After walking for what felt like half an hour, the tunnel finally began to slope upward.
Fresh air, thin, bitter, but real—brushed against my face.
An exit.
My legs were trembling by the time we reached it. I helped Mr. Koroma sit against the wall in a small corner where the shadows were thickest.
"Stay here," I whispered. "I'll check if it's safe."
"Hendry—" he grabbed my wrist weakly. "I'm coming with you."
Before he could stand, I pulled free and ran.
"Hendry!" he called after me.
I didn't turn back.
I stood in front of the door, staring at it like it was alive.
My hands shook.
I wished—God, I wished this was a nightmare. That I would wake up in my bed, late for school, with my brother yelling from the next room.
But I had seen what they did.
To Marco.
To the others.
To my teacher.
And all I had left were questions.
Why?
Why schools? Why children?
Who were Mr. Anderson and his team?
What did they want?
What was this island?
My grip tightened around the doorknob.
One thing was certain.
I would never forgive them.
Not for Mr. Jones.
Not for Amily.
Not for my classmates.
Not for my brother.
Fear burned away, replaced by rage and hate.
"They most died," I whispered. "All of them."
With a twist, the lock clicked open.
Behind the door were stairs leading up.
Each step felt heavier than the last, and when i reached the final door, I pressed my ear against it.
Silence.
Too quiet.
Then—a scream. It was Rose!
"Rose!"
I tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge.
"Rose! Answer me!"
No response.
I slammed my shoulder into it again and again, panic tearing through my chest.
"Hold on! I'm coming!"
My eyes darted around wildly.
That's when i saw a rusted axe, abandoned in the corner.
I grabbed it and swung.
The wood was thick. My arms screamed in protest. Splinters flew, but the door resisted.
I didn't stop.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until finally the door broke.
I shoved my head through the opening to see and— i dropped the axe.
The sky was red.
Not sunset-red. Not fire-red.
But blood-red.
Heat slammed into my lungs like a fist, burning my throat. I stepped outside, barely breathing.
The green lush fields were gone.
In their place—ruin. Bodies everywhere.
Townsfolk. Scientists. Shapes so broken I couldn't tell what they used to be. A man ran past me screaming, his body engulfed in flames.
"What…?" was all I could say.
I looked around, i saw no one.
There were no survivors, not even animals.
Then I heard Rose again.
I ran.
"Rose! It's me—Hendry!"
The closer I got, the worse the air felt. Thick. Wrong. I felt so unease.
But why?
When i reached a clearing, that's were i knew the cause of my uneasiness.
I saw it.
It swallowed the sky.
Blackness, spreading, growing—red dots blinking within it like stars around.
Then the dots opened revealing teeth.
Some human. Some… not.
"Help… help me… world..world"
The voices weren't Rose's anymore.
They sounded human before.
Now I couldn't tell.
I stood there, watching as it blotted out the moon.
Then laughter echoed behind me.
I turned.
Mr. Anderson stood there—armless, soaked in blood, smiling like a child on Christmas morning.
"It's alive!" he screamed. "IT'S ALIVE!"
I didn't know what he was talking about.
Then, darkness shifted and the red dots closed.
And then—an eye formed.
Huge. Crimson.
It looked at me.
"It's here! It's here!" Mr. Anderson laughed as the darkness expanded consumed him.
The eye moved closer.
The ground cracked beneath it.
I wanted to run, but my body refused.
Not because I was afraid—but because something about it felt… familiar.
That terrified me more than anything.
Had I seen this before?
No, that's impossible.
I will never forget something like this.
The eye stopped inches from me, still staring.
And i…. smiled.
I don't know why. I really don't.
I saw something move inside it, it resembled a human, it was trying to reach out to me.
I reached out too and— the world exploded.
A bomb tore through the air, throwing me back into a tree. My vision blurred. Blood poured into one eye.
Helicopters roared overhead, missiles struck the thing.
It began to back away.
Before i could register what was going on, arms wrapped around me.
I looked up.
It was Mr. Koroma.
Rose was unconscious on his other shoulder.
"Teacher…" I whispered.
"Don't talk," he said. "We're leaving."
He ran.
He told me the others had reached the shore with some of the town survivors. There were boats was waiting us.
I was relief, we can now escape.
But then, i look back that that thing— my heart dropped.
It was looking at us, at me.
It didn't seem affected by the missiles at all.
Then it let out a deafening roared.
The sound ripped through me. My ears bled.
Teacher gritted his teeth and refused to stop running.
We were almost there. I could see the boats.
But then, the island shook.
And split open.
Everything fell. Trees. Buildings. Bodies.
We fell too.
Mr. Koroma held us tight as the abyss swallowed us.
Through the darkness, I saw the eye watching me.
Watching us as we fall.
Then— something came out of it.
A black light.
It passed through my teacher's chest.
I felt warmth.
Blood.
"t- teacher…?" there was no response.
The darkness swallowed us.
Then nothing.
Absolutely, nothing.
Stream Commentary; Tape #60-66. "The Best Teacher "
(The stream cuts back in. The chat counter is already ticking too fast)
Kai leans back in his chair…. Then suddenly laughs.
"Ha…hahaha"
"yeah, I'll say it before you do."
"this might be the longest story we've had here yet"
"And yet— we are not even half yet into it"
(Chat immediately starts flooding)
[@Ovesix: that was…. Absolutely cinematic. I'm not exaggerating. The pacing. The slow burn. The symbolism…]
[@Jaija: Wait— bro what do you mean the end?! What happened to Mr Koroma?! Is he alive?! Kai answer me right now!!]
[@642: Hahahahaa, no way. No way you end it there. Black light? The eye? The island collapsing? This is peak]
[@Enchomay: The title "The Best Teacher " it was about sacrifice, isn't it?]
"...Good. At least one of you is paying attention "
[@Jaija: Don'tjust ignore me, IS HE ALIVE?! please let him be. He really is the best teacher i have ever seen, sob]
[@Ovesix: He truly is, he sacrifices himself so many times, broken bones, punched organs, blood loss. And yet he still stood… i have never seen anything like it]
"you really want the next part?"
(Chat floods with YES/ MORE/ NOW/ PLEASE)
Kai smiles then said nothing.
[@Jaija: …..there isn't one, is there?]
Kai's just smiles and didn't respond.
[@642: This man….]
[@Jaija: You did the same in "The Basement That Speaks" Why Kai? What have i done wrong? I trusted you. I always defended you online]
[@Ovesix: you ended it on purpose]
Kai folds him arms, " of course i did"
[@Jaija: you monster..]
[@Enchomay: so we're supposed to sit with this? With not knowing?]
Kai nods, " Now you're getting it"
[@Jaija: Wait— wait, so the "Best Teacher" wasn't Mr Koroma?How?]
Kai taps his fingers on the table,
"Who taught Hendry how to survive?"
[@Ovesix:….. Trauma]
"Who taught him guilt?"
[@Enchomay: his brother]
"And who taught him love?"
(Typing slows)
[@Jaija….. Mr Koroma]
"And you taught him hate?"
(No one answers)
Kai smirks, " The island didn't create the monster, they revealed it
[@642: Okay, but what was the eye? Alien? God? Experiment?]
Kai was silent for a moment, " what watches children suffer…. And waits for consent?"
[@Ovesix: …..society]
"What feeds on grief?"
[@Enchomay: That's… human curiosity]
"And what did Mr Anderson call it?"
[@Jaija: "It's alive"]
"Exactly " Kai shifted his body, "Here's a question for all of you"
"If a teacher dies protecting students….but the world never learn why…
Did the teacher fail?
Or did the world?"
(The chat goes silent)
Kai scoffed.
[@Enchomay: But why the children?]
[@642: They are the easiest, of course ]
[@Jaija: it's sad but true]
[@Ovesix: indeed, and Hendry let his brother become one of the victims ]
[@Jaija: But— he didn't mean to!Hedidn'tknow]
[@642: Haaa, i need more of his story, i know it will be thrilling to listen]
[@Jaija: You Sadist!!]
[@Ovesix: Those researchers, they were using children as experiment ]
[@642: Well, younger body, faster result]
[@Enchomay: Or, they were feeding something with them, Maybe that barkness?]
[@Jaija: True!! I wonder what for]
[@Enchomay: Kai, i have a question ]
"go ahead"
[@Enchomay: The familiarity that Hendry felt. That part doesn't sit right with me]
"Good. It's not supposed to"
[@Enchomay: Those that mean they have meet before?]
Kai thought for a moment, "Yes…. And no"
"This is the only hint i will give you, the rest is up to your imaginations"
[@Enchomay: i see]
[@Jaija: Bruh, that's NOT a hint]
[@642: Do you guys think he will talk if we choke him?]
"Alright guys, it's getting a little late " Kai stretches his hands.
"i know we didn't really finish the story, but i will like to give you a little symbolism of it"
"The moral is simple, even if the story wasn't.
When a society values progress, curiosity, and "results" more than people—especially children—it stops calling its crimes cruelty and starts calling them research.
The island wasn't evil by itself. It was a mirror. The eye didn't judge humanity; it studied it, because humanity volunteered itself willingly.
Mr. Koroma is the symbol of what we lose first: teachers, protectors, the ones who choose responsibility over survival.
And Hendry? He's what happens when innocence survives trauma—alive, breathing, but permanently marked.
So if you want the real horror—it's not the monster in the sky.
It's the fact that somewhere, right now, someone would call this necessary."
"i know most of you wouldn't still get it but you can take you time with it, there's no need to rush it"
[@Jaija: But Kai, will we ever know what happened to them?]
Kai gave a thoughtful smile, "yes… i think we will"
"Alright. That's enough truth for one night."
(he stands up; the chair creaks softly)
The next and final story of this season
"I SEE NO EVIL."
"...And neither did you"
"Good night "
STREAM ENDS