Free Web NovelThe VIP room of the body casino — where I’d pumped my stash up to 2,772 coins by means barely distinguishable from fraud.
We’d just been offered a special VIP gamble by the dealer.
Russian roulette.
Two people from our party would take part.
[Oh, this game only ever loses money the more you play it. Isn’t that right?]
[After the casino takes its cut, it’s basically just a game of handing coins back and forth. Except for the fact that one of you is guaranteed to die!]
But for our objective we had to take this gamble.
I’d seen the body parts and organs dangling from the rails.
‘One of those pieces even has Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s body parts on it.’
Through Russian roulette, we had to win enough to at least get enough to call it “his” — to reassemble it.
And sure enough—
“I’ll go first.”
Someone in our group raised a hand and stepped forward immediately.
Agent Choi’s eyes glittered.
“Agent!”
“My actual chance of dying is low and the chance of rescue is high, right~ If you can do arithmetic as an agent, you have to do it.”
Right.
From experience, if we die in the Se-gwang Special City subway we wake up in the real world and escape.
The problem was—
‘...Can we be one hundred percent sure that will work this time?’
If there’s even a one-in-ten-thousand chance we really die.
That’s the end.
.......
“I’ll go first.”
At that moment, Deputy Eunhaje brushed his clothes and stepped out.
“...!”
“Citizen, wait a moment...”
“No, daring is my specialty, you see.”
He turned to us and waved the hand that wore the swapped item.
The hand he’d exchanged.
“Anyway, I didn’t have a hand to begin with. No need to look for one. Saves coins, you might say.”
“...!”
“And you mustn’t do it until the very end.”
Deputy Eunhaje’s prosthetic arm pointed at Agent Choi.
“Huh? Ah, citizen, you heroically volunteered first so don’t make it lose face like that...”
I shook my head.
“Agent. You’re the only one who can recognize body parts.”
“......!”
Agent Choi opened his mouth, then sighed.
“You deer bastard, you’re smart.”
Deputy Eunhaje snorted a laugh, but tension still hung in the air.
“Those of you who only swapped a ring finger, go buy your own ring finger back with coins and swap it on. Don’t go out there crying that you can’t move.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, your current state might affect what you’re like when you wake up. No need to take unnecessary risks.”
Deputy Eunhaje stepped forward, resolute.
“I’ll play.”
“.......”
But then—
“This game results in the death of one of the participants, for certain. Are you really going to play?”
Huh?
“Yes. We will play.”
“...Would you like a reminder of how Russian roulette works?”
“Load one bullet in a six-chamber revolver, take turns pulling the trigger on yourself; if the bullet hits you, you die. If you manage to pull three times in a row without dying you get one body part as a reward. Right?”
“Yep! And you could also forfeit a body part to pass your turn to someone else...”
“That’s fine. Nobody here will use that.”
“.......”
Fifteen minutes and twenty seconds later.
Bang!
We watched Deputy Eunhaje’s head explode right before our eyes......
“.......”
“.......”
The winner — Agent Cheongdong, his face pale — stood there with dark eyes, trying to steady his trembling hands as he looked at the bloodied corpse that had fired three consecutive shots in one go.
Click.
“Congratulations! You won!”
This is bad. The shock was greater than I expected.
No matter how much I tried to remind myself that we’d wake up in reality, watching someone I knew die in front of me ‘as planned’ was... sharper than any noose.
The atmosphere froze.
“And this person took three consecutive shots and was killed... ah, they died from the injury.”
The dealer counting watched us.
“You were traveling together, yes? ...You can accept it as an injury instead.”
Our eyes went back to Agent Choi.
The agent who could recognize bodies stepped forward with a set expression and looked at the body parts hanging from the rail.
Then he chose one.
“It’s the shoulder!”
“.......”
A piece that could be attached right onto the neck.
It was the top-priority fragment we had agreed on beforehand.
Sweat ran cold down Agent Choi’s composed face.
“All right...”
Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s head looked at us and asked.
“You can stop here and leave the room. What will you do?”
“.......”
We’d already bet on it.
If you die inside Se-gwang Special City, you wake up outside.
So—
“I’ll continue.”
“Then who will bet next?”
It continued.
I raised my hand and pulled the trigger.
Clack — the empty chamber made a hollow sound.
Don’t stop.
You had to fire three consecutive times to get a body part.
I kept pulling, not stopping. Fast, so fear wouldn’t make my hands shake.
Clack.
Next—
Clack.
“.......”
Cold sweat trickled down my jaw.
I lived.
And that meant—
My opponent in this Russian roulette would definitely die. freewёbnoνel.com
“...Agent Cheongdong.”
“.......”
The opponent who took the gun from the table picked it up, aimed it at his temple, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The shot rang on the very next pull.
“.......”
Dead.
[Two corpses in an instant.]
“Congratulations! You’ve won— the visitor who pulled three consecutive times receives an injury....”
Cold sweat.
Agent Choi moved strangely quick and approached the rail to pick a body part. How many more do we need? There were five body parts we could get if we continued — would that be enough? That was...
“Stand up.”
.......
“......what?”
“Take a rest.”
When I looked up, Section Chief Lee Jahaeon was there.
The lizard chief quickly cleared away Agent Cheongdong’s corpse and sat on the corresponding sofa.
“Assign your seat to Chief Goat.”
“...!”
Baek Saheon immediately turned and started running.
‘That bastard.’
I ran out and grabbed him.
“Ugh.”
“You know you have to die to get out anyway.”
“Fuck, what if you really die...!”
“Oh, do you have another option?”
“.......”
“Or do you want to be trapped in this darkness alone?”
He wouldn’t be able to explore this crazed, extinction-level disaster subway alone. He’d end up totally contaminated like Deputy Lee Seong-hae or take euthanasia and wake up in reality — no need for him to risk that.
...Of course.
‘...But what if we really die?’
The thought, however tiny, chilled me.
Rationally and emotionally there was no choice.
My spine prickled, but I didn’t let go of the arm I’d grabbed. Letting him run would only make for a longer, more painful death.
“I’ll just take the euthanasia pills...! Why would you make me shoot myself in the head!” ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
.......
“Then go ahead.”
“What?”
Right.
You can’t force someone to die like that. There was another option.
It wasn’t even the same group at the start.
This wasn’t about human decency.
...Unless there was some compensation to persuade him.
“You can double the coins you won on the slot machine and take them.”
“...!”
[Oh!]
“Think about it. You’ll still have some left even after playing here.”
Honestly, it was likely he’d still have more than two thousand coins left....
I whispered.
“Three hundred fifty coins.”
“.......”
“You can take that. We’ll have to carry on with this project... next time you come in, think about what to buy with hundreds of casino coins, yeah?”
Silence.
Agent Choi chose a piece and I heard him and the dealer exchange the kind of small talk that pretended to be useful info.
“...Five hundred coins.”
“Okay.”
“Fuck.”
Startled by his own swear, Baek Saheon, sweating cold, came back and sat on the sofa where I’d been.
“Then let’s begin.”
And—
Bang!
While pulling the trigger first for three consecutive times, he died on the third.
“.......”
“Congratulations!”
Now the remainder is....
.......
I sat facing Section Chief Lee Jahaeon and sank back onto the sofa. The couch was sticky with Baek Saheon’s blood.
“Sir. Can you, with just feeling, tell where the live round is?”
“No.”
“...Yes.”
I’d asked despite knowing; nothing would change.
Even if I knew it didn’t mean anything.
Sigh.
The revolver on the table was pointed toward Section Chief Lee Jahaeon.
The player thus designated picked up the gun first.
“I’ll fire three shots in a row.”
But—
Bang!
...On the first shot his head was blown apart.
“.......”
“Your luck is remarkable!”
I inhaled and then exhaled hard.
How many times has this happened? I would have been better off dying then and there.
“Congratulations! The deceased’s injury is... ah, this time you won’t receive an injury. The game has already ended!”
Ah.
“If you die on the first shot while pulling three times in a row... then the condition isn’t satisfied?”
“Seems like it.”
Wait.
‘Then...’
In the worst case, the Lee Seong-hae parts we got now might be the end.
I looked at the three body parts we’d gotten so far.
Shoulder, chest, waist.
Strangely, the parts stuck together as soon as we took them out, but they didn’t even make the minimum torso.
We have to get the pelvis.
Then it could be judged as at least a surviving form of Deputy Lee Seong-hae.
And if the parts lost here reflect on the real-world body, we need that much to be able to do anything once we get out.
If so......
.......
“Excuse me.”
I raised my hand and spoke.
“How about loading two bullets and spinning?”
“Oooh?”
Let’s gamble with an even bigger risk.
Casino games pay out more for higher risk.
“So... if a revolver loaded with two bullets fires three times in a row,”
I looked to the rail.
“you get two body parts.”
“...!”
[That sounds very interesting, friend!]
[But if you do that, wouldn’t the probability of being hit before firing three times be higher?]
Right.
Also, this method might not feel particularly more dangerous. Either way one of the two dies and it’s over — the overall framework didn’t change.
Then—
“And in addition here...”
I swallowed a sigh.
“The game winner must, after the opponent dies, still take the remaining gun and fire at least one shot at themselves.”
“Oh?”
“There will be at least one live round left. Both must risk death and pull the trigger.”
In short: madness.
[Excellent. Roe Deer! Both sides get the thrill with active behavior. Oh, if there are spectators it’ll be very exciting.]
[However, even so, both might die before reaching three pulls and fail to achieve the objective....]
No.
We can do it.
[Oh.]
There was interest.
And the dealer who heard that—
“.......”
As if listening to some ‘decision’ in the casino, he stayed still and then...
“VIP rooms must always provide private pleasures. We accept that variant rule. Very well!”
Phew.
Done.
I blinked and sat back on the sofa.
And now left was...
“Oh my. It’s Podo and me.”
Me and Agent Choi.
By the way, Ko Yeongeun was excluded due to entrance capacity, and thinking back now...
‘I’m glad.’
If she’d accidentally been dragged in she’d really have died.
“Ah, before that, let’s talk a little.”
“Yesss.”
Agent Choi, who had stood, grabbed my shoulder and said:
“That earlier method is guaranteed to get the body parts, right?”
“...Yes.”
“Okay.”
Agent Choi grabbed me and turned my body toward the rail.
“Podo, look closely.”
“.......”
“The third is the pelvis, and... the seventh is the left arm, the fifteenth is the right arm.”
Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s body parts.
He’d told me in case I died.
“Tell them to accept those as injuries.”
“...Yes.”
Agent Choi and I returned to our respective sofas.
The dealer picked up the revolver....
“Is it okay to choose where to put the bullets? The firing probability is the same no matter where you load the rounds.”
“......Yes.”
I chose the chamber positions I wanted.
And.
“If all of us die, please hand over the ‘injury’ and the coins to the person waiting outside the VIP room as our party.”
“.......”
“Dealer.”
“Yes.”
And the order was....
Clunk.
“Looks like I go first.”
“.......”
“Podo.”
Agent Choi raised the revolver and said:
“Want me to guess? You loaded one live round every three chambers, right?”
“...!”
“One in, two empty, one in, two empty...”
He looked at me as he said it.
“So whatever the firing order, once a live round goes off, the next two pulls are empty.”
Right.
“Then... if I’m hit, Podo will have to succeed in three consecutive pulls to take the body parts.”
Of course.
Either way, the final shot would be a live round.
“We both will die for sure.”
.......
“See you later.”
Bang!
Agent Choi died on the second shot.
“Congratulations! You’ve won.”
“.......”
The sofa was splattered with blood.
Blood and corpses filled the floor and couch.
“Would you like a short rest before the Winner’s Russian Roulette? Or....”
“Dolphin.”
I’d realized from the game just now.
I turned my head to Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s head.
.......
No.
“You knew, didn’t you?”
“Huh?”
Lee Seong-hae himself.
“You allowed this irregular rule on purpose, didn’t you?”
“.......”
“If I can choose where to place the rounds, then the winner shooting themselves is meaningless.”
I continued.
“You can pick positions that guarantee survival based on where you place the bullets.”
The dealer couldn’t not know this.
And yet to permit it as if ignorant meant... it was a choice by another consciousness, not the dealer.
“Did Dolphin-san let it slide?”
“.......”
I’d been feeling off for a while.
He kept, from the start, trying to urge people out of here...
—This is a game where one of the visitors is guaranteed to die. Are you sure you want to play?
It didn’t sound like something a dealer would ordinarily say.
He’d been subtly encouraging people to leave the room within the bounds of the casino’s rules.
So if...
“Did you, while retaining some of your personality, become the dealer in order to preserve yourself a bit? To keep exploring any possible survival chance?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Isn’t your consciousness partially intact right now?”
“.......”
“So you looked at my changing the bullet order as a way to survive and allowed it...”
“Visitor, your statement has been judged to manipulate the irregular rule.”
Ah.
“You are cheating in the casino. Return the injuries you’ve received playing Russian roulette and leave the VIP room.”
“.......”
“Leave immediately, or we will take action.”
I looked at the ‘injuries’ from the Russian roulette.
The body parts connected on their own.
If they had a mind, I thought I might persuade them to attach themselves by convincing them.
But the situation made that impossible.
Then.
“Wait a moment.”
Feigning that I would leave, I lunged at the dealer.
“...!”
And started to rip Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s head off.
“Ugh.”
A horrific sensation like nothing I’d felt before passed through my hands.
The wood-cracking sound, the tearing of mismatched flesh falling away. The dealer’s powerful body snapping my ribs, the dealer’s crushing grip biting my hand, the sound of the dealer trying to pull out paperwork....
But. Without this method there might be no other chance.
“Ghh!”
I finally tore the head off.
And immediately... I attached the body parts I’d already gotten as ‘injuries’ to it.
“...!”
If the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) VIP room was truly private, the dealer’s backup would be a bit delayed — which was why I’d done it.
There’s no turning back.
Soon this casino would claim my body the way it did for long-term missing persons.
Well then, since it’s come to this.
“Ghh.”
I went to the rail with bloody hands, pulled out the pieces of Deputy Lee Seong-hae’s body I’d been designated earlier, and hastily affixed them.
Then.
I forced the euthanasia pills into his mouth.
“...!”
I clamped the nose and mouth shut until he swallowed. By the time I had confirmed that, a presence was felt outside the VIP room.
The sound of someone sensing property damage approaching.
“Ghh.”
I grabbed the revolver on the table.
And, and....
Clack, clack.
After two empty clicks, the bullet fired into my head.
***
“.......”
Why does my head hurt so much?
I hadn’t realized being shot would affect the real body...
But then I realized it wasn’t that.
Because—
“......!”
I was still human.
And.
“Hah.”
Ko Yeongeun was carrying me on her back, running.
Through the subway station.
