Summary: Player 246 finds a new ally

Episode Three: Survive

Gyeong Seok's Pov:

The first thing I notice is that it's dark. There is no light or color, and for a brief moment, I wonder if this is what death is. Then I realize my eyes are just closed. I open them, but there is a piercing, blinding light, and I'm quick to shut them again.

"Careful," A monotone voice tells me, "You had a nasty fall and a lot of bleeding."

"Who-who are you?" my voice is raspy, and I almost don't recognize it.

"Someone who can help you." Now I recognize that voice; it's the voice of a guard. I panic, frantically trying to get up and away from the danger.

"Stop! Stop! You'll hurt yourself." Their voice is quiet and rushed, trying to calm me, but I'm having none of it.

"GET AWAY FROM ME-" A hand is clamped over my mouth, silencing me.

"SHHHHH," their finger is pressed over their mouth, and I take this moment to look at my surroundings. The room is dark and damped. I'm strapped to some sort of cot, and looking around, I see that there are rows and rows of them with bodies. "Listen, if they hear us, then it's over, okay? We need to get you out quickly and quietly. Nod if you understand."

I nod slowly, but they still don't remove their hand. "Listen, I killed the other guard. We have limited time to patch you up, switch your uniform, and get out of here, okay? So when I remove my hand, we're going to do just that, and hopefully, we'll get you out of here alive. Understand?" Once the hand is removed, they help me sit up. "Now, do you need help removing your tracksuit, or can you do it by yourself?"

"I can do it myself," I answer.

"Good, be quick." They go to the unconscious guard and start taking off his uniform; soon, I'm stripped down to my boxers and trade my green jumpsuit for the pink uniform and triangle mask. Once I put the uniform on, the guard helped me stand up, "ok, now we need to put him on the cot."

"What will happen to him?"

"Once they realize his neck is snapped, they'll hopefully assume it's because of the fall. They'll just burn his body."

"And if they get suspicious, l?" I'm met with silence. "Oh"

"Can you walk?"

"I'm a little sore, but yes."

"Good, we don't have much time until the guard rotation." The two of us walk to the dead guard, now in a player uniform, and drag his body to the cot, locking his wrists and ankles in the cuffs. That explains why my wrists are sore.

Once he was secure, the guard handed me the spear rifle just in the nick of time. The doors opened, and a square mask and two other triangle masks entered. "011, 012. The two of you are relieved from duty. You may return to your quarters."

We salute the guard, mine a little slower as I copy my rescuer, and then we leave the room, walking down the endless hallway. This person is hard to read, especially with the mask; they're like stone statues.

"Don't look at me," they command, and I snap straight ahead. "You belong here; act like it. You are now 012. Everything with that number is yours. You can refer to me as 011."

"Why are you helping me?"

"That's not safe to answer here." We walk in silence. Soon, we make our way to a locker room, and I go straight to the one labeled 012, placing the gun inside. "Let's talk in my room."

"Is that allowed?"

"Yes, they don't really care what we do after hours, as long as we don't interact with the players." We walked in single file to the room and entered the door marked 011. Once the door was closed and the lock clicked, I finally relaxed.

"Who are you? Why did you help me." They just stare at me before taking off their hood and removing their mask. I was surprised to see that she was a young woman, probably the same age as me.

"My name is No Eul. And I am here to help you."

"And why should I trust you?" I demand, stepping forward, cornering her against the wall.

"Because I just saved your life; if I didn't get you out, then the doctors that were hired would have harvested your organs to sell on the black market, burned your body, and dumped the ashes in the ocean," she snaps back, raising to her full height, which is still a bit shorter than me.

"You lot have been killing us this whole game," I countered.

"What do you think they'll do to me if I don't follow orders?" The two of us have a standoff, her eyes flickering from mine and behind me, before she relaxes. "Look, we have to be careful; they watch our every move." I turn around to see a camera in the corner of the room, the red light flickering. "Why don't we have a seat and talk this out? It's safe for you to take your mask off here."

"Won't they recognize me?"

"You know how many players we interact with every day? Besides, now that you're eliminated, your photo was taken down and eliminated from the system. Just don't habitually take it off in mask-only areas, and you'll be fine."

Deciding to trust her, I removed my hoodie and mask before sitting in bed. No, Eul sat down next to me a couple of inches away. "Look, we just have to keep this up for four days. Then they'll pay us to send us back, and you can go home to your daughter."

I feel as if icy cold water was just dumped on me. My head snapped to my side, looking at her. "How do you know about Na Yeon?!" I demand, ready to pounce, damn the consequences.

She closes her eyes, almost contemplating, but my patience is wearing thin. Before I could yell at her again, she looked at me with tears in her eyes, and I was left stunned.

"I guess it would have been a stretch for you to recognize me," she says, and I look at her confused. After all, I rarely took off my mask. I was a costumed character at the Fun Park. The one you always take your daughter to—we always recognize our regulars." My eyes widened, and I tried to see if I recognized her face in the large park.

"You're…?"

"I'm the bunny." She answers. "I recognized you during the red light green light and knew you were here for your daughter. I promise to get you home to her."

"Why are you here? You seem like a decent person, and I doubt you like to kill people for fun."

We sat there in silence, the tension and unanswered questions hanging over them, until…

"It's getting late," she said. It's almost curfew. You should get back to your room before they come to investigate."

I want to pry more, but I can sense our danger. She took a big risk saving me, and she's right; we can't let the others get suspicious. I can wait until tomorrow. Putting my mask and hoodie back on, I bid her goodnight before making my way to room 012, planning to get some sleep for the night.

Notes: I'll be honest, this was one of my favorite chapters too right 😁

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