The lump in my throat was back. We had to… kill people? A murmur went through the crowd. People were whispering. I could see some people turn pallid. I could hear others gasping for air. The dark-haired woman from before had sat down on the floor and hugged her legs. It was obvious to me, how they must feel in this situation. It was clear, that they were scared. Scared for their lives.

A piercing pain ran through the middle of my palm. I had clutched my hands too much. My jaw was tense as well. But for some reason, I could distance myself from the situation. I was calm and indifferent compared to the people around me. I mean, I was tense, nervous, agitated even. My blood was rushing through my ears, reducing my ability to hear. While I was paralyzed before, when I saw the cliff, now I was alert. Could this become …a good story? Or would this be the end of me? 

What would happen now? My palm, which still hurt, was tingling with excitement.

The tower started glowing. It was illuminated like an actor on a stage.

The thick stem was bending from left to right, from right to left, reminding me of a tree stem. It became thicker and thinner. The tower was about 20 meters high. Some bricks had fallen out and covered the surrounding floor.

It looked interesting. I had never seen anything like it. Still, on this flat plain, it looked so foreign. It didn’t fit with the clean-cut stones around.

Someone shouted: “Hey! Fate voice, or whatever! What is this here?!“ A man, a big man in a navy-colored suit was pointing at the sky, “What is this supposed to be here? Huh?”

“Is he nuts?” asked George Kruger unexpectedly. I looked up and saw how George Kruger had lifted one eyebrow. 

The suited man had his finger erected to the cumbersome tower and then moved only his index finger up and down. “I am here by accident, so let me go! At this instant!” His voice went up with the last sentence. He was scared too.

I scoffed at the man. Did he think, that his talk was intimidating for… the tower? Yeah, no. It surely wasn’t.

“I am a very important man, and I demand, that someone brings me back.” He placed his arms akimbo. Then he looked up to the top of the tower as if waiting for his direct transfer.

His posture reminded me of the cat from Tom and Jerry. Imposing, proud, arrogant and somehow still loses every time… “He looks like a cartoon villain,” I mumbled. 

“He is a politician,” George Kruger whispered to me, “Reinhard Schmidt is his name if I remember correctly. He was all over the news last week, because of some scandal with his doctorate degree. He probably has to resign soon. I mean, if we ever get back to reality.”

“Well, doesn’t seem like he cares,” I noted.

“Looks like it.”

“R-right, we are not here for your games!” Another man had stood up. It was the thin man with the phone.

The politician shouted again. “Hello?! You… voice!” Then he marched to the tower. “I will now go through that door!” He declared and strode through the gothic portal and pulled at the closed door.

{The heretics are struck. Utter the ruler’s name to share their and their companion’s fate} the voice declared, and the light in the sky really flared up again. 

Fast, I averted my head. “Close your eyes!” I hurriedly said to George Kruger as the rumble became louder and louder. With a deafening crash, the lightning fell, blinding everyone who was looking. 

When the sounds had subsided, we looked up. From the people hadn’t remained much. Reinhard Schmidt’s torso was half missing, and the rest of his body had become a rock of coal. The body was still smoking. In fact, you couldn’t tell that this had been a human before if there weren’t for the rubber soles of his shoes that were still glued to the tiled floor. The other men suffered the same fate, reduced to ashes. In a matter of seconds, this chess-tiled plain had become the grave of three men and a woman.

{The secrets are hidden.}

I felt dizzy, my legs were weak. No, I cannot fall down here. I don't know what will happen further. Do not show weakness! Yeah, exactly. Everything is fine. He was a bad man. Nothing to be sad about. And who is he to go against fate. Exactly. I am different. Right? Yes, I had courage. And I would not die here. ‘I do not want to die. So I will not die-’

“I do not know what is happening, but I trust you. I don't know why, but I am sure I’ll survive if I go with you. You are calm. So, will you make sure we make it out of here?”

My thoughts ran wild for a split second. But then it formed into one big idea. He trusts me. He doesn’t want to die. Fine. I do have two players now. Let’s play this game and win for once. “Okay, you can trust me. Let’s do this.”

After that, another man spoke up. I was surprised that anyone would have the courage to speak after that incident. Even more surprising, I knew him. It was Gwan Shinil, the chief of the product development department. He was the famous parachute of the company, a typical back-door-guy. His father was part of the board of directors. I only had spoken to him once, and I already developed a strong dislike for Gwan Shinil. The greasiness of his hair was displayed in his entire personality.

Right now, he didn’t look like a complete imbecile, though his eyes were shutting and opening very fast, while his hands quivered lightly as he rummaged his bag.

“What… What can we do? Do you want money? I have a card here.” I didn’t think he was capable of speaking up here. He had more bravado than I was giving him credit for. 

“I also have,” he counted the bills, “470 euros and a few additional cents. I also have 200 US dollars and 40,000 won!” He extended his hand with the bundle of different currencies towards the sky in an offering manner, still heavily shaking. “Take it. It’s for you.” He forced a watery smile.

{All wealth is useless, except the true one! Be gone.}

Gwan Shinil was flinching at the answer. A strong gust of wind grabbed the bundle of money and wrested it from his hand. The many individual banknotes flew in the air, far away from Gwan Shinil’s reach. He took a step back and fell on his back.

{They decide who lives and dies. Get the ruler’s love. There are 700 seconds left. Humans choose wisely.}

It was quiet for a brief second, then, “Ahhhh-ghk!” a woman’s scream sounded, and broke immediately. A bulky man in a tank top kicked her skull. With a “crack” it burst open, sprinkling the floor with crimson-red blood and flesh-colored shreds.

“Do you really want to be grilled by that thing?” He shouted, gesturing to the sky and tower. “I will start the first group! We need 22 more people,” he declared. Next to him stood a tall woman with a blonde ponytail. “You won’t die here if you join us!” She added.

Instantly, people flogged towards them.

Whack! “We don’t take baggage!” The bulky man shouted. The old woman, who had stood next to me at the bus station, lay on the floor.

What did these people expect? This guy was building a team for what would come, maybe. Nobody would do charity work in this situation. Including me. 

While I didn’t see the need for me to mass murder, I should make sure to stay alive in this turmoil.

“We will be a team as well,” I informed George Kruger, who still hadn’t moved. He still stood passively next to me, then moved his head in an agreeable motion. “Search for tall people.” Normal people had more respect for tall people. We didn’t need someone to actually fight, just someone who wouldn’t be attacked by the average person. To keep away the basic predators. 

“Will you kill people as well?” He asked with a breathy voice while he turned to meet my eyes. 

I averted my gaze and looked at the tower, which now was hidden behind dense patches of mist. “Not for now. Let’s make sure we survive first.” We have to make ourselves a tough target to keep predators away. Survival comes first.

George Kruger nodded and started observing our surroundings. I looked around, too, but couldn’t find what I was searching for. The adrenaline level was high, too. I couldn’t concentrate on my surroundings. But at least my thoughts were clear.

“This man is relatively tall,” George Kruger said, his chin hinting at a man a hundred meters away. 

I grimaced. Not him… It was Gwan Shinil. But George Kruger was right. Gwan Shinil was tall. He was above average height and his proud demeanor made him look even a bit intimidating. Not now that he sat on the floor, though.

I looked at the black-haired man again, to gauge the pros and cons of bonding together with this useless department chief. He looked up and spotted me. He seemed to recognize me too because he got up and started walking in our direction.

I facepalmed internally. The decision was made. 

“Hello, Yu Anya-ssi,” he greeted me in Korean. I forced a smile. I was surprised that he remembered my name.

“Hello, Department Head Gwan Shinil,” I answered in German, pointing at George Kruger next to me. 

“Oh, sorry. Not everyone can speak Korean, right?” He commented sarcastically.

What a coincidence in Germany, I thought, brushing it off. “We search for tall people,” I said instead, focusing back on the real issue. One other person would suffice, just to be sure.

The people around had clustered in the meantime. Small groups of wary eyes looked around. The atmosphere was tense, to say the least.

“There is another.” George Kruger had found another tall man. I had spotted him before too, while two women were standing next to him, one of them clinging to his arm.

“We can try, but I don’t think he will leave the women behind. We don’t take the women, no matter what.” They were pretty and looked weak. A pretty woman in this situation was a magnet for stronger flies.

“Why would you decide that?” 

“Why would you?” I asked him back.

“I… I’m your superior!” Right, I had forgotten about that.

George Kruger interrupted us, “That person…?” He pointed at a very tall man. He had short dark, but graying hair and a white shirt. The man turned around, and you could see his face half covered by sunglasses and a dense, messy beard.

“That’s the one,” I said, lightly pulling George Kruger after me. He followed swiftly. Gwan Shinil also walked behind after a second of consideration. “Let's hope he is not an asshole.”

Behind the foreign man, I stopped. I breathed in to calm down and then introduced myself.

“Hello, I am Yu Anya, what is your name?”

The hulk didn’t react. Did he not hear me? Was I too quiet? Only after I tapped his arm lightly, he looked at us. I hoped that at least, since his eyes were still covered by sunglasses.

“Ah, you are talking to me? I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you just now… Do you know me?” He was visibly confused.

George Kruger was looking at me expectantly. I guess I had to do the talking after all.

“You look dependable. I hope you will join our…” Gwan Shinil had caught up. I sighed. “… little group.“ 

The bearded man thought for a short moment, then he nodded. “Sure. My name is Arno Holmann.”

“Yu Anya. This man is George Kruger. And this is Mr. Gwan. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” We shook hands. 

This was good. Now it was time to talk about my plan. First, the competitors:

The group of the tank top man had grown tremendously. Two people were wrestling on the other side. The clean-cut stone floor was covered with bloody strains. A mother covered the eyes of her child, while another woman a little farther away was beating hers up. Other people were engaging in group fights with their fists. A man in his fifties was defending himself with a small Swiss pocketknife. 

Further away, people were sitting on the ground, covering their ears or eyes. A lot were running around. Some chased, some because of irrational panic. Someone had set fire to the coaled people from before and was burning the new corpses.

I felt a gag reflex moving up. Shallow, small breaths barely stopped it. The bloody stench was so strong that it took my ability to breathe. I could see a chased man trip, fall and getting stabbed. The group of women following him kicked his body, especially his face, till it was unrecognizable. One of them was profoundly crying while trampling this human life. Another woman hugged her tight and said a few words, calming her.

A lot of people were crying. Tears, sweat, blood. I… “We should move,” I said. Taking a step. But my leg yielded to the weight of my own body. I stumbled and then fell to my knees. This situation… It was too much for me as well. “I-”, I started. 

George Kruger offered me a hand, smiling. I took a few shallow breaths. I could feel something like a tight band around my chest. Squeezing tight. 

I took George Kruger’s hand, which pulled me up immediately. Wobbly, I came to a stand. “Thank you.”

The young couple from before stood at the edge, holding hands and pale from fear. 

“At least, I will see you in heaven,” the man mumbled, hugging his girlfriend. Then they jumped down. 

“... You are crying?” I… was? I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks. He was right. “Yes, I am,” I said, smiling apologetically. “It’s a bit much for me too, you know?” The imaginary band around my chest was tight. I could only breathe shallowly. I guess I was scared. As if I was strong. Haha, what a weird idea I had. Detached from the situation, my ass. I was just over-analyzing, reducing my immediate feelings. Now, the fear got me. Furthermore, now that I was crying, it felt relieving. 

George Kruger was looking at me, worried. 

“Don’t worry. It will go away shortly,” I assured.

I realized that I was still holding George Kruger’s hand. As I pulled away, he also snapped his hand back far away. Now that my feet had found a footing, I was steady. Yeah, maybe that was better. I felt a lot better.

“Let’s go to the tower,” I said to my small group.