[1 day 50 minutes 20 secs]
[Labyrinth Depth: 25%]
The corridor narrowed into a closer space.
The walls pressed tighter on their shoulders, rough stone scraping sleeves and skin whenever someone breathed too close to the side.
Their footsteps sounded sharper here, bouncing off the cramped passage in quick, uneven echoes. Even Kei's boots seemed to land louder, faster, and more frantic to pick up whatever the adults left behind for an easy loot.
The girl with braids behind him tugged her fingers together and whispered, "Kei… shouldn't we try to meet up with the adults? I- I think we're lost. Maybe they—"
Kei stopped walking.
His shoulders stiffened, slightly twitching but he tried to hide it. His jaw shifted to one side, grinding. When he answered, his voice came out strained, pressed through clenched teeth.
"They won't help us. So shut it and follow me like you've always done."
He took a step forward, his pace faster now as he gritted his teeth in annoyance, hands twitching at his sides.
The girl flinched, looking back to her peers before swallowing tight… until a sharp scream tore through the path above them. Everyone flinched except Fèi Míng, who only lifted his head slightly, watching dust shake loose and drift down their heads.
The Runic board flickered into view in front of them.
[Current Players: 27]
Thud!!!
[Current Players: 25]
"AARGHHHHH!!!"
Helena flinched behind Fèi Míng. "Someone screamed." She turned to Kei. "Kei, that's a grown man screaming. We have to turn—"
"I KNOW—!!!"
Then a heavy metallic crash hammered through the walls, the sound rolling down the ground.
One of the girls clamped both hands over her ears. Another instinctively grabbed Kei's sleeve.
[Current Players: 24]
[Current Players: 23.]
A new line appeared beneath it.
[Gluttony Detected!]
[Penalty Applied: Time Reduction.]
[Time Remaining: 10 hours.]
Kei's breath hitched. His eyes widened, then flickered left and right too quickly. He forced a smile — a stretched, trembling crooked discomforting smile that did no justice to the situation.
"It's— it's fine," he said, voice jumping. "Ten hours is… enough. We just need to move. Keep moving. Don't stop. Don't look back."
"What about the plan?!"
"Fuck it— DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!!"
"B-but wh-what do we do now? The time just—"
"There's a beast— "
"Kei, you told us you're the strongest. And we allowed you to take the biggest share because—"
The other girl broke into sobs. "I don't wanna die!!"
The noise closed in around him.
Kei's breathing sped up. His hands shook. He dragged his fingers across his forehead, pushing sweat away, smearing it to the side.
He tried to laugh, but failed instantly.
More questions rose. More hands grabbed at him, and someone tugged his sleeve again. Someone else tried to look over his shoulder toward the end of the corridor.
Kei snapped.
"ENOUGH!"
His voice slammed through the narrow space, the echo bouncing off their ears. And everyone went silent.
Kei took a step forward, trying to regain control, but his foot met something soft.
A wet sickening… Crunch.
He froze. Slowly, he lifted his boot. A dark smear clung to the sole. Beneath it, a severed head rested sideways on the floor, one brown eye opened too wide, the beard soaked in blood, and the jagged length of spinal cord was still attached to the head.
The head rolled once, as it bumped lightly against Kei's other foot, and stopped.
A head?
"AAHHHHH!!!"
"Run. Run!"
They turned back, running as fast as they could. Their feet pounding the ground in unison as they desperately sought escape.
Kei grunted. He shoved his way to the front, his steps uneven, stumbling at first then picking up into a frantic sprint.
"F-Follow me! This way— t-this way!" His voice cracked, as the corridor opened into a wider junction.
[Labyrinth Depth: 50%]
A few kids gasped in relief, lifting their heads as if salvation had just kissed their foreheads.
"We're close— we're close, right?"
"Fifty percent— does that mean an exit?!"
"We can live— we can—"
As they reached an open clear space in the labyrinth, the stone under their feet gave a short vibration, like the floors they stepped on were slightly off.
Helena looked down.
"Wait!" Her palm shot out, halting the line. "Don't step! Look— look at the floor."
Everyone froze. Before them was a stretch of stone tiles—same shape, but some, a shade lighter. The edges lifted just slightly, barely the thickness of a fingernail, the dust gathered strangely around the seams
"That's a trap," Helena whispered. Her voice trembled. "It's— it's obvious. Look at the difference in color. And the spacing of tiles is— we can't step there. We need to… we need to find another path. It's like another puzzle—"
"There is no other path," Kei hissed.
He clenched his jaw, sweat dripped down his chin, landing dark against the stone. He glanced backward. Something rumbled far off, a deep dragging scrape that traveled through the ground and crawled into their bones.
"W-we can't go back!" Kei said. "We're going. Move."
"No— Kei, listen to me—"
"—THERE'S A MONSTER BEHIND US!"
He grabbed the girl with braids by the wrist.
Her eyes widened. "Kei? Kei— what are you—? Kei, NO. NO NO NO NO—!"
He shoved her forward.
"NO!"
The tile dropped, shifting, as the floor split open with a metallic thud, and a forest of thin, shining blades shot upward. They tore through her clothes, munching down her skin.
It was too fast for her to scream fully.
A sound escaped her throat anyway. A wet, choking, bubbling cry. "Help—"
Her blood sprayed against the nearest kids. Someone gagged. Someone else staggered and slipped on it.
Fèi Míng's breath softly hitched. It wasn't panic, but something warmer. Something rising from the back of his throat like a long, pleasant exhale.
Euphoria crawled beneath his skin, slow as syrup.
He didn't like the randomness of it. He didn't like the lack of control.
But the sight…
…the sight was beautiful.
The blades retracted, dragging what was left of her down with them. A single braid caught on an edge, twitching once before vanishing.
Everyone stood frozen.
Kei stepped over the blood-slicked stone as if it was nothing. His boot smeared a streak across the ground.
"What?" His voice was cold, horribly practical. "She bought us time."
[Current Players: 22.]
That broke Helena.
She shoved him hard in the chest.
"Are you insane?! I told you it was a trap!" Her voice cracked into something raw. "I TOLD YOU! Why would you do that?! Why? Kei— she was— she— you— you threw her—!"
Kei stood his ground. He just stared at her, pupils blown wide.
"Jaa. What an asshole. I saved us." He rolled his eyes. "Would you rather we all die? Someone had to go first. Someone had to check it. That's the rule here. You know it. They know it."
He jerked his chin toward the others.
None of them spoke. None opposed him. Their faces were pale, trembling… but their eyes avoided the blood.
Survival narrowed them into something small and ugly.
Helena stared at them, disbelief widening her expression into horror.
"Don't do this ever again," she whispered. "If I could leave now, I would." She bit her lips. But survival matters.
Kei smiled back at her. "I took us 50% deep into the labyrinth. Sure, not everyone would make it alive. But you want to live, don't you?" He turned to Rhys. "Isn't that right, Rhys?"
Rhys stood frozen at the sight of the gore. The dead girl's blood was mostly splattered on him. He tried cleaning them off but it smeared on his face.
His eyes shot up to Kei. Then slowly, he glanced back at Fèi Míng, who only slightly lowered his gaze that inconveniently landed on his pocket knife.
Rhys bobbed his head. "Yes."
"See, even the sticker-boy agrees. Now, follow me, before the trap sets off again."
Nevertheless, they followed him, stepping over the blood on the ground and moving forward one-way in the labyrinth.
Fèi Míng drifted toward Rhys—close enough that the younger boy flinched without meaning to.
Fèi Míng tilted his head. "Do you know her?" he asked.
Rhys shook his head. "No."
That was a lie.
Fèi Míng let a small breath escape, almost like sympathy. "I pitied her," he murmured. "Shame I can't fight back. What can any of us do, friend?"
Rhys looked like he swallowed a nail.
Kei's voice cracked the moment apart. He stomped his foot on the ground.
"You." He jabbed a finger at Fèi Míng, eyes wild. "What the hell are you doing with him?"
"I was just—"
"I took your weak ass in," Kei snapped, spit flying, "and you talk shit behind my back like I can't hear shit?! Get over here."
Fèi Míng nodded, stepping over. Barely any change in his expression, till he was face-to-face with Kei.
Kei dragged him to another trap embedded in the floor—this one wasn't subtle like the braided girl's. The stone here glowed green as sharp metal prongs ringed the center, and a narrow slit ran across the floor. Something growled inside.
Maybe a beast. Fèi Míng thought.
Kei pointed at it. "Jump."
Fèi Míng stiffened. He took a step back. Eyes wide.
"Why would I—no. No!"
Helena tried shoving Kei off. "Kei, stop, he's not—"
But hands clamped around her wrists and shoulders, dragging her back. The others held her easily, their own panic making them cruel. Only Rhys remained quiet. He stared at the trap, breathing too fast. His skin going grey from fear.
There was a single path to follow, and looking further, at the fair end of a turn, a single ray of light peeked through.
[Labyrinth depth: 70%]
They were close. Close enough to finally win. And to run away from whatever chewed the adult's head off.
[Time Remaining: 3 hours.]
Already? That much time had passed?
Kei shoved Fèi Míng forward, harder this time. "We need time! Just set it off and—"
Behind, Rhys bit his lips so hard, it drew blood. His hand hovered around his pocket knife. I… I don't want anyone dying—i don't want him… I don't want to be useless—
Kei tried pushing Fèi Míng again. "JUMP, DAMN IT!!!"
Something snapped in Rhys.
"NO!"
He exploded forward, screaming so loudly it tore raw at his throat. He slammed into Kei, tackling him sideways. The shove sent one of the boys stumbling—his heel skidded on the blood-slick floor—and he slipped straight into the trap.
A violent metallic CHNK erupted as the stone split open and a cluster of jagged claws shot upward, snapping shut with wet force.
Kei stared at the blood spraying his boots, wide-eyed, frozen. "ARIES!"
Rhys still tackled him to the ground. "Get off ME!" Kei thrashed around.
"No-no! I won't let you continue killing people!"
He ripped the knife from his pocket, hand shaking, and stabbed it into Kei's shoulder with a ragged, feral yell.
He turned to Fèi Míng, breathing sharply as Kei struggled under him. "Run… I'll hold him off. Just go!"
Fèi Míng stared at the young boy. I never calculated him dying like this. Just like before. Did I calculate wrong, again?
His pupils dilated. Actually… this is better.