Chapter 1945

The darkness is overwhelming. Sight is nonexistent. The only way to know if one is bleeding is
by the warm, thick liquid, dripping down the bare skin. A sudden flash of light from the upper
world enters. At first, the light is dim. That means the door is only slightly ajar. But then, that
dim light blindingly races down those cold, stone stairs, and stops just as it gently caresses a
blood soaked ankle.

Quiet steps follow that light, descending down the creaky staircase. Those almost soundless
footsteps are not to be trusted. The owner of these almost, soundless footsteps are not to be
trusted even more. Hate these footsteps. Hate he who makes these footsteps. Hate it. Hate him.

Who is he? A monster. He won't show any mercy. Not to anyone. He cruelly uses everyone
and everything. He callously calculates every step and somehow makes all those around him
into pawns in a chess game. When needed, he apathetically scraps out his pawns, one by one.
He doesn't even have bishops, rooks, queens, anything. To him, he is the king, and the rest of
the world is that of the status of a pawn. He is a monster. He is Honda Kiku.

Surprisingly, the very monster seems different today. He looks…small, fragile, weak. The man
who was already in the room eventually noticed the odd actions of the Japanese soldier. Hiding
in the basement's shadows, the only body part visible was his ankle, drenched in blood from the
tight, rusty cuffs. Looking up into the face of the man who put him in this state, Im Young Soo
parted his lips in curiosity…only to be reminded to quiet himself.

"What?" Kiku's deep, cold voice echoed throughout the room. He must have caught onto his
guest's effort to stifle his curio.

"….."

"I KNOW! I know…just…just… shut up…" He grew frantic. It was only for a little while.
But it still was for a moment. The usually calm, stoic Japanese man's mask had faltered. The
man, who inflicted so many battle scars, engraved so many painful memories, destroyed the
Korean's land, demolished the said man's body and enslaved his soul, this man, Kiku Honda,
finally showed signs of possible emotion.

This had obviously amused the leashed man. He just couldn't help but to let out a muffled
snicker. In cases such as these, Kiku would usually let it slide and was able to restrain himself.
But he couldn't maintain his composure. Not this time around. All senses of maturity broke
through the closed window, shattering the bulletproof glass. Kiku clenched his fist tight; so tight
that his knuckles had turned white. The white in his knuckles represents pure wrath. He had
been collecting all of this wrath and anger into the knuckles of his right hand, only to release it in
one, single slap…aimed directly at the other man, Im Young Soo.

The room echoed with the sound of flesh slapping off of flesh; followed by an ear shattering
silence. Bingo. This was exactly what Young Soo had been trying to go for. This was the
extent that Kiku had to go to achieve the information needed to completely confirm his
hypothesis.

The slap was indeed effective. The contact was enough to still leave the poor Korean with an
aching cheek. Young Soo had to take a few minutes to regain color in his eyes. He staggered a
bit at first, but he managed to shake off the sudden hit and managed to prop himself up. Being a
good amount taller than the other asian, Young Soo looked down, making sure to smile visibly.

That smile wasn't an ordinary smile. Young Soo smiled at Kiku to blatantly tell him that he
knew. He knew that the war was over. The Axis side couldn't hold out any longer, and Japan
would have lost. Young Soo wanted Kiku to know what losing everything had felt like. He
wanted to let him know that he knew…so that maybe…just maybe…things would get a little
better.

"Game over." What did that mean? These two words sensually slid off the Korean's dry lips.
Game over. What's a game? Was this all a game? Was that what Young Soo had been viewing
it as this entire time? Or was that to mock Kiku…indicating that he had thought the Japanese
was the one who thought it to be simply a mere game? Or was all nations playing this game that
Kiku had been excluded from? If so, did Kiku lose because he had mistreated the Korean?
What does it mean?

Kiku was fighting World War III inside him mind. Out of frustration, he whispered a small,
"…….I know…" It may have been possibly so that Young Soo wouldn't be able to make an
even more mockery out of him. Or, he may definitely have said such a line to lightheartedly
reassure himself that he knew.

What did it mean? Only time will speak.

Game Over.