"ِA minute has left to vote."
The electricity goes off as the emergency red light opens and shuts with the warning alarming sound in the background as we all pull our phones out, I see Yeonwoo wiping his sweaty palm on his pants. Eunha wet her lips, as Jinha bites his nails and roams
in circles.
"Go Kyungjun has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Kim Jinha has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Guys, I, I.. am really not a mafia."
"Me too you scumbag! I was framed!" Jinha swears. "I swear I just found myself next to Seungbin's body!"
"Im Eunchan has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Beak Eunha has voted for Kim Jinha."
"I said I didn't do it!"
"I do find both Jinha waking up next to seungbin's as strange as Dabeum's footprint on the rooftop's door panel." Yoonjoon says as cuts Jinha shouting, "But It's not like it's the first time someone is being framed by waking up next to a dead body." he then clicks over his phone screen.
"Cha Yoojoon has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Kang Yoonhwa has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Oh jeongwon has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Lee Yoonseo has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Nam Yeonwoo has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Jin Dabeum has voted for Kim Jinha."
I stare over Junhee to see him freezed as his thump shakes,
"I really didn't do it! I swear!" Jinha goes to him and kneels as he begs. "Please! It's not! I really didn't do it," his shaky voice cuts between his breaths, Kyungjun crosses his arms and hides his face with his hair looking downwards so I can't really know what he is thinking.
"Kim Junhee has voted for Kim Jinha."
"I really didn't do it!"
"Jinha!" I say as I am holding him.
"Please! It's not! I am really not the mafia! No!"
"Kim Jinha with the most votes will be executed."
'Kim Jinha was a citizen."
'He is really innocent.'
"No! No! Someone stop this god dammit shit game!"
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Junhee looks at the ground as he freezes as Yoonseo and Jeongwon pull him too. Eunha and Eunchan grab me as well from the arm and pull me backwards as I cry at Jinha, I see him scrunching all over himself on the floor as he hits his head multiple times to the ground and shuffles his cries out. He then stops as I see the last thing, the white blooming all inside his eyes. We all hear crashing followed by a big thud again when we go to the next turn of the hallways.
'I couldn't save him either.'
'Someone died, again.'
'Again.'
'AGAIN.'
I gasp and I wake up from my nightmare as I find Eunha coming close, "nothing happened, don't worry.. It's probably just a dream. You just took a nap."
I wipe the sweat over my neck as I check the clock. Midnight hasn't come yet, and we're still contemplating whether to vote for Jinha or Dabeum. I breathe in relief. I can't believe my mind had to pull this trick over me. I know I'm a fan of a nightmare story for writing inspo, but no, not anymore. Not if it's like this.
bang*
crash*
Me and Eunha stand at the same time when we hear a loud noise outside the dorm room, "what's happening?" I check as soon as I come out.
"You fucking bustard! I will kill you!" Kyungjun storms through the hallway dorms as he pushes Dabeum to the ground, he brings a baseball bat as he kicks him multiple times. He throws the bat once Junhee tires to pull it away as if he doesn't give a fuck about it, then proceeds with his naked hands to hit Dabeum's face on repetitive punches as his fists starts to mix with blood.
'He's done for.'
"Is it fun you fuck piece of shit!"
"What happens now? Stop this!" Yoonseo steps close to the scene as Jeongwon tries to pull her back.
"This motherfucker, he just confessed! with his fucking creepy eyes! he is the mafia for shit!"
We all stare at him without a move.
"Is he lying now to help his friend?" I hear Eunchan whisper next to us.
'Shit, at this point the vote will be divided to Jinha and Kyungjun instead of Jinha and Dabeum.'
"I will kill you! Just wait! I will vote you out!" He keeps hitting him over and over again as Dabeum's face becomes unrecognizable from all the blood in his face.
"Kyungjun-ah! Do you want everyone to vote against you right now?"
Kyungjun stops as he raises his head to see me, "shut up you fox bitch." I came so fast towards him. "What are you thinking about threatening him? Don't you think they would vote for you with all your nonsense? You are helping the mafia, you stupid jerk!"
Kyungjun stares at our faces to grasp the situation he is finally in as he pushes Dabeum one last time to the ground and moves his body backwards as he leans on the wall with his back.
"This fucker just confessed." he speaks with his jaw pressed before he calms down and cover his face with his forearm.
"I didn't, I swear." Dabeum wipes away his blood as he struggles to sit.
"Check the fuck phone! Check his fucking phone right now!" Kyungjun looks at us.
We stay wary from him and step back as no one complies to his order, to where Kyungjun scoffs and then laughs. "It's a fun game for you, right loser?" back to Dabeum.
Then he lower his head pulling his hair all over his face, "I said he confessed, fuck." he hits his leg to the ground.
Then repeats lower and slower.
"He did."
I, the closest, only hear him out.
"This is dangerous if we let him be." Jaeongwon says.
"I agree." Eunchan says and Yeonwoo nods in a hurry with what he said.
"He just threatened to kill one of us!" Yeonwoo says, "and I think we all heard him."
Junhee steps in and says, "I have an idea."
Everyone turns their body towards Junhee's as they wait to listen to what he is going to say.
I check the clock over my screen time and shuts my phone off with a click sound as we gather in the hallways in front of Kyungjun dorm room much later after the scene. Kyungjun sneers, "you guys are going to die soon as a fucking stupid citizens," he turn his body to his room as Jeongwon stretch her arm and stop him.
"Hand your room keys first,"
Kyungjun looks at her as she continues, "so we make sure you won't get out and kill one of us." Dabeum steps in, "and your phone." to which I say, "To me, since I'm a doctor. You can trust it will be in good hands." Kyungjun doesn't give it right away as I add, " I will give it back to you when the time comes for voting."
"It will be dangerous back then, so I will do it for you. Yoonhwa." my body almost flinches over the way Dabeum twists his tongue and spell my name.
"I said I'm fine." I stand on my words as I glare back at him.
Kyungjun hands me his phone leisurely in my spread palms to him, all while he looks at Dabeum and grins.
"This fucker footprint's," kyungjun points at Dabeum with his finger one last time as he speaks slowly, "was the same ones on the rooftop door's. Vote him out." Then smacks the door behind him.
We walk further away from Kyungjun's dorm room as we step into the hallways to go inside another room that is piled with many black chairs stacked next to each other as we take them out according to our number and form a big circle to sit for one last time to think for the final votes. Dabeum and Jinha are not permitted from entering the meeting as well so they won't affect the results. They just sit and wait somewhere outside the room.
"Now we really have to vote." I say.
"I find both Jinha and Kyungjun as strange as Dabeum's foot print." Yoonseo says.
"Who will you vote for?" Eunha asks Yoonseo as the latter drops her arm on the table after holding it close to her face as reply of still not deciding.
"Anyways, we are sure that Kyungjun is a citizen." Eunchan says, "but we're not sure about Jinha or Dabeum."
"But Kyungjun is weird as well, why would he threaten to kill and go that far?" Yeonwoo says.
"That's right. He is impulsive and only thinks of himself." Jeongwon adds, "How do we make sure he won't kill us later, the citizens, for his own benefit?"
"Isn't it more important to vote for who we think is a mafia?" I ask and redirect the conversation.
'If Kyungjun hadn't voted Wooram out when we made sure he was a mafia, It would be hard for me to believe in his innocence as well. But, right now I want to think of a way we can vote out a mafia I'm sure of.'
"I do find both Jinha waking up next to seungbin's as strange as Dabeum's footprint on the rooftop's door panel." Yoonjoon says, "but It's not like it's the first time someone is being framed."
"That's true, I have noticed the mafia always targets people who go together as we might suspect the left one out to get rid of them both in one go." I say.
"Jinha," Eunchan says, "Always borrowed money from Juwon, that's why he might have killed him on the first day to clear his debt, which explains why the mafia had too many fights between them."
"I don't think he would take it that far only for this, plus Juwon himself was a mafia. Why would they work against each other in a game where life and death have a much higher stake than anything?" I ask.
"So you think Jinha is being framed, but not Dabeum?" Jeongon asks.
"If the mafia wants to frame Dabuem by stealing their shoes and pressing them on to confuse us, then won't they bring this issue up first? And not me or Kyungjun." I look at Jeongwon.
Everyone looks down as they know I'm a doctor.
"What if they would, but you came in faster?" Jeongwon asks.
"It's time." Junhee says to calm down the rising tension, "let's vote for one of them."
I bring my phone up as soon as I open the screen's game notification upon the first two who already vote before we start this meeting.
"Kim Jinha has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Jin Dabeum has voted for Kim Jinha."
"What about Kyungjun?" Jeongwon asks as she suddenly stops her motions while getting her phone out, she moves it away from her face and stares at Junhee.
"I will go to him personally as it might be dangerous to let Yoonhwa next to him when he's in this state." Junhee stands and spreads his hand to me, "handle me the phone."
I smile at him when I hand him the phone under the pressure of everyone stares.
He puts it in his pocket and then walks two steps ahead as I look at him from the back sliding his hands all awkwardly around his body, then he stops.
And I'm still smiling.
"What's wrong?" Yoonseo asks when she notices his irregular moves.
"Is everything okay?" I joined as I found him searching for something with his free hand since the other one was busy holding Kyungjun's phone. "Here let me help!" I take back Kyungjun's phone as he now uses both of his hands to run over his body and holds the white inside of his pants pockets to find an old phone that is closed.
Not his.
"That's not my phone." Junhee says.
"You lost your phone?" Jeongwon comes in with a cold yet shocked tone, more like a scolding.
"Junhee!" Yoonseo looks all worried as she swirls around him, "are you sure? Where did you last put it? Do you remember?"
"I, I don't know."
"We will find your phone, don't worry!"
"Yes, but let's make it quick!" Jeongwon orders as she turns her way and starts to look at the floor checking the corners.
"We will help too! When did you last see it?" I ask.
"Or what are the places you were at for today?" Yoonseo asks.
"There's this basement passage that we went by this morning," he says as he looks at Yoonseo.
"I think you had your phone when we got out, what else?"
"Tell us all the places now." Eunha hurries us.
"We will divide into teams and help you search for it." Eunchan assures him,
"Yes! Let's start searching now" I add.
"Wait, let's all vote first!" I say next and stop them before they go out, "Then we can search with ease! Once someone finds it, send a group text so they can hide straight away and not waste time."
I look at Junhee as he looks at the floor.
'You can't say no to this offer. To put everyone's wellbeing above yours. Isn't this the character you perfectly sculpted as your decoy afterall.'
Now fall into the pit you dug yourself.
Everyone freezes in their movements checking each other's faces as they try to figure out how everyone else thinks from their expressions, then they look at Junhee to make the final decision as he quickly nods his head slightly.
Then everyone grabs their phones and taps on their screen as the room is filled once again with many notifications sounds and phone's closing off clicks.
"Im Eunchan has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Beak Eunha has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Cha yoojoon has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Kang Yoonhwa has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Oh jeongwon has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Lee Yoonseo has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Nam Yeonwoo has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Good luck finding it."
I say out loud to cheer Junhee as he forces a smile while he runs with Yoonseo and Jeongwon and steps out of the room to head for the next place he's searching. We go outside the room when Yoonseo steps out first and Junhee second as Jeongwon comes out third momentarily delayed by giving me Kyungjun's keys.
Dabeum and Jinha who were sitting, respectively, jolt their bodies away as they stand up straight. They both sync when they pull up their phones to check the votes.
"Guys, I, I.. am really not a mafia." Dabeum says.
"Me too you scumbag! I was framed!" Jinha swears as he leans forward not knowing Junhee's lost his phone then he kneels begging him, "please! It's not me! I swear! No! No!"
"Jinha." I call him out in a mumble he probably doesn't hear.
"Please! I didn't do it!"
Junhee steps away slowly as he pushes him slightly. I can't read his eyes as his hair is covering it. Yoonseo and Jeongwon pull him away as well as he shrunk his back over the kneeling Jinha scene as they run to search for his phone.
I grab Jinha to stand, "try to calm yourself down as best as you can, and wait for Kyungjun to vote as well." Jinha doesn't reply as he just sits somewhere on the ground absentminded all by himself.
"Eunha, let's go and search for Junhee's phone on our way while we hand Kyungjun's phone." I turn to discover the disappearance of Eunha's. She must have already departed to search for Junhee's phone with the others as everyone else is gone.
"Yoonhwa, I will come with you."
Except one.
Dabeum stops me.
I turn and I flinch over Dabeum's voice that I didn't expect to be here. Dabeum changes the direction of his eye away from me to the floor but I don't miss the hint of disdain feelings I have seen through.
'This does not look well.'
I look at Jinha still on the ground and I think I can bring him with us.
'Or else, I can do this instead.'
I contemplate an idea passing by in my head as I press my balm slightly forming a fist behind my back, determined to go with it.
"Then we will both go to deliver Kyungjun's phone."
'High risk, high gain.'
"Why did everyone go outside the room running?" he asks.
"They want to hide as soon as possible." I say immediately as I signal him to follow me to change the topic.
The two of us go upstairs in the middle of the night as we merch through the empty and many corridors guided by the yellow dim lights. We head straight towards the building far from everyone's reach. I try to pay attention to exactly the person behind me as I clench into my phone and Kyungjun's as I internally count down the time left to get to his room.
I look at the floor's colors as if it's a painting with no humans in it. Swallowed by the absence of human kind, just a mix of darker shades of yellow, white, and grey with the blackness of the night abyss you can see through the windows' glass panels. The whole scene is unoccupied and abandoned by the rest of the students as they search in the other buildings.
'I don't think anyone's on this floor.'
"Here!" I run as I just take the second turn of the hallways to get closer to Kyungjun's room. My sprint is cut by seconds when I stop to decide where to head as I lop towards the left turn.
Bang*
I hear my inhale for a second as everything else comes to mute. A sharp pain ting on the back of my head as pitch darkness consumes my vision and I feel my body hitting the ground one last time before I shut my eyes.
'I can't end like this.'
'I can't end like this.'
I must not.
"..yoonhwa!..yoonhwa!"
'Kyungjun?'
I open my eyes at the scene where I am now, tied to a chair. I move my wrist behind the back of the chair and I barely feel them through the blastic knots that restrict their movements.
"Where…?"
"Dammit, you're awake. Thank goodness."
"Kyungjun?"
I notice the person next to me who is also tied in the same way I am in the middle of a strange storage room. He seems to catch my expressions as I frown trying to understand what is happening.
"Dabeum, this lunatic fucker!"
"How did he reach you?"
"My phone."
He ends there sharply.
'dammit.'
"I'm sorry, you are here because of me."
Kyungjun doesn't answer.
'He must have seen his phone and dived into the room as Dabeum hit him from the back too.'
'Wait, Kyungjun is smart. He won't step into a room just because Dabem told him so. There must be a more convincing reason.'
We hear the door knobs move and a tall figure man enters the room without a top. He wears a butcher plastic apron and makes a sound as he moves. Dabeum pulls in the other hand's glove with one final stretch as he holds up the tool box that keeps rustling to locate it in a nearby sight next to us.
"How about you go with Kyungjun first?"
I turn my head sideways and smile at Kyungjun as he copies my fake smile.
"Ladies first."
Then he drops the act and tells Dabeum in a hurry.
"She's the one who got your footprint!"
Dabeum doesn' t answer, or for a better wording doesn't play along with us. He grabs a few tools up in front of his sight making shuttle sounds. The room's tension builds again as he sharpens them on the whetstone one by one, slowly and carefully holding it to his eye's level as he examines the edges from up close, inches away, then he returns them back next to the whetstone to sharpen them even more.
"You pieces of shit." Kyungjun stresses his words. "You think others won't fucking notice? Everyone will know you're a mafia scumbag, lucatic freak!"
Dabeum drops a tool making a sudden ring, and he raises his head slowly. He lets out a sound as if he casually remembered an item he forgot to add on his grocery list. "Ah. That's right."
He turns his head to us in full degree like an animal deforms his own body. He gawks at us and lifts both corners of his lips anomalously as he slowly twists his tongue.
"Then I will kill them all."
"You scumbag, fucking crazy son of a bitch! I will kill you, you rascal, fucking loser!"
Dabeum grabs a thick skewer stick and before I could catch the scene, I hear Kyungjun's shout as Dabeum presses it in his knees meat, in his flesh.
Kyungjun mutes himself while clenching his jaws and I look over Dabeum's with wide eyes open, "You! If you don't let Kyungjun vote, it will only be a matter of time until they notice and come."
Dabeum pulls his head to the side, "haven't you told her?" then changed his gaze back to me, "he already voted."
'Shit, what now?'
I look around for the storage hanged o'clock and I find the minute hand very close to 12.
"Anyway I do know. Even though you tried to hide it from me," Dabeum looks at me, "that Junhee's phone is missing, guess what?" he spells the last word and open his mouth as he shows his two sets of teeth for a smile,
"Between Kyungjun being missing and Junhee's phone being missing, who do you think is on the top of the hierarchy system around here? Who will they pay attention to the most?"
I steal a glance over Kyungjun but I still can't read his feelings.
Dabeum laughs, "A phone is now more important than you! Fucking loser." he yells.
Kyungjun doesn't reply as he still faces the ground. I hear his loud breaths and groans of pain that I frown upon, he raises his head to look at Daebeum and surprise me with an inner fire he still has as he sneers at him.
"Fucking loser."
"What does it feel like to be ignored like a fucking loser?" Dabeum kneels in front of Kyungjun not enough with the desire of ridiculing him even more, "You know, the mafia has to choose the killer by unanimous voting," he then smiles, "they're all coming to kill you!"
Kyungjun's bitter laugh echoes in the quiet room as I wonder what he is ridiculing exactly.
"One minute has lift for voting."
Dabeums stands as he checks the hour, he then scratches his head with the same bloody skewer he just stabbed Kyungjun with, "Hmm, why is Junhee not voting yet? Didn't he find his phone?"
"How would he?" I ask, "When it's slid across the street outside the border's line."
Kyungjun and Dabeum stare at me.
"The place gives me the creeps." I stand in one move from my squad position, I fall towards Junhee as he holds me. "Ouch! I must have been seated for too long. I can't feel my numb legs." I slide my hand to grab his phone underneath my sleeves, holding it with my fingers across my wrist vertically. I quickly put another student's closed phone instead. I always carry it around for emergencies in case someone wants to steal or have my phone to eliminate me from voting.
Good luck finding it.
"Good luck finding it."
I say out loud to cheer Junhee as he forces a smile while he runs with Yoonseo and Jeongwon and steps out of the room to head for the next place he's searching.
"For breaking the rule, Kim Junhee will be executed!"
"Kim Junhee was a mafia."
"No shit."
I see Kyungjun's face light up as he finds it all amusing.
I then look at Dabeum as he still checks the phone.
"Since there is a tie, all the citizens need to vote again."
"If there is a tie again, all the participants will be executed for breaking the rule of not voting."
"Hey! You fuck," Kyungjun says as he laughs at the face of Dabeum, "haven't you heard? Fukcing untie us. Or else, we all die."
Dabeum looks around as he hears the emergency alarm siren on and off. He joggles a few times. he moves awkwardly hitting his box's tool as it falls and hits the ground, the irritating sudden noise rings in his ears but he quickly proceeds to kneel and stumble in search for a tool to cut our ties with, as me and Kyunjung, we just eye him.
This whole time, in our chairs.
Under the red light glaze that flickers over our solemn rigid faces.
"Jin Dabeum has voted for Kim Jinha."
"Go Kyungjun has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Kim Jinha has voted for Jin Dabeum."
Kyungjun goes for a punch right away once he votes, throwing his phone away to the floor once he sees Dabeum done clicking.
'There is no need for all of that anyways.'
I look down at them while they hit each other on the ground. Kyungjun quickly stands and kicks Dabeum with his injured leg as I cross my arms.
'The others knew Junhee's choice was Jinha. And now, they probably noticed that we're missing.'
'By Dabeum.'
'Or why else would I let you kidnap us so easily?'
"Im Eunchan has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Beak Eunha has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Nam Yeonwoo has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"No! No! Fuck! Fuck! fuck!"
"Cha yoojoon has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Kang Yoonhwa has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Oh jeongwon has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"Lee Yoonseo has voted for Jin Dabeum."
"No! No!"
Since the mafia killed two citizens on the same day before, why can't I kill two mafia on the same night as well?
I squad over Dabeum as I smile and whisper to him.
"Tik tok, mafia fuckers,"
Night has come.
"Jin Dabeum with the most votes will be executed."
"Jin Dabeum was a mafia."
School bell ring*
"For breaking the rule of not executing any one by morning, Oh Jeongwon will be executed."
"Oh Jeongwon was a mafia"
"Since all the mafia have been found, The Mafia game has ended."
"The citizens are the winners."
Beep*
Beep*
Beep*
I feel the tip of my fingers moving, and my brows as well as I blink my eyes open.
Where am I?
"Are you awake? Here let me help you."
I find a strange woman with a lap white coat and white gloves as she helps me from moving out of the medical bed I was in. I hear the sounds of machines and small strong alcohol odors goes though my nose that makes me grimace.
"Where am I?"
"Don't worry honey, you will remember any time soon."
'Huh?'
The nurse lady tells me as she hands me a cup of water that I drink, she soons covers her face again with her face mask as she prepares to get outside the room.
"Oh, congratulations on your astonishing performance. You scored really high. Expect generous rewards."
'huh?'
The nurse exits through inserting a password through an automatic door. Then I move my head in a circle to take in my surroundings. The room really seems so advanced that I pinch my cheeks to check if I'm not inside one of these Sci-fi fiction dreams of mine. Or reality shifting as well. The walls were of pearlescent matte metal painted with bluish grey. As I remove the iv drops I get closer to the big windows that let the nightlife of the world I'm in sink in my brain. First, taking in the lights of the streets, the weird white and silver costumes of some of the people in the streets, and the vehicles that operate both on roads then turns its shape into a tiny aircraft vehicle as it flies away.
'Cool!'
I check the bedside table for any signs of a time or a date I can reach and I find the clock with a 3025 on it.
Then a sharp pain hit my brain as I shrink reaching for my forehead. A piercing ring comes through and many scenes and memories flash by all at once! I remember now. I was just in a game.
Mafia game.
No.
I remember much earlier than that.
'I enter a building accompanied by researchers and scientists wearing white lab coats as I sign a paper. What paper? A contract? For what?'
"Ugh!"
A sharp pain blooms in my head as I try to remember the title.
I hear the automatic door sound alarmingly open as I turn back to find an old lady in a white formal dress that hugs her body in an elegant yet professional way. Even though I call her old, I can't still guess her age correctly as she looks so put together.
"Congrats for graduating the tests."
"What did you do to me?" I hold a tear, "what did you do to us?" The old woman stares blankly at me then turns her head to her right. Once her assistant notices her slight movements she runs to her and says up close, "she just woke up. Her memories are still flooding in."
The old lady then raises her eyebrows in a casual manner for a split second as I scowl more.
"The agreement is to be a subject in a scientific military study center that serves as an aid for human intelligence research and scientific experiments. You remember that part, right?"
I step back, "No. No!"
"Oh dear god, here we go again. Maybe I shall visit another time." she turns as she whispers her assistant, "Reschedule next week's 10 am meeting to Monday'sــ"
As she drifts away.
"No, wait! Please," I ask quietly after I succeed in attracting her attention once again, "are the rest awake too?"
"Only the one who succeeds in scoring high is permitted to leave the experiment." she says in a matter of fact kind of way that makes my head spin as I feel my body falling to the side, I assist myself with the bed ends.
"It was written into the contract you sign up yourselves before entering so don't think about taking legal actions. It would be a waste of time for both of us. You took the money, we took the data."
"What?"
I breathe in and out as I look at her.
She sighs as she turns and adjusts her position while putting both hands above each other near her stomach, "You just momentarily forgot as it's a part of the contract agreements for a better study. In order to get the maximum and most realistic results, this factor is added to the experiment. You will forget your outside life once you're locked in the game. We come up with a made up background life checks that suit each one's personality but it's not real memories. Close, but not real. Some succeed the test and receive money as promised, others score high just like you did and work for the government as they receive confidential tasks. And, some stay for too long until their body exceeds the trail years range so we cut the machines off their brains." She speaks in a flat tone. "High risk, high gain. As the institution motto says."
She looks at me and says all this information as I scowl over the pain in my forehead, I reach out for my temples to ease a bit of it with tiny movements as I hear the beats of my heart rates going faster.
"Meaning, the rest are still continuing their trial period until their brain reaches its full maximum potential just as you did. Only then will they wake up and win."
"Am I the first one to wake up?" I add as I take a glance over the medical room I'm in, "from my class?"
"The second." she continues, "but you don't remember her."
'Her?'
"As soon as she leaves, her data will be deleted from your brain for the next rounds. But, since some bugs and errors could happen, previous winners could show up in new data and updated game rounds as 'ghosts'."
I squint my eyes and move my head back not missing the ridicule in her voice.
"Release them now."
"I don't understand why you are mad when you scored this high." she tilts her head after speaking calmly. "Even if I did release them now, they won't know who you are."
"Excuse me?"
I step back as I let my body finally drop on the bed.
"Again stated, once you pass, your data will be fully deleted from their brains. The health institution required this mandatory factor to be in the procedure if we do want to continue. So the human pain and trauma reactions can be reduced and minimized with the least damage possible to one's mental health. You will just remember the last game you participated in and won."
"Why the hell would there be something like this? why?!"
"Your brain activity is a huge help to extract good data for human intelligence, problem-solving skills and logical intelligence that serves and transfer to programs into newly built robotic machines and recent AI interference as well. You do earn a generous amount of money just as we promised. That's what draws most people in from the start." She snaps her finger and the assistant makes a call with her black ring, "prepare the car."
"Congrats once again, You did finish the game in much lesser rounds than the average. Wait for your next orders."
I put my hand over my chest as I try to catch my breath.
"This is how the world runs here. Do yourself a favor and accept it as soon as you can."
She turns and walks out.
I walk out of my room as I wear the clothes the nurse just gave me. It looks weird wearing a white cotton blouse and a black formal pants. I glance over the moving nurses and doctors with patients and kids running down the hallways, and I definitely don't miss the robot nurse who helps the crying girl with her toothache as all the human nurses get busy. She succeeds in calming her.
I wonder if the emotional intelligence running programs in its function comes from our experiment.
"Excuse me, where is this place?" I ask a walking nurse. Once I take a closer look at him, I notice transparent wires with yellow light that show themselves as veins for a second in his neck and face.
'He's a robot?'
The hospital building that I'm in, is in partnership with the institution I just did the experiments in. Luckily, both buildings are attached to each other with one separate glass bridge. I walk to the next building as I search for the laboratories area wearing a white lab coat and white mask I got five minutes ago from the hospital.
It makes me blend well with the other passing by scientists and researchers who are busy holding files and papers as they discuss topics that make them unaware if someone just walks in between their groups. I sneakily catch one person's ID card. He hangs it on a wheel as he brings out a fallen file and I stride towards it as if nothing happens to the next spot. I look at the big hanging map board sign.
I press the buttons in the elevator which doesn't start moving until I connect it with the ID card, then I hear a sound as the doors reach the level I want. I go into the new level hallways and I come across multiple different rooms with big transparent windows. I walk between the people that run tests and finally see rooms with teenage and young adults in a coma with their brains attached with few wires connected to many machines.
Unfortunately, they're not them.
I walk, sliding my hands inside my pockets making sure not to make eye contact with anyone as I dash and pass by different rooms.
'No, not them either.'
I check with my eyes the next one's participants' faces quickly through the glass windows this time, as all the participants with school uniforms still sleep inside a glass covered capsule.
'Not here as well.'
My steps start to increase as I fast walk past the front room then just the one beside. I check what's after that room, then the other one. I check the next side of the floor, running between the hallways.
'It's not them!'
'It's not them either.'
'And not those ones too.'
My disappointment grows just as well as my frightenment as I witness with wide eyes open the huge number of contributors I see as I check the whole floor building is filled with around 40-50 rooms. I momentarily freeze then go back slowly as I hit the glass handrails at the centre of the floor making a square hole shape as it showcases glimpse of the higher and lower levels. I lean and tilt my head up to catch my breath as I feel my eyes narrow again once I focus at the other levels. I finally realize and face reality.
'It's not just us.'
I accept the hard truth that I notice what this whole building of 70 levels each is built for.
"There's an error in operation 67! A participant's deleted data operation has met with failure."
A researcher grabs my attention as he quickly runs past me. I walk right after them camouflaging myself as one of the team consists of other researchers and assistants that are following his lead from behind.
"He did not forget the last game data which caused confusion for the other participants in the current running game."
"It affects the obtained results for this game. Badly."
"Have you checked the inserted programs' side effects?"
"I Did! It works perfectly fine on the other participants."
"Try to rerun the system in a separate file and check the errors again."
"Do you think we got another case of Abraham?"
'Abraham what?'
"Impossible."
"It's rare to come across a genetically strong mind with self-controlled neurons that defy the programming chips. What's the participant's name?"
"Go Kyungjun."
My heart drops as I follow them to where all the rest are right now.
"How are his scores?"
"He scores the lowest in human intelligence."
"Then it must be a bug."
I do not enter the room but I do find from the glass window familiar faces.
'They're really here.'
They are still sleeping inside these glass capsules with wires attached to their brains. A big screen in this room is being shown in the middle that I guess presents what happens in the current game. Judging by the number of students, the game should still be in its first day or two. In the screen, Kyungjun smashes the chairs and swears through the lab's screen speaker audio.
And I find myself smiling over it.
"You Fuckers! I'm going to ruin your shit game and kill these fucking bustards over and over again. So get me out of this shithole! You sons of bitches fucking heard me? you shit game makers! Let's see who lasts."
"What do we do?"
"Go thorough with this game round, once he's out, update his data separately for the next one. If he still remembers, then I will notify the higher ups."
I turn to the man that showed up mysteriously in a navy suit next to me, I tell him in a whisper. "Let him out. I owe him. So everyone's."
"If he still remembers, consider it another Abraham's case. It will be his win."
The old man commands as everyone in the room hears him. The researchers and scientists all bow as I wonder about this weird situation I find myself in and I copy them a second later.
"Mr. Kang, this way please."
The researcher aims for him to enter as the man raises the palm of his hand instead to stop him. He grins as he shows his eye's wrinkles, "Thank you, but I do have a guest to entertain." he says as he bends his right arm next to me. It takes me a while under everyone's gaze and until he raises his head towards me to realize and grasp what is this all about as I catch his right arm in assisting him to head out.
"How's the view so far?"
"It's lovely Sir, especially when it's filled with the fresh air of humanity's decline. Sir."
He laughs as he adds, "you know, there were many cases where some sued us, and others tried to ruin the organization," Won't say it didn't cross my mind. "Some wanted to destroy the whole building in failed explosion attempts, and some simply took the money and lived far away quietly. And yes, some did die while not surviving in the agreed trial period. However, very few who sneak in to try to save their friends, and only one dares to attempt this in her first 24 hours after she wakes up."
"Pleased to entertain." I force a smile as a reply.
"Aren't the memories back by now Yoonhwa? Why pretend not to know me." the man says.
"I do remember. It's that I feel disappointment and disgust," I add, "father."
The old man doesn't answer for a while, "How was the game you created? Anyways, you did promise to return to your family and you kept that promise. Thank you for coming back to us, Yoonhwa."