Among those summoned, Byung-woo was one of the most powerful. The fact that he was so powerful made others fearful of him; some even compared him to the devil. He had so much authority that everyone immediately believes in what he says, and right now, he just dropped a major information bomb.
“what!”
“Only twenty people will go home?”
“But there are so many of us.”
Even Suh-myung, who usually maintained a poker face, was visibly shaken. He hurriedly walked past the gangsters and stood next to Dong-taek, then he asked,
“How do you know that?”
Kim Byung-woo ignored the question. He kept his attention on Park Min-ji.
“If you refuse my offer, you’ll die.”
“I’ll die?”
Park Min-ji’s eyes trembled in fear.
“If you come with me, you’ll survive and live a luxurious life. Everyone will envy you. “
“I’ll be envied?”
“I heard you were studying to become a public servant; if you come with me, you won’t need to work, you’ll be treated like a rich mistress. ”
Byung-woo’s offer was tempting, and the alternative was death.
I looked at her face, and I could tell she had made her decision. She whispered softly,
“Sorry.”
She bowed her head and couldn’t look me in the eye.
Byeong-Woo Kim stepped away. It was clear that Min-ji would go with him and that she would not help me.
Kang Dong-taek could now freely attack me, but he was still in shock from Byung-woo’s offer, so he ended up asking a question instead.
“What do you mean she’ll live like a rich mistress? Do you mean that if we survive this competition that we’ll live a life of luxury? ”
Kang Dong-taek was so convinced that he would survive, that his mind was already focused on the prize. Although Dong-taek’s confidence wasn’t without reason, he was one of the people that had ingested the most beads along with Byung-woo.
I reached for my dagger while Dong-taek was still distracted; this was the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.
If I manage to defeat Dong-taek, his group will disband, and no one will be after me anymore.
As I roll to my side, Suh-myung takes out a dagger and suddenly stabs Dong-taek on his side then quickly makes his escape.
“Take that!”
Gang Dong-taek groaned while pulling out the dagger from his side.
“How dare you!”
He ran after Suh-myung, with his gang of thugs following him.
Choi Yu-mi was focused on the commotion that she didn’t notice that Kang Yoo-sik pulled out his sword, then he swung it towards her.
Choi Yu-mi instinctively blocked the word, but it managed to slice her arm.
I didn’t think that someone as docile as Kang Yoo-sik would be able to do such a thing.
Thud.
Her arm fell on the ground; she was losing too much blood and was nearing death.
Clang.
Her group started drawing their swords.
“Protect our big sister!”
Han Su-jin screamed at the beehive’s members, and then they ran to protect their queen bee. The older men also ran to defend Kang Yoo-sik, the two groups prepared for battle. They stood face to face forming two rows.
I was still confused; I thought that the fight between Dong-taek and me would continue. I never expected things to go this way.
“Let’s go.”
Kim Byung-woo grabbed Park Min-ji’s wrist.
“There is work to do.”
Even though he wasn’t facing me, I spoke to Byung-woo,
“Girls don’t like it when men hold their wrist like that; it’s painful. ”
He ignored what I said and continued walking away, so I whispered under my breath,
“Evil bastard.”
Meanwhile, Dong-taek had managed to corner Suh-myung, but he suddenly stopped, it seems the poison had finally caught up to him.
That was such a great idea, thanks me.
While admiring myself, Suh-myung’s sword penetrated Kang Dong-taek’s chest. Suh-myung declared,
“Kang Dong-taek is dead!”
The members of Dong-taek’s gang paused. They were puzzled about what to do now that their boss was dead.
“You no longer serve him; you’re now under me. ”
Dong-taek summoned twelve of his men here, but six had already died. The remaining members would now be under Suh-myun’s group, called Seonggo.
Many of Dong-taek’s underlings, including me, were new summons, just looking for a way to protect themselves. I figured that being part of a large group would ensure my survival, but I was wrong. The group that I thought would protect me became my abusers instead. The change in leadership didn’t matter to me; the way I saw it, nothing would change except for the name on top.
It was kind of ironic, Dong-taek was so sure he would survive in the end, yet he was among the first to die.
“If you come under me, I will comfort you until your heart’s content.”
Suh-myun said to the ladies, of course, they glared at him, especially Choi Hye-ri, if looks could kill, she would’ve murdered him. I winced and shook my head. It seems like he was taking advantage of Choi Yu-mi’s gang since her condition wasn’t looking good.
“Come to me.”
Kang Yoosik’s gang was the only one to join him, both Dong-taek and Choi Yu-mi’s gang denied his offer. Ho-Seok Park, the thug who struck my chin, spit and took a weapon. The fight was still paused, but it was clear no one else would join Suh-myun.
Seo Suh-myun greeted his new employees with a smile and said,
“You won’t be sorry.”
The fight between the beehive and the Kyungnodang had been put to a standstill after Seo Su-myun killed Kang Dong-taek. Suh-myun confidently made his way to Kang Yoo-sik to shake his hand.
Han Su-jin, who bandaged Choi’s arm, had a grim expression on her face. The beehives were stronger than the senior citizens. The fight was still in favor of the beehive despite Choi Yu-mi’s injury. Even though Dong-taek’s gang was loyal to him, they were already affiliated with the senior citizens, meaning by proxy, they were allied to Suh-myun.
When I saw Suh-myun and Yoo-sik shake hands, I realized that this was their plan all along.
Dong-tael, you idiot. You didn’t even notice your enemies were right under your nose, how pathetic.
Choi Yu-mi valiantly raised her sword.
“Seo Su-myun, I knew it would come down to this.”
“Hey, calm down.”
Choi Yumi swung her sword, but Su-myun managed to block it with his, the two swords clashed as both sides were trying to overpower each other.
“Let’s negotiate.”
Kang Yoo-sik’s stamina was slowly fading. The bead must be deteriorating.
“I won’t negotiate with someone weaker than me.”
Choi Yu-mi denied Yoo-sik, then spat on him. Her saliva was mixed with blood, yet she was still standing strong.
“Come on I’ll take you out to dinner, I’m tired of all these old ladies around me.”
The few female members in his gang were also elderly. They looked offended by what he said.
Suh-myung continued saying,
“There’s no beauty in our group except Choi Ye-ri, even Dong-taek’s group had no beauties. All the attractive ladies gathered under you. “
It was disgusting seeing Kang Yoo-sik lick his lips, and seeing his saliva slowly dry off.
“If we continue fighting like this, half the people here will die. Keep in mind that right now, there are more men than women.
“What made you think I’d negotiate with you?”
Seo Suh-myun looked at Choi Yu-mi then at Han Su-jin.
“If we talk, there will be no need for anyone to fight, and fewer lives will be lost.”
“As if someone like you cares about the lives of others.”
“Won’t you at least listen to what I have to say?”
Han Su-jin stepped forward.
“Then what do you want?”
Suh Myung-su said briefly.
“Your body.”
Choi Yoo-mi pushed harder on her sword.
“You ugly bastard.”
Su-myung waved his index finger.
“Look at your condition, if we continue to fight, you’ll die.”
Everyone had their eyes glued to the two of them, even the thugs guarding me switched their attention towards the two gang leaders.
The six thugs left in Dong-taek’s gang started approaching Suh-myun.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Suh-myun.
Ho-seok Park answered,
“I want to take revenge for the boss, but I won’t.”
Ho-seok paused before continuing.
“You clearly outnumber us, and it would be stupid to try and fight you. ”
“I’m glad you gave up on getting revenge, so do you plan on joining us now? ”
“No, our loyalty remains with boss Dong-taek. We won’t get in your way, but don’t get in our way either.”
Ho-seok started walking towards me.
“I just need to finish what the boss started”
I knew what he meant. I turned around and ran.
“Get him!”
The gangsters chased me and shouted.
“Why won’t you just stay still?”
As I ran, I picked my weapon on the floor. Just my luck, why did Ho-seok have to ingest the purple bead? The type of bead to increase speed and agility.
Park Ho-seok was quick and nearly caught up to me. I decided to enter the forest to try and hide from him instead.
The moment he was close enough that I felt his breath on my neck, I turned back and swung my sword. He was quick, alright, but not fast enough. My blade managed to cut his stomach, and the wound was deep enough that he began to bleed.
“You cowardly bastard,” Ho-seok screamed at me.
“Isn’t it more cowardly to have six people gang up on one guy?”
I said while running away. I noticed that he was trying to run, but his movements were slower, so the poison must be taking effect.
Thankfully I managed to eat red beads before; because of that, I had enough stamina left to run away. I kept running until I lost them.
I needed to rest, so I leaned on a nearby tree. The forest was considered too dangerous to survive in, but I was at ease because I knew I was strong enough to survive here.
7. Alone
I hunted lizards to survive. My skin was getting used to the poison that I slowly grew immune to; it merely felt like rain to me. Though I was able to hunt lizards, most of them didn’t have any beads in them, and if they did, they were usually common ones like blue and red.
“I’ve had enough with lizards.”
I went around looking for a new prey, but I didn’t find any. Instead, I found something else.
I saw Dong-taek’s gang. I climbed up a tree to observe them.
There were five of them. Park Ho-seok wasn’t with them. The thugs were fighting an ogre. This worries me; before, it took the entire gang to deal with one ogre, now five of them can stand up against one. They must’ve gotten stronger by eating more beads.
The moon was shining brightly that night. I’ve gotten more powerful, I thought that I was strong enough to go back to the village and face them, but now I see that they’ve gotten stronger too. I sighed with my realization.
I can’t go back yet.
Living alone was dull and miserable, my loneliness was killing me, and I must confess, I missed Park Min-ji’s arms.
I shook my head; I shouldn’t be thinking of Park Min-ji; after all, she abandoned me.
How strong must I become before I can return?
I’ll need to be as strong as Kim Byung-woo, but that’s impossible.
Thud.
The ogre fell, and the thugs high fived each other and celebrated.
“I’ll slaughter it.” Bang Woo-tak said.
Bang Woo-take was nicknamed “Spatula” because of his long chin. He pulled out his dagger and placed it under the ogre’s belly. He reached into the ogre’s intestines and started rummaging around, then he frowned.
“None! come on!”