A frantic screech echoed throughout the halls, causing Sam to reflexively jump.
The sound bounced off the ancient stone walls, echoing repeatedly before fading back into a suffocating silence.
He took a deep breath, forcing his lungs to expand.
Panicking won’t help.
Dying definitely won’t help.
Staying here was far too dangerous.
His best chance was to find somewhere safe, settle down, and wait for someone else to press the button and end the game.
He headed in the exact opposite direction of the noise.
He kept his shoulder close to the rough, dusty stone, taking short, deliberate steps.
He didn’t dare run—not in a place like this.
One wrong step could easily trigger a trap or draw a predator.
Grrrrr…
A low growl echoed behind him.
There was something there.
Something right behind him.
He warily turned his head, his blood turning to ice as he faced an unknown beast.
Its appearance resembled a wolf, but its claws were like jagged daggers, and its massive fangs protruded far past its lower jaws.
Above all else, three pairs of glowing, insect-like eyes stared directly at him, tracking his every micro-movement.
Fighting it wasn’t an option.
Survival meant one thing: run.
He spun on his heel and sprinted as hard as his legs could carry him.
He couldn’t remember a single moment in his entire life when he had ever exerted this much energy.
His lungs burned with every ragged breath, the cool labyrinth air cutting through his throat like shards of glass.
Behind him, the beast’s claws scraped violently across the stone floor as it gave chase.
The horrific clatter was getting louder.
And louder.
And louder.
Suddenly, the world tilted.
He was falling.
His sneaker caught on a stray piece of rubble, sending him crashing face-first onto the unforgiving stone.
Pain flared across his nose and forehead, but the sheer adrenaline coursing through his veins didn’t let him linger.
He scrambled to sit up, a desperate, childish hope flashing through his mind that the monster had given up.
But it hadn’t.
It was right there.
The beast skidded to a halt just feet away, its six glowing eyes pinned to its helpless prey.
Its jaws peeled back, exposing rows of yellowed, razor-sharp teeth as a hot string of thick saliva dripped onto the floor.
Sam sat frozen on the cold stone, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the inevitable teeth to tear into his neck.
He just hoped it would be quick.
“Looks like you could use some help!”
The air violently warped as a torrent of searing heat roared directly over his head.
A blinding, magnificent blaze of fire slammed into the beast.
The monster let out a horrific, high-pitched screech as flames engulfed it instantly.
It leapt frantically against the walls, thrashing in a desperate panic, before collapsing onto the floor where its body continued to crackle and burn.
Sam’s mind struggled to process what had just happened.
“You going to keep sitting there quiet, or you going to thank me for saving your life?”
A slender hand entered his field of vision, offered out to him.
He followed the arm upward.
Standing over him was a young woman with vibrant orange eyes and sharp red hair, wearing a perfectly tailored crimson business suit.
A day ago, back on Earth, he would have called her appearance strange.
Now, he wasn’t sure what “normal” even meant anymore.
“Thank you…”
He grabbed her hand, and she pulled him effortlessly to his feet, bracing him with surprising strength before his trembling knees could give out again.
“Man, there are tons of these things here,” she said casually, dusting a stray speck of ash off the sleeve of her suit.
“We’d better get moving if we don’t wanna come across any more of them.”
Sam leaned heavily against the stone wall, staring at her as he struggled to steady his frantic breathing.
“Why did you save me…?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
She blinked, looking genuinely confused by the question.
“Because you were going to die?” she said, tilting her head.
“Does there need to be any other reason?”
“Well, aren’t we in a competition right now? Aren’t I your enemy?”
“You’d only be my enemy if I were trying to win the grand prize,” she replied smoothly.
“I don’t care about that. I just want to survive this and go back home.”
Sam stared at her, completely caught off guard.
He had assumed everyone in this twisted arena would be blinded by greed, ready to tear each other apart for a reality-warping wish.
But she was just like him.
A hostage trying to outlive this nightmare.
“My name is Alice. What’s yours?”
“Sam.”
“Nice to meet you, Sam! Hey, what do you say about us sticking together?”
Sam hesitated, looking down at his own completely ordinary, powerless hands.
“You want to team up with me? Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t know if you noticed, but… I don’t have any powers like you do.”
“That’s exactly why,” Alice said, giving him a reassuring, brilliant smile.
“I have the power to protect you, so I want you to stay with me.”
A massive wave of genuine relief washed over him.
The tight knot of panic in his chest loosened for the first time since he had arrived in this hellhole.
“Thank you so much.”
“Don’t worry!” Alice grabbed his shoulders and grinned.
“As long as you’re with me, I won’t let anything happen to you!”
Her fiery orange eyes brimmed with absolute confidence.
Maybe, just maybe, if he stayed close to her, he could actually survive this.
“Well then!” Alice clapped her hands together.
“Off we go!”
She turned and immediately began to march down the corridor.
Sam quickly scrambled to keep pace with her fast strides.
“Do you even know where you’re going?”
“Nope!” Alice replied cheerfully, not even slowing down.
“But we can’t just stand around here. Our best bet is to keep moving until we find a safe place to settle down and rest.”
A cold sweat pricked Sam’s skin at the thought of blindly walking deeper into a maze filled with hidden threats, but he knew her logic was sound.
Staying still made them sitting ducks.
With a deep breath, he fell into step right behind the bright red of her suit, keeping his eyes peeled.
As they ventured deeper into the labyrinth, more wolf-like beasts appeared, lurking in the deep shadows of the corridors.
However, Alice handled them with effortless grace.
She incinerated them with quick bursts of flame before they could even launch an attack, moving forward without showing an ounce of fear.
Watching her effortlessly incinerate monster after monster, Sam couldn’t help but be amazed.
He kept his eyes locked on her back, wishing with everything he had that he possessed even a fraction of the courage she did.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The wolf-beasts became less frequent until the dark corridors grew completely, chillingly quiet.
Sam swallowed hard.
He absolutely hated the silence.
It gave his mind too much room to spiral.
He stared at the back of Alice’s suit, wondering if he should say something—anything—just to break the heavy tension.
But what?
Is it even appropriate to start making small talk in a place like this?
Before he could decide, Alice suddenly came to a dead halt.
Sam nearly bumped right into her, but as he peered over her shoulder, his heart dropped.
Stairs.
A dark, stone staircase descended steeply into the abyss.
Did they lead to the lower floor?
And if so, would it be a sanctuary, or an even deeper circle of hell?
“I think we should try going down and see what happens,” Alice said, her voice dropping to a serious whisper.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sam asked, his heart hammering against his ribs.
“There could be more powerful, more dangerous monsters down there. You can handle the things up here easily. Why risk it?”
“It’s not the monsters I’m afraid of,” Alice replied, looking back down the long, open hallway they had just traversed.
“We don’t know what the other contestants are capable of. There’s nowhere to hide from them here. We don’t know how long we’ll be forced to stay here, either.”
It made sense.
A terrible, logical sense.
“We need to find a safe place where we can close our eyes if we need to sleep,” Alice continued.
Sam stared down into the darkness of the staircase, swallowing his fear.
“Okay. Let’s go. But if anything down there is beyond our capabilities, we run straight back up here. Agreed?”
Alice offered a small, confident nod.
“Agreed.”
Side by side, they stepped onto the staircase, disappearing into the darkness below.