The other sides were gathered in front of a round dining table. The cold air and their serious expressions made it clear they were discussing something important.
"The security cameras are installed, right?" Heeseung asked, making sure while glancing at his teammates.
"Of course." Riki replied. He happened to be the one in charge of it.
"You're monitoring with a drone too, right?" Sunghoon added.
Riki nodded in response.
"So now we just have to watch the game unfold, right?" said Jay.
"But I feel like it's less fun if we only watch. What if we become the executioners instead?" Jake suggested.
"No. The executioner is for the next game," Jungwon answered.
"We're just spectators this time, because this round depends on one person." Heeseung glanced at the person beside him.
"Yep. I'm the main character." Sunoo said proudly.
"So what kind of chaos are you planning to make?" Riki asked curiously.
"I'm going to tell whoever finds me that Arkha has been bullying me behind their backs all this time," Sunoo said.
"Whoa. That's a sensitive topic, isn't it?" Jake commented.
They all laughed—more precisely, they laughed at what had already happened in the past.
"Who are you hoping will come find you?" Sunghoon looked at Sunoo.
"Jio," Sunoo answered casually.
"Why Jio?" Jungwon asked.
"He's temperamental, easy to provoke, but he's also really generous to close friends. So I think it'll be interesting if he's the one I manage to influence," Sunoo explained.
"Hm, interesting," Heeseung said after hearing Sunoo's conclusion.
"By the way, why did you scare Arkha by saying the injection would cause hallucinations when it was just a regular sleeping drug?" Jungwon asked Jake, who was sitting across from him.
"Just for fun," Jake replied casually.
"Man, I thought you actually made something like that," Riki said, slightly disappointed.
"But it would be fun if it were real," Sunghoon added.
"Still not fun if we don't get involved directly," Jay said.
"We'd just be assistants at best," Sunoo muttered.
"I like the idea of a hallucination drug," Heeseung smiled faintly, imagining the victim's reaction if given such a thing.
Hearing Copyan Hesa's words made the others want to create the drug to fulfill their leader's wish.
"Who among us could possibly make it?" Jungwon asked, looking at everyone.
"Probably you," Riki looked back at Jungwon.
"Yeah, you're the one who usually mixes drugs," Sunghoon added.
"So far I've only made sleeping pills or anesthetics," Jungwon said uncertainly.
"Maybe you can use any poisonous substance like that. I'll help if you want," Riki suggested.
"Alright then, I'll try to make a hallucination drug," Jungwon agreed.
"Just save it for later," Heeseung said.
"What do you mean?" Jongseong asked.
"We have a waiting list," Heeseung replied.
"Huh? Who?" Sunoo asked.
Copyan Hesa only smiled mysteriously. "As you wish."
~~~~~~
Arkha slowly opened his eyes again and rose from his position lying on the concrete floor.
He looked around in confusion. The room only had a sink and a bathtub, yet it didn't feel like a bathroom.
Pain surfaced in his mind, forcing Arkha to replay the previous events.
"You're lying," Joan said.
"I'm serious, Jo. Just let me finish thi—"
His words were cut off by a clap, followed by a figure emerging from the darkness.
"Wow, this debate's going to be fun," the figure—Jake—said.
Joan looked back and forth between the two of them.
"He's my twin, Jo," Arkha explained.
"You've had a twin all this time?" Joan asked.
"We all do. From another world. Remember when your reflection looked strange in the mirror, when we were all being terrorized at school?" Arkha said.
"This is one of the things you hid with Hesa, right?" Joan asked.
Arkha didn't answer and instead approached his twin, but Joan grabbed his hand.
"Why are you going there? They're the ones who terrorized us!" Joan said.
"Go away, Jo. Go as far as you can," Arkha replied.
"No!" Joan refused.
Arkha had no choice but to shove his friend's hand away.
"Khan—"
Arkha ignored him and kept walking toward his twin.
"Hesa is with you. Let him go," Arkha demanded.
"Sure, as long as—"
"I'll go with you," Arkha cut in quickly.
"What are you doing, idiot?!" Joan pulled Arkha's hand, but Arkha stayed still.
"Leave me," Arkha said coldly.
"We can find another way to save Hesa. Don't just give yourself up like this," Joan pleaded.
Instead, Arkha pushed him again until Joan fell. Arkha then extended his own hand toward Jake, which made Jake smile in delight.
"Wow, I thought bringing you along would be hard. Turns out it's this easy," Jake said.
"Khan, don't be stupid!" Joan tried to wake him up, but it was too late.
Arkha bit his lip to hold back a groan as the syringe pierced his wrist.
"Since you're willing to cooperate, I'll kindly give you my experimental drug… a hallucination drug," Jake whispered, still audible to Arkha, before chuckling as he pulled the needle out.
That memory instantly filled Arkha with guilt. His foolish action had made him fail to protect his friend.
~~~~~~
Joan woke up in another room. He cursed himself for failing to escape or even ask for help. He had thought too long instead of listening to Arkha.
Joan was speechless at what was happening. Someone behind him helped him stand.
"R… Run. N-now." Arkha managed to warn him one last time.
"S-Sorry," he added with a faint smile.
Thud!
Joan almost cried seeing Arkha's body fall just like that, and Jake casually carried the twin over his shoulder.
"You and Arkha are lucky. You can just sleep right away, unlike your other friends who had to struggle to breathe first," Jake said.
Jake walked away, and Joan couldn't just stay still.
Grab.
"Where do you think you're going?"
A hand gripped Joan's arm as he had just taken a step forward to chase Jake.
Feeling a strong danger instinct, Joan reflexively threw a punch at the young man behind him.
Thud.
The young man staggered but smiled in satisfaction at the twin.
"Not bad."
Joan was shocked, but this wasn't the time to freeze. He ran.
Ignoring the pain in his legs from tripping over roots several times, Joan kept running through the darkening forest.
After running who knew how far, he finally saw the tents belonging to his group.
Just a little more—
Bang.
Joan's body was thrown aside by a kick to his ribs. Sand and dust filled the air, limiting his vision. Before he could stand, his head was slammed hard against a tree. He felt a thick, metallic liquid flowing down.
"Whoa, I wasn't too rough, right? I almost forgot I'm not supposed to hurt you. We still need to play later."
From the darkness, the young man appeared slowly in front of Joan and crouched beside him, observing his wound.
He tried to clean it with a handkerchief, but Joan slapped his hand away.
"I don't want to play with you," Joan hissed.
"Do you think I need your permission?"
A second later, a syringe was already pressed to Joan's neck. He endured the sting while glaring sharply at Jungwon.
He couldn't look weak in front of his twin—that would only make Jungwon laugh. Even so, Joan trembled in fear as he felt the liquid enter his body.
Now he couldn't move at all, and the wound on his head throbbed even more.
"Damn it," Joan muttered, rubbing his aching neck.
~~~~~~~
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Niki kept walking around the place without direction. "Where is everyone?!"
He occasionally glanced back at the floating object following him—a round thing with a red glowing center. "Why is that ball following me all the time?!"
Niki was irritated. He woke up confused in this place, had to look for his friends, and now he was being followed by a strange laser-like ball.
"Maybe I should hide first."
He looked back, then ran as fast as he could into a room and shut the door before the ball could enter.
"Good thing I moved fast."
As he stepped forward, he accidentally stepped on something and picked it up.
"This is an invitation card," Niki read seriously.
A few moments later—
"What is this? I don't understand." He threw the card away.
~~~~~
Joan looked around the place he was standing now—just an empty room with several bricks scattered around. He immediately picked one up.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps were approaching. Joan moved closer to the door while still holding the brick.
Creak… the door opened slowly.
"Jo." The pale-skinned young man looked slightly surprised.
"Satya." Joan sighed in relief upon seeing his friend.
"You okay?" Satya asked worriedly.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Joan replied.
"Well, as you can see," Satya said.
They looked at each other, checking each other's condition.
"We have to find a way out," Joan said.
"And find our friends too," Satya added.
"Alright, we search together. Don't split up," Joan agreed.
They walked side by side through the abandoned building.
"Do you remember anything before you woke up here?" Joan asked.
Satya nodded. "I was with Niki, then our heads were covered with cloth until we couldn't breathe."
"Same with you, right?" Satya continued.
"Y-yeah. Me and Khan too," Joan replied nervously, lying.
Deep down, Joan kept remembering.
"You and Arkha are lucky. You could just sleep right away, unlike your other friends who had to struggle to breathe first."
Why weren't he and Arkha treated the same as the others? And what had Jake whispered to Arkha?
The only word Joan caught from that devil's lips was "drug."
If that was true, what kind of drug had been given to them?
"What happened to Arkha… I'm worried about him," Joan thought.
Their footsteps eventually led them to a large strange door like a gate. They opened it and were shocked—the room was filled with monitors that had been watching them all this time.
"We're being monitored…" Satya muttered.
"Being here was already suspicious. No kidnapper would leave their victims unwatched," Joan replied.
One monitor showed Jio talking to Arkha, but Jio looked furious.
"Something must've happened. We have to find them," Joan said.
As they turned around, a black-robed figure appeared behind them, pointing a gun.
"Well, looks like a couple of rats escaped."
Satya froze for a moment. The voice sounded exactly like his own.
"Satya…" Joan whispered.
Joan's call snapped Satya back to his senses. He quickly pulled Joan away, and luckily, the figure didn't follow them.