WILL: A Wonderful World Part #37

Part 37: Breaking Free

_{content warning: mistreatment of mental patients, child abuse, mention of sexual assault, self-harm, police brutality/torture, mention of spousal abuse, extreme violence

(Look, you probably already clued in to check the content warning when you saw who the next letter was from last update, but just in case you forgot, seriously, check the content warning again. )}

Buckle up, this update's gonna be a long one.

[BGM: Getting Serious]

Breaking Free

My name is Park Sang-Gun. I'm 14 years old.
I lived in a mental hospital.
The vice president of the hospital was Dr. Lee Yun-Seok. He was also my supervising doctor.
Ever since I had been sent there at 12 years old he had been abusing me.

I used to cry out loud in my room and hide.
But they would scream at me to shut up.

I tried keeping a diary to relieve my stress.
But I realized the nurses would read it behind my back.

When I was feeling extremely desperate, I would pick up the pen and stab myself with it.
I forced myself not to cry, no matter how painful it was.
It was an exercise.

After a while I gradually became numb to the pain.
That way it would be less painful when I had to go to that room again.

Most of the nurses in this hospital were women, but I did come to know one male nurse.
His name was Lee Yong-Cheol. The other nurses said that he was the nephew of Lee Yun-Seok, and that was the only reason he got the job.

Every Tuesday night he would take me to Lee Yun-Seok's office.
He would then just wait outside

until it was over.

He would then bring me back to my room.

One day he noticed my scars.
He could tell that those were not caused by his uncle.
After he found out that I had been hurting myself he decided to confiscate my pen.

Coward.
He knew what his uncle had been doing to me.
I also knew that he had read my diaries, too.
He was too afraid to stop his uncle, but he would take away my pen.

I closed the door.
I threw myself at his feet, held onto his legs and began crying at the top of my lungs.
As expected, he panicked, and touched my head with his hands, trying to console me.
Since that moment, he had become an “ally” of mine.

As an “ally”, Lee Yong-Cheol would sometimes use his limited power to get me some small privileges.
For instance, I could walk in the garden a little longer than the others.
If I could hold on a little longer, maybe I could even find a chance to escape from here.

Just when the tiniest ray of hope was beginning to show, I heard a piece of horrible news.
My Mom had died.

I overheard it from the nurses.
None of them would even tell me the news to my face.
But they would gossip about me behind my back, commenting on “what a poor child” I was.

I didn't want their pathetic sympathy.
I just wanted... Mom.

For the last two years no one had ever visited me.
Why had Mom never come to visit me?

I knew why.
It must have something to do with Dad.
He sold me off first, kept torturing Mom at home, and prevented her from visiting me.
He was not my Dad. He was a bad person, a monster.
I wanted... to kill him...

I pretended that I hadn't heard the news.
Every night I would cover my face with my blanket, so the nurses wouldn't notice me crying.
In secret, however, I began to plan my escape.

[BGM: Night Ventures]

Another Tuesday night.
In a room without light,
there was only pale moonlight.

He and I, two people.
Everything was exactly the same as two years ago, except for the lack of a sinister smell in the air.
I had long given up the fight, so he no longer needed something like that to subdue me.

But this night wouldn't be the same as usual.
He didn't expect for me to pick up the chair and throw it at his head.
He pushed me to the ground.

Lee Yun-Seok was outraged. He slapped me square in the face twice with both of his hands.
I fell to the ground. Everything looked like a blur, and I didn't have any more strength to fight back.

The chair only broke the phone behind him.
I knew I had to be physically stronger to have a chance.
But the horrible diet, and the mental and physical torture I had been subjected to, was only making me weaker and weaker every day.

The door opened.
I didn't have to look to know it was Lee Yong-Cheol.
He had seen this scene countless times.

“He isn't feeling well today, shall we... shall we wait until another day?”

Hey, pigs were flying. When did he start defending me?
I chuckled twice, despite my bleeding lips.

“Who gave you permission to speak?”

Facing the rage of his uncle, the little bit of courage Lee Yong-Cheol had mustered up crumbled immediately.
He walked out of the room in silence and closed the door behind him.

Nothing had changed.

No, that wasn't true. Something had changed.
I had changed.

I was no longer that sane kid from two years ago, even though I couldn't really remember what I had been like back then.
Nevertheless, I knew one thing for sure. Even if I became a pile of worthless human garbage, I would not stay here forever.

I wanted to go home.
I had to go home.

God, do you hear my wish?

Park Sang-Gun

[BGM: No Escape from Here]

A Plan Gone Awry

I was lying still on my bed with my eyes closed.
I could feel the breeze coming and going.
The annoying mosquitos kept interrupting my thoughts.

Damn pests.
I flicked the bloody body of a mosquito away like a small booger.

Dinner time. A small tray was pushed inside through the tiny window.
A bowl of rice, a plate of cabbage, two pieces of fried chicken, and a banana.

“Why do I only get one piece of chicken?!”

The fat man in the opposite cell yelled at the guard who was delivering the meals. He didn't get an answer.

I picked up the banana from the tray and started peeling it.
My diet had actually become much healthier ever since I had been sent here.
I had never had a meal on time back at the police station.
And the food was always burgers, chicken, fries, and occasional leftovers that had been around for far too long.

There had been a few times that I got to eat some nice meals though, when Chang Gyeong-Min would bring over some of his homemade bentos.

The kid would always say something like “a healthy body is necessary to defend justice”, which made him sound like a whiny old lady.
But I was starting to miss that kid.
I had no idea how he had been doing. He must be in a lot of trouble right now.

Or maybe not.
The people who had framed me must be keeping him out of this case altogether.

What had happened to Min-Jun was all my fault...

On the day I went to rescue Ji-Yeon, I had tried to get Min-Jun to join the mission, but I hadn't been able to reach him.
The kid had always been the one person who would never miss a call. It was the first time ever that I couldn't find him.
I should have realized that something might have gone wrong then.

He never showed up at the police station afterwards, either.
I told Chang Gyeong-Min that Min-Jun had been sick, but I honestly had no idea where he had been.

It turned out that he was dead.
And his body had been hidden in my room.
He must have known something, and they had killed him for it.
The murderer must have also known that it was the same day as the anniversary of the lieutenant's death.
He even knew that I would be very drunk that day, so he would have a better chance of success.
Two birds with one stone.

I had some idea of who that bastard could be.
But I had no evidence at the moment.
I needed to find a way to get out of here first.

A tall shadow moved on the cell floor.
The guard who had bought the tray was still here. He was watching me eat, almost like he was monitoring me.

His name was Yong-Hyeok, at least that was what I heard the other guards calling him.
He was over two meters tall and very muscular. He might be the most menacing person in the detention center.
Anyone who stood before him might feel like they were standing in front of an impenetrable wall.

However, Yong-Hyeok had a secret.

Detention Center No. 6 was a prison that was used to exclusively hold police officers who had been in trouble.
It did not belong to the police system, and therefore was not under the supervision of the police bureaucracy.
Therefore, everyone who had been thrown in here had to go through a “ritual”.

The fat man in the opposite cell was locked up because of a 50 million Won bribe. Every day, he and I were forced to strip naked and were blasted by cold water.
It wasn't that much different than a cold shower to me.
But the fat man, he would be screaming bloody murder every time the water hit him.
The more he screamed, however, the more excited the guards would get.
For them, it had turned into a kind of entertainment.

Yong-Hyeok's reaction, however, seemed a little different than the rest of the cheering mob.
One of my best buddies was gay.
I could sense the same vibe from him.

The fat man yelled at me in a lowered voice,
_{”Hey----- can I trade this banana for your chicken?”}

Screw you.
…
I suddenly had an idea.
But I needed somebody's help.

20 minutes later, Yong-Hyeok came back to take the trays away.
There was something extra in the tray----- a small paper note.

Now, all I could do was wait until the middle of the night.

[BGM: Lethal Affair]

12 AM. Most people here had fallen asleep.
But I was sitting in a chair in the interrogation room that had seen numerous occupants.
A piece of yellow tape covered my mouth.
My hands had been cuffed behind my back. Many brand new scars had been added to the current collection on my body.

I had made a mistake.

Yong-Hyeok was standing under the florescent light with a belt in his hands. His uniform was now soaking wet with sweat.
Just a moment ago the belt had hit me on my left eye, which was so bruised I couldn't even open it anymore.

I absolutely hated these simple-minded meatheads, especially when they could overpower me.
If had simply agreed to my proposal, I would have let my buddies find him a few handsome guys as a thank-you, then everybody would have been happy.
Now he was just torturing me for nobody's benefit.

Well, since enticement had not worked out, that left me with the only other choice----- threats.
Although, how was I supposed to threaten him under the current circumstances?
Should I summon that guy? It didn't seem like a good idea...

Yong-Hyeok seemed like he would never get tired.
The pain he had inflicted on me was almost to the edge of what I could tolerate.

I had been trying my best to control it, but in the end, “he” still woke up.
The light from the swinging bulb cast some moving shadows on his impatient face.

”Idiot.”

“I” took out the pen and stabbed it into him.
The pen went right through his eye socket and into his brain.
He was dead in an instant.

So was my consciousness.

When I woke up, I found myself back in the cell.
It was a different one this time, and there were more guards at the door.

I felt my pocket. As usual, there was another note.
I opened it, and it said
Your clothes stink. I told them to get you two new sets.

That bastard had landed me into such a big mess, and all he cared about was some clean clothes?!

I now had another life on “my” hands.
Min-Jun's case was still highly inconclusive, but this one was much more straightforward.
I had indeed killed Yong-Hyeok.

How could this have happened? Damn it...

Kang Baek-Ya

[BGM: Night Ventures]

Kind of an interesting juxtaposition here, huh? We want to prevent a murder for Kang, but want to try to find a way of carrying out one for Sang-Gun. And make no bones about it- we're looking for a way to enable his revenge on his abuser, full stop. We're just going to have to be careful about how we get to that point. Let's get started.

Before we start, though, just some housekeeping- similar to the previous puzzle with Li Wen, I'm going to be skipping any endings with content that's over the line- since nobody here wants to read that. As a result, we're basically going to be skipping the other Bad endings for Sang-Gun

[BGM: Lethal Affair]

I lost my consciousness when Yong-Hyeok eventually pinned me down to the floor.

When I woke up I found myself back in the cell.
I felt my pocket. There were no notes this time.

Usually that guy would leave me a message before he left.
Although, there were a couple of times before that he had left without a note.
I had been living with him for six years. I still couldn't figure him out.

Interesting, we actually have a timeframe now for when Kang's disorder developed- though there's obviously still a lot we don't know yet. Anyway, since we're skipping the Bad endings, there's actually not a lot left to see here- most of the other non-A/S endings are...basically stuff we've already seen, just shuffled around slightly.

We do have a B ending for Sang-Gun to see, though, so let's get to that.

[BGM: Night Ventures]

I put my hand in my pocket and held the pen.
My palms were already sweating.

“I heard that your mother died.”

Lee Yun-Seok suddenly spoke.
I didn't expect to hear him mention my Mom, but I had no intention of saying anything to him.

“You might not know this. She had come to visit you quite a few times.”

How, how could it be? I had never even seen her once.
He must be lying.
What was he trying to do wthis time?
I stared at him. My hand clenched harder.

“But she was severely ill, even more so than you. So I didn't let her see you.”

No, he was lying.
He was lying!
How could Mom be ill?
Mom wasn't ill, neither was I!
He was just a liar! A big, big liar!

My hands were trembling.

“Your mother had the same cognitive dissonance disease. It was hereditary. You've always said that your father would beat you and your mother all the time, but the truth was the opposite. It was your mother who would beat you and your father. As you are too close to your mother, your subconscious is unwilling to admit to yourself that she could be so violent and abusive. Therefore, when the bad things happened, the roles of your parents would be switched in your mind without you even realizing it.”

I almost lost the strength to keep standing.
My head started to feel like it was going to explode.
How... how could this be possible?

“Your father realized that your mother was getting worse, so he paid a lot of money to let us take you in. He thought that we could help with your condition, and that you would be safe here, too. Yet, well, he didn't know that there is no cure. Besides, pretty boys like you are always my favorite, especially the 'sick' ones. Even if he comes and gets you back one day, and you tell anyone anything you shouldn't, no one would ever believe you. I can't tell you how glad I was when your father brought you to me.”

The bastard.
Why would he lie to me like this?!
Hasn't he tortured me enough?
I... I must kill him!

I raised my right hand up high and stabbed towards his chest with the pen.
He dodged to the side and punched me right in the stomach.

Lee Yun-Seok pushed my head against the floor hard. He ruffled my hair and laughed at the sight of my powerlessness.
There was nothing I could do but be pinned down to the ground. I wanted to cry, but there were no more tears.

...Let's just move on to Sang-Gun's A ending.

I plunged the pen deep into his throat.
He stumbled back, pulled out the pen and threw it on the floor.
Lots of blood was gushing out of the hole in his neck.

I could see that he wanted to kill me very badly. However, with one hand covering his wound he tripped and lost his balance, making a mess of his office.
Soon, he was lying on the floor with his eyes wide open, but he was no longer breathing.

Lee Yong-Cheol must have heard the noise when I had thrown the chair.
He pushed the door open and saw the gruesome corpse of Lee Yun-Seok.

Would he cover for me?

He only hesitated for a second before he pushed the alarm.
Then he picked up his uncle's gun and pointed it at me, telling me not to move or he would shoot me.
I suddenly understood something.
He was always just a spineless little coward.
That might be why, even though his uncle hired him, he had never been promoted.

Soon, the police arrived.
I got my wish to leave the hospital.
But I didn't get my freedom.

People would later argue whether or not I was truly mentally ill.
Some people said that my medical record had been forged, and that I should be sentenced to prison despite being a minor.
Other people said that I was truly ill, and I should stay in the hospital to continue my treatment.
The arguments lasted for a long, long time.

Alright. Let's get the S endings and get out of here.

[BGM: Lethal Affair]

Yong-Hyeok was hit straight in the face by the chair.
He lost his balance and fell to the ground.
He watched as “I” broke the handcuffs with my bare hands, and he couldn't process what he was seeing.

One, two, three...
“I” stomped his bloody face with my feet, over and over again.

I had once seen “myself” break another unfortunate bastard's arm with one stomp.
If “I” kept going, he was going to die.

I stepped away from the corner of the dark room and walked towards the center.
The mysterious invisible force appeared again almost immediately.
It was as if there were numerous dark hands that were pushing on my shoulders, grabbing at my ankles, trying to stop me from walking into the light and regaining control of my body.

I was pushed down to the ground, but I kept crawling.
More hands were grabbing my feet, my legs, and dragging me in the opposite direction.

I could not give in.
I would not give in...

At last, I grabbed “my” feet.
”Enough, you bastard... get out of here!”

[BGM: The Darkness]

The hands suddenly scattered away.
I could see clearly again.

Yong-Hyeok was crouching in the corner, looking at me with fear.
He reminded me of a frightened little rabbit.
“I” had scared him.
And he had not realized that the person standing in front of him was a different one now.

There was a wallet on the floor.
It wasn't mine.

I picked it up. There were a few bills, a credit card, and a receipt from a gay bar from only a few days ago.
… As well as a family photo.
A beautiful wife, a lovely daughter. What a “happy” family.

The “happy” ladies surely had no idea of the secret life that the husband and father of the family had been leading.
The little rabbit had no other choice.

[BGM: Night Ventures]

I ripped his clothes and pants off him, and put them on myself so that mine wouldn't get bloody.

In that moment I felt so relieved.
Even the air in this room felt suddenly cleansed.

I opened the window and slid down the drain pipe.
The security guard on duty was watching TV in his office at the main gate.
I ducked down and snuck past his window, opened, the main gate with a swipe of the key card, and ran outside.

Finally, I was free.
Finally, I could go home!

[BGM: Blood Ties]

I walked all the way home with the flimsy clothes I was wearing.

I walked past Alex's seafood store.
I walked past Su-Mi's family bakery.
I walked past a tobacco and alcohol store that had forgotten to lock up.

I picked up the most expensive bottle of vodka from the shelf. It was for my Dad.

Twice a week. Eight times a month. Multiplies by 12... Ninety... ninety-six. Times two, one hundred and ninety-two.
...Let me round it up to 200.

I was walking briskly.
At the same time I was quietly calculating how many times Mom had been hit by Dad for the past two years.
Just as an estimate.

It was almost sunrise when I finally saw my familiar yet strange home.
As I expected, Dad was sound asleep.

I changed into Mom's favorite coat.
Then I went into the kitchen, and picked up the knife that Mom used to cut meat.
At last, I came to my Dad's bed.

“Dad, I'm home.”

One, two, three...
...sixty-six, sixty-seven...

Sphhhhlt, Sphhhhlt, Sphhhhlt, Sphhhhlt, Sphhhhlt...
The sound of the knife going in and out of his body was almost a musical melody.

...One hundred and twenty-two, one hundred and twenty-three, one-hundred and twenty-four...
...One hundred and ninety-nine... Two hundred.

Blood was splashed all over the bed and the floor. It was disgusting.

I sprinkled the vodka that I brought home all around the bed and the room.
Then I lit a match.

Bye, Dad. Bye... Mom.

The small flame was jumping and growing. It was becoming bigger and bigger.
In the end, it grew so big that it swallowed this place I used to call “home”.

I had never seen anything more beautiful.
From the ashes, I would start a brand new life.

…

[BGM: New Life]

***

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The Let's Play Archive

WILL: A Wonderful World

by Mix

Part 37: Breaking Free