Ho Seok held the silver key in his hand, observing the tiny item as if a secret was hidden beneath it. How many doors could it open? Would it lead to their ultimate freedom?   “I know where it is,” Jung Kook uttered. His index finger tapped the X mark indicated on the map. “It’s close to the door leading to our freedom.”   They had assumed the door that required seven codes was their escape route. Based on the architectural design, Jung Kook had suggested another basement was located there. They played along to these sick and twisted games in order to open that one cursed lock.   “Are we going there now?” Mi Joo questioned hesitantly. The fear clothed her trembling voice.   Instead of gaining sympathy, Ji Ae mockingly scoffed at the girl. Every action by Mi Joo was met with disapproval.   “Can’t we wait?” Ye In questioned, seeing Mi Joo’s face brighten a little at her suggestion. She wasn’t the only person who was mentally unprepared. Though they had defied death once, playing another round of the game usually led to the loss of someone’s life. And Ye In was closer to finding out the truth now the diary was in her possession—she couldn’t let this chance pass.   Jung Kook’s weakness had always been her. Along with what had happened last night, and the way Ye In’s eyelashes seemed to flutter everytime her eyes landed on him, he became more self conscious.   “Yes, let’s wait,” he agreed, much to the relief of others.   Ho Seok was about to put the silver key back on the table, but a swift motion grasped the key away from his fingers in a jiff. He had no time to protest and only the remnants of Myung Eun’s giggles resonated in his ears.   “Hey!”   But Myung Eun was already hopping her way out of the dining room. Apparently Yoon Gi had already been waiting for her, and the two headed to the indicated room.   “Hey! We decided to go there later,” Ho Seok called out. He should’ve known it was a useless attempt. Those two were probably the ones too stubborn to argue with. When put together, none were bound to change their mind.   “Huh, might as well play the game now,” Ji Ae shrugged, flashing a shrill look towards the girl she despised the most. “The faster we get rid of nuisance, the better.”   No one had to think twice to know she was referring to Mi Joo. Ji Ae strode off ahead while the others gave reassuring smiles to their friend.   “She’s still upset over what happened. Please bear with her,” Ji Soo tried reasoning. She was a neutral party, trying to keep things in balance as much as she could despite knowing Mi Joo’s sin. Soo Jung would’ve done a much better job at this, probably knowing what to say to Ji Ae to calm her down. But without her, there was no one to calm the rising calamity.   “It’s gonna be okay.” Ho Seok took his friend’s hand in his own, squeezing her palms gently. He let her hold unto him during the entire walk as they migrated out of the kitchen to follow Jung Kook.   They walked through the long corridor that extended all the way west of the vast mansion. They passed the large painting of the Last Judgement, along with other smaller ones on the wall that bore similar gruesome messages.   Ji Soo couldn’t help but pay attention, wondering why the painting was in one way or another, always depicting victory and defeat, loyalty and betrayal, rising heroes and the falling enemy. Could all these paintings perhaps lead to a bigger idea she was unaware of?   “There it is.” Jung Kook stretched his arms forward to point at the three who were standing in front of the door. He remembered passing through these doors multiple times, always finding it locked. But now, Yoon Gi was inserting the silver key inside the olden style lock.   It clicked open.   “I wonder what’s inside,” Myung Eun hummed to herself. Her brazen attitude was once again observed by Ye In. In the past, Myung Eun would not take initiative to push the door open. She would not be the first one to enter the unknown chamber. And yet she did.   The childlike grin faded from Myung Eun’s face, struck with a mixture of fear and amazement at the peculiar sight in front of her. She had never seen anything like it before—none of them did.   The room was dark lit and completely empty and barren on the sides. The heat and grimness made them feel trapped in some sort of a torture room, though they genuinely hoped they were wrong. Surprisingly, it did not smell like old dust and spiderweb. It was clean and fresh, like someone had gone here to maintain its cleanness. The Game Master?   In the center of it all, however, was a large square grid that resembled the board of a chess game, magnified to a full scale. Light seemed to be radiating from it, and it looked digital despite the olden style chamber they were in. It was perhaps the most advanced piece of technology they had seen in the house—aside from small invisible CCTV cameras supposedly hidden from their sight.   The podium or grid was surrounded by four seats on the left of the grid, and four more on the right. The chairs weren’t designed as ordinary chairs—it resembled electric chairs found in prison for its upper part, and the lower part looked like a massage chair whereby one would bury the feet within some cushions. Only this was much more modern, made out of wood, and bigger.   “It has our names on it,” Mi Joo remarked. Every chair already had their individual names carved into the wood of every headrest. Her hands trembled and her legs weakened at the possibility of what could happen. She nearly tripped over if it weren’t for Ho Seok upholding the last bit of strength she had left.   “Come on, we can do this,” he spoke to her like he was cradling a little baby. Her fear saddened him. Her tears haunted him. Her silent cries tormented his heart. None of them deserved this mental brutality.   “It’s as if the Game Master knew we’d be the final eight remaining,” Ye In wondered out loud. She had so many questions pumping in her brain, and it became harder to take a mental note for each of them. Hopefully, she’d have the chance to survive this game and discuss her theories with someone.   “Maybe he did,” Yoon Gi uttered darkly. He scanned the chair’s entire anatomy, seeing many hidden latches and possible openings. He did not dare to imagine what could possible be hiding beneath it.   Ji Soo had taken the mission card along with her when they left and read the mission once again.   Two people are united to find the matching cards to be sighted. Each contains a deadly method; hurting your partner in a way you suggested. Find a match thrice in order to end this vice.   “We have been paired up.” She looked up from the card, mentally counting the eight chairs present. Whoever sat in the chair directly in front of them would be their partner in the game, she logically assumed.   “So we can hurt our partner?” Ji Ae read along to the mission, frowning hard at the ambiguous sentence. “What kind of a sick game is this?”   “Find the pair,” Jung Kook answered, always being good at identifying the games based off the mission cards. “I think we are going to play a memory based game.”   “So no clues for this game? I like this game already. My head was so dizzy trying to solve the clues earlier,” Myung Eun cheered to herself delightfully. She lightly hopped over to the chair that had her name on it. She admired the engravement for a moment before plopping down on the seat. Then she real