Death Wish

Act II - Devastated

The first round has ended, forty-seven wishers have survived the game. The other survivors in the other groups are still unknown, but they obviously have the same results. Everyone who survived was devastated, some made it by sacrificing others, some survived due to their quick-wittedness, and some survived because they were saved by others. Jin Suk was on his knees in a daze. The timid boy who helped them earlier was looking at him concerned.

The tiles are forming as one again, they are beginning to piece altogether to return to their original state. A sigh of relief was shown by the survivors, but they still feel at the edge, still anxious. Watching people fall to their deaths was a traumatic experience for them. The color of human nature was fully displayed at the final levels. Desolated participants are willing to sacrifice others, just to save their own skin. A memory that will haunt them forever. The first game was already a nightmare, what about the other rounds they have to hold until the end. What awaits them are challenges that can’t be defined in reality. The game is going to be an absolute horror and they must overcome these trials to win.

The boy immediately went by his side and tap his shoulders, “Ahjussi, are you okay?”, the boy asked him. Jin Suk regained his perceptions back, he looked at the boy and stood up. “I’m fine”, he snaps his neck to stretch it out as he was fixing his clothes after getting wrinkled in a fight against the big guy. “It’s wasn’t your fault”, the boy said as he look away. Noh Jin Suk looks at him, “It was his own choice”, he added then the two look at each other.

“I know”, Jin Suk replied as he inserted his hands in his pocket. Jin Suk was confused by himself, he was the kind of guy who turns a blind eye to other people’s business. He wasn’t sure to himself, why he was so eager to save him when he just met him. He knows to himself that he wasn’t like this, he feels like some spirit went inside of him to do the opposite thing that he was gonna do. In the next rounds, he will make sure that he will not care about others and will focus on saving his own skin. He almost his life trying to save one, he won’t make another mistake.

“My focus was in you too, taking that huge guy was clearly impossible”, the boy said. “I really wanted to help but I was too far away and the time wasn’t enough for me to save someone, it will cause my own death instead”, he added as he flickers his eyes. “That guy knew that the three of you won’t survive if no one will take the risky and serious decision, the decision to sacrifice oneself”, the boy said the truth, Kang Sok Jun was the one who took that deadly decision. Jin Suk can’t respond, he just looks down and gulped.

The exit has finally opened and the remaining wishers are not proceeding to exit the room. The room where chaos, mishaps, sacrifice, and horrifying screams of the fallen happened. The two proceeded and walk to the gate, “Ahjussi”, the boy wanted to ask something from him, “May I know your name”, he asked as they continued to walk. It took several seconds before Noh Jin Suk can reply, “Noh Jin Suk. What about you?”, he asked the boy’s name in exchange, he wants to know more about the boy. “Me? I’m Lee Yoo Chan”, the boy stopped as well as Jin Suk and hands out his hand then smiled, “Nice to meet you, Ahjussi”, Jin Suk looked at him and ignored him leaving Yoo Chan behind. The two entered the gate together again for the second time.

They got back in the huge dome and many of them were emerging in one gate only. It was crowded but it wasn’t the same as the last time. As the wishers positioned themselves in different areas, you can see the difference where a large number of them were cut off. Jin Suk went back to his room along with Yoo Chan. He leaned and cross his arms together while Lee Yoo Chan sat, sliding down the wall exhausted.

Noh Jin Suk saw the guy right beside his room walking out from the gate. It seems he survived in the other group. The poker face guy was coming from his direction, probably going back to his room, the two met eyes. He stood straight and still then inserted both his hands in his pocket. Jin Suk can feel that he isn’t an ordinary guy.

In a far distance, a guy with a really loud was calling for someone, “Boss! Boss!”, shout by the guy waving his hands at the far corner. Everyone’s attention was on him including Noh Jin Suk. He folded down his eyebrows to see that the guy was waving at him, he looks at the side to see if he was calling for someone else. Lee Yoo Chan and he looked at each other, not knowing who the guy was calling. The dome was had dim light so he wasn’t able to identify him. The guy ran in a direction on where he was standing, little by little the guy’s face was getting clearer.

Noh Jin Suk's eyes widen as he unwraps his hands after knowing he was. It was the guy he really knows, a guy he trusted, and his partner. It was Jang Hee Chul, the right-hand man of Noh Jin Suk. “Hee-Chul?”, he whispered the name of his subordinate. “Boss!”, Hee Chul opened his arms, ready to hug his boss. Jin Suk dodged him and left Hee Chul frozen in an embarrassing position.

“Boss!!!”, Jang Hee Chul frowned. “What are you doing here?”, Jin Suk asked, “That’s my line, boss. What are you doing here”, Jang Hee Chul raised his eyebrows as he smirks. Noh Jin Suk looked away and didn’t respond. “I knew it was you! I recognize your back as you entered the gate earlier”, he said and Jin Suk didn’t bother to respond. “Come on, boss. Are you not happy to see me?”, Hee Chul smiles. Noh Jin Suk ignored him and distance himself.

Lee Yoo Chan stood up and went to Noh Jin Suk, “Do you know him?”, he asked. Jin Suk looks at Hee Chul wearing a bright smile on his face. Noh Jin Suk looks away with a serious face saying, “No”. Hee Chul’s face went from an angel to an angel who was forced to leave heaven. “Boss! That hurt my feelings”, Hee Chul frowned. Yoo Chan couldn’t help but snigger. “What’s funny, kid?”, he asked Yoo Chan making him swallow his own spit. Hee Chul might have a friendly personality but his appearance says otherwise. He is only like this infront of his Jin Suk.

“Who is this kid, boss? You know him”, Hee Chul prying his eyes on the terrified Yoo Chan. “Ahjussi, I’m going back”, Yoo Chan put his head down as he avoid meeting eyes with Hee Chuls’ devil eyes. “Don’t scare the kid, bastard”, Jin Suk tells him. Hee Chul laughs and puts his hand around on Yoo Chan’s shoulders, “I'm just kidding, boss”, he giggled, “If he is your friend then I am his friend too”, he said and looks at Yoo Chan, “Isn’t that right, chingu?”, Hee Chul gave a creepy smile, making Yoo Chan shakes his head immediately scared, “See? We are friends now”, he proudly says to Jin Suk. Jin Suk takes a deep breath and regains focus to keep his guard for the next events.

(Note: ‘Chingu’ literal meaning is ‘friend’ but its mostly used by people who were born in the same age)

A bunch of set numbers was shown at the top of the center, everyone’s attention was on the screen. They realize that it was the numbers of each group that was formed in the last round. All three of them looked up to see what it is.

[TSUNAMI: 103]

[ERUPTION: 104]

[TORNADO: 103

[EARTHQUAKE: 104]

[RAPTURE: 103]

The group was named with disasters but the fifth group was different, a word that is very known in the bible. Jin Suk doesn’t know why the game used this to classify the group. “Why are the group names are like that, boss?”, Hee Chul asked as he still have Yoo Chan in his arms, “I don’t know”, Jin Suk replied.

Then the number started to decrease as if it was a slot machine, the wishers’ eyes widen as they know that every number that has been subtracted is equal to one life that has been lost. The place became quiet as they witness how many lives we lost in the last round. The feeling was late but it made a big impact on everyone’s emotional well-being.

[TSUNAMI: 58]

[ERUPTION: 62]

[TORNADO: 54]

[EARTHQUAKE: 72]

[RAPTURE: 47]

The screen revealed the remaining survivors of each group in the last game, they immediately know what group they were in at the last round. “I was in the group Eruption”, Hee Chul said. “What about yours, boss?”, he looked at Jin Suk. “We were in group rapture”, Yoo Chan answered him instead. He looked at Yoo Chan and Jin Suk changing gaze and switching several times as if he was shaking his head. “You two were in the same group?”, he asked as his eyes widened, Yoo Chan nods in response.

Hee Chul removes his arms on Yoo Chan and grunts, “I see, you’ve gotten closer huh?”, he folds his lips together and raised both his eyebrows then takes small steps backward. “What’s wrong with you?”, both of them look at Hee Chul. He stopped and replied, “Nothing”, he smiled.

The numbers began to move as they merge together in the center forming an exact total number of wishers remaining inside the dome. The three of them focus their attention and waited for something to happen. “You guys know that there’s a big chance that we will die in the upcoming rounds right?”, Hee Chul says as he still looks up. The three became silent, unable to answer the question. The question of which reality is heavily involved, a question that will catch up to them soon. Death is waiting for them at the door of the fallen.

Yoo Chan flicked his eyes once and looks at the remaining wishers all over the dome then looks at Jin Suk as if he was scared. “It’s gonna be fine”, Jin Suk said, still focusing on the forming numbers. Yoo Chan nods his head. Hee Chul laid his hands on Yoo Chan’s shoulder again, “Yeah, kid. It’s gonna be fine. Don’t think too much and focus on saving yourself”, Hee Chul smiled. “That’s right”, Yoo Chan gulps and looks down, and forces himself to smile.

[Remaining Wishers: 293]

The number of wishers who were standing in the dome was decreased after the last round. To five hundred and fourteen wishers, there was only two hundred and ninety-three left. Two hundred and twenty-one wishers have visited death’s door. Their deaths were tragic but those who survive must live on until the final breaths are taken away from them. They must survive till the end and cheat death countless times.

Then the glass roof was exchanged with a bright white ceiling covering the mesmerizing stars in the galaxy. The bright lights in the dome were lowered, making the place dimly lit. The brightness of the white ceiling was like a moon, lighting up the dome’s dark space. Everyone was bending their necks high as they witness numerous pictures sliding inside the ceiling and arranged in several line patterns filling it with the wishers’ profile.

Each and single one of them was posted in the ceiling with their pictures and names displayed. The complete bio of the wishers was shown for everyone to see. “Woah!”, Hee Chul was amazed that his eyes sparkled. “Is this all of us?”, Yoo Chan asked his eyes moving to check out every single profile of the wishers. “I think so”, Hee Chul replied and he raised his hand trying to find and pin his profile.

“There’s a lot, it’s so hard to find mine –”, Hee Chul cuts his sentence and taps Yoo Chan’s shoulders, pointing out in a specific direction, ”There you are!”, he said excitedly, smiling like an i***t. “It is me”, Yoo Chan murmured. “Right? How did they even take a picture so proper and clear?”, Hee Chul asked. “I don’t know but the game is capable of anything so this is just a small cake of work for them”, Yoo Chan said. The three were still looking at every profile of the wishers even with their necks feeling numb.

Noh Jin Suk the other way was trying to find someone. He managed to find the girl who risk her own life to save someone. He was trying to find Kang Sok Jun's profile, “Ahjussi, look there”, Yoo Chan grabs his sleeves and points at a profile, it was Kang Sok Jun’s profile but without his glasses.

All of a sudden Kang Sok Jun’s profile turned light red, followed by several profiles. Loud buzzes can be heard as each picture turns red. Numerous profiles who have turned light red had their mouths covered by white ‘X’ marks. The profile fades away, leaving a pitch-black slot. Flashes of red light were appearing, it was a battle between red and white lights.

The profiles that disappeared were the profile of those who were eliminated in the first round. It went for a moment as numerous lives were lost in the first round. The ceiling looks like it was covered with box holes leaving the survivors' profiles behind. The removal was completed and the profiles that remained adjusted their position to form another set of patterns to make it more organized.

The uneasy feeling was devouring them inside knowing that there will be more profiles that will soon disappear on the ceiling. They do not know that their picture will remain until the end and everyone was anxious and restless. Their terrified hearts are killing them, they can’t stop feeling this way.

They know this would happen. Yet, they chose to be here asking for their own death wish. Selling their one and only soul to enter a game that can make your existence disappear in an instant. Their lives will soon enter in a door that they can only enter once, the door of the afterlife.

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[End of Act II - Devastated]

[Next - Open Wounds]