Chapter 102

We were imprisoned in the facility and had to endure daily abuse disguised as training. Every morning, we had to run about 8 kilometers, and after that, we had to eat a breakfast that looked like dog food before heading straight to the martial arts training room.

But no matter how much I thought about it, the martial arts training after breakfast felt malicious. Because my training partner was always Yibai, and I always ended up being thrown by him, vomiting everything I had eaten that morning.

The adults there only taught us striking techniques like boxing, not grappling arts like judo. But somehow, he had learned those techniques and used them on me—every single day.

Yibai handed me a bottle of water and said,

“Bai, are you done throwing up?”

“Thanks to you, I don’t even need to eat breakfast. Seriously, where did you learn that technique?”

“I learned it from my dad. He’s really strong.”

“Then why were you dragged here? If your dad was that strong, he wouldn’t have let you come here.”

It was an honest question. At least I didn’t have a family. I wondered why someone with parents ended up here. Yibai made a bitter face and said,

“My dad… collapsed because of an illness… We were struggling with the surgery costs… Then some uncle in the hospital lobby said he’d pay for my dad’s surgery if I followed him. So I confirmed the payment and followed him. Hehe… I’m thorough, right?”

“Ah…”

“Why are you making that face? Isn’t that amazing?”

“…Yeah, it’s amazing.”

At the time, I couldn’t understand why someone would sacrifice themselves for others. I always prioritized myself. I was the most important, and for my sake, I could sacrifice anyone else.

“By the way, can you teach me those techniques?”

“What techniques?”

“The ones you used on me. Throwing, grappling, leg sweeps, arm locks… Wait, now that I think about it, I’ve been through a lot.”

“Hehehe… You really want to learn that?”

Yibai reached out his hand to me. His smile was so dazzling and beautiful that I unconsciously reached out my hand too.

And then Yibai grabbed my hand tightly…

And immediately put me in an armbar.

“AAAAH!”

“Watch carefully, this is called an armbar!”

“YOU CRAZY BITCH, LET GO!!!”

“Tsk tsk, what kind of language is that to your master?”

“YOU PSYCHO, LET ME GO!!!!”

“Escaping from an armbar is part of the training, you know?”

After being stuck in the armbar for about 20 minutes, I had to eat dinner that night using only my left hand. Yibai had no idea what he did wrong, and his clueless expression was so annoying that I ended up hitting his forehead with a spoon while eating something like stew.

Of course, a fight broke out. And of course, I got destroyed. Damn it, back then, all I knew was some half-baked boxing, and he mixed judo and all sorts of martial arts, so I had no chance.

“Ugh, you crazy bitch…”

“I’m not crazy, though?”

Even while cleaning up the spilled meal, I kept learning martial arts from him.

—

After some time, the adults made us spar with other kids. Honestly, some of them were physically overwhelming or had such great reflexes that they were tough opponents. But most of them were easy to handle.

Because every day, I was sparring with a crazy bitch who had mastered judo and all sorts of martial arts.

“Hey, how are you so good at martial arts? Even if your dad taught you, what kind of girl beats people up like that?”

“Because I’m the Heavenly Demon, of course.”

“Heavenly Demon? Is that something you eat on a train?”

I remembered seeing Heavenly Demon tea at a convenience store I used to go to as a kid.

“Hohoho… Fine, I, Yibai, the Heavenly Demon, will explain it to you myself.”

“Here we go again, you psycho.”

“The Heavenly Demon is the founder of the Heavenly Demon Sect, the absolute being, the strongest martial artist. Unbound by the rules of the righteous sects and uncompromising with evil like the Blood Sect, the absolute strongest who follows their own path! That is the Heavenly Demon! Got it?”

“Uh, I don’t get what the Heavenly Demon is, but… I do get that you’re a psycho beyond my imagination.”

“YOU DARE?! How dare you spout such nonsense to me, the disciple of the Peerless Divine Demon?! Do you want to see the Heavenly Demon Fist?”

Yibai started hitting my arm. The Heavenly Demon Fist wasn’t some cute, playful tapping. My left arm was bruised.

“Ugh, seriously, one punch!”

“You dare hit a woman? And I’m a year older than you? Disrespecting seniority? Here comes the Confucian Punch!”

He taught me the Confucian Punch. The original form of the Confucian Punch was very painful. My right arm was bruised.

“Hey! That really hurts!”

“Does it hurt? It hurts me too.”

“You’re the one hitting me, what are you hurting for?!”

“Ah, you’re not accepting this, huh?”

Yibai always told me stories about things he saw outside. Anime, movies, dramas, novels, the internet, games… He taught me so many things. Up until then, I had no complaints about being locked up in the facility, but after hearing his stories, I wanted to go outside for the first time.

Because I wanted to see the things he talked about. For the first time, I had an interest beyond worrying about meals and staying warm. But the adults would never let us go outside.

“If I ever get out… I’d like to try that game thing too. It sounds really fun from what you say.”

“Not all games are fun. Some rely on luck, and some are run by money-hungry bastards.”

“Well, game companies need to make money too…?”

“If you say that in front of gamers, you’ll get beaten to death as a corporate shill.”

Yibai said that while pretending to punch me. At the time, I didn’t know what kind of blasphemy that was. But later, when games were burning over reward issues, I found myself cursing out people who said things like that.

“So, what’s the most fun game?”

“Hmm… Tales of the Abyss was fun… Ah, Half-Life 3… No, forget that… There are many, but for me, the best was <Draghinty Fantasy 1>.”

“What kind of game is that?”

“It’s an RPG that mixes Western and Eastern styles… It’s about eight comrades who set out on an adventure to kill the Demon King.”

“Sounds cliché.”

Then a slap came flying.

“Cliché?! It’s classic! Take that back! If you don’t like clichés and want innovative stories, go play The Last of Us 2!”

“What’s that?”

“It’s something that calls itself a game, but it’s nuclear waste that’s not worth playing.”

At the time, I didn’t know what that game was. But later, I wanted to correct Yibai’s words. Calling it nuclear waste was too kind—apologize to nuclear waste.

“But the more I look at you, the more you resemble a character from that game.”

“In what way?”

“Your appearance… how clumsy you are with chopsticks… how messy you eat… how even when you get angry, it’s cute… or how you’re smart but still a bit of a goofball…”

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment, more like an insult.”

“Oh, did I get caught?”

We fought again that day. Of course, I got destroyed again. But at least I managed to land one punch on his chin.

—

The next day, the adults called us and handed us small knives.

Then they threw a bound noblewoman and uncle in front of us. Literally, they lifted people up and threw them. The gagged individuals were screaming something.

The leader of the adults crossed his arms and said,

“Today’s training is murder. No matter how much you learn, if you can’t use it on people, you’re trash. By today, you must kill these people. If even one of them escapes, you’ll all die. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

The adults cried and even bowed to us, begging for their lives. But at the time, I couldn’t understand. If those people lived, we’d all die, so were they asking us to die for them? I thought they were incredibly selfish.

While everyone hesitated, I picked up the knife without hesitation and walked over. I stabbed the noblewoman, who was crying, in the shoulder.

The lukewarm blood splattered on my face, and it felt disgusting. That was the extent of my thoughts.