chapter two

Eunjung was debating whether or not she was going in the wrong direction or there was even a right direction at all. There were pros and cons of both, of course—if she was going in the wrong direction, then at least there was a right one somewhere, except she had no idea where that might be. If there was no right direction, then there technically wasn’t anything to do wrong.

The one thing she could be grateful for was the fact that it had darkened enough for any person walking by to be a silhouette until they were extremely close. It was easier slipping around under the cover of darkness, at least, and with her breath held, Eunjung moved around the camp as silently as she could. Maybe the first course of action should’ve been to find another weapon that would’ve proved more useful than the army knife she had, but there was nothing in sight that would’ve been of any use and she didn’t exactly want to risk looking for a weapon if it meant getting caught.

Parts of the camp were relatively empty. She could see firelight flickering at another place, the chatter of voices going up in the same direction, but they were still relatively far away and the area she was at was nearly abandoned. The occasional guard or two milled about, but she managed to avoid all of them without creating any suspicion. By the time Eunjung was pretty sure she’d made a complete circle of the perimeter of the area she was in, there was still no way she could think of getting out.

There weren’t even gates at the walls, and they were already too tall, too smooth, and all in all, too dangerous. No one would be able to climb over unless they had some sort of power, but even that would’ve been difficult. They were at least four and a half meters, in height, lined with barbed wire everywhere. Eunjung absolutely had no idea how she would be able to get out unless she ventured into a part of the camp with more people, where there hopefully would be an exit. It would be fine as soon as she got out—the guild grounds were near a forest, after all—but getting out without being caught or shot was most likely going to be more difficult than scaling the wall.

Before she tried anything more dangerous, Eunjung also needed a weapon that would be of more use than her knife. It was better than nothing, but at that point, having some sort of bat would’ve been more helpful because she couldn’t take down anyone with a knife before they made any sort of protest. If she were really lucky, then maybe it would be possible to corner a lone soldier and take them down before they could retaliate, and take their weapon.

The group of women she had been with were long gone. Eunjung didn’t want to think what happened to them, but she couldn’t help herself, and none of the thoughts that formed were pleasant. It felt terribly unfair that she’d slipped out on her own, unharmed, while one of the two others who had tried had been subdued and the other one shot dead on the spot. It also felt wrong that she had just left it at that, but there was virtually nothing that could’ve been done either. She had only two options—stay silent or face death, and she didn’t want to do the latter this soon.

But there were more important things, anyway. She couldn’t fix the guild. She couldn’t change anything that had happened. Hell, she couldn’t even lay a finger on Kim Hajoon—not in this way, at least. Swallowing, Eunjung scanned her surroundings one more time. The only thing she could do that would’ve been of any help was get out, find a safe place to stay so she would be able to dream, and start tracking the Pandora’s box once more. It was the only thing she could do that would’ve been of remotely any help, even if that help came later.

She would have to track down a guard, Eunjung decided. Corner someone so she could take their gun—if she was lucky and they had one—search for the main exit, and make a break for it as soon as someone let their guard down. It was the rougher decision and probably extremely dangerous, but at that point, she was backed up and completely out of options. Getting caught up with Kim Hajoon’s guild had been a huge mistake, and in such a position, she had no choice but to go for something risky. It was all or nothing.

Swallowing the fear, Eunjung straightened and started plotting out her route. Nearing the group where the guards had gathered because the area she was in was basically empty was her first move, unless she caught one of the guards on patrol alone. There were people standing at the doors of what she guessed were the prisons, but everyone the guild had captured had been sent back after dark so there were no more people outside. If it were day and there were more of them, then she would’ve had someplace to hide, something to pretend she was. Right then, a singular girl sneaking about the camp with days-old clothing wasn’t going to convince anyone.

Eunjung was still trying to figure out what was to be done when footsteps sounded down the path. Her first instinct was to freeze, eyes darting towards the direction of the sound, and then she ducked behind the first thing she could: a heavy-duty pickup truck, flipping open her knife even though it probably wasn’t going to do much if she had to actually fight someone face to face. Her breathing seemed heavy and loud in the silence, obscuring the quiet, alerting the person of her position, but she ignored it and she listened for the footsteps from her hiding place. If she were to even try to attack someone, it would require impeccable timing and precision, which she wasn’t sure she had.

Not long after, she could see the very faint silhouette of a figure moving down the path. In the barely-visible light of the moon, Eunjung could see the uniform that soldiers all wore, but he didn’t seem to have a weapon in his hands. His steps were quick, uniform.

It was him or no one else. Eunjung couldn’t leave it to luck to find another soldier on their own who wasn’t actively holding their rifle or gun without having to near the part of the camp where all of the guild members were gathered.

The man wasn’t tall, from what she saw. His face wasn’t visible with his cap pulled so low, shadows casted across his face, hands at his side. Eunjung watched him from her hiding place for a couple of more seconds before she stepped forward slowly, keeping her steps light as he approached her hiding spot.

It was a matter of perfect timing and the element of surprise. There was no doubt that the man was stronger than her. He had a better weapon. And if she were really, really unlucky, it was possible that he had some sort of minor power, which would mean she was really doomed. But as risky as the bet was, she was already in a bad enough position, so being picky was a luxury she couldn’t afford.

Eunjung waited for a couple moments more. His figure was just passing the vehicle when she stopped inching forward and lunged for him with her knife aimed at his throat.

She definitely had the element of surprise on her side, because the man didn’t even have time to put up a fight. He stumbled back slightly, obviously stunned by her appearance, and after another couple seconds more of grappling, Eunjung had knocked him to the ground, knife still pressed against his throat. She had managed to pin one of his arms underneath him and twisted the other behind his back—not exactly preferable, but she didn’t have any other options. Five seconds later, she was sitting on his back, holding his left arm in what should’ve been an uncomfortable position behind his back, free hand with the knife pressed to his throat.

His chin was pressed to the ground, and she heard him groan lowly, still struggling to get up. She forced his head down onto the ground more, adrenaline pumping through her as she dug the knife into his throat. It was temporarily enough to keep out the fear, but it didn’t stop the realization that the possibility of her screwing up and getting herself seriously injured, killed, or forced to where the rest of the women from the village had been taken was extremely high. She dug her heel