Chapter 8

The group that followed Yeom Il-jung was disbanded.

This was because Yeom Il-jung and his confidants were all found as corpses. Their dead bodies dealt a great shock to the children who were fighting like hungry ghosts in the underground cavern.

Although murder had become a daily routine as food dwindled, never before had so many children died at once.

Moreover, the deceased was Yeom Il-jung, the leader of a group.

Even though he had been humiliated once by Pyo Wol, no one could ignore Yeom Il-jung.

Yeom Il-jung was one of the strong ones in this underground cavern, and even So Yeowol’s group, the most powerful faction, had been unable to do anything about him until now.

Such a man, along with his confidants, had all been killed.

No one dared to say they had killed Yeom Il-jung’s group.

Not So Yeowol, not Kang Il, not Go Young-san…….

They remained silent.

The children knew well the reason for their silence.

‘It was Pyo Wol.’

‘That bastard killed all of Yeom Il-jung’s group.’

After the murders among the children began, Yeom Il-jung had openly boasted that he would kill Pyo Wol. Therefore, the children knew that Yeom Il-jung would eventually go after Pyo Wol.

Yeom Il-jung went to find Pyo Wol for revenge, but instead, he lost his life.

‘Just how strong is he? To kill four people by himself.’

‘That demonic bastard.’

‘I must not get on that bastard’s bad side.’

It was a moment when a deep fear of Pyo Wol was engraved in the children’s minds.

Even after that, the children’s fights to secure food continued. Children died day after day, but no one dared to approach the place where Pyo Wol was.

“He’s cunning and vicious. He clearly knows how to make people fear him.”

Go Young-san muttered.

He too was the leader of a group.

Trying to take care of his own group, he also had no choice but to commit murder.

Some children would even say things like this.

“Why don’t we try negotiating with the other groups? If we each just reduce the amount we eat a little, we wouldn’t have to kill each other like this.”

But as if to mock his words, the ones who had trapped them here reduced the food distribution by almost two-thirds.

There was no telling how much more they would reduce the food supply.

For the children to survive, they had no choice but to reduce the number of mouths to feed as much as possible.

“Hoo!”

Go Young-san sighed and looked at his group.

Initially, there were twenty of them, but now only seven remained. Some had left to live on their own, and some had lost their lives in the hungry ghost-like struggles. That was how Go Young-san’s group had dwindled.

Something else had changed as well.

The eyes of all the survivors were filled with Poison Qi.

The children, who had never even killed a dog before being abducted to this place, had now become so vicious that they would kill without hesitation.

To secure food, one had to kill others. Even when they obtained food with such difficulty, the amount was insufficient, so they always suffered from hunger. As things were, the children’s eyes were always tinged with Killing Intent.

They were somehow enduring because there was still a little bit of food, but if the food were to be cut off completely, they might even start craving human flesh.

“Pyo Wol, that bastard predicted this moment would come. That’s why he only took out Yeom Il-jung’s eyes back then and didn’t kill him. He knew we would all become murderers anyway. And at the most opportune moment, he killed Yeom Il-jung to imprint on everyone’s minds the fact that he is the absolute powerhouse here.”

Go Young-san once again shuddered at Pyo Wol’s cunning.

He was one of the older children here. As such, he had more experience and had met many people. But among them, none possessed such a venomous mind at such a young age as Pyo Wol.

He told his younger followers.

“You guys, never mess with Pyo Wol. That bastard is a different breed altogether.”

“But he’s alone…”

“That’s what makes him scarier. What’s more frightening than a bastard with nothing to protect? You don’t know what he’ll do when he snaps, so don’t go near him for the time being. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Understood.”

The children answered with expressions of resignation.

“Captain!”

Just then, a child came running from the other side.

It was a child Go Young-san had sent out for reconnaissance.

He was swift-footed and quick-witted, so Go Young-san found him useful.

“What is it?”

“There, two guys are gathered at the northern red hall. I think they’re stragglers from So Yeowol’s group.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah! I checked several times.”

At the child’s confident reply, Go Young-san briefly bit his lip.

“Food?”

“I confirmed they have potatoes in their clothes. If we don’t go quickly, they’ll eat them all.”

At the words of the boy who had returned from scouting, a sense of urgency appeared on the children’s faces.

The children were so starved that they thought nothing of committing murder for just a single potato.

Go Young-san furrowed his brow.

He hesitated for a moment, but the conclusion was already set.

“The dog hole?”

“I’ve already figured it out.”

Most of the children lived scattered throughout a Hall Complex someone had built. Although the exterior was plausible, the inside was crude, but it was still better than living in the underground area where not a single ray of light entered.

The reason the children couldn’t leave the Hall Complex even after the food wars began was the same.

Above all, this was where the baskets of food were lowered. Leaving this place meant getting further away from food, which for the children, meant falling behind in the food war.

They had to stick to this place, whether they lived or died.

As things were, they were intimately familiar with the layout of the Hall Complex.

Where to go to approach secretly, and where to escape. Which places were advantageous for an Ambush Attack, and which were disadvantageous—they knew it all like the back of their hands.

The same was true for the other groups.

As they fought fiercely, they had unknowingly mastered the internal geography of this place. But despite that, there were bound to be secret passages that others didn’t know about.

The dog hole Go Young-san mentioned was one such place.

They moved through the dog hole.

Just as the scouting boy had said, two children were there, peeling potatoes.

The moment they saw the potatoes, the eyes of the children led by Go Young-san flipped.

“Potatoes.”

“Kill them! Fuck!”

Before Go Young-san could even give the order, the children rushed toward the ones holding the potatoes.

“Ah, no!”

Go Young-san shouted belatedly, but he could no longer control the children whose eyes had flipped.

The children charged like hungry ghosts. The children holding the potatoes were startled and fled in a panic.

‘Something’s strange.’

It was the moment a look of doubt crossed Go Young-san’s face.

Thwack!

Suddenly, a powerful sound echoed.

Go Young-san looked in surprise to see the child who had been running at the front collapsing with a smashed head. Someone from behind the alley had swung a club and crushed the child’s head.

From the alley and the nearby walls, children who had been hiding until now revealed themselves.

“Damn it! It’s a trap. Everyone, fall back.”

Only then did Go Young-san realize he had fallen into a trap and shouted, but it was already too late. The children led by So Yeowol had completely surrounded them.

“So Yeowol!”

As Go Young-san shouted, So Yeowol and Song Cheonwoo appeared from among the children.

“Ho ho! I caught a big fish with just one potato. I’ll be able to reduce a lot of mouths this time.”

So Yeowol let out a cold laugh.

Her face was full of a victor’s confidence.

“You dare, you bitch!”

“What are you going to do, glare at me like that?”

Gnash!

Go Young-san ground his teeth hard enough to break them. But reality was harsh.

They were outnumbered, and the terrain was the worst possible.

‘To make a mistake like this…’

He could feel the unrest in his group.

Everyone was clenching their teeth, but their eyes were filled with undisguised anxiety.

Go Young-san stepped forward and said.

“Can’t you just end it with me?”

“The food situation is too poor for that…”

“Will you only be satisfied once you’ve killed them all?”

“You would have done the same if you were in my position. Why are you suddenly acting all different?”

Go Young-san’s plea had no effect on So Yeowol.

Her face, exuding a chilling air, was simply merciless.

The food provided from the outside was gradually decreasing. If they didn’t reduce the number of people accordingly, everyone would starve to death.

This was not the time to consider the circumstances of other groups.

“Kill them all.”

A cruel command fell from So Yeowol’s lips.

The group following her charged toward Go Young-san’s group.

“Waaah!”

“Kill them!”

The children tangled together and fought.

Having not learned even a single move of Martial Arts, the children’s movements were clumsy. But their Killing Intent to kill their opponents at all costs was no less than that of adults who had learned Martial Arts.

That made it even more brutal.

The sight of children beating their opponents’ faces until they shattered with their unhardened fists and tearing at their opponents’ flesh with their teeth was nothing short of desperate.

It was by no means an easy task for a person to beat another person to death with their bare hands. It was a difficult feat even for adults, yet young children were doing it. In that state, they hardly looked human.

The children became beasts and ran wild.

“Aargh!”

“Save me!”

Screams and shouts echoed chaotically.

The one facing Go Young-san was Song Cheonwoo.

Song Cheonwoo, with an agility unbelievable for a child who hadn’t learned Martial Arts, cornered Go Young-san.

So Yeowol did not join the fight.

Instead, she looked around, wary of other children drawn by the commotion. But the other groups didn’t dare to intervene in the fight.

That was how overwhelmingly strong the group led by So Yeowol was. A sense of crisis that they could be wiped out by a counterattack if they carelessly tried to take advantage of the situation made them hesitate.

Pyo Wol watched the two groups fight from the roof of a nearby hall. The fight seemed to be ending in a one-sided victory for So Yeowol’s group.

Pyo Wol watched their fight from beginning to end.

He had seen everything, from So Yeowol setting the trap to Go Young-san falling right into it.

They thoroughly utilized the terrain.

Using dog holes and all sorts of tricks, they deceived each other’s eyes and tried to lead the situation in a direction favorable to themselves.

What Pyo Wol paid attention to was how they skillfully used the terrain as if it were their own backyard.

Suddenly, he muttered.

“So that’s what it was.”

He felt like he finally understood what they wanted.

The children’s current state was likely the state they desired.

“This place is likely a miniature or a replica of a real place. And that place is likely a dragon’s den and tiger’s lair, incomparable to this place.”

One of the things Pyo Wol felt while looking at the Hall Complex was that if proper guards were stationed in various places, infiltration would be almost impossible.

The creators of this place wanted the children to get used to it. It seemed they wanted them to have no aversion to this place while killing each other.

There was only one answer.

“They intend to use us someday in a terrain identical to this one. A place with such a large Hall Complex is highly likely to be a Manor of a major Sect in the Jianghu or a powerful figure. If so, the aftermath wouldn’t be easy to handle.”

The Crimson Light in Pyo Wol’s eyes deepened.

Thinking this far, the question of why they had abducted him and the other children was solved.

“We are tools to be used once and thrown away. That’s why they treat us so harshly. What they need are useful tools, not thinking humans. That’s why they deliberately drive children into a hellish environment like this and make them kill each other. To make them stop thinking, to forge them into the tools they want…”

No matter how cool-headed a person was, they wouldn’t be able to think properly if exposed to such an environment.

Moreover, the ones here were young children whose thoughts had not yet fully formed.

If they stayed in this environment for a long time, it was highly likely they would gradually stop thinking at all.

Children who don’t think troublesome thoughts and move as desired.

They were even ferocious in nature and had no fear.

Having already killed, they had no hesitation in taking another’s life.

There was no more suitable existence to be used as a tool.

Pyo Wol rose to his feet and muttered.

“They plan to raise us as Assassins.”