Chapter 5: Survival of the fittest

The squad was lined up against the wall, their bond growing stronger, as firm as a tightly tied knot. After everything they had been through—life-and-death situations—their determination to escape this hellish place burned brighter than ever.

"What do you think the next game will be?" Ali asked the squad.

"I think it'll be a survival-of-the-fittest game," Milan replied, raising a finger in emphasis.

"I wouldn't put it past these bastards," Ann said, glancing at Samuel, as if waiting for him to weigh in.

"Yeah, these people are lunatics—just like the guy back there," Samuel said calmly. "I just hope we're not pitted against each other."

"Hey, stop waving the death flags!" Ali interjected, causing Samuel to laugh.

"Sorry," Samuel said with a smirk. The others chuckled as well, momentarily easing the tension.

"Hey, guys, what do you think—" Ali couldn't finish the sentence as he noticed white gas coming out of the black spots in the walls.

"I guess it's time for the game," Ali said in a confident tone.

"Yeah, I'll see you on the other side, guys," Ann said as she let the smoke overwhelm her and put her in the embrace of sleep. The others quickly followed suit.

"They are so boring," the octopus-like being said in his lair, which was just a room with nothing but a couch and a TV in the middle. He was quite disappointed because they just let the thick white smoke overwhelm them.

"What game should we put them in?" the nurse asked, sitting on the couch while caressing the being's tentacles.

"Hmmm," the being murmured, stroking his tentacles in deep thought.

The nurse calmly waited, looking straight into his eyes. After a few moments, the being finally said, "Room C19."

The nurse laughed with joy, like a child eagerly awaiting a new toy. "That's the best game, my dear," she said.

"I'm the best, aren't I?" the octopus-like being replied, pulling her into his embrace.

In the moments that followed, they engaged in inappropriate activities.

Room C19 was a Forested like area filled with Predators,death traps,poisonus plants and other sorts of life threatening things.Essentially a place that nobody would want to approach

In an inconspicuous room, the supervisor sighed as he received the order to prepare the room for the incoming inhabitants.

"Chief, they can't be serious," a young man said in an enraged tone as he barged into his executive's office. Meanwhile, the supervisor, sitting in his chair, looked at him with a calm expression.

"It has to be done, Caster."

"But, sir, there's no way they'll survive the room! They're just a bunch of inexperienced kids—not a single one of them has any experience surviving in the wild."

"Caster! Are you not also an inexperienced kid yourself? Don't raise your voice in my presence. You have no right to speak for them. After all, we are nothing more than monsters who forsake people's lives just for the sake of a fun game."

"What if we report the monster to the Sword Association?" Caster said, his eyes filled with wrath, betraying his expression of melancholy.

"The Sword Association? They're just a bunch of old fogies. The only one who could stand up to that old monster is the president of the Association, but he's gone missing. Besides, that bastard has my family—and don't forget, he has your little brother held captive."The chief said

"How do we contact the president?" Caster asked, finally sitting down in the comfortable chair opposite the chief's desk.

"It's impossible to get any contact in or out of the facility," the chief replied, glancing at the windows of the room.

"I'm tired, Chief," Caster said, his voice heavy with exhaustion. "I want these games to end. I'll do anything if it means stopping this madness. People's lives are hanging on the shoulders of a being who shrugs so often, it feels like it could cause a volcanic eruption."

"How do we stop this game, Chief?" Caster asked, raising an eyebrow, as if finally expecting to hear a plan to end the madness.

Instead, what he got was this: "It's impossible to stop this game. That being is obviously not human. From what I've observed, its powers lean toward ecstasy and madness."

"Great, we have to fight against a god," Caster replied, his hands covering his face as if he were afraid to face what lay ahead.

"One thing I've noticed over the years," the chief said, "is that his biggest weakness is his attitude."

"But then there's his mistress," he added, "who protects him in his weakened state."

Caster's expression shifted, a flicker of hope lighting up his face. "So, do we kill her? She looks pretty human to me."

"That's the problem," the chief replied. "She is human—at least in disguise. She wears the bodies of humans. The one she's currently using belonged to a contestant from a previous game—a nurse, someone who helped almost anyone, whether they were human or animal.

And worst of all, she can teleport. Trying to catch her would be our demise. It would be a foolish mistake to go after her. The best approach to ending this game would be to find a way to contact the outside."

"Didn't you say it was impossible to contact the outside?" Caster asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"What I'm about to tell you must not leave this room. Do you understand, Caster?"

"Yes, Chief. I will never disclose the information said in this room," Caster replied, standing up straight, almost as if saluting—like he was back in the military.

The chief sighed deeply. "The place we're currently in is a pocket dimension. That means the only ones who can contact the outside are the mistress or the being."

But then, the chief raised a finger in exclamation. "However, there are sometimes strange holes—breaches in the dimension. Those are our best bet to contact the outside."

"How do these holes come about?" Caster asked.

"Well, from my assumption," the chief replied, "it's the power of the being weakening. Every time someone does something that, in the eyes of the being, is boring or doesn't impress him, his power falters for a while."

Caster, meanwhile, smirked in response.