Kei grinned wide. "It's nice to have you on board. Come, I'll introduce you two."
The teenagers gathered in a loose half-circle when Kei brought them over. None of them spoke, but Fèi Míng felt their hard stares settle on him and Helena.
Kei lifted their joined hands like he was presenting prizes.
"Jaa~ These two will be with us," he said. His voice stayed soft.
One of the boys, Aeries, shifted his weight. He wore an oversized grey hoodie. His arms crossed as he spat on the floor. "Tch. Kei. I told you to get the cute girl. Not him. He looks weak as hell."
Another girl nudged him sharply with her elbow. She had long black twisted braids, her skin tone darker than the rest.
"Shut it. Kei said they're staying."
Fèi Míng didn't rise to the bait. Helena did. Her eyes narrowed as if she was selecting which throat to squeeze first, sucking in her teeth. "I swear, when I get out of here I'm kicking his ass."
Kei clapped lightly, signalling the end of objections.
"Haha. Now, now. Don't fight. Everyone, we move in now. The adults already picked the left passage. We'll take the middle lane."
He led the way toward the mouth of the labyrinth.
The air inside changed immediately. The cold putrid atmosphere was thick enough that Fèi Míng could feel it stick to the back of his throat.
Once they were a few steps in, Kei finally began outlining his plan.
"Now, here's our survival plan! We're tracking the adults," he said. "This is a labyrinth, and we all are sure it would be laced with traps. However, the adults will activate traps first. Monsters will go after them, not us. And we'll get to keep the provided food."
A boy with square shoulders and short hair raised his hand weakly.
"W-wait—how do we even keep track? This place is huge."
Kei pointed at the stone wall.
"We mark every turn. Scratches at knee height. Three scratches means we've cleared the area. One means unexplored. Two means dangerous."
The girl with braids frowned.
"We don't have tools."
Kei smiled. "We have nails. Or you can pick up a stone… if you find one."
The kids checked each other's hands. No one complained aloud.
"As for food," Kei continued, "we pool everything. I choose who eats and when. So we ration."
"You choose?" Helena asked, her voice strangely sharp.
"Yes," Kei answered without blinking. "A leader needs to."
Another boy—the scruffy one with a peeling pink sticker bandage on his cheek—cleared his throat.
"…We sh-should at least divide evenly. It's three days." He held his growling tummy, his voice got lower. "And I haven't eaten in 4 days before I joined this game."
Kei hummed, however, he ignored the boy, walking forward.
Fèi Míng stayed quiet, watching the group's reactions. It never sat with him right on how Kei separated them from the grown adults. Yes, some adults can't be trusted, however they were more experienced and stronger than them.
Some glanced at each other nervously.
Helena muttered under her breath. "Leader my ass."
The corridor widened a few paces later, giving them a moment of space.
Kei stopped walking and turned to face them fully.
"Listen carefully. Adults won't share with us. They'll use us as bait. They always do. So we track them. Watch them, and take what they drop. Avoid what they trigger. We survive by staying behind them, not beside them. That way, we can stay away from the traps."
The sticker-face boy inhaled sharply. "That's stupid."
Half the group stiffened.
Kei tilted his head. "Pardon?"
"That plan," the boy said, forcing the words out. "If we follow adults, we're always late. They'll get the food first. They'll get the safe rooms. The weaker ones here will starve first. And if we rely on adults to clear traps, they'll turn around and wipe us out halfway. It's… it's wrong."
He rubbed his palms together, nervous.
"We should be building our own path, not shadowing theirs like we're nothing."
The corridor went dead quiet.
Kei stepped closer to the boy, he was taller and more intimidating. The boy cowered, looking anywhere but Kei's motionless face.
"You think my plan is wrong?" he asked.
The boy nodded. His breath shook, but he held his ground.
"How old are you?"
"16." The boy replied.
"Then explain a better plan."
The boy exhaled shakily. "W-we split into smaller pairs. We scout at different angles. We move ahead of the adults in some areas, not behind them. We combine our food, but everyone still eats. No exceptions. And we—"
Kei kicked his leg out from under him.
Bam! The crack echoed through the corridor.
The boy dropped instantly, palms slamming the stone floor. His breath hitched in terror before he could scream.
Kei stepped forward and slammed his heel into the boy's ribs.
His back arched once, screaming from the intense pain of his ribs cracking. He spat out blood as he pushing himself upward.
Kei kicked him sideways.
The other teens froze where they stood.
Kei's voice lowered into a whisper, but enough for everyone to hear his murmurs clearly.
"Pairs allow betrayal. Splits lower awareness. Eating equally wastes resources on players who can't contribute. Why should you eat when you don't even have the fucking skill to fight?"
He pressed down harder.
The boy's body jerked, screaming from his ribs getting crushed.
"You misunderstand leadership," Kei said. "I don't pick food distribution because it feels nice. I do it because some of you fuckers will only drag others down."
Helena flinched backward. She gritted her teeth, lunging forward to save the kid, but Fèi Míng grabbed her back and pulled him to his side. "Don't interfere." He whispered to her ear.
"The fuck—why?!" she whispered back.
"Do you want to take his place instead?" Besides… Fei Míng flickered his eyes around the small team. It felt like they were used to this much violence.
Helena bit down in her lips. Then she looked away.
Kei lifted his foot again, stomping on the young boy's back.
The boy's breath rattled. Blood slid from the corner of his lips. His hands trembled, fingers bent at wrong angles from trying to repeatedly push himself up.
Kei leaned over him, weight still crushing his chest.
"You challenge a plan without strength to back it," he whispered.
He kicked the boy to the side as he stood as if nothing happened, smiling back at the group.
The boy's body fell still. But he wasn't dead. Fèi Míng noticed the small draggy breaths he had sucked in. However, the pain to move his body stopped him from standing back on his feet.
Kei wiped his shoe on the ground like he was cleaning off spit from the floor.
Then he turned to the group with the same soft smile he'd worn since the beginning.
"Jaa~ Don't be scared. Does anyone else find faults with my plans?"
The teenagers stared in shock, cowering over one another as they slowly shook their heads.
"That's good!" Kei smiled. "Let's move forward."
Yet again, Fèi Míng's intuition was right. This motherfucker was a psychopath.
Haa. His breathing grew lighter, almost pleasant. Heat crawled up the back of his neck. Something loosened in his chest.
His lips twitched, then curled upward on their own.
His head felt clearer and lighter than it had in days.
A slow thin grin stretched across his face, as a thought settled comfortably in his mind.
This would be really fun to watch. His glinting eyes watched Kei. I like him already.
I wonder how this one would die, too.