Her hands trembled as she grabbed unto the man who ruined her life and murdered her mother and tried to choke him while putting a gun to his forehead. Angry tears flowed down her face covering the man's face with miniscule droplets. The man desperate to live asked who she was as she was wearing a black suit covering her face with a black mask. She replied, "I am…"
"Ae-ri! Ae-ri! Be strong Ae-ri!" a woman cried out. The woman was tied to a tree with her eyes blindfolded awaiting death. That woman who was about to be executed was her mother. Ae-ri sat down to watch with the other prisoners of the concentration camp with her face still as stone. Her mother looked at her for the last time before the soldiers pressed the trigger. One by one the soldiers shot the men, women, and children on the executioner's block. They all fell over, still tied to the trees, as the ground and everything else around them was stained with their blood. Some of her own mother's blood got onto her face, but Ae-ri did not say a word or even batted an eyelash.
The prisoners who watched the gory scene were forced to leave to go back to work. As Ae-ri walked away, she saw the soldiers dragging her mother's body to the "cemetery", which was really a landfill full of bodies. Ae-ri's expression still did not change. Anyone who cried would be shot and Ae-ri could not afford to die now. She needed to survive it all and take revenge on the man who caused her and her mother this suffering.
After her father was deemed a traitor, she and her mother, ordinary North Korean citizens, was sent to a concentration camp as prisoners for his crime. No matter what she was determined to survive this hell-hole, spurred by the death of her mother and the hatred of her father.
Food was scarce so she hunted mice when no one looked and even ate leftovers that may appear in the animals' manure for even the animals were fed more than the prisoners were. The work was grueling, yet she continued anyway. There were no living facilities as all of them simply sit crowded in a prison cellar. On many occasions, people sitting beside her would fall unto her lap, still and cold with no breath of life left in them. They were dragged out of the cellar and thrown into the landfill. People who escaped were executed and the soldiers forced the prisoners to see in order to induce fear into them and to remind them of their place. She became so accustomed to this routine that the sight of corpses meant nothing to her.
One day, while she was working, the soldiers took her along with three other children to a room. They all knew what this entailed as they heard screaming through the door and banging along with barking. Those barking noises came from the dogs that were trained to rip flesh and to eat prisoners alive. Unfortunate prisoners who were chosen would be locked in the room with those dogs with nothing but sticks to defend themselves and most of time, none of them survived. The four children, including Ae-ri, feared this moment knowing that it was all or nothing.
Ae-ri was 14 and the guy next to her seemed the same age or older, while the other two seemed as if they were the tender age of 9. As they were given the sticks, Ae-ri whispered rapidly in the boy's ear, " We need to live through this by cooperating. There will probably be two dogs since they think we are too weak to handle even one dog. In that case, you and the young boy take one dog and me and the other little girl will take the other. Be prepared, this is a fight to the death." The boy gave a slight nod and stuck closely with the younger boy, while Ae-ri stood close with the little girl.
The four of them were locked into the room with only sticks and saw the two vicious dogs looking at them as if they were prey. The sharp, pointed teeth and the barking immediately caused the younger children to tremble and hide behind Ae-ri and the other guy. Ae-ri looked at each of the children and told them it would be fine and to follow their lead. She took a deep breath and charged towards the dog. The other boy followed and went after the other one.
The dog immediately leaped towards her and Ae-ri went down and slid right under it. Before it turned back. Ae-ri jumped on its back and held the stick to its neck, choking it as much as she could. She was on top of the dog trying to hold on as it struggled to get her off.
Meanwhile, the boy pushed the little boy back and as the dog jumped on him, the boy put the stick in between its mouth and pushed the dog back with his legs. The dog continued to grab hold of the stick with his mouth. The boy saw Ae-ri was still on the other one and decided once and for all to end this. The dog ran in a clockwise direction still biting on the stick, while the boy ran in the opposite direction. By causing tension on the stick, the stick broke in two making the broken sides really sharp. The boy then took his side of the stick and used it as a knife and stabbed the dog. He instilled the "blade" deep into the dogs skin and into its body until it faltered and fell dead.
Ae-ri was holding on to the dog and was on the verge of falling down, until the boy ran towards the dog and stabbed it in the front. The dog made a small wimper and then closed its eyes for good. The officials who were watching were shocked at their willpower and their performance. Kim Pil Soo, the official in charge started laughing while clapping.
"This was the first time children, no..anyone survived this challenge," he declared. The soldiers nearby were surprised and concerned asking whether they should kill the children or not. He replied, "Kill the younger two and keep the older ones." His assistant Chung In Soo tried to persuade him to change his mind to just kill them all. Kim Pil Soo would not have any of it and slapped Chung In Soo in the face. The children shivered slightly and Kim Pil Soo looked back at them asking, "Did you see the look on their eyes? They did not only fight out of fear or just for survival. Especially the girl, there was hatred and vigor…Those type of people are ones who will do anything to satisfy their thirst for blood and anger." He said for the final time, "Kill the younger two and keep the older ones."
As the soldiers were ready to shoot the little children, Ae-ri stepped forward and bowed before bravely stating, "They live or we do not serve." The three children stared at her in fear. Kim Pil Soo, flustered by the sudden act of defiance, started to laugh again and replied, "Since you are brave for making such a request, I ask why should we do so." Ae-ri replied without even the slightest change of expression, "We did not do this just for hatred or means of survival. Those children and ourselves are the future generation who will follow Kim Jong Il and make his reign last forever. Once you lose us, you lose valuable people who can contribute to this nation." The soldiers looked at the girl with surprise at her response along with Kim Pil Soo.
After moments of pause, which frightened the children, he surprised everyone in the room by giving approval to her request. "You are now officially appointed to become spies for this nation. You will be trained and will forever sacrifice for this nation with your life and everything you have…Understood?" All the children bowed down and replied, "Our lives are within Kim Jong Il's hands. Glory to his reign!"