I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 101: Arena (II)

The Munches guard slowly turned its massive head and glared down at Si Hon, its glowing eyes narrowing slightly as the fallen prisoner sat on the floor looking up with the same blank expression. The creature leaned forward a little, its heavy breath rumbling through its chest as if it was considering whether to simply crush him for the inconvenience.

But before it could move any closer—

The old man behind Si Hon stepped forward.

He placed a hand out in front of the boy in a calm but firm gesture.

"Ay, easy now," the old man said with a soft chuckle. "Let the kid go. He’s a newcomer."

For a brief moment, the hallway went quiet.

The Munches stared at the old man.

Then, strangely enough, the creature huffed once through its nose and slowly turned its head back forward as if the situation was no longer worth its attention.

The line began moving again.

The old man reached down and grabbed Si Hon by the arm, pulling him back up onto his feet.

"Careful where you walk, kid," he murmured quietly.

But as Si Hon stood, he began to notice the murmurs spreading through the line of prisoners around them.

Whispers.

Low and uneasy.

"That guy’s lucky..."

"Yeah... really lucky..."

"He’ll probably die later though."

"Or worse... he’ll die first."

"Let’s just hope there’s no brawl today..."

Si Hon frowned slightly as he brushed the dust from his pants.

"Famous," he muttered.

The old man patted his back once and gently nudged him forward.

"Keep walking."

The Munch guard ahead of them finally reached a massive iron door carved directly into the stone wall at the end of the hallway.

With a heavy groan, the creature pushed it open.

Then it stepped inside.

The prisoners were forced to follow.

Si Hon stepped through the doorway— And immediately flinched.

Light.

Blinding light flooded his vision.

He instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes as the sudden brightness washed over him.

For a few seconds, he could barely see anything.

Then slowly... his eyes adjusted.

And he looked up.

"Whoa."

The space in front of him was enormous.

No.

Enormous didn’t even begin to describe it.

The cavern had opened into a colossal underground colosseum carved directly into the heart of the mountain. Towering stone walls curved upward in a massive circular formation, surrounding a huge battlefield of cracked stone and scattered pillars rising like a broken bones from the ground.

The arena floor itself looked brutal.

Uneven.

Scarred.

Like it had seen countless battles before.

And above it—

Rows.

And rows.

And rows of seats.

Thousands of them.

Filled with people.

Si Hon blinked.

"Huh?"

He slowly turned his head, staring up at the massive crowd packed into the towering stands.

"Wait." His brain visibly lagged for a moment. "how are there people here?"

He squinted.

"Wait.... I’m confused....?"

The crowd was roaring.

Cheering.

Shouting.

But something about them was... strange.

Every single person in the stands was wearing a mask.

Elegant masks.

Golden masks.

Silver masks.

Black masks shaped like animals, birds, demons, and strange theatrical faces. Etc.

Ball masks.

Masquerade masks.

It looked less like a normal crowd and more like a secret gathering where nobody wanted their identity seen.

Si Hon blinked again.

"Isn’t... this... a munches lair, like... just gorilla thing?"

Above the arena, mounted high in the cavern ceiling, a massive glowing sphere hung in the air.

It shined like a miniature sun.

Warm golden light poured down from it, bathing the entire arena floor in brightness. The glow felt strangely natural, almost like real sunlight despite clearly being artificial.

Si Hon tilted his head.

"A fake sun.... No way those dude can inven— yea... there’s Hyuna, and... actually I don’t know."

Then his gaze slowly drifted upward again.

And that’s when he noticed something else.

Carved into the upper wall of the colosseum was a massive recessed balcony overlooking the entire arena.

A large glass window stretched across the front of it.

Behind the glass were luxurious seats, tables, and soft lighting— clearly separated from the rest of the masked crowd.

It looked exactly like one of those high-end VIP viewing rooms overlooking a baseball field.

Comfortable.

Private.

Expensive.

The kind of place where important people sat while watching the chaos below.

Si Hon stared at it for a few seconds.

"Oh."

He scratched his cheek.

"So this is that kind of place."

Behind him, the old man quietly sighed.

"Welcome to the arena, kid."

After that, the rows behind him scattered, and some prisoners walked past Si Hon, intentionally bumping into him as they went.

"This bitch... ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ." Si Hon whispered.

Then—

Ting!!!

A loud metallic sound echoed through the arena.

"Mic test, mic test."

A woman’s voice rang out across the entire colosseum.

The cheering slowly died down. Every prisoner stopped what they were doing and turned toward the middle— toward the direction the voice came from.

Si Hon looked as well.

There, standing on one of the pillars in the center, was a woman wearing a bunny suit and a bunny mask, holding a microphone.

"Guys... today is special," she said.

The crowd immediately roared with cheers.

"I don’t need to tell you why today is special. One of the inventors of this game said this day should be special." She paused, scratching the back of her head. "Mkay, I’m yapping too much. Anyway..."

She cleared her throat.

"Today... instead of the boring one-versus-one fights... or the usual brawls you’ve all seen before—" She struck a dramatic, wacky pose. "It’s a team fight!!!"

The crowd erupted even louder.

"And as usual, you can bet. If the one you bet on survives after the game ends..." she said cheerfully, "you can take him or her home."

She snapped her fingers.

Behind her, a huge billboard lit up, displaying eight colors.

Green. Blue. Red. Yellow. Purple. White. Black. Pink.

"There will be eight teams. And... sorry to the prisoners and newcomers, but forming a teams yourself is hard," she said with a shrug.

"Okay, explaining this. Is annoying. So I’ll keep it simple." She raised a finger. "There will be eight people chosen as team leaders."

She snapped her fingers again.

Suddenly, glowing colored balls appeared above the prisoners’ heads— including Si Hon’s.

They bounced randomly from person to person across the crowd.

Then the first color stopped.

Green.

The green ball landed above the head of a massive, bulky man with a body full of scars. His entire body began glowing. For a moment he simply cracked his neck, as if this was nothing unusual.

In an instant, he disappeared— and reappeared on one of the central pillars.

The crowd roared.

Next was Blue.

It stopped above a woman with bright blue hair. She crossed her arms and smirked as her body began to glow.

"Looks like fate likes me," she muttered.

She vanished and reappeared on another pillar beside the big man. The moment she landed, she glanced around the arena below them, then scoffed softly.

"Heh... this is going to be easy."

Her grin was sharp, confident— almost mocking.

One by one, the randomizer continued choosing leaders.

Until—

Pink.

The pink ball bounced around longer than the others, jumping from head to head across the crowd.

Si Hon yawned.

"Well... I just hope someone picks me as their teammate," he muttered lazily.

The ball finally stopped.

Si Hon looked around.

He didn’t see it.

Then the old man beside him tapped his shoulder and pointed upward.

Si Hon slowly looked above his head.

The pink ball was floating right there.

"Huh?"

Then—

Whoosh.

The world spun.

In an instant, Si Hon disappeared— and reappeared standing on one of the pillars in the middle of the arena.

"...?"

He blinked slowly, looking around in confusion.

"...Huh?! (°ロ°) !?"

The crowd burst into laughter and chatter.

"Who the hell is that guy?"

"That kid’s a leader?"

"Pink? Seriously?"

Si Hon stood there awkwardly, still trying to process what had just happened.

Across from him, the blue-haired woman glanced at him.

She looked him up and down.

Then she scoffed again.

"Seriously?"

Her lips curled into a smug grin.

"Looks like I got lucky."

Si Hon’s eye twitched.

Once.

Twice.

He slowly turned his head toward her.

Something about that grin... that tone... the way she looked at him like he was already dead— Yeah.

That somehow really pissed him off.

"What’s with that face?" Si Hon muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes.

And just like that—

Si Hon had become one of the chosen team leaders. And his color... yea definitely the sassy Pink.