Chapter 6: I Want to Leave

I think I collapsed after killing Team Leader Joo. The woman with the rabbit mask carried me, one arm supporting me while the other dispatched guards and researchers.

I worried she would collapse from exhaustion.

Fortunately, she didn’t abandon me. I woke up in a normal-looking apartment.

I sat up, feeling slightly dizzy but free.

A large TV, a clock, a mug with a cute puppy on it, a table against the wall. A faint coffee aroma lingered, along with the smell of something baked with honey.

“I’m… really out.”

Overcome with emotion, I covered my face and cried for a moment. But that was all. I still didn’t know where I was.

Regardless, I was out of that horrific basement. I walked towards the curtained wall, relishing the freedom of movement.

I pulled back the curtains, revealing a dazzling cityscape. The wide streets were packed with cars, and gleaming skyscrapers pierced the darkness.

But a wave of sadness washed over me. It wasn’t Seo-jun who had rescued me. Tears streamed down my face, as if trying to make up for the months I hadn’t been able to cry.

I wiped my eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

I was free from that terrible place, free from the pain, and yet… I was grieving because my childhood friend hadn’t saved me.

For me, or rather, for Yoo Ha-rin, the experiments, the mutilation… it had all been secondary.

A reason for living can also be a reason for dying.

My parents abandoning me through death, the villagers turning hostile, the gangsters demanding I pay my parents’ debts with my body…

All of it… it was all to see her again, the girl who had rescued me, who had taken me away and comforted me.

Perhaps that’s why Yoo Ha-rin had been so relieved when I emerged. I would seek out Seo-jun, after all.

Dead or alive, no matter how I changed.

“I see you’re awake.”

I turned to see an older man with a missing right foot, leaning on a cane. I couldn’t tell if he was middle-aged or elderly.

His hair was white, suggesting he was old, but his face was obscured by the shadows.

I hadn’t heard him approach. I must have been captivated by the view.

Lost in thought.

The world was beautiful. Despite the existence of people who locked others away in basements, treating them like lab rats.

Would Yoo Ha-rin have died before seeing this? Or after?

If she had died in the lab…

She wouldn’t have lashed out like I did. She would have been obedient, believing their promises of release and reunion with her friend.

If her mind hadn’t been broken, she would have been docile. She was a kind, gentle girl.

She wouldn’t have thought of killing her tormentors. She was too soft-hearted.

She endured the pain because she believed she would see her friend again. I couldn’t endure it, resorting to petty acts of revenge.

When the man remained silent, I spoke.

“Are you going to lock me up somewhere? You don’t need to restrain me.”

I reached out to the cold window, feeling like I might fall through. But the image of the white room, the harsh fluorescent lights, the surgical lamps…

Nausea rose in my throat. I closed the curtains, covering my mouth. I didn’t want to appear weak.

“If you show me this view every day, I’ll gladly give you an arm or a leg.”

“No one is going to do that to you.”

“How can I trust you? Number Eleven was a successful experiment. They kept me alive even after I killed several guards.”

“If you don’t want to see anyone, I’ll stay out of your sight.”

I turned back. The man, wearing an eye patch, looked at me with pity.

“What’s your name, mister?”

His voice brightened slightly. Perhaps he was indeed elderly.

“Kim Gi-seong. For now.”

“I’m Number Eleven.”

He cleared his throat.

“Number Eleven, I’d like to know your real name.”

“I don’t want to tell you yet.”

He seemed surprised. He fidgeted with his cane.

“Did the girl who brought you here do something to you? She’s kind, but mischievous…”

She hadn’t been mischievous. She had glared at me, her body trembling with rage.

“It’s not that. I just… I don’t understand why you saved me. Who are you people?”

He thought for a moment, then replied casually.

“We’re just… people you see on the news a lot.”

“I think I’ve seen you in the newspapers…”

I had a phone, but no Wi-Fi or data. I only used it to call Seo-jun, when she didn’t visit me first.

So, I relied on newspapers for news. The Sudoku and hidden picture puzzles helped pass the time.

Now that I looked closer, I recognized his face from the wanted posters, the ones with bounties listed. Probably.

And my instincts were usually right.

“You’re criminals, aren’t you? You kill people, steal what you want, disrupt society.”

“That’s not entirely wrong.”

The person I longed to see, the person I loved and resented, was a powerful ability user.

A hero. Someone who fought evil and saved people. And here I was, face-to-face with someone on the opposite side. Should I act like her?

If I did nothing, was I a villain too? I had killed those researchers, those innocent people.

“Does a society that locks children in basements, throws powerless people into camps, and ignores the deaths of ordinary people at the hands of ability users really deserve order?”

My actions had been brutal, beyond justification. Those researchers were just doing their jobs.

“Sometimes, things need to be shaken up to change. We don’t want to destroy everything. We just want things to be… easier.”

Would Seo-jun hate me if she knew the truth?

“Now that you know where your base is, what will happen to me?”

“Nothing. You can go home, or stay here. You’ll have to do some things for us, but you can also ask us for things in return.”

I could meet Seo-jun, explain everything. Tell her I had no choice.

Or I could keep it a secret. I wasn’t that kind of person. Everything would be fine.

And things were starting to look up. As much as the number of my fingers and toes collected in that bucket.

A strange analogy, perhaps.

“I haven’t done anything for you yet, but can I ask for something?”

He nodded.

I smiled brightly.

“I want to go to school.”