June continued to look around the white room where the thirteen idols stood, surrounded by the enthusiastic staff. The room was quite strange, almost like an asylum with the whiteness that engulfed it. However, the floor was something else. It had faint gray grids that made June wonder what kind of activity SBC was going to make them do today.
"I hope we go on a trip," Akira muttered excitedly.
"Yeah, or fun games!" Jisung exclaimed. "Like those in Crawling Man."
Gideon heard Jisung's excitement and strangely found the younger idol adorable.
"I'd like that, too," Gideon said, breaking the ice between the two teams.
"I'm sure we'd destroy you guys, though!" Nashon chimed, causing chuckles to erupt in the room.
A small smile appeared on June's lips as he watched his members get along with CHAOS. Now that they weren't pressured by the competitive spirit of 'King of Kings,' they were more comfortable interacting with each other.
Except for two of their members, of course.
Haruki and June stood at the very back, letting their members do all of the talking.
As their members continued chattering, however, the two couldn't shake off the feeling of unease.
June watched as the staff began to leave one by one, their expressions unreadable as they fled the room. His eyebrows furrowed once the cameramen followed suit, abandoning their equipment.
"The aura behind us is amazing," June heard Akira say, feeling their gazes on both Haruki and him. However, he didn't pay them any attention. His attention was still on the singular staff member left in the room.
"I know, right?" Kwon chimed. "These two's auras are unbeatable. It feels like they're filled with so much talent!"
Haruki, too, wasn't paying any attention.
"See!" Nashon exclaimed. "They're even ignoring us."
June's frown deepened when he saw the remaining staff member leave the room, ultimately leaving EVE and CHAOS all alone.
"This is strange," June finally said, making the other boys halt their conversations.
"Strange? How strange?" Akira asked.
June opened his mouth to speak.
However, before he could respond, a sudden flash of light caught their attention.
Then, a loud booming sound was heard, making them step back and cower in fear.
A large "7" illuminated one of the walls, followed by a flurry of smaller numbers and equations.
"What the heck is going on?" Kwon asked, taking cover behind Haruki's broad frame.
"Equations?" Jaeyong asked, becoming pale as he gazed at the unfamiliar numbers.
However, before they could even ponder upon the meaning of the numbers, the room began to fill with water, creeping slowly from the ceiling downwards. Their eyes widened in horror as they realized the gravity of the situation.
From the start, June was right.
He felt like the room had an 'escape-room' vibe, and it seemed like he wasn't mistaken.
"It's an escape room," he said, making the others turn to him.
"The water isn't draining, guys," Sehun called out, noticing that the room was being filled with a shallow film of water.
"Are we going to die?" Akira dramatically exclaimed.
Zeth shook his head, although a bit nervous. "They wouldn't do that, would they?" he awkwardly chuckled.
None of them answered, causing him to chuckle even louder.
"Right?" he asked for assurance.
"It's our first day on the job! How could they do this to us?" Jisung exclaimed, already feeling nervous.
"Stay calm," June said, shaking his head as he continued to assess the situation.
Haruki, too, instructed his members to stay calm as they figured things out.
June looked down to the ground and found that, indeed, the water was pooling up on their feet. He went to the door and tried to open it, but to no surprise, it was locked.
"Should we just destroy the door?" Casper asked, standing next to June.
"Yes!" Akira enthusiastically exclaimed. "Step on it, Casper!"
Casper kicked the door to get it to open. However, before he could continue, a voice echoed through the room, cutting through the chaos with chilling clarity.
"Welcome to The King's Joker: The Last Laugh," the voice proclaimed.
"The last laugh?" Ren asked. "Dang, they really want to kill us, don't they?"
June shook his head, also finding the situation ridiculous.
He was expecting something much more different for their variety show.
Maybe a brunch by the beach…or a relaxing trip to Jeju island. Heck, even getting ice cream and eating it near Namsan Tower was something they could have done.
Yet, here they were, stuck in a game where they didn't even know what to do.
"There is only one objective," the voice continued.
"Survive."
With that, the room turned silent once more, only the trickling sound of water being heard in the room.
Then, a countdown emerged above the number '7' on the wall, starting at thirty minutes.
"Great!" Xion said. "We also have a timer."
"What are we even supposed to do in this room?" Ren asked. "There aren't any instructions or materials except for these projections on the walls.
Truly, this wasn't the ordinary escape room. The room was bare and had no materials to help them figure out how to escape. Only the projections on the screen remained.
June's gaze flickered towards the large "7" looming on the wall, a nagging sense of curiosity tugging at his thoughts. Could it hold the key to their escape?
"What does seven even mean?" Zeth asked.
Meanwhile, Casper continued trying to open the door. However, the staff must have been very meticulous since it was very sturdy.
"I can't do it, guys," Casper, one of the strongest boys among them, said.
Haruki sighed and continued to look at the number '7' on the wall, making the others shift their focus on it too.
"Let's just figure out how to escape," he calmly said.
Meanwhile, while the others were fixated on the number '7,' June decided to focus on the smaller numbers adorning the walls.
There was no mistaking.
These were equations.
It had factorials, square roots, differentials, and others that contained concepts of calculus and statistics.
"Hey," Akira said, breaking the silence. "Is there an equation where an exclamation point is used?"
"I'm confused," Jaeyong said, scratching the back of his head. "Why is there a diamond between these two numbers?"
"Don't look at me," Xion said. "I didn't learn this at school."
"Whatever!" Zeth exclaimed. "Let's try solving it."
Without any writing utensils at their disposal, they resorted to solving the equations manually, their fingers tracing invisible numbers in the air as they struggled to make sense of the complex formulas.
Amidst the chaos, a soft voice broke through the tension, drawing the attention of the group.
"-3," "2," "4," "0," June muttered under his breath, his eyes scanning the equations.
"What are you doing?" Xion asked.
"I'm answering the questions," June calmly said, making all of the remaining members look at him with wide eyes.
"Are you a genius or something?" Gideon asked.
"He is," the members of EVE collectively said.
