Wellington, New Zealand – 2025 15:45Their footsteps faltered, no longer in sync, as the argument spiraled with no end in sight.“Why do you never understand me?!” Charis Danella screamed, her voice cracking with fury. Her beautiful face twisted in frustration as she glared at the man she once loved. She was done—done with his inability to see her, to understand her, to even try.Jackson Kenrich’s jaw clenched. “I’m not the one who doesn’t understand. You’re the one who never tells me the truth! You keep hiding everything from me!”He had just caught her getting cozy with another man. The image was still fresh, burning in his mind.“I wasn’t trying to hide anything,” Charis said, her voice trembling. “This time I’m being honest. I didn’t want you to jump to conclusions about me and him. I didn’t want you to get angry.”“Classic excuse. You’ve used that line too many times. I’m sick of it.”“I’m tired of this! You always assume the worst about me!”“How could I not? You lie. You flir

“It was red, not blue,” Jackson said.“No! Mine was yellow,” Joanne argued, leaving the others speechless.“So we can conclude that the drinks he gave us were different colors? I got blue, you got yellow, and you got red?” Smith summarized. The other two nodded slowly.“And after drinking it, I blacked out and woke up here with you,” Jackson explained.“We experienced the same thing,” Joanne added.“Enemies may be friends, and friends may be enemies. Trust is the one thing you cannot hold onto here, because betrayal can happen at any time. Only the strong will survive, and only the relentless will win.”Jackson, Joanne, and Smith froze as a voice suddenly echoed throughout the room. They stood up and looked around, but saw no one. Still, the voice was clear—male, commanding.“Did you hear that?” Smith asked the others.“Loud and clear,” Joanne replied.“Welcome, newcomers.”The voice returned. “Who are you?! Show yourself!” Jackson shouted at the unseen speaker.“You want to meet me

“I see it!” Joanne shouted excitedly, instantly drawing Jackson and Smith’s attention. “What do you see?” Jackson asked, still busy fighting off the zombies attacking him, ignoring the system screen in front of him. “These zombies keep emerging from the ground. The more we fight them, the more they multiply,” she explained. “Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t just stand here and wait for them to attack us.” Jackson kicked a zombie that nearly bit him, then turned to fend off another from the opposite side. While Jackson and Joanne were busy fighting, Smith was trying to open the instructions on his screen. One persistent zombie kept interrupting him, causing him to fail repeatedly in tapping the interface. Smith retaliated, throwing punches and using every move he could to weaken the enemy. Suddenly, a zombie attacked him from the side and bit into his upper arm, making him wince in pain. “Shhh…” Smith tried to stay calm and fought back. His arm throbbed, and blood

Jackson successfully retrieved the item from its original place. He quickly began walking toward Smith and Joanne, who were waiting for him on the other side. But before he could reach them, something cold and slithering crept toward him from nearby. A giant scorpion blocked his path. Jackson froze in place, swallowing hard as the creature loomed directly in front of him. “What should we do?!” Joanne cried out, clearly worried for Jackson across the gap. “I don’t know either. If we go over there, we’ll be putting ourselves in danger too. We might all end up dead.” “No one gets out that easily. Oh come on, this is only level one—why are you already trying to leave? Aren’t you curious to play a little longer?” That voice echoed through the room again, interrupting everything. Then silence returned, broken only by the groans of zombies trying to climb and the hungry screeches of the giant scorpion stalking Jackson. “We can’t just stand here.” Joanne frantically searched the system

“That’s not a mole,” Smith muttered. Joanne and Jackson turned to him simultaneously. “Then what—” Joanne’s eyes widened as a massive creature burst from the ground, writhing with its gaping mouth wide open. “ROARRR!!!” The monster lunged toward them. Jackson, Joanne, and Smith jumped aside, narrowly avoiding its attack. “Ahh—” Joanne winced as her body scraped roughly against the ground. “Is that the giant worm we were warned about?” Jackson whispered, eyes locked on the monstrous creature slithering toward them. “That’s definitely it,” Smith said, rising to his feet and gripping his sword tightly. He charged toward the worm. “ROARRR!!!” The worm retaliated, lunging at Smith. He dodged, leaping from one side to the other. “We can’t just stand here,” Joanne said, pushing herself up. “You’re right.” Jackson raised his bow and aimed a flaming arrow at the worm attacking Smith. He fired repeatedly, but the creature’s skin was too tough—it barely flinched. “What should I do?