Surviving the Chase
—KABOOM!! —WHOOSH!!
"Agh, seriously! Victoria! I told you not to attack!"
Toy swords and darts started flying at us from all directions. They were small, but every one was a real blade, razor-sharp.
"H-Hueeng... M-My Shiny..."
"No time for crying—grab my hand, quick!"
I snatched up Victoria, who was lagging behind, then scooped Emilia into a tight hug and bolted from the square at full speed.
"Emilia, Victoria! Hold on tight! Don't let go of my hands no matter what!"
"Uuung...!"
"Shiny oppa, fighting...!"
—Tat-tat-tat!
The toys' eyes were spinning like total maniacs right now. I needed a place to hide until they calmed down somehow!
Whoosh!Boom!
The toy knights chasing us hurled their swords and spears wildly, closing in fast.
[Death to the rude.]
[Trials for the impolite.]
A tone dead set on killing intruders.
"Hey, you toys! Is it right to chase a cute little girl who just messed around a bit with murder in your eyes?! You call yourselves toys that bring joy to kids?!"
[Death to the rude.]
[Rest for the uninvited.]
Mechanical voices, devoid of any emotion. They just kept repeating the same lines, as if my questions didn't even register.
"Ha...! They don't understand a word. Fine, even if they look alive, they're just toys at the end of the day, right?"
I was dodging the pursuers every which way, but I had no clue about the layout of this toy kingdom. Running blindly could corner us eventually.
But.
"No other choice. Just run like hell for now."
Stopping meant getting hacked to pieces, so running was the only option.
—Whoosh!
A flying knife aimed right at my left temple.
"Shiny oppa, duck your head left a bit and you'll dodge it."
"Ah, thanks, Emilia!"
Attacks from my left blind spot—Emilia called them out.
—Screee!
"Shi-hyeo-ni! Arrow coming from up right!"
"Got it!"
Right-side attacks—Victoria spotted and briefed me ahead.
Thanks to the two girls' assists, I could dodge the lethal strikes pretty easily.
"Man, these things don't hesitate at all to kill. Every attack hits vital spots."
"The weapons are toy-shaped, so at least we can see 'em coming."
"Real ones probably would've been way harder..."
"Haha, yeah. If these were actual darts or arrows, we'd be dead already."
I laughed it off to reassure the girls, but things were getting worse by the second. No matter how toy-like the weapons, their sheer numbers overwhelmed us.
Slash!
"Damn toys, why do they hurt so much?"
Cuts on my thigh, arm, and back were piling up from grazing blades. Dodging vitals and attacks aimed at Emilia and Victoria came first, so I had no choice but to take the rest.
"Shi-hyeo-ni...! Y-Your wounds...!"
"Shiny oppa...!"
"I know, so don't say it. And keep your heads down—it's dangerous."
Any normal guy would've screamed from the accumulating cuts, but not me. Compared to the wounds and pain from saving Luna in that black storm, this was a scratch.
'Still bearable.'
But the tiny girls clinging to my arms didn't know that, shooting me worried looks nonstop.
"Sniff...! Shi-hyeo-ni... It's because of me...!"
"Shiny oppa's getting hurt... for me...!"
"I'm fine, so cut it out, both of you. Crying gives me a headache."
"Uuung...! No more crying!"
How long had we been evading the chase? Eventually...
"Ha, I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but here we are."
"Shi-hyeo-ni! Th-This is...!"
"Shiny oppa, no way back...!"
I'd prayed my hunch was wrong, but we'd run straight into a dead end.
'Is this why they didn't swarm us all at once from the start?'
Panting, I scanned around—no gaps to escape.
'Screwed.'
They'd herded us through the maze-like streets from the beginning.
"Hey, you guys. Isn't this a bit too dirty?"
I didn't expect an answer, but...
[Pain for the fleeing.]
[Payment for the trapped sinner.]
Red eyes droned the same lines.
"Sigh, what was I expecting from toys?"
Wall at our back. Toy knights packed in front. And my body bleeding from minor cuts.
"Emilia, Victoria. You okay?"
"Shiny oppa, w-we're okay-ish...!"
"Super tired, but still okay-ish...!"
But despite their words, the two girls in my arms looked exhausted from the shrinking curse's side effects.
"Shiny oppa... What now...?"
"Shi-hyeo-ni...! Toys closing in...!"
"......"
—Creeeak, creak.
The toys narrowed their encirclement, blades raised and joints squeaking. I had no choice but to pull my last card.
"Hey, I've got a proposal. You need the first rule-breaker, right?"
"Sh-Shi-hyeo-ni...?"
I slowly lifted Victoria from my arms.
"She broke the rules first, swinging that sword. I even tried to stop her."
"......???"
"The light green-haired girl and I didn't attack first. So—"
"Sh-Shi-hyeo-ni...? N-No way...?"
"Shiny oppa...?"
Victoria's blue eyes shook wildly, but I ignored her and spoke my final piece.
"I'll hand this girl over. Kill her or whatever. Just let me live."
* * *
No way.
It had to be a joke. Surely a lie.
Selling me out to ghost stories? No... he wouldn't.
"L-Lie... right...?"
Victoria couldn't believe Si-hyun's words. She didn't want to.
"All you want is this one kid, yeah? Take her and let me go."
His voice was ice-cold, resolute. No trace of the snarky, teasing Si-hyun who always joked around.
Just a cold-blooded survivor trading another life for his own.
'He's sacrificing me...?'
Her shrunken body, limp arms and legs drained from the escape. She couldn't resist even if she tried.
"Come on, take her already. Kill or spare, up to you. She's heavy."
"Shi-hyeo-ni... How could you do this to me...?"
"Survivors gotta survive. Right, Victoria?"
"......!!"
His eerily calm, casual tone made her heart sink.
Victoria stared in disbelief, but Si-hyun looked at her like a disposable tool. No guilt whatsoever. It was the face of someone discarding a person.
"Ah... Ahh...!"
The girl crumbled slowly.
Were all those desperate dashes to protect her just an act?
"Uh... H-Hwaaa...!"
No words came. Her heart ached so bad, tears threatened to burst.
Maybe this was punishment. She'd suspected him as Phantom, cornered him. Mocked his little sister's looks too.
'That's why... he's ditching me so easily...?'
—Drip, drip.
Thick tears began rolling from her crystal-clear blue eyes.
She tried to hold it in. Didn't want to cry.
"H-Hic... Sniff...! Guh...!"
She should've cursed him out, hurled insults—but here she was, bawling over betrayal from a guy she'd trusted.
'Don't cry... Don't...!'
But her body betrayed her will.
"Hic...! H-Hueuk...! Shi-hyeo-ni... How could you...?! To me...! Waaah...!"
"......"
The curse shrinking her body already made emotions hard to control. Staying composed here was impossible.
"I trusted you... Believed in you for real...!"
"......"
"To you... I was just useless baggage...?!"
"......"
"Hic...! S-Say something, you jerk...!!"
As Victoria spat her grief-mixed resentment at Si-hyun—
—Creeak.
[We punish only rule-breakers.]
[Hand over the girl, and we defer your flight and the other's sins.]
The toy captain with an oversized sword stepped forward to claim Victoria.
"Finally, some sense. Meet in the middle then?"
[Agreed.]
Si-hyun smirked faintly and stepped to the center.
"Hic...! Guh...! Sniff...!"
Victoria, gripped in Si-hyun's hand, felt like a prisoner marched to the gallows.
She could've resisted with all her might, but his apparent betrayal had crushed her will.
[As promised, deliver the rule-breaker.]
"Take her already. She's heavy."
—Creeeek.
The toy captain reached out to take Victoria.
The brutal bargain: survival for a little girl.
'So this is how I'm discarded...'
Her burning eyes cooled, a single tear dropping from her blue gaze.
She hung her head, eyes shut, vowing no more hopes or regrets—
"Thanks. For coming this close."
Slash!
A rending sound echoed with the toy captain's death screech.
'Wh-What...?'
The tearful girl slowly raised her head to see—
"Hic...! Sh-Shi-hyeo-ni...???"
"Haha, why so shocked? Thought I was really ditching you?"
Si-hyun, wielding the toy captain's stolen sword.