A few hours earlier, long before the underground station turned silent with a single gunshot, Victor and the last remaining members of his temporary team had taken shelter on top of an old traffic control tower. The structure rose above a wide, broken intersection, giving them a narrow advantage in visibility but very little safety. Rusted railings surrounded the top, and parts of the platform had already begun to crumble. Still, it was better than being on the ground.

Below them, three massive creatures circled patiently.

They resembled hippopotamuses, but nothing about them was natural. Their bodies were a grotesque fusion of steel plating and raw flesh, with mechanical joints grinding as they moved. Their eyes glowed faintly, scanning upward, while their heavy footsteps cracked the pavement beneath them. Despite their size, they were disturbingly agile, shifting direction quickly and occasionally snapping their jaws at the base of the tower as if testing its stability.

"Our bullets are gone..." one of the men muttered, his voice tight with frustration.

"Damn it... these steel hippos are too fast," another cursed, gripping an empty rifle as if it might somehow start working again.

The Boss stood near the edge, looking down at the circling creatures with a dark expression. For the first time since Victor had joined them, he didn’t look fully in control.

Victor said nothing.

He stood slightly apart from them, glancing between the creatures below and the sky above, his mind racing for a way out. Staying there wasn’t an option. Running wasn’t possible. Fighting was pointless without ammunition.

Then he saw something.

A small drone approached from the distance, its movement steady and precise.

"Look," Victor said, pointing upward.

The others followed his gaze as the drone hovered above them for a brief moment before dropping a small bag onto the platform. It landed with a soft thud and slid slightly across the dusty surface.

Everyone froze for a second.

Then Victor moved first, stepping forward and opening the bag.

Inside were supplies—compact food packs, water bottles, and a weapon that immediately caught his attention. It looked like a pistol, but sleeker, with a glowing core along its barrel. It wasn’t a normal firearm.

A laser gun.

But it had a limitation.

Only three shots.

Tucked beside the items was a small card.

Victor picked it up.

One name was written on it.

Aruna.

"...It’s your sponsor," one of the men said, glancing at Victor with a hint of surprise. "That’s lucky."

Victor didn’t respond.

He just stared at the name for a moment before gripping the weapon.

With careful aim, they used the three shots.

Each beam fired cleanly, cutting through the air with a sharp flash. The first hippo collapsed instantly, its body splitting apart under the concentrated energy. The second took a direct hit to its head, collapsing with a heavy crash. The third tried to charge, but the final shot pierced through its side, shutting it down mid-motion.

Silence followed.

Three shots.

Three kills.

And just like that, their immediate threat was gone.

The Boss picked up the card Victor had dropped earlier and flipped it over.

"Hey... look at this," he said.

On the back of the card, a set of coordinates had appeared.

Victor frowned slightly.

"Location?" he asked.

"Looks like it," the Boss replied. "Maybe another supply point."

But that wasn’t the truth.

The coordinates didn’t lead to supplies.

They led to Rose and old man Rudd.

Aruna hadn’t sent help.

She had set a trap.

The way Victor looked at Rose—his hesitation, his lingering attachment—it hadn’t gone unnoticed. And she didn’t like it.

So she made sure to remove the problem. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

When Victor’s group reached the location, everything unfolded exactly as intended.

The ambush was quick.

Clean.

Rudd went down before he could react.

Now, back in the present—

"Grandpa Rudd! Wake up!" Rose’s voice echoed through the underground station, breaking into panic as she dropped beside him.

Her hands trembled slightly as she tried to shake him, but there was no response.

Behind her, slow clapping echoed.

"Hahaha... good shot," the Boss said as he stepped forward, rifle resting casually in his hand. "Good riddance."

The other two followed him in.

One held a knife loosely, spinning it once in his grip.

The third carried a pistol, his expression unreadable.

They didn’t rush.

They didn’t need to.

Rose was alone.

The Boss’s gaze shifted toward her, and something in his expression twisted.

"Don’t kill her yet," he said, his tone lowering. "Let’s enjoy this first."

The words hung in the air.

The meaning behind them was worse than death.

The other two men exchanged looks, and slowly, their expressions changed as well. They were also making lewd expression.

They had endured constant killing and survival in this brutal game, and the pressure had twisted their thoughts. Now they wanted an outlet, something to vent that bottled-up tension. In fact, they had already planned to do the same to a woman from another team earlier —but she died before they could act. Now Rose is young and probably a virgin too. So they are going to play her for a while and kill her.

Victor stood behind them, frozen.

He didn’t speak.

Didn’t move.

Didn’t stop them.

Rose didn’t reach for her gun.

She turned around and stared at other three men.

Her eyes were empty.

Then—

Sling.

A sudden sound cut through the tension.

The man holding the knife moved.

But not toward Rose.

The blade drove straight into the Boss’s back, piercing through his chest in a single motion.

For a moment, no one understood what had happened.

The Boss staggered forward, blood spreading across his clothes as he looked down at the blade protruding from his chest.

Victor’s eyes widened.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted.

The man didn’t answer normally.

He tilted his head slightly.

His eyes—

They had changed.

Pink heart shapes moved inside them, shifting unnaturally, like an animated illusion.

"She’s... so pitiful," he said softly. "How can you do this to her...?"

Victor felt something snap in his thoughts.

This wasn’t normal.

Something was wrong.

Before he could react—

A gunshot rang out.

Victor screamed as pain exploded in his arm.

He turned toward the shooter.

The third man.

The one holding the pistol.

His eyes—

The same.

Pink hearts.

Victor stumbled back, dropping his weapon as blood ran down his arm.

"What... what is happening?" he muttered, his voice breaking.

The man with the pistol didn’t answer.

He simply raised the gun.

And pointed it at his own head.

Bang.

He dropped instantly.

The man with the knife followed.

Without hesitation, he dragged the blade across his own throat.

Blood spilled.

And he fell.

Silence returned.

Victor stood there, shaking.

He didn’t understand.

None of it made sense.

"W-why...?" he whispered.

Click.

A sound behind him.

Victor slowly turned.

A gun.

Pointed at him.

Rose stood there, her hands steady.

Her eyes—

Also filled with pink hearts.

Fear hit him like a wave.

"Ah—ahh—!" he cried out, stumbling backward.

But then—

She blinked.

The hearts disappeared.

Her gaze returned to normal.

Cold.

Empty.

Victor collapsed to his knees.

His body trembled uncontrollably, his injured arm hanging uselessly at his side.

"Please... don’t kill me..." he begged, his voice breaking as tears streamed down his face.

His breathing came in uneven bursts.

His mind was shattered.

The girl in front of him was no longer the same Rose he knew.

She stood still.

Gun raised.

Eyes steady.

And for the first time—

Victor understood.

He might actually die here.

Bang

---

Meanwhile, across the entire country, confusion and shock spread like wildfire as the scene replayed on every screen.

"What just happened?"

"Was that... magic?"

"Did she hypnotize them?"

Voices overlapped in disbelief. People leaned closer to their screens, trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed.

"There’s no way... her eyes turned pink, and then theirs did too. They turned on each other... and even killed themselves."

"That’s not normal. That’s not technology."

"Are fantasies actually real?"

"Is she... a witch?"

Gasps and murmurs filled homes, streets, and public squares. Even those who had grown used to the brutality of the Capital Games found themselves unsettled. This wasn’t just violence or strategy anymore—this was something unknown, something beyond their understanding.

In Sector 11, a large crowd had gathered in front of the giant broadcast screen. Among them stood Tansy and Rose’s parents. When they saw their daughter still alive after the ambush, both of them let out a breath of relief they had been holding for far too long.

But that relief didn’t last.

As the replay focused on Rose’s eyes turning that unnatural shade of pink, worry crept back into their hearts.

"What... what is that?" her mother whispered, gripping her husband’s arm. "Is our daughter...?"

Neither of them finished the sentence.

Far away, within the luxurious halls of the Capital, the king watched the same scene unfold with growing interest rather than fear. His eyes widened, not in shock, but in excitement.

Then he laughed.

"Hahaha... how interesting," he said, leaning forward on his throne. "Looks like a new queen has been born."

The words were spoken casually, but everyone present understood their meaning.

"I want that girl," the king added.

That single order was enough.

Those standing nearby lowered their heads slightly. No one questioned it. If the king desired someone, then that person was no longer just a participant in the game—they had already become his possession.

Whether it was called magic or something else entirely didn’t matter.

To the king, it was simply something valuable.

Something worth claiming.

And once claimed, her fate was already decided.