𝐒𝐊𝐙 𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐒

THE SEA BURNS : CHANLIX

you before me

!! contains gore + violence !!

the Money-Nexus makes the "thing" between humans money rather than loving bonds. it reduces humans to balance sheets and numbers. it makes the simple act of focusing on getting food from farm to fork so complex that people starve and suffer.

one can be in debt due to greed, due to overly spending or for personal reasons. therefore,
( 万年 : Japanese for permanent) the Towa Game existed to allow for those who owe money, to be able to pay off their debts and promised a good life, the price to pay was their lives.

in the Cat Game, there were 6 games the players had to participate in. if they won all 6 games, they would be able to win the grand price of 200 million won. however, if they lost at the game, they would be eliminated.

Currently, there were only 26 people who were left, adding a few extra million to the original amount. the players were either covered with specs and splatters of blood or coated in sweat from the previous challenges. their eyes were tired and they were so worn out, too tired to even care about fighting each other.

each of them plopped onto their bed, clutching a broken bottle of soju beside them just in case of an uncalled for attack. when it was lights out, all of the players hit the hay and snores were soon bouncing off rigid walls of the twisted establishment.

however, Felix's wound seemed to have other ideas.
he held his hand to the slash, but no matter the pressure he applied the blood had still gushed between his fingers and oozed under his hand. soon, it had spread into Felix's sweat-damp t-shirt, the bright red quickly darkening, the dried blood turning reddish-brown. he felt the very fluid of his life drain away over his cold hands, a feeling of numbness time itself had become irrelevant; the seconds could have been hours, or hours mere seconds.

in that suspended moment he was the eye of his own storm; but for that moment of perfect calm and mental clarity, he paid over and over in the years to come. every quiet moment was spent playing the "what if" game until he surrendered her mind to the night. he soon felt lightheaded, like someone had wrapped a plastic bag around his head, depleting his oxygen. at least he had put up a good fight.

" hey! 015, please wake up! "
he felt someone call out his number, but he couldn't hear very well, it was like he was underwater. all he could see wasn't darkness, but blurred colours that tormented his hooded eyes.

Felix's throat ran dry as he struggled to get proper words out. he managed to gather the last bit of his energy, whimpering as a reply. as much as he didn't want to appear weak in front of the other player, his body betrayed him.

" oh my goodness mate! you're bleeding, let's get you cleaned up okay? "

" n-no it's fine.. "
Felix let out a strangled gasp as he felt more blood trickle down his fingers. he could already feel his life draining away, slowly.. painfully slowly.

" no can do! let's go get you cleaned up okay? "

without waiting for Felix's reply, the unknown player carried him gently, before kicking open the luckily open door with one foot.

being on the brink of unconsciousness, all felix could see was a disarray of colors and the blurry lines of the kind player that was carrying him currently. when they reached the bathroom, felix managed to faintly make out the number, 103.