Solo Clear Chapter 2

d.a.m.n.
My head started throbbing as if I got hit really hard.
It was the same feeling as waking up after being under anesthesia.
I also wasn't feeling well so it felt like I was going to throw up.

"…Ha."

I wasn't sure where I was, but I knew I was lying down on a cold ground.
It was flat, but wasn't as comfortable as a bed.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to remember what happened.
After hearing the weird voice in the tunnel, I pa.s.sed out.

'What exactly was that?'

It felt like the devil was playing with me.
Sitting up, I looked around my surrounding.

"I think he's awake."

Not too far from me, I heard a familiar voice.
The members that were supposed to do community service with me were looking in my direction.
d.a.m.n it.
Thinking how this all happened because of those guys, I just wanted to punch them.

"Tch. Let's hurry and go. We're pretty late, but if we go now, they'll probably forgive us."

If the elder's tolerance level was high, they wouldn't say much for being two hours late.
I might as well go with these immature people…
Something was weird.
The members turned their attention as soon as they saw my stern expression.
A white room.
There was nothing else that could describe this place.

"…Where am I?"

No one answered.
Everyone had a dark shadow on their face.

"I'm not sure. Only thing we're sure of is that we walked inside of that tunnel."

The guy with gla.s.ses that I saw earlier spoke.

"What about the exit?"
"There's one door over there, but it won't open."

Seeing the place his finger was pointing, there was a door with a handle.
He knew they already attempted to open it, but felt like he needed to try for himself.
Screech!
As if it was caught on something, it didn't budge.

"You cannot pa.s.s until you pick a weapon."

Surprised by the hologram that was displayed on the green screen, he almost fell backward.
Pick a weapon?
What does it mean?
He scrunched up his face since he did get one nor did he have one.
Without much luck, I returned to the group.

"I think we're locked in here."

The rich guy took a step forward and started talking.
He didn't say much other than explain the current situation.

"Who would lock us in here?"
"We've been in here for two hours. Hurry up and find a way to get out."

The girls started getting nervous and expected the guys to resolve this situation.
Their att.i.tude of not wanting to help was making me frustrated.
Girls, even guys get scared when they're stuck in a room!!
It's been about 10 minutes since I've woken up and I already feel frustrated, causing me to get scared.

'I shouldn't act like this.'

Let's stay calm.
Just getting mad will affect my body.
It's obvious these guys just stared at me while I was pa.s.sed out.
Seeing how far they were, it was obvious.
They should've at least checked if I was alive.

's.h.i.t.'

Even if I wanted to stay calm, the way they acted was p.i.s.sing me off.
Okay.
If we were to get specific, it's only been 30 minutes since we've met.
Asking them to be a bit nice is probably expecting too much from them.

"Shouldn't we ask those people over there?"

Were there other people?
Why didn't they do that sooner?
Like she pointed out, in the corner of the room, there was a group of boys and girls.
Seeing their outfit, it looked like they were hiking.

'Wow.'

Their face looked like they had jobs related to the mafia.
On top of that, the girls looked like those bullies in high school that you see in dark alleyways.
Of course I didn't want to go near them.
Also, it seemed like that group didn't have any interest in ours.

"Those people were there ever since we woke up. They might know something we don't."

The rich guy expressed his thoughts.

"Why don't you go and ask?"

The group's eyes were on me again.
Their att.i.tude was another reason why I didn't like being in groups.
It's because they use the weakest looking member.
On top of that, the way they bossed me around made me uncomfortable.

"It might not matter, but don't expect me to tell you every detail I get from them."

As soon as I said it with a stern expression, the group made a surprised expression.
After treating the way they did, there's no reason for me to cooperate with them.
How about learning some give and take?
If they've given me a ride earlier, I might've changed my mind.

"Let's…just go together."

A girl with short, brown hair must've noticed that I was being serious.

"…Okay."

The rich guy's face started turning red when things weren't going his way.
Seeing how he's always surrounded by people that listened to him, it must've been embarra.s.sing to be ignored like this.
Even the girls looked like they trusted me more than the other two guys.
Creating a group, we headed towards the group that was in the corner.

"Excuse me. We already know each other so it might not matter, but you don't know, right?"
"That's right."

A guy with a military haircut approached us.
Within our group, he had strong muscles and a large body.
I'm sure he's the best for using his strength.

"My name is Choi Min Ki. The guy with the gla.s.ses is Goo Tae Myung. And the guy in the center is Han Ji Suk. Ji Suk is the son of the CEO of a famous company. I'm sure you know. Oh Sung Group."

Just hearing the name would make anyone gasp.
That's probably why he's so confident.
If he was born in such a rich family, why didn't he go overseas to study?

"He's really picky when it comes to girls. But American girls don't like it. They said they don't like the way he looks or something."

He was just a few meters behind us.
If he heard me saying this, I wonder what kind of expression he would have.
No, more than that, I wasn't sure why Choi Min Ki was saying this to me.
If he was his best friend, why would be talk behind his back?
Since he can't say it to his face, he probably talks a lot behind his back.

"The cute girl with short hair is Lee Seul Ki. The girl with long hair and a nice body is Oh Ha Na. They're both freshmen and the other guys are juniors."

"Oh..I see."

"You said you were Kang Jin Woo, right?"

"..Yeah."

"Since this is fate, let's try to get along."

If this can be considered fate, then I guess it is.
Geez.
We didn't talk for long, but my head was starting to hurt.
Seeing Choi Min Ki's expression ease up made the pain worse.
I wasn't planning on going up to Han Ji Suk and rat him out.
Even if I did, it wouldn't do anything.
I wouldn't gain anything either.
Within the group, Choi Min Ki had the best relationship with him anyways.
All he had to say was he didn't do it and I would be the one getting the hate.
I'm sure he's only talking like that because he knows nothing bad will happen to him.

"Who are you guys?"

Our group and the other group b.u.mped into each other.
The other group was just as nervous as we were.
As soon as the guy with a scar on his face scrunched his face, Han Ji Suk and Goo Tae Myung started getting nervous.

"Hey, you're just scaring the kids. We're both in a bad situation so let's not waste our energy. So, what's up?"

The most sensible person from the group approached us.
Honestly, Han Ji Suk, who had leader characteristics, should've continued the conversation…
It seemed like his mind was somewhere else seeing how he was just mumbling.

"Do you know anything about this place?"

In the end, I spoke in place of Han Ji Suk.

"Hm. We were hiking because we had business to take care of in the mountain. Then, we saw a tunnel and entered and now we're stuck here."

It was the same information we had.
However, it seemed like they were hiding something from us.
Their confident smile implied that they had a lot of information.
Any person that thought normally wouldn't smile like that for no reason.

"The more people you have, the better chance you have at escaping."

He started mumbling.
I knew he wasn't saying it without any thought.

"Tell us what you know. In return, we'll decide whether we'll work with you or not."

Translator: Jen
Proofreader: Pawelosek