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1. The World In The Game
A swarm of lights flickered over the eye patch that covered his eyes. Because of the wrist tied behind the back, the arm that does not bleed is too numb. There was no sense of depreciation under the knee, which had been kneeling for a long time.
I struggled to improve my hearing as much as I could while sitting in an uncomfortable position. For now, the only thing I could depend on was sound. The problem is that even the situation that was inferred from the sound was equally disappointing.
“—Ack!”
Ever since I was caught in an unknown place, I heard a groan along with the sound of flesh bursting. But there was no groan this time, only a beaten sound. The opponent had clearly pushed out to the point of being unable to make a sound.
‘Mom—’
I was calling for my mother because I wanted to cry. After I became an adult, I wondered when was the last time I called my mother so earnestly.
I want to go down on my knees and beg for help. I would have been caught doing that if it hadn’t been for the hand slowly pressing the back of my head.
However, I knew what the warning meant. An unspoken threat to keep quiet and not even breathe loudly unless I want to die right now.
I was even killing my breath to stay alive as I heard another hard-hitting sound. I was startled and tried to raise my head, but the pressure of the hand on the back of my head grew stronger and I couldn’t move.
“Oh, let him go.”
“Do you mean the hand as well?”
“Yeah.”
It was the first voice I heard except for someone groaning. But there was no time to celebrate, as the crisis worsened. This was because, at the same time as the voices were heard, the periodic beatings sound stopped. If the order was given for the unexplained violence, it had to be my turn this time.
Why do I have to be like this?
Tears seemed about to come out of feeling frustration, but I barely held it in. The person in the back unexpectedly clicked his tongue while I was forcibly swallowing the sob. Even though I felt my arm being released with that sound, I still couldn’t move freely.
After a while, there was a sound of metal falling to the floor, and the blindfold slowly peeled off. I frowned because my eyes hurt from the sudden light.
“Ah—”
The bright light was burning my retina and making me dizzy, so I blinked. As I lowered my head to avoid the light, a luxuriously laid carpet caught my eye through the blurred vision.
Looking at the fancy carpet that can only be seen in movies, I remembered a movie whose title I couldn’t even remember. It was a B-class action movie about a criminal trying to kill a witness because he saw his face.
Wouldn’t they spare me if I didn’t see his face?
I leaned forward in such a weak hope and closed my eyes tightly. However, it seems that the other person hadn’t even seen the movie. Seeing that he couldn’t wait for that moment, he harshly pulled my hair and forced me to lift my head.
The pain of pulling the scalp and the fear of survival made my body tremble. It was as if someone had made a small click sound in the body that was trembling out of control.
Will I die here?
Will I be beaten to death in such a horrible place? As I struggled to open my eyes, I heard a voice from the other side.
“Chorok-ah, please be polite.”
“—Yes.”
Now, what politeness? Is kidnapping someone in the world even polite? If you’re trying to be polite, you shouldn’t have kidnapped me in the first place!
I opened my ears to observe the situation, struggling to keep my anger in control. But the more I do it, the more I realize that the way the person I don’t know speaks is rather unique.
The way of speaking, which had a little gap in between, was relaxed, giving it a somewhat sleepy feeling, and the low-sinking voice with a rich echo felt soft and friendly.
But the personality of that person who only has a good voice must be the opposite. Seeing that he has caught a good man like me who has never sinned in my life.
Or they might have mistakenly brought the wrong person.
Even though the hand that was holding the head fell off due to someone’s insistence, I still thought about it and put my last hope. It turned out to be a hope that he might have misunderstood me as someone else and caught me by mistake.
Anyway, about Chorok—. I thought I’d heard that name somewhere. Is it the name of a dog living in the neighborhood?
Although I was trembling, I tilted my head, questioning the familiar name for some reason. At the same time, the eyes that had been adapted to the bright light looked at where I had been caught.
This place was decorated like someone’s office. It’s a very luxurious place as if it was covered with money.
Sunlight was pouring in from the opposite window, and the dark wooden desk that received the light was shiny.
And the tall man leaning obliquely in front of the desk looked like the owner of this place. A man wearing a white shirt, brown formal pants, and a tuxedo vest, exudes a dangerous atmosphere at first glance.
When his eyes meet my eyes, he raises the corner of his mouth and throws what he was holding in his hand lightly. The blood-stained person was thrown to the floor without making a sound. Seeing that he was wriggling in pain, he might not have died, but at least he seemed to be on the verge of death.
At that moment, the man who saw blood-stained black leather gloves with a unique design that exposed the back of his hands clicked his tongue slightly. Even the sound of tongue-kicking was relaxed, so a person who’s in a hurry might run out of breath while listening to it.
And I was about to lose my breath. This is because I finally found out who the man in front of me was.
“Oh no, I invited the guest and have been rude to him.”
In this situation, the man who uttered such a sound took off his glove and threw it to the floor. What the heck was on the floor was breaking from the gloves that had fallen on the floor. It was by no means a sound that could come from a leather-textured thing.
I returned my attention to the man after hesitantly staring at the ominous gloves. Suddenly, a man who took the same gloves out of the desk drawer and wore them was walking in front of me.
It’s my turn this time.
I could see it intuitively. If I don’t do what he wants, my blood will be on those new gloves.
I looked at the man, begging him not to come. As the man got closer, my gaze shifted a little higher.
The man whose shoulders were wide enough to fit his height, and his straight forehead was clearly revealed thanks to his neat hairstyle, was a handsome man who was handsome enough to be admired at a glance. A handsome man with a grotesque atmosphere of blood on one cheek.
In fact, he just looked like a super handsome crazy guy.
“Are you Yeon Seonwoo?”
Aah. That one question shattered my hopes that they might have caught the wrong person.
The man raised the corners of his mouth as he spoke with his distinctive tone of voice. His attitude was as relaxed as his tone, which made him very arrogant and tired.
In addition, in this situation, that relaxation. It can’t really be that guy.
How scary would it be to have such a person squatting in front of me and smiling helplessly? I swallowed dry saliva in tension as I looked at the person’s indifferent smile.
Unless I’m mistaken, he was the protagonist of this world who could do anything he wanted. A person who can have and achieve anything he wants.
I don’t know why such a guy caught a normal person like me.
“Master, here—there’s blood on it.”
Then a hand suddenly protruded from behind and gently rubbed the cheek of the man sitting opposite him. I was so startled that it took my breath away because I had forgotten that there was someone behind me.
However, the opponent wiped the blood delicately as if touching the fragile glass with a polite and careful touch without caring about my condition.
Crazy guy and blood. It’s not like it’s a sauce in painting to be wiped like that.
“Hey, you’ve been rude to the invited guests.”
“
.”
It wouldn’t have been just a little bit of blood to be rude.
I wanted to ask if it was rude to force me to do so, so I raised my eyebrows dissatisfied, and quickly lowered my eyes again. It was a mistake I made because I was annoyed at the moment and forgot who the person in front of me was.
The man who was wiping his bloody cheeks smiled as if he liked my obedient attitude. Seeing it with a glance, I chewed the swear words inside.
‘Crazy crazy crazy! Damn it!”
It was clear that this violent scene was also shown on purpose. This is to suggest that if I don’t listen carefully, I’ll soon become like that.
“Yeon Seonwoo-ssi?”
While I was only screaming on the inside, the man called my name once more. To be honest, I thought I didn’t know this person, so I wanted to shout at him, ‘Why did you catch someone like me?’
However, due to the fact that the answer was a little delayed, I decided to keep my words as my life became suffocating. Instead, I answered politely.
“Yes.”
“You’re Yeon Seonwoo, right?”
No, I’m not the Yeon Seonwoo you’re looking for!
“—Yes.”
I bit hard on the inside of my cheeks while having a strange experience in which my heart and mouth both reacted differently. I can’t erase one thought either. Oh, I think it’s a bit messed up.
“I heard you’re a talented mentalist. Is that true?”
I told you it’s not me?!
“It’s true I’m a mentalist, but I’m not that good.”
I turned the answer in my mind to make it sound as good as possible.
But is it because I turned it too far? The person who had not spoken for a moment tilted his head slowly. His smiling face was also strangely hardened, making it a little scary.