[Bang-!]
[Thud-]
The sounds continued from inside the door.
What on earth was happening at this late hour…?
At least, it was clear this wasn’t a situation to simply ignore.
“What is it…?”
“I don’t know.”
Seongho seemed just as clueless about the situation.
Then.
[Thoom-]
[Crash!]
The central door burst open, drawing the attention of most participants.
And…
“Where is this?”
“What, a place where participants are gathered?”
Two people stood in the doorway.
They didn’t seem to be the masked figures running the game, at least.
One on the right was a burly man in a black leather jacket…
The other was still wearing the pink jumpsuit, but without a mask.
Since she was quite pretty to begin with… was she an eliminated player?
There was no way to know what had happened outside.
After a moment, they seemed to have a brief discussion before slowly stepping onto the stage.
And then.
“Everyone!!”
The man on the right shouted, drawing everyone’s gaze.
“We’re detectives from the Yang-O Police Station!”
“We came in response to your report!”
Police…?
It was reassuring, but suspicion came first.
Firstly, how did they get here against a criminal organization with this level of technology?
Secondly, how many officers were deployed?
And it seemed I wasn’t the only one with these questions.
Most people were wary of those who had opened the door, trying to remain hidden.
“Um…!”
“So, can we… get out of here…?”
Someone in the auditorium spoke up. Looking closer, it was a well-built Black man.
George, was it…?
“…We can get you out, but…”
“We’re sorry, but we’ll need your help.”
Were they in a desperate situation too?
“Is there anyone here who wants to escape this place?”
I desperately wanted to escape, but risking danger to do so was too much.
The tentacle torture from before was still ingrained in my mind, making it hard to speak.
And the others seemed to have that trauma etched into them as well.
“…Is no one going to say anything?”
“Frankly, we don’t have much time either…”
Then.
“Me…! I… I’ll do it!”
George was the first to speak up.
And wasn’t there something called herd mentality?
“I… me too!”
“It’s an impossible game anyway, I’ll join too.”
Voices started to emerge from a few places.
And most of them… were men.
“Then I will too…!”
What courage had come over me?
As people joined one after another, I found myself speaking up too.
I decided to think of it the other way around.
I’d be modified anyway if I stayed here…
“I understand your opinions…”
“Then everyone, please come forward.”
Several participants slowly rose from their seats and began walking towards the stage.
And just as I was about to step onto the stage…
[Grab-]
Someone grabbed my arm. I turned around to see… Seungho.
“…Why?”
He glanced around, and I looked around as well.
…Most people were still not coming onto the stage.
Was it fear?
But that illusion was quickly shattered.
“Why… are you trying to get all the participants here to escape?!”
“I still want to play the game…”
…Number 64.
He’d tasted the bitterness of modification, and still hadn’t learned his lesson.
And 64’s misguided courage slowly prompted others to stand up as well.
“Well… yeah…! Escaping might mean death…”
“Maybe you guys… are employees here?”
Voices opposing them were louder than those supporting them.
It was ironic that they weren’t welcoming the people who came to rescue them.
And as those voices grew louder, even the people who were about to leave stopped in their tracks.
Even me…
I had wanted to escape so badly, but when the time came, I was filled with fear.
‘I’m just a person swept away by the tide…’ I couldn’t help but realize.
“I want to play the game more…! Get out if you’re going to interfere!”
“Surely the game isn’t going to be canceled because of this?”
Soon, murmurs and voices calling for their expulsion began to increase.
Was the prize money that important…?
At this rate, they would take the remaining participants and leave,
and I would be left in this auditorium.
I hated that more than anything, but… I was just as reluctant to take a step forward.
Then.
[Bang!]
Another gunshot rang out towards the ceiling, silencing the entire auditorium.
…The gunshot was a trauma for the participants, and even for me.
“If you don’t want to escape, we’ll just take the necessary people and leave!”
“So don’t force people to stay, and if you want to stay, stay here!”
After that, there were still some murmurs, but no one spoke up loudly.
But because of the previous aftermath, it was still difficult to make a decision.
“Everyone! I’ll say it one more time!”
“Are you going to be left behind because you can’t make a choice? Or are you going to leave this place with us?”
His words sounded familiar.
But there was a unique resonance in his words.
[Step… Step…]
My feet started moving towards the stage on their own.
“Seungho… I’m sorry, but I’ll be back.”
“…Just don’t do anything dangerous.”
Seungho didn’t seem to be stopping me in this situation.
The others still seemed to be afraid or wanted to win the prize money.
That’s why I was the only one who came out after hearing those words.
Finally, as I stood in front of the two of them, the detective slowly opened his mouth.
“Thank you a hundred times for your courage, but we don’t have time, so I’ll explain quickly.”
“First, as you go, you’ll see some masked people collapsed. Men, please pick up the guns from their pockets.”
Looking closely at his equipment, he had a radio and one of the pink guns that the masked people were carrying.
To come this far with only that armament… he was quite impressive.
“In total… there are 8 of us, including us.”
Just a few days ago, there would have been at least dozens of people…
Being in this place for a long time had made me used to the environment.
“I’m sorry, but the route we’re taking is different from the route the men are taking.”
“I’m really sorry, but the men will have to separate from us.”
There were sounds of panic from around him at his words, but they soon subsided.
“…I’m really sorry. There’s only one woman who’s participating, right?”
Was he… talking about me?
It felt strange to be called a woman.
“….Yes…”
“The woman will come with us.”
Maybe this was better…
I was a veteran, so it might have been better to hold out with the other 5 men with guns.
Still, since he was a detective… it seemed better to trust him.
“The masked people will be here soon, so let’s leave quickly!”
“Men, you’ll see 11 written on the wall, go straight to the right of that!”
[Grab-]
As soon as he finished speaking, the detective grabbed my hand and quickly left the auditorium.
…
[Step! Step!]
We ran for quite a long time, but we still didn’t see any masked people.
The numbers on the wall changed every time we passed, so that seemed to be how we knew the structure.
And right now, it said ‘2’.
“Um… your name…”
“Just call me Detective Kim. Let’s talk about my real name after we get out.”
Then, as the number on the wall changed to ‘3’, the detective and the woman next to him stopped.
“Well, I’m going to go get someone soon! Dohyun, take the woman!”
“Hey… am I not even seen as a woman anymore?”
Then.
[Bang!, Bang!]
The sound of masked people firing guns and smoke rose around us.
“Um… I can’t see!”
“…Let’s change the plan! Dohyun, get out of the building first!”
[Grab-]
As soon as he finished speaking, the detective grabbed my hand and started running in the opposite direction.
“Woman, you don’t know the structure of this place, do you?”
“No…”
I felt sorry for some reason, as if I had become a troll to his question.
“Then let’s go together for now.”
He was definitely a detective, so his judgment was quick.
But on the other hand, my head couldn’t keep up with this fast-paced situation.
…I had to help somehow.
After Dohyun left, we kept walking, but my head couldn’t figure out the situation.
Since becoming a woman recently, the situation seemed to be developing in a more unique direction.
[Step… Step…]
Then, I heard footsteps around the hallway and turned around…
“Detective! Mask behind you!”
A masked person started aiming a gun at us as we ran.
Then.
[Bang!]
Detective Kim fired at one of the masked people aiming, and smoke rose.
“…Did you hit him?”
“…I don’t know.”
[Grab-]
Without a break, he grabbed my hand and ran even faster.
I was quite tired because I was running faster than usual, but… I wasn’t in a position to complain.
[Step! Step!]
Then, I heard the sound of many people running from far away.
“Detective…! Someone’s coming from the hallway!”
The unique footsteps didn’t seem to be participants.
[Step… Step…]
Soon, I started hearing a lot of footsteps from the opposite hallway as well.
Was this… an ambush?
Detective Kim seemed flustered by this as well.
But then he looked to the side…
[Grab-]
“Wait a minute…!”
[Click-]
He hugged me and went into the room next to him.
“…I’m sorry for doing this so suddenly.”
“Oh, it’s okay…”
To be honest, I was just confused because my head couldn’t keep up with the situation before that.
Was this a safe place…?
For some reason, it felt like the sound outside had completely stopped.
I couldn’t hear the sound, but judging from the fact that they weren’t coming in… they didn’t notice.
“Haa…”
I relaxed for a moment and looked around.
The room had a refreshing feeling.
And… there was only a bed and a pink light as furniture.
There was a blanket on the bed.
[Rustle…]
Suddenly, a person woke up from the blanket, and I was momentarily flustered.
She had long black hair, a beautiful face, and was only wearing the same pink underwear as us.
With that beauty… I was sure she had been modified.
“Oh…? It’s Master!”
And the woman started crawling towards Detective Kim next to her.
“Master… I actually liked you, Master…”
“Please love me a lot in the future too~♡”
As she approached Detective Kim and clung to his knees, I knew it was a trap.
I subtly touched Detective Kim’s arm and sent him signals, but… his movements were stopped.
“Um, Detective Kim? We need to get out of here quickly…”
For some reason, his expression looked somewhat fierce.
As time passed, his expression gradually… looked like he was shocked.
It was the opposite of before.
And then, after a silence, he began to speak in a trembling voice.
“…Detective Lim…?”
