A Simple Beginning
Beep—beep—beep. In the quiet hospital room, the steady rhythm of machines flowed softly. The signal linked to the patient was crying out in place of my sister's voice.
She'd been frail since birth, never once running and playing with friends. As her only family—her big sister—I was the one who'd always worried over her body and taken care of her. But after all that long devotion, my reward was her worsening condition.
A few months ago, even the faint image of her struggling to lift her head and meet my eyes had now faded into a mere photo in my memory.
"Looks like I won't get to hear your voice again today, either, Mirae…"
My parched voice, worn thin by eroding hope day after day, mingled with the beeping signals.
-Yumirae's heart will be fine with major surgery. The issue is just the cost...
There was a way to fix my sister's heart, but for someone like me working at a small company, that kind of money was nowhere to be found.
"Surgery's seven million... and with follow-ups, around twenty million total…"
Nearly a hundred million won was too much for a wage slave scraping by day to day. I'd gone into the company early to cover my sick sister's hospital bills, but was that the wrong move?
-Unnie always wears those glasses...
-I like these glasses. They've grown on me after all this time.
I was sick of these glasses and wanted to toss them, but I couldn't even afford LASIK. In front of my ailing sister, I brushed it off with a lie I couldn't voice aloud.
"If I were a doctor, I'd have fixed you up for free…"
No one was around to hear my self-deprecating joke, and even a laugh wouldn't come.
If only we'd gotten some insurance payout. If Mom hadn't started a new family. If Dad hadn't put himself before his kids. If just one of them hadn't let go. If I could get a loan. If the company would advance me years' worth of salary…
Sitting in this unchanging hospital room, regrets flooded in endlessly, same as always.
'If only Mirae weren't sick...'
And it always ended with the same conclusion.
"Let's call it quits."
I pressed my forehead, heading toward a strange resolution in front of my sister, who could barely open her eyes. Dwelling on the past results that were already gone was pointless. I'd cared for her only because I wanted to give back the freedom this child had stolen from me.
With even our sisterly bond lost, all that remained for her was her fragile body. Realistically, our family had no future.
They say if you join a game in some alley, you can make big money. The prize is about a hundred million won, from what I heard.
If it's not some dubious legend, that is. Some girl in flashy clothes was fighting with a weapon as big as her body.
Posts like that, written by some bored soul, would vanish without a trace now and then. That's why people with plenty of leisure in life would believe the rumors as truth.
"Stand in a deserted back alley for two hours, and you get invited to a game with a huge prize…"
Either that, or desperate folks who had to believe the lie as truth.
After bidding my sister a final goodbye, I headed straight for the narrow alley. The doctor wasn't rushing the surgery, but my sister's daily decline told me time was running out.
Even if I got fired over this, if I could win the huge prize and pay for Mirae's heart treatment, we'd have plenty of time.
'This should be far enough.'
I justified my steps into the shadowy alley. All that was left was waiting for the rumor to prove true.
A chill wind whistled through the straight alley with only front and back ways out. Just standing here would set my nerves on edge.
But at least it felt better than sitting in that hospital room dominated by the cold mechanical beeps devoid of any warmth.
'An hour's already flown by.'
During the not-so-short wait, all sorts of thoughts crossed my mind. Was this rumored game some kind of experiment? Or a rich bastard's twisted hobby? Or just the ravings of idle dreamers?
I hoped it wasn't the last one, where no money came out at all.
"...Seeing you waste so much time in a dump like this means no one's waiting for you, right?"
A man's voice mocked me from the end of the alley, where I'd been foolishly killing time.
"The only kind who'd come sniffing around a stinking hole like this on their own... are the little rats chasing money rumors."
A suspicious mechanical arm and a grotesque eye taking up half his face. With every step, his unnatural body's weight clanked loudly, announcing itself.
Like a hunter closing in on fishhooked prey, his steps were leisurely, unhurried, slowly traversing the dead-end path.
'Not just some thug or punk. That's no medical prosthetic, and that body... is it even human?'
I'd never heard of surgeries grafting machines onto human bodies. The alien dissonance crushed down on me.
"Don't even think about running scared. You're a rat in a trap anyway."
The man, with no intention of chasing, raised his voice in the straight path with no side exits.
'So we're already surrounded.'
Following his advice, I calmly turned to look behind me.
……Several women were already blocking the path I'd come from, silent and without a sound.
'What outfits. First time seeing anything like this today.'
Goggles with a blue tint, shameful clothes exposing their figures. Barcodes were stamped on their chests like products on a convenience store shelf.
"As long as you don't pull anything stupid, those tools won't harm you. You're a game participant now, like it or not."
The man mocked me, cornered with no front or back escape, scanning both ways. He declared me a participant regardless of my will.
Even with his face hidden by a white mask, his raised eyebrows betrayed his amusement.
'Forced participation... those women are his underlings.'
Assessing the situation, I thought calmly. Then I walked toward the man who'd been monologuing alone in the alley.
Thud, thud—
"Hm?"
The man, narrowing the distance to drag me off forcibly, halted. The amusement in his lowered eyebrows vanished.
"Like you said, I need money. Hurry up and let me join your game."
I approached without stopping, showing firm resolve.
'Even if I luckily escaped, it wouldn't save my sister.'
Looking around now, I saw no bright-smiling Mirae anywhere. This unrealistic game, entered via alley kidnapping, seemed far more hopeful.
"...Not the reaction I wanted. I prefer watching loudmouth bitches crumble. Tsk, for someone so plain-looking, you've got some fire."
The man who'd been slowly closing in wore a displeased expression.
"Still, you might make good material for this game. Curious what'll come of it."
He quickly separated personal grudges from game business, flashing an expectant smile. Using his cold, heavy mechanical arm like a real hand, he pulled something from his pocket.
"First rule of the game: You must take any pill that comes to you during the game."
With the rule explanation, he handed over the pill. The tiny tablet, nestled between metal, landed safely in my palm without crumbling.
'This mark means it's a sleeping pill.'
The 'zzz' symbol on the surface made its purpose obvious. Eyes close, consciousness fades, no resistance possible. What happened after swallowing was clear without seeing.
'No different from right now.'
Gulp.
No time to spare, I swallowed the sleeping pill dry. It went down smoothly without water.
"Oho, better than those outer-space freaks who got dragged. Guess you're not all talk."
The man alternated glances between me swallowing without hesitation and the branded women, impressed.
"Ugh…"
The pill's effect hit immediately—his words blurred beyond hearing. Vision shook hazily, boundaries crumbling.
'Mirae... Yumirae...'
In my darkening consciousness, I called my sister's name one last time.
'So bright...'
Harsh light poured into my eyes. Clouds parted, vision sharpening again.
"Where...?"
I awoke on a bed. The room seemed nice enough for one person—maybe a prison cell, with a sink and toilet.
'Cleaner than my studio.'
The gray-painted special room was cramped but pristine, like a new building. Better than living with stubborn mold.
'The game's real... so the prize money must be too.'
My kidnapped body was unharmed. Resolve surged with the rumor turning fact.
'Once Mirae wakes, we'll have to move. Can't let her live somewhere worse than a hospital room.'
Thinking of my future sister, I quickly rose from bed. No phone, of course—just the clothes I wore.
Bzzzzt—
As I straightened up, the room's speaker crackled.
-"By now, you all should be awake."
'That mechanical-arm guy.'
The voice from the alley monologuer echoed.
-"As you know, first rule: take every pill that comes your way. Wanna rebel or test it? Be my guest—see how I respond."
The overconfident man laid down the law on rules.
'First rule carries over here... so pills in the game too.'
A small pipe on the desk delivered pills like the sleeping one—or others. We could receive or send through this hole.
-"Second rule: during the day, you must wear leggings."
"Leggings?"
The second rule felt distant from the first.
'Wasn't wearing any. This must be it.'
A box by the bed held transparent leggings. More like pantyhose than leggings.
"Next to the leggings, this is…"
A small bonus gift sat beside it.
'Pocket it for now.'
I checked the pipe hole again and slipped the gift into my pocket.
-"Topless by day or naked at night? Perverts do you. Anyway, leggings are mandatory during the day. Don't be dumb and lose your life over it."
The incomprehensible second rule got strict enforcement.
-"The rest follows standard Mafia Game rules. No total nerds needing explanations, right?"
The main game mirrored the common party game Mafia.
-"Total prize: a hundred million won. Seven players. Day and night cycles are mine to call. No point hunting for a clock that doesn't exist."
He rattled off the essentials.
-"And one of you bitches is a futanari. Catch her before night falls. Unless you wanna spend a horrific night with the rape demon."
The twist differentiating it from Mafia: the host revealed the mafia hidden among citizens.
An ominous tone leaked from his lewd voice.
"…Futanari?"