When I woke up, I was hanging in a room filled with iron bars.
Pain shot through my wrists.
A man sat just beyond the bars, a cigarette between his fingers. His face was covered in scars, and he gave a mocking laugh as I stirred.”
“Oh? You’re awake? Heard you’re quite the runner.”N
I didn’t respond. My eyes drifted past him–to the row of cages behind him.“]
In my last life, I’d been locked in one of those very cages. I was paraded onstage like merchandise, auctioned off for wealthy perverts to choose from.N
But now, I wasn’t in the cages–and neither were the other eighteen girls.
The scarred man didn’t seem bothered by my silence. He sneered, tongue rolling against his cheek, and asked, “Jasper said you drugged him. I’m curious–where’d you get the drugs?”
Jasper–the bus driver.
As for drugging him? That was nonsense.
I never had anything to drug him with. And even if I did, how would I know which bottle he’d pick from the box?
But in truth, it had been a simple trick.
When I got on the bus, I overheard him chatting with my father. He mentioned he’d had oil–drizzled noodles for breakfast.” So I gave him iced water.
Any long–distance driver who scarfed down oily noodles and then drank cold water right after? Of course he’d end up with stomach issues.”
Their digestive systems aren’t exactly made of steel.“]
So buying the pen wasn’t the real purpose. From the very beginning, my goal was to offer him iced water. The only variation was whether I gave it to him alone–or handed it out to everyone on the bus.”
But even that simple reasoning was far beyond their comprehension.”
The scar–faced man must’ve thought my slight smirk was aimed at him. His expression darkened instantly.”
He shoved open the iron door with a loud clang, gripping a whip in his hand, and stormed into the room.”
He pressed the tip of the whip against my chin, his voice sharp and hostile.”
“I’m talking to you! You deaf or just stupid?”
I was too weak from hunger to respond properly, but I didn’t want to get beaten either. So I forced my lips to move.
“Why would I drug Mr. Jasper?“}
“Why?” He scoffed. “Obviously to make it easier to escape!“}
“Did I escape?“}
That shut him up.”
The scar–faced man froze for a second. Technically, he was right–but only because of the accident. If it hadn’t happened, I never would’ve gotten away mid–transport.“]
What he didn’t know was I had already lived through this once.
I knew when the rocks would fall.”
I knew there would be a car crash on Maple Road.”
In my past life, that accident had occurred after we reached the so–called exam site. I remembered the official report clearly–it had happened at exactly 8:40 a.m.
So this time, I made sure to delay the journey.}]
I gave the driver iced water after he mentioned eating oily noodles that morning. I counted on it upsetting his stomach, buying me
time.”
If it hadn’t worked, I had a backup plan. But fortunately, everything fell perfectly into place.
“Alright,” he muttered finally, cornered by my logic.
But he wasn’t done. “How much do you know about us? How did you find out?“N
I shut my mouth and gave him nothing.”
I already knew they had arrested my parents.”
They’d tortured them–physically and psychologically–but still got nothing. Not a single word.N
I wanted to laugh. But the whip in his hand reminded me to stay still.”
“Playing dumb again?” he snapped. “Fine. You won’t understand how terrifying I can be until you suffer a bit.“”
L.–LL
He raised the whip–and just as he was about to strike, a hunchbacked man burst in, panting.”
“Lucas! Anthony just sent a warning–there’s a popular live streamer who infiltrated our dark network! We’ve been exposed. He says we have to evacuate now!”
The scar–faced man’s face turned ashen. He threw the whip aside and barked orders.
“Take him down! Move everyone! Clear the area! Now!“N
But it was already too late.
With a thunderous crash, the outer iron door was kicked open. A dozen rifles were instantly trained on them.”
The hunchbacked man dropped to the floor, arms over his head.
I was saved.”
When I stepped outside, I saw my parents again.”
They were lying on stretchers. My mother’s mouth was soaked in blood. My father’s arm was bent at an unnatural angle. The moment she saw me, my mother’s eyes widened. She let out a guttural, voiceless scream: “Ah! Ah! Ah!“}
Her mouth was open–her tongue had been cut out.
My father glared at me with pure hatred, trying to rise from the stretcher. But a medic quickly pressed him back down.” “Don’t move. Your arm just stopped bleeding.“”
All they could do was glare at me with burning resentment as they were loaded into the ambulance.
And me? I felt a surge of relief so intense, it nearly buckled my knees.”
In my past life, I had been blind to everything–caught in their web of lies. I’d studied hard, scored first place in the entire city on the college entrance exam.
And then, they sold me.”
They took me to an auction house. My test results were printed and hung on an iron cage.”
My parents stood proudly in front of it, presenting me like a prized animal.
“This child’s always been bright,” my mother said. “She only needs to look at a problem three times to figure it out. Her IQ is very high. Bosses, you won’t regret buying her!”
I glared at them with every ounce of hatred in my body.”
But my mother slammed her hand against the cage and snapped at me.”
“What are you looking at? I gave you a choice. You’re the one who insisted on listening to your father and taking the exam. So don’t blame me.”
But what kind of “choice” was that?N
