First round
Players: 9
Countdown[02:58:56]
*****
The square shaped white room , has ten doors . From the four walls , only one has a single door . Beside each door , a locked black box hang on the wall .
The eight people turned their heads toward that frivolous voice , the shabby man gave them an awkward smile , being looked at from all direction and becoming the center of the attention , made him feel quite uncomfortable .
"Sorry" He scratched his head "I just wanted to break the imposing silence "
"Tsk" the middle aged man from room two ignored him and walked toward the only still closed door .
Click
Click
No matter how much he turned the doorknob ,the door refuse to open .
"Damn door...." Bang !
The irritated middle aged man kicked angrily the door .
"No need to waste your strength" The handsome man glanced at him "As it says if we want to leave this place we must win the game "
"Ohh, The so-called game where we should uncover the evil wolf , sure, let's play it , please take the lead I will follow suit" he said in a mocking tone .
The handsome man's brow twitched, but didn't respond .
"Ahhh , please " A long sigh was heard "....Don't you think it just a prank"
Everyone turned toward the middle aged woman .
"We are constantly watched , there are cameras in all corners of the room"
"It went a little too far for a prank "A young girl mumbled to herself ,but it was loud enough to be heard by the others .
"We got kidnapped after all, I don't know, but when I returned home and before I could even pass the threshold of my house , someone grabbed me from behind , put a handkerchief on my nose and mouth , No matter how you look at it , that was clearly a kidnapping "
"Have we been kidnapped by a psycho who enjoys seeing his preys struggling with riddles?" A woman with a ponytail said while holding both her hands .
"Hmpff! Bullshit, Who would dare to play around with a revered judge ?" the stern looking middle aged man scoffed .
"Before we start making wild guesses , why not introduce ourselves first , then , I start, my name is Isaac Green, 31 years old , I'm a journalist from Brend New magazine, I would have preferred to meet you in other circumstances , but still nice to meet you all " The shabby man , Isaas, smiled at the others .But no one followed , they just stared at each other .
"I'm Lucas Foster" Lucas spoke which made the journalist smile while sighing in relief "23 years old, a computer science student in university, nice to meet you too "
"Riley Wood, 21, also a university student "the girl followed.
The slightly shaking woman lifted her hand and with a stuttering voice she introduced herself "My name is Nathalie Davis , I'm 27 this year ,and I work as a nurse at St Gray Hospital "
"Carter Robinson , 43, a security guard"
"It's judge Jack Cruz "
"I'm Aaron Bloom , 41 years old, a worker in a transport company "
"My name is Eva Moore , I'm an elementary teacher"
"Jayden Jones ,I'm a barman "
"It's certain" The judge looked at the group "I don't know any one of you, so why are we gathered here together ?"
Everyone looked at each other, they were complete stranger to one another
"Did the mastermind pick us randomly or was there a specific reason he chose all nine of us ?" the security guard was frowning .
"First , let confirm something, did you all got kidnapped like what Mr. Aaron said ?"
Everyone nodded, the same incident happened to most of them , a person came from behind and made them faint , while the others went to sleep in their respective houses and didn't know how they ended up here .
"It was past 8 p.m when that happened to me ,what about you ?"
"I think it was around 7 p.m ,when I returned home "
"Same between 7 p.m and 8p.m"
"Yes , that was it"
"Then , there must be more than one person behind the scenes"
"But why all of us ? we are not neighbors , we don't know one another , why take the effort to kidnap people from different places ? I don't understand that"
"Perhaps all of us fulfilled a certain condition in the psycho mind"
"Or some friends or colleague saw an ad in a website about a special kidnapping and enclosed prank ,to play on us , these days we can't imagine what others are ready to do to create a new entertainment for the audience "
"That's...not impossible"
"I'll sue them all , just wait and see" The judge purposely looked straight at the camera when he said his statement .
The security guard , Carter ,begin slowly to piece up the puzzle until he was suddenly woken up the frivolous voice .
"So, should we play the game ? we don't have anything to do beside staring at each in silence , what do you think , Mr. Robinson?"
"Mm, I think that so , and no need for formalities just call me Carter" he waved his hand at Isaac who smiled back at him. 'Finally a friendly character!
"Why should we tire ourselves with riddles ? let's just wait until they came release us"
"You still think it's a prank , don't you?"
"Of course, the hypothesis of the psycho is hard for me to swallow" Madam Moore was a stubborn person.
"Let's play the game" Riley voiced her opinion.
"We should vote , those who want to play, raise your hands"
Five hands were lifted ,
"Then it decided , let's find the wolf" Isaac exitedly spoke "We should use those hints , what do you think ?"
"Yeah , why not ?let's see"
Isaac got back to his room and stood in front of the screen , And Riley, Carter, Lucas, Jayden followed behind him .
The rest of the group stayed behind ,looking at them .
Madam Moore shook her head "Like the elementary kids , they won't listen to you once they made their minds "
"Whatever , they can do what they want , I don't care" The judge shot a quick glance at Jayden before shifting his gaze to the camera .
"Don't you think that Isaac Green seemed a little too relaxed ?"
Aaron looked at Isaac then asked madam Moore "What do you mean ?"
"It just that , usually to make sure that everything went according to the script , the pranker would put an accomplice among the victims"
"You think it this fatty man ?" The judge started to get some suspicion .
Madam Moore nudged her shoulders and replied "It just my intuition"
Aaron and the judge stared at Isaac , even the nurse who was quietly standing behind them, had heard their conversation , she swept her gaze toward Isaac too.
Unaware of this , Isaac was looking at the screen . The countdown was still ongoing ,he didn't put his attention on the falling numbers, but only on the small corner on the left of the screen , he noticed it earlier ,when the countdown started ,a small star icon appeared at the corner , he lifted his finger to click on it and immediately a window appeared .
[ Hints Store:
1 star hint costs 30 minutes
2 stars hint costs 1 hour
3 stars hint costs 2 hours
Make your choice]
"What should we pick , we have more than two hours and thirty minutes in the counter?" Issac tuned toward the group.
"3 stars , the more important the clue the faster we will win the game and leave this place"Jayden was the first to answer .
"Why not take 2 stars first, we don't how those hints are like ?"
"But if we do that we won't be able to get the 3 stars hint"
"Guys, whatever, I agree with Miss Wood , let's take the medium one , and see what we will get "
"Ok" Isaac was about to click on the two stars icon , when a sudden voice stopped him.
"Wait ! Don't you think that someone may really die after those three hours ? are you going to shorten the time a person was left with to live ?" The nurse voice echoed from behind them .
Isaac, Barman Jayden , Carter, Lucas and Riley , exchanged glances .Honestly ,they didn't take the threat seriously .
Carter sighed and replayed to the nurse "Miss, if the threat is real , even if we don't do anything someone would die ,we are just trying to find some clue to win the game in the first round so that everyone can leave this place unharmed"
"Yeah , plus , it not like we are enjoying ourselves right now, whether we die in three hours or in thirty minutes, it's the same "
"But.."
"Miss.Davis , Our hands are tightened , we don't have a choice beside playing the game and win it " Carter added .
The nurse lowered her head and clenched even more her fist ,she couldn't talk back to them , they were right afterall, but ...they are still playing with human life here .
"Then it's decided " Isaac clicked and new sentences popped on the screen .
[The wolf is great with disguise , don't trust what you see]
Isaac read the hints with a loud voice so that everyone could hear , but he still read it a second time to confirm that he didn't miss any hidden clue . However, no matter how much he read , he wasn't able to find the hidden meaning of this useless hint .
"This is not helping at all "Isaak sighed .
"If the hints are all like this one , we won't be able to go anywhere" Riley read the sentence in disappointment .
"I told you that all this is just a nonsensical prank , but you didn't want to trust me" Madam Moore looked at the group in contempt .
"What should we do now?"Lucas asked Isaac.
"Mmh, should we pick out another hint , perhaps we draw the worst of the 2 stars "
Carter looked once more at the sentence , before saying" Let's take a 1 star hint this time"
Isaac nodded ,seeing the others not objection , and the silent group behind them not complaining , he turned around and clicked on the one star hint icon . As soon as his finger touched the screen another sentence appeared .
[The wolf knows all the sheep's secret and has the right to choose which will be his next meal]
From the sentence they easily deduced two things: One , someone in the group knows all the information related to the others , two, the wolf can kill whoever he wants . In other words ,if they tell any lies regarding their identities or background , they would be spotted by the wolf , second , as the wolf goal is to hide until the end of the game , if someone shows his skills and seemed more perceptive than the others , the wolf would certainly kill him , to not let any chance for them to win the game .
"A-and , now ?"
"Pick a 2 stars hint"
"Roger"
Isaac once more clicked on the icon , and a new clue appeared immediately .
[The wolf can enter any room]
"We have forty minutes , we can pick another 1 star hint "Isaak turned toward the group , but they didn't respond .
"It better than doing anything , anyway" Jayden nudged his shoulder .
Following Isaac command, the content of the hint appeared on the screen .
[The wolf knows where the exit is]
"Now, that you spend all the time that is left in useless things that could not even be called proper hints, what are you going to do ?"
"Wait" Carter just said that and walked toward room number two, his own room.
"There is only less than ten minutes left , let's return to our rooms first ."
Riley , Lucas and Jayden went to their rooms .
"Tsk, what a waste of my precious time"Judge Cruz was in a bad mood, but still returned to his room .
Madam Eva shook her head and walked back to room five .
The silence returned ,no one spoke , only the sound of judge Cruz's foot tapping on the ground impatiently could be heard .Eva was glancing at the camera in the corner from time to time , she would make sure to create a ruckus about this once she exited the room ,she would sue the bastards responsible of this and drag him to jail , How dare he do such despicable deeds to a refined lady like her ? Eva won't let him off.
Nathatlie has her head lowered, but her shaking hands were still visible . Jayden closed his eyes to rest , Journalist Isaac was bored, but still held himself from speaking , Carter was staring at the black box on the walls , he seemed to be thinking about something, Aaron , Riley and Lucas , stayed quietly in their rooms , watching the white walls .
In this suffocating atmosphere, those ten minutes seemed like eternity , Lucas watched the last seconds passing on the screen .
Five, four, three, two, one ....Beep! Beep!Beep!
The sound was higher than earlier ,The screen was blooming red , as the countdown ended, a sentence popped on the screen .
[All players enter your rooms immediately ]
Jayden, who was leaning on the wall outside , entered his room .
Clack!
Clack! Clack!Clack!
The doors all closed automatically , Lucas looked at the glowing red screen, after ten seconds it quieted down , and a window appeared .
[Time to vote, write below the name of the person suspected to be the wolf]
Lucas glanced at the white space below the sentence and the virtual keyboard that appeared .
'I don't know who is, the wolf , should I write a random name ?'
Lucas was conflicted , he has one chance in eight , to make the right choice , but it's still a vote, if the other didn't pick the same person , it won't work even if he was right , also , if they were wrong , they would get a penalty .Lucas decided to ignore the window , and just leaned against the door .
After two minutes , another sentence appeared .
[Three players voted, each a different name , vote no available]
'They are still some who voted?'
[The first round ended, the sheep weren't able to find the wolf, the wolf will kill one sheep]
As he read the sentence , Lucas felt uncomfortable.
'What if someone really dies?' it would be a lie to say that this thought didn't cross his mind.
[The second round starts , the bonus was enticed,
You have the right to know about one of the players information,
Write down the number of the person's room you wish to know about]
Lucas thought for a second before , writing the number 8, in the blank space .The screen changed and a document provided with a photo of a familiar person appeared .
[Isaac Green
Age:31
Profession: Journalist
Hobbies: Drawing , Reading books, collecting mangas
Weight: 86 kg
Length: 1.78 m
Likes: Pokemon series
.....]
Lucas was shocked about the amount of information he read. From his birth to his professional career , all the events of his life, all the relationships either past or present , all his achievement , and medical records even his schedule , and the things Lucas liked to never know about , all were displayed before his eyes .
'Did they do the same for me ?'That the first thought that came across his mind.
Being seen through like this it would be an awkward situation, he didn't know how he would face Isaac in the future .
Lucas was reluctant to surf in someone else personal life ,but in this situation he needs all the information possible , moreover he was sure that the others would do the same .
It took him more than ten minutes to read through all the data, but he didn't find anything unusual , but Lucas won't trust someone just because on the surface they looked fine, the rotten people all hid their true personalities deep inside their heart , that ,even a complete research, won't be able to stage their true selves .
After two more minutes the window disappeared , and the countdown started once more from three hours .
Tic!
The door opened with the familiar sound , and Lucas directly exited his room .He met once again the others.
"We are still alive" It was Isaac who started speaking like the first time .
"Yeah, we are"
Judge didn't wait and rushed toward the Exit , but the door wasn't opened .
"Shit! How long are they going to keep us here ?"
"Until we win the game" Jayden responded casually .
"There is no game , they are just trying to piss us off"
"Oh , Didn't notice?"
"Notice what ?" Judge turned toward Jayden angrily .
Jayden glanced at Carter before shifting his gaze to the slightly opened door of room number five. then he added .
"Someone is already missing"
"Madam Eva" Nathalie was the closest to room number five , she knocked on the door "Please , can you come out ?"
"...." No replay was heard.
The nurse turned to the others "W-Why is she not coming out ?"
"Please , step aside , Miss"
Carter took the lead and headed toward door number five , he waved toward the nurse to back off before taking the doorknob and opening the ajar door .
All eyes were on the slowly opening door , when the sight inside finally revealed itself , Lucas tensed up ,the hair allover his body stood upright .
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The nurse screamed at the scene and collapsed on the ground ,she was trembling from head to toe .
All what they saw was Madam Eva Moore .
The others weren't much better , their faces turned white like sheet , they rotten on spot like frozen statues .
Madam Eva who was chatting with them just several minutes ago was ...dead.
Exactly in the middle of the room , Eva's lifeless body was hanging to the ceiling, a hooked rope strangling her tightly by the neck , her face was a white blue and her wide opened eyeballs seemed like they could fall from their socket .
A note was left on her chest .
(This is far from being a prank, try to find me , I'm just beside you ,always watching you .
Your dear friend ,
THE WOLF)