Chapter 104

After that, the adults made us kill. To the children who killed without hesitation, they gave good food and good bedding, and to the children who hesitated to kill, they beat and starved them. Some children couldn’t endure the process and were beaten to death or starved to death. And among them was Number 69. Personally, I respected that child. They died sticking to their belief that killing was wrong until the end.

The types of people we killed also became diverse. Children caught trying to escape the facility, adults who couldn’t overcome their guilt and were caught trying to report outside, muscular adults who were so strong that several children died while fighting them, and people who looked like high school students, numbering over 40.

We killed them all.

Occasionally, famous people also came in. According to Yibai, there were entertainers famous for ruining their businesses and singers who committed fraud worth hundreds of billions. And sometimes, we had to kill adults who came to save us.

Someone once said that conscience is like a triangle. When you do bad things, it stabs your heart and hurts, but the more bad things you do, the more the triangle wears down and becomes round, and the pain of it stabbing your heart lessens. And eventually, the conscience disappears.

Whoever said that, it was truly correct. We killed people without hesitation for better meals and better sleeping quarters. The guilt had long disappeared.

“Bai, Bai.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Eat all of this.”

Yibai always ate only half of his meal and always gave me the meat side dishes. And he always laughed, saying he felt full just watching me eat.

“Why do you always leave the meat?”

“…It’s nothing. I just don’t have an appetite.”

“You’re weird.”

“Uh… yeah. Well, I’m a descendant of Confucius and the guardian saint of Confucianism, so of course.”

“You’re still spouting crazy nonsense that’s hard to listen to.”

That day, I learned what the Cobra Twist technique was with my body. Even though it had been three years since we met, I was still frustrated that I couldn’t beat Yibai. No, what kind of girl is so strong and knows so many techniques?

“Hey, I’m sorry, so let go of the technique! I think my bones are really going to break, damn it!”

“Hahaha! You finally realized the greatness of the Heavenly Demon Arts!”

“Earlier, you said you were the successor of Confucianism, you crazy bitch! Just one more!”

“A healthy mind resides in a healthy body! That’s why the Heavenly Demon Arts are an essential part of Confucian education!”

“No, you’re really crazy!”

That day, I faced the fear of death for the first time. Because men in black clothes and black hats were calling my name from across the way. If those men hadn’t been fumbling through the list, not knowing where my name was, I would have died that day. The incompetent grim reapers didn’t even know I was born without a name and abandoned.

“Alright, today’s game will be a bit special.”

The man who seemed to be the leader among the adults was smiling at us. I thought, ‘They’ll probably make us kill people like always.’ Because when those people told us to stab, we stabbed; when they told us to cut, we cut; and when they told us to kill, we killed.

The adults separated us from our partners and took half of us to a large training ground.

And then they told us this:

“From now on, only one child can leave this room. Think of it as a graduation exam.”

We were all speechless.

“Ah, did I make it too difficult? Let me make it simple. From now on, kill each other. If you don’t kill… you know what will happen.”

Suddenly, I remembered the bracelets on our wrists. The rule that if your partner dies, you die too. When some children noticed the bracelets, the leader smiled bitterly.

“Seems like there are some smart ones among you. Your partners are taking the same test on the other side. If they die, you die, and if you die, your partner dies.”

So, it was a battle royale where only one pair could survive.

“We don’t need useless chaff, so we want you to select the real ones yourselves. Now, fight well. I’ll wish you good luck.”

The leader said that and closed the door, leaving. After living there for three years, we knew. If we didn’t listen to those words, we would all be massacred.

And so, the children whose consciences had become circles began a bloody fight to kill each other. Of course, no child could beat me, who had trained with Yibai every day. I remembered all the judo, karate, muay thai, and kung fu that child had taught me.

But Number 287 swung a knife at me. It seemed they had hidden it, anticipating something in this training. I grabbed Number 287’s wrist tightly.

“Ahhh!”

They screamed and dropped the knife, and I picked it up and stabbed Number 287 to death. And with that knife in hand, I could effortlessly eliminate the other numbers.

Number 12, 397, 215, 167, 28, 399, 271, 265, 144, 223, 316…

I showered in blood. I stepped over the children’s bodies. There were no serious wounds. Seeing that I was alive, I instinctively knew Yibai was alive too. I was so happy about that fact, no matter how many other children died.

The adults said it was a graduation exam. Outside, I wanted to eat jajangmyeon with Yibai, read comics, watch movies, play games together… I wanted to keep living together. For the first time, I wanted to be with someone. Thinking about it now, that was my first love.

“Oh, as expected, you two are the ones left.”

When the leader opened the door and came in, I quickly hid the knife. Since it was a bare-handed spar, if they found out I had a weapon, things might get complicated.

“Now that the graduation exam is over, follow me.”

Following the leader, there was Yibai, covered in blood like me.

Yibai looked at me with a sad expression.

“Crazy bitch! You managed not to die! Let’s get out of this damn place!”

Then the leader chuckled and said.

“I took care of you so diligently, and you call it a damn place? But what to do? Only one of you can leave.”

“What did you say?”

“The graduation ceremony is still left.”

With a sinking feeling, I kept staring into his eyes. Yet, he still smiled kindly and said.

“Only one graduate can exist. Do you understand?”

He said that and removed my bracelet. Now I saw that Yibai also didn’t have a bracelet, like me. That’s why she had such a sad expression. From now on, we had to kill each other. I gritted my teeth.

I quietly walked towards Yibai.

“What are you doing… Get in position, you crazy bitch.”

I was anxious. I was uneasy. There was no way I could beat that child. For three years, we fought, but I never won once. That huge wall was finally approaching me little by little.

Knowing I couldn’t beat that child bare-handed, I tried to ambush her with the hidden knife. But as I took out the knife to stab her, she clearly recognized my attack.

In the brief moment I realized she had recognized my attack, I sensed death. She was strong, so she could easily deflect my attack, take the knife, and kill me.

But Yibai didn’t resist at all and let me stab her. No, she let herself be stabbed.

“Hey… you saw… what are you doing, damn it… you saw me take out the knife, you crazy bitch!”

Yibai smiled sadly and approached. As she approached, she was deeply stabbed by the blade, moaning briefly but still smiling.

And then she hugged me warmly.

“Our Bai, if I’m not here, you won’t have any friends… what will you do…”

“Hey, suddenly what…”

“Bai, actually, I was scared of killing… but… if I die, you die too… that was scarier…”

“Crazy bitch, why did you let me stab you!”

From the beginning, I knew I couldn’t beat that child. So at least, I wanted to struggle cowardly and die to lessen the guilt.

“But now I have to die so you can live… I thought it was really fortunate. Our Bai, even without me… don’t cry, okay?”

“What’s the point of dying, you crazy bitch! You said you had so much you wanted to do with me!”

“Then our Bai can do it for me… games, comics, movies, Heavenly Demon, Confucian successor… all of it… our Bai can do it for me… that would be good…”

That child said that and breathed her last.

My first love ended like that.

And I decided to do everything that child wanted to do. Because that was her wish.