CHAPTER 5 : The Lie Garden 🪷

🎭 Character Sketch:

Lira Quinn – The Silent Core

After three rounds, Lira has barely spoken, but her eyes say everything. There’s history behind her silence, and the way her body tenses near mirrors hints at trauma too deep to voice.

Daejin Ro – The Shadow walker

Tall, calm, and observant. Daejin rarely volunteers, but he always seems to know when to move. His whispers are always a beat late—like his thoughts are not his own.

Yuri Nox – The Puzzle

Energetic and sarcastic, but she turns solemn when others suffer. Her tattoos, previously hidden, are beginning to show strange symbols not seen before. They pulse faintly under UV light. Her laughter died after the Whisper Test.

🌱 "In gardens where lies grow like vines, some bloom beautifully—before they choke you." 🥀

🌸 Scene One: The Greenhouse That Grew Secrets

They entered through a door made of living wood. It pulsed under their hands, veins threading through bark like veins through skin. The moment they stepped inside, the air changed—humid, sweet, and heavy. The scent of lilies, wet soil, and rust.

The ceiling was glass—clouded with mist.

The floor, a path of black petals.

Plants rose like walls—tall, swaying, whispering as if they had mouths hidden in their blooms.

And in the center, a sprawling garden maze carved in spirals.

In the middle, a sundial of white marble, ticking without hands.

A VOX speaker grew like a flower from the center.

> "⚘ Challenge Four: The Lie Garden ⚘

Each of you has a seed in your throat. One will bloom truth. One will rot into poison.

To survive the garden, walk only the path of truth. The liars will stray... and be consumed."

Each student’s wrist pulsed. A mark appeared—glowing green or red for a blink, then vanishing.

They weren’t told which color meant what.

🌿 Scene Two: The Blooming Doubt

The garden pulsed—like a heartbeat. Flowers opened as they passed. Some hissed. Some moaned.

Daejin walked at the back, silent. Watching footprints.

Yuri walked ahead with Lira, whispering about which vines were moving and which weren’t.

> "This is a psychological test," Yuri muttered. "The garden reacts to lies—maybe even thoughts."

Lira said nothing. She pressed fingers to her lips, eyes scanning the vines.

A fork in the path.

To the right: a field of lilies, tall and quivering.

To the left: a narrow tunnel of black roses, thorns dripping golden sap.

A sign grew from the soil:

> "Which way leads out? Speak a lie—go right. Speak a truth—go left."

Yuri hesitated.

> "I... I used to fake sleep to avoid my father."

She stepped left. Nothing happened.

Lira touched her pendant.

> "I watched someone die. And I did nothing."

She stepped left.

The roses parted for her.

Daejin said nothing. He walked right.

🌬️ Scene Three: Consumed by Roots

The garden moaned.

Daejin’s path closed behind him. Vines wrapped the dirt.

Meanwhile, Yuri and Lira advanced. More signs grew:

> "What do you fear most?" "Who did you abandon?" "What lie do you still tell yourself?"

Yuri: *"That I’m strong." Lira: *"That it wasn’t my fault."

Petals bloomed. A clear path formed.

Suddenly—screams.

From the right path.

Yuri turned. "Daejin!"

A glimpse through thorned branches—Daejin in a cocoon of roots, eyes rolled back, vines entering his mouth.

Lira grabbed a vine and it burned her hand. Smoke curled from her skin.

> "We can’t help him. He walked with a lie," VOX stated.

> "Then what was his lie?" Yuri hissed.

> "That he had no secrets."

🧠 Scene Four: Truth Buried Beneath

As they reached the sundial, it cracked.

A compartment opened, revealing two black seeds in a bed of salt.

> "Only one may plant a truth. The other—must bury it."

Yuri looked at Lira.

Lira looked at Yuri.

They both reached out.

Suddenly—Lira pulled back. Let Yuri take the seed.

> "I’ve buried enough," Lira whispered.

Yuri planted hers in the soil.

It grew instantly—a white flower with human eyes at its center.

> "Name the truth it shows," VOX ordered.

Yuri bent close. The flower whispered:

> "She was the one who led them into the fire."

Yuri blinked.

> "It’s talking about Lira."

Lira didn’t flinch.

> "Then it remembers wrong."

The flower wilted instantly.

A new path opened. The glass above shattered, revealing a spiral staircase descending into darkness.

Yuri turned to Lira.

> "Are you leading us deeper into this… or out?"

> Lira: "I’m not leading. I’m being followed."

🪷 "Some truths don't bloom—they bleed. And some lies... take root in silence." 🌾

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