Sullyoon was pushed into an entirely different room. It was an enclosed space. Like a cage.
There were even steel bars on one of the sides. It overlooked a series of something that looked like finely cut hedges, decorated with huge ornaments that looked like a mix of large candy sculptures and hypnotic patterns.
Almost like an entwurf to a contemporary art piece.
But, inside the room, there was nothing but a small table and a shabby TV.
It was turned on, and she could see the commentator.
He was about to explain everything.
"Welcome, contestants, to the second last round of the Utopia games. This one will be the most difficult by far, and expect a lot of injury to come. In a moment, you will be sent into our large-scale maze. Your objective is to reach the middle. The last person to reach the middle will be eliminated. Also, be quick and aware; the maze gradually collapses from the outside in. Don't get lost, or else you might find that the floor suddenly collapses under you."
He clapped his hands.
"However, the most dangerous part, is not the maze itself. In fact, it is you guys. You are each given a knife, placed on the table in your rooms. You will all go into the maze at the same time, but at different points. In there, you will be fighting for yourself and yourself only. You are allowed to kill another person. If one person dies, the two are automatically advanced to the last round, so choose your target carefully. And, that just about concludes it for you. There is one more thing, but I'll let you figure that out for yourself while you're in there."
He finished, smiled, and the TV turned off.
The cell wall sunk into the ground, and Sullyoon picked up the knife from the table, unsheathing it, and holding it steady in her hand.
She walked forwards, into the maze.
...
Sullyoon didn't know how long it had been. Fifteen minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour? She lost track a long time ago.
All she had been doing was jogging around in the general direction of the centre, yet she didn't know for sure.
But one thing she did know for sure, was that the maze was much, much, much bigger than she had expected.
She rounded the corner.
But it was a dead end.
She turned to face the way back, but instead was met with a wall.
That wasn't there before.
She looked back to the dead end.
Now there was a path. The wall was gone.
Did the maze move? How could it possibly move?
"What the..." she mumbled.
She walked through the path, looking back over her shoulder in caution.
But then, she heard something.
It sounded like footsteps, to her left.
She turned, and what she saw made her heart drop.
There was Lily.
And she was staring straight at her.
"Sullyoon..." she said.
Lily started running forwards, gaining on Sullyoon.
Sullyoon turned and ran away, begging her legs to go faster. She ran with all her might.
Lily was going to kill her, she was sure of it.
"No, no- no-" she panted.
She glanced behind her.
Lily had her blade poised up in the air, and her face was fully focused.
"Come here, Sullyoon, and fight me!" Lily said.
Sullyoon ignored her, dashing towards an open passageway.
But something was off.
A random wall was sliding up from the ground.
The maze was moving again.
And it was blocking her only escape route.
She still sprinted on, and once she got to the wall, it was half a metre above her head. She jumped up, grasping her hands on the top.
She was going to climb over it.
Then she would get away.
But Lily got to her first, grabbing her leg and pulling her down to the ground.
Sullyoon kept her blade in her hands, and got up from the floor, pushing Lily to the wall.
"Lily- I don't want to do this!!!" She shouted.
But Lily shoved her backwards, and went it with a swing. It grazed her face, and Sullyoon could feel wet blood seeping down from the thin, long cut.
It stung, as it mixed in with her sweat.
"Shut up and fight me." Lily said.
Sullyoon shifted her neck.
Now she was angry.
"You're going to regret that..." she said.
She ran forwards, and struck Lily's shoulder with her knife. The other girl hissed in pain, but managed to grab a hold of Sullyoon's neck, pushing her up against the wall.
Lily tried stabbing Sullyoon in the torso, but she blocked it with her arm. The knife impaled deep within her flesh.
She shouted and cursed in pain.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" Lily jeered.
She swung Sullyoon over her leg, onto the floor. She grabbed her in a chokehold, not bothering to use the knife anymore.
She wanted to make Sullyoon's death painful and slow.
"It's every man for themselves... natural selection, isn't it?" She taunted.
Sullyoon gritted her teeth.
She couldn't breathe, but she wouldn't let Lily beat her.
She held up her knife with her good arm, and stabbed it into Lily's leg.
Lily let out a pained expression, but she didn't let go.
"You bastard..." she said.
She looked at Sullyoon's right arm, which still had the knife impaled in it.
So she yanked it out.
Sullyoon screamed, looking down at her arm which was bleeding profusely onto the floor.
It hurt like hell, and it hurt so much that she didn't even want to move it anymore.
She was losing breath quickly, and Lily was still pressing down on her neck.
Sullyoon tried shifting her weight to one side, but it didn't work. She grabbed onto Lily's arms, but the other girl retracted one of her arms, and used it to beat down on her face, blow after blow.
Sullyoon was only seeing white. Her nose, which was already bleeding before, felt like it was shifting into her face, and her face felt like it was burning, as Lily was trying to beat her to death.
Blood was getting over Lily's hands, and calluses were forming over her knuckles, but she still kept on going.
She felt Sullyoon's grip loosen on her hand, ever so slowly, Sullyoon was dying.
It was exactly what she wanted.
She reared back her hand again, for one last final strike.
But someone grabbed her arm, and pulled her away.
It was Haewon.
"YOU FREAKING BASTARD-"
She punched Lily in the face, giving her her own medicine.
Lily toppled backwards, her stabbed leg buckling under her weight.
She fell backwards into the wall.
And she couldn't get up again.
Her leg wouldn't let her.
"Haewon..." Lily mumbled in shock.
"See you in hell, Lily." She coldly responded.
She grabbed Sullyoon off the floor, hoisting the girl on her back.
"I don't fight for people who deserve to die. I fight for people who I think should live. And I won't fight for someone who kills for their own benefit. If one of us is getting out of here alive, it isn't you." Haewon said, before turning away and disappearing into the maze with Sullyoon.
Lily leaned her head back on the wall.
Haewon's decision had decided her fate.
She would either bleed out, or collapse with the maze.
But, both ways, she would die in the end.
So, with a grunt, she yanked Sullyoon's knife out from her leg, and clasped it in her left hand, pulling down her right sleeve.
And she cut her wrist.
...
Haewon panted heavily.
She was so tired, but she was nearly there.
She could already see the white door up ahead. So, she pushed on with the last of her strength, sprinting forwards with Sullyoon on her back.
And they made it together.
She reached the end of the maze and went through the door.
And there was a familiar face on the other side.
The man, the same man that they had seen on the TV, was standing in front of her.
"Ah... contestants! Or, contestant, it appears that only one of you is awake... but anyways, well done for finishing the second last challenge of the game! We have a small abode ready for you, as if it late in the night, and no viewers will be watching during this time. We have postponed the final until tomorrow. So, hopefully, Sullyoon is awake by then. But, in the meantime, please do feel free to make yourself at home here. There are no cameras for now. But in the morning, expect a grand finale!" He said, raising his arms in excitement.
He exited through the door, followed by his two henchmen behind him, and the door was locked.
The room wasn't huge, but it was more than enough for Haewon.
She carefully placed Sullyoon on the sofa, grabbing towels to wipe her face with. She also used toilet paper as a makeshift bandaid around Sullyoon's arm.
The cut was deep, but she did everything that she could do with the limited resources.
After she was done, she collapsed onto a chair.
Haewon recalled everything that happened today.
She still remembered Jinni, who had saved pretty much everyone. And Jiwoo, who died at the hands of people she didn't even know.
Tears came out of her eyes.
If she had six lives, she would give all of them to all of them but herself.
Sure, they could be people with bad motives like Lily, or greed like Bae, but it didn't change the fact that they were still human.
She regretted leaving Lily behind.
But she did what she did.
And she could no longer change history.
After a long time of pondering, she was finally able to cry herself to sleep.