Chapter 5: Escape Plan, Seriously?

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P stood in the center of the doorway, bathed in the blinding white exit light. The cold breeze caught his hair as he closed his eyes, entirely losing himself in the cinematic perfection of the moment.

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SLAM!

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"Are you crazy?!" Hanabi hissed through gritted teeth.

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She slammed the door shut, her hands pressing flat against the metal as she whirled around to glare at him.

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Her expression was a mix of pure shock and are-you-utterly-insane? Her sudden intervention instantly blocked out the light, darkening the room and completely ruining the mood.

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P blinked, turning to look down at her with a dazed, unbothered face. His expression clearly asked: Why did you just do that?

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"Are you seriously just going to stroll out like that?" Hanabi demanded, crossing her arms.

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"Do you even have a plan?!"

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"Ohhhhh..." P's eyes widened a fraction in sudden realization. He crossed his arms over his chest. "A plan. I totally forgot about that."

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Hanabi slapped her right hand over her face, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh. "How can you forget the most crucial thing at a time like this?!"

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As Hanabi continued to lecture him, P just stared at her blankly. His mind began to wander elsewhere.

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Huh, he thought in his subconscious, wasn't she the terrified girl shaking in a chair just moments ago? Suddenly she's bolder, lighter, and lecturing me. She kind of reminds me of someone I know.

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"Are you even listening to me?" Hanabi asked, stepping closer until her face was inches from his.

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P didn't flinch. He reacted with absolute calmness, pretending he had been hanging onto her every word. "Of course. And since you reminded me about a plan, I actually just came up with one," he said, his face turning serious.

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Hanabi fell quiet, looking at him with reluctant curiosity.

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"Have you noticed the environment has become calmer than usual?" P asked, glancing around.

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Hanabi paused, listening closely. "Yes... it seems so," she whispered, gazing up at him before quickly looking down, slightly

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intimidated by the intensity of his stare.

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"The building suddenly went dead silent, and I can't hear any guards patrolling," P explained, resting his right hand thoughtfully under his chin.

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"If I'm correct, they are either all gathered in one place for a massive meeting, or they're taking a synchronized break. I can feel faint vibrations traveling through the ground. It feels split, but it's gathering toward a single point."

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Hanabi stared at him, her mind racing. How does he know all this stuff? Is he even sure about what he's saying? Who the hell is this guy?

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"So, here's the escape plan," P announced.

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Hanabi looked up, a sudden flicker of hope igniting in her chest.

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"We fight our way out of here with everything we've got," P said with total confidence.

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The room fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

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"Seriously?!" Hanabi lunged forward, grabbing his crossed arms with her right hand and yanking him forcefully, completely forgetting she was still holding a sharp dagger in her left hand. "Is that the brilliant plan you came up with?!"

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"Yes. There's literally no other option," P replied smoothly. "Even if we came up with a highly professional, stealthy plan, we would still end up fighting our way out in the end. If there was another way, I would have suggested it. We only have a fighting chance. But do not fret—just because that's the plan doesn't mean I intend to jump recklessly into battle."

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Says the guy who was about to walk out the front door like it was a brand new day, Hanabi muttered to herself.

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"We need to arm ourselves first," P said, turning around.

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He walked over to the two unconscious guards slumped against the wall. Grabbing the guard on the right, P began unbuckling his tactical vest. As he pulled it off, his eyes caught the gleam of a grenade attached to the front. He snatched it, then searched the second guard on the left. There wasn't another vest, but his fingers brushed against a firearm tucked into the small of the guard's back.

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"Damn it... well, this will be more useful anyway," P muttered. He slid the handgun into his waistband, letting his shirt fall over it to conceal it.

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Walking back over to Hanabi, he held out the heavy tactical vest. "Here, put this on in case you get shot. It has armor plates inside."

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Hanabi looked at the vest draped over P's left arm, her eyes drifting slightly to the round metal object gripped in his right hand. She carefully slipped the vest on, tightly clutching her dagger, and glanced up at him.

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"What about you? What are you going to wear?" she asked, a genuine note of worry slipping into her voice.

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"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," P said. He noticed how badly she was trembling. "When we step out, always stay behind me and stay alert. Here, take this."

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He held out the grenade. Hanabi cautiously took the heavy, metallic sphere, inspecting it with a puzzled expression. "What is this... round thing?"

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"Listen. If you start getting too scared, or if things escalate and some guy pisses you off, just remove this ring," P instructed, pointing directly at the pin at the top.

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He began shaking his head and waving his hands emphatically, like an intense instructor trying to drive a point home. "Then, you throw the whole thing at your desired destination. Do you understand?"

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"O-Okay... I've got this," Hanabi said, nodding firmly. Desperate to prove she was ready, she immediately hooked her finger into the ring and began to pull.

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"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

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P yelled in sudden, uncharacteristic panic. He lunged forward like a madman, instantly grabbing both of her hands in a vice grip before she could dislodge the pin.

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"What?!" Hanabi asked, completely dumbfounded. "I was just going to test it! Why are you stopping me?!"

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"Are you seriously trying to blow us up before we even get a chance to fight for our lives?!" P gasped, his heart hammering.

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"Blow us up? What does that mean?"

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"What?!" P stared at her, utterly shocked. "You don't know what this is? It's a grenade! When I say 'blow us up,' I mean this entire hallway will explode into a ball of fire, and both of us will die instantly!"

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Hanabi froze, a violent shudder running down her spine. Fire.

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The word instantly dragged her back to the horrific phone call—the mental image of her beloved spa burning to the ground. A wave of pure terror washed over her face, and P instantly noticed the shift in her energy.

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"Hanabi, listen to me," P said, his voice dropping into a cold, grounding calm. "I don't know what you've been going through lately, and honestly, it's none of my concern. I just want to get out of here, which I am perfectly capable of doing. But if you want to survive and walk out of this place alive, you better get your head in the game."

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He looked directly into her eyes. "Always keep your eyes on the path ahead, never on your past. It will only hold you back and make you act like a wimp. I'm giving you two options right now, and you need to decide: either stay caged here in despair and die..." he stretched out his hand toward her, "...or give everything you've got to escape, even if it means you die trying.

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Which one do you choose?"

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Hanabi stood frozen, his cold words echoing in her mind as her subconscious took over.

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All my life, ever since I was a child, I've been cursed with bad luck. Countless setbacks, getting thrown into worse situations mentally and physically day by day. I've never experienced anything good, and even when I did, it never lasted. Life just kept playing me like a toy.

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But I never gave up. I pushed through school, I pushed through college. It was a horrible life, but I still graduated. I never failed. Even when people laughed at me, I always fought to make things right.

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Her grip tightened on her dagger.

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The only people who ever supported me were my family and my friends. I can't let them down. I'm not going to give up. I want to see them again. I want to be at their side and be happy. Apart from them, no one in this life ever cared about me because I'm cursed. And just today, everything I worked so hard for was destroyed. My life is just filled with darkness and chaos... nothing ever feels bright.

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She looked up, locking eyes with the man standing before her.

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Then why is this man... why are his eyes so bright? Like a blinding light... Could he be... A small, involuntary smile tugged at her cheek before she fiercely shook her head. No... no way. But either way, I need to survive. I hate my past, and I am not going to let it hold me back ever again.

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With a bold, bright expression, she reached out and firmly grabbed P's hand. "My future is in my hands," she said aloud, her voice ringing with newfound confidence.

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A slow, subtle smirk broke through P's cold demeanor. "So. Are you ready?"

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"Yes," Hanabi said, her eyes flashing with determination. "Besides, I'm sick of this place anyway. Let's get out of here. Even if it means dying."

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"Pff... Ppfft." P let out a sudden, involuntary snort of laughter, completely ruining the heavy emotional weight of her speech. He let go of her hands and turned toward the door.

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Hanabi's face flushed with annoyance.

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"Whatever!"

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"You've made your choice. Let's not waste any more time," P said.

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He gripped the handle and threw the door wide open. Once again, the brilliant, blinding light flooded the room, accompanied by a sweeping cold breeze.

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Together, they took a few confident steps out into the light, completely in sync, ready to face the world.

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But the cinematic mood vanished instantly.

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The bright light faded, revealing a lone guard standing mere inches from the exit. He was frozen mid-stride, holding an AK-47 in both hands. His eyes were wide—so wide they looked like they were about to pop right out of his skull—and heavily bloodshot.

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His head trembled slightly in sheer, unadulterated shock, staring at them as if he had just come face-to-face with a pair of vengeful demons.

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P and Hanabi paused, completely still, just one step outside the exit.

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Nobody moved.

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Nobody shook.

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The guard didn't raise his gun, and P didn't draw his weapon. The three of them just stood there in the echoing, dead silence, staring each other down. 248Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfG5UzafaxB

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