Chapter 8: To survive, that's all

　"A similar place again..."

　　Looking around, Xiwang lowered his eyes and whispered to himself.

　　The enclosed room was illuminated only by a pale light. Although the room was relatively empty and these were just normal indoor scenes, the fact that the entire room was locked still made Xiwang feel extremely uncomfortable. Coupled with the randomly placed blades not far away, Xiwang was almost having a stress response.

　　Xiwang looked around. Besides this group of juvenile delinquents, there were also some old people, some homeless people, some girls, and some people who didn't look like good people at first glance... Xiwang felt like he was having phantom pain again. Could it be that his wounds hadn't healed yet?

　　["Everything is ready, we can start."]

　　[A processed electronic voice was heard in the empty room, and it seemed that someone was issuing orders outside the room.]

　　[Then someone helped you remove the handcuffs from your bodies. Everyone else's handcuffs were removed except for a few people who didn't look like good people.]

　　[Although you are no longer restrained and the strange people who brought you here have left, no one dares to move. Everyone is a little scared of coming to this place, so they appear restrained. However, there are a few people who occasionally glance at the blades not far away.]

　　["Next, please feel free to play as you please. Of course, it's still the same as before, only one person can come out."]

　　[The electronic voice sounded again, and after saying a few words whose meaning was unclear but dangerous, it fell silent.]

　　[There is no reason, no explanation, all you are left with is a paragraph, an empty room, randomly placed weapons, gradually dimming lights, and a locked door.]

　　[The silent competition... no, it should be a fight, began just like that.]

　　[The first to act are a middle-aged man who looks like a homeless person and several juvenile delinquents beside you. They may not know what is happening, but they know that in this situation, taking weapons to protect themselves is the most important thing.]

　　[The next people to take action were a few girls and an old man. They realized this and purposefully stopped the first few people who took action and tried to take the blades.]

　　[You and the rest of the people stayed where you were, either confused or panicked as if you hadn't figured out the situation yet.]

　　[Finally, there were those few people who didn't look like good guys. With a few crisp "clang" sounds, they untied their handcuffs at some point, and then rushed towards the first few people who took action, or in other words, their weapons, at an extremely fast speed.]

　　["Got it!"]

　　The first person to get a weapon was a young man. Perhaps because of his own preference, or perhaps because of the idea that "an inch longer is an inch stronger", he picked up a long knife without hesitation. The moment he was the first to get a weapon, and it was also the weapon he liked the most, he cheered with joy.

　　However, just as he turned around and prepared to use weapons to threaten and force back the others, a burly figure had already arrived in front of him - they were the last group of people to take action, but now they had already arrived in front of him!

　　He simply grabbed the boy's knife-holding hands, twisted them to one side, pushed them upwards, and pulled them outwards. The sharp blade cut the boy's throat and took his life.

　　Then, he took the long knife from the boy's hand, picked up the boy who was still breathing with one hand, threw him to the side, knocked down the homeless man who wanted to take the weapon and chopped at the people who followed with the knife in the other hand.

　　The few people who arrived later had obviously expected this, and they either dodged or directly grabbed the people next to them to block the knives, then quickly crouched forward, threw themselves forward, and rolled, and when they stood up again, they already had a weapon in their hands, and started fighting with the man backhanded.

　　There were some surprises, but in the end, it was you guys who didn't seem to understand the situation and didn't take any action who were safe. Those who wanted to grab the weapons first were injured by those who were fighting... or even died directly.

　　Their attacks were very purposeful, aimed completely at killing people. When those people used others as human shields, they also intentionally placed the "shields" in a fatal position to block the knives, so that the few people who had taken action earlier all lay on the ground wailing, their breath gradually weakening, and they were about to die.

　　'Their sole purpose was to reduce the number of people present' Xi Wang realized this.

　　'I had finally managed to leave that place, but now I'm in a worse place?'

　　Xiwang was a little confused.

　　If you say that in the priest's prison, you only have to endure the pain without worrying about your life, and you can even have a normal life as long as you are willing to give up your dignity...this place is just a pure arena.

　　Only the last one alive can go out... The door will open only when there is only one left... At this time, those of you who did not move realized what the electronic voice meant.

　　Some people were in a panic and wanted to go forward to pick up the weapons that were kicked into the corner, but looking at the people fighting fiercely, they didn't know what to do and could only turn around in a panic.

　　Some people were going crazy, screaming and crying, not knowing why they had suddenly come here, and why they had to suffer this, even though they had done nothing.

　　Some people wanted to try to move and thought of using the immobile people on the ground as shields. They mustered up the courage to drag the corpses and moved carefully to get the weapons in the corner, but they were soon discovered and then killed carelessly and casually by those people.

　　Some people simply buried their heads like ostriches, buried in the pile of corpses, trembling and muttering to themselves, hypnotizing themselves that all this was a nightmare... and then fell into an eternal dream in a burst of pain.

　　It was very casual. In their eyes, all of us were "things" that could be dealt with at will, so much so that we all accepted the possibility that we "won't be picked off". They believed that even if we both suffered losses in a fight, they could still directly get rid of the rest of us - because those who would take the initiative and grab weapons had been dealt with by them in advance.

　　As for the rest of you, you just don't understand the situation and are just panicking and at a loss.

　　...That's indeed the case.

　　Xiwang...felt very confused.

　　Is this world... like this?

　　The smell of blood in the room became stronger and stronger, mixed with some strange smells. Perhaps some people could no longer control themselves.

　　But Xi Wang had already gotten used to this strong smell of blood. He had felt it enough in that prison cell where there was only torture.

　　He was just…confused.

　　'I managed to get through it with great difficulty...'

　　'I finally managed to escape...'

　　'Even if... I stay in prison forever... it's fine...'

　　'Why...is this happening?'

　　'No one came forward anymore—because everyone who came forward was dead.'

　　'No one wanted to take action anymore - because there was no room for resistance.'

　　He huddled in the corner with a dazed look in his eyes, letting the fear in his heart wait for death to come.

　　Then, as the scope of their fight expanded, he was drawn into it and killed at random.

　　The sound of metal colliding continued. They ignored the few remaining people as if you were insignificant.

　　"......"

　　Xiwang wanted to speak but didn't know how to start.

　　It was impossible to dissuade the fight, after all, he couldn't do so.

　　Looking at the messy corpse, he hesitated for a while, then lay on the ground in a trance, trembling and moving forward carefully, as if he wanted to do something.

　　He grabbed a body at the outermost edge of the struggle.

　　Xi Wang could feel that the moment he touched the corpse, his almost instinctive sense of crisis about the "sharp weapon" rose from the bottom of his heart. He subconsciously pulled the corpse back and moved his body, which made the attacking blade miss.

　　"?"

　　He seemed a little stunned. He didn't expect that this inexplicable guy could dodge. However, he soon had no way to care about Xi Wang's variable. The moment he revealed this brief flaw, other people's attacks came towards him.

　　He could only smack his lips, dodge the attack, and kick Xi Wang away.

　　"Ahem…"

　　The tremendous force made Xi Wang feel a sweetness in his throat as if all his internal organs had shifted. He even felt that if he used a little more force, he might faint from the pain.

　　Fortunately, Xi Wang adapted quickly...it was just a little more painful than the priest's torture.

　　Even after being kicked away, Xi Wang still did not let go of the corpse. In this way, he dragged the corpse to a slightly quieter corner of the room.

　　This was the body of a young boy. At first, he did not move like Xi Wang and seemed not to understand the situation. Later, he wanted to use the cover of the corpse to pick up weapons but failed.

　　Xiwang tidied his clothes a little to make him look neater and then laid him flat in the corner.

　　Afterward, Xi Wang dragged back a few more corpses using a similar method, and each time he managed to narrowly avoid the fatal blades. Although he would be hit one or two times each time, and had many more scars, and was almost stepped on and left there several times, he miraculously survived in the end.

　　When Xi Wang dragged the body back, he did not search for anything. He just tidied up the clothes and then laid it flat side by side with the other bodies.

　　It looked like he was "collecting the bodies" of these people.

　　It's surprising and also... funny.

　　It's really funny to help "collect bodies" of people you don't know in a place where you can be killed at any time and risk your death even if you just drag the body back...

　　But Xiwang just thought that "people should be treated with dignity after death"... It's just collecting corpses, what's so funny about it... Yes... It's just a normal corpse collection...

　　But... this is not right, we shouldn't do this at this time...

　　Xi Wang dragged the corpse again, thinking so in his mind.

　　'I shouldn't do this at this time, and I shouldn't be "overwhelmed with sympathy" at this time...'

　　'But there is nothing wrong with doing these things...'

　　'It is wrong to ignore life, it is bad to wantonly deprive life, and it is wrong to kill people.'

　　'The dead should be respected and their bodies treated with dignity.'

　　'Aren't these...right?'

　　'Aren't these things "taken for granted" in the world?'

　　"ugh..."

　　The sound of slight breathing interrupted Xi Wang's messy thoughts, and he realized that the middle-aged man in his hand was not dead yet.

　　Xi Wang quickly dragged him aside and tore his clothes to use as bandages, trying to stop his bleeding - even if it was in vain.

　　Just when you wanted to move his arm that was covering the wound to check the exact location of the wound, he made a sound with difficulty, as if he wanted to remind you of something.

　　Xi Wang once again felt the approach of the "sharp weapon" and moved to the side, and a small blade pierced his shoulder from behind.

　　If he hadn't reacted, the knife would have pierced the back of his neck directly - the unique sensitivity to "sharp weapons" that he had developed due to the torture of the priest saved his life again.

　　Looking back, he could see that it was the girl huddled in the corner, seemingly desperate and waiting to die, who was attacking him. She seemed to have found the knife from the corpse she had dragged back earlier.

　　Xi Wang was very surprised and didn't quite understand why she suddenly did this.

　　But soon, the feeling of that "sharp weapon" approaching came again, this time in front of him.

　　He still instinctively moved his body to prevent the blade from directly piercing into the fatal part, but the pain was extremely obvious. Although it did not pierce into the fatal part, Xi Wang still felt as if it was stabbed directly into the heart.

　　It was the man who had just been dragged back and was not yet dead. He had hidden a pair of scissors in the bloody wound.

　　And now, the scissors pierced into Xiwang's stomach just as he turned around.

　　"...Why?"

　　Xiwang murmured.

　　Xiwang didn't quite understand why this happened.

　　'I dragged him back and I wanted to help him.'

　　'I'm just doing a normal thing...why am I doing this?'

　Xi Wang could feel that something in his cognition was about to shatter, like a piece of cracked glass that would shatter completely with the slightest touch and would fall into the abyss with the slightest push.

　　"Ha…ha…ha…"

　　Even though his throat was blocked by the gushing blood, he still laughed twice, as if he was mocking Xi Wang's continued naivety and his unchanged ideas. The hand holding the scissors tried hard to poke Xi Wang's stomach and even wanted to stir it a few times to make Xi Wang feel more pain.

　　Unfortunately, he no longer had the strength to do so and his life had come to an end.

　　In the end, he could only fall into the eternal darkness with regret and madness.

　　The girl behind him still didn't give up, so Xi Wang had to turn around to restrict her movements. As for the scissors still on his body, he didn't care so much... the pain he had experienced before no longer made him feel anything.

　　Just looking at the girl in front of him who was shouting crazily like "Go to hell, go to hell, I'm going to die anyway, what's it to you, the sooner I die the sooner I'll be reborn", and seeing that she was still distracted and desperate, but with extra crazy pupils, Xi Wang understood something.

　　It's just that... under extreme circumstances, she couldn't bear the pressure and went crazy.

　　They simply want to drag others into the quagmire when they cannot escape... Even if doing so cannot save themselves, or even kills others, doing so will give them some comfort.

　　"I am not the first one to die, I can die later" is just a self-deception to comfort herself, and it can make her feel better.

　　This kind of madness is short-lived. As long as the other person is in a safe place and given appropriate comfort and guidance, he or she can quickly calm down and return to normal.

　　It's just that the string of reason was broken by the environment.

　　Just...defeated.

　　Just like those kids who only know how to dump their resentment and bitterness on themselves, they are just defeated.

　　'I can understand it, I can understand it...right?'

　　'But...it still hurts...it still makes me feel uncomfortable...'

　　'Understanding... doesn't mean forgiveness, right?'

　　The little bit of gold in the pupil was spreading, and the strength in the hand was increasing little by little.

　　'Just like you said, we're all going to die anyway, so why can't you be the first to die?'

　　Xi Wang could feel that a certain cognition of his own, a certain persistence he had once held on to, was completely shattered at this moment, fell into the abyss, and turned into debris; a certain taut string also broke and broke at this moment.

　　'I know very well that I am "getting worse" and I know very well that I am heading in a direction that I cannot accept.'

　　'But... I don't feel disgusted, nor do I want to feel disgusted.'

　　'I must have gone crazy or something.'

　　'There's nothing wrong with being decadent and crazy like this, it doesn't matter anyway - I want to be like this.'

　　His throat moved and he swallowed the rising blood again. In a trance, Xi Wang seemed to feel the sweetness mixed with the smell of blood again.

　　"No..."

　　Xi Wang whispered to himself, refuting the girl's crazy words and also refuting his thoughts that were gradually becoming crazy.

　　Elysia is still looking forward to me...Father Enrique still wants to help me overturn the case...

　　Don't give up yet... hold on... hold on a little longer... hope will always come.

　　So, keep living.

　　The gold in the pupils stays at an appropriate level, similar to Elysia's blue and pink pupils.

　　'I must survive.'

　　'No matter what it takes, no matter what I do, I have to live.'

　　Xi Wang accepted the changes in his heart, even though this thought had already stepped halfway into the category of "evil people" that he was most unwilling to accept.

　　She wanted to save me.

　　Xi Wang held down the girl and pulled out the scissors that had been stuck in his stomach.

　　They will save me.

　　He pressed down, exerted force, and pinched the girl's wrists, blocking her mouth with her hands so that she could only make whimpering sounds.

　　So, I must persevere.

　　He gripped the scissors tightly in his hand and pierced the girl's neck. The familiar smell of blood filled the air, and he took away another life - not forced, not out of anger and resentment.

　　It's just normal behavior done after careful consideration for a very pure and simple purpose... probably.

　　'But... I want to live, so please die.'