As they stepped through the door, the group was suddenly bathed in a surreal blue light. Torches with blue flames flickered to life along the walls of a vast, circular chamber. In the center, a group of hooded figures danced around a black flame, their movements synchronized in a haunting ritual. The floor of the chamber was inscribed with ancient letters, glowing faintly, mirroring the enigmatic script covering the walls.
"Wow, the seniors really outdid themselves this year!" Han-Sol exclaimed, his voice echoing in the cavernous room. "This setup is epic!"
"Yeah, they really went all out with the spooky vibes," Eun-Ji agreed, a smile tugging at her lips.
The other students murmured in agreement, the initial shock giving way to amusement as they moved closer to join in the perceived prank.
Junjie, however, stood frozen at the threshold. His heart raced, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu washing over him. The room, the blue flames, the dancing figures—it all seemed eerily familiar, a forgotten memory scratching at the edge of his consciousness.
His head throbbed, a sharp, piercing pain, as if his mind was trying to grasp something just out of reach. Then, the music changed. The soft violin, which had been playing a haunting melody in C tone, shifted to D. The note resonated within him, triggering a flood of unexplained emotions.
"Everyone, get down!" Junjie shouted, his voice cutting through the music and chatter.
His intuition screamed that something was wrong, terribly wrong.
The group dropped to the floor in confusion just as the ritual reached its climax. A gust of wind flew by everyone's head.
Clank!
Giant statues attached to the wall of the room fell down in a row of circles with only the knees still standing.
The black flame surged, casting long, twisted shadows across the chamber. The hooded figures started to dance to a different tune, their faces hidden in the depths of their hoods, an ominous presence emanating from them.
"What's happening, Junjie?" Soo-Yeon whispered, her voice laced with fear.
"I... I don't know, but this isn't a prank," Junjie replied, his eyes fixed on the figures. "This is something else, something ancient."
The violin's tune morphed into a chilling crescendo, the notes vibrating through the chamber. The ancient letters on the floor and walls pulsed with light, creating a dizzying, hypnotic pattern.
"We need to find a way out, now," Junjie urged, his voice steady despite the pounding of his heart.
The students, now gripped by fear, rushed towards the door they had entered through, but it wouldn't budge. Desperate attempts to force it open proved futile. There were no tools or weapons in sight to aid their escape. Panic set in, tears and cries echoing in the chamber as the realization of their predicament sank in.
Then, as the music shifted again, this time to an E note
"Everyone, grab onto the big pillar in the center and hold onto each other!"
Confused but trusting, the students scrambled to the pillar, clinging to its solid structure and to each other for support. A moment later the floor beneath them began to crumble, rocks and debris falling into a black and hollow abyss.
Only the pillar and the floor surrounding the dancing ghosts remained intact to the ceiling. The situation was surreal, defying all logic and reason.
"Impossible!"
A moment later
"No…. Noo!" one of the girls lost her grip as her heels slipped
"Please don't let go" tear filled her eyes, "Please… Save me" she begged
Ji-Eun grabbed her hand tightly, the other students tucked their arms around her stomach making a strong belt.
"Hic.. Hic Ji-Eun don't let go!" she begged
"I swear I won't let you go, please don't be scared ok?" Ji-Eun is holding on trying to give her courtage through her shaking teary smile.
Her arm got sweater and sweater
"Ji-Eun, Ji-Eun!" she shouted
In a heart-stopping moment, her scream pierced as she plummeted into the darkness below. The group's heart drops with her.
Ji-Eun : …
"How did you know, Junjie?" Soo-Yeon asked, her voice trembling, she was holding the pillar in a circle next to Junjie
Junjie shook his head, his face a mask of confusion and fear. "I... I don't know. I just…"
Before he could ponder further, another student's grip slipped, followed by another, their cries fading as they fell into the void.
The survivors tightened their hold on the pillar and each other, fear and uncertainty etched on their faces. Junjie's mind whirled with questions he couldn't answer, his unique connection to the music the only thin thread they had to cling to in this nightmare.
As the haunting tune continued to play, each note seemed to hold their fate, a sinister symphony orchestrating their survival or doom.
The atmosphere in the chamber grew even more tense as the music changed once again. Junjie clutched his head, a sharp pain shooting through his skull. It was more than just a physical sensation; it was as if his very soul recognized the melody, though his mind could not recall why.
As the haunting violin played, Junjie noticed something peculiar: it seemed as though the ghostly figure was playing on air, the bow moving with an ethereal grace. His eyes were drawn to the violin itself, particularly the head of the instrument. A memory, distant and foggy, nudged at the edges of his consciousness. He had seen this before, solved this puzzle in some forgotten past.
"The violin... watch the head," Junjie muttered, his voice barely audible over the music.
The students, still clinging to the pillar, turned their eyes to the ghostly musician. The head of the violin slowly tilted downward, an almost imperceptible movement, yet it held a significant message for Junjie.
"Everyone, please trust me," Junjie called out, his voice laced with urgency. "On the count of three, let go of your hand."
"What? Are you crazy?"
1..
2..
3!
In that heart-stopping moment, the students who trusted Junjie's instinct let go, their bodies bracing for the unknown. A few others, paralyzed by fear, couldn't bring themselves to release their hold. In an instant, their hesitation proved fatal. A hidden mechanism activated, and their bodies were gruesomely sliced apart.
The survivors fell, expecting the worst, but instead of plummeting into darkness, they landed on a bridge that suddenly lit up with blue flames underneath. The shock of the fall was secondary to the horror that greeted their eyes.
Below the bridge, they could see the bodies of the students who had fallen earlier. Each lay twisted and broken, their final moments a testament to the deadly nature of this mysterious realm.
The realization dawned on them that the entire chamber was a complex, mechanical trap, the bridge having been there all along, only hidden and moving into place at the right moment.
Amidst the shock and grief, Junjie stood up, his mind racing. "This... this is all planned. The music, the movements, it's all part of a deadly puzzle."
He looked around at the surviving students, their faces pale and eyes wide with shock.
"We need to keep moving. There must be a way out!"
As they cautiously moved across the bridge, the dancing ghosts and their ritual seemed to fade into the background. The real challenge was the unseen architect of this labyrinth, a mastermind who was manipulating their every move through the symphony of fate.
With each step, Junjie felt a growing connection to the music, a sense that he was reawakening to a past long forgotten, and with it, the hope that they might survive this nightmare.
The ghost musician changed the tune again, the melody growing darker, more ominous. At the center of the dancing circle, a stone dais rose from the ground, carved with ancient letters and shaped like a throne. Beside it stood a statue wielding axes, positioned as though ready to behead anyone who dared sit upon the throne.
The violinist's bow pointed directly at the throne, a silent but clear command. Junjie's eyes widened in realization. He glanced at his classmates, their faces filled with fear and confusion.
"I'll do this," Junjie said, his voice resolute, as he stepped towards the throne.
Soo-Yeon grabbed his arm. "Don't go," she pleaded.
"What are you talking about? Why do you know all this?"
Junjie shook his head, his expression pained. "I still don't know either... but there's something that connects me to this place."
As he approached the throne, his classmates followed hesitantly.
"Junjie, wait!" Ji-Eun shouted
Junjie silenced her with a gesture, pressing a finger to his lips.
Sitting on the throne, a ghostly figure approached him, carrying a bowl filled with blood. Understanding what was expected of him, Junjie took the bowl and drank a tip of it, his heart pounding wildly.
Immediately, something stirred within him. His eyes flashed with a blood-red light, and unknown tattoos began to appear on his skin. Every part of his body burned with an unbearable intensity.
"Burn... Burn hahaha," a voice echoed in his mind, sinister and commanding.
"Fear me, and despair hahaha."
Junjie's body moved on its own, his hands reaching out and scratching itself.
"Ha Ha Ha, How long have it been since I have this good starch"
"Where are all the women?"
Then his eyes monitor towards his classmates with a threatening gesture.
"Die, brats!" his mouth smiled
"No, stop!"
Junjie struggled internally, fighting the possession with every ounce of his strength. A mysterious barrier shielded his classmates from the deadly red light emanating from his fingers.
As quicker than his eyes could follow, a mysterious white light shot the red down, omitting a big explosion, the chamber's door blew off its hinges, revealing the silhouette of a mysterious figure standing in the doorway.
Junjie felt his body drop down its guide, summoning all his willpower, and pushed himself hard in the stomach, vomiting the blood out, expelling the entity possessing him.
His body slowly lost the tattoo as his consciousness began to fade, the last thing he saw being his classmates huddled together, surrounded by the ghosts, as he slipped into darkness.
"Who is that person?"