Zhayne’s breath caught in his throat. He stared, frozen, every instinct telling him to look away, but he couldn’t. His eyes darted to the clothing, and there it was: a shirt he knew. Recognition hit him like a punch to the chest. “Dan?” Zhayne’s voice trembled, barely above a whisper. Surprise, disbelief, and sorrow all painted his face. His heart ached at the realization.

  Victoria glanced at Zhayne, then gave a faint smile. “You made the right call, Ron,” she said, shifting her gaze to Ron ,she straighted up from her crouch.

  Leon stepped closer, positioning himself beside Zhayne. He supported Zhayne’s arm and swallowed hard. “How… how did it happen?” he asked.

  “We couldn’t tell yet,” Victoria replied, moving toward Ron. She snatched something from his hands and raised it: a pile of keys. She shook them.

  “BEFORE YOU ASK WHAT THEY’RE FOR, WE DON’T KNOW,” she said sharply, cutting off any questions. Leon opened his mouth, then closed it again.

  Zhayne’s eyes lingered on Dan’s corpse until something caught his attention. He tried to crouch, but his injury made it painful, forcing him to bend slowly, gritting his teeth. He sank to the floor as best he could and began searching Dan’s pockets. His fingers met something cold. Slowly, he pulled it out: a pile of black orbs.

  He picked one up and held it to the light. His eyes narrowed, half-closed in a focused, almost trance-like state.

  “What about this?” he murmured. Victoria and Ron rushed to him, drawn by the intensity in his gaze.

  Victoria snatched one orb from Zhayne’s hands and dropped it into Ron’s.

  Ron glanced at it carefully, then turned to Zhayne. “Give me the others,” he said, holding out his hands.

  Zhayne handed over the remaining orbs slowly, making sure there were no more left in Dan’s pockets.His eyes lingered on the featureless face, and a shiver ran down his spine. His stomach twisted, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from gagging.

  For a moment, he could no longer bear it and closed his eyes tightly, forcing himself to focus on the pockets instead of the blank.

  Ron placed his hands side by side , fingers brushing together as if arranging the orbs . He began whispering numbers, as if counting them. “No, it can’t be the password...,” he said, frowning and letting out a sigh.

  “Password? Didn’t you say it was a key?” Zhayne asked, reaching for Leon’s support to get up.

  Ron and Victoria exchanged a glance, then turned back to Zhayne, staying silent for a moment.

  Yes,” Victoria finally said. “The key is basically a three-number password.” She walked over and sat on the edge of the bunkbed, her face serious.

  Ron glanced at the orbs again, then turned to Zhayne. “There are twelve of them,” he said. “And the clues usually reveal one number at a time. That’s how we figure out the password.”

  “Well, the password isn’t what’s important right now…” Victoria said, crossing one leg over the other. She placed a paper with the number three written in red beside her and glanced at Dan’s face. “instead, i wonder which condition you broke,” she muttered.

  "What condit‐"Zhayne started, but a voice broke through. It was Clara calling Victoria.

  Victoria rushed up from the bed. Before she left, she whispered, her voice uneasy, "Don't let anyone find out"

  As Ron moved toward the door, Zhayne called after him. “Wait!,give me the orbs back.”seriousness on his face.

  Ron looked back, then silently handed them over.

  "Here. Keep them," Zhayne said, glancing at Leon. Leon nodded silently.

  They all returned to the stage, where Jayson’s mouth was open wide, the raw salmon about to drop in. He blinked hard, as if trying to imagine something else.

  Leon let go of Zhayne and rushed to him. "Have you gone mad?" he snapped, gritting his teeth as he snatched the food away.

  Jayson tried to snatch it back but couldn’t. He frowned at Leon, his voice cracking. “What do you expect me to do? I’m hungry!” he shouted, pointing a trembling hand at Leon’s face. “Give it back!” He lunged again but failed, his breath coming fast. “Give it!,or do you want me to die?!”

  Leon’s jaw tightened. “If I wanted you to die, I would’ve left you alone last time,” he snapped. He set the salmon pack on the table, eyes sharp. “And you’re not the only one starving here.”

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  Rafael lowered his mirror, his expression grim. “Jayson’s right… at this rate we’ll starve,” he muttered, glancing at the water.

  Zhayne limped toward them, gripping his side. “We won’t,” he said quietly. “We just need fire.”

  Vincent crossed his arms. “Where were you two?” he asked.

  Zhayne and Leon looked at each other, and spoke at the same time.

  “We were in the bathroom!”

  “We were in our room!”

  Vincent, Rafael, and Jayson looked at them, eyebrows raised and eyes shifting nervously, sharing a moment of awkward silence.before Clara called out for everyone to gather.

  Finally everyone gathered. “It’s 10 PM,” she said, glancing at her watch. “The day is almost over, we have two hours left. Time to split up and look around.”

  Victoria adjusted her glasses and offered a light smile. “We can divide into three teams. Ron, Leon, Zhayne, and I can go together, and the rest can split themselves however they like.”

  Saymon snapped, stepping closer, his eyes narrowing. “You choose the useful ones, and you want us to be your SCAPEGOATS!"

  Clara put her shoulder out to block him, but it wasn’t enough, until a man in hoodie appeared and intercepted him.

  “Ares! You’re alive? How?!” Saymon exclaimed, his face lighting up with gladness.. Ares looked at Saymon first, his expression unreadable, then shifted his gaze to Victoria before speaking.

  "Me, Clara, and Saymon will go together,” Ares said, his tone calm but decisive.

  “Sure,” Victoria said, nodding. “Then the rest of you can go together.”

  “But before we go, let’s share our share of food,” Ron suggested, glancing at Zhayne and his friends share.

  No. Why should we?” Rafael said, frowning and raising an eyebrow.

  “You have the most food,” Clara replied, tilting her head slightly.

  “That doesn’t justify it. Plus, we’re new here, unlike you,” Leon said, glancing directly at her, his tone sharp but controlled.

  Leon stepped closer to Clara, his gaze piercing. “Am I right?” he asked, his voice low and firm, leaving no room for argument.

  "yes, of course" Clara said, her voice cracking.

  “Me and Zhayne will go with our group,” he said without looking back. “Let’s go.”

  They started walking through the same corridor again, but this time there were no rooms or doors. The carpet was different too, purple instead of red.

  “Guys, how about we rest for a bit and eat something?” Jayson suggested, his eyes sparkling.

  “Not now, Jayson. Not now,” Vincent replied.

  Jayson’s face fell in disappointment, a small sigh escaping him.

  “There’s a door over there. Let’s check it out,” Rafael said, slipping his brush into his pocket.

  The door was purple, full of scratches. It was the only one there.

  “Before we go on, everyone prepare yourself… just in case,” Zhayne said, glancing at each of them.

  Five minutes passed.

  “Ready?!” Leon called out before opening the door.

  They all nodded, each with their own weapon: Zhayne with a wooden stick, Jayson with a spoon, Vincent with a plate—everyone except Rafael.

  “No, wait,” he said, grabbing his brush and fixing his hair.

  Jayson leaned close to Zhayne’s ear and muttered, “Is he going on a date with the monster?!"

  Zhayne chuckled quietly at his comment, shaking his head.

  Leon swung the door open quickly, and they all rushed in, on guard.

  It was dark inside. Jayson switched on a light, revealing a room painted in dark green and red. A bed with old, dark-red sheets sat against one wall.

  A large clown statue stood in the corner, its red hair wild, green nose bright, and eyes wide open, staring straight ahead.

  Against another wall was a wardrobe, half yellow and half red.

  The carpet had lines patterned across it, with a cow drawn in the middle and a rabbit perched nearby, watching.

  A bright red dressing table sat along one side, with a chair in front of it striped white and yellow, and a mirror frame on top, but the mirror itself was missing.

  The room’s light was dim, casting long, eerie shadows that made everything feel colder and more unsettling.

  "the person living here surely has a favourite colour" Rafael said, his eyes scanning the room.

  They all started examining different parts of the room. Zhayne turned the bed sheets upside down, but found nothing. The wardrobe was empty too.

  But Vincent froze as his hand brushed against something on the dressing table. “Guys… I think I found something,” he said, his voice low but excited.

  “Me too,” Jayson added, moving closer.

  They all gathered around Vincent, but Jayson held up his own discovery first, a balloon, stuffed into the clown statue’s wide-open mouth.

  Then it was Vincent’s turn , he found a pile of papers on the dressing table.

  Zhayne bent over the papers Vincent had found. But something was off…

  The sheets were covered in English letters, but they made no sense. The words were unreadable.

  Leon grabbed the papers from Zhayne, trying to make sense of them, but his brow furrowed in frustration. “It seems like the sentence is being repeated… but I can’t read it,” he muttered, his eyes narrowing.

  “Let me see,” Jayson said, snatching the papers. But before he even tried, he quickly handed them back.

  “You guys are trying so hard,” Rafael remarked, glancing at his mirror.

  Leon fell silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on something unseen. Jayson called his name, but there was no reply.

  Suddenly, Leon grabbed Rafael’s mirror and angled it toward the papers. The reflection revealed the words clearly:

  I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry...

  The words repeated endlessly, dozens and dozens of times, filling the dim room like a chant that pressed down on their chests, making the air feel heavy and suffocating.

  Leon froze, eyes wide with shock and fear. Small drops of blood had appeared on the papers, dark and glistening in the low light, making the repeated words even more horrifying.

  Leon let go of the papers instantly, his hands trembling at the sight of the blood.

  “Leon! Are you okay?!” Zhayne called, stepping closer.

  “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine,” he stammered, though his voice was shaky and uneven.

  Everyone’s eyes darted around nervously, the room suddenly feeling colder and smaller.

  Then—THUD! Something heavy fell just outside the room,Before anyone could react, a piercing, blood-curdling scream cut through the silence, echoing off the dark green and red walls.

  The group froze. Hearts hammering, each of them instinctively reached for their weapon, Zhayne tightened his grip on his wooden stick, Jayson clutched his spoon, Vincent raised his plate, and Rafael held his brush ready.