I Possessed the Heroine’s Teacher

After that, the adults made us commit murder. The children who killed without hesitation were given good food and comfortable bedding, while those who hesitated to kill were beaten and starved. Some children couldn’t endure the process and were beaten to death or starved to death. And among them was number 69. Personally, I respected that child. They died holding onto their belief that murder was wrong until the end.

The types of people who were killed also became varied. There were children caught trying to escape from the facility, adults who couldn’t overcome their guilt and tried to report us, muscular adults who were strong enough to kill a few kids during a confrontation, and people who looked like high school students, over forty of them.

They all died.

Sometimes, famous people also came in. According to Baek, there were entertainers famous for ruining their businesses and singers who had committed fraud worth hundreds of billions. Occasionally, adults who claimed they came to rescue us also had to be killed.

Someone once said that conscience is like a triangle: when you do bad things, it pricks your heart and causes pain, but the more bad things you do, the triangle slowly wears down, becomes round, and the pain becomes less sharp. And eventually, conscience disappears altogether.

Whoever said that, it was truly wise. We killed people without hesitation for better meals and better places to sleep. The feeling of guilt had long disappeared.

“Baek, Baek.”

“What?”

“Eat all of this.”

Baek always ate only half of her meal, and she always gave me the meat dishes. Then, she would always laugh and say that she was full just by watching me eat.

“Why do you leave all the meat?”

“… It’s nothing. I just don’t feel like eating.”

“You’re strange.”

“Ugh… yeah. I’m a descendant of Confucius and a guardian saint of Confucianism, so it’s only natural.”

“You’re still saying crazy things that are hard to understand.”

That day, I got to experience what a Cobra Twist was like firsthand. It had been three years since we met, but it was still frustrating to realize that I couldn’t beat Baek. I mean, how could a girl be this strong and know so many techniques?

“Hey, stop it! Let go of the technique! I seriously feel like my bones are about to break, damn it!”

“Hahahaha! Finally, you’ve realized the greatness of the Celestial Demon Technique!”

“You were just talking about being a descendant of Confucius, crazy bitch! Just do one thing!”

“A healthy body contains a healthy mind! That’s why the Celestial Demon Technique is an essential course in Confucianism!”

“No, seriously, you crazy bitch!”

That day, I faced the fear of death for the first time. There were men dressed in black with black hats, calling my name from across the room. If they hadn’t been rummaging through a list saying they didn’t know where my name was, I would have died that day. Those incompetent grim reapers probably didn’t even know I was born without a name.

.

.

.

“Alright, today’s game will be a little special.”

The man who appeared to be the leader among the adults was smiling at us. I thought, “Well, as usual, they’re going to make us kill people.”

Just like how they had made us stab when they said stab, cut when they said cut, and kill when they said kill.

The adults separated us from our partners and took half of us to different training areas.

Then, they told us:

“From now on, only one child will be allowed to leave this room. Yes, think of it as a graduation exam.”

We were all dumbfounded.

“Did I make it too complicated? Let me put it simply. From now on, kill each other. If you don’t kill, well… I trust you know what will happen.”

Suddenly, I remembered the bracelet on my wrist. The rule that if your partner dies, you die too. When some of the children seemed to realize this, the leader smiled slyly.

“It looks like there are some smart ones among you. Your partner is going through the same test across the room. If they die, you die, and if you die, your partner dies.”

So, this meant only one pair would survive in a battle royale.

“We don’t need weaklings, so I hope you can pick the real ones yourselves. Now, go ahead and fight well. I’ll wish you luck.”

The leader said that and closed the door as he left. Having lived there for three years, we knew what that meant. If we didn’t follow those instructions, we would all be wiped out.

So, the children who had lost their conscience and turned it into a circle began a brutal fight to kill each other. Of course, no child could beat me, since I had trained every day with Baek. I remembered all the techniques she had taught me: judo, taekwondo, muay thai, and karate.

Then, number 287 swung a knife at me. It seemed they had anticipated that something like this would happen and had hidden it. I grabbed number 287’s wrist tightly.

“Arrgh!”

She screamed and dropped the knife, and I picked it up and stabbed 287 to death. Then, with the knife in my hand, I was able to effortlessly erase the other numbers.

12, 397, 215, 167, 28, 399, 271, 265, 144, 223, 316…

I showered in blood. I stepped on the bodies of the children. There were no serious injuries. Seeing that I was still alive, I had a strong intuition that Baek was still alive too. I didn’t care that the other children were dying. The fact that she was alive made me so happy.

The adults had called it the graduation exam. Once we were outside, I would eat jjajangmyeon with Baek, read comic books, watch movies, play games together… I wanted to live with her forever. For the first time, I wanted to be with someone. Looking back, that was my first love.

“Oh, as expected, you two are the ones left.”

The leader opened the door and came in, and I quickly hid the knife. It was a hand-to-hand match, so I was worried that the weapon might complicate things.

“Well then, since the graduation exam is over, follow me.”

I followed the leader, and there was Baek, covered in blood like me.

Baek looked at me with a sad expression.

“Crazy bitch! You didn’t die! Let’s get out of this shitty place!”

Then the leader smiled slightly and said,

“I’ve been taking care of you two, but calling this place shitty is a bit harsh. But what should we do? Only one of you can leave.”

“What?!”

“There’s still the graduation ceremony left.”

I stared at his eyes, hoping it was a joke. But he still smiled kindly and said,

“Only one graduate can remain. Do you understand?”

He said that and removed my bracelet. Looking now, Baek also didn’t have a bracelet, just like me. That’s why she had been looking so sad. Now, we would have to kill each other. I gritted my teeth.

I quietly walked towards Baek.

“What are you doing… Get in position, crazy bitch.”

I was nervous. I was anxious. There was no way I could beat her. She had been an insurmountable wall for three years, and that wall was slowly closing in on me.

Realizing that I couldn’t beat her with bare hands, I planned to ambush her with the hidden knife. But just as I took out the knife and was about to strike, she clearly recognized my attack.

In the brief moment I realized she had noticed my attack, I felt death. She was strong enough to easily fend off my strike, take the knife from me, and kill me.

But Baek didn’t resist. She let me stab her. No, she allowed me to.

“Hey… You saw it… What the hell… You saw me pull out the knife, crazy bitch!”

Baek smiled sadly as she approached. As she got closer, she was deeply stabbed by the knife, letting out a short groan, but still continuing to smile.

Then she hugged me warmly.

“Our Baeksa, You don’t have any friends without me… What should I do…”

“Hey, what… suddenly…”

“Baeksa, actually, I was scared to kill. But… if I died, you would die too… That was scarier…”

“Crazy bitch, why did you let me stab you!”

From the beginning, I knew I couldn’t beat her. So, at least I wanted to die fighting, in a cowardly way, to relieve some of my guilt.

“But now I have to die so that you can live… I was really glad. Even if Baeksa’s noona isn’t here… I shouldn’t cry, right?”

“What good is dying, you crazy bitch! You said you had so many things you wanted to do with me!”

“Then, Baeksa, you can do all of it for me… the games, comics, movies, Celestial Demon, Confucian heir, everything… If you do it for me, it will… make me happy…”

She said that and took her last breath.

My first love ended like that.

And then, I decided to do everything she wanted to do. That was her last request.