survival

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Three weeks. Three endless, mind-numbing weeks, and I was still holding on. Still here, in this suffocating white room, with nothing but my own thoughts for company. Every hour felt like a lifetime, but I refused to give in. I wasn’t going to press that button.

Not yet.

The intercom crackled to life, snapping me out of my thoughts. His voice again—the man from before.

"Hello again, children," he said, his tone almost cheerful. It made my skin crawl. "Most of you have already pressed the button by now... We started with 3,000 of you, and more than 2,500 have already given up."

I clenched my fists. *2,500?* That meant less than 500 of us were still in this twisted game.

"The first 1,850 students who pressed the button have failed the entrance exam," the man continued, almost too casually, "and aren’t enrolled in the prestigious high school."

I could practically hear the sneer in his voice. I imagined those kids, thinking they’d escaped, only to find out it was all for nothing. They’d lost the moment they pressed that button.

"But those who pressed the button afterward... well, they’re still in," he added, his voice taking on a brighter tone. "Of course, their rank..."

I tuned out his voice for a moment, thinking hard. *Rank...* The way he kept talking about it, it had to be important. Something told me this entire system revolved around ranks, and those who pressed the button had already fallen behind.

"But let’s not worry about that right now," he said, his voice shifting, a sinister edge creeping in. "I want to play a little social experiment with the remaining few who haven’t pressed the button."

A chill ran down my spine. I could *feel* the malice dripping from his words. He was enjoying this. Every second of it.

The man’s voice grew darker, more threatening. "If ten of you don’t press the button in the next 30 seconds... there will be no food for the rest of the week. No exceptions. Let’s see who our *heroes* will be." His laugh echoed through the room, a twisted, maniacal sound that sent a jolt of panic through me.

My heart pounded in my chest. "No food for a week?" I thought. "That’s... *impossible*."

My stomach twisted as I heard the distant screams of other kids, their panic flooding the air. I could hear their fear, their desperation, and it echoed my own.

“NO! THAT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!” I shouted, slamming my fist into the cold, white wall. "That would be starving and imprisoning us! We’re just kids!"

But my voice was drowned out by the chaos. I heard crying, yelling—voices breaking down under the weight of it all.

The man started counting down. "Thirty... twenty-nine..."

Panic surged through me. I had to press it. I *had* to press the button. There was no other choice.

But then—*STOP!* A voice, deep in the back of my mind. It wasn’t my own, but it felt like a part of me. *Don’t do it. We must win. Let the others take the fall.*

I hesitated, my hand frozen inches from the button. My breathing was ragged, my heart racing. Was this really the way? Letting others suffer while I survived?

"Ten... nine..."

*No, this isn’t right,* I thought. *But...*

"Three... two..."

My hand trembled, hovering over the button.

"One."

Nothing. The intercom crackled with the sound of the man’s laughter—loud, sharp, and cruel. "Not one of you pressed the button," he said, almost in disbelief. "More than 400 of you left, and not a single one of you pressed it. How... ridiculous. Well, I guess no food for you kids. Good luck." His laughter echoed through the room, then cut off, leaving only silence.

I collapsed back onto the cold floor, staring up at the ceiling. The weight of his words sank in, heavier than anything I’d felt before.

None of us had pressed it. Not a single one.

"Is the world really this cruel?" I muttered to myself. "Not one of us sacrificed for the greater good..."

I closed my eyes, the white walls closing in around me. This wasn’t just a test. It was hell. And I was stuck in it, just trying to survive this hell..(two days later)

---

Two days. I hadn’t eaten in two days, and every second felt like it was dragging me closer to the edge. My body was shutting down, and I knew it. I could barely move—each breath felt like it took all the strength I had left.

"I... n-need w-water..." I croaked, my voice barely a whisper. My throat was dry and raw. I hadn’t drunk anything since the food stopped. Not a single drop. My head throbbed, my vision blurred.

*I can’t keep going like this...*

I stared at the red button on the wall. The thought had crossed my mind more than once—just press it. Give in. End this nightmare. I had nothing left.

"I must..." I breathed, my hand trembling as I reached out toward it. "I must press the button..."

Just then, the room flickered. The white walls dimmed, and suddenly everything went black.

I froze. My body stiffened as cold dread washed over me. Something was behind me. I could *feel* it. I didn’t dare turn around, but I could hear it—whispers, creeping up closer and closer.

*Taro...*

No. No, it wasn’t real. But it felt so real.

*Taro... remember his name...*

A shiver ran down my spine.

*Your parents’ killer...*

I gasped, whipping around to find nothing but empty space. My heart pounded in my chest as the words rang in my ears. The memories. The voices. They clawed at my mind, pulling me into the past. The blood. The terror.

I screamed myself awake, clutching my head as pain shot through my skull. "No... my head... it hurts..."

Just then, the intercom buzzed to life. His voice. *That* voice.

The man laughed, the sound twisted, like he was feeding off our suffering. "I’ve been watching you all very closely through the room cameras," he said, sounding almost amused. "And I’ve noticed three things."

I glared at the ceiling, hating him with every ounce of energy I had left. I didn’t want to hear it. But I had no choice. He kept talking.

"First," he began, "you’ve all run out of the bottles to relieve yourselves, and we’re not giving any more. Most of you are down to your last four cups of water." He chuckled as if it was some kind of sick joke.

I felt bile rise in my throat. I had nothing left to drink, and they weren’t going to help us. We were like animals in a cage, just waiting to see who’d break first.

"Second," he continued, his voice dripping with fake sympathy, "you all seem to be hallucinating. That has nothing to do with us, of course. You children have just been through so much." His tone was mocking, like he found our suffering entertaining.

Hallucinations. I gritted my teeth. So it wasn’t just me. The voices, the shadows—they weren’t real, but they felt so real. I wasn’t the only one losing my mind in here.

"Third," the man said, almost laughing, "you’ve only been getting four or five hours of sleep in here. No wonder you’re all breaking down. You kids really are an interesting bunch."

*Interesting*? Was this all just a game to him? Watching us fall apart, watching us lose ourselves in this hellhole. My hands shook with anger. I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer. My body was giving up, and my mind was cracking.

The man’s voice turned serious. "There are only 50 of you left now," he said. "Since there are so few of you, if you press the button now, not only will you be guaranteed entry into the prestigious high school, but your rank won’t be too affected."

My eyes widened. *50 left?* We had started with 3,000, and now there were only 50 of us still standing.

"So what will it be, children?" the man taunted. "Will you hold on... or press the button? I must say, some of you have been very amusing to watch. For example... Taro. And Rai."

My heart stopped. He had been watching *me*—this entire time, I had been under his eye. They had been watching *all* of us, but for some reason, I stood out. And someone else, a kid named Rai.

I felt exposed. Vulnerable. My every move had been monitored, my every struggle laid bare.

The man laughed again, his voice echoing in the white void that felt more like a prison cell than ever.

I was trapped, and I knew it. There was no escape.

But I wasn’t going to let him win. Not yet...

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