457 - RETURN: How it should have ended.

#4 A game inside a game

The music didn't just play - it throbbed from the floor, loud and pulsing like the heartbeat of something dark and alive, like it intended to shake everyone in this room down to their bones. Everyone was dancing. In outfits that looked like they belonged to another world, a world far from ours, maybe one they'd wish to hide in; masks made of feathers, metal, synthetic skin. But none like the geometrical one that had been haunting me in my dreams.
I stood there, in the middle of it all, one silent spot inside the chaos surrounding me; a man completely different from all the others – and certainly with a different mission as well.

This time I had picked an outfit that was only black, dark as night from head to toe, including my hair and eyes, probably resembling to someone on the way to a funeral. Someone mourning a person he had held dear. And maybe, this was the case.

My gaze moved slowly through the crowd like a weary hunter as I stood there waiting. Not for a sound, the noise around me was already deafening - but for a movement. A spot of color. Pink.

Unlike all the others, I wasn't here for the music or the party. I was here to be seen. To be found.

To find someone myself.

Woo-seok had been instructed to wait outside the rear exit this time to not run directly into the guards' arms like last time - and as soon as he saw the limo, he should absolutely write down the license plate - and if possible, glue some tracking device against the extravagant vehicle. I wasn't sure if the limo had been shipped over to the island on the ferry, but it was worth a try. In my trouser pocket there was another tracking transmitter which I intended to shove between the backseats if given the opportunity. This time I came well-prepared.

And this time I wasn't afraid.

There had to be a reason I was sent back to the past; things like this couldn't just happen casually – it had to mean that something in the past hadn't been supposed to happen, that something wrong  had occurred, something insufficient. That the outcome of it all wasn't  the one some higher power had mapped out. That something had to be changed.
This time I had an advantage none of the others should have: I knew what was coming now. Every move. Every lie. Every betrayal. I couldn't be caught by surprise.

Suddenly someone stepped forward from the crowd; slowly, with steps too precise to be casual. It was a guard. The square-masked one. The man I had been waiting for.
He smoothly moved towards me without looking left or right, without any trace of hesitation. He wasn't here for the dancing or the party either; since I had entered the club, his only target was me.

For a moment, time seemed to stop around me as the air grew heavier and the incense was gone. I froze; my nostrils widened as I realized what it had been replaced with: The scent of the game. The scent of blood that waited to be spilled, decorating the room in red ever so prettily. The world had gone silent; the music, the laughter, the chaos vanished. I held my breath and clenched my fists as I counted down those last seconds before I had to welcome my fate again, to embrace what was coming my way one more time.

I knew I couldn't afford to back down and if I was honest, I didn't want to. Playing the hero hadn't worked, so what if I became someone entirely different? Someone the Frontman wouldn't see coming? I had one more chance, this last shot to go back to the island and meet 'Young-il' again. Maybe let him come close, think himself safe, pretending I was still the clueless fool – while in secret, I was already triggering between his eyes.

Ready to strike.

Destroying it from the inside, fighting it with its own weapons – that was the only justice left for a system this corrupt.

Then the soldier stopped in front of me. We were staring at each other for a second that felt way too long and it felt like I met a ghost straight from my past – then he turned and began walking towards the back exit.
I followed, watching him climb the stairs one by one, just like before. Only now, my heart pounded harder than ever. Not from fear. But from adrenaline. From excitement.

Not knowing had been frightening – but knowing... it gave me a feeling of superiority combined with an attitude that said I don't give a damn. Because I had seen it all before.

The alley outside the club was just the way I remembered: dim and deserted; the kind of alley parents wouldn't want their daughters to walk through alone. And at its end parked that same white limousine, waiting for me to sit in it for the third  time. And if I was successful, it'd hopefully be the last.

I stepped forward slowly but with determination, sliding into the car without resistance – and as the door closed behind me, I knew it was time to face my fate again.

Smooth and silently the limo began to move and I forced myself to lean back into the black seats. The leather was cold and oddly soft, way softer than I remembered. In red and white, dim colored lights glowed fromthe ceiling, only that this time they felt empty, like a pretty disguise for something darker underneath.

Seconds passed in silence and the low hum of the engine was all he could hear, as I was waiting for a sound. A voice.  When it came from a golden speaker, shaped like a piggy-bank, it was as raspy, calm and distorted as I had recalled. It was familiar. Too familiar. I knew it from dreams and nightmares; from memory and betrayal.

"Player 456... remember? We talked once in this car."

The lights danced across his face as I pressed my eyes closed only for a split second, letting out a slow breath. If Frontman wanted to play, so be it. Only this time, it would be by my  rules. A bitter smirk curled my lips and I tried my best to ignore the pulse thundering in my ears as I leaned forward a little.

"I remember. Clearly and explicitly."

Game on.

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Author's note: Guysss how do we like confident Gi-hun? Stay tuned how his masterplan will turn out - will he succeed catching Frontman by surprise? Will our Dora the explorer find the island this time?

Huge shoutout to the amazing @inhunloverx who came up with it all; I got inspired a lot from her writing in this chap.

On Friday I'll be going on vacation to Corsica - and there won't be any internet where I'm going, so I'm afraid there won't be new chapters until August 31st, because I can't upload. So sorry!  I'll keep writing tho, let's see how much I'll get done.

Lots of love for you guys xx