Blood smeared across Tae's face, warm…thick, the strong smell of iron assaulting his nose. For a brief, disoriented moment, he thought it was his—his body had finally given out, the brute too fast for him to react.
But no, the pain didn't come. The crimson wasn't his.
Tae shook his head slightly as though to clear his daze and try to understand the scene before him. The hulking young man, his brutish opponent, staggered back, clutching his shoulder. Blood poured generously from a deep, gory gash, staining his already ragged clothes.
And then Tae saw it—the blade.
Twenty-five inches of steel, gleaming in the dim light like a predator's fang. It was what had sliced through the brute's shoulder, and its wielder, the girl, stood close, her stance casual, almost lazy.
Her round glasses caught light as she adjusted them with her free hand, the other gripping the weapon with a certain purpose.
"Tch," she muttered, her voice betrayed her irritation. "I missed the neck. He's faster than I expected."
The brute's expression was a mix of shock and fury, his eyes burning as he ripped what was left of the shoulder part of his shirt free, the act causing a fresh spray of blood to stain the floor.
"What the hell—who are you?" he growled, his voice unnervingly calm for someone bleeding that profusely.
The girl tilted her head slightly, her eyes steady...detached, as if sizing him up for the kill. "That's one too many questions… for someone about to die." She dragged the blade across her sleeve, wiping away the blood with deliberate care.
Tae exhaled sharply, his legs had already been shaking beneath him and now they finally gave out. He slumped back into the oversized chair, the motion causing a fresh wave of pain rushing through his body.
He winced, wiping sweat and blood from his brow. "Fine then," he muttered, his voice low. "I'll let you two finish first."
The brute's lips curled into a snarl. His large frame seemed to grow even more as he stepped forward, the ground trembling slightly beneath his heavy boots. "You think you've won just because you've got a knife?"
The girl didn't respond. Her silence was slightly unnerving, as was the cold, clinical way she raised the blade, her glasses glinting like twin mirrors of death.
And then he attacked.
———
The brute was everything Tae had learnt to avoid.
He was strong, fast, and frighteningly skilled. Every one of his strikes was not just precise but brutal, aimed to crush or kill. His fists seemed to move like over sized rocks being slang around, each swing forcing the air to ripple.
But the girl… she wasn't fighting like a martial artist or a brawler. She was different. A killer.
The movements she made had one purpose—to end him.
Her strikes weren't elegant or disciplined, but they were calculated. The blade in her hand moved like it was an extension of herself, slicing through the air with intent that could be nothing if not deadly.
Where the brute was a fighter, she was a like an apex predator, patient and calm…but desperate for it's kill.
Yet, despite her determination, she wasn't invincible. The brute's strength overwhelmed her at times, forcing her to retreat, her glasses slipping down her nose as she sidestepped his punches. Blood splattered—most of it his, few to none of it hers—as the fight raged on, filling the room with the sound of labored breaths and steel clashing against flesh.
Tae watched from his throne, his body too battered to move but his mind sharp, observing every moment.
———
The fight reached its brutal conclusion when the brute, roaring like some wounded beast, lunged for her. The girl sidestepped, her blade glinting in the barely illuminative light.
A single, swift motion—her knife slashed across his throat.
The brute's momentum carried him forward, even as his eyes widened in shock, his hands instinctively flying to his neck. Blood poured freely, soaking the floor as he stumbled, gurgled, and finally collapsed with a heavy thud.
The girl stood over him, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her bloodstained glasses perched slightly askew. She didn't look triumphant. Just… tired.
She turned her attention to Tae, her blade still dripping crimson as she approached him. Tae's eyes followed her every move, but he made no effort to stand, his body slouched lazily in the chair.
"So, what, am I next?" he asked, his voice dry but steady. "I should warn you, I'm stubborn. I won't die easily."
She stopped a few feet away, pointing the blade directly at him. "Get up," she said flatly. "That's my throne now. I earned it."
Tae stared at her for a long moment before sighing heavily. "No," he said simply, shaking his head. "I earned it too. But…" He gestured vaguely to the space beside him in what was a really large chair. "I'm willing to share."
The girl's gaze didn't shift for a moment. Then, as if deciding it wasn't worth the energy, she lowered the blade. Adjusting her glasses with a bloodstained hand, she walked over and plopped down beside him, her smaller frame easily sinking into the large throne.
Silence became all that was left between them.
"You smell awful...like blood," she muttered eventually, wrinkling her nose.
Tae glanced sideways at her, his expression blank. "Have you seen yourself?"
"Fair," she conceded with a small shrug.
They sat like that for a while, both too drained to say or do much. The only sounds were their ragged breathing and the faint hum of the system still active in Tae's vision.
Finally, Tae cleared his throat, breaking the quiet. "So," he said, his tone almost conversational. "What's all this been? What are we doing here?"
The girl turned her head slightly, her blood-smeared face unreadable. "I have no idea," she said after a moment.
They both let out short, tired chuckles and scoffs, the kind that came more from exhaustion than humor.
And then the static began, a sharp crackle that preceded the familiar mechanical voice echoing through the room.
"Ah," Tae muttered, shifting slightly in his seat. "This is the part where they tell us we need to kill each other."
"Yeah," the girl replied, her tone as flat as ever. She raised her blade again, pointing it toward him. "Guess that means you're dying now. Nothing personal."
"Of course," Tae said with a faint smirk, his tone matching hers.
They both tensed, ready for whatever came next. But instead of the expected command, the robotic voice delivered a different message.
"You both have ranked first in your individual tests. This experiment is complete. Congratulations."
Tae blinked, lowering his hands slightly. He glanced at the girl, who stared at the speakers with the same baffled expression.
"Well," he said after a long moment, leaning back in the throne. "That's quite anticlimactic."
The girl adjusted her glasses again, sighing heavily. "Yeah. Guess we're stuck sharing this chair after all."
Tae scoffed softly, closing his eyes from exhaustion. "Could be worse."
And for the first time since the nightmare had begun, the room fell into a fragile, uneasy peace.