his lozenge eyes.

-

This scalpel, I can make it disappear.

Tshik! The man N plants the scalpel in his own ear.
He puts his palm against the end and--

TSHAK!! Drives the scalpel in entirely!! Piercing eardrum and brain!!

-

!!!

-

Applause!

Clap-Clap! The man N applauds.
Zitsh! His eyes become normal.
Yeon-Joo, !!!
The Narrator disappears, ZEERF... time restarts and--
Bompf! The man collapses dead.

Zinn... A bright yellow frame materializes in the air.
Yeon-Joo, PANICS!!!
She rushes to the first door within reach!
Enters without seeing where. SLAM! Closes behind!
Just at that moment--
The bright yellow frame ends: *Oh Yeon-Joo doesn't move anymore.*

On the door that Yeon-Joo crossed:
A staircase logo and a light block "Emergency Exit".

---

Yeon-Joo trembles with terror behind the door.

:

Am I out of the manhwa?

She doesn't know, tormented, looks at the room:
To the left, a straight staircase going up to a landing and the floors.
To the right, a corridor with an exit door at the end.
(This corridor has the same depth as the staircase + landing.)

She rushes into the corridor.
As she is about to open the exit door...

:

(hesitates) And outside, do I return to the manhwa?

She hears noise, screams coming from the hall, behind the door.

:

Can he find me here?! (panicked, looks everywhere and sees under the staircase...)

... a house-roll, and next... a blue waterproof tarp, covering a mound of objects.
Yeon-Joo hides under the blue tarp!

She strives to stop trembling, motionless.
Vlan! She hears the elevator hall door open.
A dozen people enter screaming and run toward the exit door.

Yeon-Joo sees them exit, through a hole in the tarp:
The unfortunates are caricatures, with simplified clothes.
Clac! The hall door closes automatically.

:

Are others going to come out? (waits anxiously)

---

It has become a ghost hospital, filled with static human sentinels...
Under total control of the Narrator!

---

Under the blue tarp, Yeon-Joo hears the hall door open, then...
clop-clop... slow footsteps approach.
She sees through the hole, !!!, TERRIFIED:
A woman N, with yellow lozenge eyes, walks toward the exit...

The woman N opens the exterior exit.
She remains a while scanning the parking outside...
Yeon-Joo, ... !!!
Then the woman N exits, and...
Cloc! the exit door closes automatically.

:

Does this place belong to the manhwa now? (gnawed) ... No, maybe not... ?

---

In the mass of static people, a man N starts walking.
He passes between his congeners with lozenge eyes, with a terrifying slowness...
He enters a random room. (a room outside the manhwa)
Farther, a man N moves and searches the same way.
Then a third, but no more.

---

Ting! The elevator opens, empty.
A woman N examines the interior, from the hall.
Then she clicks to call another elevator.
In the static group, a man N animates.
He walks toward the emergency staircase... (Where Yeon-Joo is)

---

The man N enters and walks toward the staircase.
clop, He sets foot on a step, when--
Fritsh! A small noise comes from under the staircase!
The man N removes his foot from the step, then...
... He walks in the corridor going toward the exit.

He inspects under the staircase, in walking order:
A partition, a closed linen cart, then... the blue tarp!!
He stares at the tarp, motionless, when--
Frosh! The tarp moves slightly.
The man N grabs the tarp and--
Woshh!! He uncovers it entirely!!

Underneath: An embedded stepladder, and a damaged folded wheelchair.
Krr. A rusty spring of the wheelchair uncoils and--
KrK! an armrest extends by itself.
From inside the linen cart (house-roll), covered with an opaque vinyl net:
Through a gap, we see the man N examining the folded wheelchair!

The man N notes: (in other words, the Narrator)
"It's just an old wheelchair, moving by itself".
He returns to the staircase, passes in front of the linen cart...
... without suspecting anything!

clop, He sets a foot on a step of the staircase...
clop, A second foot, then... STOPS!
He changes his mind, turns around, comes down and...
... returns to look under the staircase!!

The man N stops in front of the linen cart.
He leans, checks behind... "No room to hide here".
He examines the opaque vinyl closure: velcro fasteners.
It seems impossible to close from the inside.
The lozenge eyes gleam with approval.
He pivots to leave, and...

... STOPS! He seems to think:
"It costs nothing to check".
He grabs the vinyl cloth and--
Sratch! Opens the linen cart!
Inside: sheets stacked on the 3 levels of the cart.
Even a cat couldn't hide there.

The man N leaves and goes up the staircase...
clop... clop... His footsteps resonate on the steps.
Under the staircase, between the partition and the linen cart...
... on the side wall, hidden in the penumbra by the cart:
The slits of a closed closet! A Janitor's Closet under the stairs.

---

In the penumbra, lit by the light coming from the slits:
Yeon-Joo terrified, eyes bulging, a hand on her mouth.
Her other hand, raised, holds a screwdriver...
... driven into the extinguished and broken LED lamp.
(These closets have lamps with plastic protection and automatic lighting.)
clop... clop... She hears the footsteps on the steps, just above.

---

---

---

Yeon-Joo cries, traumatized and defeated.
She grimaces in resignation while trembling, ready to surrender.
She pushes the closet door slightly, to exit...
A ray of light enters, revives her will, and...
... She STOPS pushing!
She hesitates... then... lets the door close.

At the risk of being discovered, she screams:

-

WHY ME?!!

---

---

This last line from the Narrator pushes her beyond limits!
Then... SHE CRACKS!!!
Yeon-Joo collapses and curls up in fetal position.
Her body agitates with involuntary epileptic jolts.

-

(inhuman high-pitched scream) HhHIIiiiiiiiIIIIIiiiIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIiIiiiiiiiiihhhhhh...

She opens her mad eyes one last time and--

FREEZE FRAME:
Freeze frame of Yeon-Joo's face.
As if her high-pitched scream shattered a mirror:
KrKrk! The image and her face fracture, then--
CRASHH... Explode into mirror pieces.
Her soul bursts into thousands of fragments.

---

---

---

Immobilized in time, in an atmosphere of extreme gravity:
The anxious American president, his ministers and generals around the table.
(The real characters used are not always historically exact.)

The main screen displays atomized US bases, and a global attack simulation.
In a yellow frame, the Narrator contemplates the room amused, then...
He disappears. ZEERF... Time restarts.

-

Our vectors are slower and interceptable, Mr. President. But our protocol provides for the use of the preemptive strike.

-

And if we don't use it, they will strike first and we will lose everything. Gentlemen, I would like to assume this decision, but is there another? I authorize the nuclear strikes on the entire enemy territory.

-

We go to DEFCON 1.

-

May God forgive us...

---

A technical room with two officers seated 5 meters from each other.

They listen to their respective telephones.
They note the launch codes that are communicated to them.

They execute their duty with calm and rapidity, despite the enormous stress.

-

... Alpha, One, Delta. Terminated. (hangs up)

They take out their code registers.
They compare the codes with those they noted. Identical!

~

Procedure compliant. (takes out a padlock key)

-

Procedure compliant. (takes out a padlock key)

The two officers join, facing a doubly padlocked red box:
"Entry restricted to MCCC and DMCCC on duty."
They unlock the two padlocks of the box and open it.

They take out two launch keys and go sit back down.
They insert the keys in their respective launch boxes, equipped with a red light.

-

(on the phone) Codes confirmed. Register Echo Charlie Four.

~

(on the phone) Codes confirmed. Register Delta Beta Five.

The light of the launch boxes turns green.
Voice coming from a speaker:
"Firing order confirmed, immediate execution."

-

(holding the key) Execution in 3... 2... 1.

Clock! They turn the keys 90° at the same time!

---

Two children are playing in a meadow while their mother tends to a horse.
A military fence surrounds the neighboring field.
HiiIiii! The horse neighs, sensing danger.
BrRrr... The earth starts to tremble.
Children and mother, ??!

SHRRR... A rocket noise.
A jet of light and vapor comes out of a silo of the military field.
VROOSHH... Terrified, they see an intercontinental missile take off from the silo.

---

People see missiles take off from a nearby military base.

-

(fatalistic) Minutemen, they'll take 30 minutes to arrive over there. And that's the time we have left, before their missiles arrive here.

---

The Russian president is surrounded by his general staff, the defense minister and the diplomacy one.

-

All our stations confirm the firing of intercontinental missiles. Our sovereignty and our population are directly threatened.

-

(takes it in) ... Total atomic retaliation. Launch the Sarmats! Let the population join our numerous shelters.

-

Until the end, we will have tried diplomacy. May God help us...

---

The Chinese president, with the military general staff and the great figures of the communist party.

-

Let's concentrate our nuclear strikes on the close countries of the enemy.

---

The French president in his presidential office:
A distinguished old man, with an obsequious tone.

-

(in French, SUBTITLE) Good evening ladies, good evening misses, good evening gentlemen. I regret to announce to you that this 3rd world war is now a total nuclear conflict. (saliva noise) Shloc........ Goodbye. (stands up and leaves)

(Goodbye: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77tbrFn4whU )

---

WooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo... The Seoul siren howls.
The panicked people scream and run in all directions in the streets.

On the giant screens fixed on some buildings:
Terrified presenters and images of missile launches.
Subtitle banners scroll:
"Global nuclear war", "South Korea targeted".

---

The terrestrial globe seen from space.
Missiles come out of the stratosphere.
They join hundreds of missiles with incandescent trajectories...
... turning around the globe, destined for the enemy countries.

THE APOCALYPSE IS INEVITABLE!!!

---

WooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo... The Seoul siren howls in the distance.
Yeon-Joo doesn't hear it, in full waking coma, stricto sensu alienated.
She can only tremble in the penumbra, her mind entirely broken.
A tear runs, rather an ocular reflex than sadness...

---

---

Disclaimer:
Some scenes were adapted from an old TV movie: “The Day After.”
Scenes #41 through #43, slightly modified.