Karun was still resting inside, oblivious to the storm brewing just outside. Looking at him lying there, unhurt and unaware, hit me like a punch to the gut. We had no choice but to trust this man—if what he said was true, the next level was going to tear us apart.
The man asked for the bandages, and I handed them over. He swiftly dressed my wound, injecting a painkiller that brought instant relief. His hands were quick and sure, far more skilled than I expected from an NPC.
"Wake him up," the man said, gesturing to Karun.
I knelt beside Karun and gently shook him awake. His eyes blinked open, bleary with sleep, and I helped him sit up. "Karun," I said, my voice low but urgent, "you need to hear this."
As I explained everything—the man's knowledge of me, the cheat code, the warnings—Karun's expression shifted from grogginess to shock. When I mentioned how the man knew my full name, his mouth dropped open.
"That name," I said quietly, "was never in the game's records. Only our family knows it."
Karun stared at me, then at the man, who stood silently at the edge of the room, watching us with that same unreadable expression.
"You trust him?" Karun asked, his tone edged with disbelief.
I hesitated. "I don't know. But we don't have much of a choice."
Karun's eyes narrowed as he turned toward the man. "Why should we trust you? Aren't you just another NPC, maybe a more advanced one?"
The man's smile returned, that same self-assured grin that was beginning to grate on my nerves. "Yes, I'm an NPC," he said with a laugh, "but now that I'm stuck in this game with you, you can think of me as... premium."
I groaned inwardly. "Ah, there we go again," I muttered, finishing in chorus with him, "Premium NPC."
He chuckled at that, but Karun wasn't amused. "Get out before I kill you myself."
The man's grin didn't falter. "You're free to try, but it wouldn't do you any good. Not in this state."
The timer for the next level flashed—30 minutes left.
"Look," the man said, his voice turning serious, "I'm not here to waste your time. You won't make it out alive. Not like this."
I grabbed my weapons and started buckling them into place. "And what makes you so sure of that?" I asked, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "I'm a better fighter than you think."
The man's eyes darkened, his gaze intense. "You might be," he said slowly, "but can you shoot your own family?"
I froze. My hands stilled on the straps of my weapons. Karun went rigid beside me, his eyes flicking between me and the man, trying to process what he had just said.
"Don't talk nonsense," Karun snapped. "Why would we ever do that?"
The man's expression softened. "Because that's what this level is."
My stomach dropped. "W-what do you mean?"
He sighed, almost regretfully. "The NPCs in this level aren't just enemies. They're designed to look like your loved ones."
My breath caught in my throat.
"Everyone you've ever known—family, friends, neighbors—you'll face them here. You'll have to fight them. You'll have to kill them."
My legs buckled, and I collapsed onto the floor, my heart racing. My family? My friends? How could I point a gun at them?
Karun's voice was weak, shaken. "How many...?"
The man shrugged. "That depends. How many faces do you remember?"
I stared at him, my mind spinning. This wasn't a game anymore. It was cruel, twisted psychological torture. And I didn't know if I had the strength to pull the trigger.
The silence was suffocating, the weight of his words settling in the air between us. None of us spoke.
He quickly dressed Karun's wound while I checked all the gadgets. After testing everything, I realized that only the comms were still functional—the neckpiece transmitters and all the other equipment were broken. I relayed this through the comms to Gibbard, who hesitated but eventually agreed. It wasn't like we had any other options left. Once Karun's wound was properly bandaged and we were ready, we prepared to move.
Finally, Karun's voice broke the quiet. "Okay," he said, his voice steady despite the fear in his eyes. "We'll follow you."
I hesitated, looking at Karun, then back at the man. Was this the right choice? But with the timer blinking I knew we didn't have much of a choice.
I nodded slowly. "Lead the way."