Chapter 10: The Pit (part 3)
I watched several fights. The violence was raw, but there was a logic to it. It was a test of will as much as strength. The one who hesitated, the one who showed fear, lost.
My gaze met the bet organizer’s. He was an older student, with a scar cutting through his eyebrow. He gave me a nod. "Next?"
I nodded back.
My heart started to pound. Not with fear. With excitement.
I thought about it all one last time. Yoo-Na’s kindness. Min-Soo’s warnings.
Maybe Min-Soo was right. Maybe Yoo-Na was manipulating me. Maybe I was a pawn in a game I didn’t understand.
But looking at the fighting circle, I realized none of it mattered.
Ally or enemy, Yoo-Na had shown me the door. Min-Soo, with his caution, never would have. He would have kept me in the hallway, safe, analyzing the lock.
I might have called Min-Soo jealous, and maybe it was true, maybe not. But the truth was, I was the one who had changed. I didn’t want his safety anymore. I didn’t want his analysis.
I wanted this. The heat. The risk. The fight.
The organizer shouted my name. Or rather, the nickname they had already given me.
"Next up! A new guy! The Last Draft Pick!"