Episode 3: The Children Who Lost Their Memories
Inside the wooden box were black pills.
The instructor spoke in a stern voice.
“These are pills to boost your energy. Take one each. They’re precious, so don’t spill them.”
‘Are those really tonics? No way.’
Won Seung didn’t believe it. When he saw the instructor handing a pill to the first child and making sure they swallowed it, his suspicion turned into certainty.
Won Seung rolled his eyes. He had long mastered the art of pretending to take medicine. When the maids tried to give him bitter pills, claiming they were good for him, he would pretend to swallow them and then hide them under his tongue. It was a simple trick, but as long as he managed his expression, he could fool them.
‘Should I do it or not…’
He hesitated for a moment. If the maids caught him, it would just cause a minor fuss, but here, who knows what might happen. Seeing how they inspected each child’s mouth, he became more determined not to swallow that black pill. He steeled himself.
Finally, it was Won Seung’s turn.
“Take it.”
The instructor handed him the pill.
Won Seung took the pill, pretended to swallow it, and then grimaced as he opened his mouth wide. The pill was already hidden under his tongue.
The instructor, seeing Won Seung’s innocent expression and open mouth, didn’t suspect any trickery. As the instructor turned to the child on the opposite bed, Won Seung pretended to wipe his mouth with his sleeve and spat out the pill.
After giving all the children the pills, the instructor stood in the middle of the aisle, observing the children lined up at the ends of their beds.
A moment later.
“Ugh…”
The first child to take the pill groaned and fell backward. The children next to him were startled to see his face turn bright red.
All the children’s eyes widened. But it was too late. Before they could understand what was happening, the other children also began to groan and collapse one by one.
Won Seung, too, let out a groan and fell to his side. Once all the children had fainted, the instructor closed the door and left.
“Ugh…”
“Mom…”
The children groaned in high fever, some calling out for their mothers.
Listening to the groans echoing throughout the dormitory, Won Seung sighed inwardly.
‘Is this place hell?’
He thought of his mother.
She must be desperately searching for him now.
The thought of having to train here for ten years felt overwhelming.
‘Mother, your son’s life has become quite difficult. Do you know that?’
---
In Hwangdo, rumors always circulate. One more rumor was added to the mix. It was said that the eldest son of Won Seongji, a third-rank official in the Ministry of Rites, had gone missing.
Won Seongji was furious and sent people to search for the child, but they couldn’t find him. It was said that his biological mother, Lady Lee, had fallen ill.
The rumors circulating in the government offices quickly subsided. There was a brief mention that Lady Ju, the legitimate wife of the Won family, had ordered silence to protect the family’s reputation. It was also rumored that Lady Lee, who was bedridden, was sent to the Soju villa because she was tired of the medicinal smell. After that, the rumors about the Won family quieted down.
*
Won Seung was unaware that his existence had been erased in Hwangdo. He wasn’t a significant presence to begin with, so even if he had known, he wouldn’t have been too upset.
‘Ah, I’m hungry.’
Won Seung’s primary concern now was when he would be able to eat.
After taking the black pill yesterday, the children suffered from high fevers throughout the night. Even after that, none of them woke up, not even by morning or afternoon.
‘When will they wake up?’
The perfectly fine Won Seung kept groaning to distract himself from his hunger. Eventually, he really started to feel sick.
Fortunately, by evening, some children began to regain consciousness. Won Seung also got up as if he had just come to.
“Go eat as soon as you wake up.”
At the instructor’s words, the children staggered to the dining hall. Won Seung suppressed the urge to run and walked awkwardly like the other children.
After eating, Won Seung observed the children who had woken up. They seemed dazed, as if something was missing. Won Seung also walked around with a blank expression like the other children.
On the second day, Jang Chil appeared in the dining hall around lunchtime. Won Seung was about to call out to him but hesitated, glancing around before lowering his hand.
On the way out after eating, he followed Jang Chil and casually spoke to him.
“Jang Chil.”
Jang Chil just staggered along without responding. When Won Seung nudged him, he finally turned around, his eyes vacant.
“Snap out of it.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Seeing the instructor approaching from a distance, Won Seung moved past Jang Chil.
‘What kind of pill did they give us?’
It wasn’t poison, as the children woke up after suffering from high fevers for a few days. It didn’t take long for Won Seung to realize that the pill had erased the children’s memories. Jang Chil, who had spent the first night next to him, didn’t remember Won Seung. He had even forgotten his own name and hometown.
‘It’s a relief that Jang Chil became Number Seven.’
Won Seung was immensely grateful that he hadn’t taken the pill. If he had, he would have lost his memories and never been able to return to the Won family.
Thinking about it made him feel sorry for Jang Chil. Seeing Jang Chil’s blank face in the dining hall, he made a silent promise.
‘I’ll tell you your name and hometown later. You should visit your hometown.’
About ten days later, the aftereffects of the pill disappeared, and the children’s eyes returned to normal. However, their emotions seemed dulled, and they remained unusually calm. Unlike typical children their age, they didn’t laugh, cry, or fight.
Even though they had lost their memories, the terrifying fear from the first day lingered, and the children obediently followed the instructors’ orders.
One day, the instructors gathered the children in the training ground and pointed to the tent they had entered on the first day.
“Enter the tent starting from Number One.”
The children entered the tent one by one.
When Jang Chil came out, Won Seung approached him and asked quietly.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing much. They just asked for my name and hometown.”
Jang Chil scratched his head.
“I couldn’t tell them my hometown, so I have to skip dinner tonight.”
Won Seung immediately understood what was going on.
‘They’re trying to identify the children who haven’t lost their memories.’
When it was his turn to enter the tent, Won Seung let his gaze go blank.
The man he had seen on the first day looked up from his documents and asked for his name.
“Uh…”
When Won Seung scratched his head awkwardly, the man spoke disdainfully.
“It’s written on your chest. Number Fifty!”
“Oh, I’m Number Fifty.”
“If you don’t answer properly, you won’t get dinner. Where is your hometown?”
“……”
Might as well skip a meal. He couldn’t fall for their tricks.
“Where is this place?”
“……”
When Won Seung just stared blankly, the man frowned.
He had remembered this kid as being smarter than the others on the first day, but now he seemed worse off.
‘I heard the Memory Loss Pill has a greater effect on smart kids. Seems it’s true.’
Muttering to himself, the man gestured for Won Seung to leave.
“Go on. No dinner for you.”
About five or six children were identified this way, and they were given the Memory Loss Pill again, only reappearing about ten days later.
Having taken the pill twice, the aftereffects lasted longer for them than for the others.
Once the children regained their senses, training began.
The instructors showed no mercy.
The children had to climb cliffs and run through mountains from morning till night. Sometimes, they wandered through the deep forest in the middle of the night. Two children fell off cliffs and died, and one was bitten by a wild animal and died after a few days.
Another child tried to escape at night but was caught and killed. After that, the children didn’t dare to think of escaping.
As half a year passed, the children became agile like wild animals, climbing mountains and scaling cliffs. Their eyes grew fierce, and their bodies became strong.
The food was good. Meals included chicken and pork. The only joy for the children was eating.
The training wasn’t entirely reckless. When some children overexerted themselves during strength training, trying to do well, they were beaten by the instructor.
“You’re still young, so overdoing strength training can hinder your growth. Just do as you’re told!”
The instructor who killed the child on the first day was named Jang. The instructors never revealed their names.
After the first day, Instructor Jang was rarely seen. He was the head of this mountain training center and mostly stayed in his office.
Once the shock of the massacre orchestrated by Instructor Jang subsided, and they realized he wouldn’t kill them intentionally, Won Seung’s fear faded, replaced by anger.
‘Do I really have to live like this for ten years? Do I have to spend my prime years rolling around like a dog?’
Having lived a comfortable life as the eldest son of the Won family, the thought of spending ten years in the mountains made his blood boil. But he didn’t show it.
The children who had lost their memories had come to accept the training as normal. Won Seung pretended to do the same. If the instructors or Instructor Jang noticed that he harbored a grudge, they would surely kill him.
After another half year, Won Seung adapted to life in the mountains. He had better development and basic physical strength than the other children, so he could consistently rank around the top ten in any training.
A year later, the training changed. A scholar appeared, carrying a writing brush, and began teaching them to read and write. When someone came from outside to teach, they were called a master instead of an instructor.
Won Seung, delighted to see writing after so long, read aloud, catching the attention of the writing master.
“You have a very talented mind. Your handwriting is excellent too.”
Most of the children didn’t know how to read, so despite trying to hide his skills, Won Seung stood out. Fortunately, the children didn’t place much importance on reading and writing, so they didn’t envy or resent him.
After studying in the morning, they practiced martial arts in the afternoon. The instructors seemed intent on teaching them all eighteen types of weapons, as they displayed a variety of weapons in the training ground and taught them in rotation.
After dinner, they practiced internal cultivation. Won Seung found the internal cultivation, which involved gathering and circulating energy through breathing, to be the most beneficial.
The Clear Mind Art, which was part of the internal cultivation, helped clear his mind and focus his thoughts.
Thanks to the Clear Mind Art, the anger that had been boiling inside Won Seung subsided a bit. However, while his outward expression of anger became calmer, the deep-seated resentment in his heart grew stronger.
When Won Seung marked two lines at the head of his bed to signify the second winter in the mountains, he realized he was now eight years old.
In that time, five more children had died, reducing their number to ninety-one.
‘If five die each year, forty will die over the next eight years. That doesn’t add up, does it?’
Even if forty more died, fifty would survive. Instructor Jang had said only about twenty would live.
‘That means the training will become even harsher, right?’