Chapter 4: A Potential Ally
It was placed strangely as it was inside a room with no furniture and it was dug into the floor. The staircase was deep and they couldn't see all way down due to the darkness. Han Si-Woo narrowed his eyes on the floor. Despite the room being filthy, the random blood spots on the floor didn't go undetected. If he didn't keep an eye on his surroundings and paid attention to small details, he would have most likely missed them as they were roughly blended with the dirt.
"Be careful," he whispered, "there might be someone here, waiting to attack us once we go down."
The four of them gulped nervously. Park Hae's legs shook but she tried her best to remain calm, holding Chu Dong-Min's arm for support while he stood behind his older brother. As for Na Byeol, she gripped the pipe tightly and stayed on guard.
It was inevitable for them to use the stairs as it might be the only way to go down and move forward to find the exit. Han Si-Woo took out a few pens and threw them down the stairs, waiting for a suspicious sound to be heard. However, he didn't hear anything odd other than the pens falling on the staircase.
[07:56:43]
Time was running. Han Si-Woo clenched his teeth as he went first, seeing that there wasn't any movement. His vision was soon clouded by darkness as he slowly and carefully walked down step by step, and the others followed behind him. It would be easier if he turned on the flashlight on his phone but using it in a dark, unsafe place, he would attract troubles so he decided against it.
He didn't know if they were lucky but there wasn't a sign of anyone else when they reached the end. He was glad that those killers didn't camp on the stairs. The next moment, however, startled him as his eyes landed on the lifeless body laying flat on the floor covered in blood. Na Byeol covered her mouth and gasped in horror. The body was like the one she encountered at the beginning, he was also bald and had a scarred face. It couldn't be the same person, could it? Just from the sight, they knew that he had been killed by someone.
"His weapon is missing, the person who killed him took it for sure. He probably died from blood loss. In any case, it seems like we will find more of us here," Han Si-Woo analysed.
"No way… Someone actually took down one of them? Someone really killed them?" Chun Dong-Sun asked in disbelief.
Han Si-Woo reminded them, "It's not like they're invincible. Remember, this is the introduction scene. Besides, we are no longer in a position to act morally."
That was right; if [Door of the Abyss] was really a game, then it wouldn't be logical for the introduction scene to be impossible to complete. If they didn't kill the perpetrators, then who would? They would be the only ones who would end up dead if they didn't counterattack. It was hard to swallow reality. Not everyone had the willpower to end someone else's life, but the circumstance was forcing them.
Although they were dispirited, they stayed quiet and walked forward. It wasn't any different from the floor level they were on previously; mould, rust, and dust everywhere, even the lingering odour. Han Si-Woo frowned imperceptibly as he noticed that there were fewer rooms and each of them was far apart, creating the impression that the floor level was bigger. This wasn't good for them, as they had less place to hide and a higher chance to run into a perpetrator.
Na Byeol felt that they were safe for now and took the chance to ask Han Si-Woo, "Um, Si-Woo oppa, was it really alright to leave that person and not save him?"
Her mind had kept wandering back to the one who was chased by the man with a machete—she couldn't turn a blind eye on it and felt guilty for not trying to save him back then.
Han Si-Woo, though he felt regretful, knew they couldn't save him from the start. If they took him and dragged him to the room, it would be too late; the killer would have seen their action and they would be exposed. They didn't have a useful weapon to attack him either. He could only pray that he somehow survived.
"It's not okay but we had no choice. It was either him or all of us," Han Si-Woo said, clenching his fists out of frustration and powerlessness.
Chun Dong-Min, Chun Dong-Sun, and Park Hae didn't know what they were talking about but they understood it to some degree and it wasn't something they should interject so they tactfully kept their mouths shut.
It was at that time, they heard the sound of metal clashing. They exchanged looks before running towards the noise to check out.
Soon, two figures came within their sights. One was a heavily weighed man with a dagger and the other one was a smaller figure with an axe. Both were fighting non-stop in the middle of the hallway, the one with the axe seemed to have the upper hand. He didn't hesitate to launch blows at his opponent one after another.
"Th-This is?!" Na Byeol was flabbergasted.
Han Si-Woo widened his eyes—it was his first time to see someone fight to the death in real life. He watched the one with the axe successfully slice the perpetrator's arm, to which the perpetrator screamed in pain. He ignored his chopped arm and directly swung his dagger aggressively at his target, however, his attack was dodged each time.
The one with the axe evaded the dagger and reached out his hand to grab the arm. Spotting an opening, he took the opportunity to slide himself through the legs of his opponent. As soon as he saw the back of the other, he gripped the axe tightly and slashed it. The perpetrator wanted to dodge but his movements were too slow and blood immediately spurted out of his back. The one with the axe didn't stop until he had slashed a few more times.
When he saw that his opponent was no longer moving, he let out a deep breath before he noticed the extra people. He shifted his gaze between the five people and the corpse back and forth.
"Oh, sorry for the mess."
Na Byeol had covered her eyes when she witnessed the bloody fight, it was only when she heard the voice that she removed her hands. Seeing the horrendous, gruesome sight, her face paled and she took a step back. Park Hae and Chun Dong-Min were in shock but they were shielded by Chun Dong-Sun who stood in front of them trembling, trying to not show his fear.
Meanwhile, Han Si-Woo took the situation more calmly. He looked at the man warily, he looked to be around the same age as him. He was wearing black trousers with a white shirt tucked in, although they were covered in blood and dirt. He didn't seem particularly strong but he was able to take down a person much bigger than him, Han Si-Woo was amazed.
"I am Han Si-Woo. Who are you?" Han Si-Woo asked.
"Me?" the man asked as he rolled up his sleeves. Then, he said, "My name is Kang Jin-Ho. You guys are trying to go down?"
"H-How did you know?" Na Byeol was surprised and asked.
"What a coincidence, me too. But those killers are such a pain," he said and looked down at the corpse, "You can't even put down your guard for a second. Oh well, a pity they came across me…"
Hearing this, Chun Dong-Sun gaped and asked fearfully, "Y-Y-You—why can you be so calm? You just k-killed a person…"
Kang Jin-Ho shrugged at the question, he, himself, wondered about it too.
"Who knows. It's not like it's my first time. Before this, I ran into two more."
"What…?"
"More importantly… this isn't a time for a friendly chat, you know? I'm leaving. It's nice to see other people still being alive, though. Until next time, perhaps," Kang Jin-Ho waved his hand before turning around to walk forward.
Han Si-Woo who had been silently observing him called out, "Hold up!"
Kang Jin-Ho stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at him. "Yes?"
"How about you join us?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Xivo
Xivo Kang Jin-Ho... What's his background? (ര௰ര)
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