The turtle's leg struck a second time, slicing through the air like a hammer against glass.
Another burning breath rose.
We were perched, motionless, trembling, just trying to breathe gently enough not to slip off our perch like the previous victims flattened on the ground.
[revolutionary?]
Kang-Dae approached me, walking delicately along the wall on which I was swinging from side to side.
"She... she's coming towards us," he murmured.
No… She came to punish us.
[revolutionary?]
Or rather, the game had just decided to remind us that it wasn't there to be won with childish tricks.
The turtle turned its enormous head towards Ray Lee… or at least towards where he was.
Ray Lee had disappeared.
Not a cry, not a breath.
Just… no longer there.
A silent elimination
I believe .
As if even his death had been insignificant.
"Found the key…" Seo-Hwan breathed. As if he were talking to himself.
Jun Seo stared at him the way I stared at him, as if… Or, or maybe
BAM !
The turtle snapped its jaws.
An enormous beak.
[I warned you.]
The voice was slow and deep.
Like a tired thunderbolt
and these paws are twice as slow but ten times more terrifying.
In the distance, the dust had disappeared and a silhouette could be seen.
Kim Young was trying to get up, breathless, with a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
— haaaa~..., she murmurs.
A-09, clinging to a narrow ledge, raised an amused eyebrow.
— "Bad choice," This doesn't bode well for us.
"Shut up…," Jun Seo hissed, jumping to the ground.
She gripped his wrist, her watch vibrating against her skin.
She was looking for something.
— Ki-Moon…, Kang-Dae's said .
— Let's change perches, I said.
Jumping in after Jun Seo
The ground was shaking so much that I could feel my bones vibrating slightly inside me.
The turtle made a slow, almost lazy movement, raising its enormous paw towards us…then BAM!
lowered it,
[THE GAME DOESN'T LIKE CHEATERS.]
A-09 burst into a dry laugh.
— That's funny, coming from an animal that plays at making us fall in order to kill us.
The turtle pivoted.
Moving away from us
Not now .
"FIND THE KEY!!!" Kim Young exclaimed.
He barely had time to understand, his body tensed up.
The giant paw crashed almost passing very close to what I was looking for, its sudden movement raising a cloud of dust.
BOUM !
Silence.
Then a cracking sound.
Followed by other cracks, the dust dissipated and revealed a turtle violently turning on its back.
A-09 started laughing nervously again.
— Hahaha…
His laughter died in his throat.
The danger wasn't over, even less so for me now, locked inside its shell.
00 : 58
My watch emitted a series of rapid vibrations.
I looked up, paler than before.
CLACK!
I avoided its sharp beak.
[ 60 seconds ?] .
CLACK!
I lowered my head,
His deep black eyes stared at me without being able to touch me, as if he knew, he knew that I knew.
The inside of its shell was a true treasure, a room of infinite possibilities, a series of sealed drawers. But only one could help us.
*[Before you get kicked out, find THE 56 and take him ]
I looked at my watch, then at the turtle.
— You know something, I said.
She snapped her beak.
— I am not the one who controls the game, you should limit yourself to your simple role as a player, you are heading towards your downfall if you do what you think.
— my role as a player and then what, you know how things go anyway the end remains the same but it's up to me to choose the path.
She lowered her eyes for a second, as if she regretted something. Then CLACK!
— I know how to punish you.
00 : 30
The turtle raised its head.
BOUM !
she spat out her cane
The same cane that previously seemed light, ridiculous, almost comical… was now a gigantic weapon.
They ravage a row of shelves
She represented a perfect threat.
Outside
Kim Young yelled:
— FIND THE KEY! THIS STAGE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL IT IS FOUND, SEARCH EVERYWHERE!
All the players were running around, taking advantage of the tortoise's madness as it retreated into its shell.
"And where is she?" Kang shouted. Breathless, her arms empty.
— IN THE GAME!
Elle was in trouble.
"We can't find it anywhere, and we don't even know what it looks like!" shouted some furious players, especially L-07.
A-09, still hanging on, let out an amused sigh.
— This is getting interesting…
Jun Seo, frightened but lucid, murmured:
— In the game…in the game, so that means…
She stared at the tortoise.
Kang-Dae understood before she did.
— Where is Ki-moon?
Silence.
silence is terrible.
Kim Young opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Seo-Hwan raised his head.
– It's getting complicated, we have to kill her
A-09 burst into joyful laughter.
Is someone inside?!
Kim Young took a breath:
— We can't. She's invincible during this phase.
"So how…," Kang asked.
"I don't know why you're asking me!" she yelled, ruffling her hair.
— And how did you know about the key? spat A-09.
— I… And shit
00 : 02
The tortoise leaped.
Yes, he jumped.
Despite its weight.
The ground vibrated as if an entire building was collapsing.
Kang clung to a wall but collapsed with it.
"We're going to die..." he whispered.
BOOM.
The platform broke in half.
Pieces fell into the void.
Crushing some unfortunate soul
In this misfortune I was ejected like a spit.
A-09 let out an almost hysterical burst of laughter. He, who hadn't moved from his perch.
— THIS IS INSANE!!! Hahaha!!!
Seo-Hwan murmurs:
— It's crap.
00 : 01
Jun Seo breeds:
— It's going down again! SHE'S SHRINK!!!
The turtle was shrinking.
Slowly. As if the punishment were ending.
One leg after the other. The body was shrinking back to a ridiculous size.
Kang sighed.
— Is that… is that it?
Kim Young ran her fingers through her hair, exhausted.
— For now.
The tortoise returned to its original size. It resumed its slow, broken expression. Its shell closed slightly.
[GAME FAILED. BUT FINISHED.]
She blinked one eye,
The fear subsides
but the anxiety remains
Kim Young eventually raised her face, but her eyes landed on me.
Her eyes were red and wide open.
— Don't say anything, Ki-Moon.
"What are you hiding from us?" Kang murmured.
She turned around abruptly.
— Think about what's going to happen?!
His voice was trembling.
"Do you really think we're idiots?" Kang whispered.
Silence.
She stepped back.
I approached, covered in drool.
— Kim… what do you know about the cube?
She swallowed her saliva.
— I know it wasn't meant for you or anyone else.
A-09 raised his eyebrows, amused.
— Oh oh… here we go again.
Seo-Hwan FIXED Kim Young.
— So what is it for?
She looked away.
— It doesn't matter now.
Jun Seo stepped back and stared at Ji-Yunwoo, who seemed indifferent and calm.
Kang whispered to me:
— She's lying.
"Perhaps," I said softly.
Kim Young turned around, slowly.
— The next phase will begin in thirty minutes.
— You're not answering, I said.
She stared at me coldly.
— I'm not here to answer. I'm here to survive. No one here can demand anything of me