The room was silent again — but in that silence, there was something that pierced deep within.
The blue light slowly faded, and a cold breeze slipped in through the door.
Maria's voice trembled.
"She's… really gone, Ryan."
Ryan said nothing. His eyes were still fixed on the spot where Aya had been standing just moments ago.
On the machine's screen, a new line of text appeared:
LEVEL 2: MEMORY MAZE INITIATED.
"Memory Maze?" Maria whispered.
Ryan took a deep breath. "It means… now it's going to play with our minds."
Suddenly, the walls around them began to move — like the entire room was breathing.
Neon lines spread from beneath the floor, spiraling around them in glowing waves.
Within seconds, they were somewhere else again.
Now they were inside a maze —
The walls were transparent, filled with flowing codes, and at every turn, holograms floated in the air.
Maria stared in disbelief. "These… these are our memories?"
Before her eyes, scenes of her childhood appeared — a park, a swing, her mother's laughter.
"No… no, this can't—"
"Stay calm," Ryan said. "The system is reading our neural patterns. If the emotions get too strong, it'll take control."
But then his eyes caught something —
A hologram.
It was Aya.
Exactly as she had been before she disappeared.
"Ryan…"
Her voice was the same — soft, but now with an eerie chill in it.
"You want to clear Level 2, don't you?"
Ryan stepped closer. "Aya… you're alive?"
"Maybe," she smiled faintly, "or maybe I'm just a piece of your code."
Maria gasped. "Ryan, don't talk to her! She's not real!"
But Ryan didn't stop.
"If she's part of the system, then she can be hacked."
He raised his wrist bracelet, trying to trace the hologram's energy signal —
But suddenly, the entire maze flared with blinding light.
Aya's face appeared on every wall — smiling, whispering softly —
"Sacrifice never ends…"
Darkness swallowed Ryan.
Maria's voice echoed from somewhere far away —
"Ryan!! Look behind you!"
And when he turned —
Aya was standing right there.
But this time, her eyes weren't blue… they were black.
"Welcome to Level 2, Ryan," she said,
"Now it's your turn… for the sacrifice
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