Convict Unit: Black Parade

Time passed until it was nine o’clock in the evening.

Inside the Aft Theater, a venue built to span the sixth and seventh decks of the ship’s aft section.

«Ladies and gentlemen, the wait is over!»

A man in a tuxedo stood on stage, his voice booming with astonishing speed and perfect enunciation.

«The crown jewel of our cruise, the greatest auction show on the water, where we sell everything you could ever want and more! Let the Hell Auction—begin!»

The announcement was met with a smattering of perfunctory applause.

The theater was packed, with seats on the sixth deck facing the stage and more on the seventh deck looking down from above. The prisoners filling them offered only the most listless of claps.

Jae-hee, seated in the center of the sixth-deck audience, was trembling, his thumb caught between his teeth.

“Darn it. I shoulda taken out the competition before we got here.”

“You say the scariest things so casually,” Razor muttered next to him, breaking into a cold sweat.

On Jae-hee’s other side, Status Window just cackled. “Watching Boy-kun’s descent into villainy in real time is its own kind of fun, don’t you think desu?”

“I mean, it’s entertaining, but I feel like the little shit’s corruption is accelerating…”

“Q-quiet, you two. I’m in a real bind here.”

In the end, he hadn’t had the heart to “deal with” his rival for the auction, Jung Kwan Jang, and had just shown up.

Jae-hee clenched his fists, his resolve hardening. Fine. I’ll just have to overwhelm them with cold, hard cash!

Meanwhile, the auctioneer on stage was introducing himself with an elegant bow.

«I will be your host for this evening. My callsign is Rapidfire.»

Jae-hee flinched.

“Wha! R-Rapidfire?!”

Razor shot him a look. “Does that word trigger some new kind of trauma or what?”

“Nope. It’s more like… a sense of kinship.”

Rapidfire, oblivious, continued his opening spiel.

«Tonight, we have a grand total of one hundred and thirty-three items up for bid. I stake my very name on it—we have selected only the finest goods that have passed our auction house’s rigorous standards. And with that, let us begin today’s auction.»

True to his callsign, he had a rapid-fire delivery of words, yet his pronunciation remained impeccably clear—an essential skill for any auctioneer.

«Now… some among you might be joining us for the first time. I should explain the unique rules of our Hell Auction, yes?»

Rapidfire held up three fingers and waved them above his head.

«Bids are limited to three per item, per guest! This is to prevent price manipulation and stop bids from spiraling out of control.»

Jae-hee narrowed his round eyes, focusing intently on the stage as if trying to stare a hole through it.

«The item goes to the person with the highest bid at the end. However, if multiple people raise their hands for the final price…»

Rapidfire flung a hand to the side with a flourish.

«…then you will settle the matter right here, in the Ring of Hell!»

On cue, the curtains behind him drew back, flooding the stage with light.

Fwoom!

Flames erupted.

Behind the curtain was a square ring, its outer ropes now wreathed in fire.

“R-Ring of Hell…?”

He wasn’t the fastest to catch on to things, but Jae-hee had a pretty good idea what that meant.

“That means ‘hell’s arena,’ right? So ‘settling the matter’ means…?”

Razor nodded. “Means you fight for it.”

“What? You mean, like, an actual fight?”

“Yep.”

“For real?”

“You think they’d be faking it?”

Razor clicked his tongue, though a grin played on his lips. “Why do you think they call it the Hell Auction? It’s because of fun little features like this.”

“Why would you add a fighting feature to an auction?!”

“Because this isn’t a normal auction. It’s an auction for prisoners, by prisoners.”

This was a cruise ship, but it was also a prison. It was foolish to expect anything to run normally, auctions included.

Blood and violence could be added to the recipe at any moment.

“You think all these guys came to watch an auction? Most of them are here for the fights.”

“I had no idea this place was like this…!”

On stage, Rapidfire was explaining the perks of the match.

«As a token of our appreciation for putting on a spectacular show, the winner of the match will receive a fifteen-percent discount on the final bid!»

It was a slightly nice perk, though rather underwhelming.

«That concludes the rules! I’m sure you’re all getting bored, so shall we get down to business?»

Rapidfire took the small gavel in his hand and struck the podium. Bang, bang, bang!

«Well then! Let today’s Hell Auction…begiiiiiiin!» he roared, pouring every ounce of his showmanship into the announcement.

Clap, clap, clap…

The prisoners, who had seen this spectacle countless times, applauded listlessly. 

Only Jae-hee raised his hands high above his head, clapping with furious enthusiasm.

Razor leaned in and whispered, “You’re only going for the Outing Permit, yeah?”

“Yeah! I don’t care about anything else! Just the permit!”

“Good. Then don’t get suckered into raising your hand for some other crap. Just sit tight.”

“Hey, I won’t! I’m being totally serious today!”

Five minutes later.

«This first item, ladies and gentlemen, is a memento of the late Sword Musketeer, who was killed in action on a mission three months ago. It is a unique weapon, a pistol integrated into the hilt of a sword…»

The event began with the “Death Auction,” and the very first item made Jae-hee’s eyes go wide.

I have to buy that!

«A sword and a gun! Not only is it incredibly cool, but it’s obviously powerful, too! Because a cool weapon is always a strong weapon!»

After his rap-like spiel, Rapidfire scanned the audience and raised his gavel.

«This magnificent gunblade starts at the low, low price of one hundred thousand Credits! Just one hundred thousand! Each bid will raise the price by five thousand. Now, all who wish to purchase, please raise… your hands!»

Jae-hee immediately tried to raise his hand, only for it to be yanked down by Status Window.

“What are you doing, Boy-kun! I thought you were only aiming for the permit desu!”

“But that sword is so cool!”

“What’s the point of it being cool? Are you going to start shooting guns now desu?” Status Window argued, his tone grave as he launched into a speech.

“Hybrid builds have been the mark of weakness since the dawn of time desu! You gotta specialize your stats if you don’t want a bricked character. You went down the sword skill tree, so you should be dumping all your points into sword-related stats, and only sword-related stats desu!”

He sounded less like he was worried about Jae-hee and more like he was worried about messing up the stat distribution of a game character he was building.

Though he didn’t understand all of it, the point got through, and Jae-hee snapped back to his senses.

Right. I can barely handle a sword as it is. What good would a gun-spear-sword-thing do me? Besides, I already have a cool longsword…

“Y-you’re right. Thanks, Window. I’ll get a grip.”

“You can’t go soft this early, Boy-kun. Stay sharp desu!”

“Okay. I will. Thanks…!”

But it wasn’t long before…

«And now for our next item! This handsome cape belonged to the late Jump Pack, who fell during a Gate mission two months ago. It has no special functions, but wouldn’t it be just dashing to have a fine cape like this trailing behind you as you move at high speeds?»

Rapidfire fastened the cape to his own back and zipped across the stage. The red fabric billowing behind him did, in fact, look quite dashing.

“I really have to buy that!”

His eyes glazed over. The moment bidding started, he tried to raise his hand, but this time Razor grabbed it.

“Get a hold of yourself, dumbass! What are you going to do with a useless cape like that?”

“Wear it, obviously! It’s ridiculously cool!”

“He just said it has no function other than decoration!”

“But aesthetics are important! I’m crazy fast, right? Imagine me zipping around with a cape like that! It would leave this cool whoosh of an afterimage! Think how awesome that would look! That thing is a must-have item made just for me!”

“Man, you’re a real sucker, you know that? Yo! Snap out of it! Why are you here?”

“To buy that cape!”

“Picture your master’s face! Picture it!”

Fortunately, a buyer for the cape was decided before Jae-hee could get his hand up.

Bang, bang, bang!

Rapidfire’s gavel signaled the end of the sale. Only after the cape was removed from the stage did Jae-hee come to his senses.

“Haah… haah… Wow, this place is no joke. I can’t keep my head straight with every new thing they bring out. I wanna buy it all.”

“Boy-kun, you’re lucky you were born in an era without home shopping networks desu… If you’d lived in the age of one-click delivery, you’d have bankrupted your family long ago desu…”

After that, Jae-hee asked Razor and Status Window to just hold both his hands down for the remainder of the auction.

«And now, the next item is~»

“Mmmph! Mmmmmmph!”

Every time a new item was presented, Jae-hee’s eyes would bulge, and he’d grit his teeth, his whole body trembling as if he were enduring some brutal form of torture.

In reality, he was just suppressing his urge to shop.

He had fought off so many temptations (fewer than ten items had passed) when an unexpected lot came up for auction.

«Alright, our next item comes from a rather famous individual, wouldn’t you say? The belongings of the late Model Student!»

Jae-hee started in surprise. “Model Student’s things…?”

They belonged to the young man in glasses from his first mission to Daejeon—the one who had turned into a zombie.

Seeing the effects of someone he knew up for auction stirred a complex mix of emotions in him.

But Razor was nonchalant about it. “For the record, I already took care of Miss Hellth’s, Barber’s, and Tat Rat’s things. They won’t be coming up here, so don’t worry.”

“Ah… That’s a relief.”

Jae-hee thought for a moment.

What should I do about Model Student’s belongings? We were on a mission together. Shouldn’t I be the one to handle them, out of respect…?

Just then, as Rapidfire was about to start the bidding, someone in the audience stood up.

“One moment. The Glasses Society will purchase all of Model Student’s belongings.”

Several others rose with him.

They were of different ages and genders, but they all had one thing in common: they all wore glasses.

Razor, recognizing them, whispered to Jae-hee, “That’s the Glasses Society, the dominant faction on Deck 3.”

“Oh… They’re very literal, aren’t they?”

True to their name, every member wore glasses, as if it were a uniform. They all looked like they’d gotten very good grades in school.

“But why are they interested in Model Student’s things?”

“You didn’t know? Model Student was the leader of their deck.”

“Whaaat? Seriously?”

Jae-hee blinked in surprise.

Come to think of it, Model Student had been the very picture of a horn-rimmed-glasses-wearing intellectual. And he had been a Deck Leader…

The members of the Glasses Society who had stood up looked around the theater and spoke in a solemn tone.

“We were associates of Model Student. He was a core member of our society.”

“We wish to collect his belongings. We ask for your understanding and cooperation.”

A mood of consensus settled over the crowd. When the auction proceeded, no one else raised a hand.

The Glasses Society quietly and respectfully collected Model Student’s effects.

“The Death Auction is basically a way to handle the possessions of the dead, so there’s a custom of yielding if someone connected to the deceased shows up,” Razor explained.

Then he added, “Of course, if a really good item comes up, all bets are off and everyone dives in.”

“Of course they do…”

After the reverent conclusion of Model Student’s auction, Rapidfire’s clear voice announced the next item.

«Continuing on, our next item in the Death Auction comes from someone who died on that same mission… another celebrity, I’m sure you’ll agree! The belongings of the late Flight Risk!»