These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends

Chapter 20: Lust for Life

In-ho froze, thinking he was truly going mad. He stared forward at the Overseer, eyes wide, but he wasn't really seeing. The voice he heard couldn't be real.

He turned his head to the side slowly, shaking from anger and bewilderment. His vision was blurry with tears, but after blinking it became clear.

You became clear.

You were standing there, leaning on a nearby shelf, covered in blood and bruises. You began to walk towards him on unsteady legs and your broken ankle, the adrenaline allowing you to ignore the pain radiating throughout your body.

In-ho let out a sob and dropped his knife, rushing to your side and holding you tight, looking you over with worry. He was too overwhelmed to say anything.

Although you were alive and conscious, you could barely register In-ho's touch. You were overwhelmed by everything you just experienced. You'd slowly walked the entire way there yourself, despite your injuries, with one thought in mind. Killing the Overseer yourself. And at that moment, In-ho was in your way.

You pushed him to the side as much as you could, continuing to walk towards the Overseer.

In-ho looked at you astonished, registering the look of absolute rage on your face. "Darling, stop, you need to-"

"Shut up." You shoved him again, not even looking at him as you said it.

He looked at you, stunned. You approached the Overseer, slowly kneeling down, and crying out from the pain. After taking a breath, you slowly raised your gun towards him. The Overseer watched you silently, and through his swollen features you could still recognize his resentful stare.

In-ho knelt next to you and held your shoulders, turning you towards him. "Stop. I can do this. Don't hurt yourself more."

You cried out of frustration, "In-ho! Stop." In your blind rage, you pointed your gun at In-ho, looking at him with fury in your eyes. "Get... the fuck... out of my way."

In-ho slowly leaned away from you, surprised and frightened. The look on his face brought you to reality for a moment, breaking your heart. You cried out, your hands shaking.

In-ho took a deep breath. "Okay... okay." He knew you were beyond reasoning, and at the very least understood why you needed to do this.

You dropped the gun, taking in a sharp breath and looking down in shame. You tried catching your breath as your sobs threatened to overtake you, and the Overseer began to laugh through pained breaths.

"Someone just fucking do it already. Watching this is worse than dying."

You shot your head towards him, anger fueling you again. There was no time to waste anymore. You noticed In-ho's knife on the ground near him and grabbed it, the shakiness from before gone.

You grabbed him by the collar, just as In-ho had done before, and raised the knife to his heart. The Overseer drew in a shaky breath and scoffed. "You're not much different than me, you know. Both of you. You'll never be able to-"

You cut him off by stabbing him deeply in his heart, his face instantly twisting in torment. You studied his face for several moments, delighting in his suffering, letting out a long, relieved breath. You removed the knife and stabbed him again, watching the blood pour from his chest.

The weight of the moment sent you into hysteria, and you stabbed him over and over, captivated by his pained facial expressions and sounds. He looked at you with anger and fear in his eyes, and you were reminded of the final round of the Squid Games you were in.

Back then, you hated seeing the other player look at you like that. It meant everything you experienced, everything you did, everything that led to your win, was real... And you couldn't bear the thought of that. But now, you reveled in the look on the Overseer's face. This time it meant that everything you'd been through was worth it. It meant you triumphed over everything that was meant to triumph over you. It meant you won, and this time you were so unbelievably happy to have won.