C H A M P I O N     O F     D E A T H

〇△□

      IF SOMEONE TOLD SAE-BOM THAT SHE WOULD BE FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE IN A GAME OF TUG-OF-WAR, SHE WOULD OF LAUGHED IN THEIR FACE AND TOLD THEM TO GET REAL. Yet, she found herself in that predicament as soon as her team stepped foot onto the platform, and was chained up by their wrists so no players would cheat when playing.

      Her long fingers wrapped around the harsh rope tightly, herself being placed right behind Gi-hun at the front, with Soo-min and Sang-woo behind her. Her sister was near the back since for some reason everyone trusted Sae-bom to be closest to the front.

       When the game began, her team all leant back to hold their ground, following exactly what the old man said for them to win. And when they saw the other team's foots slipping, the group instantly sprang back up and began to heave with all their might.

      Though the harsh rope was slipping from their grasps also, even as they pull and tug backwards. Sae-bom had planted her feet into the floor sideways, and pushed all her strength into holding the line steady. The rope was grazing her side, and she ignored the slight burn she felt.

     Mi-nyeo, Player 212, was losing her marbles behind her and was screaming out in a fit of panic, "We're losing! Goddamn it! Do something!"

       A grunt left Sae-bom hearing the words, and felt her shoes slowly slipping forward, as Soo-min's chest was getting close to her back in result, "Thanks for the reminder!" She called out sarcastically, "Stop whining and help some more!"

      "Get yourselves together and listen! Let's try something. Take three steps when I signal." Sang-woo lead on after her scolding, his voice coming out strained as he and everyone else struggled to pull the rope back.

     "What now? But that's the edge!" Mi-nyeo protested with wild eyes, her gaze locked on the pink flag in the middle of the rope that they were losing quite quickly.

      Sae-bom tightened her hands around the rope, and felt her muscles flexing under her jacket while she managed to take some of the force away from the other team's pulling, "Just listen to him! All we can do right now is try at least!"

     This set off Player 212 even more, "Look I know you're badass, but there's no way I'll do that!" She wailed like she was throwing a tantrum, which to Sae-bom it sounded like she was, "No way! I can't do that--

     "We might as well try!" Soo-min was the next one to yell out, heavy breaths leaving him as jaw muscles flexed annoyed, "Move up lady or you'll die! You're not about to risk everyone's life's with your cowardness."

     This seemed to shut her up for a few seconds, giving Sang-woo the chance to yell once more, "On the count of three!" Everyone got ready to do as he said, as he counted down the seconds, "One! Two! Three!"

     Everyone screams when they let their holds on the rope go, and they all go tumbling forward together. Sae-bom crashed into Gi-hun's back, making him stumble to the side and her body to hung half off the edge, causing a frightful noise to leave her mouth.

      Even the guards tensed up in alert watching this, as her shoes were the only thing touching the platform while her body dangled forward. Soo-min yelled her name in fear, eyes wide looking at the young woman, but his anxiety faded spotting the wide crooked grin across her mouth.

     Her head was turned over her shoulder, and saw the other team had all fallen over from their little stunt. Before they could all get up, Sang-woo shouted his command, "Pull now!"

      Sae-bom was tugged back onto the platform, her wavey locks flying everywhere as she got into position. She heaved with all the strength she had left in her with the rest of her team, as the other players were all panic screaming, since they couldn't get back up to tug.

      Sweat dripped down her forehead, and she knew she would be needing a shower after this game, but it sucked she wasn't going to be given one. She could also feel her hands burning more, the skin most likely going to have blisters. It was worth it though, to save her sister and friends.

      They continued to tug on the rope with combined force, up until the other team's first player went tumbling off the edge of the platform, along with all the others that followed. Fearful screams leave them, as they now hang from the rope dangling mid air.

      Her stomach dropped when the rope on their side started to pull them down with the other group, exclaims leaving her team as she tries to push her feet into the floor, wanting to stop the movement of them getting tugged along.

     It didn't last long, as the cutter in the middle shot down to slice the rope, which broke the contact between teams. In doing so, Sae-bom and her team all groaned as they slammed back into the floor, or each other, their hands no longer holding the itchy rope.

      Sae-bom hand landed right onto Soo-min's chest, and she felt his frantic breathing from the movement of his chest. She wasn't any better. Her hair was clinging to her sweaty forehead, and her breathing was rapid also to catch her breath. She felt like she couldn't move an inch.

     She glanced sideways to spot her sister, who looked the same as her in a weakened state, and then felt a soft touch to the back of her head. Someone's fingers were running through her locks, and grasped a handful of it gently.

     Once again her eyes shot up, meeting Soo-min's dark eyes, the one whom was touching her. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and breathed out his question in a rasp, "Are you alright? Silly thing to say, but still."

      The older Kang girl released a heavy sigh, and nodded her head against his chest, "As good as I can be after that." She mumbled, pushing her weight on her elbows to move herself up as the others were now around them, "Thanks for the soft landing."

       He rolled his eyes amused at her smirk, and pushed himself up also so they were chest to chest on the ground, "Rather you land on me than on the floor. Wouldn't be a good man if I let that happen." He simply told her, raising his hands to the guard could unlock his chains.

      Sae-bom scoffed but didn't hide her grin that she flashed him. She turned away to the guard, who bent down to her this time and unlocked her bounded wrists gently. Once the guard was done, Soo-min helped her up and the two made their way towards the lift where their team was waiting.

      She slipped next to Sae-byeok, and ran her hand up and down her sister's back for comfort. Inside the elevator was quiet, expect for everyone's breathing or the muttering prayers one of the players was saying to himself.

      Soo-min was leaning against the metal beside her, his arms crossed over his chest and his jacket placed over one shoulder to show off his muscles, and the sweat covering his body.

     "Hey, dude." Player 240 starting talking to the player who was muttering prayers on the floor, "Who do you think you're praying to, huh? To God? You think you made it out of there because of God, don't you?"

      Sae-bom exhaled heavily hearing the conversation, and placed her head against the metal behind her, trying to relax her body from the stress she put it under. She felt her palms were itchy, and she knew they were probably red raw, but she didn't bother to take a glimpse.

      Player 240 leant down to the other player more, and pressed her palms onto her knees, "The reason you're still breathing and thanking that nice God of yours..." She trailed off and nodded at Player 01 crouched down beside Gi-hun in the corner, "is that old man there. And that guy over there who came up with that awesome last-minute trick. You know if there's anybody that you should be thanking, it's them, not God."

       This seem to make the prayers suddenly stop. Player 214 glanced up with a disgusted expression, "You sad lost soul. What would you say about everybody who was nailed to the cross for our salvation today? They sacrificed themselves for us. We are here, thanks to their blood. I pray to the Lord on behalf of all us sinners. I gave thanks for their sacrifice. God made a decision to help our team win. That's why we're all here."

     "Bullshit." Player 240 didn't miss a beat when she spat that, and added a smirk with it, "You killed those guys out there."

     Player 214 went pale in the face hearing her words, and instantly went back to muttering prayers. But Player 240 wasn't finished her antagonising ways, "Oh! If we say some prayers, do we all get to go to heaven?"

      She puts her hands together in a pray motion, "I should really pray too if that's how easy it is. Our God who art in Heaven, we worked as a team to send people to your side. And we sent a bunch of them today. And please help us with a whole lot more to be with you. And I hope that from now on--"

     It surprised everyone when it was Sae-bom that spoke up, but her younger sister this time, "Be quiet!" Her exclaim cut through Player 240's fake prayers, and Sae-bom smirked to herself proudly, glad it was her sister who shut the brat up.

     "Me? Or you mean that guy?"

     "Everyone." Sae-byeok answered bluntly, as the elevator clanks the more they travel down to the level they first were stationed at till finally the doors opened.

      Guards were waiting for them at the bottom, and the team slowly moves out of the hot box, back into the lions den. Sae-bom walked beside Soo-min as they hoped out of the box, and she heard her sister and Player 240 talking behind them.

     They past another team who was heading up to the death game, and Sae-bom just looked forward, not making any eye contact with any of them. But she could feel their eyes staring at her and her team, as they did just come back as the winners.

     Guards lead them back to the sleeping room, where one other team was waiting and basically shit talking Sae-bom and her group. They all believed they wouldn't make it, but with one glance at the opening doors, all their faces morphed into shocked expressions.

     The exact team they talked about was walking through the doors, alive and well. Each member would cast a glance at the all male team, before glancing away and went over to where their team was sleeping.

     Sae-bom walked past Player 101 who was eyeing her off like she was a piece of meat, a smirk on his face. She just pretended to itch her cheek, and flipped him the bird as she did so while moving past him with Soo-min, who glared at the other male sat on the floor.

      "Assholes, the lot of them." She mumbled to herself with a scoff, pulling her sister's necklace from under her shirt and let it lose over her shirt now, "No human decency from any of them." She finished, tucking her hands into her pockets.

       Soo-min nodded in agreement, and placed a hand on her back to guide her towards where the others were, "Don't let them get to you, that's what they want." He said just as quietly, hand slipping from her as she sat down next to Sae-byeok on the massive stairs.

      Her dark eyes glanced to the screen showing the money and players. She bit her bottom lip at the 40 players left, not really realizing how many players have been killed or died during a game. Hopefully our luck doesn't run out, she thought.

       They were given a corn on the cob from the guards, but she wasn't hungry after all that so she just took the water instead. In doing so, it put the guard's eyes on her, like they were tracking every move she made as she plonked back down on the stairs.

      "You know what? I thought we were going to die out there." Player 212 was out front talking to the group, as she waved her corn around in her left hand, "And then, as soon as we're all leaned back, I felt so strong, like, 'Whoa! This works? Is this real?' Hey, old man, how'd you know that?"

     Player 01 chuckled from his spot on his bed, a warm smile covering his mouth as he went to answer, "As a kid, I would always--"

     "Oh, you copied it from a movie right?" Player 214 interrupted the old man's words, gaining a scowling look from Sae-bom who held her empty water bottle, "Am I right? What's it called? The guy who doges bullets like this, right?"

      She demonstrated what she meant physically, and Ali, who seemed to instantly knew exclaimed an answer like they were playing a game, "Matrix."

     The older adult hummed in thought, and smiled lopsided as she bent down to Ali, "Hey, when you got to Korea, did you work or just watch movies?" She questioned a bit rudely, causing his face to drop and her attention turned to Sang-woo next, "And our man... 'Everybody! Three steps up when I signal'. Oh. My god, I can't believe how cool that was."

     "And you, the badass hottie female of this team!" She pointed at Sae-bom right after, who deadpanned at her and shared a look with Sang-woo who ate his foot unbothered, "Both of you work so well together! How did you come up with it under all that pressure?"

     Soo-min raised an eyebrow, and crossed his arms over his broad chest with a teasing smirk, "If I recall correctly, earlier you were the one who said no to the idea." He commented slyly, and Player 212's face paled a bit, "And I wasn't the only one who heard you."

     She clicked her tounge, and put on her best innocent look, "Really? Is that what you heard?" She replied lightly, taking a bite from the corn she still held in her hand.

     "You cried and said, 'But that's the edge. There's no way I'll go'." Ali mimicked the way she whined earlier, making Sae-bom snicker to herself amused at how he ended her, "Like that."

      Player 212 huffed and placed her hands on her hips annoyed, "You... what country are you from? You got a visa?" She started pestering him about his differences, "You're an illegal alien. Uh-huh. What do you think, guys? Should we really keep this foreigner on our team? I mean seriously now, should we? Huh? Looks like I'm gonna have to do some major restructuring here. Who's the leader here, guys?"

      It wasn't that noticeable, but most eyes glanced at Sae-bom when the woman asked that, which wasn't surprising at all. Sae-bom stood up however, and slanged an arm around Ali's shoulder who gave her a confused look at her actions.

     "We don't have a leader. We're all equal here." She chirped in a friendly tone, but the chilling glint in her eyes made her words seem threatening more then anything, "And if you don't like him being in our team, then by all means, leave."

      Player 212 gulped hardly and nodded her head in acknowledgment, "Ah.. that's great. Building an egalitarian society!" She cheered but didn't gain the same vibe back from the team, "Damn, guys. I gotta say, this is a good charge from that asshole over there who's been bossing us around this whole time."

     "That's because they are all pricks, lady." Sae-bom casually drawled out, loud enough for Player 101 and his team to hear, as she moved back in between her sister and Soo-min, "They would be my last option for a team. Actually, no-- I rather not have them as an option at all."

      The latter smirked amused at her comments, but it faded hearing Gi-hun's next question, "Oh, about that, Grandma, why did you get kicked out?"

      Sae-bom stifled her laugh behind a cough, watching Player 212's face visible drop into a look of horror.

      "Grandma? Don't you ever call me that!" She whined, not liking her being basically called old and introduced herself, "Yah, Han Mi-nyeo. Got it? Mi-nyeo. That's my name. And I didn't get kicked out. I made the decision to go, go it? And don't put me in with those bastards over there, I'm not one of them, okay?"

     "They got rid of you, so they would only have male players." Sang-woo spoke up bluntly, pointing a finger at Mi-nyeo, and it made Sae-bom nudge his back with her shoe in warning, "Right before the game. You know it's almost like they knew about it ahead of time."

      A tense silence falls over the group, and it had Sae-bom thinking hard about what her ex best friend said. To be fair, she felt like she was getting treated differently by the guards from the other players, and she had no clue why. Maybe someone watching over the games wanted her to survive, she didn't know nor would probably know ever.

      She didn't have time to ponder anymore, as the PA system suddenly chimed and it alerted those in the room. The woman's high pitched voice followed next, along with a timer ticking on the massive screen.

       "Players, your bedtime will begin in 30 minutes. Please return to your assigned beds and prepare for lights-out."

     Once that was finished, Soo-min placed a protective hand on Sae-bom's knee upon seeing the strange look Player 101 was giving her. He dark eyes scowled back, only making the latter chuckle smugly and glance away after a few more seconds, all unnoticed by the girl.

     "Another fight could break out like last night. I think we should make a plan." Sang-woo spoke up, breaking the silence between the members of the team.

     Player 196 scoffed an incredulous laugh, "What can we do, huh?" His angry was present in his voice and expression, "We've got four girls, an old man and us. Our team is the weakest one in here."

      The priest joined in on the comments, "We should choose and a weak time and go after them first."

     Sae-bom rolled her eyes, going to say something but Player 240 ended up beating her to the chase, "For a resident priest, you sure are bloodthirsty."

      He completely ignored her, "I mean, everybody's hands are bloody." His eyes seem to bore into Sae-bom at that sentence, making her skin crawl uneasy, "We're all sinners, but we're still here, aren't we?

      "Attacking is our best option. So I think that's our plan." Player 196 insisted once more.

     "During the fight last night, the man in the bed in front of me got killed." Sae-byeok's monotone voice inputed next, "I had to watch her almost got choked to death," She motioned to Sae-bom, who squeezed her sister's arm in reassurance, "And the person he thought was on his side broke his neck. Do you trust me then? I don't trust everyone here."

      Sae-bom shared a knowing look with Gi-hun, as no one bothered to answer or talk now, giving him the chance to stand up and say something, "Alright. I think let's still do something. Before the lights go out, let's create a barricade. It might be good to make sure that we have cover."

     They all instantly agreed with his idea, and got up to start making the cover so they could sleep with two eyes closed. Sae-bom glanced at the timer, which had 9 minutes left and then back at the camera, it's lens trained on her only.

      She just stared it down for a few seconds heavily, not knowing who exactly was behind that camera, before turning around to go and help move stuff around with her team.

      As they began to create to barricade, the other team full of males watched them both confused and amused. The metal beams clank as they were moved, and pressed against other ones, all of them working hard and together to get it done before the timer ended.

      Sae-bom helped lifted up a piece of metal with Gi-hun, them taking it to the front of the barricade, and didn't see that Player 101 was standing there, now calling out to the duo, "Hey, pretty lady, Ssangmun-dong."

      Their team behind them comes to a slow stop, and the best friends drop the piece of metal they had. Sae-bom was pulled by Gi-hun to stay beside him, as she glared at the ugly mug of a man leaning on their barricade.

      "Hey, I appreciate the work you're doing." Player 101 looks around, tapping the beams with a playful smirk, "Nice. But do you think these will do anything? We can bet through all of this easily." He chuckles like it was the most funniest thing in the world.

     Sae-bom took a step forward, and felt another pair of hands grasp onto her arm, but that didn't stop her, "Yah, I'm betting on it pal." She sneered, nose raising up in the air, "You're not worried at all? Those douche bags you call teammates over on your side? They're people you trust, hm? If I were them, I wouldn't think twice about double crossing you."

     Her words got into his head, which is what she was hoping for. He didn't answer back straight away, and instead glanced over his shoulder to look at his so called teammates, who were fighting with two pieces of metal while they all laughed.

      "Yeah, I can see you definitely trust them if you're second guessing." Her lethally soft voice caught his attention again, "Once the fighting starts to happen, you'd be the first person I'd go for." She saw his glare and added through a cheeky smile, "That's if I was on your team of course."

      Player 101 just scoffed arrogantly, not answering but she could tell her words did damage to him. Before the conversation could go any further, Soo-min pulled her back by the elbow and Gi-hun placed the metal to cover up the view to inside their barricade.

      Sae-bom rested her back against Soo-min's chest, both of them standing up as the team finished the barricade. She focused on the clock and saw there was only a minute left until lights out. She had a sneaky suspicion that no one was attacking tonight.

      "They'll shut the lights off soon. They might not all come right away." Gi-hun tells his teammates, who were all huddled around together in the middle of the protection, "So we better swap out who's gonna keep watch, just to be safe, I think."

     "No, two of us should watch." Sang-woo corrected with a head shake, eyes finding Sae-bom's who nodded in agreement, "A pair can keep each other awake. Just one person might go leave and betray our team."

      Not one offered to be the first person, and this made Sae-bom open her mouth to take the first watch, but a sharp look from her younger sister had the older one faulting and biting her tounge to stay silent. Sae-byeok wanted her sister to get some rest, she understood that.

     Luckily for her, the old man leant forward in his spot and cleared his throat to speak, "I can... be the first watch then." He looked between Gi-hun and Sang-woo as he said that, "You don't really sleep a lot when you're old."

     "Excuse me, but are we just supposed to trust an old man like you to not sleep on the job all night?" Player 196 stated rudely, clearly having no respect for the old man. He was instantly shot down with one glare from Sae-bom however.

       "Let me go first."

     Surprisingly, Sang-woo was the one to offer this time. Sae-bom caught his gaze, and he just stared at her, a knowing feeling passing through the both of them. It shocked her that he was actually taking charge for a change, unlike how he was before when he ruined things between them.

     Ali raised his hand next, "I'm not tired yet. I'll go with you."

       Sang-woo nodded his head grateful, and Gi-hun joined in on the offering, "Then I'll be next." He glanced between the two seriously, "You wake me up the second you get tired."

      "Then why don't I join you on a second watch?" Player 101 smiled warmly at Gi-hun, wanting to help in any way he could, "Assuming that's okay with you."

       Gi-hun instantly agreed with a head nod, and returned the smile with a friendly one, "Yeah, that sounds good."

     Sae-bom glanced to her sister, and gave her a meaningful look. Sae-byeok knew that look, and it meant that whatever goes down, they had each other. But now, they had another member which made them a trio as Soo-min walks over to her sister and helps her figuring out where to sleep.

      A painful tug occurred in her heart again, and her face morphed into a frown, remembering her beloved who was always the same way with her.

      The resemblance between them was uncanny, and she hated it because she missed him so much that she was starting to see him in Soo-min, someone who she just met. And that thought alone made her want to never face the real reason why she entered the games.

───────────

❪ ✏️ ❫ 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳𝚂 : 4392
─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :
omfg im so sorry for the lack of updates guys. ive been so sick recently and last week a cyclone hit my city so it's been pretty rough rn in my life but im all good now and back ready to update this fic since ive missed writing for it so much 🙏🏻

i got a new laptop and its WAYYY bigger then my old one so its lowkey weird to type on it but
i'll get use to it soon lmfao 😭

also ngl i will be skipping straight to the next ep since nothing too important happens in this ep and honestly i can't be assed writing it so im sorry guys but it just means its getting closer
till in-ho officially comes in 😩

anywaysss you all know the drill, vote,
comment, ect (if you want) mwah <33