The trapdoor slammed shut behind me with a dull thud.
No noise
No echo.
I rolled onto my side, breathless, my palms burning from the friction. The darkness was almost total. Not black. Violet. A dim light pulsed at irregular intervals, and I held the blade to my heart, breathless, waiting to act.
I heard footsteps getting closer, hitting the ground.
Tac.
Tac.
Tac.
Seo-Hwan was searching.
His footsteps echoed slowly now. Gesture after gesture. He was no longer a calculating man. He was a man from whom something had just been taken.
"Where is he…" his voice murmured, amplified by the journey.
The mime spoke, suspended somewhere in the invisible air.
[TIME PASSES.]
[THE VICTIM HAS 10 SECONDS TO ESCAPE.]
I sat up slowly.
The hatch was slightly open.
I was waiting for it
I swallowed and squeezed the blade harder.
— …all of a sudden, I murmured
The cube, which I had left behind on the course, shone even brighter.
A low voice. Calm. Very close.
– Did you make the right choice?
I froze.
– …Revolutionary? .
He did not answer immediately.
Above, a muffled cry echoed.
– DAMN IT! HE'S DISAPPEARED!
Seo-Hwan.
The countdown began.
[ 9… ]
"You think you've been hiding, Ki-Moon? If you're really a man, come out and let's finish this," the voice resumed.
Don't resist, you've already lost.
[ 8… ]
"Just a little longer," I murmured.
A quiet laugh.
– You left the cube-
Blow!
[ 7… ]
The walls vibrated when our two bodies collided with the wall.
An image appeared before my eyes. Not now, I was above Seo Hwan, the blade just a hair's breadth from tearing out his eyes.
And besides, the image didn't show anything.
The buyers' room.
They were standing.
Some were shouting with joy and laughing.
Others were banging on the tables in anger.
Red numbers are flashing everywhere.
– WOOO
Who is this player? Nobody knows him!
– ?!
The polls.
COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD – LIVE VOTING
Ki-Moon
– we need to go back up Korea
– Are they on the same team?
I want to see them again, they are very interesting.
The percentages were climbing. Too fast.
Then my image displayed a message
— You're blowing up the view counter, said the voice, more buyers come in, more enemies for you and more fun for us and a bonus for you, the activation conditions are met.
[ 6… ]
I gritted my teeth.
Seo Hwan managed to push me back despite the imbalance
– dies, I blurted out.
— You really think so, sneered Seo Hwan
He twisted my hand and pinned me down, regaining complete control.
— Now you understand, it was pointless.
Silence.
Then, slowly:
He took my blade
[ 5… ]
Nearby, a column of violet light. The cube.
But he had changed.
Crack.
Marked with unknown symbols.
Heavier.
[Update complete, you can take the cube, the message said.
[ 4… ]
I did not hesitate.
I plunged my hand into the light.
The pain is immediate.
Not physical.
Something in between.
Numbers exploded in my mind.
Probabilities.
Paths.
Possible deaths.
Seo-Hwan.
Bro.
Kim Young.
Ji-Yunwoo.
A-09.
And me, in the center.
[ 3… ]
– one ultimate prediction per day and one cursed chance for others, the message continued, don't overestimate your luck, it could cost you your family.
[ 2… ]
[ 1… ]
The gong sounded
[VICTIM SAVED – KI-MOON]
[WIN: + 6,000,000 COINS]
But immediately, another notification overwhelms the first.
[NEW DEBT ASSIGNED]
[AMOUNT: NOT DEFINED]
[CREDITOR: REVOLUTIONARY]
The ground closed violently.
I was thrown off course.
I was rolling on the ground, out of breath, the cube pressed against me.
Seo-Hwan was there.
On your knees.
The knife was planted in the ground.
His eyes were wild.
"...where you were," he murmured.
– Tell me where you were.
I got up slowly.
Around us, the players were holding their breath.
Kim Young stared at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.
Ji-Yunwoo finally looked up at me.
And A-09…
A-09 smiled.
The mime appeared, clapping her hands.
[FIRST HUNT COMPLETED]
[THE MURDERER RETAINS HIS POSITION]
[BUT THE VICTIM...]
She inclined her head towards me.
[…A CONTRACTED.]
A murmur ripples through the circle.
— What does that mean…?
— Contracted what…we can do that too?
— That's new…
Seo-Hwan slowly got up.
— Ki-Moon…, he said.
— You're really starting to annoy me.
He pointed at me.
— One element to eliminate.
My face was displayed on screens all over the world.
close-up.
Targeted.
And for the first time since the start of the game, I smile.
Not because I was safe.
But because I found it amusing how easy it would be, if they wanted to, to eliminate me, they know everything, see everything.
I must stop being a player if I truly hope to survive.