The air was thick and humid, permeated by the pungent smell of mold slowly creeping up the bare concrete walls. Two lightbulbs hung from the ceiling by twisted wires, casting a yellowish, flickering glow that barely lit the scene. In the center of the basement, eight men sat tied to metal chairs, their wrists cuffed behind the backrests, ankles tightly chained, and thick cloth gags pressed against their faces, muffling any attempt to scream.
One by one, they began to regain consciousness, moving their heads clumsily, confused, dazed. The last thing they remembered was finishing their dinner, each one at their respective post inside the mansion. Then… nothing. A sudden void.
The first thing they saw when they opened their eyes was a dim light hanging from the ceiling. And just beneath it, the silhouetted figure of a man who, just days ago, had been their next target.
"Well, looks like you're finally waking up," Osamu said calmly, holding an empty vial in his hand. "The pills were stronger than I thought."
Tatsuya tried to speak, but only a muffled sound came out, barely a whisper behind the gag.
"Don't bother," Osamu said, approaching with a relaxed stride. "Trying to talk, to scream… none of that will work down here. This basement was built to be completely soundproof. Not even a whisper escapes these walls. So save your energy. You'll need it."
His eyes, once so neutral, now held a cold expression, like someone observing something repugnant. He walked slowly in front of the men, observing them one by one with a mixture of pity and disgust.
"I suppose you're wondering what's going on, aren't you? How you got here, why you don't remember anything…"
He paused, letting the silence sink deeper.
"The answer is simple. I knew what you were planning. From the very beginning. Your behavior changes, the furtive glances, the way you started watching my movements... It was pathetic. And since I don't like leaving things to chance, I decided to act before you did. I drugged your food. That's it. Nothing complicated. A simple plan, but effective."
Tatsuya's eyes widened in disbelief. How the hell had he noticed? He was sure they had done everything right, that they had been careful.
Osamu noticed, and smiled with disdain.
"Did you really think I wouldn't notice? The lecherous looks at the girls, the fake 'injuries' just to get close to Shizuka-san… It was so obvious, it was almost embarrassing. I thought at least you'd know how to act, but not even that."
He walked over to a table where some ominous-looking tools rested. He didn't touch them. Not yet.
"And now here you are. Completely helpless."
He paused. Then turned to face them, his gaze hard as steel.
"I can't let you go. Not after knowing what you were planning. The only problem is deciding how to finish you."
Silence took over once again. Only the steady hum of one of the lightbulbs could be heard, like a silent warning hanging in the air.
Osamu turned around and began to slowly climb the stairs.
"Rest while you can. Next time I come down… it'll be to make a decision."
The door slammed shut with a dry, final sound.
And in the basement of silence, only shadows remained, along with fear… and the certainty that the game was over for them.
…
As he stepped out of the basement, Osamu exhaled sharply. His legs trembled slightly, though his face didn't show it. The calm he had projected seconds ago was just that: a projection. A carefully constructed mask. Inside, his heart pounded hard, a war drum he didn't know how to silence.
He leaned his back against the hallway wall, closed his eyes, and let the silence wash over him.
"What the hell am I doing…?" he murmured to himself.
Just days ago, he had been just another student. Lazy, even rebellious. He skipped classes, avoided responsibility. The kind of person who went unnoticed. And now what? Turned into a soulless machine, an executioner?
No. He couldn't accept it so easily.
His gaze rose toward the staircase. Down there were the men who were supposed to kill him. Men who faked smiles, who flirted with the girls in the house as if they were property, who watched his every move waiting for the right moment to eliminate him without a trace.
He had heard them. Not once, but several times. Conversations whispered when they thought he was asleep, hushed murmurs they believed harmless. Until one of them made the mistake of saying too much.
He understood everything in an instant. They weren't simple guests. They were predators.
And he, their prey.
Throwing them out wasn't an option. If they survived the apocalypse, what would stop them from coming back for revenge? Osamu knew he wouldn't stand a chance if they decided to hunt him down. He wasn't a soldier. He wasn't Agent 47 or some damn movie hero. Just a regular guy who'd had the bad luck of discovering the plan in time.
So he had two options.
The first: leave them down there, chained, without food or water. Eventually, hunger and dehydration would do the job. A slow, cruel, silent death. The basement was soundproof. Not a scream would escape those walls.
The second… cleaner. Quicker. In the infirmary, he had found several doses of succinylcholine, a muscle relaxant used in certain medical procedures. One injection was enough to paralyze the entire body. Including the respiratory muscles. They would die without moving, without screaming, without even knowing if they were asleep or awake.
Osamu looked down at his hands. They were trembling.
"I'm not a killer…" he whispered.
But he had to protect them. Rias. The other girls who trusted him, who had given him a place amid the chaos. He couldn't risk those men escaping, not now, not ever.
Maybe… maybe he didn't have a choice.
He took a deep breath. Once, twice, three times. Then stood up and walked to the infirmary. Each step heavier than the last.
He picked up the syringes. Loaded three. Then five. And finally eight.
He placed them on a metal tray. His distorted reflection on the surface stared back at him—shadowed eyes, a tense jaw.
"You're not this," he told himself, though he wasn't sure anymore.
When he stepped out into the hallway again, the tray trembled slightly in his hands.
"But maybe… I have to be."
And with that, Osamu made his way back to the basement.Where darkness awaited him, along with impossible choices…and the end of what had once been his old life.