LOGINThe game continued. Despite being nearly out of breath, Arthur managed to overcome several laser barriers. He hid from one wall of the maze to the next, following the guiding arrows until finally, static crackled from the ceiling speakers, piercing the silence of the corridor with a flat, cold tone."Dead end." The female operator echoed, bouncing off the metal wall. "The path was not detected at the post.""Is this a trap post? Damn it!"Arthur's blood froze. That sentence was wrong. Everything was wrong. He turned to the surveillance camera in the upper corner, imagining Theresa's face behind the monitor."You can fool Arthur, too?" Theresa said gracefully after somersaulting through the laser. She clapped her hands back and forth, a truly pompous act of cleansing."What are you doing?" he growled. Arthur croaked, holding back the anger that was starting to burn in his chest.Theresa simply stared blankly into the lens, her voice coming through her personal intercom. "We let the pas
Nina tried to duck, but Arthur gently pressed her back, pushing her face down onto the cold floor. The red laser passed right over the strands of her hair that were sticking out, emitting a faint, burning smell."Careful! You have to crouch perfectly," Arthur said."Okay, sorry.""Blind players, please move in five minutes. Handlers, please wait." The operator's voice echoed again.Arthur crawled beneath a pulsing laser grid, moving from post to post to provide temporary cover. Each time he moved, he had to monitor Nina's movements through sensors on his hands. One wrong move from Nina, or one failure by Arthur to turn off the sensors at each post, and the game would be over."Arthur? Are you still there?" Nina's voice sounded small, almost breaking."I'm ahead of you—five more steps. Don't move until I say 'now,'" Arthur replied, trying to reach the control panel on the wall that was blocked by three layers of rotating lasers.He had to wait for the proper rhythm: one, two, jump. Art
The white lights in the giant, high-ceilinged concrete room slowly dimmed, replaced by a thin red glow reflecting off the glass walls. From four corners, a maze model slowly rotated, revealing narrow pathways and constantly flickering points of light.The Blind Maze was never designed to be simply a physical obstacle course. It's a living machine that reads human movement, body heat, and hesitation. The structure resembles a giant network of blood vessels. The walls are made of opaque polymer-coated glass that can turn transparent or dark in a split second. The floor is matte metal, absorbing light reflections so the human eye can't guess the laser's direction.Each corridor has a different temperature. Some are cold like a freezer, others warm and humid. That's no coincidence. Temperature sensors read heart rate and skin response, then adjust the difficulty level accordingly. This maze doesn't wait for mistakes. It creates them."Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Blind Maze." The
The cafe door hadn't fully closed when Erick followed Arthur out, complaining of laziness. Nina, who had been told to wait, couldn't hide her anxious frown as she watched them from the large window. She sensed Erick's appearance carried a dense, well-trained, and dangerous sense of malice. However, Erick was not to be underestimated."You guys---"Before Nina could react, Arthur made his move first. He shifted his body half a step forward, assuming a classic high guard position—Savate Defense, a European martial arts technique that relies on distance, feet, and precision. The heel is light, the knee is flexible. The left hand is slightly raised, not to attack, but to read the direction.Erick sneered. "You think that dance style can—"His sentence was cut short when Arthur launched a swift strike at Erick's stomach. The kick was straight, short, not pretty, but it hit the target. Erick took a half step back, his breath caught, and then let out a small laugh."Interesting," he continue
"Arthur isn't the type to play around with or even interact with another human being! But why? Why did he let that girl into his life? Why? Why did he enjoy this game with that strange girl?"Walking along the mansion corridor until she finally entered her room, Theresa clenched her fists and gulped. Jack kept a safe distance until he finally had a chance to speak. When else but when Theresa was sitting on the edge of the bed, catching her breath. "Hm… so you don't know the reason either. Calm down, Miss. He probably just wanted to make you hot," said Jack. "I doubt it. He must have thought it better to get rid of me than to put me through this. He never cared about my feelings from the start," Theresa argued. "Do you want proof?" Theresa looked up, staring intently at Jack. "How?"A breather between a series of games demanding immaculate role-playing, strategy, and lies, mornings on this island feel like paintings deliberately created to deceive people into believing that life ca
"You led this event last year, too, right? Do you know what game we're facing?"Under the white lights of the Final Exam Hall, which was lit like an operating room, Nina held Arthur's arm tightly. Although she pretended to be bright, the room deepened, revealing something too bright for the magnitude of what was about to happen.Arthur cleared his throat awkwardly. "Of course, they change the challenge every year.""Oh …."There are many circular lines, each filled with a standing couple. On the back wall, a giant screen displays a real-time heart rate graph: thin lines that can turn into punishment within ten seconds.Arthur stared at the numbers in the right corner of the screen: their Heart Meter was steady at 92 bpm."It's still a safe zone," he said.But Arthur knew the safe zone wasn't a place he could trust. One thing that never changed in S.X: safety was just a passing breeze.Nina stood beside him, her hair tied back neatly. Her facial features gradually calmed as she saw the







