They waited in the stretch of a pregnant pause. Seconds ticked by, and there were no signs of any possible weapons that could ambush them after Ye In had supposedly cheated death.   Jung Kook pushed himself up first, offering Ye In a hand to help her up. He protectively kept his hand rested on her back, in case he needed to pull her away from an incoming attack. But again, the coast was clear, seemingly.   “Why is nothing happening?” Tae Hyung asked, eyes wide open to search for any possible source of a weapon storage place. The tone in his voice indicated some displease.   “Why are you so eager to have someone killed?” Mi Joo questioned, suddenly finding their new comrade more frightening. Even the glint in his eyes that was so cheery earlier seemed to be consumed by the greed to win.   “Because only one person can win the game.” Tae Hyung vaguely remembered the initial mission. He worked hard because his life was at stake, all of them were. “So why is Ye In still alive?”   Nam Joon interrupted the silence with a small scoff too intelligent for their common brain to comprehend. “If you read the mission card carefully, it stated someone could be saved,” he said.   “How?” Soo Jung asked, rather impressed with his knowledge regarding the smallest details everyone else missed.   “Hand it over to the player on your right; there is no need to be polite,” Nam Joon retorted the phrase from the mission card. “Jung Kook’s act to save Ye In was definitely impolite.”   They stayed quiet for a while, pondering about his words. If that were the case, did the game allow a way out to save someone’s soul from being taken? But it contradicted the idea that only one person could survive this entire game.   “Ah, this is no fun at all,” Tae Hyung then said, stretching his mouth into a yawn. With his hands linked behind his head, he casually walked out of the dining room like the Russian Roulette game never bothered him. His brazen attitude suddenly morphed his character into that no longer of the cheerful guy they knew him as.   Yoon Gi didn’t say a word and also left. That grim expression on his face proved his agreement with Tae Hyung’s mindset, only he was not vocal about his opinions at all. So he quietly took his leave.   At this point, it was almost too easy for Nam Joon to predict the next set of events. Myung Eun would wait several seconds before she strolled out to follow Yoon Gi, discussing whatever could sabotage their next game, he assumed.   Seventeen seconds. Those were the exact amount of delay in time she waited on before mumbling something as neutral and innocent as “I’m tired.” Then she left, as expected.   The girl didn’t notice her shoes stepping unto a small golden object lying on the floor. Her heels kicked it backwards, magnifying its tiny presence in front of the rest who remained in the room.   “What is that?” Ji Soo asked, watching Soo Jung carefully pick it up with bare hands. Was it even safe? Out of everyone, Soo Jung would know since she had dealt with chemicals before. Her skin was so rough from constant exposure one would wonder whether she had grown immune to it.   “A bullet,” Soo Jung answered, studying the tiny golden weapon of mass destruction held between her thumb and index finger. “The number eighteen is written here.”   “Eighteen?” Ji Ae repeated, eyes widening at an idea forming in her mind. “Could this number be important for our escape?”   “Similar to the number obtained from the zodiac equation?” Ho Seok asked, eyes darting to Nam Joon because it was an unspoken fact that Nam Joon usually knew the answer to everything. He had always been somewhat of a genius.   “I’d like to think so.”   “Alright,” Soo Jung always wrapped things up nicely to ensure the others wouldn’t be as fearful when one game ended. “We should get some rest. Who knows when we’ll be summoned for the next game.”   There was that dark underlying eeriness in her tone no matter how well she covered it up with her reassuring smile. What was much scarier was the thought that being summoned was starting to feel like a standardized norm, like it would’ve been strange if they went a day without playing the dreaded game of doom. It hasn’t been a week and they had only participated in two games so far, but their mindset was already shifting in accordance to being trapped inside this house.     Soo Jung was readying her bed and preparing for sleep. It was only 8 PM, a very unusual hour to fall asleep in considering she used to stay up past midnight just to finish her assignments. But due to the current events they were situated in, staying awake for long would garner her innermost focus to the murderous game. So drifting off to the far part of her subconscious was a good solution to escape the reality binding her to her grave stone.   A sudden knock caught her attention in the middle of fluffing out her pillow. With the slippers attached to her feet, she slouched to the door, cautiously creaking the door knob over.   “Hi.”   Ye In appeared in sight, dressed in white silky pyjamas slightly too big for her. But Soo Jung remembered the girl had always liked those loose oversized clothings for it was easier to move in. Her hair glowing golden brown in the dim light of the room, cascading around the contour of her small face. With a pillow wrapped tightly around her arms, Ye In resembled a toddler holding a teddybear for protection when thunder struck at night. A tall and adolescent toddler who towered over Soo Jung’s short frame.   “You wanna sleep here tonight?” Soo Jung guessed with a small motherly smile forming on her lips. It had always been like this in the past and she used to be the person Ye In sought for during the difficult times. It was only after that incident when Ye In stopped coming to her for shelter. Ye In probably stopped coming to anyone afterward and shut herself off with her studies.   “Can I?” Her voice was a hesitant whisper, like a child asking her mother whether she could take cookies from a cookie jar. It always gained Soo Jung’s favor when she added in her big pouty eyes.   Soo Jung laughed, opening the door wider to give her entrance. “I’m surprised you came to me instead of Jung Kook,” she said with a teasing chuckle.   “That-” Ye In swiftly turned around to say something in her defense, but the heat on her face overshadowed her rational thinking. “That would be frowned upon. Besides, we don’t have that kind of relationship. We’re just friends.”   Soo Jung smiled, swinging the door closed as the smile crept wider on her face. She sat down next to Ye In on the bed, slightly jerking her shoulders. “Friends wouldn’t risk their lives trying to save another like that,” she said.   Ye In’s eyes enlarged. “They wouldn’t?”   “Maybe he still likes you.”   “It can’t be! It has been years since he had that silly crush.” Ye In laughed it off. They had been longtime neighbors, even growing up together as friends. She remembered he had always given her chocolates on Valentine’s day, made her personalized cards for her birthday, and always kicked the bullies’ at school whenever they made fun of her. When he said he liked her, she always laughed as if he was the best comedian in the world. So eventually he stopped saying it, and she started to realize he wasn’t joking.   “It would be nice.” Soo Jung pushed her weight against the bed, feeling her upper body sinking into the mattress while her feet still dangled over the bed frame. “If we weren’t in this place, you two could start dating like any teenage couple would.”   Ye In laughed coyly, mimicking the movement by lying down next to the elder one she had somewhat treated as her older sister. “If we weren’t in this place, none of us would be talking to each other.”   The elder shifted to the younger one in surprise.   “I guess this might be a blessing in disguise in some way. As if it’s the final chance to mend the friendship we have lost over the past few years.” Ye In let a bitter smile grow across her feature.   Soo Jung smiled, throwing her arm over the younger one for a sisterly hug. “Look at you being so wise now. The last time we spoke you asked me to help you cheat your way out of detention.”   Ye In shrieked a little at the sudden hug that felt more like being tickled than embraced. She roared in laughter, trying to tickle the other in return.   This felt nice. Because for the longest duration after setting foot in the mansion, this was the only few precious seconds when death did not occupy their mind. If they had the chance to lead a normal life, this was the sweetness to be savored.     “The third mission is here!” Tae Hyung’s loud voice acted as everyone’s human alarm clock in the morning—or what they assumed would be daylight time in the outside world. He had woken up extra early with the sheer curiosity whether the mission card would be present and whether he could somehow catch the Game Master in the midst of his act. But he only found the mission card on top of the dining table, and the Game Master was nowhere in sight.   The dining room soon swarmed with the remaining participants who all looked like they lacked sleep. There was a contradicting emotion battling inside their mind wanting to know what the next game was but not willing to attain the knowledge how one would die next.   “Read it out loud.” Ho Seok elbowed Tae Hyung before yawning out out his exhaustion. The two had already talked out yesterday’s issu