As Butterfly Claw's laughter spilled from her lips, I was being swept away in the vortex of my emotions.
The white-suited attendants unlocked the compartments where the cards were placed, circling the dancing Butterfly Claw, and presented the cards.
Eliminated Balls List
Ayaz: 2 and 3
Kale: 2 and 1
Ayaz had inserted balls number 2 and 3, but those were also the numbers he eliminated. Kale had inserted balls 2 and 1, and likewise eliminated the ones he had chosen. Both had lost in the second round, according to the All or Nothing rule. Now, the move that would decide fate belonged to me.
Butterfly Claw continued her dance as she moved away. The spectators stared at her as if under a spell. Her steps and body moved in perfect ceremonial grace.
Everyone was impatient to see my move.
Under normal circumstances, Ayaz had already lost, since the second round came into play due to the tie. Kale had scored 5 points, Ayaz 3; Kale had 2 points more and was the absolute victor. But Butterfly Claw, as if to show that victory wasn't absolute, had entered through the door and wanted to change everything—just like the day I met her during that dreadful time in my life.
I descended from the podium and walked toward the raised platform. When Butterfly Claw fluttered her wings and arrived at the center of the stage, the white-suited attendants brought her observer's chair. She immediately crossed her legs and sat down with the breeze dancing through her swaying yellow hair.
I felt like collapsing. I wanted full control over the golf club. The more I overthought, the more I would err—I knew it. Sometimes, all you needed to do was let the wheel of fate spin. I thought once more. Kale must not win. I had to send the ball beyond 5, even if it was far. That way, fate would be rewritten just as Butterfly Claw desired.
The hall was filled with the Butterfly Ceremony. It was Butterfly Claw's music. Even the melodies were familiar. The scent of wind from rose gardens filled the air. I took a deep breath and reached for the club the white-suited attendants had brought for me. Your golf club is the other name of your fate, so players never use the same one. I got into position within seconds. The club in my hand was neither too tight, nor too loose.
Since I was right-handed, my left hand was on top, thumb pointing downward. My hands were joined as if gripping the hilt of a sword. Feeling more comfortable, I allowed my fingers to overlap.
The sounds were echoing.
A scream pierced my ears, coming from the spectators behind the stage. They were stunned.
I didn't allow myself to be distracted.
My knees were slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart. Even the rhythm of the music was in sync with me.
The club's face was aligned directly with the target. I decided to strike the ball dead center. The face of the club stared straight ahead. I launched in a single motion, channeling the power in my legs with control. The ball lifted off the ground and spun through the air. My body balanced itself. As I looked toward the blurry distance, the ball was near hole number 3. It moved forward. I held my breath. Hole 4. It bounced off. I had to push the dice a bit harder. Hole 5. It slowed down. Come on, pass Kale. Pass him. You can't let him become the chairman of this council.
If Kale became chairman, I would forever live in his shadow. And under the new rules. The spirit of everything here would change—even the objects. I would become a pawn in a game I lost with my own hands. I would blame myself for the rest of my life.
When the ball dropped into hole number 5, I was stunned.
As I leaned forward breathlessly with the club, I sensed Butterfly Claw stirring in her seat. Her shadow shifted.
"My favorite," she said. "The game ends in a tie and fate flows into a new path. I shall add a new rule." Her favorite thing was adding new rules. Everyone here knew her by that nickname: The Rule Adder. She was like a traffic cop issuing penalties for those who tie.
Kale's gaze was furious, Ayaz's appeared calm. Yet I was certain both were filled with rage. Not because of my shot—but because they had tied with each other. That's how it would seem to them. There was no other explanation in their eyes.
They couldn't stomach sharing the same fate.
"But this game," said Butterfly Claw with a blank expression, "isn't it starting to get boring? No one is winning. How can you simply leave everything to fate like that? Don't you believe in the hole you aimed for? Then why send the ball to that hole? Like buying a lottery ticket without thinking... Even when eliminating possibilities, weren't you declaring war on fate in the same way?" She lowered her gaze and deliberately dropped her shoulders. "Hm? Or have you all lost your sense of distance?" She rose from her chair and walked in circles around Kale and Ayaz. "How painful! When what you really should be doing..." She looked toward the golf club in Kale's hand. "...is not trying to defeat each other, but trying to act in a way that suits yourselves." Her gaze was filled with disgust.
Butterfly Claw took the golf club from Kale's hand and looked at them both with a feral expression.
"What kind of game is this? Or is it because you haven't wagered your lives that you play so terribly? Must we play Russian Roulette then? Actually, yes..." She licked her lips and gave a meaningful grin.
"Then let Golf Roulette begin. If that's the only way you'll take the game seriously."
Someone in the audience leapt to their feet in fear. The sweat on their forehead glistened under the reflected light."This is madness!" they said, trembling with terror.
Everyone here was afraid of Butterfly Claw, because she was the spirit of everything.
The others watched her fate unfold in horror.
How could he even dare to utter those words?
"How can you say that? Could the cost of losing really be death?"
Butterfly Claw slowly turned her back, directing her gaze toward the voice that came from behind the stage. She simply listened and smiled slowly. I couldn't even hear her breathing."You exaggerate life far too much," she said with disdain. "Yet killing a bug is no problem for you, is it?"
"The winner may target a lethal blow at the spot the other chooses."
Ayaz clenched his fingers into his palm, while Kale's gaze remained as sharp as ever.
Golf roulette? The winner aims at the other's nape with a golf club, and the right to kill is independent of the responsibility to kill.
I stood where I was, swallowing heavily, breathless. The fourth stage was about to begin.
Butterfly Claw spun around with the golf club."Let the Gamble of the Named Ones begin!"
The lights went out instantly.
I was left alone with the sound of my heartbeat.
The dice of fate had been cast from both of their hands.
I recalled the time in elementary school when I killed a fly that was freely soaring through the air. It had committed no crime other than flying and discovering the world. When its corpse fell from between my hands like a faint silhouette, I had carried on with life as though nothing had happened. Butterfly Claw was right. She had no fear of exposing human hypocrisy. And she had no mercy for those who did fear it. That was her identity. Points were everything to her. Identity. War. And finally, the right to possess everything. The right to swing the sword, the right to pull the trigger.
Butterfly Claw was a claw struck at the sanctity of life.
Perhaps life wasn't sacred after all.Maybe we were the ones who made it sacred.