Death Cast

01.43 | Grecia Bella Theatre

Despite his injury, Noel forced a kick toward Herman's gut to show his dissatisfaction. All the hard work they have done becomes useless. He kicked the battered person once more, causing Herman to vomit out blood. But Noel didn't care. If only Herman is not already wounded, he would have wanted to take a round of beating. 

Jaerim only glanced at Noel and then back to the keys. The body of the key has been cut off, and what's left is the handle on the key's top. It can no longer be used since the teeth that make up the combination of the mechanism of the lock are gone. They could only throw it away. 

"What should we do now?" Noel returned to Jaerim's side, his hands in his pockets. He was limping lightly with traces of blood soaking a portion of his pants. Thankfully, it was just a shallow stab and he didn't have to use a wheelchair or need someone's support. He clicked his tongue at his misfortune. 

"Of all places, he has to stab my thighs!" He complained.

"Well, that's the only place he could wound you."

"What?"

Jaerim looked at the wound on Noel's leg. "He could only fatally wound the leg, since that's how this world was set."

All of them have leg injuries. Jaerim pointed to his neck, "If he had beheaded me earlier, this world would immediately exile him."

Noel thought that it made sense. "Is that why you're not scared?

"What do you mean, I'm not scared?" Jaerim trembled. "He can only be thrown out after beheading me. As for my state, it won't recover."

Which means if he dies, he's dead. The rules can only be implemented once a violation has been committed. That's why Jaerim did not want to be careless. He didn't know if Herman was aware of this rule since it wasn't written or said. He only deduced it based on the given circumstances. 

He won't probably threaten me using my head if he knew, he thought. 

Jaerim glanced at Barron, who had been ordering Silvester to clean up Herman. The grim reaper must have known about the premise since he didn't show any panic. He thought that Barron was only worried that a good subject would be gone and it would be a waste to lose him. There's no affection between them at all. 

Well, they are only bound by a contract. It's normal to act indifferent. 

Barron noticed someone's eyes looking at him. Turning around, he found the group of Death Casts planning on what to do next. His eyes skimmed through the individuals and landed on a certain someone who had a plaster hiding the mark on his face. Barron smiled knowingly, feeling good after the unexpected incident. 

"He's not really stupid," he muttered under his breath. 

"Sir?" Silvester thought that Barron was talking to him, so he looked up. 

He had been crouched down to tie Herman using a special rope. Under this rope, any person or soul won't be able to move, talk, or sleep unless they are told so. They will be sending this one to the respective officers in the underworld. 

"Let's fix this thing. We will be waiting on the other side."

The grim reapers then disappeared on the spot. The Death Casts didn't bother with the supernatural event and focused on the issue at hand. There is no longer a key to unlock the doors. It seems that Herman still has some good brain for cutting it out. 

"It has become more complicated," Ken said, as he brushed his hair back in annoyance. He paced around without hiding his irritation. "Do you think they have a spare key?"

"That's possible," Noel nodded. Everyone seemed to be revitalized by his words, which Noel immediately took back. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough time to look for the spare keys. And if we did find it, there was only one person who could have it."

"Who?" Carl asked. 

"It's Bella," Ken grumbled. "She should have the spare keys."

It's good to know the potential holder, but that holder is also out of reach. They have to open the door and get the spare key. Yup, impossible. It's like a locked room murder case where the victim died in an impossibly inaccessible room. 

"Anyways, let's go back to the jester. Let's see if he is alright."

The group traced their path back to the control room. On their way, they could hear the sounds of people banging something, as if they were forcing a strong wall to break. Ken had already organized the people beforehand as he took the responsibility of ending the test. It seems that everyone is working hard.

"Look at the audience," Carl suddenly chided. 

"What-"

The sudden retort made everyone look at the stadium. The audience is still present, their posture straight and rigid while facing the burning stage. The brightness coming from the fire illuminated the dark stadium that seemed to flicker as it consumed the stage. There is nothing different from their state except that the sacks covering their heads are no longer there.

Without anything hindering their heads, the group finally sees the faces of these people. Ah, those faces don't look like faces at all. The place where they should see a set of eyes, nose, and mouth had been so morbidly distorted that the only word they could describe is ugly.

Most of the faces are burnt black and blue. Nobody could tell which was the eye or the nose since the skin had melted from the fire. Without the sack, they look scarier. Jaerim swallowed, trying to stop himself from making a sound. There's nothing more frightful than seeing dead people in this way. 

"You guys stop looking," Ken slapped Carl's head to raise the notion. "This guy is really unbelievable. You don't have to show it to us."

Carl smiled apologetically as they hurried over. Noel looked around while wiping the sweat from his brows. He noticed that the temperature was increasing, which made him feel the stab in his leg more painful. He looked at the stage and found the fire was still contained in one place. What's with the increase in temperature? 

They arrived in the operating room. The white walls remained bleak as if the shadows that had appeared before were just their imagination. In front of the door, there is the jester, standing straight while looking intently at the door. They have an inkling of what he was thinking. It's probably how to open the door with force. 

The jester only turned his head around when they were already close by. There is a frown on his colorful face, creating a funny picture. Jaerim took a step forward to confront the clown. 

"We won't be able to open the door," he admitted honestly. 

Elias jeered at Jaerim. "What do you mean?"

Jaerim handed the broken keys to Elias. The jester accepted it instantly. The blue eyes stared at the broken keys while his grip on the key ring tightened. Does it mean he won’t be able to save Bella again? 

The paint on his face hindered most of his expressions, but Jaerim was able to detect his mood. He reached out to the taller person and patted his shoulders. Elias tilted his head to look at the hand on his shoulder and then at the person owning that arm. Jaerim possessed an average face, someone you would forget after seeing him once. Yet, that face has a natural smiling expression that makes people want to be drawn to him. 

His strange disposition really makes people attracted to him. 

“We can open it,” Jaerim said.

“What?” Elias immediately reacted. 

“Fire.”

“...?”

“The only thing that could break things here is fire. So, we just have to burn it.”

Since everything here could only follow its fate of getting burned, then they just have to follow it to easily defeat the game. There must be a reason why they could not destroy the doors despite using many attacks. There must be a reason why they found the keys broken. 

Everything has a reason. They just have to understand it. 

“Burn it with fire. Then save her.”

This time, he must be able to save her.

While they were talking, the people in the back noticed some weird whoo-ing sounds. Ken looked around to search for the source of the sound and walked until the end of the corridor. As he raised his head around, he found the people who were originally sitting on the chair stand. They had been walking toward the fire on the stage. He even caught one of the corpses jumping into the fire that seemed to fuel it.

“What are they doing?” He muttered. 

The corpse caught fire, but it didn’t immediately become ash. Instead, as if in berserk, the corpse started running out of the stage, spreading the fire to the other corpses. Ken had a bad premonition, so he immediately returned to the group. He told them what he saw and deduced that the corpses wanted to kill them.

They have suffered the pain of getting trapped inside a burning theatre. The foreign people should suffer too. 

However, despite the bad news, Jaerim only smiled. He looked at Ken with an approving glance and gave the jester a knowing look. 

“This is the chance you have been waiting for.”

The fire killed you both. Don’t you think using it as a way to save both of you is a slap to fate? 

“Don’t succumb to death. Who are they to dictate our lives to us?”

Jaerim hated how his fate had been locked in by that maple mark. There are many people in this world that deserve to die. Why does it have to be him?

“Free yourself.”

Elias smiled. 

He fished out a piece of cloth from his pocket and wiped the paint off of his face. Jaerim and Noel had seen his real face so they were no longer surprised after seeing a good-looking man emerge from behind the mask. However, those who haven’t seen it gasped in admiration. Who thought that the hot-tempered jester owned such a powerful beauty?

The jester, no, Elias, took a step forward and kissed Jaerim’s cheeks. This time, everyone reacted differently. 

Elias chuckled after seeing Jaerim’s shocked expression. He patted the cheeks that he kissed, in place of the Maple Leaf mark. 

“This is my gift. I hope you will use it well in the future.”

He then left without explaining anything.