Eunbi returned to the real world, but she found herself standing in front of Jisoo, Minkyung and Yuri. Yoobin was hiding behind her. Eunbi quickly glanced around, noticing that they had not left the bathroom. She took out her phone to check the time. The minute didn't change. She checked her watch.

It had only been thirty seconds.

Jisoo scowled. She was obviously displeased about not being able to kill Eunbi in the games. She was even more upset when she realized that so little time had passed since they were arguing in the bathroom. Eunbi braced herself and glared at Jisoo and her clique.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, their heads started ringing. Everyone seemed deliberately surprised to hear the familiar clock sounds echoing in their head. Eunbi widened her eyes and looked around, noticing that everything around her was glitching away.

Another game? So soon? 

Eunbi kept still and closed her eyes.

She opened her eyes. In an instant, she could feel that something was wrong.

She looked around and noticed that she wasn't in the private room. Instead, she was standing in a middle of a crowd, full of confused Timepiece players. They all looked up and pointed at the stage. She turned and noticed that the invisible barrier was starting to turn blue. The hosts standing behind the wall, however, didn't seem too concerned. However, when Eunbi narrowed her eyes, she could see the hosts twitching as if they wanted to run, but were frozen to the spot.

Someone grabbed her shoulders. She whirled around and was about to defend herself until she realized that it was Mingyu. Mingyu frowned at her in disapproval, but she glared back.

"Were you going to attack me again?" Mingyu asked.

"No," Eunbi muttered. 

"What's going on?" Jungkook asked after he squeezed through the crowd to find them. "Why are there so many people?"

"I'm not sure," Eunbi said. "This is the first time this happened." She looked around. "Do you see Binnie and Cha Eunwoo?"

"No idea. I heard saw Mingyu and came over here as fast as I could," Jungkook said.

"We're here!" Dongmin exclaimed, finding them through the crowd. Yoobin was grabbing onto Dongmin's shirt.

A beam of light appeared from the above the stage. In seconds, the same clock-headed man in the suit appeared from the beam. The light vanished and the spotlight moved from the Timehosts to the Timekeeper. The Timekeeper looked like it was staring straight ahead until the clock tilted downwards.

The audience kept quiet.

The Timekeeper pulled out a portable gooseneck microphone from his pocket and placed it over where a mouth should normally be.

"It is with a heavy heart," the Timekeeper said, "that I must make such a disappointing announcement." He gestured his hands towards the Timehosts. The two hands on the clock went downwards, making a sad face. "One of you in this section did this to my precious Timehosts. Someone has been trying to break the game."

Mutters echoed in the room. Eunbi furrowed her eyebrows. 

Something isn't right, she thought. I didn't know it was possible to break the game.

"Unfortunately, I can't figure out who did this," said the Timekeeper, turning to the audience. The tone of his voice became oddly cold. Everyone in the room stiffened. "I can only suspect who did it…" The clock-headed man turned to a specific direction in the room. "…but I refuse to point out who did it without proper evidence." He looked at the rest of the audience. "So, I've decided to host a game in my section."

He twirled the microphone in the air, turning it into a black walking cane. The cane landed perfectly on the ground. The Timekeeper swiftly held onto the head of the cane, keeping it perfectly still. The platform shook a little. The stage behind the Timekeeper split in half, moving the Timehosts to the sides. From between, a large closed eye appeared from the ground, dripping with red liquid. There was a moment of pause as everyone tried to figure out what was going on.

Suddenly, the gigantic eye shot wide open. Instead of a normal eyeball, it was a blood-shot eye with a clock iris. From the golden pupil, two lines representing a clock's hands shot out towards the iris. The clock hands began to rotate—counter-clockwise.

From above the eye, red digital letters appeared above:

< THE CLOCK TURNS COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. >

< REVEALING GAME INFORMATION… >

< GAME: APCALYPSE >

< TEAM: OPTIONAL >

< ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: TIMEKEEPER'S GAME. NO DICE IS ROLLED. NO EVIL EYE ACCEPTED. >

< GAME WILL AUTO BEGIN IN 1 SECOND >

There was no brilliant white light to transport them from the Creation Hall to the games. Instead, Eunbi found herself in the middle of an empty streets with her friends standing near her. 

"What's going on?" Mingyu asked.

Jungkook immediately took out his phone as the rest began to walk:

"We don't win anything," Jungkook said.

"What?" Eunbi said. She took out her phone from the pocket. "What do you mean that we don't win anything? That doesn't—"

"Hey, Eunbi," Mingyu said, grabbing her shoulders. She stared at him, annoyed.

"What? I need to read—"

"Sorry to bother you, but look up," he said. He pointed his index finger to the sky. "What the hell are those?”

The rest looked up, staring at the dotted objects that grew bigger as it descended from the sky. Binnie looked around and found a binocular beneath a dumpster. She quickly bent down and pulled it out. Wiping the lens, she pointed the binocular towards the sky and checked the flying creatures while the others squinted their eyes. 

“They’re…bodies?” Yoobin said with uncertainty.

“Give me that,” Eunbi said. Yoobin handed her the binocular. She looked through, pausing a little so that she could get a better look at the flying objects.

A second later, Eunbi’s eyes widened and her heart almost stopped. The creatures weren't flying. They were falling. 

She pushed the binoculars back to Yoobin and started running away from the falling bodies.

“Run!” Eunbi screamed. “Zombies are falling!”

The rest started to dash. They quickly caught up with Eunbi, confused as to why she was running so quickly. They had fought with zombies before. Sure, they had ran away from zombies before, but the way Eunbi was running seemed like she was sprinting for her life. How were these zombies any different?

In a matter of minutes, the zombies fell to the ground, bleeding and broken. The four looked back, confused and wondering if the zombies had hit their head against the ground. The survival for the zombies were almost zero percent considering the height they had fallen from.

To their surprise, the zombies slowly rose from the ground. With twisted bones and a bloody face, they snarled and growled, getting up as if they were trying to remain conscious. 

These weren’t the usual zombies that the group was familiar to seeing. They had more skin, but their skin was a ghostly green color. Ears and nose were still intact. A few strings of muscles appeared here and there, but not as much as before. When the zombies opened their eyes, their orbs were clouded as if they were blinded. However, they were staring straight at the running group, showing that they could see everything. The creatures snarled and hissed, baring their carnivorous teeth and black tongues.

Then, they charged.

Everyone widened their eyes at the surprising speed of the zombies. With adrenaline running through their blood, the five dashed, sprinting through the streets and hoping to find safety.

“Why are these zombies so ing fast?” Mingyu yelled.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Eunbi shouted back. “This is counter-clockwise! These zombies are smart! They’re not like the zombies you’re familiar with!”

From behind, Yoobin began to cry. Eunbi pulled out her gun and tried to shoot the zombies, but soon realized that she didn't have a gun. She had nothing on her at all. This was a clean new game—a Timekeeper's game.

“We’re going to die!” Yoobin cried out, sobbing.

“Shut the up, Binnie!” Eunbi snapped, running.

“We can’t run forever,” Jungkook said, catching up to Eunbi’s side.

“Well, there’s nothing much we can do!” Eunbi yelled back. 

Yoobin screamed when she heard the zombies snarl louder. It wasn't long since they started running, but some of the zombies were already catching up. Rather than running into the obstacles, the zombies were jumping over or sliding under, avoiding the obstacles.

Jungkook's right, Eunbi thought. We can't keep running forever. This isn't good for us.

"Eunha!" Dongmin started running next to Eunbi. "A car!"

Eunbi eyed at the car not too far from them. She wasn't sure if there was gas in the car, but she could see the keys inside. She bit her bottom lip, but decided to risk it.

"Everyone, get in the van over there!" Eunbi ordered. 

As they neared the car, she got into the driver's seat. Mingyu took the seat next to Eunbi while the other three quickly climbed in the back seat. Eunbi began to twist the keys. 

"Come on, come on, come on," she murmured, twisting it a few times in hopes to get some kind of reaction from the car. The zombies were getting closer, but the car wasn't running. 

"Eunha! Hurry up!" Dongmin yelled frantically.

"I'm trying to get the ing car to start, okay?" Eunbi snapped.

"Eunha!" Yoobin screamed.

"I'm trying!" 

"Eunha, the zombies!" Jungkook shouted. All three got up from their seats and cowered near Eunbi, who was still figuring out how to run the van.

"Twist the key for only thirty seconds and then move the gear to drive!" 

Eunbi obeyed. She twisted the keys and waited for three seconds before letting go. The engine finally started. Mingyu pulled the gear to drive.

"Hit the pedal!" Mingyu yelled.

Eunbi stepped on the petal. The car's engine roared and started to move. Eunbi had her hands on the wheel. She swerved around a little and began to drive away from the zombies. The zombies behind them snarled and tried to chase after them, but they only grew smaller as the group went further away.

As they drove, Eunbi fixed the rear-view mirror and stared at the back. As they all tried to calm down, Eunbi gulped and narrowed her eyes.

"Okay. Who are you?" Eunbi asked.

Yoobin, Dongmin and Jungkook looked at each other and stared back at Eunbi.

"Eunha, what are you talking about?" Jungkook asked.

"Not you," Mingyu said. He turned his head and looked past the three. "She's talking about the person who told her to twist the key for thirty seconds."

The three blinked their eyes before realizing that neither of them had given Eunbi any directions on how to drive the car. They slowly turned around, checking to see who would appear. There was a few seconds of silence until a boy popped up from the back. 

"Is that all?" Eunbi inquired. She stopped the car and turned around. "If you have any other friends in the car, you better let them know that they should reveal themselves. Otherwise, I will personally go over there and kill anyone else who didn't reveal themself to me."

Two more boys shot up from the back. They were either twins or two close friends who looked alike.

"Is that all of them?" Mingyu asked.

Jungkook peered over the back. "Yep. Looks like it's only these three guys."

Eunbi began to drive again. The three boys looked like they were at ease.

"So what's your name?" Mingyu asked them.

"I'm Minwoo," said the first boy who popped up from the seats. "These are my friends, Kwangmin and Youngmin."

"Are they twins?" Dongmin asked.

"Yes."

"How long were you guys here?" asked Jungkook.

"Not too long. We saw something falling and were planning to hide here until it passed," Minwoo said calmly.

"Hey, how old are you guys?" one of the twins asked.

The four looked at Eunbi, who was focusing on driving. She glanced at the rear view mirror once before answering:

"We're part of the 1997 line," Eunbi said.

"Oh, cool. So we're two years older than you," the twin said, smiling.

There was a minute of silence until the more feminine-looking twin pulled out a shard of glass from his back pocket. He grabbed Yoobin's hair, causing her to scream until he rested the edge of the glass against . Jungkook and Dongmin tried to fight him off until he pressed the glass on her skin, forcing a small cut. She hitched her breath, trying to keep calm while Eunbi and Mingyu were trying to figure out what to do.

"Kwangmin, what are you doing?" Youngmin asked.

"We found this car first!" Kwangmin shouted. "We got it to work!"

"I knew you guys were too good to be true," Eunbi muttered angrily.

"I'm sorry! It's a Timekeeper's game! We don't know what to expect!" Kwangmin exclaimed. "So hit the breaks and leave! We won't kill you! We just want the car."

Eunbi looked behind her. She saw Yoobin's terrified face, whimpering for her to help. Jungkook and Dongmin eyed her, telling her that the vehicle wasn't worth to keep. She looked at Mingyu to make a final decision. She heaved a loud, frustrated sigh and pulled over to the side. She got out of the vehicle and so did Mingyu. The two raised their hands and stepped away from the car. When they were far enough, the other three climbed out of the car. The twins and their friend quickly took over the car. Before the three left, Youngmin, who was sitting next to the driver's seat, rolled down the window and gave them an apologetic look.

"Sorry," was the only thing Youngmin said before Kwangmin began to drive. 

The five watched the car disappear at the distance. They turned around, noticing that they were in an area just outside of the city. There were still a few tall buildings, but for the most part, they were scattered compared to earlier, when they were closer to the center of the city.

"What now?" Mingyu asked Eunbi.

"We should find water and food," Eunbi said. "Watch out for zombies, too. These ones are fast."

"They seem pretty smart, too," Jungkook remarked. "They were dodging everything and jumping around."

"So what's the difference between a Timekeeper's game and a Timehost's game?" Dongmin asked as the group started wandering around.

"I don't know," Eunbi said. She looked stiff. "I've never been in a Timekeeper's game. I've never even heard about it until now. Usually when someone cheats, they're caught and they reserve the punishment. I've never heard of a case where the game is unable to track the cheater and decides to punish everyone in the area. I've never seen the Timehost act so…strange, either."

"What about you, Binnie?" Dongmin asked.

"I've never heard of this, either," Yoobin said softly. "I can only think that the goal for the Timekeeper is to eliminate a certain amount of people. If the glitches keep happening, then the Timekeeper knows that they haven't killed off the culprit and will continue to do this."

"That's horrible!" Dongmin exclaimed. "Why do we have to suffer the consequences for someone else? This isn't fair!"

"Since when was Timepiece ever fair?" Eunbi cried out. "Let's check this place."

She gestured her chin towards a building with blood smeared against the window. She carefully pushed the door open, noticing that it was dark inside. Before she entered, she bent down and grabbed a stick.

"A branch? Really?" Mingyu said.

"I don't think I see you with anything useful," Eunbi pointed out. Mingyu didn't say anything as she led them into the building.

The room was dark. Light passed through the smeared blood, creating a red glow in the building. Eunbi carefully pointed her stick around, but she was looking around, hoping to find a better weapon.

They walked around quietly, searching for anything useful. They climbed the stairs, heading towards the second floor where there was more light. In the middle of their steps, they heard a dangerous click from behind. Eunbi froze and looked up. Although the stairs were heavily lit, the second floor and the first floor were not. It was hard to see who was standing in front of them, but it wasn't difficult to tell that they had a gun.

"Don't move," an unfamiliar voice said. Eunbi was about to turn her head, but the stranger interrupted her: "Don't turn, either. I'm serious."

Mingyu glared and took a step forward. They heard a gun fire. Mingyu gasped in pain and crouched, holding onto his arm. When they realized that he was bleeding, they all stiffened.

"We. Are. So. Dead," Dongmin whispered.

Eunbi turned her head a little to look at Mingyu. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mingyu managed to say, "but we're surrounded. I was shot from behind."

Eunbi whirled her head. There was someone below, pointing a gun at them. A little smoke rose from the gun. She could hear the person above sigh.

"Like I said, don't move," the person above said. "Also, why did you shoot?"

Eunbi was confused, but realized that the person above was talking to the person below in the shadows. 

"It's five people. That's a pretty large group. It'd be bad if all of them were capable of hurting us—" The person below stopped. "Wait. Is that… Oh my god." The five could hear the person below giggle. "I can't believe it!"

What's going on? Eunbi wondered, confused.

"What? Do you know them?" the person above asked.

"Hey! You, with the bob hair cut," the person below said. The boys stared at Binnie. "No, not you. The other girl." They stared at Eunbi. "Have you checked your phone?"

"My phone?" Eunbi repeated.

"Check it, sweetheart," said the person below. She raised her gun. "And if you can guess who I am in thirty seconds, I'll give your friend something to fix up the wound we gave him just now."

"What are you—"

"One, two…"

Eunbi didn't waste any time. She threw away the stick to the side and pulled out her phone. She quickly looked through the Timepiece app, trying to figure out who the stranger was.

"Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen…"

"Eunha, hurry!" Dongmin yelled frantically.

"We're going to die!" Yoobin sobbed, pulling her hair.

"Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two…"

Who the hell are these people? Eunbi wondered. I don't recognize them just from their voice. I'm looking through everything, but nothing—

She checked the rules:

It can't be…

"Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine… Thir—"

"IU," Eunbi said. She stared down the woman in the shadow. "You're IU, right?"

A grin appeared on the woman's face. She stepped closer to the stairs, revealing herself. The woman had a small lollipop hanging on her lips. She switched the candy to the other side using her tongue before making a wide smirk. She had long wavy brown hair and was wearing black leggings and a comfortable gray shirt. She wore a green lightweight cotton jacket with her sleeves pulled up to her elbow. She extended her arms wide open.

"Well? Are you going to give your mentor a hug or no?" IU asked.

Eunbi beamed. She smiled widely and dashed down the stairs, jumping near the end of the steps to give the familiar woman a warm embrace.

"I can't believe it! You're still in Timepiece?" Eunbi cried out.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" IU asked, laughing. She ruffled Eunbi's hair. "Aw, gosh! You've grown so much and so cute!"

"IU, are these your friends?" the boy on top of the staircase asked.

"Oh, yeah! Jin, stand down," IU said.

"Jin?" Eunbi repeated.

"A new guy we met recently," Eunbi said. She walked up the stairs and bent next to Mingyu, who was still holding onto his arm. "Sorry about that. Is he your friend, Eunbi?" 

"Yes," Eunbi answered.

"Boyfriend?"

"No."

IU laughed. "Aw, youth. How cute."

"I said no—"

"Well, Jin shot you pretty well. Let me take you to L and he'll fix you up," IU said to Mingyu, completely ignoring Eunbi. She looked up at the stairs. "Are you going to help us or just stand there?"

Jin scowled, but came down the stairs, revealing himself. He was quite handsome, with plump pink lips and an oval face as his defining features. He was wearing a V-neck white shirt with green cargo pants. Surprisingly, he was wearing a bullet-proof vest that seemed to work. He had a small silver gun in his hand that he kept waving around.

"You made me waste a bullet," Jin complained. "Sandeul is going to get mad."

"Oh, please. I'll find more bullets later," IU said. She looked at Jungkook, then at Dongmin. "Now, do I ask the skinny guy to help you or the good-looking guy? Who seems to be more stronger? Your friend looks pretty heavy."

"I'll help," Jungkook said, rushing over to Mingyu's side with Jin. As Jin and Jungkook helped Mingyu up the stairs, IU turned and smiled.

"Well, let's head upstairs!" IU exclaimed. She flashed them all a smile. "You'll meet the rest. They'll be more than happy to see you doing well."