Chapter 9: The Illusion

The survivors arrive at Northwood Medical center, but it's warped and eerie–hallways stretch endlessly, doors appear and disappear, and the lights flicker unpredictably, it buzzes like dying insects. They exchanged uneasy glances. It was familiar to Zack, but this version was something out of a nightmare. 

The system's voice still echoed in his mind. A chilling announcement:

[Welcome to the Second Trial: The Illusion]

[The Trial will commence in 10 minutes.]

Zack took a slow breath, his gaze scanning the distorted halls of Northwood Medical Center. The place he once knew, the sterile white walls, the neatly labeled doors, the comforting hum of medical machines. All of it was gone. In its place was something twisted.

The corridors stretched into impossible distances, flickering between familiarity and something unrecognizable. Doors appeared and vanished, and the overhead lights pulsed as though the building itself were alive. The air smelled of disinfectant and decay, a mix of the real and the unreal.

Zack clenched his fists, steadying his breath. His heart pounded, but he forced himself to speak before fear could take root in the group.

"I was a doctor here."

The others turned toward him, their faces a mix of surprise and expectation.

"You're a doctor? and You worked here?" Jake asked, eyes narrowing.

Zack nodded. "For years. I know this hospital. Or at least, I did before the System twisted it."

Ellie glanced around warily. "So that means you know the layout?"

Zack hesitated. "I did. But look at it." He gestured toward a stairwell that led nowhere, ending abruptly in a dead void. "This place isn't following the rules of reality anymore. My knowledge might help, but we can't trust what we see."

Carter exhaled sharply. "Great. So we're in a death trap, and our only guide has a broken map."

Zack ignored his sarcasm. "There are still some things I do know. If this place still follows even a fraction of its original layout, the main entrance leads to the ER, and beyond that are the ICU and operating rooms." He pointed to the left hallway. "That should be the way, but there's no telling what's changed."

Jake crossed his arms. "So what's the plan?"

Zack looked at the flickering countdown on the ceiling. Nine minutes left.

8:59…8:58…8:57…

"We need to stay together, first of all. If this trial is called 'The Illusion,' then it's going to try to trick us. We can't trust our eyes. We have to rely on logic and each other."

A chilling click echoed through the air. The doors lining the halls unlocked all at once, creaking open as if inviting them in.

Ellie shuddered. "I don't like this."

Mark stepped closer to her, his expression hardening. "Me neither."

[The Trial will commence in 5 minutes.]

The tension in the air was thick. The hospital shifted, the walls seeming to breathe in anticipation.

Ambrose, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "If this trial is built on illusions, we need a way to confirm reality." His golden eyes flickered as he observed the surroundings. "Something consistent. Something that won't change."

Zack considered that. "Vitals. If we see something strange, check the person next to you. Feel their pulse, check their breathing. No illusion can replicate a heartbeat."

Arya scoffed. "You want us to check pulses every time something seems off? That's not exactly practical."

"It's better than blindly trusting what we see," Zack shot back.

Before anyone could argue further, a loud metallic groan shook the hospital. The walls shuddered, and the lights flickered violently. The tension is palpable...And then...

[Trial Two Commencing: The Illusion]

[Objective: Survive until the trial ends.]

[The doors ahead have unlocked. Each door leads to a different "room."]

[The system will determine your partner.]

[Your goal is to find the one true exit before time runs out.]

[Each door leads to a different reality. Some are safe. Some are deadly. Choose carefully.]

[If your partner dies, you will bear the consequences.]

[You have two minutes to enter. Failing to comply will result in immediate termination.]

[Pairing initiated:]

[Zack Martin, Arya Smith, Jake Sanchez]

[Ellie Cooper, Mark Evans]

[Carter Allister, Ambrose Vail]

Jake quickly grabbed Arya and Zack and ran towards the red door. Mark held Ellie's hand, running towards the blue door while Carter and Ambrose ran towards the yellow door. They entered their doors of choice. 

[The Trial will commence in 10 seconds.]

[Goodluck, Survivors.]

10… 9… 8…

The doors slammed shut behind them.

5..4..3…

[Welcome to the illusion.]

The trial began.

—

Zack, Arya and Jake's Room

Challenge: The Doppelganger 

As the door sealed shut behind them, Zack, Arya, and Jake found themselves in a dimly lit operating room. The overhead surgical light flickered erratically, casting elongated shadows across the gleaming steel tables. The walls were lined with medical instruments, some pristine, others rusted and dripping with an unidentifiable black substance.

A voice echoed through the room, mechanical and devoid of emotion:

[Welcome, Survivors. Your test begins now.]

[Objective: Escape before time runs out. But be warned. One of you is not real.]

[If you choose incorrectly, the impostor will ensure your demise.]

[Time remaining: 15 minutes.]

Jake immediately tensed, shifting into a defensive stance. "Not real? What the hell does that mean?"

Arya scanned the room, her mind already working. "Illusions. The trial is going to try to confuse us."

Zack took a slow breath, forcing himself to focus. His Adaptive Focus allowed him to resist illusions better than the others. If the System was trying to trick them, he had the best chance of seeing through it.

The surgical tables suddenly screeched across the floor, rearranging themselves into a tight circle around them. One of the operating room doors flew open, revealing a hallway that hadn't been there before, stretching infinitely in both directions. The shadows at the edges of the hallway swayed unnaturally, moving as though they were alive.

Then, Zack saw it.

Two Aryas.

Standing side by side, identical in every way, both staring at him with wide eyes.

"Zack?" one of them spoke, her voice filled with confusion. "What's going on?"

The second Arya's expression mirrored hers. "This is the trick. It's trying to make you doubt."

Jake cursed under his breath, his Predator Instinct kicking in as he instinctively raised his fists. He knew something was off, but he didn't have Zack's ability to resist illusions.

Zack stepped forward, his heart pounding. The System said one of them wasn't real. If they chose the wrong one…

He glanced at Jake. "Check her pulse."

Jake hesitated for a split second before grabbing the wrist of the Arya closest to him. He pressed his fingers against her skin...and then froze.

Zack's stomach dropped. "What is it?"

Jake pulled back, his jaw tightening. "They both have pulses."

The two Aryas locked eyes, as if realizing the same thing. "Because we're both real," one of them said. "This is the trick. The illusion is making you believe there's a fake when there isn't."

"No," the second Arya countered. "One of us isn't real. That's what the System said."

The air grew heavy with tension.

The lights flickered, and suddenly the two Aryas blurred, like static on a broken screen. When the lights returned, only one of them remained.

Zack barely had time to react before a violent force ripped Arya backward. The walls themselves seemed to twist, pulling her into the darkened hallway that had appeared earlier.

"Arya!" Zack lunged, but the corridor had already swallowed her whole. The illusion shifted again, and the doorway that had led to her vanished as if it had never existed.

Jake slammed his fist against the wall. "Dammit! We have to find her!"

Zack exhaled sharply. His Adaptive Focus had warned him, reality was unraveling around them. "We need to get out of this room first."

The mechanical voice returned:

[Two remain. Proceed to the next phase.]

A door creaked open at the far end of the room, revealing a new path.

Zack clenched his fists. They had no choice but to move forward. But his gut told him Arya wasn't gone.

Not yet.

Somewhere, she was still fighting.

And if she was going to survive, she'd need help.

—

Ellie and Mark's Room

Challenge: The Endless Hallway

As the door slammed shut behind them, Ellie and Mark found themselves in a long, sterile hallway. The overhead lights flickered weakly, casting shifting shadows across the white-tiled floor. At first glance, it looked like a normal hospital corridor, but something was… off.

Ellie's breath hitched. "Why is it so quiet?"

Mark narrowed his eyes. His Stealth ability allowed him to sense movement, or the lack of it. And right now, the entire hallway felt like a frozen moment in time.

Then, the mechanical voice of the System echoed overhead:

[Welcome, Survivors. Your challenge begins now.]

[Objective: Find the exit before time runs out.]

[Beware. Time loops here. The longer you stay, the harder it will be to leave.]

[Time remaining: 15 minutes.]

A chill ran down Ellie's spine. "Time loops? What does that mean?"

Mark didn't answer. Instead, he reached forward, gripping her wrist lightly. "We move. Now."

Ellie nodded, trusting him, and they broke into a jog down the hallway.

At first, it seemed normal. The walls stretched endlessly ahead, but they didn't encounter anything unusual. No doors, no windows. Just the same white tiles.

And then...

Ellie skidded to a stop. Her heart pounded. "Wait."

Mark stopped beside her. "What is it?"

She turned, dread pooling in her stomach. "We've passed this before."

Mark followed her gaze, and his stomach dropped.

A small, discarded syringe lay on the floor beside the right wall. He had noticed it when they started running, but now… here it was again.

They were looping.

Ellie swallowed hard. "We're running, but we're not actually moving forward."

Mark's jaw clenched. His Tracker instincts kicked in, scanning their surroundings for any difference, any clue. His ability allowed him to move undetected, but in this illusionary space, it wouldn't help him if there was no real path to follow.

Ellie took a deep breath, activating her Evasive Agility. If something was wrong, if the walls were shifting behind them, she had to be ready to react.

Then, something changed.

The hallway darkened. The fluorescent lights above buzzed violently, their glow flickering between white and blood-red.

And in the distance, footsteps.

Ellie stiffened. "Someone's coming."

Mark turned sharply, instinctively positioning himself in front of her. "We're not alone."

A silhouette emerged at the far end of the hallway. A figure in a hospital gown, shambling slowly toward them. Its body twitched unnaturally, its head tilted at an impossible angle.

Ellie's breath hitched. "No. That's—"

Her voice caught in her throat.

The figure coming toward them…

It was Mark.

His own face, his own eyes, but wrong. Twisted.

Mark's blood ran cold. His double grinned, an unnatural, jagged stretch of lips that wasn't human.

Then it whispered, "You can't run."

And suddenly, the hallway exploded into movement.

The walls twisted, shifting like living tissue. The floor beneath them tilted, throwing them off balance. The hallway they had been running down was gone, replaced by an endless abyss of black voids and spiraling corridors.

Ellie reacted first. Her Evasive Agility kicked in, and she grabbed Mark's wrist, yanking him sideways just as the doppelgänger lunged, its jaw unhinging unnaturally wide.

They crashed against the wall, panting.

Mark's Stealth ability finally activated fully, allowing him to sense the weak points in the illusion. He gritted his teeth, focusing. The hallway was a trap, it was a maze designed to keep them running in circles while time drained away.

He whispered urgently, "Ellie. The path forward...it's not straight."

Ellie's eyes darted around. "Then where is it?"

Mark closed his eyes, listening, feeling.

The System wanted them to think the hallway was endless. But illusions had cracks.

There.

A section of the wall wasn't solid, a slight inconsistency in the texture of the tiles, an unnatural flicker in the corner of his vision.

"That wall," he said, pointing.

Ellie didn't hesitate. She sprinted forward and slammed her fist into it.

The illusion shattered.

The hallway collapsed around them, folding inward like broken glass. The doppelgänger screamed, its form distorting before vanishing into the black void.

And then...

They were somewhere new.

Ellie gasped for breath. They stood in front of a single door at the end of a now-short hallway. A real door.

Mark steadied himself, heart still racing. He turned to her. "You trust me?"

Ellie exhaled sharply, nodding. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

Mark hesitated for only a second, then pushed the door open.

They stepped through.

[Time left: 1 minute]

1:00...00:59...00:58...