The massive room, once filled with the sound of others, now stood silent and almost suffocating. The empty beds stretched out in every direction, the cold and darkness settling heavily in the corners. Only three remained, and the quiet was unbearable.

Sae-byeok lay there, her breathing shallow, her body still and weak. She was barely conscious, her eyes fluttering open for only a moment before they closed again. Her voice, when it came, was barely a whisper, but there was an urgency to it.

“I want to go home now,” she murmured, her hand twitching slightly as if reaching for something just out of her grasp. She didn’t seem to care about the games anymore, the violence, or the stakes. It all felt distant now. All she wanted was an escape from the pain, from the suffocating weight of it all.

Her eyes flickered up towards you, trying to focus, but there was a strange emptiness behind them. Her lips parted again, as though she wanted to say something more, but the words never came, only a faint sigh escaping her. The exhaustion was so overwhelming.

“Please,” she whispered, barely audible in the stillness of the room.