"No!" Gideon dramatically exclaimed as the seven survivors were escorted out of the room.
Casper, too, sulked on the side, not liking how he was going to be separated from the other members.
Nonetheless, the group of seven survivors waved goodbye, chuckling as they observed the others' dejected faces.
"Have fun playing the other games, guys!" Akira exclaimed with a chuckle.
The others followed suit in teasing them. They inferred that since they had escaped, the other six had to solve a puzzle once more until they escaped the room.
However, as the doors closed behind them, the survivors quickly realized that they were the ones with the short end of the string.
The door slammed shut behind them, sealing their fate once more within the confines of yet another room.
Contrary to the last room, they found themselves in a dimly lit chamber.
Akira groaned as soon as he heard the door lock behind them. Then, he also heard the teases from the other members in the next room.
"I thought we escaped!" Akira exclaimed to one of the cameras.
"What do they even want from us?" Xion asked as he sat on the floor. He still felt tired from trying to solve the last room, and now, they were now stuck in another one.
This room was once again bare, aside from a set of five ropes hanging down from the ceiling.
Then, the number '5' was projected on the wall this time.
"There must be five survivors," Haruki said while June nodded in agreement.
While their eyes were fixed on the five strings hanging ominously from the ceiling, the voice echoed from the room once more, its words still brief yet chilling.
"The king welcomes you again, jokers," it said.
"This time, it's your choice," the voice declared, its tone dripping with malice.
"It is only your choice."
The survivors exchanged wary glances, uncertainty clouding their thoughts.
Meanwhile, the six eliminated contestants from the next room laid leisurely on the couch that the staff had kindly provided. In their hands were different drinks while in front of them were snacks from their childhood.
Ren smirked as he leaned against the couch.
"I'm so glad we're eliminated," he said, watching the scene from the projection on the white wall.
Going back to the miserable survivors in the next room…
"It's your choice," Haruki muttered.
Just then, they heard a weird sound coming from the ceiling, causing them to turn their gazes above.
There, they saw rectangular spots in the ceiling opening up, looking like a form of escape in the large, black room.
With only five strings and seven of them present, they realized the cruel truth behind the voice's words—they would have to choose who among them would be left behind.
"We have to choose five of us to escape," Jaeyong whispered, his voice barely audible.
"But what about the others?" Xion asked, his brows furrowed with concern.
Before anyone could respond, Akira stepped forward, his expression impassive as he addressed the group. "I'll stay behind," he chimed, even sitting on the ground.
"It's just a show anyway. Besides, I'm really, really tired. I don't think I can climb up that rope."
Jaeyong shook his head. "Why would you be tired when June did all the thinking in the past room?"
Akira merely smiled, already wanting to join their relaxed teammates in the next room.
"I stepped on a coordinate!" he reasoned out.
"Wait…do you guys smell that?" Jisung suddenly asked, sniffing the air.
Xion covered his nose as the foul odor engulfed them.
"Gosh, it smells awful," he exclaimed.
Akira smiled sheepishly as he covered his wet shoes. "Sorry, that's just my fee—"
Jaeyong covered Akira's mouth before he could speak further. He found his teammate annoying, but he also didn't want him to ruin his reputation in front of astras and chaotics. Although, his reputation was already good as done once Ren mentioned his foot odor in the previous room.
"It's not that," June said, also sniffing the air. "It smells like…
smoke."
"What the heck?" Jisung exclaimed, his voice trembling with fear.
They turned towards the source of the smoke, their eyes widening in horror as they realized that a fire had ignited in one corner of the room. With each passing second, the flames spread, and within a few minutes, they were sure that the room was going to be ruthlessly engulfed.
Without any hesitation, Akira held onto one of the ropes.
"I'm escaping!" he exclaimed, taking back his previous words.
"First, they wanted to drown us, and now they want to set us on fire?" Zeth exclaimed, finding the situation even more ridiculous.
June bit his lip, about to volunteer to get left behind.
However, before he could speak, Jaeyong stepped forward.
"I'll take one for the team," Jaeyong smiled at his teammates.
"Alright," Akira said without any mercy.
June shook his head, also stepping forward. "Are you sure? I could stay behind. It's just a show anyway," he whispered.
Jaeyong shook his head and pushed June toward one of the strings.
"You go ahead," he said. "You did most of the work in the last room, so you should stay until the end."
Meanwhile, Xion and Haruki, the only remaining members of CHAOS, also hesitated on who to send. Haruki volunteered to stay behind. Xion, however, refused to let Haruko go, so in the end, he stepped back along with Jaeyong.
"We're going then," June said, knowing that the fire would only stop spreading once the five of them escaped.
The others also nodded, taking their strings and holding onto them tightly.
They began to climb, and June couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration as the rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins.
However, as he neared the top, a sense of dread washed over him, a sinking feeling that something was amiss.
To his disappointment, June realized that the people beside him had vanished, their strings disappearing into thin air. While he was hanging mid-air, he glanced down and saw the others on the ground, their ropes discarded and forgotten.
From where he was hanging, the number '5' became glaringly obvious.
This time, the production crew changed things around.
For this particular mission, it didn't mean that five people would survive. It meant that five people were going to be eliminated.
June was surprised that he didn't get a defective string, considering his luck.
However, as June turned to the side, he realized that his unlucky streak was still going.
Because right beside him was Haruki, the other remaining survivor of the mission.
