**The Darkness of Debt**

Lee Myung-gi is the stem of many people’s debts. Ever since he’s gotten to the games, Jun-hee’s been letting him know that consistently. But she doesn’t go to the extreme lengths that Nam-gyu and Thanos do. No—they do more than just tell him. The six-legged pentathlon had just ended that same day. The dorm lights were shut off, and the ominous glow of the Piggy Bank loomed overhead—blood money flashing inside. Lee Myung-gi stood in the bathroom, stepping away from the urinal and heading over towards the sink. His eyes caught his reflection in the mirror, the X patch adjacent from his Player ID was the first thing to catch his attention. Did he want to leave? In reality, no he didn’t. But with Jun-hee here, pregnant, he has no say in the matter. It’s only right that he gets her out of dodge—or at least try to. The vote didn’t exactly go their way earlier. The faucet water ran hot as Myung-gi washed his hands. His mind drifted between several things. The next game that he’s technically being forced to play, Jun-hee’s current status, and if there’s really a way out of this place. Probably not, but he’ll try. And as long as Jun-hee’s alive, that’s enough reason. The faucet water cut off, steam from the heat rising into the air before vanishing. The YouTuber wiped his hands across the sides of his tracksuit pants, drying off his palms as he approached the bathroom door. However, right before he could make it out, the door opened. And coming inside was Choi Su-bong, and Nam-gyu. ‘Dammit.’ Thought Myung-gi. He knew where this was going. The beating he received just yesterday was already bad enough—he doesn’t have time for this shit anymore! “Well, well…” Nam-gyu was the first to open his mouth, his expression unreadable. He just stared at Myung-gi. “…MG Coin. What a fucking surprise.” Myung-gi stopped in his tracks, backpedaling just a bit. It’s the dead of night, 001 isn’t there to save his ass again. And the guards? As if they even care. “What’re you doing up so late, MG Coin?” Grumbled Thanos, tilting his head in a crazed manner, eyes damn near bulging out of his head. “Huh? Thinking about how you scammed me out of all my damn money?!” This again. It’s always about this with Thanos. Money, money, money. Scam, scam, scam. It’s all he ever talks about, it’s pathetic. Myung-gi closed his hand, balling a fist. “How many times do I have to tell you? The price of the coin increased, but nobody sold at the right time.” It was the usual defense. The same one he used before. The same one that Thanos disregarded with those strung out eyes. “Besides, your purchase is your decision. I said that.” Myung-gi continued, eyeing the door to the bathroom every so often. Thanos took a step forward, Nam-gyu beside him. “Does that fix anything, MG Coin? Hm? No. I’m still in debt because of you—I was gonna kill myself because of you.” Thanos growled, low, enraged. Myung-gi could tell where this was heading. Nobody can help him now. His eyes did widen at Thanos’ suicide confession, though. He’s a drugged out prick that’s only worried about money, of course he’d be suicidal. “And I’m sorry to hear that…” Myung-gi’s tone softened, only a little. “…but I gave a fair warning in all of my videos so that I wouldn’t be held accountable for—!” A sickening thud crashed into his ribs. He yelped, his body defensively curling. “You don’t want to be held accountable?” Nam-gyu asked, pulling his fist back, delivering another strike to Myung-gi across the cheek, sending the opposition to the floor. Myung-gi’s head rang and his vision became a blur. That hurt, bad. He groaned, pushing himself away with his hands, but he felt a strong hand pull him by the collar. It was Thanos. “You don’t get to leave this game.” Thanos said, his hand pulling at the X patch across Myung-gi’s chest, spit flying from his mouth. “Not until the prize money is enough to pay me back. I want what I’m owed—and extra. Every last piece you make? It’s mine.” Myung-gi shook his head, shoving Thanos away from him from his seated position on the floor. “I need the money too!” Bad idea. Thanos stumbled. It didn’t take long for him to correct himself. Nam-gyu immediately defended his newfound buddy with a heavy kick straight to Myung-gi’s chest, knocking the wind out of him. Myung-gi couldn’t even yell. It came out as a weak whimper—a cough. Thanos, infuriated, got on top of Myung-gi, throwing heavy blows directly at his face. The smaller man didn’t even have time to put a guard up, or think to defend himself. The punches landed, each one. And all of them did a fair amount of damage. Blood spilled from Myung-gi’s nose, a gash was now formed on his forehead, his cheek swelled up. “S-Stop—!” He managed to cough out as Thanos continued punching, moving to the side of Myung-gi’s body, requested to do so by Nam-gyu, so he could stomp on Myung-gi’s chest. He felt as if he was about to die. They were gonna beat him to death. And nobody was going to stop it. Thanos threw one last punch, connecting with Myung-gi’s cheek. Myung-gi tried to call out for help, but it left his throat as a croak. He wished it ended there—that it would just be a beating to remember, but it wasn’t. No. It was going to get far worse. “Until you’ve got enough money to pay me and Nam-su—” “It’s Nam-gyu.” “—Nam-gyu back. You aren’t going anywhere. You’re my slave.” Thanos admired his work, a smile on his face. “And I can do whatever I want with you.” Beating another man down is something that Thanos isn’t a stranger of. He’s been in his fair share of fights at the club, drug deals, and even with his friends. And it always ends with the other man’s blood being spilled, just like Myung-gi’s blood as it leaks onto the floor. “Go hold the door shut.” Thanos pointed towards the bathroom door. Nam-gyu rose a brow, “Why?” “Just do it.” Thanos demanded. Nam-gyu did what he was told. He leaned back onto the door, using his weight to stop anyone from coming in by just pushing it. It’d take a guard to get past him. Thanos’ eyes returned to Myung-gi, who’s come to, trying to force his bruised body to sit up. Thanos kicked him back down. “If there’s one thing I know about you, MG Coin, it’s that you’ve got a smart mouth.” Thanos said, kneeling down at Myung-gi’s waist. “All you do is talk about how it’s our faults that you lost us our money.” “You walk around all high and mighty like some untouchable deity.” Myung-gi couldn’t even hear what Thanos was saying. His head was pounding. “I can fix that, though.” Thanos reached for Myung-gi’s waistband. That snapped the life back into Myung-gi. Adrenaline pulsed through his veins. “What the fuck are you doing?!” He kicked Thanos away, backpedaling, his breathing fastening. Thanos smirked. Even Nam-gyu wore an amused grin. “I’m getting what I’m owed. Like I said, you’re my slave. And I can use you however I want to.” Thanos stepped forward as Myung-gi made it to his feet. The pain was unbearable, but he couldn’t just sit there. He had to do something, anything at all. But his efforts were in vain. He threw a wild punch at Thanos, he easily dodged it, not breaking a sweat trying. Thats when he struck. He quickly pushed Myung-gi back into a wall, his hand pulling down his jacket zipper. “Get off me—!” “Shut up. You deserve this.” “Get your fucking hands off me!” Thanos pulled Myung-gi’s shirt over his head, revealing his bare skin underneath. With that out of the way, Thanos went for his pants next. Myung-gi tried to turn in ways that would make it impossible to get his pants off, but with a quick punch to the gut, he lurched forward, feeling the need to vomit. That gave Thanos more than enough time to pull Myung-gi’s pants down to his ankles. “Fuck, man.” Thanos drank in the sight. “Keep moving and I’ll make it hurt worse.” “I’m gonna get a turn, right?” Inquired Nam-gyu from the post at his door. Thanos nodded, “Yeah, yeah, Nam-su, you’ll get a turn.” Myung-gi tried pushing Thanos away to no avail. Thanos forced himself forward. He forced himself in. Young-il was doing the night watch for his “team” at the moment. Gihun insisted that they always have one member awake to alert the others in case of danger. Young-il had taken over so Gihun would sleep, and he was getting bored. Every player in here was asleep except him, if you could even call him a player considering the fact that he’s the organizer of these games, although the others don’t know that. As if on cue, as a gift to cure his boredom, one of his guards walks into the room making a swift line towards Young-il. Young-il had instructed the guards to not make his presence in the games known, so whatever this guard needed must’ve been important to potentially blow their cover if anybody woke up. “Sir we need your assistance in the bathroom,” the guard whispered in a distorted voice. The bathroom, that was a strange place for the guards to need assistance. “What’s wrong,” Young-il asked with a raised brow. “One of the players is unconscious in the bathroom, he’s still alive but he has serious injury’s,” the guard whispered. Why would he need to see an unconscious player couldn’t they just do their job and move him to his bed, but maybe there was a reason. Young-il nodded, stood up and followed his employee to the bathroom. The guard stopped beside the bathroom door, and Young-il entered the bathroom to find that there was only one occupant inside, player 333. Player 333 was a motionless bloody lump on the floor. He was fully nude, and his body was covered in bruised, blood, and semen. It was a disgusting sight. Young-il could tell that this young player got raped, even an idiot would be able to tell you that. Young-il had only recognized the man without his number id because he had saved him from getting beaten earlier that same day, so it was clear to Young-il who had attacked him, player 230 and 124. Young-il sighed and walked to Myung-gi’s side, then he crouched down to inspect some of the bruising on his chest. Myunggi soon woke up, and his new found awakness was presented to the other with a physical full body flinch. Young-il now seeing that Myunggi had awaken was going to more away and potentially give the man privacy but those plans quickly fell through. Myunggi instantly recognized player 001 as his former savior before this incident, and he moved one of his shakey hands and set it on the others leg. “P-please don’t leave me alone, I-I-I don’t want it to h-ha-happen again,” Myunggi sobbed out, his voice was as broken as his body was, he was pathetic and he knew it, but he didn’t care after the abuse he suffered. Young-il looked down at the boy, and felt an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time the need to protect, the need to worship, and the need to cradle this weak patheticlly charming man.