Chapter 17 - Ahn Jin-sun

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De-eun emerged from the side door with the other winners, all of them tired, hungry and some partially covered in blood.
More bunks were gone, as per usual, the workers likely came in and cleared them out during the game.
Though, Dae-eun could also now make out more clearly what was on the walls.

However, there was something more pressing to deal with.
Han Mi-nyeo sat up in her bed, giving a childish wave and a smile to Deok-su, who was at the front.
"Deok-su, honey. So glad you won!" She joked.

Dae-eun was just standing still, in a mix of both shock and anger.
I- wha- why isn't she dead?!
"H-how? How the hell...?" Deok-su stammered, clearly he shared her thoughts.

"What? You're looking at me like you've seen a ghost. Are you ok?" She scoffed.
The man didn't respond, so Dae-eun decided to.
"How the fuck are you still alive?!" She exclaimed.

Mi-nyeo smiled at her, pointing towards the door.
"The masked guys all called me this, 'the weakest link.' Like when nobody chooses you as a partner for things when you were a kid. Hey! This guy knows about it. The weakest link!" She cackled.

"And after that, they gently escorted me back to the dorm. Because... they said that it's all a part of a rule they had... in the old days. Not to let a kid turn into some kind of outcast, I guess." She explained.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" She began laughing.

Dae-eun wanted to kill her.
She wanted to strangle her until her eyes popped out.
And she could, but she doubted she could pull it off.

If anything, she assumed that Deok-su would be the one to kill her.
So... she would leave it up to him.

...

The guards had given them their food, a cooked and partially peeled potato and a full bottle of water.
There were 17 Players left now, each of them with a bunk only one step up from the floor.
They sat eating in silence, Dae-eun noticing some quiet hostility from Mi-nyeo and Deok-su, she gave him the finger, he scowled in response.

Dae-eun simply finished her potato, turning to Gi-hun who was on the bunk beside her.
His eyes were vacant, though that was because his partner had been the old man, Player 001.
His potato was in his hands, untouched.

"Don't worry about it." She heard Sang-woo on the bunk on Gi-hun's other side. "He was an old man you only knew for a few days."
Dae-eun lowered her brow.
Says the man who seemingly had no problem pushing Ali under the bus.

"See that man there?" Sang-woo prompted, gesturing towards Player 69. "His partner was his wife."
Shit.
69 was sat staring at his feet, his food and water untouched beside him.

He slowly got to his feet and looked around the room, his eyes unfocused and hazy.
The man walked down the stairs, standing closer to the centre of the room.
"Let.." he swallowed. "Let's just stop all this. I can't keep doing this. I can't." He lowered his head tears beginning to run down his cheeks.

Dae-eun practically felt the cells in her hair dying, turning it whiter and whiter.
"The majority must agree. Well, come on, let's get out. Half of us, that's all we need to end this right now. Don't any of you want to leave this horrible place? Anyone who wants to go, stand up. Let's get out of here." The man sobbed, his eyes wide and flicking around the room, no one stood up.

He landed on Dae-eun for a moment before his face creased further.
He threw his head to the ground.
"How can you call yourselves human?!"

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