[Fame Meter: 60%]
[New Item: Minty Cool. Smell fresh 24/7, even without a bath.]
Zeno didn’t understand the item, but he was thankful for it.
Human bodies emitted secretions that made them smell decomposed despite being alive, contrary to that of Rennis, and he was happy to get rid of such trait.
They were down to seven players now. Jenny had been eliminated in the last game, and it wasn’t the grand dramatic betrayal everyone had expected.
No, it had been something as ridiculous as the ‘Scent of Death’— the title of their last mission.
The game required contestants to identify a sequence of odors, from the floral and familiar to the absolutely revolting. Jenny had simply refused to sniff the more offensive samples. She’d waved them off with her manicured hands, scrunching her nose and muttering, “I don’t need to win that badly. I already have a lot of money.”
Unfortunately for her, that kind of thinking had consequences.
Now she was gone, escorted silently from the set before she could even ask Zeno what kind of skincare made his face look like it had never known stress.
– Only six contetants left! I wonder what they’re going to do this time.
– I hope it’s something that Billy can excel in.
– What do you mean? He excels in everything.
– Zeno needs to show them that he’s smart now.
– Yeah, I feel like only a few acknowledge it because of how they edit these episodes.
– I really think he’s the hidden ace.
Zeno sniffed his pits and nodded to himself. The item was already working. He smelled fresh.
Still, he worked out and showered early, knowing the next game was bound to happen soon.
At exactly 6 AM, they were ushered to the Death Area once more. Blindfolds were on, hands were held lightly at their sides, and they were not allowed to speak.
The air was warm and humid, making Bacon PD sigh in relief.
The AC inside the Life Area was too cold for his old body. Meanwhile, the air in the Death Area clung to their skin like a second layer of sweat.
Then, the blindfolds came off all at once.
They stood in what looked like a simulation of an island.
– Oh, they’re on a deserted island?
– I wish they could have really dropped them off at a deserted island.
– Yeah, hoping they take them to Point Nemo.
– Girl, you have some problems.
There was sand, and the floor had the slight unevenness of it. Nine faintly glowing orbs surrounded them like ancient markers. The walls were curved and distant, giving the illusion of a horizon like they were stuck in a dome. The ceiling was painted like a night sky.
“Is it hot in here, or is it just me?” Minsu muttered, tugging at the collar of his shirt.
Ari looked around and pointed at something at the ceiling. “It’s 24 degrees. It’s not that hot, but it’s humid.”
Lucy’s voice came next, always disembodied and mechanical.
“Welcome to the Island of Orbits.”
They all turned silent.
“You are standing in the middle of a simulated escape room.”
Their expressions hardened the moment they heard it was an escape room.
“Look around. There are nine orbs surrounding you. These nine orbs are the key to opening the exit doors.”
“You have 24 hours; however, if I were you, I would not consume that much time, for you have another mission tomorrow.”
They all looked up. The lights around them remained dim.
– That’s torture!
– Is this legal?
“This is a team game. All seven of you must participate. Only when the nine orbits glow will you be able to escape,” Lucy continued.
“Nine? But there’s only seven of us,” Bacon PD muttered, narrowing his eyes.
“Correct,” Lucy replied. She didn’t elaborate further.
“You can only gain points the moment you escape. The earlier you escape, the more points you get. You start at 2,400 points.”
Their eyes glowed with greed. 2,400 points meant that the prize money would go up to a billion won!
“With every hour you remain in the room, the points will go down by a hundred.”
“However, if you do not escape before the deadline, all points will be reset to zero.”
There was silence. Everyone exchanged wary glances.
“Wait,” Minjae piped up. “So, if we work together and get out, we all get points?”
“How is it going to be distributed?” Annie added in a careful tone.
Lucy didn’t answer for a while, causing the others to frown.
Billy tilted his head. “Does that mean that we’re all going to have those 2,400 points? Or will it be divided equally?”
This time, Lucy answered—” Just do your best,” she said.
Then the doors clanked shut. The thud echoed through the simulated island like a judge’s gavel.
Billy tried to open the doors, but it didn’t budge—not one bit. They were truly stuck inside.
It felt even more humid the moment the doors were closed.
Lights buzzed faintly. The room seemed to hum with dread.
“Okay,” Minjae said, clapping his hands together. “This isn’t that bad. Right? I mean, we just gotta figure out what these circles mean. Maybe it’s like a password or a code. It could be numbers or letters. We start inputting stuff. Try everything. We can get out of here in one hour.”
No one stopped him as he walked over to one of the orbits. He found a keypad built into the wall beneath it. It had both alphabet keys and digits.
Zeno glanced at him, then focused on the temperature instead.
Minjae typed in “ESCAPE.”
Then, a small beep and a soft click echoed above that the others didn’t notice.
Zeno was the only one who noticed.
Minjae was about to type another word, but Zeno stopped him this time.
“Don’t,” he said.
Minjae’s brows furrowed, and he turned to glare at Zeno. “Did you just ask me to stop trying?”
Zeno pursed his lips and gestured to the screen that contained the temperature. They all turned to it.
“Every wrong answer raises the temperature inside the room.”