Chapter Text
" Off they go," said Chaewon as she eliminated the last survivor in her match. She looked on as she saw the survivor strapped on the rocket chair, flew away. She winced at the high pitched screams coming from her victim. It's not like she was going to die, she was simply being sent to the hospital to be treated.
She cracked her neck, and stretched her sore muscles from all the chasing and hitting she had to do. She walked out of the map she was placed in, through the tall gates that were meant for the survivors to decode and escape. But today wasn't their lucky day, because they were paired up with Chaewon, who was known to be a hunter who shows no mercy to everyone. If you asked the survivors who was the scariest hunter, all of them would immediately answer Chaewon, the name itself brought chills to everyone's back.
The said hunter was walking back towards the manor, the place she called home for the past 2 years. She walked past the grand Victorian gates towards the manor which looks almost like a castle, before stopping in front of its giant mahogany door.
" Please state your identity," said a gruff voice belonging to the doorkeeper.
" Kim Chaewon, the hunter,"
The doors were immediately opened as the doorkeeper bowed to her as respect, " Welcome back, Miss. I'm guessing you had a great game,". Chaewon nodded her head and walked through the dimly lit hallway.
The manor had always been very cold, mainly because there was no light. The whole place was lit with candlesticks and the occasional sun that shines for only a few hours before it disappears behind the clouds. It was literally in the middle of a forest, the owner of the land had too much money to spend, and ended up building multiple maps of game areas, with only one purpose, to see fear among the civilians. The owner was simply a sadist.
The building was divided into two parts, the east wing being the hunters abode and the west being the survivors. Despite having separate wings, some hunters would head over to the other, just to hang out with their favourite survivor. For instance, Miyawaki Sakura who is more known as Geisha, always heads over to see her favourite human, Lee Chaeyeon, a blind girl who was great at decoding cyphers, just to cuddle.
All the hunters had their personal favourite or in other words their lover, but Chaewon simply couldn't be bothered to find one. Even if she wanted to, nobody would dare to even come close to Chaewon even after the match. She was that scary. Many thought that she was a heartless person who didn't have an inch of humanity in her at all.
But they were wrong. They don't know what she went through before being offered to be a hunter. They didn't know that she was once like them, a survivor, before an incident happened and she became who she was today. She once trusted a hunter, only for him to break his promise and ended up getting her sent to the hospital for a month. The said hunter was kicked out of the game, for conspiring the removal of a player and was sent to prison. But for Chaewon, she was still there, and she couldn't leave the place at all.
Chaewon soon arrived in front of the door to her room, and went in. Her room was rather dull in colour, the walls were painted in dark grey, with the only pieces of furniture being the bed, a wardrobe, a sofa and a piano. The piano was the one thing that still reminded Chaewon that she was human, the only human hunter among the ghosts and supernaturals. She sat down on the sofa, feeling her body relax at the softness of the cushions beneath her.
Next to her was an envelope from Miss Nightingale, who was in charge of all the players wellbeing. She opened the letter briefly reading through the congratulatory letter, before settling her eyes on a picture that was inserted as well. She looked at it curiously, wondering why did Miss Nightingale gave it to her. Her eyes were simply fixed on the picture of a girl with cheeks that resembled bread, her strawberry blonde hair that cascaded down her shoulders and a figure standing next to the said girl. When Chaewon looked at the photo closer, she let out a small gasp.
That's me... when I was young.. and isn't that...Hii-Chan...
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Hitomi went out of the taxi that she took, and stared at the building in front of her. The building looked so majestic but yet so out of place. She could hear her mind telling her to get back into the taxi and go back home, but her body didn't listen. She walked towards the towering gates and was about to push it open when it opened by itself. The whole placed screamed danger to her, but she still kept walking, as if there was a certain pull that was pulling her towards its large double doors.
" Hi.. um.. is anyone there??" She said as she knocked on the door.
" State your identity, stranger!" said the person behind it.
" Um.. My name is Hitomi, Honda Hitomi... And I was invited to come here ?" she said with uncertainty. Her mind told her to just run out of the gates but she simply stood still.
The door opened, revealing a young man who was slightly older than her, bowing towards her.
" Miss Honda, we've been expecting you. Follow me," said the man.
He guided her through a dark hallway, with Hitomi's heart beating out of her chest. She could feel something was wrong but still walked on. Soon they reached a living room with a big fireplace and a figure sitting on the leather chair, sipping on some tea. The young man announced their arrival, with the figure telling Hitomi to sit.
She walked over to the figure and sat down, declining the tea that was offered to her. The two sat in silence, the only sound being the occasional sips that the figure took once in a while. A few minutes later, the figure stood up and sat down in front of her. A woman in her mid-forties smiled softly at her, offering her hand, " Hello, dear. I am Miss Nightingale, welcome to the manor,"
Hitomi shook the surprisingly cold hands, but paid no attention to it as she felt herself freezing to death. The lady smiled at her while asking Hitomi if she knew the reason she was here. The girl shook her head, and asked the lady why she was there, and if she knew her. Hitomi could feel chills on her back, as she felt the air getting colder, no more was the nice kind lady in front of her, it was replaced by a smile so wicked together with a voice that caused Hitomi's nightmares.
" Welcome, Hitomi. Congratulations on being accepted on being a player in the game Master had created. From now on, we will take away all of your electronic devices and personal belongings that we deem unnecessary and escort you to your room. You are now the property of the Master, and should you disobey the rules placed, you will be executed,"
Hitomi soon found herself in her new room, which was decorated just like the one she had at home. She could see her peach plush toy sitting on her bed, a bookshelf filled with the books that she had read and a diary on her desk. She walked towards the diary and saw a note written on it.
Dear Miss Honda Hitomi,
Please fill in your diary every day about what you had done, including what time you slept, eat, bath, etc. When you are involved in the game, you are required to insert every achievement that you received and the name of your teammates as well.
A welcome feast will be held at 6 pm sharp at the main lobby. Your presence is compulsory...
Enjoy your days in the manor..
Yours sincerely,
Miss Nightingale
Hitomi had no problem to write in her diary as she had done that her whole life. She looked at the clock hanged on the wall. Realising that she had 3 hours to spare, she took out a book and started reading.
When the clock strikes 5, a knock was heard at the door. Hitomi placed down her book together with her glasses to open the door. She opened it and saw a girl, with a cane smiling at her. She opened her door wider inviting in the girl, who tapped her can around until she found the bed.
Hitomi looked at the girl curiously before asking her name. She found that girl's name was Chaeyeon and that she was blind.
The blind girl told Hitomi to get ready for the feast and was excited for her to meet the other survivors and maybe the hunters. Hitomi was confused, who were the hunters and what do they do. Chaeyeon heard the questions and answered her ecstatically, mentioning a person named Sakura and went on rambling about the mentioned girl. Hitomi only knew that hunters were the ones who hunt players like her, but didn't know that they were nice as she always thought they were mean, non-human and merciless.
With only a few minutes to spare, Chaeyeon blindly reached over to Hitomi and started running, while tapping her cane to the floor. Hitomi ran, confused as to where she was going, until she saw that she was at the same place a few hours back, the main lobby. She looked at the long table which was filled with different types of dishes and saw that all the seats were occupied except one at the end of the table next to a person with short hair.
She walked over towards that particular seat and asked if it was vacant. She got a nod in response and pull out the chair before settling down, looking at the different types of bread that was served. She drooled at the sight of it and was about to take one when a booming voice was heard throughout the lobby.
" Today, my fellow hunters and survivors, we welcome the arrival of our latest survivor, Honda Hitomi." Hitomi stood up from her seat, feeling the gazes of the people around her and saw Chaeyeon sitting next to a Japanese lady who she assumed was Sakura. She sat down after the applause went down and looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.
" Everyone is allowed to dig in, and all survivors will have an extended curfew until 3 am. Enjoy everyone, and once again, welcome Miss Honda Hitomi," said the booming voice and soon enough the whole lobby erupted in cheers. The clinking of glasses, the sound of cutlery hitting one another as well as the buzz of the people around her made Hitomi feel warm. but she couldn't help to notice the silent figure next to her, who everyone was avoiding. The said person ate slowly, ignoring the noise around her and ate in peace. Hitomi was intrigued by this person but stopped staring and started eating the bread around her.
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Chaewon knew that she was being stared at. She purposely chose to seat at where she is because all the bread were placed there. She was the first one to arrive at the main lobby, confusing the other members of the manor as she was always the last one to arrive or even not attend it at all. She wasn't close with any of the other hunters except for Sakura. The Japanese woman knew about Chaewon when she was a survivor and often looked over the younger girl. She was also the first one to comfort Chaewon when the incident happened.
The two hunters nodded at each other before sitting opposite one another.
" This is the first time you're early, Chaewon,"
" I had nothing to do, so I decided to show myself," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. The room was slowly being filled with people and nobody dared to seat next to her. Sakura, on the other hand, glared at anyone who wanted to sit next to her. Most of them are attracted towards the cherry blossom because of her beauty, which Chaewon had to admit, that Sakura was indeed one of the most prettiest women in the manor. But the said woman only had eyes for her beloved Chaeyeon, whom she called Jjaeyeon.
The two hunters looked at the clock which read 5:57 pm and was wondering where the two survivors. Sakura was seen looking more anxious looking around the room for the love of her life. Soon enough they saw two people running in, Chaeyeon running towards Sakura and Hitomi walking towards the only available seat which was next to her.
"Um.. Excuse me. Is this seat taken ??"
Chaewon shook her head at the question and saw the girl sitting down next to her. she smiled inwardly at the sight of the girl drooling over the bread around her and silently hoped that the said girl could still remember her.
The dinner went on rather smoothly with the two eating silently, except for the some questions that were thrown to Hitomi, but either than that no one talked to them. Chaewon silently blamed herself as many were afraid to approach the girl next to her as she was sitting there. Deciding to return to her room, she stood up, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Sakura gave her an understanding nod and Chaewon walked out of the lobby towards her bedroom.
The hallways leading towards the hunters' wing was dark, but Chaewon didn't mind. She simply let her eyes adjust to the darkness and continued walking. She could hear someone walking behind her but paid no attention towards it, until she heard someone calling for her.
" Excuse me, Miss. I was wondering if I could know your name,"
" And why would you ask that, little girl?" she replied, not turning around to look at the person.
" It's because you look similar to a person I know,"
Chaewon felt herself smile as she recognised the voice, now knowing that the girl might remember her, she told her name.
" My name is Chaewon, Miss Hitomi. Hope to see you soon," and she walked into the darkness of the hallways towards her destination.