Chapter Text
How had everything that had been going so right go so wrong, just like that? One minute she was joking and laughing around with Soeun, and the next eliminations had been announced and her friend was shot dead right in front of her. It was only then that she truly understood what they had meant by “land of the free”. They were being “freed” from their miserable lives through acts of murder.
Kei had managed to build quite a good reputation for herself during the few weeks of peace. Her status as a survivor of a serial killer, as well as her faux personality had earned her a good amount of respect from the other citizens. The only one who seemed to be able to see through her, was the one named Kim Bora.
Bora and Kei had been rivals from the get-go, for reasons unknown even to them. The moment Kei had first laid eyes on Bora, she knew that Bora would be the one to get in her way. And so, she made sure to never slip up around her. She knew that Bora was on to her, but she couldn’t risk her true personality being exposed. Once it got out that she was basically emotionally immune to death, there would be a target on her back. Being deemed a sociopath was never a good thing, even when surrounded by literal psychopaths.
There was a knock on her door, causing Kei to tense up. She quickly calmed herself down, schooling her face into the bright and cheery smile she had become accustomed to wearing. It was the “mask” that kept her alive.
“Unnie, please help me.” A tiny voice begged as she opened the door.
Jihan was crouched on the floor outside the door, blood dripping from a bullet wound in her shoulder. Kei ensured that no one was around before she ushered Jihan inside, helping the younger girl settle down onto her couch.
“I’ll get something to help you bandage that wound up, wait here.” Kei promised, disappearing into the bathroom for a while.
She soon returned with a first aid kit, making sure that it contained everything she needed.
“Who did this to you?” She asked as she opened up the kit, grabbing some gauze and alcohol swabs.
“Dohwa unnie, but it was an accident. I got in the way of her fight against Fye unnie. Though I’m pretty sure Dohwa unnie won that battle too.” Jihan groaned.
“Why did you come here instead of going to Soojin? I thought she usually looks after you.”
“She died, just yesterday. Poisoned. Zoa too. I’m the only one left from our sect.” Jihan confessed, doing her best to keep her tears at bay.
“So nobody knows that you’re here? Isn’t that dangerous?” Kei continued asking.
“I didn’t have anywhere else to go. You were the only person I trusted enough to go to. Thank you for saving me.”
“Oh sweetie, you made a grave mistake in coming here. I’m just as bad as the rest of them. The only thing I’ll be doing is saving you from this hellhole.” Kei chuckled as she plunged her hidden knife into Jihan.
The younger girl was too startled to fight back, simply staring at Kei in disbelief and shock at her betrayal. Kei shoved Jihan off of the couch and onto the floor, to make it easier to clean up the blood. Jihan’s body fell still after a few minutes, the light leaving her eyes.
“Another one down.” Kei muttered, beginning to drag Jihan’s body into the bathroom.
Just then, there was a flurry of knocks on her door. Kei cursed under her breath, hurriedly shoving the body underneath her couch. She grabbed a nearby towel and threw it on top of the pool of blood, briefly wiping it before kicking the towel under the couch as well. Though her marble floor was still slightly stained, it was hidden enough.
“Kei unnie, are you there? I know you’re home, I saw Jihan come in earlier. Please open up, we need to talk.” A familiar voice called.
Kei wanted to scream at her misfortune. Of all people, it had to be Bora. She opened the door with the same mask of cheerfulness she always donned, surprised to find both Bora and Jiwon waiting outside. The two of them had various burns all over them, their clothes charred and black. No doubt the result of the fire that took the life of Chaerin, the youngest member of their sect.
“Did Jihan leave already? I didn’t see her exit the apartment though.” Jiwon observed.
“I sent her to a different place so that she could recover without the fear of being killed. It’s connected to my apartment from the inside.” Kei lied.
Jiwon looked mildly intrigued by the lie, while Bora looked sceptical but didn’t call Kei out. She noticed the first aid kit still lying on Kei’s table, along with the bloodied gauze inside of the kit, since Kei had left the lid open.
“Do you always put used gauze back with the new ones?” Bora asked hesitantly.
Kei punched herself internally for the careless slip up. Some of the blood from when she had stabbed Jihan had flown onto the gauze, and she hadn’t had the time to dispose of it yet. Trust Bora to notice it.
“Ah…that, I was in a rush. I must’ve accidentally mixed up the used gauze with the new gauze.” She answered with a smile, though her teeth were gritted.
“Unnie, I’m sorry but do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Jiwon suddenly asked.
Kei knew that it was just a ruse, Jiwon was only going in there to check out the scene for Bora. However, she quickly agreed and even escorted Jiwon to the bathroom whilst Bora watched.
“You’re not as clever as you think, you know that?” Kei suddenly said as she closed the bathroom door behind her, turning to face Bora.
“Neither are you. We know you killed Jihan, and I’m going to expose you for who you really are. You’re nothing but a murderer.” Bora retorted.
“Ah, to be young and naive again. You didn’t really think I was going to let you two leave this place alive, did I? Once you come in, you never come out.” Kei chuckled menacingly.
Bora turned around and raced to the door, but Kei simply whipped out her gun and shot Bora three times. As the younger girl slumped to the floor, Kei used her foot to flip her body around before shooting her three more times just for the fun of it.
“Finally, she’s dead. I’m safe.” Kei laughed, twirling her gun around.
Kei made quick work of disposing of the bodies. She mopped up the blood and disinfected the floor, before hiding Jihan’s body in a suitcase. She dragged the suitcase up to the roof, reassured by the lack of CCTVs, and simply dumped Jihan’s body off the building and onto the street.
As for Bora’s body, Kei had a fun time using it as a punching bad until she got bored. Then, she simply dragged the body to the forest and left it to the bears.
As for Jiwon, Kei had decided not to kill her just yet. Jiwon hadn’t realised that Kei’s bathroom had a trapdoor installed, and the moment Kei locked the door, the trapdoor activated and sent Jiwon down into the basement of the apartment complex. There, the longest five days of her life began.
Despite her small stature and seemingly friendly personality, Kei was vicious and cruel towards her victims. She mercilessly tortured Jiwon for five days, delighting in her screams and pleas for help. Kei knew that people could hear them, they just chose not to care. One less enemy to worry about. Kei was only doing them a favour.
On the fifth day, Jiwon finally succumbed to her injuries. Kei didn’t even bother disposing of the body, leaving it as it was while she returned to her apartment. As she stared out of the window, she saw the streets of the city run red. A few weeks ago, the place had been spotless. Everyone had been getting along as if they were best friends for life, and now they were killing each other for the heck of it.
When the armed soldiers appeared at her doorstep a few days later, she resigned herself to her fate. She assumed that they had discovered Jiwon’s body, and now they were either going to arrest her or kill her. She deserved it, anyway. To her surprise, they simply escorted her into a car and brought her to the Queen tower, the one place in the city none of them had access to. There, they lead her to the very top, where six other girls she already knew were also being escorted into.
“Welcome, and congratulations. You are the final seven. You’ve won.”