Part 6: Rule #4 - Do not go back the same way you came.

An eerie silence fell over the deep-sea zone again after Miki's transformation. Everyone stood still for a moment, staring at her unconscious body with a sense of dread and despair. The dim, distorted light from the fish tanks cast an eerie glow on their faces, revealing eyes filled with panic and a failure to comprehend the fate they were facing.

"Miki... she really can't hear us anymore?" Ploy asked in a soft voice. Her face was still pale, and the seal-like burn on her hand was a deep red, with a faint glow.

Praewa slowly shook her head. "I don't know... I've never seen anything like this." She felt that the situation was escalating beyond anyone's control.

Gawin looked down at Miki, his face filled with guilt. He felt he should have been able to protect everyone better, but he didn't even know what they were up against. "I will get everyone out of here, no matter what."

"But how are we going to get out when every way is locked?" Ton said, his voice filled with despair. "And these rules... they seem to be alive." He looked at the notebook in his hand, trying to remember every detail of what had happened, so it could be the only evidence he could keep.

Fah walked closer to Miki's body. She gently placed her hand on the YouTuber's forehead. "The energy here is getting stronger. It's absorbing the senses of those who break the rules, one by one." She thought about what had happened to James, who lost his awareness and became soulless, and now Miki had lost her hearing.

"It's preparing a 'body' for itself," It said.

Uncle Daeng turned to It with a look of suspicion. "You knew about this, didn't you, It?" he asked softly. "You know what this is."

It didn't answer, but his eyes were fixed on the deepest part of the deep-sea zone, where the dim light could not reach.

It was as dark as their future.

Boom, the young businessman who was usually composed and confident, was starting to show signs of agitation. He looked around with a worried expression. His belief in logic and business profits was starting to waver. "This isn't a good investment at all!" Boom muttered to himself. "I have to find a way out of here!"

He walked to the aquarium's floor plan on the wall. It was the same one Gawin had looked at, but there seemed to be a path that Boom had not noticed before. "There must be an exit! There has to be an exit!" he muttered nonstop, in a state of uncontrolled panic. Boom believed in his business instincts. He saw taking risks as a way to find opportunities, but this situation was entirely different.

"We have to move forward," Gawin said. "We don't know what that official will do next." He turned to the official who was still standing motionless, as if he were just a statue.

"I'm going to find the exit!" Boom declared loudly. He strode away from the group with determination. "I've already looked at this floor plan! I think I can remember the way to the emergency exit!" He pointed toward the path they had just walked through, the one leading from the submarine tunnel.

"Boom! Don't!" Praewa immediately yelled, trying to stop him. "Rule #4! Don't go back the same way you came!" She remembered this rule vividly because it was one of the most bizarre.

"I know, Praewa! But it might be the only way out!" Boom replied impatiently. "Are we going to wait for these crazy rules to take us out one by one?!" He believed in his own instincts and wasn't afraid to take a risk. "Listen! It's just like business. Every opportunity comes with a risk. But if you don't take the risk, you'll never profit! This is the same. If we don't take a risk, we'll never have a chance to survive!" Boom said, quoting his personal mantra, as if to instill confidence in himself.

"But this rule seems to be a warning!" Fah said. Her voice was full of worry. She could feel the intensely chaotic energy as Boom was about to violate the rule. "It's warning us about something... something we should not go back to face!"

"Anyone who wants to stay can stay, but I'm going back!"

Boom ignored their warnings. He ran back down the path they had just come from, without looking back at his stunned friends.

"Boom! Stop right now!" Gawin tried to yell, but Boom's running footsteps grew fainter and fainter until they were almost inaudible.

Suddenly, the synthetic voice of the aquarium sounded again. This time, it wasn't announcing a rule, but a chilling and more terrifying laugh!

"Heh heh... Rule number 4... Do not go back the same way you came..."

The voice repeated itself, as if mocking Boom's rash decision.

As soon as the voice fell silent, the lights in the corridor where Boom was running began to flicker wildly, alternating with total darkness. The images of the walls and fish tanks started to become distorted, as if the dimension of the place was being warped.

"Look! The hallway is changing!" Ploy shrieked when she saw that the corridor Boom had just run down now seemed to stretch out endlessly. The walls and fish tanks began to move as if they were alive!

Boom hadn't run for long before he began to feel something was wrong. The path he thought was familiar now looked strange with every step he took. It was as if new walls and fish tanks kept appearing to block his way. Every time he tried to turn back, he found that the path ahead was still an endless corridor.

"Damn it! What's going on?!" Boom swore. He ran into a fish tank that had just appeared in front of him and fell. He felt as if he were trapped in a labyrinth of fish tanks with no way out!

The aquarium's laughter continued to echo around Boom, as if mocking his efforts.

"He's trapped in an endless labyrinth!" Praewa said in a panic. She had read stories about distorted dimensions, and what was happening to Boom was terrifyingly similar.

"It's attacking his mind," Ton said. "And distorting the reality around him."

As Boom ran in circles in the labyrinth, he began to see terrifying hallucinations. The images of fish tanks full of money and profits he had been chasing now turned into tanks full of bloated human corpses floating inside. The eyes of the corpses stared at him blankly, as if accusing him of his greed!

"No! It's not real!" Boom screamed. He slammed into the glass again in a fit of madness. Blood seeped from the wounds on his face, but he didn't feel any pain.

Suddenly, the aquarium's laughter grew louder again, and at the same moment, Boom's body, which was running in circles in the labyrinth, began to fade away!

"Boom!" Gawin yelled at the top of his lungs.

Boom's body slowly vanished into thin air, as if consumed by the distorted light of the aquarium, leaving behind only emptiness and the laughter that still echoed in everyone's ears.

Everyone was stunned by what had happened. Boom was gone! He had disappeared without a trace, as if he had never existed.

"He's gone..." Ploy mumbled, her voice filled with terror.

"He disappeared as if he was never here," Praewa said, collapsing to the floor in exhaustion. Her face was paler than before.

"This is the result of Rule #4," It said. His voice was calm, but there was an underlying emotion. "It doesn't kill... it erases existence."

Uncle Daeng slowly shook his head. "He has become part of that labyrinth. A soul trapped in the distorted dimension of the aquarium."

A wave of intense fear washed over the remaining group. This was the most heartbreaking loss yet. Boom was the first to completely vanish without a trace or explanation.

"We have to do something!" Gawin said with a mix of anger and despair. "We can't just let it take us one by one!" He turned to the official who was still standing at a distance, as if he were just a spectator. "You! Who are you?! What are you doing to us?!"

The official slowly looked up. His eyes were vacant, but this time, a brief, fleeting red glow flickered within them. "Rules... are everything," he replied in a flat voice. "Defiance... is a disaster."

The synthetic voice of the aquarium returned. This time, it was full of mockery and triumph.

"One... consumed. Two... taken. Three... erased."

"Welcome, to becoming a part of Triton... the eternal Watcher."

When the terrifying voice ended, everything returned to a dark and eerie silence. The Triton Aquarium still loomed menacingly, and the game of survival was escalating, with no one knowing who would be the next victim or what form their consumption would take.