Escape from the Pit

Chapter 9: Escape from the Pit

Kim Han sat in the darkness, his back against the cold stone wall. His body was nothing but skin, bone, and rage.

The pit had taken everything—his strength, his hope, his humanity.

But it couldn't take his hatred.

Daichi Sato.

That name burned in his mind like an open wound. He had seen Daichi standing above the pit, watching him rot.

Mocking him.

He wasn't just a prisoner. He was a toy. A piece in Daichi's sick game.

Han clenched his fists.

He would not die here.

---

The pit was an endless graveyard. The weak were hunted, the strong became monsters, and the dead were forgotten.

Han had lost count of how many had perished.

He had seen men rip flesh from corpses, drinking blood like water. He had seen eyes lose their light, bodies too weak to move.

He had felt his own sanity slipping.

But then, he saw the ladder.

It wasn't much—a rusted, broken thing leading halfway up the pit before snapping off. But it was hope.

A way out.

Han had to act fast.

Because if anyone saw him trying to escape, they would tear him apart.

---

The Plan.

The ladder was too high.

The only way to reach it… was to climb the bodies.

Han felt his stomach churn as he stared at the pile of the dead.

This was what he had become. A scavenger. A beast.

But beasts survived.

And Han was going to survive.

He climbed.

His fingers dug into rotting flesh. His feet sank into stomachs, snapped ribs.

Flies buzzed around him. The stench made him gag.

But he didn't stop.

He couldn't stop.

Then—a hand grabbed his ankle.

Han looked down.

One of the prisoners, a starving man with hollow eyes, was clinging to him.

"Please…" the man whispered. "Take me with you…"

Han's jaw clenched. The ladder was close.

But if he helped this man, they would both fall.

Han's mind screamed.

Don't do it. Don't become one of them.

But his body…

Already knew the answer.

His foot came down hard—smashing against the man's fingers.

The prisoner screamed as he fell, his body crashing against the bones below.

Han didn't look back.

He grabbed the ladder.

Pulled himself up.

The rusted metal dug into his palms, blood mixing with the filth on his hands.

But he kept climbing.

Up.

Up.

UP.

Then—he reached the edge.

Han pulled himself over, collapsing onto solid ground.

For the first time in months, he felt the night air on his skin.

He was out.

Free.

But the moment he turned his head, he saw Daichi's men standing nearby.

Waiting.

One of them smirked. "Told you he'd make it."

Daichi stepped forward, his white coat glowing under the moonlight. His red eyes gleamed with amusement.

"You survived," Daichi said. "Good."

Han's breath was heavy. His hands trembled.

He wanted to rip Daichi apart.

But he was too weak.

Too broken.

Daichi leaned down, his voice a whisper.

"But now… the real training begins."

Han realized something then.

The pit had been a test.

And he had just passed.

---