All players, eyes scanning back and forth, tilting their heads to the side in confusion. "Where the hell did the sound come from?" he asked, listening to the sound direction carefully.
A man's brow furrowed deeply, a crow's wrinkle appearing corner of her eyes. "Level 1? "He muttered, his voice incredulous.
"Huh? Gamers, what does it mean?" the Asian girl inquired, glancing at the remaining crowd innocently, and flipped her card repeatedly.
Again, a familiar AI voice rang out, calm and mechanical, breaking the uneasy silence. "Welcome to the Fire Game, Gamers. "
The group froze, the voice cutting through the Trees like a knife. Their ears and minds focused and followed the AI's voice.
AI continued. "You are in the Fire Arena Game. Your target is to reach the midpoint of this Maze square.
Rules:
- Gamers can start wherever they want in this square.
- Each person is provided with one bottle of water.
- The Maze is 1 kilometer wide. Gamers must reach the midpoint within forty-five minutes.
Your game starts in two minutes.
If Gamers reach the Safe Zone, the Game is clear. " The voice announced the rules, then suddenly a digital timer displaying "45:00" appeared, floating in the clear blue sky.
"What the fuck? I just heard...." a blond girl blurted out, laughing without knowing any seriousness.
"Bella...." she called out to the blond girl. "Do you believe everything?" she raised her brows as she walked toward her. "I think someone is pranking us. Hey!!!!! Stop this fucking prank.... You fucking bastard...." she shouted, glancing at both sides of the wall.
"Fire Game?" a huge man murmured as he pulled out his card from his pocket. "There's a fire symbol on my card...."
"What about others?" a girl with shots questioned.
As everyone checked their pockets, watching the symbol. "Fire?" the murmurs started.
"Maze, what does that mean?" the pinkish-haired haired with piercing eyes came from a crowd asked asking them with a casual shrug.
"Hey, Pink head." A voice from the crowd called out, using a silly nickname.
"Hey, Motherfucker.... I am Lara." Lara yelled, watching the crowd. An attitude smile replaced her lips. "Who that fucking black sheep called me like that? You fucking bastard, you didn't have a gut to call me straightly," she roared, casually damaging that person.
He came outside with a huge, muscular body and towering height, and tattooed arms as his jaw tightened, nostrils flaring slightly, and warm air came out. His fists clenching and unclenching like a challenge. "Shut your fucking mouth bitch...." he roared as he walked towards her side and grabbed her neck. "Don't ever raise your voice on me?"
"Hey.... You can't treat a lady like that...." Other women shouted and yelled at him to remove his hand, throwing rocks and sand at him, and other guys tried to loosen his grip on Bella's neck, but with one hand, he handled the other players.
He didn't even flex a single muscle. Bella's eye veins were popping out, her face turned purple with pink, and her nails cracked his hand. "You bastard..." She was slurring, completely broken. At the same time, the AI voice announced, "Game start." Its mechanical voice sliced through the tension, making Enzo's head snap up, his grip loosening in surprise. The time displayed, "44:50."
"Just stop it... Enzo!!!!!! You are going to kill her just for her bad mouth.... This is not a fucking time for your play," a woman in her 30s yelled, making him come back to reality.
Then, he lost his grip after hearing a word from Enzo's best friend, Rachel, his knuckles slamming a wooden tree, which was cut into two halves. Then, without speaking another word, he walked away from the group in the opposite direction, not in guilt, just for his best friend's words.
"Game start." The AI's programmed, emotionless voice broke the tense fight to be silent. A wave of nervous energy spread through the scattered crowd. and few of them clutched their water bottle like a security blanket. The burning heat rays beat down directly on the dried wooden trees.
Small groups of people moved around with no time like a burning fuse, chatting and wandering with other players.
From the corner of the square wall, a figure in a black hoodie spoke, his voice rough and laced with dubiousness. "Finn… what in the hell are you trying to do?" A man with a jagged, half-moon tattoo peeked from beneath his sleeve and asked, watching the Finn do unnecessary work.
Finn didn't wince; his eyes were set in grim determination, his hand moving with a relentless rhythm, the sharp glint of a knife scoring deep, like a diamond cutting glass, confident lines into the rough wood before him.
He focused on the wood and responded, "I'm making an exit door..." he mumbled, his voice low, but his hands never stopped moving.
"What?" Faris's eyes narrowed in concentration on Finn's bleeding hand movements as he tried to piece things together. "Are you serious?" He thought and recalled the AI announcement again. "If the Gamers reach the midpoint, Game clear...." the chilling voice repeated in his ears. After realizing the game rules, Faris's eyes snapped open like a torch in the dark forest as he called out Finn. "Hey, dude! We have to move! The voice announced, The midpoint of this maze – that's the goal!"
Finn's knife grated, the harsh sound a counterpoint to the growing tension. He was nearing the end of his work. The piece of wood he was focused on, connected to a cluster of twisting branches, hung precariously above him. "Almost there…" he whispered to himself, a hint of anticipation in his voice.
"Shit!!! He's gonna kill me too..."Faris murmured in a low tone. His hand ran over his sweating, wet hair as he glanced at nearby players, who were already in the game.
With a final, determined cut, the section gave way, crashing down to the dusty ground with a soft thud. A sense of satisfaction washed over Finn's face as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. A true smile replaced it because he thought he was one step closer to finishing the game. "I did it...." he exclaimed as he hugged the Faris in pure excitement of his victory.
Then both exchanged glances with each other as they nodded their head in agreement to enter. Both stepped into the outer wall.
Faris' eyes widened in pure unexpected scene, eyebrows shooting up like a rainbow in the sky. Mouth falling open slightly, an involuntary gasp, looking in front of the wall.
Behind Finn froze mid-stride, like a statue. "What the fuck!!!!!!!!" he whispered, his eyes wandering and looking up the towering tree, just like another side. "It looks exactly like... a series of interconnected squares?"
"Fuck!!!!!Fuck!!!!!! " Faris screamed, breaking a dead silence wall, and his voice echoed like a stone dropped down a deep, dark well. His hands rose slowly, dragging through his hair as if trying to push away the weight of exasperation. He half-sat, staring at the ground, utterly defeated.
Finn's eyes shifted towards the timer, which displayed 31:00. Shit! Half an hour gone… I bet my life opening this fucking wall…" His mistake slammed into him, brutally dragging him back to reality. His hand hugged the Faris. "I am sorry, man, I never thought this was another trap," he apologized with a nod, trying to comfort the Faris. " I mistakenly... But"
Before Finn finished his words, "Mistake!!!!!!!!! I told you...Man... I told you," he snapped as a frown etched deep lines into his forehead. He pulled his hand from Finn's grip aggressively. "Fuck! I am not ready for this defeat... I can't let you die for my fucking mistake.... We have to move as soon as possible to reach the midpoint," he roared, not in anger but in confidence. Without wasting a single second, he pulled out Faris's hand again, returning to the square.
"I am not going anywhere with you again...." Faris's voice was flat, hollow; his body rigid like a statue. He pulled his hand from Finn's grip, rooted to the same spot.