Ten Chairs, Don't Hold Back!

Ace's stomach dropped.

There were only ten chairs left.

Mia muttered, "This game isn't stopping until there's only ten people, is it?"

Ace clenched his fists.

No. It wasn't.

And they had to win.

–––––––––––

The distorted melody played once more, but this time, it felt slower. More ominous. The game was reaching its final round, and everyone knew it.

Ace's legs moved on instinct, circling the remaining ten chairs with the other players. Only ten people would survive.

The tension in the air was suffocating.

Some of the remaining players looked like they were about to break. One girl wiped sweat from her forehead, her hands trembling. Another player—a muscular guy—kept shifting his eyes between the others, like he was ready to attack at any second.

Ace wasn't even sure if they were playing the game anymore or fighting for their lives. Nobody was dying they all needed to chill out.

Mia stayed close to him, her voice low. "We have to get those seats no matter what."

Ace nodded. "If anyone tries to pull something, don't hold back."

The music dragged on, taunting them. Ten chairs. Fifteen players.

Five people weren't going to make it.

Ace forced himself to focus. His mind raced, scanning the layout of the chairs. Positioning was everything. If he was too far away when the music stopped—

The music stopped.

Everything snapped into motion.

Ace lunged for the closest chair—

Someone shoved him. Hard.

He barely caught himself before he hit the ground. His eyes darted around. Chairs were filling fast.

Mia had already secured one, gripping the seat like her life depended on it.

Three chairs left.

A guy grabbed one—

Two left.

Ace locked onto an open chair and sprinted.

But so did someone else.

A desperate-looking man—probably in his early thirties—threw himself at the same chair. His face was pure panic, his hands reaching—

Ace had one chance.

At the last second, he kicked the chair's leg.

The chair tilted just enough to make the other guy stumble.

Ace took the seat.

The man hit the ground, scrambling to get up—but there were no chairs left.

The masked figure's voice returned.

[ROUND OVER. ELIMINATED PLAYERS WILL BE REMOVED.]

A horrific screeching noise filled the air.

The five standing players screamed as black chains shot up from the ground, wrapping around their bodies.

One by one, they were yanked downward into the abyss.

Then—silence.

Ace sat completely still, his heart pounding out of his chest. His hands trembled as he gripped the chair beneath him.

Mia exhaled shakily beside him. "We made it…"

They both looked around.

Only ten players remained.

The masked figure's voice echoed across the arena:

[CONGRATULATIONS, PLAYERS. YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE FIRST CHALLENGE]

The arena fell into a thick silence as the next horrifying twist unfolded.

Ace's stomach twisted when a massive screen descended from the ceiling, lighting up the entire space. It flashed with bright, garish colors, then displayed images—real, human figures.

The faces of the players who had been eliminated, their expressions frozen, their bodies contorted in ways that made them seem unnatural. The ones who had failed. The ones who had been pulled away by the chains or vanished into the abyss.

Ace felt his breath catch.

The first face that appeared on the screen was a girl who had stumbled earlier, the one who didn't make it to a chair. Her eyes were wide, her body suspended as if caught mid-air. Her expression was locked in a silent scream.

Another body followed—this one a young guy, no older than Ace. His body was bent in awkward, unnatural positions, like something had broken before he disappeared. The look on his face was one of raw fear.

One by one, the bodies of the fallen flashed before them. Every new face was a chilling reminder of what awaited them if they didn't win. These weren't avatars or programmed characters. These were real people, playing the game, hoping to survive, just like them.

Ace felt a knot in his stomach tighten with each new image. He wasn't sure whether he could take any more of it, but the screen kept showing more faces. The last one to appear was the muscular player who had been eliminated in the earlier rounds—his face pale, his body oddly still.

The horrifying images finally ended with a cold message:

[YOU HAVE ENTERED A GAME WHERE FAILURE HAS CONSEQUENCES. YOUR ONLY CHANCE IS TO WIN AS YOU HAVE BEEN DOING BEFORE.]

Ace's heart pounded. This wasn't just some cruel game or beta testing. This was real.

He wanted to shout, to rage against it all, but the reality set in. They were trapped. And the others… there was no guarantee anyone else would make it.

Mia's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "We… we need to get out of here." Her voice trembled as she glanced around nervously.

Ace could feel the tension rising among the remaining players. No one could trust anyone else. No one was safe.

The voice returned, echoing across the arena:

[THIS IS THE TRIAL STAGE, THE NEXT GAME WILL COMMENCE TOMORROW.]

The eerie silence lingered in the air after the chilling revelation. The screen with the faces of the fallen players flickered off, and the arena began to shift once again. Ace felt the ground beneath him tremble, and before he could fully grasp what was happening, the space around them began to dissolve—everything warping and distorting like a bad dream.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, and the players found themselves transported to a completely different place. The atmosphere was a sharp contrast to the cold, menacing arena.

They were standing in the middle of a bright, sterile cafeteria. The walls were white, with overhead lights casting a warm glow on the tables and food stations that lined the room. Large trays of food—steaming plates of pasta, grilled meats, and vibrant salads—were laid out on the counters.

Some of the players blinked in confusion, others looked around cautiously. It was hard to tell if this was a breath of relief or another trap.

Ace looked over at Mia, who was staring at the spread of food with wide eyes.

"Is this real?" she whispered, her voice tight.

"I don't know," Ace said, shaking his head. "It feels too... normal, doesn't it?"

Despite the earlier tension, the sight of food and the soft hum of the cafeteria made the whole situation feel disorienting. Players slowly started walking toward the trays, hesitating but giving in to their hunger.

Ace glanced around. Everyone was in a similar state—nervous, hungry, and still reeling from the terror of what they'd just witnessed. They sat at the long cafeteria tables, some trying to make small talk, others too shaken to speak. The contrast between the deadly game they had just been a part of and the strange normalcy of this place was dizzying.

A few people picked at their food, some talking in low voices, trying to process the shock.

Ace couldn't shake the images of the eliminated players, their faces frozen in fear. Could they really relax? Was this food safe? Or was it another piece of the twisted game?

Mia broke the silence. "How do we even process this? This game… it's not like anything we've ever seen before."

Ace glanced at the players around them, then back at Mia. "I don't think we can process it. We just have to keep moving, keep playing, and hope we can survive whatever happens next."

The cafeteria doors suddenly slammed shut with a loud clang, and everyone went still. The warm lights above flickered for a moment, then stabilized. The food on the tables remained untouched for a moment as tension returned to the room.

A new message appeared on the screen above the cafeteria entrance.

[YOU HAVE HOURS TO REST AND REPLENISH YOUR STRENGTH. THE NEXT GAME WILL BEGIN TOMORROW.]

A wave of mixed reactions swept through the room. Some people sighed in relief, while others couldn't shake the feeling that this was another psychological trick.

Ace's eyes narrowed. Few hours at best. That was it. They wouldn't be allowed to relax for long. They had to stay sharp. Because tomorrow, the game would resume, and it wouldn't be any easier.

Mia set her tray down, her fingers tightly clutching the edge of the table. "I don't trust this. But I don't think we have a choice."

Ace nodded, his eyes scanning the cafeteria. Everyone had settled into their spots.

'Maybe some of them were just frozen in place and the others injured from the impact of that fall or this is just some high-end VR game.' Ace tried to soothe himself that the game was just too realistic and people were not actually dead.

Tomorrow, they would face the next challenge. And only a few would survive.