A massive projection bloomed into existence.

Clear.

Bright.

Unavoidable.

The village appeared once more, suspended overhead like a window into somewhere they could no longer reach. Team One stood within it, scattered across the dirt road, still adjusting, still reacting, still unaware of how quickly things would turn.

The wind moved through their clothes.

The clouds churned above them.

And somewhere—

Something waited.

Below, Team Two stared up at the projection, their earlier panic settling into something colder, heavier. The reality of their own scenario— the sterile corridors, the things that learned, that adapted, that remembered— pressed back into their thoughts with renewed force.

The humor from moments ago didn’t just fade.

It felt... inappropriate now.

Like it had never belonged in the first place.

Beside them, even Team Three had gone quiet, their so called "lucky" scenario no longer comforting under the weight of everything they had just witnessed.

And yet—

Not everyone held onto that tension properly.

A muffled giggle slipped out from somewhere within their group, quickly followed by a quiet, almost sheepish laugh, like someone trying to convince themselves things were still fine. One of them leaned slightly toward the others, voice low but laced with misplaced humor.

"Unlucky for them," he murmured, glancing toward the projection of Team One’s village. "We’re not though. We just have to live as royal guards, right?"

For a split second, no one reacted.

Then—

Smack.

The sound was sharp and immediate as the back of his head jerked forward from the hit.

"Shut your mouth," another teammate snapped under their breath, eyes hard, voice tight with something that wasn’t just annoyance. "This isn’t the time to joke around."

The laughter died instantly.

Not awkwardly.

Not slowly.

Just— gone.

And in its place, the silence returned heavier than before, settling over Team Three like a quiet warning they hadn’t fully understood yet.

And above them all—

The bunny announcer watched.

Smiling.

As if this—

This shift from laughter to fear, from relief to dread— was the real show she had been waiting for all along.

The bunny announcer’s smile didn’t fade as she watched the tension settle across the arena. If anything, it sharpened, eyes glinting faintly as she lifted one hand and flicked her fingers lazily toward the next group.

"Now... Team Two."

Her gaze locked unto them, slow and deliberate, before her smirk widened just slightly.

"You may now enter your portal."

No one moved.

Not immediately.

Some of them were already hugging themselves tightly, arms wrapped around their own bodies like that might hold them together. Others had dropped to the ground without realizing it, legs refusing to cooperate, eyes fixed on the still open portal leading into that endless corridor of steel and glass.

Above them, the crowd reacted instantly.

Cheers.

Laughter.

Excitement swelling louder than before.

"They really like your reactions," the bunny announcer hummed lightly, tilting her head as if listening to the noise. Then her expression flattened just a little. "But I don’t."

The shift was subtle.

But it landed.

Her finger lifted.

"I will count to five," she said casually. "If you’re not inside by then..."

A pause.

Her smile returned.

"Something bad will happen."

No one asked what that meant.

She didn’t need to explain.

"One."

The word dropped cleanly into the arena.

And that was enough.

A few of them broke immediately, fear overriding everything else as they rushed forward without coordination, almost tripping over each other just to get into the portal first.

The moment the first person crossed through—

A projection burst into existence above, right beside Team One’s village.

Cold.

White.

Inside, the wide corridor stretched endlessly ahead, lights flickering softly overhead. The man who had just entered moved carefully, steps slow, shoulders tight, every movement controlled like he was trying not to exist too loudly.

He didn’t even make it three steps.

Something moved.

Fast.

By the time their eyes adjusted, it had already happened.

A shape lunged from the side— long, pale, wrong— and the image jolted violently as it collided with him. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The sound didn’t carry clearly.

But the reaction did.

Below, Team Two froze.

Completely.

"Two," the announcer said.

No pause.

No sympathy.

The projection continued above them, just enough movement bleeding through the flickering light to make it impossible to look away.

The figure didn’t hesitate. It folded the man into the floor with a sound like a wet branch snapping. One of its long, uncanny hands punched through the man’s shoulder, not tearing, but piercing with clean, force— pinning him.

The member of team two scream was cut short, turning into a wet, choking rattle as the figure lowered its head.

The flickering lights turned the next few seconds into something broken, like the scene couldn’t decide how much it wanted to show. In one moment, the figure had its head buried against the man’s throat. The next, something dark sprayed across the white walls, messy and uneven.

The man’s legs kicked hard against the floor—

"Thyd, thud, thud."

Fast at first, frantic, like his body was trying to escape even when it couldn’t.

Then slower.

And suddenly, uneven.

And above it all, the figure didn’t rush. It moved steadily, almost calmly, like it had all the time in the world.

The light stuttered— like it didn’t want to see either..

And again..

A second later, the lights settled.

The motion had changed.

The man— wasn’t struggling anymore.

The figure leaned over him, movements slow and precise, completely unhurried, like it was working through something it understood perfectly. No anger. No frenzy. Just focus.

And whatever the figure was doing—

it wasn’t about killing.

It was something quieter.

Something worse.

Its shoulders shifted in a steady rhythm, controlled, almost careful, like someone handling something fragile... or valuable.

The flickering lights didn’t show everything.

They didn’t need to.

Each brief glimpse gave just enough to make it clear—

Right after that, below...

Someone in Team Two screamed.

Another staggered backward.

"No— no, no, no—"

"Three." the bunny anouncer voice cut through them again, perfectly even.

That broke them.

Half the remaining team surged forward all at once, panic finally winning over the hesitation. They stumbled into the portal in a rush, some nearly colliding as they crossed through.

Above, the projection expanded.

More corridors.

More movement.

The group broke up immediately. Nobody was trying to stay together anymore, they— they just wanted out. It was every person for themselves.

One of the girls turned the corner and stopped dead. She saw the first guy.

The creature was still hunched over him. It was holding a mess of his insides— his intestines, and just chewing on them like a piece of rope. It was wet and hanging out of its mouth.

A second later, it stopped and It looked straight at her.