EGOIST (Sang Woo x Fem!OC) [COMPLETED]

3

"Player 324. Eliminated."

Hae Young freezes.

"What..."

That was a gunshot.

The large doll faces the tree once again as it begins to sing. It was green light as Player 250 reluctantly shuffled towards his fallen friend. Already, she can tell that something was wrong. From the distance, Hae Young and the rest of the crowd watches as 250 nudges his friend. 324 does not move, blood pools around his body. They finally realize that it was all real when 250 begins running away with a gun somewhere in the walls already aimed at his chest. He reaches for the first woman in line, but then he is shot. Blood splatters everywhere, she screams.

With one bullet to her head, then another, and another, panicked people all fled back to the end of the field where one by one they were shot down. Hae Young is frozen in fear, though nearly knocked down to her feet as people whip past her. She already reckons there's blood somewhere on her tracksuit and face. As she hears the fleers screaming and getting shot at, without sparing a glance back at the entrance from where they came, she could already imagine the bodies piling up. She holds back the lump rising in her throat.

The gun shot seizes. Those who were left standing made sure to stand very still.

"Let me repeat. You can move forward while 'it' shouts 'Green light, red light'. If your movement is detected afterward, you will be eliminated."

Now the clauses made sense. It was clear, thorough, though what she did not understand was the 'game' she signed up for. The tactic definitely worked. The empty piggy bank, the subtle manipulation of the situation, the pink guards. Hae Young felt sick to her stomach. And as the mechanical doll turned her head back, she knew she could not die here.

The old man was the first to move in the stillness of the green men. 001 was grinning, though the way he moved was almost effortless. He moved at every green light and stopped at every red light. Pretty soon, the rest of the crowd carefully follows.

Green Light.

She scuttles ever so slightly, avoiding the bodies that were left strewn around the field. It already smells like metal and gunpowder, and she badly wanted to throw up. But the doll's head was spinning once more. Hae Young stops on her tracks.

Bang, bang.

Those who didn't make it fell down as soon as the bullets hit their chest, then it was back to green light.

Easy strides, ones that kept her balanced. The singing paced up, faster. She knows that there's a rhythm to it. Red light, green light is a game of rhythm that she remembers very well. Hiding behind in some man's shadow was a way to deter the uneasy eyes of the mechanical doll. And as she strides forward a few inches, she spots the shaking Gi-Hun anchored by what was once a living man.

Sang-Woo was just next to him as well, hiding behind a larger body just like she did. In that brief moment, it was as if they weren't strangers anymore and Sang-Woo gave her a subtle nod of approval. 'Keep yourself alive' is almost what he said. Hae Young nods back and focuses on the goal, meanwhile Sang-Woo tells Gi-Hun that he'll die if he doesn't move now.

Two minutes and twelve seconds, counting down. She winces at each bang and each body falling in the tense silence of the field. Her guard upfront was still alive and standing, much to her luck. Red light, green light. The tune gets faster and faster, and in under a minute she finds herself just a few feet away from the finish line. But then at red light, her shield made the fatal mistake of taking one more step out of desperation. And she saw it. She saw the robotic eyes deftly landing on her--or the figure in front of her. Then a loud gunshot, and blood splatters on her face. She closes her eyes shut, and opens them once again to a bloodied view of her goal. The liquid dips down to the crevices of her lips, and no matter how tight she shut them the blood seeps in. She tastes the blood of a man who died in her midst.

Nothing mattered now, only survival. For once, in the five minutes she found herself gambling for her life, she thought of the chance of looking back at either of her friends. She doesn't even know if they made it far enough, and there were only two ways to find out. Looking behind her was not an option. If seeing them standing still and very much alive would cost just as much as seeing their bloody corpses on the ground, then she'd rather see them, if not for the last time, behind the red line that would keep her safe. She needs to worry about herself first.

It was down to the last minute; the bloodiest last minute she had ever experienced and the fastest tune of red light, green light in her life. She kept the tempo memorized in her head--she knew when to stop. With one last glance at the digital timer, as the mechanical head made another turn, she went and took the leap, jumping as much as she could and landing just at the exact time she heard the voice say red light. Her blood freezes. With an ample amount of caution, she lifts her head to see that she's made in beyond the red line. For now, she is safe.

At green light, she turns and faces the crowd, and there are three things she sees first. First were the piles and piles of bodies stacked up by the entrance. It's just as she had imagined, surreal and nightmarish, that she had to spit on the ground to suppress the urge of vomiting. Second was the blood. There was a lot more that she had expected. On the ground, on the bodies, on the people that were still up and striding for their lives. And third, was Seong Gi-Hun looking back at her almost desperately, impressively held back from falling with one arm by the ever-so-strong Player 199. But it was Gi-Hun, and only Gi-Hun who was up in that sparse ground that mattered to her. Though she made sure to look behind the red line with her, much to her relief, Sang-Woo was also looking at her in bewilderment.

It all happened in slow motion, or that's what it felt like. Gi-Hun was so close to the line that the moment the doll turned its head one last time before the countdown, Hae Young screamed for her friends' name.

"Seong Gi-Hun, jump!" She cried, and he did as he was told.

Feet away from the finish line, it took most of his strength to get behind the line, neglecting direction as he absentmindedly aimed for Hae Yeong herself. The moment he landed on her, the timer had stopped. When they both got up, they, too, witnessed the unfortunate players who did not make it in time. They fell onto the dirt floor one by one.