At first, I didn't understand. What could that mean? Anita was the first one to die, so how was she a winner? What about Thiri?
I looked back and realized the truth. Thiri was dead. In the same way, in the same spot. A piece of broken glass had pierced her neck and ended her life. Omar was standing beside her with his eyes closed. He was breathing hard. His whole body was shaking.
Then I understood what had happened. Omar had reached his limit. He had killed Thiri. I accepted it, but Omar looked like he might lose his mind, just like Thiri. That was when I knew what I had to do. Run. Just turn back and run.
I turned, trying to think where to go. Suddenly, Omar grabbed my hand and started running toward the gates.
"We need to get out," he said quietly.
"Why?" I asked.
"Don't you remember what they said?" he replied. "Players must leave the arena after the results appear on the screen."
I remembered. We ran faster.
Suddenly, the stadium began to collapse. Everything started breaking apart.
We managed to get out. When we looked back, the stadium was gone. Smoke covered everything. The weather slowly became foggy. Thick, dark clouds filled the sky. Daylight faded. There was no sunlight. Everything turned dark and gray.
Omar moved forward into the smoke. I stayed close. Then I realized there was nothing there. The stadium had disappeared, as if the ground had swallowed it.
Strangely, the land became flat and grassy. I was curious, but I didn't have the courage to go and check.
The sky kept getting darker. Shadows grew longer. The air became calm. Everything slowed as day quietly turned into night.
I knew we needed shelter. The system was silent. No commands. No games. No rules.
For now, we were on our own.
I looked at the plane. The screen was off. Then I turned to look for shelter. Omar was staring at the open grassland. I didn't dare to go that way. After everything that happened in this place, I didn't have the courage to check it.
But Omar did.
He walked into the open land and looked around. "Where are the bodies?" he asked.
I had no answer. I stood beside him. I trusted him because he had saved me. I needed someone to depend on. At that time, he felt like a saint to me.
We were standing in the same place where we had first gathered.
Suddenly, Omar broke down in tears. I was shocked to see someone like him cry so hard.
"Why didn't I stop her?" he said. He blamed himself for everything that had happened.
To be honest, it wasn't fair. Putting three girls and two boys in a room and forcing them to fight—of course the boys would have an advantage.
Still, one question stayed in my mind: why and how was Anita a winner?
I looked at Omar. He wiped his tears, stood up, and said, "That's it. We need to know what is really going on here. I'm tired of watching people die."
I didn't really care about the others, but seeing Omar this emotional made me worried. I knew I had to keep him from doing something reckless. In serious moments, calm is not the absence of emotion. It is control over it.
We needed to stay calm and find out what this system really was. Someone was controlling everything. This brutal game, these unfair rules—nothing about it made sense.
"It's getting dark. We need to find shelter. A place to spend the night," I said.
"You're right. I saw an empty stall over there. We might find something useful," he replied.
He was right. To survive in a world like this, we needed tools and maybe weapons. So we headed there.
It wasn't really a stall. It was a large market with no name. There was nothing written on the boards. Even the open-close sign was blank. No words—only designs. It felt strange.
But we just needed shelter.
In one corner, there were pillows, blankets, and bedsheets. In another section, we found clothes. I grabbed a black jacket. It was cold, and we needed warm clothes. Omar picked a hoodie.
Further inside, we found some snacks. I found a packet of spicy chips and put it in my jacket pocket. I tossed one to Omar, but he wasn't hungry. I found it strange that neither of us felt hungry or tired. We felt normal, almost too normal.
(I didn't know the real reason back then. Now I do. But at the time, it didn't seem important.)
We set up a small sleeping area inside the store. I spread bedsheets on the floor. Omar placed a couple of pillows for our heads. I covered myself with a warm blanket. It wasn't a real bed, but it was comfortable enough to rest safely for the night.
Before sleeping, we talked about our thoughts and where we came from.
I started
"So, where are you actually from?"
"India, like I said," he replied.
-No, I mean exactly.
-Kerala.
-I remember the system board. It said Delhi.
-I moved to Delhi for my studies. Also, people speak Malayalam in Kerala. I don't know it at all.
-Oh, I see. You like studying?
-Not everything. Only some subjects.
-Which ones?
-Islamic studies, quantum physics and biology.
-Okay! Enough about studying.
-Looks like you don't like education at all.
-I like education. I just hate the education system.
-Same. But what can we do?
-Nothing. That's why I hate it.
-Okay, change the topic then.
-The system said this place is called World XXXIX. What does that mean?
-In Roman numerals, that means…(He started counting.)-World 39.
-Why 39?
-I don't know.
-Why was Anita called a winner? She died first.
-I don't know
-What happened to Thiri?
-I don't know.
-When do we go back?
-I don't know.
-Wait… how did we even end up here?
-I don't know."
-Guess who's being weird now…
-I don't know.
-Are you getting revenge for our first meeting?
-Honestly, I don't know.
-You're literally the second creepiest thing that has happened to me here.
-You're repeating my words."
-But I don't care if you mind.
-I'm just letting you know. Hope that's okay.
-I like it that way.
-Sorry, but I hate this kind of personality.
-Why?
-Living in hell doesn't mean you can't reach heaven. Be kind. Let them see you were shaped by God, not by society.
-Look at you. Comforting others with the words you wish someone had said to you.
-Nothing is completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Instead of judging mistakes, look for the good.
-If heaven comes from insults, I'd rather go to hell with dignity.
-You can beat forty scholars with one fact, but you can't beat one fool with forty facts.
-They blamed the flower for not blooming,. But never asked why it was planted in the dark.
-If they darkened your life, that's their fault. If you stay there, that becomes yours.
-What could you know about the feeling of being looked at but not seen?
-Once you start looking for the good in people, things won't seem so broken.
-Normal? I tried. I see no humanity among eight billion souls. If you want, you can try and fail eight billion times.
-I can't take it anymore. What exactly is your problem?
-The world is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think. I chose to feel. That's my problem. I should have left the truth earlier, but I couldn't.
-So, you had a traumatic childhood, and now you're blaming others for it?
-Congratulations. You finally understand.
-But if you treat others the same way, you become just like them.
-All I've learned is that there's no place for heroes. You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain.
-If you never taste a bad apple, you'll never value a good one.
-Someone who betrays you once will betray you again. You don't need to drink the whole sea to know it's salty.
-Your wounds will heal, but not if you keep opening them just to prove they still hurt.
-You must chase what you want, or you'll learn to want what you get. That's your real problem.
-When you're born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire. But it's not.
-The one who throws the stone forgets. The one who's hit remembers forever.
-There are more places in the world for you.
-And more people than places.
-Not everyone is going to hate you.
-Not everyone is going to love me either. I can't risk my future on a fifty-fifty chance.
-What are you going to do then?
-... (ZZZZZZ)
-Hello?
-... (ZZZZZZ)
(I didn't sleep. I only pretended to, just to escape the conversation for now. It would take him a lifetime to understand what I had been through. I was exhausted. Both in body andmind)