"Section Chief!"

"Section Chief!"

"Seth!"

"Zoey!"

"Anyone...!?"

"Damn it!"

Kyle continued to shout at the walkie-talkie, only to get no reply.

Clenching his teeth, Kyle cursed as he tossed the walkie-talkie to the side and focused his attention back on the monitor in front of him. It had been a while since he had been stuck here, and in that time, the only thing he did was set up the stupid tower defense game.

He had thought about leaving the cubicle, but, thinking back to the steps that were lingering outside, he could only drop the notion.

Especially when he thought back to all the screams he had been hearing for the past few days.

'Fuck... I don't even know how long has passed.'

Kyle had lost all notion of time.

He was also starting to run out of food rations. If things went on like this, then he'd have no choice but to leave this place and risk going against the creatures waiting outside.

If not for the fact that he had encountered Gates, who held similar premises, he would've long left the place.

"But maybe I should really lea—"

Ding!

A sudden chime cut Kyle mid-sentence.

Blinking slowly, he turned his attention towards the monitor.

"Eh...?"

It was there that he spotted a red dot at the entrance of his 'zone'.

"What is this?"

Kyle leaned his face closer to the monitor in order to get a better look, and just as he did, another notification sounded.

Ding!

But differently from last time, he also received a notification.

[Red will not forget your favor if you help]

[Will you help?]

▶[Yes] ▷[No]

"What the?"

The sudden turn of events took Kyle by surprise. This was the last thing he expected to happen.

"I'm supposed to pick a side? What the hell does this mean? I thought I was supposed to stop anything from entering?"

Kyle's mind started to churn. He started thinking about everything that had been happening, and in the midst of that, a new notification appeared.

Ding!

[Time Remaining: 00:00:30]

It was a timer.

Kyle's heart raced.

'Great. A timer... This was the last thing that I needed.'

Bringing his hand to his mouth, Kyle started to bite his nails, trying his best to remain calm as he analyzed the situation.

'From the start, I've been made to think that I should stop whatever was coming and prevent it from moving past. But is that really what I'm supposed to do? There's nothing that says that I shouldn't help the red dot. But what is the red dot? Is it fighting against the owner of this Gate? This is confusing...'

[Time Remaining: 00:00:15]

Time continued to tick, and Kyle grew increasingly concerned. He really didn't know what to pick, but eventually...

'I don't know. I really don't know. For now... I think, I'll—'

—Reject it.

The once dead walkie-talkie suddenly flared back to life, startling Kyle.

"Huh?"

Turning his head, he saw the light of the walkie-talkie was back on.

"Seth? Seth...!? Is that you!?"

—...

Seth didn't reply immediately.

Instead, he remained quiet for a moment before replying again.

—Reject it. Don't help the red dot.

"Really?"

Kyle was also about to reject. He felt that the Gate was trying to stop the red dot, and judging from all the clues, this was the goal of the Gate.

However, he didn't reject immediately.

[Time Remaining: 00:00:07]

Instead, his brows furrowed.

"How can I tell that you're really Seth?"

Unlike with the Section Chief, Kyle's communications had been down for quite a bit. He didn't fully believe Seth's voice immediately.

But contrary to his expectations...

—You have a birthmark near your hips. You were twelve when you stopped peeing your bed because of the-

"Alright! Alright! I believe you!"

Kyle cursed twenty times over as he moved the mouse and pressed 'no'.

He was now certain that the person speaking to him was Seth. He was the only one who was capable of knowing such things about him.

But also...

"Just to remind you, I had a medical condi—"

—Yes, sure.

"No, ser—"

—Focus on the game.

Kyle clenched his teeth, but eventually focused his attention on the game, blocking the red dot's path.

—Try your best to lead the red dot to Zone 5. Whatever you do, don't lead it to the other Zone.

"I understand."

Kyle had unconditional trust in Seth. Although he didn't know how Seth knew this information, Seth was quite reliable. He had shown it in the past. This was why he did as he was told and led the red dot towards [Zone 5].

"Alright, it's almost there. What should I do after that? Should I—"

CLANK!

A rushed sliding sound cut Kyle mid-sentence, his head snapping back.

"—!?"

As he did, his body immediately tensed as the nodes in his mind churned. However, the moment he turned around, and he spotted what was waiting behind him, his eyes widened.

"Seth...?"

There was no doubt about it.

The man standing before him was indeed Seth.

But how...? He was talking to him on the walkie-talkie. Did he come to him?

But before Kyle could even speak, Seth took out his phone and pressed on the screen.

Not even a moment later, a beeping sound echoed.

Beeep! Beeep!

Stunned, Kyle turned his head in the direction of where the noise came from, and when he did, his expression froze.

Beeeep! Beeeeep—

A walkie-talkie appeared on the floor.

One that looked to be the same exact model as the walkie-talkie in his mind.

Chills suddenly swept the back of his mind as he looked at Seth.

"It's... about to escape."

"....!!"

Kyle instantly turned around, his gaze falling on the monitor. As he did, his heart sank as he saw the red dot about to reach the entrance for [Zone 5]. There was only one door in its path, and without even hesitating, Kyle reached for the mouse and clicked.

Click!

The door closed.

The red dot stopped.

"Haaa... Haa..."

Without even realizing why, Kyle found his breath to be extremely heavy.

His mind replayed the sequences of events over and over again, and the more he thought about it, the colder his heart became.

How...? How was this possible?

"You've been tricked."

Seth's calm words echoed a moment later. As Kyle turned his attention back to Seth again, his mouth opened, but the words that were about to leave his mouth never appeared to leave as he stared at Seth blankly.

Tricked...?

But how was this possible?

'It' knew information that only the two of them had known.

He had confirmed it.

And yet...

Kyle's eyes suddenly narrowed.

"No, what is there to say that you're not tricking me, too?"

"....."

Seth remained silent on that question. It made sense for Kyle to be skeptical after what had happened.

However, right before Seth could even think of speaking, the two of them heard the frantic sound of shuffling coming from outside the cubicle.

They both paused, slowly turning their heads in the direction of the steps.

And soon enough, several people appeared.

In that instant, Kyle's eyes lit up.

"Are you the reinforcements? That's go—"

"Follow orders. Eliminate them."

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