Chapter 267.2 |
I raised my hand and pulled the trigger.
Click. The hollow sound of an empty chamber echoed.
‘Don’t stop.’
You only receive a body part if you fire three shots in a row.
I didn’t stop and kept pulling. Quickly, so my hand wouldn’t shake from survival fear.
Click.
The next shot……
Click.
“……”
‘I survived.’
And what that meant was.
That my opponent in this game of Russian roulette would inevitably die.
“…Agent Bronze.”
“……”
The opponent picked up the revolver I had set down on the table and pulled the trigger toward his temple.
And then.
Bang!
The gunshot rang out on the very next pull.
“……”
He’s dead.
[In an instant, that makes two corpses.]
“Congratulations! You’ve won! For the guest who pulled the trigger three times consecutively, the additional reward is…”
My cold sweat felt icy.
Agent Choi moved at an unnaturally fast pace toward the rail and chose a body part. How many more do we need? Even if we continue, the number of body parts we can obtain is five. Is that enough? That’s…
“Please get up.”
……
“…Pardon?”
“Rest.”
When I lifted my head, I saw Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
Chief Lizard swiftly cleared away Agent Bronze’s corpse and sat down on the padded armchair himself.
“Assign your seat to Supervisor Goat.”
“…!”
Baek Saheon immediately turned and started running.
‘That little shit.’
I rushed after him and grabbed him.
“Hey—”
“You know you have to die to get out anyway.”
“Fuck, what if I really die…!”
“Oh. Then do you have another method?”
“……”
“Or do you want to be trapped alone in this Darkness?”
There was no way he could explore this subway, this crazy annihilation-sanctioned disaster, on his own while leaving us behind.
In the end, he would either become fully contaminated and end up like Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, or take euthanasia pills and wake up in reality. There was no reason for him to take that risk alone.
…Of course.
‘…But what if we really die?’
That very small probability was chilling.
But rationally and emotionally, this was something we had to do.
My spine felt cold, but I didn’t release the arm holding him. Letting him run away here would only lead to a longer and more painful death.
“I’ll just take the euthanasia pills. Why do I have to get shot in the head?”
……
“Then do that.”
“…What?”
Right.
No matter what, we can’t force someone to die like this when another option exists.
‘He wasn’t even part of the group from the beginning.’
This wasn’t a matter of character.
…Unless we persuaded him with compensation.
“You can take double the coins you won from the slot machines.”
“…!”
[Hooh!]
“Think about it. Even after spending coins on this game, that much should still be left.”
No. In fact, there was a high chance more than two thousand coins would remain…
I whispered.
“Three-fifty.”
“……”
“You can take that much. You’ll need to keep working on this project. When you come back in ‘next time’, shouldn’t you be thinking about what you’ll buy with several hundred casino coins?”
Silence fell.
Behind us, I could hear Agent Choi choosing body parts and exchanging persistent, information-laden conversation with the dealer under the guise of small talk.
“…Five hundred.”
“Deal.”
“Shit.”
Baek Saheon cursed, then flinched at his own words. Sweating profusely, he came back and sat down on the armchair where I was.
“Then, we will begin.”
And then.
Bang!
While pulling the trigger first for three consecutive shots, he died on the third one.
“……”
“Congratulations!”
All that remained now was…
……
I sat back down on the armchair facing Section Chief Lee Jaheon. The armchair was slick with Baek Saheon’s blood.
“Section Chief. With just your senses right now… can you tell where the live round is?”
“That is impossible.”
“…Yes.”
I knew that already. I was just asking pointlessly. Nothing would change.
And even if he knew, it wouldn’t matter.
‘Ha.’
The revolver spinning on the table pointed toward Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
The one selected like that reached out and picked up the gun first.
“I’ll fire three shots consecutively.”
But.
Bang!
…His head was pierced on the very first shot.
“……”
“How incredibly lucky for you!”
I inhaled, then slowly exhaled.
How many times is this now.
I almost wish I’d died just now instead.
“Congratulations. The deceased’s additional reward is… ah, but this time you won’t receive a reward. The game has already ended.”
Ah.
“So if someone dies on the first shot while attempting to fire three consecutive shots, like just now… the condition isn’t met?”
“I guess soo?”
Wait.
‘Then…’
In the worst case, the body parts of Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae we’ve obtained so far might be the end of it.
I looked at the three body parts we had acquired.
Shoulder, chest, waist.
Strangely, the moment they were taken out, they stuck together, but they didn’t even form the minimum structure of a torso.
‘We need at least the pelvis.’
Only then could it possibly be judged as ‘Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae’s surviving form’.
And if the body parts lost here are reflected in the state of reality, then at least that much is needed to do anything after getting out.
If that’s the case……
……
“Just as a suggestion.”
I raised my hand and spoke.
“How about spinning the cylinder with two bullets loaded?”
“Oh?”
Let’s gamble with a higher risk method.
And in casino games, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
“Then, if we can fire three consecutive shots with a revolver loaded with two bullets…”
I looked at the rail.
“We’ll receive two body parts.”
“…!”
[This will be very entertaining, Friend.]
[However, wouldn’t that greatly increase the chance of being shot before completing three shots?]
That’s right.
And this method might not even feel like the danger increases all that much. It’s a game that ends the moment one of the two dies anyway, so the framework itself doesn’t change.
In that case.
“And in addition…”
I held back a sigh.
“Even after the opponent dies, the winner must take the remaining gun and fire at least one shot at themselves.”
“Oh?”
“There will still be at least one live round left. Both sides have to pull the trigger while risking death.”
In short, it’s insanity.
[Excellent, Mr. Roe Deer! Both participants will be able to savor the thrill through proactive action. Oh, if there were spectators, it would be a very exciting watch.]
[Still, even then, both might die without completing three shots and fail to achieve the objective…]
No.
‘We can achieve it.’
[Hooh.]
I have a plan.
Comments 2