➳ 𝐄𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 - 𝐓𝐏𝐍 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫

⇢ ˗ˏˋ Nine ࿐ྂ

I wake up on a stone ground. I groan, feeling my back stiffen and head hurt as I sit up. I look around to see something colorful, resembling a village.

"Where am I?" I mumble, standing up. I walk towards the village, seeing a sign saying 'WELCOME' but backwards. Nevermind, it's just that I'm standing behind it.

"Ray! Emma! Hag!" I yell out, in hopes that they are near. Instead I am met with silence. I need to find them, to do that I need to figure out where I am first. I hear a shuffle from behind a building so I turn around.

"Who's there?" I call out. I see a silhouette of someone running out and away down an alley. A human kid!

"Hey! Wait up! Come back!" I chase after them, hoping that I'll reach them.

As I continue running, I lose sight of the kid. I huff and groan. Where did they go? I look down at my hands to see a message written on my left hand. Use the pen. The pen! I take it out of my pocket and check the location. AO8-63. This place is Goldy Pond... I notice a board from my peripheral vision saying 'Rules'.

"Rules; music, monsters, and survive...?" I read aloud in confusion. Music starts playing over some speakers. I quickly cover my ears as it starts as it startles me, removing them shortly after the music finishes.

"The monsters are coming." A feminine voice states from behind me. I turn around to see someone who looks a little bit older than me standing behind me. They have short violet hair and gray eyes, wearing a gray, zip-up jacket with gray leggings.

"So you should go and hide now," She continues. "The music starts and they arrive. They have children loose in here to be hunted by rich man-eaters. Goldy Pond is a garden to hunt humans. To satisfy the innate instinct of the man-eaters. It's their secret hunting ground." I feel my heart drop to my stomach. The demons have a ground filled with children just to satisfy their desire to hunt? They put kids through hell just to fill their desires.

"A secret hunting ground?" My voice is laced with uncertainty. "Tell me. Is this a farm too? Are the poachers..."

"You're really different from other kids," They interrupt me. "You know about the farms and the poachers."

"Let's just say... I've been around long enough to know."

"This isn't a farm. This is a private property. A garden belonging to an aristocrat named Lord Bayon. All of us, including me, you, the other kids, are allowed to live here to be hunted." But didn't Sonju say that Demons aren't allowed to hunt humans?

"It's a secret from the farms," They say, as if reading my mind. "A secret playground."

"And who are the other kids?"

"Normal newbies. Brought in once a month to replenish those who have been eaten."

"From where?"

"Mostly from the farms. Using some special privilege, they're able to get stock of living children."

"What do you mean by 'the others don't know'?"

"They don't know anything. Even about the monsters. They are born and raised in a happy facility. They think they're going to a happier place, but they get abducted and chased by monsters. That's probably how they see it." What a twisted way to die.

"Anyway, this area is dangerous too. We should go hide. And there's someone I want you to meet."

"AAAGGHH!" The person and I both whip our heads in the direction of the scream. I run off towards the scream, leaving them behind.

"Hey!" They call after me. I hear their footsteps close behind me as I keep running. I arrive at the source of the scream to see a demon about to eat some kids, one of them bleeding from the arm. As if I would let that happen. I grab an ax off the floor and throw it at the demon's eyes.