THE CLASSROOM

“Hyungs... I pulled the blue one, the one that said ‘Risk it’ on it...”

Mingyu listens to Hansol through the speakers, collapses in his chair with a relieved sigh, then immediately starts crying. Why is he relieved? Because according to his calculations and every clue he has in front of him, pulling the blue rope is the least bad in the long run, and the only way they can all get out of here alive. Pulling the red rope would have cut the heat in Jisoo’s room but electrocuted Junhui, and Seungcheol—the only one who could set them all free—would still be locked up.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s time to celebrate. Because Mingyu knows that right now Chan’s trap has been set off, and the only one who can save him is Seungcheol. And if Wonwoo doesn’t wake up soon and figure his puzzle out, Jisoo will die. The same goes for Seokmin, who only has an hour or so left before the poison kills him.

Three keys have already been used or destroyed—Mingyu’s own is one of them. He used it to open the desk that contained the clues and map, but now he wonders if it was the right move. By doing so he now knows how everything is connected, but there’s no way for him to inform the others. That’s one thing he doesn’t know how to do—turn on his link to Jeonghan in the Control Room. He isn’t even sure he has one.

Through the speakers, Chan starts screaming. The sound is heart-wrenching and shrill, and Seungcheol tunes in to with desperate calls of his young friend’s name. At the same time Jeonghan, Hansol, Sunyeong and Junhui are talking, unaware of the terrible screams. Mingyu covers his ears, makes roaring noises of his own to block out the speakers. He feels guilty as if there is anything he can do.

He prays that Seungcheol is fast enough.

THE BUTCHER ROOM

The chain around his ankle, which has been long and loose all this time, tightens without warning and starts retracting into the wall it’s attached to. It pulls him towards the large chainsaw-like contraptions that fill the far end of the large room, where animals of all shapes and sizes hang from hooks on the ceiling, cut open and skinned. Although the machines are not on, Chan starts panicking. He forgets all about his injured leg and tries to fight the chain. He claws at the floor, skids with his feet across the tiles, grabs at table legs and chairs to no avail.

“Hyung! Hyung!”

Seungcheol is outside, banging on the metal door like a madman. “What’s happening, Chan!? Chan!”

Just then, the machines come alive. Like the worst horror movies Chan can remember seeing, the chainsaws run at terrifying speeds. The row of dead animals start moving too, and one by one they are pulled through the chainsaw machinery. They come out the other side in much smaller pieces.

Chan screams. His whole life passes him by. The thought of being cut open doesn’t even strike him, he just goes crazy. He digs his nails into the tile floor until they break, hold onto the bolted tables until his hands almost come apart.

He tries to kick a chair into the saws to see if they will get caught, but the wood just splinters and scatters everywhere.

When Chan’s legs are only a meter from the closest blade, something like an explosion sounds behind him. When he turns to look he can see smoke around the frame of the door, and then it flies open. Seungcheol runs inside, sees Chan, and fights the shock at what he sees.

“Help me!” Chan roars.

Seungcheol throws himself on the floor next to Chan and starts pulling on the chain. Even with their combined strength, it’s not enough. As fast as he can, Seungcheol runs and grabs another chain from the animal line up and pulls it free of its hooks. Then he throws one end into the chainsaw mouth and lets go. As he hoped it would, the chain tangles with the blades and gets stuck. A painful screech fills the entire house as the machines come to a dead stop, and Chan’s chain stops pulling him in.

“You okay?” Seungcheol asks as he returns to Chan. The younger just looks at him in shock, nods, then blinks a single tear away. Seungcheol pulls him into a tight embrace and holds the younger as they both cry in silence for a long while. Then he remembers the chain.

“Let’s get you out of this thing.”

THE FREEZER ROOM

It’s very slowly that Wonwoo returns to the world of the living, and when he’s finally awake is body still feels like a popsicle. Shivering and with the world’s worst headache, he reads the message that is written all across the wall. He’s sure it wasn’t there before, but there might have been frost or ice in the way.

얼음과 유리. 석민은 생존하려면 둘 다 깨야 해. 빛과 불. 지수는 생존하려면 둘 다 죽어야 해. 
(Ice and glass. Both have to break for Seokmin to survive. Light and fire. Both have to die for Jisoo to survive.)

Wonwoo sits up with difficulty.

“Hyung, you still there? Jisoo-hyung?”

He tries for a long time but no answer comes. Beat down and afraid for his friends, Wonwoo hugs his knees. He doesn’t know what to do or how to break any of the things the message tells him to.

That’s when he sees that there’s a white, blank paper nailed to the white wall, near invisible. He rips it off, turns it over and finds another message—or more like instructions.

To break the ice, find your key.

To kill the fire, leave it be.

To break the glass, you must be free.

To kill the light, pick one or three.

Minghao, Seungcheol, Chan... or Me.

It takes him a good long while, but following the instructions, he manages to find his key underneath a loose drain cover. It’s fragile, so very fragile, but functional.

“Jisoo-hyung, if you’re alive...” Wonwoo starts, his voice catching in his throat from the horror of the words. “... please tell me what to do...”

No answer comes. Wonwoo is alone in his decision.

THE CONTROL ROOM

Jeonghan stares with wide eyes at the drawer that just burst open, heart beating fast and adrenalin rushing.

“You alright, hyung?” Sunyeong asks.

“Just another drawer,” Jeonghan replies. “I’m growing tired of these explosions all the time, I’ll have a heart attack soon.”

He walks over and pulls out a sheet of laminated paper from the smoking drawer. He reads it aloud to his friends.

Jeonghan • Seungcheol

Seungkwan • Hansol

Junhui • Chan

Wonwoo • Jisoo

Jihun • Seokmin

Sunyeong • Mingyu

“Sunyeong-ah, I think these could be more name combinations. In fact, I think it’s all of them.”

“I think so too,” Sunyeong says. “Should I try one of them?”

“Hold on, why wasn’t Minghao’s name on that list?” Junhui interrupts. “Isn’t he in here somewhere too?”

“We don’t know, he’s not on my screens,” Jeonghan explains. “And there’s no locker with his name either.”

Together, the four connected rooms agree that they should try to open Hansol’s locker. In the Locker Room, Sunyeong puts in the number combination for Seungkwan’s name, and carefully presses the side button. An echoey, metallic sound fills the speakers, then Hansol and Junhui start cheering.

“Hyungs!” Hansol laughs. “One of my doors opened! Junhui’s in here with me now. It worked!”

THE LOCKER ROOM

Sunyeong would have laughed in joy too at the progress, if not for what he sees inside Hansol’s locker—a warning sign for high voltage and a scribbled countdown in chalk that says five minutes.

“What the-“ Junhui exclaims suddenly. “The drain in my room, it’s... it’s spewing water. Oh, hell no...”

“What?” Sunyeong and Jeonghan call together.

“There’s a powerline going all around Hansol’s room,” Junhui continues, voice serious and strained. “I think it just came alive, it’s sparking.”

Sunyeong looks at the high voltage sign. Electricity plus water equals electrocution. He is starting to wonder if whoever put them here even wants them to be able to survive.

SHOULD WONWOO KILL THE FIRE

or

SHOULD HE BREAK THE GLASS?

(Winning option marked in bold font.)