TMCBOW Chapter 90

Chapter 90

 

A fishy smell of blood wafted through the air.

The corpses rolling on the ground and scattered weapons proved this was a battlefield.

“We won…”

The man threw down the weapon in his hand.

“Finally got rid of that damn bastard. Remember? When he first joined the game, he raided our food supplies.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s keep going like this. If it’s just the two of us, we can survive till the end!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the man’s body toppled forward. Not knowing what had happened to him, he tumbled down the cliff.

“Ugh…”

The man’s expression, which had been full of energy just moments ago, contorted in pain. His entire body was covered in cuts and stab wounds from the jagged rocks.

If he hadn’t barely caught on a crevice in the cliff, he would have fallen to his death.

It was such a sudden event that he was bewildered, but what was unbelievable was that his partner was looking down at him from the top of the cliff.

“Ah, I should have pushed harder…”

The woman clicked her tongue and dusted off her hands.

“W-why…?”

“Why, you ask? You were going to kill me next.”

“What are you saying… We’ve been… together all this time.”

Blood dripped from the man’s mouth as he barely managed to speak.

“You’re asking because you don’t know? I can’t use my arm after this battle. I’d just be a burden. We have a history, don’t we? You haven’t forgotten about Steden, have you?”

The partner’s face was grotesquely distorted as she spoke coldly. It wasn’t a smiling face, nor a crying one.

Her face was a mess, filled to the brim with fear and sadness.

“That’s how we survived. By killing those who were no longer needed.”

The man wasn’t a strong participant, and such weak ones formed teams to survive.

The team that started with five was now down to two. They had pruned team members who became hindrances to survival.

“But… you, you’re different. I said I’d protect only you…”

“You think I’d let only you survive? I’m not dying alone!”

Her voice, filled with resentment, felt like it was piercing his heart.

Swoosh.

Just then, he heard the sound of water nearby. The tide was rising from below.

“Q-quickly, run away. Other participants will surely come.”

“What?”

“At least you… should survive. If only one person survives, it should be you…”

“Why, why are you pretending to be nice now! Curse me instead. Say it’s ugly how I’m struggling to survive when I won’t last long in this state anyway. Hurl insults at me!”

The woman, who had been backing away frantically, finally disappeared as if fleeing.

How much time had passed? Darkness began to fall around him. The man tried to escape, but nothing changed, and only his palms were torn to shreds.

Moreover, the speed at which the water was rising was alarming. He would soon be submerged at this rate.

“What’s this? There’s someone here.”

A man with glossy silver hair entered the man’s field of vision. He had encountered this person when he first joined the game.

‘He was a boy who seemed pampered and couldn’t do anything.’

Judging that he would fall on his own without needing to be killed directly, they had let him go without bothering to get blood on their hands.

‘To think that guy has become strong enough to be called a candidate for victory.’

They all call him the mad dog of hell because he’d bite with his teeth if he didn’t have a weapon, but his name was, right, Chris.

“H-hey… save me.”

“No.”

Those savage blood-red eyes no longer held any trace of the previous innocence.

He, too, must have seen hell here. It was a common occurrence.

“We can barter though. You need rescue, and I need medicine.”

“F-fine. I’ll give you medicine…”

“Where is it?”

“In my bag!”

“Ah, in the bag.”

Chris smirked and disappeared from view, quickly returning with a familiar bag.

“Where’s the medicine? Not here, not here, not here… It’s not here.”

Chris shook out the bag in front of the man’s eyes and then tossed it away.

“I forgot. Actually…”

“If you’re going to say it’s in your pocket, just shut up.”

The water had reached his toes by now. When the water rises, he might be able to swim out.

But could he succeed?

The chances probably aren’t high. The man, no longer having the strength to beg, hung his head.

“But how did you fall down here? It must be quite frustrating to die now from a misstep.”

A gruff voice fell from above. Chris didn’t seem inclined to help, but he didn’t seem intent on harming him either.

“…It wasn’t a misstep.”

“Then you must have been betrayed?”

The casually uttered word ‘betrayal’ struck deep into the man’s heart. He clutched his clothes tightly. Resentment, regret, and other emotions mixed unfiltered in his voice.

“That person was my friend…”

“You trust a friend you met in a place like this? Only the last one standing can have their wish granted anyway.”

Chris laughed hollowly after speaking coldly.

“It doesn’t matter. My wish. It was as good as fulfilled when I met that person.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I… was going to give up my wish at the last moment.”

He meant it sincerely. He had fought risking his life for his partner. He was willing to offer his neck if only the two of them remained.

“Where did it all go wrong?”

“How should I know? If you’re curious, go to hell and ask.”

“Hell? Will that person go to hell?”

“People like us would be lucky to end up in hell.”

That was what he had been prepared for since the moment he took the devil’s hand.

“That’s a relief. When we die, we’ll go to the same place…”

With those final words, the man fell silent. Chris turned his back without even glancing at the man disappearing into the rising water.

“Why is everyone going wild after being quiet for a while?”

Chris stumbled as he was gathering useful items. He steadied himself against the wall.

“Ugh…”

His leg condition was concerning. Despite disinfecting with alcohol he luckily found and treating it with herbs from a guidebook, it was of no use.

“Haa…”

His body felt heavy from barely catching an hour or two of sleep.

This was why participants formed groups. Without taking turns keeping watch, even sleep was a luxury.

One careless moment could lead to eternal sleep.

Chris’s pace gradually slowed as he walked. He stopped and leaned against a tree.

His vision spun. A headache accompanying a high fever tormented Chris. He gritted his teeth and groaned.

“…..”

A rustling sound came from not far away. Someone was approaching to kill Chris.

‘Ah, damn it. Should I just die?’

Although he had prepared himself when joining the game, at first, he was scared to actually kill people.

There was someone who proposed forming a team and surviving together to the hesitant Chris.

‘Back then, I didn’t know everyone except me was an enemy.’

So he readily lent his strength and gave his heart. He thought of him as a friend.

Since the wish would only be granted to the last person standing, they would part ways someday, but he believed that if they fought fairly then, he could accept the result even if he lost.

The price for such naivety was harsh.

‘Is there anyone here who hasn’t been betrayed at least once?’

Looking back now, it was so ridiculous he could only laugh hollowly.

The voice of the guy who betrayed him first and then called him a monster was still clear in his ears.

Watching him scream desperately with blood foaming at his mouth, Chris lost something of his humanity.

He experienced countless betrayals after that.

Even recently, a man he had teamed up with for 3 months betrayed him, but well, it didn’t matter.

‘I didn’t have any expectations anyway.’

It had been a long time since he stopped trusting humans. It was an environment where he had no choice.

All his red eyes saw were betrayal and death, corpses and despair.

He was tired. Everything had become tedious.

Now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t recall the faces of his family members.

‘I’d rather die.’

He wanted to choose a peaceful death, escaping from the pain.

If he stayed still now, someone would end his life.

Lack of sleep and constant pain interfered with rational judgment. Chris was overwhelmed by the urge to let everything go.

‘No. I have to move…’

The sound was getting closer.

There was no strength left to move. Chris calculated the direction of the sound and threw a bomb.

Bang!

A sharp scream was heard, and then the attack subsided.

They probably didn’t die from that. They must have fled, thinking there might be more bombs.

At that moment, he felt a strange impact as if his head was ringing.

In Chris’s blurred vision, a door appeared.

“That’s…”

Am I dead too?

Wouldn’t the afterlife be spread out beyond that door?

Whether it’s hell or wherever, it would be better than now.

Thinking it was the end, Chris felt rather at peace.

Unlike the man he met earlier, he wouldn’t be able to meet anyone waiting for him even if he died, but…

As if enchanted, Chris approached and opened the door.

The air in the space beyond was different from the start. The air that seeped in as he breathed was hot.

His legs gave out, and Chris collapsed on the spot. The rough sensation stung as it touched his wounds.

 

“If you do bad things, you go to hell! Do you know what hell is like? It’s a scary place where hot flames soar and lava boils.”

 

That was the hell Chris had heard about from his nanny when he was young.

‘So this is how I die.’

Feeling the pain fade away, Chris sensed his impending death.

He also thought he might die trapped in a long, long tunnel. It wasn’t surprising. Out of countless participants, all but one would meet such a fate.

He was just one more corpse for someone to step on and rise…

“Chris!”

Just then, he heard someone’s desperate voice.

“Are you alright? Wake up!”

Chris realized a beat late that his name had been called.

A call without killing intent was so unfamiliar it felt strange.

“Chris! Open your eyes. Oh my, blood…”

Chris lifted his heavy eyelids. Light poured in, making him shut his eyes tightly again, before slowly opening them once more.

“Why are you in this state every time I see you?”

The sunlight shining down gleamed like a halo above the woman’s head.

White, clean skin and clear purple eyes, pink hair swaying just above her shoulders.

This woman’s name was…

“Lee Sena?”

The name he had tried to forget slipped past his lips.

It wasn’t hell. This was Milky Way Lounge.

He had returned to Sena’s peaceful cocktail bar.

🥂

Thank you for reading! ♡