THE CONTROL ROOM

“You sure you understood everything I said?”

“Yes, Jeonghan, I got it.”

“Absolutely? And you know to stay away from the drawers.”

“Yes.”

“And the key. You got your key?”

Seungcheol doesn’t want to get annoyed with his friend, whom he knows is only worried and scared. But they are all scared, so his tone is a little harsh when he speaks. “Jeonghan, that’s enough.” Then he softens again when Jeonghan looks at him with big eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

Jeonghan looks like he wants to say something else, but doesn’t. Then Mingyu comes hurriedly from the Locker Room, the touchpad in hand. Behind him is Junhui crouching on the floor, with Seokmin’s still unconscious form resting on a locker bench.

“Two minutes,” Mingyu says. Seungcheol nods and gives a supportive press of his shoulder before he leaves.

Jeonghan doesn’t move though. “You should go too,” Seungcheol says.

“Don’t die. Please.”

Those are the last words Jeonghan says before exiting the Control Room. Seungcheol then closes the door after him according to the instructions—it feels horrible to do so. He also shares a heavy but supportive look with Junhui, coloured by the hint of a smile, before they too close the door between them.

Seungcheol’s smile vanishes—now he’s alone again. He turns into the leader, all doubt and fear running off of him. He turns to the screens behind him, one of which has the three countdowns on it. One minute left. Guided by Jeonghan’s words and the handbooks, he starts the control panels and activates the Communications System for all six rooms. Thankfully there are no issues. He can see everyone, and everyone can hear each other.

In almost complete, reverent silence, the first countdown hits zero. Metallic clicks echo in every room—the sound of the doors locking again.

Seungcheol takes a deep breath. “That’s it, guys, the game is on. Now let’s save Minghao and win this thing. We can do it. For Jisoo, and for all of us.”

THE SMALL ROOM

The ceiling opens for the second time, and this time Minghao is prepared. He bites and kicks at the arms holding him down, struggles like a rabid animal to get to the opening. But just like the first time, three people is just too many to fight off while lying on his back. Someone even puts their foot down through the opening and presses on his stomach. Someone manages to take the phone from him, and before he can do anything about it the large stone slab is moved back into place, closing up his tiny space again.

He screams. What was the point in giving him a phone and literally ten seconds to talk to his friends? He knows now that he is being used as bait, as a hostage. His friends are the players, and he is the prize.

The only positive thing is that the walls have been moved back to their original position, so he isn’t pressed against them. He has permanent marks on his knees and hips from how tight it had been towards the end, but now he can stretch a little. It’s when he does that he notices the difference in the concrete ceiling—a new message, and something taped to the surface.

너도 선수야고 게임을 할 기회가 생길 거야.
(You’re a player too, and you will have your chance to play.)

Underneath the tape is a white pill. He removes it and inspects it, but finds nothing. It’s not marked in any way, and he doesn’t recognise the shape. It could be a painkiller or dishwasher detergent for all he knew. The only hint he gets is a tiny text written underneath the tape he just removed.

먹어.
(Eat it.)

THE LOCKER ROOM

“So what’s the first step?” Seungkwan asks through the speakers. “The doors are locked but what now?”

Everyone can hear Mingyu rummaging through his books. “Everything I have is stuff that leads up to Objective Four, but nothing after that. So I don’t know actually.”

“Let’s start with what we know will work,” Seungcheol says doubtlessly. “Jun-ah, you’re up. You have the locker codes.”

“Already on it,” Junhui replies.

He’s comparing the numbers on the lockers to the name syllables that Jeonghan got before. He takes them one by one, slowly and carefully as to not make any mistakes, while the others listen in from their rooms. Four lockers are already open—Sunyeong’s, Jeonghan’s, Hansol’s and Junhui’s own. Seungcheol’s still requires a key, Sunyeong’s key, which he has with him in the Interrogation Room.

That leaves Jisoo’s, Chan’s, Wonwoo’s, Mingyu’s, Jihun’s and Seokmin’s lockers. Without reason or logic, he decides to go for Chan’s locker first, which requires his own name to open. His heart beats uncomfortably fast before he presses the side button, but the lock snaps open easily.

Inside is a pickaxe. An old, worn miner’s pickaxe. There’s a simple line of text carved into the wooden handle.

너무 깊게 파지 마.
(Don’t dig too deep.)

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hansol asks, but nobody knows.

Junhui has a vague idea, but the thought never surfaces. If it has something to do with Minghao, his subconscious saves him from the immense worry for now. He moves on to the next locker, which is Seungkwan’s, locked with Hansol’s name. The locker is empty of all but what looks like a crumpled up napkin at the bottom, red stained and still wet from when the room flooded. Junhui unfolds it and reads what’s written on it out loud. It’s hard to see since it’s wet and smudged, but he can do it.

승관은 대답을 알고 있지만 준희는 열쇠를 있어.
(Seungkwan knows the answer, but Junhui has the key.)

“Wait,” Jeonghan says after a while of thinking. “Seungkwan has the answer. Seungkwan-ah, is there anything in your room?”

“Not that we can see…” Seungkwan says while looking around.

“That locker was supposed to be open during Objective Three,” Mingyu cuts in. “I don’t think they mean Seungkwan, I think it’s—.”

THE MIRROR ROOM

Jihun looks behind him, makes sure Hansol is standing far enough away. Then he wraps the t-shirt tighter around his fist, pulls his arm back, and slams it as hard as he can into the mirror glass. It cracks and so does his knuckles. He gives a cry so shrill it sends feedback through the speaker systems. Then he hits it again, and once more until the mirror shatters and shards rain down over him.

“Hyung, you okay?” Hansol asks and brushes the shards out of his older’s hair. “Your hand.”

“I’m alright,” Jihun lies and looks up at the wall where the mirror was. This is the third mirror that has nothing behind it—no messages, no hidden cabinets, no nothing.

He prepares to smash the next mirror when Hansol stops him and steals the t-shirt from his hand. As much as Jihun wants to protect his younger, his hand hurts too much to refuse Hansol’s offer. Hansol wraps his own fist in the fabric and takes the mirror down with two quick hits.

He’s luckier than Jihun. The wall behind the mirror has a screen built into it, no bigger than a touchpad. Hansol touches it and it comes to life, showing what looks like a gaming app with an animated slot machine. A text that urges them to ‘pull the lever’ flashes at the bottom, and there’s an animated one right next to the machine.

Jihun explains to their blind friends what they found. “What do you think we should do? It says to play the game.”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing so far?” Wonwoo mutters.

“Either way we have to hurry,” Seungcheol says with a discreet sigh. “We have five minutes before the next countdown ends. I don’t know what that— what the..?!”

The sudden scream of their oldest makes both Jihun and Hansol’s hearts skip a beat.

“What happened?” Jeonghan calls from his room.

“Don’t say you told me so, but one of the drawers in here just… poof!” Seungcheol says breathlessly. They listen to him struggle with the damaged drawer and exhale when he extracts its contents. “There’s a new note here. It says ‘Be in control, or the game will do it for you’. I don’t—“

Seungcheol is interrupted a second time when a loud beep sounds through the speakers and the screens in every room that has one suddenly change to the second countdown. Only this time it has a title of its own—‘Boiler Room Trap’—and a message below it.

게임을 결정하게 하시겠거나 더 친구들을 죽이는 것과 살 수 있어?
(Will you let the game decide, or can you live with condemning more friends to death?)

“Guys…” Hansol starts carefully. “I think the slot machine is a randomizer. For the traps in our rooms.”

Seungcheol sighs, loudly this time. “I think you’re right. And I think the countdown is for the trap in the Boiler Room. Mingyu? Wonwoo?”

“Well, not to scare you all, but something in here just made a noise, and it’s getting very, very hot,” Mingyu says.

Hansol’s finger lingers in the air in front of the screen in the wall. Jihun is next to him, and they share an anxious look. The question settles in their minds and won’t leave them alone—can they bare making the decision on their own? And isn’t it cowardly to let a game make the choice for them just to keep their conscience clean?

“Two minutes,” Seungcheol reminds them.

SHOULD HANSOL AND JIHUN ACTIVATE THE BOILER ROOM TRAP

or

SHOULD THEY RANDOMIZE THE SELECTION

(Winning option marked in bold font. Actual randomizer used.)