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Jim opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room, wearing nothing but shorts. He checked his hand, and his wedding ring was gone, but the other ring stayed.His gut still ached as if gas was pricking his diaphragm, but it was actually the pain from the battle he had with Stanley, a one-sided one at that.Jim’s expression slowly but surely dullened as he remembered Rena. What might have happened to her? Did she really die?“Anne, can you hear me?” he asked but received no response. “Joe?” he asked, but the same was the result. Were they purposely keeping silent, or were they unable to answer? He didn’t know.With effort, he got up to his feet and walked up to the door, which was the only thing that was faintly glowing in the room. He touched it and was suddenly electrocuted. It wasn’t to the point to kill him but make him greatly suffer.Jim managed to move back just in time. If he had stayed in contact with the door for a few more seconds, his heart might have really stopped.Jim
The flamehounds were known for their extreme aggressiveness and killing their prey in gruesome ways. By the time they were done, the pray would look like molten ice cream, completely unrecognizable from head to toe.When the sponsor ‘Fancy Fatty’ released the flamehound, almost every other sponsor who was watching bet that Jim would lose. The odds were 1:2 as with any contestant in the initial stages.But there was one sponsor, a female with the sponsor_id ‘Nightmare_Lily’ who began to drool at Jim’s handsomeness, and she bet in Jim’s favor. “How could they throw such a pretty specimen in that dangerous place? Those people surely don’t have hearts. I hope he makes it out alive so I can devour him myself.”There were only over two dozen sponsors that were watching right now.The flamehound saw Jim and charged him with full speed.Jim’s body was not in good condition, but the sheer fear from seeing the hideous dog released a rush of adrenaline in his body. The corridor was twelve feet w
The woman with the tattoo ‘K3’ on her shoulder began to walk toward Jim, “You managed to defeat a flamehound, huh. Not bad, but you’re going to lose your life today. Don’t take this personally. I’m just doing what I can to survive in this hell hole!” “W-Wait,” Jim quickly said. “Let’s talk.” “Talking wouldn’t get us anywhere,” she said. “We’re hundreds of feet deep underground. We can’t escape this place unless we survive all the ordeals the watchers put us through.” “L-Let’s team up and take them on together,” Jim said. “Hmph, do you think just the two of us can defeat armies of men wielding guns?” she snorted. “Don’t kid yourself. The only way to escape this place is to do their bidding.” She walked until she was ten feet away from Jim before she suddenly dashed forth and swung both the daggers at Jim’s throat as well as his gut. Her intention was pretty clear. She wanted to kill him as swiftly as possible. Jim jumped back and managed to dodge the daggers, but her speed increase
The big one-eyed guy would easily weigh over 300 pounds; the spiked club in his hand was dyed with blood. And he looked like he couldn’t wait to kill Jim. Clearly, this guy had killed people before. “If I make a soup out of your facial skin, I’m sure I’ll become a bit more handsome,” he confidently and arrogantly walked toward Jim, as if he could destroy his opponent without much of a problem even though Jim was wielding two daggers. “Do we really have to fight each other?” Jim asked. “Fighting wouldn’t do it,” he replied. “Killing is the only way we’ll survive, of course unless the watchers explicitly want us to fight without killing each other, but I doubt they’d care for trash like you.” “How many people did you kill?” Jim asked without hesitation. The bulky man grinned. “You’ll be my fifteenth. If I win a hundred matches, I’ll be able to get out of this dark place, they said, and I plan to get out of here at any cost. So, why don’t you just give up on your life, and I’ll make
Jim entered the room, which was dark at the moment. And the door closed behind him. A light turned on, revealing the things that were in the room.There was no pillow or bed, but there was an attached bathroom. A pot of water, and some canned food. Nothing more.He went and sat by a wall, leaning his back against the wall. His left shoulder and right forearm were hurting badly, and so he couldn’t put a straight face.[You survived for now.] Joe’s voice rang in his mind. [But from the looks of it, you’ll have to survive 97 more fights before you can even get out of this level.]“Level?”[Yeah. You’re in the lowest level of this dungeon.] Joe said rather casually. [It’s like a pyramid. The lowest level is the biggest in terms of area.]Jim’s expression changed. “How do you know that?”[I just do.]“Hmph. How many levels are there?”[I can tell you, but I don’t want to tell you.] Joe teased him. [If you manage to get out of this level, then I’ll tell you.]Jim didn’t say anything.The do
Jim was about to vomit, but Joe stopped it by contracting his throat muscles and said, [It’s useless. Those things have already spread out and been absorbed by your gut.]“This fast?” Jim shook his head. “I don’t believe you.” He poked his finger deep into his nose and tried to forcibly vomit. Still, nothing but saliva produced in his mouth. “What the hell? Why don’t you even let me vomit out bad stuff?”[If you vomit, then I think they’ll make you drink that bad stuff again.] Joe said, startling Jim. [Don’t forget that this room has four cameras on four corners. They will be watching your every move. Puking the stuff out after seeing its effects would only attract unnecessary attention. In times like these, you should be smart. The nanobots, worms, and parasites might harm an ordinary person, but I’m with you, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.]“Bullshit. If you were really that dependable, I wouldn’t be here in the first place,” Jim gnashed his teeth. “I wouldn’t have watched my w
Jim opened his eyes and was surprised because he didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. He checked his injuries, and it seemed like they almost completely healed. He was able to freely move his left shoulder and clench his right hand. He was not expecting the nanobots to heal to this extent.[You finally woke up. They are probably going to call you out soon.] Joe said. [There’s a guy who’s won five matches straight and barely suffered injuries. He’s probably a street fighter. He moves pretty past.]Jim’s expression stayed the same. He grabbed a packet of chips and began to eat them quickly.[I was expecting you to get tense. Aren’t you worried about facing him?] Joe asked.“I’ll probably have to face everyone here on this level,” Jim said. “That means, I’ll have to mentally prepare myself to kill them.” His hand shivered at the possibility of fighting someone he knew. “It’s one thing to kill criminals, but most of the people here are stuck just like me and have other choice but to kil
Jim mentally prepared himself to fight, and his body was ready to move toward the door that just opened, but his body automatically stopped when his eyes saw an eight-year-old girl step out of the room, holding what looked like two grenades in her hands. And she was trembling in fear. “I want to see my mommy,” she cried and shed tears as she looked at Jim. “Will you help me, uncle?” Jim frowned. “What sort of joke is this? Am I supposed to kill this little girl now? You call this a challenge? Will you get horny by watching me kill this girl, you damn watchers?” [Hey, I don’t think it’s a good idea to scold them.] Joe said. [Instead, you should focus on your opponent. She may be a kid, but if she hits you with those bombs, you’ll die a dog’s death.] The little girl suddenly froze in her steps midway. “What the…” Jim didn’t get what was happening. “D-Did she just freeze?” [I think they controlled her body and froze her through frequency waves.] Joe said. “T-They can do that?” Jim