I ran without looking back.
My lungs burned, my legs trembled, but fear pushed me faster than any strength ever could. The roars behind me mixed with the pounding of my heart. The trees blurred under the pale moonlight.
Then—silence.
I stopped, gasping, pressed against a mossy trunk. The forest was still. Too still.
I had survived. For now.
Then came the sound — a slow, heavy step behind me.
The girl. The one who had changed.
Her empty eyes stared right through me. She could have killed me — but didn't. She just stood there, trembling, as if something invisible held her back.
Her lips moved.
— "...Rayer..."
Her voice was broken, distorted, but it was hers.
— "Run..." she whispered, and collapsed.
Then the voice echoed in my mind again.
— "Observation: subject number seven shows abnormal reaction. Creatures refuse to attack. Interesting…"
— "Who are you?! Why me?!" I shouted.
A metallic laugh answered.
— "Keep playing, Rayer. The Game has only just begun. And you… you're more than a player."
The voice vanished.
But something inside me burned — a strange energy crawling under my skin. For a moment, the shadows themselves seemed to fear me.
And I knew:
If I wanted to survive, I had to find out what I was becoming.
---
I hid anywhere I could — under roots, behind rocks, in the hollow of a tree. Around me, the forest was chaos.
Screams. Running. Transformation.
One by one, people were caught and twisted into monsters before my eyes.
Time passed slowly — or maybe too fast.
Then, I saw it.
A pale glow above the trees.
A giant clock, suspended in the sky, its hands moving slowly until they stopped.
One hour had passed.
Instantly, every creature froze. Their bodies dissolved into black smoke, vanishing into the air. Silence fell.
Cries of relief echoed everywhere.
Survivors emerged from their hiding places, laughing, crying, embracing.
— "We made it!"
— "It's over!"
But I didn't move.
Something didn't feel right.
Moments later, figures appeared between the trees — people dressed in white, carrying trays of food.
Fruits. Bread. Meat. Everything you could dream of.
— "Congratulations, players," one of them said softly. "You've survived. Eat. Rest."
The others ran to them, starving.
But I didn't.
Everything about this felt too perfect. Too easy.
When someone offered me food, I shook my head.
— "No. I'll pass."
A few others did the same.
But most ate, laughing and crying, overjoyed.
Then came the screams.
The ones who had eaten began to twist, clutching their stomachs. Blood poured from their mouths. Their eyes rolled back.
They collapsed, shaking violently.
— "What did you do to them?!" I screamed.
The voice returned.
Cold. Amused.
— "I never said the game was over."
The forest went quiet again.
— "Those who resisted temptation… congratulations. You've passed the trial."
I clenched my fists, fury boiling inside me.
— "Why are you doing this to us?! What did we do?!"
But there was no answer.
Only silence.
And in that silence, I realized something terrible —
in this game, death wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us.