Black Badger

The arena's lights stabbed at my eyes.

A heavy roar pounded my ears. I narrowed my eyes as Asil and Ricardo dragged me along.

The pale corridor came to an end before I knew it.

We arrived at the players' waiting area, separated from the arena by iron bars.

A room with three or four ivory plastic benches. The front was barred with iron grates, and the back was sealed by a solid wall.

A couple of players sat there with hollow expressions.

The mafia pushed us inside.

Bang!

The door slammed shut with a deafening noise.

Barbie furrowed her brow and glanced back. But the two seniors supporting me paid no mind to the roughly closing door.

Without even looking behind them, the two seniors dragged me to the bench in the corner.

I was quickly seated on the long bench.

"Thank you."

I said, satisfied with my vision that was no longer swaying as much.

"I'm okay now."

Ricardo snorted.

Asil completely ignored my words. The silver-haired senior turned his body entirely and looked at Ricardo.

The senior, once a detective, asked calmly.

"It'll be individual matches, right?"

"Probably... that's how it's always been...."

[Everyone!]

The announcer's voice came from beyond the bars.

Heads in the waiting room turned. I squinted too, taking in the arena where bright light poured down.

I couldn't see the announcer.

But his booming voice hit my ears squarely.

[Today, we have a special guest!]

Ha....

It was already so clichéd.

I wished he'd get to the point quickly.

But no such luck.

The announcer, floating in the air, shouted in an excited voice.

[A match that won't come again! A legendary showdown you can only see here and now! The scene you've been craving deep in your hearts!]

Barbie, who had been glancing around the entrance, approached with a sullen expression.

She plopped down next to me, fiddling with her eyelashes. She crossed her legs and picked at the mascara smudged on her eyebrows with her long nails.

Asil stared at the arena with his arms crossed, and Ricardo rummaged for a cigarette.

We rolled our eyes as we waited for the announcer to finish.

The preamble dragged on. A torrent of flowery words poured out. Captivating, impossible to look away from, stimulating, thrilling....

[Black Badger!]

Waaaaah!

The arena shook.

As I listened to the pouring cheers, I suddenly spoke up.

"Do they give us weapons to pick up?"

"They won't give us any~."

Ricardo put an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"That would be more stimulating...."

"If the order isn't set, I'll go first."

Asil interjected into the conversation without taking his eyes off the arena.

I looked at the senior's ice-blue eyes, rippling with cold fury.

"If we have a choice."

[First, let's introduce the players!]

The announcer's shout drowned out Asil's voice.

My ears hurt. Barbie grumbled irritably beside me. I nodded in full agreement with the senior and craned my neck. There was a TV screen among the audience seats. It seemed something was on that massive screen. It was so ridiculously large that from the bench close to the bars, I might be able to see the content.

As I awkwardly stood from the bench, the seniors whipped their heads around to look at me.

Ah. I'm fine now, really.

"I'm just going to the front bench."

[Black Badger's first participant!]

It was too noisy to talk.

[Barbie Winter!]

The seniors froze.

I froze in place too.

Widening my eyes, I stared at the screen outside the bars. Since I was standing, I could see part of it. The screen in the center of the arena showed a familiar face.

Her bright yellow hair was elegantly tied up.

Barbie slowly rose to her feet.

"What the hell is that?"

Her voice trembled faintly.

"What are they doing?"

[Barbie Winter. Physical age 28. Actual age 54.]

Crazy bastards....

My stomach twisted. I knew we'd fallen into the hands of scum. I knew our lives were at risk. I even thought I might have to watch one of the seniors die.

But I hadn't anticipated this.

Even if I expected humiliation, not this kind.

The announcer's voice resonated through the arena.

[Yes, that's right! Public recruitment Black Badger, Barbie Winter. She's the daughter of Claudio Winter, who owns chains like Gokker, Walden Pie, Humble, and many other restaurants! Few people now know that she failed model auditions consistently until she turned 23, right after being born into wealth. That was 31 years ago!]

"What? What is it?"

"Close your ears.... Nothing good will come from listening."

"Senior, ignore it."

[But some of you might know this! The blonde rich girl who wanted to be a model but failed, yet luckily became a badger and maintained her taut skin. She used to strike poses for paparazzi shots during missions inside the Core!]

Laughter laced with mockery poured down.

[That she couldn't let go of her model dreams and would post glamorous photos on SNS after every mission!]

Photos of Barbie began flashing across the screen. Light selfies uploaded to SNS, paparazzi shots from missions, news photos.

Unknown when they were collected, the images scrolled by at a dizzying speed. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

I felt nauseous.

I whipped my head toward the senior and moved to block the screen.

"Don't listen, Senior."

"I'm not."

Barbie's face flushed red as she gritted her teeth.

Her eyes, filled with rage, glared fiercely at the arena. Her tightly clenched fists trembled.

She huffed and then shouted.

"I never once paid attention to cameras during missions! I didn't have the skills for that!"

"They're mocking you because you didn't do anything particularly wrong."

Ricardo replied in a stiff voice.

Clear hatred and contempt swirled in his deep green eyes.

"They had nothing else to feed the crowd.... Winter, close your ears."

[Ah, but some of you might find this next one even more intriguing. More famous than the rich daughter who struggled to become a model 31 years ago!]

If I got out of here, I wouldn't let Jae-yeon off easy.

I swallowed my surging anger and clenched my fist.

But the vulgar mockery didn't stop. Barbie's outburst of curses was buried under the announcer's smooth voice.

[Second participant. The police traitor, Asil Fisher!]

Waaaaah!

We pretended not to notice Asil's body flinch.

While hating the reality that we couldn't smack the announcer's face to shut him up.

The loathsome voice echoed through the arena.

[That's right. Our dear Asil Fisher. The Asil Fisher we all love! Look at this photo. See him standing dazed at the scene where the police chief was assassinated. This composition, this expression! I've said many times it's Pulitzer-worthy, right? Yes, that's him. The detective who failed to prevent the police chief's contract killing! The traitor who botched protection and then fled as a badger! He was the only one who survived unscathed! The police chief died, his buddy died, but he alone emerged without a scratch!]

My God.

So Jae-yeon was his buddy back then.

Amid the jeers and cheers pouring down, I stood as if struck on the head. The moment I saw Asil's face drain of color, I understood what he had gone through.

Jae-yeon....

No, Colton killed the police chief. Using Jae-yeon's hand.

And Asil must have witnessed the truth.

He should have died alongside the chief, but due to Jae-yeon's whim, he survived alone.

But no one would have believed him if he spoke the truth he witnessed. The people who trusted him would have met mysterious deaths or vanished. In the end, only critics calling him a pathetic excuse-maker or madman would remain.

So at some point, he left the police. Carrying the truth alone, with no one to believe him.

In a daze, I took in the senior standing before me.

Asil was furious.

Standing frozen like a plaster statue, his face was bloodless.

The other seniors showed no particular reaction. Ricardo frowned, observing Asil's state but not speaking, while Barbie covered her mouth, her face pale.

Only after a long while did I manage to move.

Looking into Asil's burning blue eyes, I scraped out a voice.

"I believe you."

Asil blinked.

To the puzzled man, I couldn't say with lip service that I'd find and arrest the culprit.

But I said the best I could.

"The truth you witnessed alone."

His eyes widened.

But the silver-haired senior couldn't respond to me. Nor did I have time to reply to his gaze full of bewilderment and surprise.

Because the jeers, cheers, and vulgar broadcast continued without pause.

[Third participant. Ricardo Sordi!]

Waaaaaaaah!

The cheers shook the arena more fervently than ever.

Asil and I turned our heads simultaneously. We looked at the senior staring at the arena with arms crossed. The most senior member of this mission. A war hero who survived the Second War.

He didn't move a muscle, gazing beyond the bars.

The empty arena was bathed in blinding white light. The massive screen in the center of the audience seats and the old photo reflected on it.

A photo clearly not taken inside the Center Core.

The green-eyed senior stared at the photo with a smile curving his lips.

His eyes weren't smiling at all.

[A war hero who participated in and survived the Second War. Ricardo Sordi. A celebrity, right? Even those who haven't heard of Asil Fisher or Barbie Winter must have heard of Ricardo Sordi.]

The announcer didn't shout like last time.

Yet the subtle glee underlying his voice made me uncomfortable.

[Black Badger's pride, boasting outstanding skills both inside and outside the Core! Many fans must have been won over by how deftly he handles guns and spears. His neat fashion sense and deep green eyes that fold into crescent moons are charm points too.]

Jeers and whistles poured down.

The announcer's repulsive voice overpowered the whistles.

A creepy voice.

[But few know he's the eldest son of a mafia boss based in Sicily.]

Ah.

Ska came to mind.

So this was what he meant. I hadn't expected to learn the details so thoroughly. My eyes were fixed on the arena. I didn't have the courage to look at Ricardo's face right away. Even the little I'd heard from Ska had been heavy.

His personal history, which I hadn't been permitted to hear, echoed through the arena.

[Giovanni Sordi was the legendary capo who revived a declining mafia.]

A photo of a man presumed to be Giovanni Sordi appeared.

[This man, ruthless to rivals without blood or tears, was also someone who loved his family more than anyone.]

The announcer began recounting the life of the man named Giovanni Sordi. Loan sharking, narcotics, sex industry, gambling. His numerous illegal activities. After they were lavishly listed, family anecdotes full of affection contrasted sharply.

During the explicit narration, Ricardo remained deathly silent.

He neither got angry nor showed any particular expression.

The green-eyed senior only made a sound after the announcer gleefully finished, "The legendary capo perished in the flames of war."

Ricardo chuckled softly.

"The background check is thorough...."

"Senior."

I couldn't hold back and called out to him.

The man raised one eyebrow expressionlessly.

From the moment he fell to Earth, the senior who had taken an interest in me—I was about to speak to him when the mic crackled.

[And the final player!]

Ah.

[The rumored rookie!]

I turned my head.

I saw the massive screen go black.

As if it had never been brightly lit moments ago, it was pitch dark.

[A mysterious man with not a single past photo to be found!]

The screen showed no sign of lighting up.

[No parents, no birthplace, no search history from before—nothing can be found!]

As if to convey that there was nothing to show there.

A second life built on deception.

The cheers grew louder. I kept my eyes on the screen that wouldn't turn on. Until the audience screamed at the blank display, and the announcer's booming voice drowned them out.

An impassioned shout,

[Hildebert Talev!]

In the blindingly bright arena, my name resounded.