Last month, on September 12th.
Leon and his sister— Layla, were chained in a dark room with no clothes on their body. Their hands were handcuffed, and one leg was chained with a shackle tied to each other.
Layla was crying in the corner, and Leon had passed out due to excessive hunger and exhaustion.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a man in his late forties walked into the room.
"I am here to have my daily dose of fun and to give you your daily dose of torture," the man said as he walked further in.
"Hmm?" He walked to Leon and looked at him with a puzzled look on his face.
Then, he kicked on Leon's face with all his strength.
Leon jolted and opened his eyes, but he was so tired that he couldn't move his body.
"Haha!" the man laughed. "I thought you died."
Leon didn't even react and stayed on the ground with an emotionless expression on his face.
"You little—!" The man gritted his teeth in annoyance and started kicking Leon in the stomach.
Leon started coughing blood, but his face showed no sign of pain. He had gotten so used to the pain that nothing was painful for him anymore.
After immeasurable physical and emotional torture, Leon had developed several mental disorders, psychological traumas, and resistance to pain. He had no reason to laugh or cry anymore.
The man would keep them starving, so they don't try to fight back or run away.
"Stop it!" Layla yelled from the corner of the room.
"Heh!" The man smirked and grabbed Leon. He tossed him in the corner beside Layla and unhooked his belt.
"That's right. Give me my daily dose of fun."
The man began to whip Leon and Layla with the belt. Layla yelled in pain, but Leon showed no reaction.
The television was blasting songs at full volume outside the room, covering Layla's screams so the neighbors wouldn't hear it. However, the neighbors were also thugs and wanted criminals.
The man continued beating Leon and Layla for ten minutes and then stopped to take a break.
Suddenly, the song stopped, and the voice on the television said, [We have an important announcement to make.]
The man took a sip of alcohol and grabbed his belt. He smeared alcohol on the belt and began whipping Leon. He was beating Leon so hard that his skin was coming off with every whip; however, Leon showed no sign of pain.
[Today's date- September 12th, 2049. Time- 18:18. Due to the increasing population and advanced technology, thousands of homeless, uneducated, unemployed, and criminals roaming in the country are a useless burden to the world. So the government has come to a solution that on every 13th of the month, from 12 AM to 6 AM, all the crimes, including murders, would be legal.]
Leon reacted after hearing that announcement.
The man stopped and smirked: "Are you kidding me?"
He threw the belt on the ground and left the room after saying, "I need to make a list of the people who I am going to kill."
After that, he locked the door and changed the television channel.
"Are you okay?" Layla asked with a concerned look on her face.
Leon sat up and nodded in response.
Layla moved to Leon by dragging her body and sat beside him. She placed her head on Leon's shoulder and muttered with a wry smile on her face: "How long are we going to live like this?"
Leon shrugged his body and crawled to the door without making any noise from the shackle.
"Leon… don't…." Layla whispered violently.
The television was right in front of the door, so Leon would often crawl to the door and watch it from the keyhole.
The show airing on the television was called King's game, and it was the finale of the show.
[Ladies and gentlemen, please congratulate Maria Williams— the winner of the King's game season 6.]
A girl in her late teens walked up to the stage and stood beside the host.
[Maria, your fans are curious about your age. Can you tell them how old you are?] the host asked.
[I am 20 years old,] Maria replied with a wide smile on her face.
[That means you are the youngest winner of the King's game, am I right?]
[Yes.]
[Tell me, Maria, how do you feel after winning the King's game?]
[I feel great, and I am very, very happy.]
[The winners of the previous seasons couldn't even smile on the stage because of the overwhelming depression; what makes you so different from them?]
[I don't know, but I am sure if they weren't happy after winning this show, then they didn't deserve to win.]
[Haha! What a savage answer!]
[No.] Maria shook her head and said, [I am just stating the facts. Shame on them who weren't happy after winning.]
[Maria, can you tell the secret behind your smile? How did you manage to stay calm even after being targeted by all the other participants?]
[I don't know about others, but I am sure they wanted to kill me because they were afraid of me.]
[And why is that?] the host asked with a curious look on his face.
[Most of them participated in this show because of the reward. No one was prepared to die. But I wasn't afraid of dying.]
[May I ask why?]
[Everyone is going to die sooner or later; what matters is how and when you die,] Maria answered nonchalantly.
[But you must be worried about dying too, right?]
[I would be lying if I said I wasn't. I was indeed a little worried about it, but I wasn't afraid. When I entered this show, I knew I was either going to die or survive and win.]
[What gave you such confidence?]
[I just kept saying this to myself: 'If I am going to die, then I would do something and die rather than just sit and wait for my death'. After that, I wasn't scared of anything.]
Leon smirked after hearing that and crawled back to Layla.
There was no furniture or anything in the room except for a blue-notice-board on the wall.
Their uncle and his friends would plan the heists in the room and conduct meetings.
The board was empty; however, there was a paper pin in the corner.
THUD! THUD!
"Leon. Sit down! He is coming back," Layla whispered.
Leon grabbed the paper pin with his teeth and hid it inside his mouth.
CREAK~
The door opened, and the man walked in.