Red Jewel

No matter what...

Even if he was rolling in a pile of dog shit...

Even if the pain brought by life was hateful...

Even if he was filled with nothing but despair...

Faced with death, it meant nothing.

He would endure.

Being alive is best.

Such was the unofficial motto of his life. An immutable fact engraved upon his soul. No matter the flowery language which disguised the desperation.

Kim Rok Soo had decided long ago. He would not be the main character of a story. Not only did he lack the desired strength to fight the world, good people always drew the bad end off the stick.

There was no reason for him, who had discovered very early in life he was unlovable, to force himself to be what he was not. Being loved, cared for, happy. It was all meaningless in the face of death, not to mention survival.

And in the name of survival, Kim Rok Soo would use whatever means required of him. Surviving the longest he could. What he wanted didn't matter, not even the peace he so desired.

As the clock struck twelve, Kim Rok Soo made a deal with a devil.

"Free the yearning of your soul."

"Isn't that too easy?" It was a questionable deal. Far too broad for the specific outcome the Devil desired. Trained eyes honing in on several loopholes to fulfil it without satisfying the devil. Freedom had a multitude of existing definitions.

Yet the devil appeared unaware of its foolery. "That is your only task."

"I accept." There was nothing to lose. He who had nothing, had little reason to hesitate. A malicious gleam appearing in reddish brown eyes.

Should the result be unsatisfactory, he could always just flip everything over.

Before him, the silhouette of the devil shivered.