All Chapters of The Red App: Min-Joon’s curse: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
100 chapters
Chapter 11
Min-joon woke up in a hospital bed.The ceiling was white and clean. Fluorescent lights hummed above him. For a terrifying moment, he thought he was still in the mirror world. But then he heard familiar sounds. Machines beeping. People talking in the hallway. The smell of disinfectant.A real hospital."Hyung! You are awake!"Tae-hyun was sitting in a chair next to the bed. His eyes were red from crying."What happened?" Min-joon asked. His voice was rough."I found you in the parking lot," Tae-hyun said. "You were unconscious and barely breathing. I called an ambulance. The doctors said you collapsed from exhaustion and malnutrition. They want to keep you here for observation."Min-joon tried to sit up, but his body would not cooperate. Every muscle ached."How long have I been here?""Eight hours," Tae-hyun said. "It is morning now."Min-joon reached for his phone on the bedside table. Tae-hyun had plugged it in to charge. The screen showed several notifications.One was from the ba
Chapter 12
Han Woo-jin sat in the chair Tae-hyun had vacated. "Task three was psychological, was it not? Questions about your deepest feelings and fears.""How did you know?""Because task three is always psychological. The System follows a pattern. Physical challenge, navigation and rules, psychological torture, then it gets creative.""Creative how?""You will see," Han Woo-jin said cryptically. "But you have three days to prepare. Use them. Train your body and mind. The next task will require both.""Someone named Lee Joon-seok texted me," Min-joon said. "He said he wants to help me. Do you know who that is?"Han Woo-jin's expression darkened. "Lee Joon-seok. Yes, I know him. He is trouble.""Trouble how?""He is also a former player who completed the System. But unlike me, he is obsessed with destroying it. He thinks he has found a way to break free completely, to escape the System's influence even after completion.""Is that possible?""I do not know," Han Woo-jin admitted. "But Lee Joon-se
Chapter 13
Min-joon returned to find Tae-hyun waiting anxiously in the hospital room with food containers spread across the small table."Where did you go?" Tae-hyun asked. "I was worried.""Just needed some air," Min-joon lied. The drain was minimal. He was getting better at small lies.They ate dinner together. Tae-hyun talked about his scholarship essay, about his dreams of becoming a doctor, about the future he wanted to build. Min-joon listened and smiled, but his mind was elsewhere.The notebook in his pocket felt heavy. Like it was pulling him toward a decision he was not ready to make.After Tae-hyun left for the night, promising to return in the morning, Min-joon pulled out the notebook and opened it.The first page had a title written in bold letters: THE DEBT SYSTEM - A STUDY IN CONTROL.Below that, Lee Joon-seok had written: "Everything the System tells you is designed to make you compliant. Question everything."Min-joon turned the page and started reading.Lee Joon-seok's notes wer
Chapter 14
Min-joon trained until his body could not move anymore. Push-ups, running, combat practice with his improvised weapons. By evening, he was exhausted but ready.He went home, showered, and ate a proper meal. Then he sat by the window and waited for the task to begin.Tae-hyun came home at eight PM, finished his homework, and went to bed early. He had another test tomorrow.Min-joon watched his brother sleep, memorizing every detail. Just in case this was the last time.At midnight, his phone screen turned red.TASK 4 BEGINNING IN 10 SECONDS.Min-joon stood up and checked his weapons. Everything was ready.5 SECONDS.He took a deep breath.3 SECONDS.He thought of Tae-hyun.1 SECOND.The world turned white.When the light faded, Min-joon was standing in the center of a massive arena.The ground was hard-packed dirt. Stone walls rose up around him in a circle, at least ten meters high. Above, the red sky swirled with dark clouds. Thousands of empty seats surrounded the arena, like an anc
Chapter 15
The champion shuddered and fell forward, crushing the ground beneath its weight. Black smoke poured from the gaps in its armor.Min-joon slid off its back and landed hard on the dirt. His hands were covered in black blood. The knife pen was still stuck in the champion's neck.WAVE 3 COMPLETE.WAVE 4 BEGINNING IN 2 MINUTES.Two minutes. Min-joon needed water, rest, anything. But the arena offered nothing.He pulled the knife pen from the champion's corpse. The blade was cracked but still usable. The bottle blade was getting dull. He needed new weapons soon.Min-joon looked around the arena. The empty seats stared down at him like thousands of dead eyes. No audience. No cheering. Just silence and the red sky.He checked his remaining weapons. One more throwing knife made from a pen. A fork transformed into a small dagger. Not much for two more waves."I have a sword," Min-joon said, testing a lie.Nothing happened. He still could not create objects from nothing.He walked to the champio
Chapter 16
Min-joon opened his eyes in his apartment. Morning light streamed through the window.He was lying on the floor again, body aching everywhere. But he was alive.His phone showed a bank notification. Payment received: 10,000,000 won.Twelve million won left. Maybe two more tasks. Maybe three. He was getting close to the end.Tae-hyun was already at school. A note on the table said: "Went to class early. There is rice in the cooker. Please eat. Please rest. Please stop scaring me."Min-joon read the note three times. The guilt sat heavy in his stomach.He forced himself to stand and eat the rice Tae-hyun had prepared. His body needed the food desperately.While eating, he thought about the frozen people. Where were they now? Had they woken up safely in their own homes? Or had something gone wrong?His phone buzzed. Not the Debt System app. A news alert."Five people wake up from mysterious coma across Seoul. No medical explanation found."Min-joon clicked the article. It had photos of t
Chapter 17
Min-joon took the bus across Seoul to meet Ha-joon's sister. The address she sent led to a small cafe in a quiet neighborhood.She was already there when he arrived. A woman in her late twenties with tired eyes and nervous hands. She was drinking tea but not really drinking it, just holding the cup."Are you Min-joon?" she asked as he approached."Yes.""I am Jung Ara. Thank you for coming."Min-joon sat across from her. Up close, he could see the resemblance to Ha-joon. Same sharp features, same intelligent eyes."You said you know about my brother," Ara began. "How?""I am going through the same thing he went through. The Debt System."Ara's hands tightened on her cup. "So it is real. Everything he said was real.""Yes.""How many tasks have you completed?""Four.""Ha-joon completed nine before he disappeared. He told us he was doing something to pay off our family debt, but he would not explain what. Then one day he just vanished. Well, not vanished exactly. He started appearing a
Chapter 18
Min-joon ran the entire way home. His lungs burned. His legs ached. But fear pushed him faster.When he burst through the apartment door, he found Tae-hyun sitting at the table with three men in black suits. Not the usual two collectors. Three.The shorter collector with glasses smiled when he saw Min-joon. "There you are. We were getting worried.""Get away from my brother," Min-joon said."Relax. We are just having a conversation." The collector gestured to the empty chair. "Sit."Min-joon stayed standing. "What do you want?"The tall collector spoke this time. "Your payment pattern is interesting. Twelve million won in two weeks. Very impressive for someone working minimum wage jobs.""I told you I found better work.""Yes, you did tell us that. But we checked. You are still working at the convenience store. Still working construction. So where is the money really coming from?"The third collector, who Min-joon had never seen before, stood up. He was older than the other two, with
Chapter 19
When the light faded, Min-joon was standing on a rooftop.Below him, a city burned.Flames covered everything. Buildings collapsed into rubble. Black smoke filled the red sky. The heat was intense, even from this high up.His phone buzzed.TASK: RESCUE THE SURVIVORS.TARGET: SAVE AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE BEFORE THE CITY COLLAPSES.TIME LIMIT: 3 HOURS.REWARD: 12,000,000 WON REMOVED FROM YOUR DEBT.PENALTY FOR FAILURE: DEATH.SPECIAL CONDITION: THE FIRE SPREADS EVERY 10 MINUTES. AREAS YOU LEAVE BEHIND WILL BECOME INACCESSIBLE.TIME REMAINING: 2:59:54.Min-joon looked around. The rooftop he was on was stable, but the building next to it was already collapsing. He could hear screaming from below. People trapped in the burning buildings.He needed to move fast.Min-joon ran to the edge of the roof and looked down. Six stories. Too high to jump without injury.But he had the unbreakable rope.He tied one end to the rooftop railing and threw the other end down. Then he climbed down quickly, the r
Chapter 20
Min-joon woke up on the apartment floor. His body was covered in burns and cuts. His clothes were scorched and torn.But the pain felt distant. Manageable. Because lying on the table was a bank statement.Account balance: 15,000,000 won.Twelve million from the task. Three million bonus. Combined with what he already had saved.Enough to pay the debt collectors. Enough to have something left over.Tae-hyun rushed to his side. "Hyung! You are bleeding everywhere! I am calling an ambulance!""No," Min-joon croaked. "No ambulance. Just help me to the bathroom."Tae-hyun helped him stand. Min-joon limped to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like he had survived a war. Burns on his arms and face. Cuts everywhere. His hair was singed."I am not injured," Min-joon lied.The wounds faded. The burns healed. Within seconds, he looked normal again. Tired and pale, but not dying."How did you do that?" Tae-hyun whispered from the doorway. "The wounds just disappeared."M