They grabbed my arms.
"Let me go!!" I shouted, struggling.
But they didn't listen.
The gates opened.
Darkness.
Cold.
Endless.
And then—
they threw me in.
The doors slammed shut behind me.
No light.
No sound.
No escape.
I ran to the wall and punched it.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Nothing.
I punched harder.
Again.
Again.
Only cracks.
Tiny.
Useless.
Days passed.
I think three.
Maybe more.
No food.
No water.
Just hunger.
Pain.
Silence.
I sat there…
broken.
Then—
something moved.
I felt it before I saw it.
A presence.
Heavy.
Wrong.
A monster stepped out of the darkness.
My body froze.
Only a monster can kill a monster…
That thought echoed in my head.
It charged.
I didn't think.
I swung.
One punch.
Silence.
The monster dropped.
Dead.
I stood there… shaking.
"What…?"
Something changed.
Inside me.
Hope.
If I could kill it…
I could survive.
And so—
I started again.
Training.
Like Yamato taught me.
Punch.
Move.
Feel.
Day by day—
I got stronger.
I hunted.
Fought.
Survived.
The walls inside the maze—
they weren't as strong.
I started breaking them.
One by one.
Months turned to years.
Years turned to—
twelve.
Twelve years of fighting.
Bleeding.
Eating monster flesh just to stay alive.
And in the end—
nothing was left.
No monsters.
No walls inside.
Just me.
Standing in an empty maze.
Breathing.
Alive.
Stronger than anything I used to be.
I looked at the final wall.
The outer wall.
Untouched.
Unbreakable.
My fist clenched.
"For twelve years…" I whispered.
"…I survived hell."
I took a step forward.
"Now…"
"I'm getting out."