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1109 Words
No one knew where the fat rabbit got a loudspeaker, but it smiled and said, “The game will start in a few minutes. Please get ready!”
The crowd began to stir.
There were still people who didn’t believe what was happening was real, urging those nearby to join together and find a way out.
The fat rabbit sighed, “Please don’t encourage or provoke others to disrupt the order. Now, I’ll open the doors for you.”
People didn’t expect this sudden response and, in unison, anxiously asked, “Are you going to let us go?”
The fat rabbit’s expression filled with sadness. “If that’s your choice.”
After a sigh, the dome of the hall slowly rose. The glass was transparent on all sides, but outside it was only the blackness of space.
On the glass walls, countless glowing doors suddenly appeared, shining brightly.
The crowd looked at each other suspiciously. After witnessing several deaths, fear grew in everyone’s hearts about what lay behind those doors. Were they really exits, or just deadly traps?
“Someone, open the door…”
“Why don’t you go first and call me?”
“You’re a man! Are you really dragging a weak woman like me into this? Who knows what’s behind those doors!”
“So I’m supposed to be your guinea pig?”
Without anyone knowing who started it, the people closest to the doors suddenly began arguing loudly, even getting physical.
“What are you doing, fighting at a time like this?” A middle-aged man, unable to take it any longer, risked his life and opened a door.
The hall was packed, and soon several brave players opened nearby doors while the more cowardly ones hesitated.
But outside, there were no fatal traps as they had feared. Instead, they saw a massive capsule—by rough count, more than a dozen ships of the same type, each large enough to hold tens of thousands of people.
“There’s a ship outside the door! Lots of ships!” people shouted.
“A spaceship? Is it really a spaceship? We can get out of here!”
The crowd, now with a glimmer of hope, rushed for the exits.
“Me first! Let me out!”
“Don’t push!”
“Don’t shove! Someone tripped! You stepped on them! Are you crazy?!”
Countless people rushed out the doors. No one noticed the fat rabbit’s expression becoming more and more excited. Only Phedra Henry kept his eyes on it. The fat rabbit’s eyes were wide and, as it smiled, its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, looking almost monstrous. The sight sent chills down Phedra Henry’s spine.
The rabbit noticed Phedra Henry watching him and turned its bean-red eyes on him.
“Aren’t you going to run?”
Phedra Henry didn’t respond.
The rabbit’s expression twisted. “Why are you standing still?”
Goosebumps rose on his arms, but he didn’t answer. The corners of the rabbit’s mouth stretched even wider, sweat beading on his brow.
The fat rabbit didn’t press Phedra Henry any further and, instead, winked at him.
Amaya Yuki’s hand trembled as she gripped his arm. “Hey… aren’t we going?”
Phedra Henry shook his head, pulling Amaya Yuki back from the chaotic crowd, and headed for the exit.
Their position was right next to the restricted area of the sinners’ circle, so as the crowd surged, they had to run around it. If they leaned their backs against the circle, they’d feel safer.
The fat rabbit’s attitude as it watched people escape seemed very strange to Phedra Henry. If escape was truly possible through the ships behind those doors, why weren’t the six people on the thrones moving?
Or perhaps they knew what awaited outside was far more terrifying than a fat rabbit inside.
Considering this, Phedra Henry glanced at the young man in the black uniform sitting in seat three, who simply smiled at the chaos. As expected, he didn’t care about the open doors at all.
Phedra Henry made eye contact with No. 1, who was also watching him.
Before he could turn away, he saw Beatrix Henry saying something to Bridget George. For some reason, their eyes lingered on him.
Phedra Henry was one of the few newcomers who didn’t run for the exit.
Beatrix Henry exchanged hand gestures with Bridget, as if they were sharing a joke. Phedra Henry didn’t know what was so funny, but in the middle of this blood-soaked hell, it made him want to laugh and cry at once. He wiped his eyes and waved back.
The stench of blood and iron filled the air.
Phedra Henry closed his eyes, feeling heavy and frustrated.
As the noise in the hall grew louder, screams rose up from below like a tidal wave. People trampled over each other as they tried to flee, but this time the fat rabbit didn’t interfere.
It was like watching a movie he enjoyed—the fat rabbit just smiled, watching the crowd trample each other in their panic.
Those unlucky enough to fall were trampled without mercy—some didn’t even get a chance to scream. Flesh and blood became a red paste, brains and bone mixed in the dirt.
At that moment, three bells suddenly rang out across the hall.
The sound washed over everyone like a cool stream, calming their panic and gradually soothing their nerves.
When the third bell ended, the fat rabbit’s mechanical voice echoed: “Close the doors.”
The words echoed in every corner. All at once, the doors vanished.
The huge dome slowly descended, sealing off the hall once more, as terrified expressions watched it fall. In just a moment, everything returned to its previous state—except the floor was now stained with blood and flesh. Some bodies remained, their lower halves gone, hands crushed, faces streaked with tears, expressions frozen in pain and despair.
Those who failed to escape in time angrily confronted the fat rabbit: “Where are the doors? Why did you close them? You lied! Didn’t you say you’d let us go?”
The fat rabbit’s grotesque smile faded, its face returning to normal. “Huh?”
“You never said that before,” it replied, its little eyes twinkling.
“What?”
The fat rabbit continued, “At that time, I only said, ‘if that’s your choice.’”
“What do you mean?” someone demanded, frowning.
The rabbit just smiled. “Hehe.”
The continuous roar of terror in the hall made everyone shrink back, their nerves stretched to the breaking point.
- Writer
