The three walked in silence as the Black Zone shifted around them.
Buildings bent at odd angles, as if the earth had convulsed. Some structures shimmered faintly, like heat illusions. Others were covered in black vines that pulsed with slow, steady movement—as if the city itself was alive and breathing.
Their wristbands buzzed as they approached a cracked plaza.
In the center stood an obsidian obelisk, smooth as glass, at least twenty feet tall. It pulsed red at the top.
GAME ENTRY CONFIRMED
NAME: MIRROR MAZE
TYPE: PSYCHOLOGICAL / SURVIVAL
PARTICIPANTS: 3
RULES:
YOU MUST EACH ENTER ALONE. THE MAZE WILL REFLECT YOU—YOUR MEMORIES, REGRETS, FEARS. ESCAPE BEFORE TIME EXPIRES. FAILURE TO CONFRONT THE TRUTH = ELIMINATION.
TIME LIMIT: 30 MINUTES
A hissing sound.
Three doors appeared in the stone wall behind the obelisk—black steel, marked with only a symbol: a shattered eye.
"Separate again," Rin muttered. "Of course."
Matthew's fists clenched. "It's trying to isolate us."
"It wants to break us," Sora said quietly.
They looked at each other, then stepped forward—together—until the game forced them apart.
Matthew's Door:
It opened soundlessly, revealing a pitch-black hallway. As he walked, mirrors lined the walls—first plain, then slightly warped. Then familiar.
Suddenly he was staring into a mirror showing his old bedroom. His school backpack. His childhood drawings. His brother's laughter echoing faintly behind him.
Then the mirror shattered.
Now it showed his father, face red with anger, yelling words Matthew had tried hard to forget.
"You'll never be strong enough. You don't finish anything."
Another mirror.
Sora's face. Her voice: "You got lucky, Matthew. You didn't save anyone."
He closed his eyes.
It's not real.
But the maze didn't care. It curved and shifted, the walls whispering in his own voice:
"What if you belong here, Matthew? What if Death Land is where you're meant to be?"
He ran.
Each turn led to more reflections, more versions of himself—crying, breaking, screaming.
Until finally—he saw one not distorted.
One mirror.
One image.
Himself.
Standing still.
Looking back.
And that version said only one word:
"Enough."
The mirror didn't shatter.
It opened.
And he stepped through.
Time Remaining: 03:12
Outside the maze, Sora and Rin waited—both breathing hard, sweat soaked into their clothes.
They had escaped their own mazes.
They didn't speak of what they saw.
They didn't need to.
GAME CLEARED.
LIFE EXTENDED: +2 DAYS
BONUS UNLOCKED: COORDINATED ENTRY PERMITTED FOR NEXT GAME
Matthew wiped his face.
The sky above the Black Zone rumbled again—lightning flashing far in the distance.
But for the first time, the air felt different.
Not calmer.
Just quieter.
The city was waiting.