By Zephyria 
Chrissy could only look up at him, his face still pale with shock. A dog collar? On him?
But the pain he had felt moments ago was far too certain a piece of evidence. He raised a trembling hand to check the area around his neck. His fingers shook so violently that they barely brushed the skin before slipping away. This time, he summoned the courage to grip his neck more firmly. He felt a foreign, smooth texture. He thought he could faintly smell natural leather.
This crazy bastard actually put a dog collar on a person…!
And it was equipped with an electric shock function to boot. Could anyone in their right mind think of putting something like this on someone? Why on earth was this here…?
“So you figured it out.”
Chrissy murmured without realizing it. He flinched for a moment, but the shock from before did not return. Confirming that the collar remained silent, he continued in a low, breathy whisper.
“You knew it would end up like this. Didn’t you? You planned this from the start, right?”
Otherwise, none of this would make sense. The chains binding his limbs, the electric dog collar, and the dark room where no light could enter. Could someone suddenly think of all this and prepare the items in time? Especially since Chrissy certainly hadn’t been unconscious for that long.
Nathaniel gazed steadily into those wavering eyes, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward. With a silent smile, he spoke slowly.
“There’s no way you would have challenged me without any preparation.”
Sitting with his legs crossed in a relaxed manner, Nathaniel looked at Chrissy and raised the hand that had been resting on the armrest to his mouth. As if trying to hide the smirk playing on his lips, he bent his second finger and pressed the knuckle against his lip as he spoke.
“Not caring about the means to win is a good attitude. You simply chose the wrong opponent.”
“Are you saying the reason I ended up like this is because I wasn’t as despicable as you?”
As Chrissy spat the words out through gritted teeth in a low voice, Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. From that small change, Chrissy noticed that he was smiling.
“Let’s just say your strategy was shallow.”
At the still-composed voice, Chrissy suppressed his anger and asked.
“So you’re saying you expected me to bring a gun?”
“Of course.”
“Ha.”
Chrissy let out a short, incredulous exclamation. How could he be so nonchalant, as if nothing had happened? Come to think of it, this man had been overflowing with composure even back then. Even if he had prepared this conclusion, everything would have been for naught if he had been shot.
“But how can you be so unfazed? …Did you not think that you might die? If I had actually pulled the trigger, you would be dead.”
“You couldn’t do it.”
To Chrissy’s skeptical question, Nathaniel responded immediately, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. When Chrissy paused at the unexpected reaction, he continued in the same monotonous tone.
“Killing another human being is not something that can be done easily. You are an extremely sensible human being with ordinary morals. Moreover, since you possess a slightly stronger sense of justice than the average person, you could never do it, even if the target was me.”
The fact that he wasn’t wrong made Chrissy feel even more frustrated. In reality, he had failed and ended up in this state. But still, there was one thing he couldn’t accept.
“I asked if you weren’t afraid.”
“Not at all.”
Once again, the answer came without hesitation. Nathaniel added, his voice tinged with a smile.
“I have never felt such an emotion, not even once.”
Chrissy suddenly remembered the trait he had forgotten. For the first time, the face of the man smiling before him looked empty. Chrissy asked again, half-doubting.
“I can’t be the first person to point a gun at your head. Are you saying you don’t feel a sense of crisis or any emotion at all?”
Nathaniel shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands as if it didn’t matter.
“I do wonder how they intend to handle the aftermath.”
“…Ha.”
Chrissy let out another sigh. For the first time, he felt as if he had hit a thick wall. A wall so staggeringly high that it seemed impossible to overcome.
But that wasn’t the end.
“Ah, there’s one thing I should tell you. You don’t have to worry about any problems arising from your absence at work.”
Just as Chrissy realized the fact he had forgotten, Nathaniel offered a solution.
“I submitted your resignation letter to Void. Void was disappointed, but when I told him you were transferring to my company, he gave up easily.”
“What…!”
At the thunderous news, Chrissy involuntarily raised his voice, only to collapse again. He needed some time to overcome the immense shock and pain that surged through his entire body. Gasping for air, saliva leaked from his wide-open mouth. Dizziness mixed with pain made it difficult to focus, causing him to blink repeatedly. In his blurred vision, Nathaniel’s figure appeared hazy.
“Now there’s nothing problematic about you being here, right?”
Of course, he wasn’t sincerely worried about Chrissy’s surroundings. Rather, the way he spoke, as if granting a favor by showing this much consideration, felt even more disgusting to Chrissy.
“Why… why are you going this far? Is it because I tricked you in the game?”
Despite keeping his voice as low as possible, his whole body trembled in fear of a potential electric shock. Even though he suppressed his voice, it wavered unstably, mixed with his breath. Watching Chrissy as if admiring a piece of art, Nathaniel said, “I wonder?”
“In the first place, there was no condition that you and I had to play the game one-on-one, was there? You didn’t break any rules during the game. What you broke was the promise to give the prize you agreed to.”
It was true that he had been sincere about doing anything as long as he knew Detective Simmons’ whereabouts. But adding conditions to the prize based on victory or defeat was a breach of the rules. Again, he was right, so there was nothing to protest. Although it was somewhat surprising that he brushed off the fact that Chrissy had used tricks in the match as if it were ‘nothing.’
“So, what now? Now that you’ve made me like this, what do you intend to do?”
That was all Chrissy could say for now. He had vaguely prepared himself from the moment he pulled out the gun. However, the fact that he hadn’t secured Detective Simmons’ safety was a major problem. At Chrissy’s gaze, which was a mixture of distrust and fear, Nathaniel spoke with a satisfied smile, as if he were finally getting to the main point.
“Now, a new game. If you satisfy me, I’ll release your restraints one by one.”
“Satisfy you? You?”
“Yes.”
To the question asked as if for confirmation, Nathaniel answered readily.
“You are the star of the show. I’ll be the only audience member, but if you entertain me, you’ll be given sufficient compensation, so it’s not a bad deal, is it?”
As he said this, the man wore the same faint smile he had shown throughout. For the first time, that face sent a chill down Chrissy’s spine, making his skin crawl, and Nathaniel added in a whisper.
“Unlike you, I keep my promises.”
Chrissy could no longer say a word.
2 |
The sound of a door opening softly was heard. Lying naked and alone on the bed, Chrissy slowly lifted his head to look toward the door. As expected, he saw Nathaniel Miller walking toward him.
“Did you sleep well?”
It was an uncharacteristically sweet line, but it didn’t suit the man at all. Moreover, did he think this was an appropriate greeting for someone who had barely fallen asleep out of exhaustion in such a state? He hadn’t even slept properly. He had drifted off, woken up in a panic, fallen asleep again, and woken up urgently several times, eventually passing out from exhaustion as if he had lost consciousness.
His state was likely all captured by the CCTV over there. He didn’t know if Nathaniel Miller had seen the footage, but the mere fact that he could see it kept Chrissy’s anxiety from subsiding.
Fortunately, the first day passed just like that. But no one knew what would happen in the future. Only this man knew. Only Nathaniel Miller, who held everything Chrissy possessed in his hands.
As he sat silently on the bed looking up at Nathaniel, the man suddenly took something out of his pants pocket. Even under the dim light, it was clearly visible. It was a simple-looking key. While still confused, Chrissy looked back up at his face, and Nathaniel spoke.
“You should be able to handle basic living.”
Following those words, he unlocked the chain wrapped around one of Chrissy’s wrists. Chrissy blinked his wide, surprised eyes. That wasn’t all. This time, one of his legs became free. While he just watched, stunned, Nathaniel grabbed the end of the chain connected to the bound wrist. After unlocking it from the bedpost, Chrissy soon realized what the man was doing.
Having connected both hands and both legs with chains like a slave, Nathaniel suggested quite kindly.
“Now, shall we go?”