Death Wish

Act III - Round 2, Buttons

'The gates will close in exactly five minutes, failing to enter will result in elimination', the transcendent voice reminded.

The wishers went in one by one, some are still hesitating to enter, fear and despair are humbling down on their knees. Those who were desperate for their desires are ready to face the trials of death once again. They have different beliefs and intuitions, some are just afraid to challenge the sadistic game once again l, and some are just stupidly confident. No one knows what stepping stones are in their way but the chances of cracking ones is high like the sky, only perseverance and determination can save them.

Five of them went to the gate one by one as their hearts were getting crushed with nervousness but being able to endure is the only way to survive. Hee Chul ran to the gate and entered first, "Jang Hee Chul is so optimistic, huh?", Yoon Ho said to Jin Suk. He didn't answer back and walked infront of the gate.

'Failed to enter before the specified time ends will be immediately eliminated', the voice reminded.

There was only three minutes left and more wishers entered with their stiff feet. Yoo Chan gulps as he stands in front of the white glowing gate, "Get out of the way, kid!", a big man bumped into him and yelled at him. "I'm sorry", he apologizes and bows his head. The big man snarls and goes inside the gate. Jin Suk taps his hand on his shoulder and tells him to go in. Jin Suk entered without hesitation leaving Yoo Chan behind. "Let's go, kid", Ree Na held his arm and went through the gate together.

Yoon Ho stayed behind for a while as he observed the wishers. There's only two minutes left and most of the wishers had already entered. He looked to the left side of the dome and saw two wishers together. He notices their affections toward each other and immediately knows that they must be connected in a relationship. Onto the right side, he saw an old man walking straight to the gate. In the far right, he saw a guy who ran through the gate.

The woman who was crying earlier and the woman giving comfort was still there. "Come on, we don't have much time left", the woman was also frighten as she tried to lift the other woman up. "Just go-", she said with a faint voice."What!? I am not leaving you here", the woman insisted and she tried dragging her to the gate. The weeping woman pull her arm back and yells, "Just go! I will die here! I can't handle another deadly nightmare!".

The frail woman slapped her so hard that it echoed throughout the dome. "If you want to die then die trying!!", the frail woman shouted and the woman went silent as tears came out her eyes. The woman helped her stand up and went through the gate together, the frail woman glanced at Yoon Ho and he looked at her straight back.

Yoon Ho wanted to be the last person to enter and there were no wishers left in the dome except for the man who was sitting by the far corner shivering in fear. Ten seconds left and Yoon Ho gets moving, before he enters, he looks at the man again, he wants to remember his face. 'Fail to enter the gate will result in immediate elimination', the voice gave the final warning and the man doesn't have the will to go through. After that, Yoon Ho went through the gate.

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After Ree Na and Yoo Chan entered together. Ree Na realizes that she wasn't holding onto someone anymore. The bright lights blinded Ree Na for a moment and Yoo Chan vanished from her sight like he was gone along with the wind. Ree Na knows that the game separated them and she knows that Yoo Chan was sent to a different space. "He will be fine, '' she mumbles. Ree Na takes a deep breath, "They will be fine", she said and gulps.

Ree Na walked through the long white hall and saw a wooden door in the far distance. She runs to the exit with her heart fumbling around, she gives a stiff face and turns the doorknob, she enters to the other side with no roots of hesitation.

What awaits her is another white room but this time the space was limited and wasn't huge like the previous round. It was like the size of a small classroom. "You!??", she heard someone, someone who she hated and didn't get along with, it was Hee Chul, "Why are you here!?", she said, frustrated. "That's my question, what are you doing here!?", Hee Chul went closer with his frowning face.

The two were growling at each other like kids, "Do you think I wanted to be here with you, Ahjussi!?", Ree Na snarls. Hee Chul's eyes widened as he heard a piercing word from her, "Ahjussi!?? Did you just call me, Ahjussi!?", Hee Chul made a guttural sound. "Yeah, Ahjsussi, aren't you one!?", Ree Na raised her left eyebrow. Hee Chul grunted, "I am only in my twenties! I am only twenty seven years old", he said frustrated. Ree Na curls her upper lips and nose, "How am I supposed to know!? You don't look like one", she said. Hee Chul snarls and turned around, "Yeah, your height says it too", he smirk as if he wins the argument between them. Ree Na was left speechless, unable to male a comeback, Hee Chul was already made a distance and she was too late.

The room suddenly became dimly lit and the two kept their guard up, 'Welcome to the second round of the wishing game', the voice finally appeared and another deadly game awaits them.

'Game, Hidden Buttons', the game has finally named the game for the second round.

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Yoon Ho enters into the white space of the gate and bright white lights have blinded him for a moment. He crossed into a new space where he was met by a long white hall with a visible wooden door at the end of it. He also saw a boy who was at the infront of right side of the wooden door biting his fingernails.

Yoon Ho proceeded and walk in the long white hall. As he gets closer, he finally knows who the boy is. "Lee Yoo Chan?", Yoon Ho has found Yoo Chan who was brought into the safe space as him. Yoo Chan was startled, "Hyung?", he said. Yoon Ho smiled, "It is you", Yoon confirmed "What are you doing here?", asked by Yoo Chan. Yoon Ho blinks his eyes twice, "I think we were brought in the same space this time", he explains."I see", Yoo Chan nods.

Yoon Ho opened the door not another seconds passed and entered as Yoo Chan followed. Yoon Ho stood still as he inspected the white room. It was bright and had a limited space. Yoo Chan passed by him as he looked around. Yoon Ho went to him to ask something, "Didn't you and Oh Ree Na go to the gate together?"Yoon Ho asked, "I remembered that she was holding onto you when you two entered", he added. "I don't know where she is but we got separated after we went through the gate", he explains."She disappeared without a trace", he added

Yoon Ho's eyes slanted as he put the middle point finger curled on the top upper lip as he tried to think. "She must be in a different space", he said. Yoon Ho was puzzled, "What do you mean by different space, Hyung?", he asked. Yoon Ho walks to the center, "Just like the first game, several wishers have been scattered in different groups", he explains as he rests his arm to the other arm and rubs his thumb and point finger together. "Since there's two of us, the second round will consist of a team of two", he said, "Or a face off", Yoon Ho stated a fact that they both cannot ignore.

The two look at each other with lenient eyes, this game is so sadistic that they will make you compete with your friends. "But the second round is always a team game, right?", Yoo Chan tries to lift the moods so they won't feel uncomfortable with each other. "Yeah, let's believe in that", Yoon Ho went along.

They can't let their guard down, they have to accept the challenge even if it ignores their vulnerable conscience. They must accept the consequences of their greed, the greed of obtaining their own longing for desire.

'Welcome to the second round of wishing game', the voices have swayed into their ears, the game is starting soon.

'Game, Hidden Buttons', the voice have revealed the title of the game and it doesn't sound easy.

"Hidden Buttons?", Yoo Chan mumbles. Yoon Ho stood still and waited for the instructions, he doesn't want to miss anything, hoping to find a loophole he could use.

'Rule: The game will consist of six wishers in pairs', Yoo Chan looks at Yoon Ho so focused, he was relieved that they won't be up against each other. "Six wishers?", Yoon Ho muttered. He looked from left to right and only both of them were there. There were no other people in the room except for them.

The room began to shake leaving the two of them startled, "What's happening!?", Yoo Chan yells as he holds onto a wall trying to maintain his balance due to the shaking. "I don't know, just hold on a little longer", Yoon Ho gave a reminder as he also held on the wall at the opposite side where Yoo Chan is found. Something is happening with the room.

Then, a new set of light came in just like the sunlight that shines inside the windows. The walls were being dragged from below making the closed room into an open room. Both of them were down with their butts on the floors as they couldn't hold onto the moving walls. b As the walls were getting pushed down the ground, they could hear birds chirping and saw a lot of old trees outside looking at the wall gaps.

The white room has finally sunk below the wet ground, leaving the two of them stuck in the middle of the forest. The two of them looked from left to right, they saw another four wishers in pairs. Yoon Ho recalled the first rule, 'The game will consist of six wishers in pairs', the rule finally makes sense. These are the two pairs they are going to face but the disadvantage was clear enough for them two. They were walking in a thin thread trying to maintain their balance, facing these people will be the reason why they will fall. The two pairs were out of their league.

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Jin Suk walked through the gate and went through the white space. He covers his face with his right hand as bright white lights block his sight for a moment. He flickers several times to adjust his vision. He found himself in a long white hall, not a minute later, a woman also pushed through the gate. Jin Suk kept his guard up as he didn't know who the woman was. The woman had messy hair and a haggard face, she had some visible scars from her face. Jin Suk knows that if this woman gets a grooming, she will be one of those beautiful women in the city. Life is full of unexpected moments in our life and this woman had to go through a lot to become like this.

The woman looks around looking for someone. When she turned back the gate was gone. Jin Suk immediately caught on that there will be only the two of them together. He believes that the game brought them together and he knows that the wishers were scattered by two. Jin Suk glances at her and realizes that it was the woman who tries to comfort the other while it cries.

He saunters his way through the long white hall. He walks like a thug as he goes to the wooden door and the frail woman follows. Jin Suk didn't hesitate to open the door and entered. Both of them have found themselves in a limited white space. The frail woman was wandering around the room hoping to find something. Jin Suk was leaning on the wall as he observed the woman keep walking around in a circle.

The two didn't even bother to give out a word or even introduced themselves. The two kept exchanging glances, the room was full of awkwardness and the both of them just didn't care. The woman was restless, she kept walking back and forth, Jin Suk was annoyed, "Can you stay still just for a second", he said to the woman with a fearsome face. The woman stopped as she sunk her fingernails on her palms. The woman went to a corner of the room and stood there with a hunchback looking down below the empty floor.

She was so restless that she couldn't stop shaking her legs. The woman keeps taking a glance at Jin Suk wanting to talk to him about something. Yoon Ho's eyes were closed as he looks up but he sense that the woman was looking directly towards him, "What do you want?", Jin Suk drops his head down and opens his eyes then looks at the woman. The woman immediately avoided his gaze, "No-nothing-", the woman replied, stuttering.

'Welcome to the second round of the wishing game', the transcendent voice reminded. The two look up as they listen to the next line of the voice.

'Game, Hidden Buttons'

'Rule: The game will consist of six wishers in pairs', Jin Suk was confused, the game said there's six of them but there's only two of them inside the room. The room began to shake, making the woman troubled, Jin Suk sat down and held on to the floor as the room continued to shake. He saw the woman struggling, getting swayed by the shaking room. Knowing that the woman will be his partner, he helped her. He waited for the perfect moment and sprinted to her. He wraps her head around his arm and covers her. The woman relaxed a bit when Jin Suk held onto her. "Your going to bring me trouble", Jin Suk mumbled enough for her to hear.

The walls of the room have descended, buried beneath the sand. They found themselves stuck in a place where you can see the vast sea.

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[End of Act III - Round 2, Buttons]

[Next - Hidden Buttons - Supermarket]