The latched heavily clicked behind Tao. He was alone in the maze. The game had began. Tao walked down a long corridor cautiously, hiding in whatever shadows he saw. When he reached the end, there was a split. Left or right? Tao stuck to the right, coming across a mysterious and heavy black box. Maybe there was something in there to help him. Tao wrapped his fingers around the box and slid the door open. Inside was a large mound of sand. It smelled repulsively sweet. Thinking it was poison, Tao let the box clatter to the ground. The sand spilled out and slowly, it began to rise. He pressed himself onto the wall behind him, in the shadows. The sand was headed straight towards him, like a venomous snake. With silent footsteps, Tao began to race away, following the path to bring him wherever it did. Just then, the sand all dropped onto the ground. Tao blinked in surprise and stood there, examining the now limp sand. It was all so sudden, he didn't know what to think of it as.

"Just move on," he muttered to himself and studied his surroundings while pushing ahead. If he wanted to complete the maze, he only had a month, so he must move fast. The next split came up. Tao remembered in the dream when Hyeri told him to not always stick to the right, to follow his instincts. The hairs on Tao's back stood up when he looked to the right, so he took the left. It was a long corridor in which there were doors along it. Anything could jump out those doors any second. 

At this course, new found fear crept into Tao's mind, bringing fears and doubts. He tried to push those thoughts away, but they were haunting him. His mouth was parched; if he wanted to survive, he needed water. Tao saw something shiny ahead, something glittering. Assuming it was water, Tao ran over there, his need for water getting to him. To his relief, it was a small stream of water. Briefly, he wondered if it was poisoned or not, but he pushed that away and cupped his hands, dipping them into water. The cool refreshing drink bought energy to his mind. He cursed at himself for not keeping the box which held the sand to hold water with. Gulping another 2 handfuls of water, Tao stood up and scoured the area. Something was not right. It was peaceful and silent. Maybe too silent.

Back in her small room, Hyeri was tied to a chair which was locked to the ground with a long slim chain. In front of her was a widescreen TV, screening Tao, confusedly looking around after drinking some of the water. I knew what he was thinking. I knew that he thought it was way to silent. I had to agree. Tao tentatively took a couple of steps and then, something jumped out.

"OH!" she gasped, on expecting that. Horror filled every fiber of her body. It was so unexpected! There were at least 4 ninjas with those long swords, coming at Tao at warp speed. Tao, with his fast reflexes, managed to get away, dodging every blow. Those swords were real, glinting metal, threatening to slice Tao's guts.

"Come at me," Tao smirked at the men. They growled and moved toward him. Hyeri slapped her forehead, thinking it was very silly of Tao to be so prideful a this moment. Tao, since he could do martial arts, kicked a ninja's gut, making that guy clutch his stomach, agony ebbed onto his face. Hyeri watched in alarm as one of the masked ninjas skim his sword on Tao's arm. He yelped and grabbed it, glaring furiously at the ninja. 

"Tao...." She begged him, knowing he couldn't see or hear me. Tao put all his strength at his next blow on the ninja, making it fall. The first one retreated, with the second ninja. The other two shot each other uncertain looks and slowly backed away. Tao snarled and ran to them before they could move another muscle.

"Have it your way," Tao punched their necks, making them groan in pain before running away with their tales tucked in between their legs. Tao looked at the cut of his arm, where the blood flowed freely. At first Hyeri thought it was a light cut, but getting a better look, she saw that it was insanely deep. Gasping, Hyeri lunged foward, desperately wanting to shut the TV off so she wouldn't see anymore. It was torture alright. On screen, Tao turned left and got into an incredibly dense forest that seemed like a jungle. 

Jungle, tigers!

Hyeri's attention was diverted as she overheard the bald man and this other plump woman whispering feverishly.

"Put the tigers out," the woman spoke into an earpiece. It confirmed Hyeri's suspicions. She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out all images of Tao, the ninjas, the tigers and the people chatting in the room beside her.

"Make sure, with each turn he makes, the horrors get worse and worse. He has to die," the bald man was pretty loud. Hyeri bit back a gasp that was threatening to come out. Conceal the emotions.

"Indeed. We can't have another alive," the woman didn't want anyone to come out of the maze alive. Hyeri chewed her lip, shocked by the injustice of this game. Why was it like this? They were just here to make sure everyone died. How the past couple made it, no one knew, they never broadcasted such things. Suddenly, Hyeri was determined to find out how they won, even if it meant sneaking around. 

Tao was gripping his arm, searching for this leaf that was supposed to help cuts heal. He had already washed it with some water in the stream. Now, he was in an incredibly dense forest, darkness wrapping around him like a thick wool blanket. Just as he entered the forest, he knew he made the  wrong choice. When he came across that split, he wasn't thinking, the pain of the cut affecting his mind, so he rashly chose the left. And Hyeri had told him that there were tigers at the left. This was a jungle, and tigers were probably a jungle animal. 

His hunch was affirmed when he heard a low growl. Snapping his head around, he faced three of the largest, hungriest tigers he had ever seen.