The entire game would last for five hours, in which they had time to figure out the codes and get ready in their chosen rooms to hide in. They had already spent an hour, but even with one clue solved, it still led to many possibilities.   “Where two opposite meets; if one is present, the other disappears,” Ji Soo read the clue for the nth time. “If I go to the kitchen, my hunger will be overtaken by the feeling of fullness.”   “And if you go to the bedroom, sleep is present when being awake isn’t,” Ji Ae continued.   “Then the bathroom and laundry room takes the dirty and make it clean,” Jung Kook added quietly.   “Is the room with the trap among the ones mentioned just now?” Myung Eun questioned curiously, her eyes frantically shifting from one person to another. Holding her focus on one person was nearly impossible when she feared the discovery of the truth for Soo Jung’s death written on her gaze.   “Presumably, but the clue is too vague to draw conclusions from,” Ji Soo spoke. She seemed to have taken on the motherly role in Soo Jung’s absence, but was much harsher and less gentle. “We need to rely on the bunch of letters or numbers to get a better picture of the answer.”   The task was easier said than done. They had no idea where to start. Were the two clues solved using the same method, or was it different? Were they perhaps related to one another, or had they no correlation?   “Yoon Gi, wouldn’t you know something about this?” Nam Joon suddenly questioned. He sat on the dining chair lazily with his back slouched back he was nearly falling off, and his arms folded together. His eyes, however, was challenging the latter.   “If I do,” Yoon Gi responded with an equally rivaling tone, “What makes you think I would share the information with you?”   To this, Ji Soo was the one who answered by violently grabbing him by the collar. “Have some sense of unity! People are dying one by one if you don’t help us out!” She was gritting her teeth so tight her gum might have shattered.   Yoon Gi smirked, slapping her hands away from him. “Isn’t that exactly the intention?”   Ji Soo was so close to use physical force to shut him up—to knock some sense back into his brain. But there was Soo Jung’s still small voice echoing in her mind to not opt toward violence. She held back.   “Can’t you at least give us a clue?” Nam Joon asked.   They would suspect Yoon Gi to lie by now. He seemed like the type who would sabotage others’ plan in order to have his will be done. They weren’t aware they had already fallen victim to his lies and manipulations since the very first game.   “It is a cipher,” Yoon Gi spoke, staring straight into Nam Joon’s eyes with so much confidence laced in his hesitant voice. It gave the effect of knowing and not knowing what he was doing at the same time.   “You’re lying!” Ji Soo uttered condemningly.   Ye In was quietly observing the situation and the way Yoon Gi responded to everything. His face muscles were too relaxed if he were trying to lie. He was trying to make them think he was lying though; he didn’t meet anyone’s eye and faked a hesitant tone. He showed all signals a liar would behave with under interrogation, something a criminology major was aware of.   “No,” Ye In suddenly said, earning a more surprised look from Yoon Gi. There was something about his eyes that invited her to trust him. “He is speaking the truth.”   “Why would you say that?” Mi Joo asked, confused.   “I am a psychology major. I can understand the way people think and why they end up doing what they do,” Ye In said with a proud smile. She turned to Yoon Gi once again who did not look too amused. Perhaps he had been underestimating her.   “If I was speaking the truth, I wish you luck on identifying what the cipher is. There are multiple ciphers in existence.” Yoon Gi wasn’t planning on giving out any more details, or even work together with them.     Myung Eun followed Yoon Gi and asked him to come to the study room. She had grown fond of the place since knowing there was a grand piano present inside. At night, she would come down to play her favorite piece of music.   Yoon Gi watched her take a seat, placing her delicate fingers on top of the white keys before she began pressing them with such tenderness. He had heard her play before—the exact same piece he had found her humming in her room.   Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was supposed to sound emotionally depressing. The way the movement opened with an octave for the left hand and a triplet figuration for the right created a melody recognized as a lamentation. The weeping and crying woven together within a harmonious yet dissonant tune.   There was, however, something more disturbing about the way she played the soft starting chord in a loud mezzo forte. The usual slow tempo piece became an irky song with no consistent tempo throughout. Even to those with no understanding of music such as Yoon Gi himself, one would feel mentally disturbed.   Yoon Gi got up, watching Myung Eun’s entire body arching backwards and forwards, being one with the frantic tune she was playing. In fact, it was so disturbing it seemed the music was taking control of her and not the other way around. The notes were rigid. The sound was loud. The chords were twisted.   Yoon Gi grabbed both her wrist, stopping her irrational playing. The girl lifted her head quickly to meet his face, and he saw her tear stained cheeks.   “I heard that music is used to express its player’s current emotion,” he said softly, feeling the trembling in her hand. It was so subtle he barely missed it. “What are you expressing?”   Myung Eun raised her eyes to meet him secretively, quickly casting her gaze aside when she realized he was looking at her. She could never be as strong and determined as he was.   “I am scared,” she whispered, voice cracking. It took no longer than a second for the tears to wet the corner of her eyes as she shut her eyelids tightly. “I am scared…”   Yoon Gi was at a loss. His eyes scanned the girl whose shoulders began bouncing up and down to perpetuate her cries. It was his fault. He was the cause of her fears. He was the reason for her tears. He turned the human being into a monster.   “Be strong,” Yoon Gi whispered, not knowing what kind of gentleness inhabited him when his arms encased itself around Myung Eun’s petite body. His hand moved to caress the back of her head as he made incoherent shushing noises. “I am going to make sure we’ll both win.”   Myung Eun’s crying halted as she pulled away to look at him in surprise. Her eyes were swollen and her nose bloated red in color. She parted her lips, but no words appeared.   “We will both win this game,” he murmured.   Because he was as much of a monster himself. And perhaps the creation of another monster was just to compensate for his sick and twisted mental state. There was someone else on the verge of becoming as corrupt as he was.   He was no longer alone.     Soo Jung’s bedroom was neat and tidy, like the person once inhabiting it. Her luggage was still neatly placed inside the small wardrobe where she had organized the pair of clothes she brought along. Her room was very empty, except for the big scorpion poster occupying one part of the wall. It was so edgy and the complete opposite of what Soo Jung’s personality was like.   “Why is this bedroom marked, out of all or bedrooms?” Ji Ae suddenly questioned as they were inspecting possible locations where they could hide in. They were searching for a flaw, or for something that would give away an answer.   “I wonder whether this room would’ve been marked if she was still...” Ye In’s voice hitched, trying to find the right words to say without bringing herself to tears. “With us.”   Ji Soo and Ji Ae gave the younger girl a sympathetic look, both quickly hugging her for comfort. The loss did take a toll on everyone.   “We should inspect and see if the room has anything suspicious,” Jung Kook reminded them of their main mission. He walked to every corner of the room, trailing his fingers over the soft plastered wall to find a lump. But everything was very balanced and made of the finest wallpapers. He found no flaws.   The others roamed around the room, inspecting the smallest areas in all the hidden places. There was no possibility for any dangerous situation taking place no matter how many times they replayed different what-if scenarios in their head.   “It makes me question the credibility of Myung Eun’s words,” Ye In suddenly spoke, and the rest shot her a look of curiosity. “She said an arrow appeared out of nowhere and suddenly hit Soo Jung.”   “She did have a bow and arrow in her room prior to that game,” Ji Soo remarked, seeing the disettlement written on Ye In’s face.   Ye In pursed her lips, meeting Jung Kook’s eyes that had been staring at her in silence. He looked rather worried, perhaps because he had the same concern as she did. How trustworthy was Myung Eun, really?   “This room seems safe. One of y