[CONTENTID1]Choice: MX3 Ending[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Now a sophomore, Haera finally eased into the college life and managed to balance her studies with her social circles. She was more outgoing than she was a year ago with the help of Umji who encouraged her to relax from time to time. Yet she was still able to procure the same high grades she started out with during her freshman year. Since she finished most of her general courses last year, she was now more thrilled to take on the actual psychology classes that she became interested in since the end of her high school career.

The additional friends came with more instances of social events that she could attend and have fun with them. One of those events was the school’s annual Halloween event by the docks of Monerosia.

Regardless of the fact that she wasn't able to remember what happened on the first night she attended the event, Haera couldn’t deny that she was able to enjoy the time with her new friends and fellow students. Although one would be wary of going back to a place where they perhaps erased their own memories due to trauma, her curious side wanted to take this chance to explore the place once more. Who knows, perhaps she may retrieve those memories along the way.

“Which bus are we gonna be in for tomorrow?” Haera asked her roommate as the both of them were packing their last minute essentials that Friday night.

“We’re on bus six for tomorrow morning and on bus three for Sunday night,” Umji replied while she zipped and added a pouch to her carrier. “I made sure to sign us up to be in the same buses Somin and Suhyun are in. However, we couldn’t share the same cabin this time since they signed up late.” She locked eyes with the other with a smile. “I guess we’re gonna have new friends this time around.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Haera smiled. If her past self could see her get excited over a social event now, she would have shook her head in disbelief. “Set the alarm already?”

“Yep!” Umji enthusiastically placed her belongings for the weekend by the door, ready for tomorrow’s trip early in the morning. “All set!”

══════

Now in his fourth year in college together with his friends, Seungcheol joined them as they led the organizing committee for the Halloween event. This meant that he was going to be busy overlooking the area and make sure that everything went according to plan. Haera barely saw him for the whole day, but once she got a moment to talk to him and ask him how things were, he replied with his usual smiling face that all’s been well so far.

As per tradition, Saturday night marked the Halloween scavenger hunt by the docks at Monerosia. That late afternoon, things became much more tense as the others tried to make last minute checks before they could place a green light on the highly anticipated event.

“I’m excited for this year’s hunt,” Seungcheol said as he walked beside Haera. He was carrying a box which held items that would emerge as part of this year’s game. Although they were friends, he never gave them a hint about what would happen later that night. “I hope this time I will be able to check out that castle.”

From her hazy memories of last year’s event, Haera also remembered seeing a castle despite the inclement weather. Only Seungcheol seemed to have actually seen the same edifice while the others believed that the place still belonged to myths and legends.

She also remembered the little talk they had a few weeks after that weekend. She came to learn that Seungcheol suffered the same fate as her on one of his scavenger hunts and was now eager to find and relive the mysterious castle again. Just like her, he wasn’t sure if his erased memories were good or bad. The only thing that they both wanted was to get those memories back.

“What about the event planning?” She eyed him as he bent down and placed the box on the ground beside the same white table from last year. “Don’t you have to oversee the whole thing?”

“Being the leader has its perks,” he huffed then gave a grin. He turned his body towards the forest and his eyes travelled to see what was beyond the slightly foggy trees and vegetation. “I’m free to roam the forest to make sure everyone’s alright. Might as well take a little detour and see if I can find the darn place. Of course,” he assured her, “the participants’ safety is top priority. Who knows if I will even have time to look for it.”

“Isn’t this your fourth year though?” She raised a brow. “How come you still haven’t found the place? Is this forest really that deep and huge?”

“I know, right?” He defeatedly shook his head. “I guess the stories about it being highly concealed from wanderers hold true.” He sighed before locking his eyes with hers. “If you do manage to see the castle again and live to tell the tale,” he placed a hand on her shoulder, “please tell me all about it, okay?”

“Hey,” she chuckled with a nod. “We both want to know what happened during that night. I want to know the truth too.”

The theme for this year’s event definitely took the previous year’s theme up by a notch. The participants were to walk through the designated forest paths and find a way to the finish line without getting marked by the paint the others would try to place on their bodies. They could hide or run away from the volunteers who were dressed up as popular Halloween characters such as Freddy Kruger, Mike Myers, or even Jack Skellington. As long as they reached the finish line without a blemish on themselves and have collected the various game pieces on the list, they’d win a prize.

“Who the heck came up with this crazy idea?” Dowoon voiced out when they heard the rules for the hunt. “That’s creepy as hell.”

“Thank this horror movie buff,” Seungkwan pointed to the smirking man beside him who wore a Freddy Kruger ensemble minus the hat and face mask to complete the outfit.

“It’s a true Halloween event, isn’t it?” Jeonghan’s eyes gleamed. His long hair was up in a bun to make it easier to put on his Freddy mask later.

“Demented, that one,” someone whispered from behind them.

Fast forward about thirty minutes into the actual game, countless shrieks and footsteps disturbing the dead leaves laden on the ground were all that could be heard. That night was just as foggy as last year’s event which made the experience more bone chilling to everyone. Flashlights were no longer viable and being in groups was less preferred seeing as it can draw out a scare volunteer much easier. That’s why this time, Haera and her friends decided to separate and hopefully come out victorious by the time they reached the finish line.

“Great,” Haera sighed as she placed a hand on the cold bark of the tree to help her shift into higher elevation. “It’s starting to feel like the same thing is happening again like the last time.” 

She walked a few steps and found an orange ball half buried under the dark oak. She crouched down and grabbed the ball, dusting it a bit before placing it inside the little white bag she held in one hand. 

The hunt for this year was made simple: find ten different colored plastic balls scattered around the forest and place them inside the provided drawstring bags. The organizers thought that with everyone being chased all around and worrying about getting caught, making their tasks simple would be preferable while they trekked through the forest. And apparently, their idea worked perfectly because now most participants were still stuck in the forest maze hiding due to the fact that they were unable to find the darn little balls. As they initially planned, more participants equals more people to scare and hopefully also creates a definite memorable time.

“I gotta remember not to be near Jeonghan during Halloween time,” Haera mumbled. “He really knows how to scare people.”

A rustling by the bushes near her made her stop in her tracks. Haera turned around and saw a figure wearing a Jason Vorhees hockey mask and had purple paint in their hands, ready to tag her out of the game. Before she could blink, she rushed through the front and continued to run while