Simulation Swarm ? Kang Dae-ho ╱ 388

THIRTEEN                      Devil's Advocate
IF GOD IS A DOG & MAN IS A FRAUD,
THEN I'M A                        LOST CAUSE.

[LONG CHAPTER — 6k words ]

Panic. Pure, utter panic.

Air had been squeezed from Minseo's lungs, trapped between the fragile bones of her ribs as they shook with fear. The piercing screams of surrounding players had gone deaf in her ears, a distant ringing bouncing from each crook of her skull as her glassed eyes struggled to focus. Numbers were being called out at random, pleas and prayers recited as if the room was a Church, but by the blood which painted the white walls and deep crimson and the sins which were about to be committed, the circus sight of a room could be considered Hell.

Minseo's trembling hands gripped onto the beam tightly, her knuckles white and scarce of blood. Snap out of it, that same voice echoed, snap out of it.

But she couldn't. Her breathing was shallow and sharp, her head clouded with every inch of regret, anger and resentment which had ever occurred in her life. From the sweet memories of her as a baby to the bitter ones of her brother's funeral, Minseo could not snap out of it. Her tongue was trapped beneath her teeth, the taste of her own metallic blood swirling sickly in her mouth, mixing with the salvia which collected under the tension.

A body collided with hers, jarring her out of her spiraling panic, the force of the impact breaking through the fragile wall of her mind. The rush of movement shattered the barrier, its remnants scattering like ashes in the wind. In an instant, the soft pity, the quiet compassion, the instinctive kindness she had once held for others ━ all of it evaporated.

No longer did she see the world through the eyes of a lamb, gentle and trusting, surrounded by wolves. The metaphor of her existence was twisted now: the lamb no longer merely surrounded by wolves, but trapped inside a wolf's skin. Anger and self-preservation took hold, pushing her toward a brutal clarity. Survival demanded not kindness, but a sharp edge ━ a hunger to endure at all costs. She had to become something else entirely to navigate this world of predation.